12 Days of Christmas Picture Books - Too Many Tamales

One of the best things about Christmas are the traditions, especially the foods that we seem to get only at this time of year. For many Latino families, especially those with connections to the American Southwest, tamales are an important part of the holidays. Families gather to make piles of these delicious, spicy treats to put right at the center of the Christmas table. This is one tradition that seems like it's as much about the togetherness as it is about the food!

In Gary Soto's Too Many Tamales, Maria is helping her mother prepare a platter of tamales for their family's Christmas Eve gathering. Mom takes off her ring to knead the dough, and when she's called away, Maria can't help sliding the sparkly bit of jewelry on her own finger, just for a minute. But then the ring is forgotten, and only later does Maria realize where it must have ended up. . .

The solution Maria comes up with is pretty hilarious (and also realistic, because it's just something a kid might do!). Gary Soto's warmly funny tale is dressed up just right with paintings by Ed Martinez that capture the homey, cozy feeling of a holiday spent with family and friends.

This one might just inspire you to add a new spice to your own Christmas celebration -- it's definitely got us craving tamales!

12 Days of Christmas Picture Books - Waiting for Christmas

Today's title is out of print, unfortunately. But if you can get your hands on a copy, either through a used bookstore or, even better, at the library, you won't be sorry.

The smell of cookies baking, the lights on the tree, brightly colored packages and the joy of seeing friends and family -- it's all captured vividly in Monica Greenfield's Waiting for Christmas. The excitement builds as we join a boy and girl preparing to celebrate with their extended family. Jan Spivey Gilchrist's paintings are so lively and festive, they nearly jump off the page, and the homey setting is just right to spread the eager anticipation of the season.

Sprout loves this one, and so do I. The words are simple, but powerful, as is the message -- that Christmas, like all holidays, is best celebrated together. You can practically taste the gingerbread!

12 Days of Christmas Picture Books - The Polar Express

In the spirit of the season (and in an effort to revive my blogging mojo), I'm proud to bring you Twelve Days of Christmas, Picture Book Version. Nothing's more fun than experiencing Christmas through the eyes of a child, really. This year, with Sprout a lot more aware of what this holiday is all about, we're digging into the Christmas books in a big way. I'm thrilled to finally be sharing some of my favorites with him, and discovering some new holiday gems as well.

Tonight was a momentous night in our household -- our first-ever family reading of The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. Folks, there's a reason this makes all the lists of perennial Christmas favorites. It's got a little something for everyone: nighttime adventures, snow, a mysteriously magical train ride to the North Pole, hot cocoa (that tastes like melted chocolate bars, no less!), and of course Santa Claus.

Sprout was thrilled by the train, less so once the reindeer entered the picture, but we stuck with it. And by the time we turned that last page, I think we were all expecting to hear sleigh bells.

For the first gift of Christmas, The Polar Express is just right.

Audio Review - Strings Attached by Judy Blundell

Atmosphere -- as a character in one of her books might say, Judy Blundell's got it in spades. Her books are like a step back in time, literally. You are so transported to the place and time she's writing about that it will likely be a shock for you to look up from the book and realize you're not in a smoky 1940's nightclub. If you want to be totally swept away from your life for a bit, Judy Blundell can do that for you.

I've listened to both of Blundell's books on CD now, and both are simply amazing. What I Saw and How I Lied won the National Book Award, and it's easy to see why -- though I didn't review that one because honestly? I wasn't sure I could say much other than "read it, read it, read it now". It's that good.

And Strings Attached is a very, very close second. It's 1950, the war years are over, and Kit Corrigan has left her hometown of Providence, Rhode Island with no looking back. Kit's going to make it on Broadway, though when we meet her, she's dancing in the chorus of "That Girl from Scranton" and not making much of anything doing it. But then she runs into her ex-boyfriend Billy's father, who makes her an extraordinary offer. Nate Benedict is connected, and he's willing to use those connections to help Kit open some doors. Almost before she knows it, Kit's installed in a swank new apartment and working as one of the "Lido Dolls" at the most famous nightclub in New York. But the glamorous life comes at a price, as Kit quickly discovers -- and suddenly Kit's realizing that behind the velvet curtains is a world she's not sure she's ready for.

Oh, but this is good, historical fiction at its very best. In fact, I'm hesitant to even use the term "historical" because it might scare some readers away. And even though Kit's life and her struggles are very much couched in the issues and mores of the day, these are familiar themes even today. Kit's the kind of person who jumps in first and thinks it out later, and as a result she soon finds herself down a road she never intended to follow. Blundell is unsparing in her depiction of Kit, and of the other characters -- though you may at times want to scream at them, they are always true to their own motives and their own perceptions of the world as they know it. This is what makes for great fiction, and for the kind of story that lingers in readers' minds well after the story's end.

I loved having the audio version of this -- Emma Galvin's voice captures Kit's youth as well as a bit of world-weariness that comes from having lived life absent of softness. The other characters are shaded just as well -- Billy's edgy distrustfulness, Nate's smooth veneer, Delia's commanding righteousness. We are bound up with these characters for the entire course of the narrative, and soon we, like Kit, can hardly tell what's real and what's just what we want to believe.

Blundell's definitely not for the younger set (though not graphic, these are novels with teens in adult situations) but she's got a whip-crack sense of timing and the environment couldn't be richer. Be forewarned though -- once you crack the spine, you're not likely to put it down until you turn the last page.

Strings Attached by Judy Blundell (audio narrated by Emma Galvin), published by Scholastic
Ages 12 and up
Source: Library
Sample quote: "Nate hung up with a soft click. No chance for me to say no. It was like he knew whatever I'd say would be a waste of his time. He knew I wouldn't turn this down. He knew I'd be crazy to say no. I didn't like him knowing all that. I didn't like how staying here suddenly made me available to him whenever he felt like calling. I hadn't counted on that."
Highly recommended

Chapter Book Review - Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

So wouldn't it be great if you could hand your child a thrilling, well-crafted, engrossing novel in which neither race nor adoption were the driving force behind the plot?

Thought so.

If you'd like to do just that, Anne Ursu's Breadcrumbs is a must-have. I was excited to read this one not only because the main character, Hazel, is part of a multiracial family formed by adoption, but also because I've read and loved Ursu's adult novels Spilling Clarence and The Disapparation of James. Both were favorite handsells back in my retail days, for the clever mixing of intriguing characters and fantastical turns of everyday reality.

And Ursu didn't disappoint me in Breadcrumbs, which I think is a strong contender for the Newbery this year (please please please). In the book, Hazel and Jack are two peas in a pod, sharing everything from a love of fantasy to a talent at superhero baseball (a game of their own invention). But one day Jack just -- goes away. Oh, he's there in body, all right, but he's no more Hazel's best friend than a stranger on the street. Jack just looks right through Hazel like he doesn't even see her. Hazel's crushed, and she can't accept what her mother tells her, that "these things happen". And when Jack disappears for real, Hazel doesn't believe for one second that he's with his elderly Aunt Bernice. No, Hazel's going to get to the bottom of this -- and for that, she must set off into the frigid Minnesota woods to rescue her very best friend.

Now, I could go on and on about all the things there are to love about Breadcrumbs, from the way Ursu interweaves fantasy into common events and how she turns fairytale conventions upside down, while never betraying their essence. Particularly well-done are the scenes once Hazel enters the woods, so evocative that I was amazed to look up from reading them and find myself at home tucked up in bed. But what many readers will take away from Breadcrumbs is the sense of holding fast to your sense of self and letting that be your compass. Hazel never wavers from the notion that Jack, the real Jack is still in there, and that he needs her now even more than he ever has. Quite a commentary on growing up but not away, this one.

Breadcrumbs is that rare thing, a novel that's not genre- (or gender) defined, neither wholly fictive nor entirely true. Honestly, I can't say enough about this smart, funny, surprising novel, which I found so compelling that I truly regretted turning the last page. For kids who feel on the outside, either because of something like adoption, or because they're finding their way across that looming chasm between childhood and growing up, Breadcrumbs will be a great gift. And if you feel that way as an adult? Guess what -- it'll speak to you too.

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu, published by HarperCollins
Ages 10-13
Source: Library
Sample Quote: "Hazel blinked. It occurred to her that Mikaela was being nice to her. She did not know how to react, for when your heart has been poisoned and someone picks a dandelion for you -- because it is bright and yellow and you seem like you could use something like that -- all you can do is contemplate the funny ways of weeds."
Highly recommended

Want to read more? Check out this guest post from Anne Ursu at The Book Smugglers blog, or visit her official author site.