We Are All Animals: Discover What You Have in Common with a Dog, a Cat, a Bee, a Bat, and a Jellyfish! by Ben Hoare and Christopher Lloyd, illustrated by Mark Ruffle
This large-format, 48-page picture book is chock-full of information on animals, including humans. After a foreword, table of contents, and introduction, there are 19 double-page spreads discussing things that (almost) all animals have in common (exceptions are noted). These includes some unexpected things like "we are all networked," "we all have clocks," and "we are all ecosystems." Each spread is eye-catching with colorful, labeled drawings and occasional photographs of numerous examples of the topic of each spread. This is all followed by a one-page glossary, a page with selected sources (and picture credits and dedications), and a one-page index.
My only gripe is when the small typeface is black against dark color backgrounds, when it could have been white (as it is on black backgrounds). Because it is text-heavy, this book is best for ages 8-12 (publisher-recommended) or grades 3-6 (my opinion).
The Red Car to Hollywood, by Jennie Liu
This historical fiction young adult novel is set in 1924 in the original Chinatown of Los Angeles. The story is told in first person by the main character, Ruby Chan, a 16-year-old second-generation Chinese-American. Her father operates a Chinese furniture and antiques store where Ruby helps with sales and accounting. As the story begins, Ruby is in trouble with her parents for getting into a compromising position with a white boy at her school. They pull Ruby out of school and her mother has her doing housework while they consult a matchmaker. Her father also plans to find a business partner during his upcoming trip back to China to purchase items for the store, and threatens to marry Ruby off to the partner. (In that era, this would have resulted in Ruby losing her birthright citizenship.)
Her mother does allow Ruby out of the house to go to the laundry operated by the Wong family, as she hopes to match Ruby up with James Wong, a third-generation Chinese-American. But at the laundry, Ruby first meets his sister, 19-year-old Anna May Wong, who is in the early years of her acting career. Inspired by Anna May, and wanting to avoid an arranged marriage, Ruby takes her future in her own hands.
Author Jennie Liu, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, said in an interview that her inspiration for the book was "calls to Asian hate connected to COVID-19" in the spring of 2020. She went on to add that, "The trend of targeting immigrants was especially repellant because, except for Indigenous Americans, everyone here has a family history of immigration or transplantation." She also wanted to write about "the objectification of Asian women and the intersection of racism and sexism ... in early Chinese American history and perpetuated in Hollywood through stereotyping."
At 234 pages, the novel is an easy read. It also includes an author's note at the end as well as discussion questions. The book is well-researched; Liu even worked real-life female screenwriters Frances Marion and June Mathis into her novel.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler - graphic novel and regular editions
Written in 1993 but eerily predictive of today. And scary. Planning to read the sequel, Parable of the Talents, soon, and hopefully writing more about both books.
Why Wolves Matter, written and illustrated by Karen B. Winnick.
Subtitled "A Conservation Success Story," this nonfiction picture book explains what happened when gray wolves, the top predator in the Yellowstone National Park ecosystem, were killed off in 1926 - and what happened when they were reintroduced almost 70 years later, in 1995. While the wolves were gone, some of its prey animal species (like elk) became too numerous, overgrazing on some plants (like quaking aspen), which in turn affected other animals.
Author and illustrator Karen B. Winnick effectively shows the absence of all of these species by whiting them, leaving only an outline around a blank space. In an interview, she stated her paintings were done using gouache (an opaque watercolor) and acrylic paint, and that she "grouped wolves from different photographs to create scenes, hoping they’d come alive on the page—real, with movement. Painting the texture of their fur and the grass was fun. Whiting out the wolves and the animals affected by their absence was a way to visually emphasize the importance of wolves in the ecosystem."
This gorgeous and important book is completed with an author's note, a timeline, and a bibliography. According to the author, it is aimed at ages 7-9 (grades 2-4), but I think it could be used with older children as well, in science and social studies lessons. I also love that the Austin-based publisher, Greenleaf Book Group, to offset the trees consumed in printing, donates a portion of its proceeds to the Arbor Day Foundation (over 50,000 trees planted since 2007, according to the book's copyright page).
