Samantha Berger

When an artist creates the figure of a young girl on the page, naming her 'Viva,' she decides something isn't quite right, and that she should try again. Coming to life before her, Viva declares that she's just fine the way she is, asking to be allowed to "rock what she's got." Despite her creation's pleas, the artist continues to try to change things, always discovering in the end that Viva is still Viva. Eventually, recalling that in her own girlhood she felt as Viva did, she decides that show more Viva is just how she was meant to be...

Rock What Ya Got is the second inspirational picture-book I have read recently from author Samantha Berger, but unlike the earlier What If..., which explored the nature of creativity, and which I found to be a wonderful tribute to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity, this one left me cold. I understand the message the author is trying to get across here - that we should accept ourselves, and play to our strengths - but like many self-affirmational children's stories I have come across, it just felt a little overdone, and lacking in balance. Working on our weaknesses, whether within ourselves or in the artwork we create, is a necessary and productive thing, and while I appreciate that some of the things Viva doesn't want changed are best accepted or left alone, I wonder if narratives like this press the idea that any attempt at self-criticism or self-improvement is somehow self-rejection. I'd have preferred a narrative which differentiated between circumstances in which we should accept ourselves, and those in which we should strive to change. Leaving that issue aside, I also found that the text itself here didn't work for me, with the switching back and forth between the prose narrative and the rhyming declarations of Viva. The artwork by Kerascoët - husband and wife illustrating team Sébastien Cosset and Marie Pommepuy - is expressive and full of motion, but wasn't enough to save this one for me. show less

What if you wanted to tell a story, but your pencil disappeared? What if you were creating art, but all of your art supplies were suddenly gone? What if all the things you thought to use to make beauty began to go away, one by one, leaving you with nothing...except your mind, and that impulse to create? Author Samantha Berger and illustrator Mike Curato address that experience in this beautiful new picture-book tribute to the power of human artistry and ingenuity, concluding that: "If I had show more nothing, but still had my mind... / There'd always be stories to seek and to find."

Pairing an engaging and thoughtful narrative told in rhyme with gorgeous mixed-media illustrations, What If... is a marvelous new picture-book to add to that body of titles - Peter Reynolds' "Creatrilogy" books, Corinna Luyken's The Book of Mistakes, Faye Hanson's The Wonder - that are meant to encourage young people to cultivate their own creativity, whether artistic or literary. Inspired, according to the afterword, by a flood which left author Samantha Berger temporarily homeless, with no art supplies in the midst of an intensive art project, it is also meant to highlight the diversity of materials around us, that can be used in creative projects. Mike Curato's accompanying illustrations reflect this as well, incorporating any number of objects - autumn leaves used to create a dragon, sugar cubes used to make an igloo - into his colorful, immensely engaging work. This is one I would highly recommend, to all young would-be authors and artists, and to anyone looking for beautiful new picture-books about the creative process, and the resilience of the human spirit in the faces of challenges. show less

"After all of the haunting and endless late nights, / the cooking and cackling and long broomstick flights, / a witch needs a break, and a little vacation, / a witch needs a place for some REAL relaxation." So begins this rhyming tale of a little witch who heads to a special spa after the rigors of Halloween, one where the treatments are just right for magical folk. From a Broom Bristle Facial to a Pumpkin Gut Face-Mask, a Dragon-Breath Sauna to a Hag Stone Massage, this witch knows how to show more indulge, emerging refreshed and revitalized...

With a rhyming text from author Samantha Berger that trips merrily along through all sorts of fun-sounding (if slightly gross) spa treatments, and charming artwork from illustrator Isabel Roxas that is as colorful as it is cute, Boo-La-La Witch Spa would make for an entertaining witchy read-aloud, especially at Halloween time. Although I do wonder if most children will greatly identify with the spa theme - do children ever go to spas? - I think the witchy themes will keep them entertained, even if the idea of a spa is foreign to them. The artwork will certainly keep them engrossed, as it did me! I loved Roxas' use of color here, and all of the little visual details. Recommended to picture-book readers looking for fun, rather than spooky witchy fare. show less

Monster resists getting new undies in this humorous rhyming picture-book - "I am just FINE / with no undies at all! / Or the undies I HAVE / ...though they are a bit small. / So WHAT if they're old? / So WHAT if they're torn? / Who care the elastic's / completely outworn?" - and rejects every new pair his patient mother suggests, when they go shopping. Until, that is, the perfect new undies appear...

As someone who sometimes resists getting new clothing, because I'm attached to what I already show more have, I got a chuckle out of Monster's rejection of various undergarments presented to him at the store, and I suspect young reader/listeners will be likewise entertained here, and will see a little of themselves in Monster. The rhyming text by Samantha Berger reads well, and will make Monster's New Undies a fun story-time selection, while the bold, colorful artwork by Tad Carpenter will keep listeners engaged. Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories about monsters, underwear, or little monsters who resist change... show less