Mindful Book Reviews By Eve: Pop-Up Shakespeare by The Reduced Shakespeare Company: Reed Martin & Austin Tichenor

I love pop up books especially ones that take a heavy topic and break it down into little bites, making so it is much easier to ingest. Here we have the complete works of Shakespeare laid out on five double-page spreads that include pop-ups and flaps with in the pages that also pop-up. This work of non-fiction gives a great overview of Shakespeare through carefully laid out sections about his life and his works: comedies, histories, romances and tragedies. This would be a perfect book for a living art museum project! I love the plethora of details and how each flap is full of fascinating information and often hilarious recaps. I enjoyed learning about Shakespeare-about the person he was and insight into his writing and his influences that are still felt to this day especially about things you might not have known such how much influence Shakespeare has had on current English language!

The pop-ups by illustrator Jennie Maizels are wonderfully detailed and charming. Each flap and pop-up is carefully laid out to give the reader a sense of wholeness, kind of like theater in the round (another tie in to Shakespeare!).

I somehow got through school without ever having to read Shakespeare  and this was a totally fun catch up on all his greatness that I missed out on. Peaked my interest totally.

Thank you to Candlewick Press for sending me this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Mindful Book Reviews By Eve: When Paul Met Artie: The Story of Simon & Garfunkel by G. Neri; Illustrated by David Litchfield.

This is a gorgeous, oversized picture book that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. The multi-colored drawings that accompany each page spread are thought provoking, sensitive portrayals of this legendary rock duo. I love the special appearance of Bob Dylan atop a brightly colored rainbow. This book tells their story through poetic verse, filling each stanza with details, thoughts and inspirations of their journey together. I enjoyed learning about who they were and where they came from. Great non-fiction book. It would look great on a coffee table-commanding space with its richly hued cover (both the book cover and the actual book are beautiful!)

Thank you to Candlewick Press for sending me a copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Here is author G. Neri talking about his inspiration behind the book. And a blog that adds how to integrate the book into the classroom.

Book Review By Eve: Giant Pumpkin Suite by Melanie Heuiser Hill

This is a charming read! The characters are delightful and the beautiful sense of community that rises around the growing of the giant pumpkin is a true testament to love they neighbor and brotherly love. The author obviously has a great knowledge of Japanese things as her description of the tea ceremony is so full of rich detail that you can practically smell the tea in the air and feel the warmth as it passes through your lips.

 

Also, she brings in the concept of Kintsugi. While most people would likely conceal damages to their pottery, the Japanese art of Kintsugi follows a different philosophy. Rather than disguising the breakage, gold is used to restore the broken item incorporating the damage into its aesthetic, making it part of the object’s history. This theme weaves together most of the book and like the beautiful rivulets of gold in the pottery, we see time and time again how imperfections make us more real, more appealing and even a bit more perfect. In addition, the beautiful mathematically organized music of Bach is the soundtrack to this lovely story! This is a book of substance and is full of practical knowledge! I highly recommend this read to children and families.

Full disclosure: Candlewick Press sent me copy of this book. All opinions are my own.