Welcome to Through the Looking Glass

Welcome to the May and June 2019 issue of Through the Looking Glass Children’s Book Reviews. I have put together a wonderful collection of reviews for you for this issue, and I hope you enjoy reading the reviews as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

As always, the books reviewed on TTLG are carefully chosen by the editor. We only review books that suit the scope of TTLG, and that we feel have something to offer readers. Therefore, all our reviews are positive ones. We hope this will help you to find excellent books for the young people in your lives. If you are looking for books for yourself, we hope you will find books that you will enjoy reading. Please consider buying books through this website. Your purchases help to support our work, and give us the means to improve this online resource.

For this issue I have put together a special feature about Art and Artists. Though I am not much of an artist myself, I love dabbling with paints, colored pencils, ink pens, and other media. It gives me joy and allows me to the see the world in new ways. It is fascinating to read about the history of art, and to find out what inspired famous artists to create their paintings, drawings,and  sculptures. There are books in the collection that will suit readers of all ages, including adults.

May and June are the months when summer finally makes itself felt. Winter coats and sweaters are put into boxes or are tucked away on high shelves, and bathing suits are tried on to see if they still fit. The sun is warm, and children are happy to spend their play time out of doors. There is a delightful collection of books about summer on the TTLG Summer Days page, with books for readers of all ages.

Summer is also a time when many people are very busy in their gardens. If you want to share your love of gardening with the children in your life, take a look at the In the Garden Feature. You will find both fiction and nonfiction titles here that will interest children and young people who are eager to try out their green thumbs.

For this month’s Editor’s Choice title, I have selected Poetree, which was written by Shauna LaVoy Reynolds and illustrated by Sharhrzad Maydani. On the pages of this charming picture book readers will meet a little girl who loves poetry, who grows to love a tree, and who discovers that people are full of surprises.

In every issue I spotlight a series that I am really enjoying or have enjoyed in the past. For this issue I chose the wonderful Creatrilogy Collection. The books in this trilogy invite readers of all ages to think about their relationship with the creative process. Are we afraid to try being creative because we are afraid to fail? Or perhaps we afraid to try because we have no idea how to go about being a writer, musician, or artist? These three books help us to explore these issues in a supportive and exciting way.

The author illustrator who created this trilogy is Peter Reynolds. Peter have illustrated numerous books, including all the Judy Moody and Stink titles. He is also a marvelous writer and it has been a privilege to review the many picture books that he has written over the years. In this issue you will also find a nonfiction title of his that was published last year. Start with a dot: A journal for making your mark is a wonderful book to help artists gain confidence in their own creativity.

This issue’s award winning book was written by Nikki Grimes. One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance is a marvelous poetry title that won the 2019 Lee Bennett Hopkins Award.

Finally, take a look at the new Bookish Calendar. Here you will find reviews about Nellie Bly, Mother’s Day, Paul Gauguin, a horse called Seabiscuit, and much more. This calendar is a great tool to use at home and in the classroom to help children incorporate books more fully into their lives.

-:Bookish Events for May and June:-

May is “Get Caught Reading” Month (USA)

Children’s Book Week April 29th – May 5th (USA)

I hope you find a way to celebrate some, if not all, of these bookish events. If I have missed an important bookish event, please drop me a line to tell me about it.

In September of 2012 I launched a project that I would like to tell you about. It is a story blog  called Talon Diaries, and it is written by a colorful and very unusual character who is called Gryf. I hope you will come and read Gryf”s blog posts.

For those of you don’t know already, I also publish a blog about children’s books and the children’s book world. On the blog I post reviews, interviews with great authors and illustrators, I offer book giveaways, and I tell you about interesting contests and bookish events. Do visit the blog and sign up for the feed. In the coming year, I will be posting new picture book reviews on Mondays and poetry book reviews on Fridays.

Some of the titles I reviewed several years ago are now out of print. Though you cannot buy these books in every bookshop, many of them are still available for purchase on websites like Amazon.com.

I hope you enjoy this new issue, and I look forward to hearing from you.

All the best,