Nikki Grimes

Garvey is into reading, astronomy, and sci-fi, but his father keeps trying to push him toward being an athlete. To combat the sense of disapproval he gets from his father, Garvey comforts himself with food, though other kids tease him for being overweight. Still, a new interest Garvey discovers could help change his life in Garvey's Choice by author Nikki Grimes.

This has to be the only middle grade novel I've read that's written entirely through tanka poems.

And wow. What a beautiful and show more inspiring story, packed with a range of thoughts and emotions expressed in a style that says so much in relatively few words. The read hurts, and it heals—and the young hero, a fan of the stars, shines his own light as he gains insight.

I think I teared up thrice while gliding through this book, and at the start, I didn't imagine how amazed I'd be when I finished. I'd recommend this read to the young, the old, and those in between. show less

Aspiring rapper Wesley “Bad Boy” Boone starts the book off by admitting “I ain’t particular about doing homework, you understand.” But when the teacher assigns an essay on the Harlem Renaissance to Wesley’s Bronx high school class, Wesley decides to write some poems instead. Why write prose about a poet like Langston Hughes? But then the teacher asks him to read it aloud in front of the class, and it turns out to be surprisingly popular. His classmates, black, white, Hispanic, show more all want their chance too. So, each Friday becomes “Open Mike” poetry readings in class.

As the students read their poems to the class they reveal parts of themselves that their classmates had never known, and it sparks some friendships that previously would have been unlikely. Grimes alternates internal prose monologues by the students with their poems in this Coretta Scott King Author Award winning book. Wesley's homey Tyrone, a very reluctant student and frequent skipper of classes and school, suddenly takes an interest in what’s going down there, and serves as the Greek chorus by commenting on the poems and on his classmates as the story moves through the school year. show less

If you live in the Hundred-Acre Wood long enough, Kanga is going to draft you as a babysitter because that woman knows its important to step out and get some quality personal time. Under Tigger's less than watchful eye, Roo learns some heavy-handed lessons about the dangers of independent thought and forging your own path. Conform, young kangaroo!

No one learns any lessons about the stupidity of putting Tigger in charge of anything.

(My Pooh Project: I love Winnie the Pooh, and so does my show more wife. Having a daughter gave us a chance to indoctrinate her into the cult by buying and reading her every Pooh book we came across. How many is that? I’m going to count them this year by reading and reviewing one every day and seeing which month I finally run out. Track my progress here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/23954351-rod-brown?ref=nav_mybooks&she... ) show less

When it's bedtime, Mommy's little one has many reasons to delay going to sleep, taking on the characteristics of various animals along the way like a lion roaring at the monsters under the bed.

The illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful. Bold colors and geometric patterns are striking and the facial expressions on the mother and child help to tell the story. The story itself will be very recognizable to any parent or caregiver who has had the struggle of putting a 'not sleepy' show more child to bed.

My only problem with this book is a big one: What is the deal with the dad character? He's depicted in the beginning as lying down on the couch with pillows propped under his head and a book in front of his face. He then proceeds to do exactly zero to help mom with the bedtime routine. Even at the very end when the child ends up requesting to sleep in their bed, the toddler only asks, "Mommy? Can I sleep with you?" I know the book is only showing a brief snapshot of these characters' lives and is highlighting the mother-child relationship, but why does it make it seem like fathers have no responsibility in parenting their children? If we lived in a world where parenting duties were more evenly split, it might not even register with me. But unfortunately we don't live in that world so this is very glaring. show less