Easy Reader Research Articles

Gnome and Rat by Lauren Stohler

Reviewed by: Gnome and Rat by Lauren Stohler Kate Quealy-Gainer, Editor Stohler, Lauren Gnome and Rat; written and illus. by Lauren Stohler. Knopf, 2023 [80p] Library ed. ISBN 9780593487839 $13.99 Trade ed. ISBN 9780593487822 $10.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593487846 $6.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 1-3 In the opening panels of this buoyant graphic novel easy reader, readers find Rat in the wee hours of the morning, intently cutting and hanging decorations. When Gnome wakes up, over the moon to celebrate Hat Day—the birthday of his red cone hat—he’s delighted by Rat’s festive efforts (once he notices them), and the friends sit down for some cupcakes and a hat-focused rendition of the birthday song. The following four chapters follow the pair through various adventures, most of them centered around the hat, as Gnome accidentally stretches his hat out, attempts to grow hair atop the bald head that can no longer be covered by the ruined hat, and finally gets a new hat, only to promptly lose it again. This easy reader has the familiar setup to build essential literacy skills: episodic chapters, plentiful dialogue, supportive illustrations, and easy-to-follow paneling. It’s up to the two protagonists, then, to bring a unique sense of fun, and Gnome and Rat do so with aplomb. Gnome is the embodiment of chaos, a round body with stick-like legs zooming through the pages, with a flowing beard that is surprisingly expressive. Rat is calmer, lovingly appreciative of Gnome’s energetic spirit while also protective of his wide-eyed innocence (dealing with, for example, a tricksy sales-possum selling hats). With a balance of rambunctious glee and genuine warmth, this will be a sure hit with kids wanting a bit of pure goofiness as they move into solo reading. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories by Jarvis (review)

Reviewed by: Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories by Jarvis Kate Quealy-Gainer, Editor Jarvis Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories; written and illus. by Jarvis. Candlewick, 2023 [64p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781536228328 $15.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 1-3 This breezy easy reader follows pals Bird and Bear through several days of quotidian (mis)adventures, giving readers a playful, accessible entry into solo reading. First, Bird's tumble into a flower leaves Bear looking for his feathered friend as he chats with what he assumes is a talking flower; then Bear's poor planning nearly derails a picnic, but his resourcefulness saves the day; a painting project leads to a bit of [End Page 261] (easily solved) jealousy, and the book ends with a sweet cuddle in a blanket making up for a hurtful miscommunication. The narrator's wry voice blends warmth and cheeky humor (especially when breaking the fourth wall), adding an irreverent layer to the otherwise familiar pals-about-town story. There's endless charm to be found in both friends, and neither plays to cast: Bear is forgetful in one story, but on his game in another, and Bird is sweet and serene until she has a right fit about Bear's painting skills. Readers, then, have to infer their friendship dynamics rather than just assume the two are merely opposites playing off each other. Crayon-like textures and dappled colors set against sepia backgrounds create an old-fashioned coziness, while occasional pops of more vivid hues highlight action. Sweet but not saccharine, clever but not precious, Bear and Bird easily earn a place between Lobel's classic friends Frog and Toad and Clanton's loveable duo Narwhal and Jelly. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

“Ach for It”: Anthony Leigh, Autonomy, and Queer Pleasures in the Restoration Playhouse

Anthony Leigh (d. 1692) built his career as a Restoration comedic actor by playing a combination of queer, lascivious, old, and/or disabled men to audiences’ great delight. In this essay, I key in on two plays that frame Leigh’s career: Thomas Durfey’s The Fond Husband (1677) and Thomas Southerne’s Sir Anthony Love (1690). In The Fond Husband, a younger Leigh plays a “superannuated,” almost blind and almost deaf Old Fumble who, in the first act, kisses a man because he cannot navigate the heterosexual erotic economy of the play (as over-determined by able-bodiedness). Over a decade later, in Sir Anthony Love, Leigh plays an aging, queer Abbé who is so earnestly erotically invested in Love’s masculinity (unaware that Love is a woman in drag) that he attempts to seduce Love with dancing. I bring the beginning and end of Leigh’s stage life together to argue that Leigh’s body, performing queerly, asks audiences to confront the limits of pleasure in sustaining fantasies of the abled, autonomous heterosexual self. Using these two Restoration comedies that bookend Leigh’s career, I trace pleasures and queer structures of feeling experienced in the Restoration playhouse. While Durfey and Southerne’s plays-as-texts seek to discipline unruly, disabled queer bodies by making Fumble and the Abbé the punchline, Leigh’s performances open up alternative opportunities for queer pleasure. Pleasure becomes queer in its ability to undo orderings and fantasies based on autonomy (that nasty little myth). In his Apology, Colley Cibber reveals the ways that Leigh’s queerly performing body engages the bodies of audience members. In reflecting on the reading versus spectating experience, Cibber remarks, “The easy Reader might, perhaps, have been pleas’d with the Author without discomposing a Feature; but the Spectator must have heartily held his sides, or the Actor would have heartily made them ache for it” (89). Spectatorship is not a passive role, but rather a carnal interplay with the actor, and this interplay has immediate, bodily implications. Audiences laugh. They ache. They touch. Whereas the reader of a play in private can maintain composure, audiences in the theatre are contrarily discomposed, non-autonomous, and holding onto their sides. Leigh’s ability as a comedian energizes the text and produces pleasure on an immediate, corporeal level for audiences. And that pleasure is generated through stage business built on touching, feeling, and seducing male-presenting characters. Spectatorship may, in fact, be a queer experience as Leigh’s queerly performing body exposes the limits of autonomy.

Audrey L & Audrey W: Best Friends-ish by Carter Higgins

Reviewed by: Audrey L & Audrey W: Best Friends-ish by Carter Higgins Kate Quealy-Gainer, Editor Higgins, Carter Audrey L & Audrey W: Best Friends-ish; illus. by Jennifer K. Mann. Chronicle, 2021 [184p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781452183947 $14.99 E-book ed. 9781797200620 $9.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 2-3 Second grader Audrey L can’t seem to find her niche; she’s not the best artist, or the best runner, or the best student in Ms. Fincastle’s class, but maybe, just maybe, she can be the best Welcome Ambassador to the new kid Audrey W. The week starts badly with Audrey L dropping the cake she had made for Audrey W, but things take a brighter turn when the two girls discover their shared love of the color purple, fancy stationery, and winged unicorns. Still, making new friends is difficult, especially when Audrey W proves to be quite the go-getter, and eventually a playdate gone wrong threatens to derail the whole relationship. Higgins has a keen ear for both the chaos of elementary school classrooms and the turbulent inner lives of elementary aged kids; noisy music lessons, unexpected fire drills, and tricky spelling tests make up the school milieu, while focalization on Audrey L paints an authentic picture of an insecure kid’s challenges with making friends. The text is simple and direct but often steeped in the sensorial, effectively conveying Audrey L’s emotions: “Bobo’s clatter matched Audrey’s insides, all jangly and rattly and antsy.” Black and white illustrations recall Quentin Blake’s scratchy pencilwork muted with dappling shades of gray. Readers who’ve outgrown the first-grade escapades of Green’s Princess Posey (Princess Posey and the First Grade Parade, BCCB 6/10, etc.) but aren’t quite ready [End Page 59] for English’s Carver Chronicles (Skateboard Party, BCCB 2/15, etc.) will find their sweet spot with this easy reader. Copyright © 2021 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Tag Team by Raúl the Third, and: Training Day by Raúl the Third

Reviewed by: Tag Team by Raúl the Third, and: Training Day by Raúl the Third Elizabeth Bush Raúl the Third Tag Team; written and illus. by Raúl the Third; colors by Elaine Bay. Versify, 2021 [56p] (El Toro & Friends) Trade ed. ISBN 9780358380399 $9.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780358393726 $6.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. K-3 Training Day; written and illus. by Raúl the Third; colors by Elaine Bay. Versify, 2021 [56p] (El Toro & Friends) Trade ed. ISBN 9780358380382 $9.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780358392651 $6.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. K-3 Luchador El Toro, whom author/illustrator Raúl the Third has previously featured [End Page 312] in cameo roles, steps into the lead in these debut titles of the El Toro & Friends easy reader series, which focuses on good (or improved, at least) behavior among the primary school set. In Tag Team, El Toro and fellow luchadora La Oink Oink are faced with cleaning El Coliseo, trashed by the audience at the previous night’s match, minus the aid of unreliable helpers who call in sick from the beach. De nada. If anybody knows how to tag team, it’s Toro and Oink, who combine whirlwind efforts to return El Coliseo to order. Even luchadores vying for world champion have bouts of laziness, and in Training Day El Toro’s trainer, an insightful rooster, finally lures him out of bed and into a daily run through town, where the accolades of his fans give him the boost he needs to get his discipline in gear. The pointed messages are springboards to a more potent agenda: providing bilingual and bilingual-wannabe audiences with easy reader materials that reflect and promote conversational and reading flexibility. Signage and dialogue appear in Spanish, or English, or both; dialogue uses purple type for Spanish and black for English, with phrases sometimes translated within the text, sometimes understandable through visual context clues, and often delightfully left for readers to puzzle out on their own. Quite like learning language—yes? A generous touch of giddy surrealism continues to make Raúl the Third’s faunal milieu a destination, lovingly detailed in frenetic compositions and Bay’s SweeTart-hued digital colorization. Exercise and toilet cleaning are rarely this much fun. Copyright © 2021 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

The Ideal Child does not Play: Insights from Europe’s Oldest Children’s Book

Europe’s oldest children’s book was a bilingual easy reader designed to teach Greek to Roman schoolchildren. Composed perhaps in the first century BC, it described a typical day in the life of a Roman schoolboy: getting ready for school, lessons, interactions with other children, lunch, etc. Although we no longer have this text exactly in its original form, it survives in multiple versions rewritten in subsequent centuries during the Roman empire. Strikingly absent from almost all these versions is any mention of play: the only reference to play is a single line in one version, clearly a late addition to the text, in which a child is accused of playing when he should have been studying. The accusation is indignantly and convincingly refuted: the child was in fact doing something more worthwhile. This absence of play must be connected to the fact that the child depicted in this text is normally an idealized one, for other evidence for Roman attitudes towards children’s play suggests that it was often seen primarily as an obstacle to learning. In this book, therefore, play is depicted not as a typical characteristic of children, but rather as deviant behaviour, something that children should not do at all.

ΑΠΟΔΊΔΩΜΙ

The verb ποδίδωμι has a basic meaning ‘give back’.1 Greek lexica also list a host of other uses such as ‘assign’, ‘render’, ‘concede’, ‘deliver’, ‘define’ and ‘return’,2 but none of these matches the way this word is used in the school scenes of the Colloquia of the Hermeneumata Pseudodositheana, a bilingually-composed text originally designed as an easy reader to help Roman schoolchildren learn Greek.3 In these texts ποδίδωμι, consistently paired with reddo in the Latin, usually refers to recitation from memory,

Arlo & Pips: King of the Birds by Elise Gravel

Reviewed by: Arlo & Pips: King of the Birds by Elise Gravel Kate Quealy-Gainer, Assistant Editor Gravel, Elise Arlo & Pips: King of the Birds; written and illus. by Elise Gravel. HarperAlley, 2020 [64p] (Arlo & Pips) Trade ed. ISBN 9780062982216 $12.99 Paper ed. ISBN 9780062982223 $7.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780062982230 $7.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 1-3 They may not be as pretty as the peacock or have the flair of the flamingo, but the crow is most certainly the "king of the feathered world." At least that's the truth according to Arlo, a proud member of the Corvus genus, and the black bird spends much of this graphic novel easy reader trying to convince the credulous Pips, a teeny yellow bird, of the greatness of crows. Arlo drops some seriously awesome knowledge [End Page 85] edge bombs (crows' brains are bigger than other birds, they can mimic other birds and even human speech, etc.) and Pips is convinced, and soon the two feathered friends are exploring the city and the beaches, snatching up yummy fries, leftover trash, and, Arlo's favorite, a variety of shiny objects. Gravel brings the smart attitude of her Disgusting Critters series (The Fly, BCCB 5/14, The Spider, BCCB 5/15, et al.) to a more fictional narrative here, and it's just as informative and accessible in its provision of kid-pleasing facts ("Some scientists say that they [crows] are as intelligent as seven-year-old humans"). Panel layout is clean and consistent, with an early iteration of a footnote introduced as a small, starred bottom panel, and figures are simply drawn with minimal background, putting the full focus on Arlo and Pips. Aspiring birders with a flair for the dramatic may be particularly drawn to Arlo's braggadocio. Copyright © 2020 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

AN ANALYSIS OF TRANSLATION TECHNIQUE IN TRANSLATING NARRATIVE TEXT

The present work is an analysis of translation technique in translating narrative text. Ingeneral, there are many aspects of translation techniques that can be discussed, nor in thisresearch the researcher only use eight techniques such as literal translation, idiom translation,calque translation, etc. Moreover, the purpose of this research is to investigate the product oftranslation English to Indonesian from the students of English Department 2013 intranslating Narrative text and analyzed it by using eight techniques in translating it. The datain this research is carried out by using qualitative method. This research reveals that thedominant technique that the participants use is borrowing technique, by amounting about 37times. Meanwhile, the less dominant technique that the participants use is transpositiontechnique by amounting about 7 times. Furthermore, those participants prefer to useborrowing technique it is because they believe that it is more familiar diction and easy forthe readers to understand the text.

Varför ska jag inte berätta?

Discussions about books and ways of reading play an important role in the curriculum for the Swedish secondary school system. In an intervention study based on a series of book discussions of an easy reader novel, I investigated the cooperation between a group of Swedish language learners aged 16 to 19, their teacher in the introduction program for newcomers, and the school librarian. Based on my function as a teacher educator, and drawing on the current research in literature didactics, I planned and carried out six discussions where different reading strategies and methods were used. Using the concept of third space (Gutiérrez, 2008; Skerrett, 2010b) and interpersonal space(Cummins, 2000), I discuss the students’cognitive and emotional responses to the story we shared, and reflect upon the way these discussions have developed. Semi-structured interviews with five students, a teacher, and a school librarian constitute the data for this study. The analysis of the data indicates that the leader of the group discussion is instrumental in helping the participants shift between different perspectives, try out new roles, and transgress different boundaries, thereby offering the group different emotional, cognitive and linguistic challenges. 
 
 Keywords: book talks, class room instruction strategies, interpersonal space, third space

The Early Reader in Children's Literature and Culture: Theorizing Books for Beginning Readers. ed. by Jennifer M. Miskec and Annette Wannamaker

Reviewed by: The Early Reader in Children's Literature and Culture: Theorizing Books for Beginning Readers. ed. by Jennifer M. Miskec and Annette Wannamaker Krystal Howard (bio) The Early Reader in Children's Literature and Culture: Theorizing Books for Beginning Readers. Edited by Jennifer M. Miskec and Annette Wannamaker. Routledge, 2016. In their introduction to The Early Reader in Children's Literature and Culture:Theorizing Books for Beginning Readers, Jennifer M. Miskec and Annette Wannamaker define the category of the Early Reader loosely as "those books that children are first able to read entirely on their own" (4). The authors point out that although "Early Readers are often overlooked, dismissed, or merely tolerated . . . as fun, silly fare a child can uncritically consume before moving, hopefully quickly, onto more meaningful, more literary texts," this category of books "deserve[s] much more scholarly attention and careful thought" (1). Whether termed "Early Readers," "Easy Readers," "beginning readers," "intermediate readers," "independent readers," "early chapter books,"or "first readers," this broad category of books, Miskec and Wannamaker argue, represents perhaps the first moment that many young readers have to [End Page 255] independently engage with and experience pleasure from a work of literature. This collection sets out to answer Katharine Capshaw's call in the Spring 2013 issue of Children's Literature Association Quarterly that children's literature scholars focus critical attention on the early reader genre, and it does so by using interdisciplinary approaches from research in the fields of education, cultural studies, literary theory, and children's literature (1–2). The Early Reader in Children's Literature and Culture includes fifteen chapters and an introduction and is divided into four sections: History, Aesthetics and Form, Culture, and Global Contexts. Overall, the chapters in Section I: History, along with the introduction, were the most noteworthy in defining and situating the development of the Early Reader genre within the history of children's literature. While the chapters in Section II: Aesthetics and Form examine the narrative and formal devices typical of Early Readers, the chapters in Section III: Culture and Section IV: Global Contexts feature close readings of notable Early Reader stand-alone or series works. Section III's chapters, focused on culture, seemed as if they would be most useful in the context of the undergraduate university children's literature classroom. In her chapter from Section I, "From the New England Primer to The Cat in the Hat: Big Steps in the Growth and Development of Early Readers," Ramona Caponegro examines historical children's books from the seventeenth through the twentieth century that had the greatest impact on the development of contemporary Early Readers (such as the New England Primer, Jacob Abbott's Rollo Learning to Read, Gertrude Chandler Warner's The Boxcar Children, The Ultimate Dick and Jane Storybook Collection, Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat, and Else Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak's Little Bear) and sees the category as "an adaptable category with a cyclical history" (13–14). In the same section, Rebekah Fitzsimmons's "Creating and Marketing Early Reader Picture Books" explores the Early Reader genre as part of the Reading Wars controversy, a public debate about methods of reading instruction in American elementary schools during the 1950s, by taking aim at "the motivations of the creators of this specialized niche genre, and the marketing used to entice parents into purchasing this new 'essential product for their children" (38). These early chapters provide a foundational understanding of the roots of the genre and set the stage for the chapters that follow in the Aesthetics and Form, Culture, and Global Contexts sections. In their contributions to the collection in Sections II and III, respectively, Annette Wannamaker's "Babymouse in Space: Locating the Reader, Text, Character, and Brand" and Sarah Park Dahlen's "Alvin Ho: Not Allergic to Playing Indian, Feathers, and Other Stereotypical Things" each provide a critique of the content of seemingly praise-worthy Early Readers. Wannamaker laments Babymouse's "limited and limiting" depiction of the titular [End Page 256] character's status as both a child and "a female character who longs for more freedom of movement, but must learn to make do" (101, 103). Dahlen notes...

Lättläst - en demokratifråga

Easy reading novels for young people have increased rapidly during the last years. Authors, publishers, librarians and teachers regard the novels a tool for teaching, and the books are advocated to offer children and teenagers that are considered demotivated and poor readers suitable texts. The democratic argument is vital for the text type is, i.e. that everyone has the right to have access to literary texts. From a critical literacy perspective, the aim of this article is to highlight and discuss aspects of democracy in Swedish classrooms. The empirical material consists of 18 interviews with authors and publishers and text analysis of 17 novels with material for students and teachers. The article shows that authors and publishers use the democratic argument heavily when advocating for the text type. The novels show a gender stereotype pattern and the instructions encourage an efferent reading. The article argues that it is important to have a critical perspective if using the easy readers in the classroom.

Use of image processing to easy e-content reader for physically differently-abled personnel

Differently-abled or disability is distinct as limitation of a person’s ability to carry out the activities of daily living, to the level that he or she may need help in doing so. The differentlyabled personnel, especially people with various amputations face the issue of not being able to use the devices that allow them to access e-content properly. In this paper, here suggest an application that is able to scroll the page of an e-content with the help of human face. The face is identified and tracked in real-time to use their actions for scrolling events. The basic strategy for detection is fast extraction of the face of the image in front of the screen with image processing technology. Between-the-Eyes is selected as a face representative because of its features are common to most people and is easily seen for a varied range of face orientation. After identifying the face, the head movement is used to trigger the scrolling event based on the suggested proposed system.

Att göra gott. Svenska förlags- och författarröster om lättläst ungdomslitteratur

Title: The Will to Do Good: Swedish Publishing Houses and Authors on Easy-to-Read Young Adult FictionQuestions about the function of literature are highly relevant, especially considering today’s great concern for the status of literature and for young people’s reading. In this article we investigate easy-to-read, or easy reader, a text type rapidly progressing in Sweden, and increasingly highlighted as a solution to the weak interest in reading among young people. Easy reader books originate from the democratic argument that everyone has the right to be able to read well enough and understand information. Although a significant part of today’s Swedish book market consists of easy-to-read literature, we know very little about the attitudes towards this literature and its readers. While easy-to-read books are made accessible on the market through different channels, the authors and publishing houses play a particularly important role. This article describes and discusses Swedish authors’ and publishing houses’ values and attitudes to their books, their readers and their mission, through interviews with 15 authors and three publishing houses conducted during 2014–2015. The article shows that the will to do good is a major motivation to act within the easy-reading field. The authors and the publishing houses look upon their mission as very important for a group of struggling or reluctant readers. According to the authors and publishing houses, this group requires texts that are characterized by simplicity in terms of recognition of characters, settings and themes. They also want to remove the stigmatization of easy readers, at the same time as the books are intended to serve as a didactic tool. Our results also show that the majority of authors combine their writing with a large number of author visits in schools.

Stinky Spike the Pirate Dog by Peter Meisel

Reviewed by: Stinky Spike the Pirate Dog by Peter Meisel Kate Quealy-Gainer Meisel, Peter Stinky Spike the Pirate Dog; illus. by Paul Meisel. Bloomsbury, 2017 [80p] (Stinky Spike) Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-61963-778-8 $9.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-61963-814-3 $7.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 1-3 Shipyard dog Spike prefers a cuisine that emits the “nastiest, ickiest, foulest” of stinks one could imagine, so you can probably guess how scrumptious he himself smells. Three short chapters follow Stinky Spike on his maritime travels, as he falls into the ocean, escapes sharks thanks to his foul odor (bad luck, though when his stench also turns away a helpful whale), and uses his super sniffing nose to help pirates find treasure—or at least what Spike would consider treasure. This easy reader is certainly successful in utility: There is lots of repetition and alliteration, sentences are concise and to the point, and the book’s structure effectively scaffolds the reading process as a whole. There’s little plot tension and some clunky transitions, though, and while the watercolor effects of the color illustrations match the maritime setting, the draftsmanship is stiff. Still, if Captain Underpants is any indication, stink sells, and Spike is an amiable and odoriferous crewmate for novice readers. [End Page 326] Copyright © 2017 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

How to Save the World and Other Lessons from Children’s Environmental Literature

This article argues that most contemporary children’s environmental picture books and easy readers published in the United States focus overwhelmingly on individual environmentalist acts and lifestyle changes, overlook the connections between environmental degradation and systemic social problems such as class disparities, and ultimately over-simplify environmental crisis. They typically encourage children to adopt environmentalist behaviors such as recycling that can be performed by individuals or families in the home, school, and local community, but do little to encourage civic engagement that would call into attention the intertwined ideological, economic, and political factors preventing profound environmental change. The analysis then examines several books that notably do inform readers about the larger political and economic issues and place a strong emphasis on environmental justice, a type of environmentalism deeply concerned with issues of race, class, gender, and economic inequality. Such texts are more likely to encourage an environmentalism that combines lifestyle and consumer choices with political activism. We need more books like this, as children’s texts that resign environmental action almost completely to individual choices and behaviors and disassociate environmental crises from their larger constitutive contexts do little to prepare young people for the socio-environmental challenges we face now and in the future.

The Great Antonio by Elise Gravel

Reviewed by: The Great Antonio by Elise Gravel Elizabeth Bush Gravel, Elise The Great Antonio; written and illus. by Elise Gravel. Toon Books, 2016 56p ISBN 978-1-943145-08-9 $12.95 R Gr. 2-4 Eccentric showmen often spawn biographies that conflate fact and promotional hype. In this easy reader, presented in zany comics-styled drawing and ballyhoo lettering, Gravel has a fine time playing on the ambiguities in the life of professional wrestler and strongman Antonio Barichievich. She casts his early years in Croatia (a probable, if not positively confirmed, locale) as a tall tale, with toddler Antonio overwhelming his undersized rocking horse and twelve-year-old Antonio pulling a tree, stump and all, from the ground. Shifting into his adult feats seems just an extension of the general malarkey, but the rapid-fire data Gravel provides is largely the real deal, from his prodigious weight (over 460 pounds), to his world record for hauling a 400-ton train, to his loner lifestyle with an “office” in a donut shop. A photograph of Antonio on the opening endpapers assures readers that he was no Paul Bunyan-esque myth and also allows them to appreciate that Gravel’s loony caricature version—in all his massive, hirsute glory—is not far off the mark. No bibliography or recommended reading list lead kids to further sources, and those who launch their own online investigation will quickly see that there’s a measure of raunchiness and sadness to Antonio’s life that’s missing in this comical account. Recommend this title along with Debon’s The Strongest Man in the World: Louis Cyr (BCCB 5/07) to kids you find poring over the Guinness Book of World Records. Copyright © 2016 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Skunked!: Calpurnia Tate, Girl Vet by Jacqueline Kelly

Reviewed by: Skunked!: Calpurnia Tate, Girl Vet by Jacqueline Kelly Elizabeth Bush Kelly, Jacqueline Skunked!: Calpurnia Tate, Girl Vet; illus. by Teagan White. Holt, 2016 [112p] ISBN 978-1-62779-868-6 $15.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 2-4 It’s not easy being a girl with a mind for science in a small Texas town at the dawn of the twentieth century. Nor is it easy being sole sister in a house full of brothers—particularly when younger brother Travis, who cannot resist turning a stray into a pet, relies on her for veterinary counsel when his husbandry skills inevitably go awry. Such is the seriocomic burden of Calpurnia Tate, late of Kelly’s older novels (The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, BCCB 7/09, etc.) and now narrator of [End Page 133] an easy reader series, Calpurnia Tate, Girl Vet. It is unreasonable to expect Travis to leave a motherless skunk kit whimpering in a tree hole, and Callie understands that her role is to help him hide it from their disapproving family, keep it fed, and wrangle information from her naturalist grandfather and the town vet, Dr. Pritzker, as needed. When Travis discovers a second skunk, the runt of the abandoned litter, hanging on for dear life, Callie has to up her game, figuring out how to keep it supplied with hot bricks for warmth (a success), how to get milk down its tiny throat (another success), how to keep both the kits safe from the family dog (yet another success), and ultimately, how to save the teacher from getting sprayed by Stinky and Winky when Travis smuggles them into school (a sorry failure). Since it is unlikely that readers of Kelly’s novels will “read down” into this younger series, it is left to the adults familiar with Evolution and its sequel to appreciate how the author has retained the tone, humor, and family affection while paring plot down to a single well-structured, extended episode. Expect a fresh crop of Calpurnia readers to simply enjoy this on its own considerable merits. Final illustrations not seen. Copyright © 2016 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Head Lice by Elise Gravel, and: The Spider by Elise Gravel (review)

Reviewed by: Head Lice by Elise Gravel, and: The Spider by Elise Gravel Jeannette Hulick Gravel, Elise Head Lice; written and illus. by Elise Gravel. Tundra, 2015 32p (Disgusting Critters) ISBN 978-1-77049-661-3 $10.99 R Gr. 2-3 The Spider; written and illus. by Elise Gravel. Tundra, 2015 32p (Disgusting Critters) ISBN 978-1-77049-664-4 $10.99 R Gr. 2-3 Gravel continues her Disgusting Critters series (see The Worm and The Fly, BCCB 5/14,) with these two entries, one focused on the spider and the other on every parent’s worst nightmare, head lice. The entertaining formula established in previous titles—presenting absorbing facts in the main text while the animal in question delivers sassy and amusing asides in the art—continues here. The red and black fanged head louse is jocosely cheery for a parasite, and the factual info (“The head louse’s body is slightly transparent, so we can see inside his tummy”) is effectively punctuated by the accompanying illustrations (“Oh, so THAT’s where I put the car keys,” he exclaims, the silhouette of said keys faintly visible in his abdomen). The black, oblong, spindly-legged spider is equally charming, although her identification as female is somewhat disconcertingly highlighted by stereotypical interests such as “princess shoes” (for her multiple feet), “eye shadow” (for her multiple eyes), and “purses” (as in the silk case in which she carries her eggs). Thankfully, other depictions amusingly present her in a more balanced light, such as her portrayal as a cowgirl (lassoing her prey) or a superhero (rescuing humans from mosquitoes). Supplemental information may be desirable for some points, but the books are still solidly entertaining and funny, and the limited palettes (red, black, and turquoise for the head lice, and hot pink, chartreuse, and black for the spider) and wide-eyed, comical critters are attractive and inviting (well, as inviting as a head louse can be). Few nonfiction easy readers impart their information with such gleeful enthusiasm and kid appeal, and for that Gravel is to be commended. [End Page 447] Copyright © 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Big Bad Detective Agency by Bruce Hale (review)

Reviewed by: Big Bad Detective Agency by Bruce Hale Kate Quealy-Gainer Hale, Bruce Big Bad Detective Agency; written and illus. by Bruce Hale. Scholastic, 2015 [128p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-545-66537-7 $15.99 Paper ed. ISBN 978-0-545-66538-4 $4.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-545-74728-8 $15.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 2-4 Wolfgang the wolf will fess up to stealing a chicken or two—or maybe twenty—but he’s pretty sure the moniker of Big Bad Wolf just isn’t fair. When the Three Little [End Page 311] Pigs (who are not little at all but hefty porkers running a construction business) accuse Wolf of breaking into their houses, the royal guard gives Wolf until sundown to either confess or find the real culprit. He reluctantly teams up with Ferkel, the Pigs’ little brother and an aspiring detective, to solve the mystery and clear himself. Their encounters with various suspects provide the most giggleworthy moments here, especially for readers familiar with the original tales. Hansel and Gretel, for example, are not sweet neglected children but surly teenage thieves; Ursula the witch is in love with one of the seven dwarfs; Jack of beanstalk fame is more a klutz than a trickster; and Puss in Boots is hilariously feline, hissing and glaring disdainfully at Ferkel and Wolf as they try to interrogate him. Simple sentences and repeated phrases give this easy reader plenty of accessibility, while the occasional challenging word offers more independent readers an opportunity to stretch their skills. Cartoonish black and white art depicts lively critters and a refreshingly diverse human population for a fairy-tale world. Readers will be happy to return for Wolf and Ferkel’s next big case. Copyright © 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois