Children's Biography: Uncle Andy's

Warhola, J. (2003). Uncle Andy's. New York, NY: Putnam.

Reading level: AD640L

Interest level: Grades 1 - 3

 

Written by James Warhola, “Uncle Andy’s” explores what it would be like to have the ultimate in bizarre, quirky uncles – Andy Warhol. Warhola invites us along a trip his family took to visit Warhol in the summer of 1962, the year of Warhol’s first solo exhibition. Warhola did both the text and the artwork for this book, and his illustrations are adorable and detailed. Warhol is almost too cute, with geometrically spiky white hair and Mary Englebreit-esque facial expressions. The story works, and the author is even playful with his depiction of his father, explaining that his dad left his yard littered with his junkyard overflow and never bothered to call ahead to warn Andy they were coming. I thought these bits of family information went nicely parallel with what we know about Warhol: his affinity for “junk,” his general irreverence. Also, when describing one of Warhol’s Coke case projects: “Uncle Andy didn’t buy those soup boxes, he built them out of wood and painted each one. They were art and really important, too, because Uncle Andy told us not to touch any of it.” I also learned some great factoids about Warhol, like that he lived with his mother and had 25 cats. The story ends with Warhola feverishly drawing and painting in his own room, inspired by his trip to see his artist uncle. In the classroom, you could use this book to lead a discussion on what makes art “art” or how we are inspired. 

Warhola's official website

Children's Science Fiction: The Lost Thing

Tan, S. (2004). The lost thing. Vancouver: Simply Read Books.

Reading level: 510L

Interest level: Grades 1 - 3 

Brilliantly illustrated in that steampunk style of sepia sci-fi, “The Lost Thing” tells the story of a “thing,” a spaceship-meets cthulhu creature, which our bottle top collecting hero discovers on the beach. The vagueness of the language in the title and the text draws in the reader (“So I’ll just tell you about the time I found that lost thing”) – we are definitely curious from the title page onward. What is it? Why is it lost? Where is it from? The illustrations, all crowded together comic-style with a lot of small details in already small panels laid over layered science journal clippings and diagrams, increases the readers sense of confusion and curiosity. In contrast, the protagonist deals with the mystery creature in a very simple, straightforward manner, following the trajectory of many “lost pet” style stories before it: he plays with it, asks people in the area if the thing belongs to them, and eventually takes it home. This reminds me of a more sophisticated and more grown up “Space Case.” In fact, there are a lot of “adult” elements: A cheeky “Hitchhiker’s Guide” reference (“DON’T PANIC”), a government department with the motto “sweepus underum carpetae,” a sign on a building that reads, “TODAY IS THE TOMORROW YOU WERE PROMISED YESTERDAY” – the title to a 2001 electronica album. A janitor with a hidden-from-our-hero’s view tail directs him away from the "Department of Odds and Ends” and gives the duo a mysterious card, which will lead them to a better place for a Lost Thing. The new location, the building with the "promised tomorrow" inscription, holds a bizarre bazaar of aliens, robots and other oddities. The thing happily stays.

“I still think about that lost thing form time to time. Especially when I see something out of the corner of my eye that doesn’t quite fit. You know, something with a weird, sad, lost sort of look.”

 I think the Lost Thing is supposed to operate as a metaphor for the misfit, perennially weird, sad, and lost, except with their “own kind.” Interestingly, the book draws a distinction between places that “authority” creates for the odd, and the places they create for themselves.

The award-winning short film based on "The Lost Thing"

Children's Realistic Fiction: What Can You Do with a Paleta?

Tafolla, C. (2013). What Can You Do with a Paleta?. New York, NY: Tricycle Press.

Reading level: 710L

Interest level: Grades K - 2

“You can dance to the accordion, you can smell the tacos, but…” Growing up in suburban San Antonio, this was the barrio I knew existed somewhere nearby, but never got to experience myself until I was a teenager recklessly playing around on the “other” side of town. This book made me nostalgic for those blasted hot afternoons in Southtown, spent looking for adventure, but instead finding only popsicles and shops full of brilliantly colored tissue paper banners, wooden puppets, and miniature accordions.  The images are all warm, soft, and full of flesh and earth tones – you can almost feel the heat coming off the pages. I also loved the brightly colored bungalow style houses – very much an iconic representation of South/central S.A. This book should be in most Texas elementary school classrooms because it’s sweet, high quality and there seem to be very few picture books with Mexican themes… which makes little sense, given the huge population in the U.S. of Mexican descent. You could use this book to introduce simple Spanish words, such as fruta or tio.

Children's Traditional Literature: The House In the Night

Swanson, S. M., & Krommes, B. (2008). The house in the night. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Reading level: 60L

Interest level: Grades PreK - 2 

Black and white scratchboard pictures accompany simple text in this soothing bedtime tale. The scratches create motion across the pages, which would otherwise be a little flat with such a limited color palette. However limited, the illustrations in this book are gorgeous. Yellow is used sparingly to highlight: for example, on the first page an adult hands a bright yellow key to a genderless child, saying “Here is a key to the house.” Yellow also creates visual interest: on the next page, a giant, yellow sun with friendly eyes and thick, wavy rays greets the horizon on the left page. The rays emanate clockwise, pushing the reader towards the right page and the little house on the hillside. “In the house burns a light” says the right page, and the yellow light breaks though the window. These clever visual elements keep young readers interested in what is otherwise an incredibly basic story. 

Watch a reading of  "The House in the Night"