Jonathan Bean (1)

Anxious for snow - lots of snow! - young David continually asks his mother about its arrival, and continually finds that the tasks she sets him - helping make cookies, cleaning the bathroom, making the bed - remind him of the flaky white substance he has on his mind. Eventually, after making lots of extra work for mom, David takes a nap, waking as his father gets home, and discovering that a big snow has finally arrived...

A fun little story about a young boy's eager anticipation of a snow show more storm, Jonathan Bean's Big Snow pairs engaging illustrations with an entertaining tale that highlights both a boy's imaginative world - everything David does suggests snow to him - and the warm and loving home life he leads. I appreciated the fact that David and his parents are brown-skinned - are they African-American? Latino? it isn't clear... - but that this isn't at all the focus of the story, as unselfconscious diversity is often the best kind. Recommended to children who eagerly await the snow, as I did myself as a girl, and to anyone looking for picture-books that are perfect winter-month selections. show less

In this second autobiographically inspired picture-book, following upon Building Our House, which chronicled how his family built their own home, author/artist Jonathan Bean here tells the story of how he and his sisters were home-schooled by his parents. All of the rooms of their house are classrooms, and the entire world is their art studio and playground, while their mother functions as school-teacher and their father as substitute-teacher and sports coach, leading to a fully integrated show more learning process in which every experience is both fun and educational.

The loveliest tribute to home-schooling that I can recall seeing, This Is My Home, This Is My School offers an engaging tale, one sure to fascinate children who attend more traditional schools while offering affirmation to those who were home-schooled like the author. As mentioned above, this is the second picture-book I have seen from Jonathan Bean that is inspired by his family history - there is an afterward that gives more information, and includes photographs from Bean's youth - and I was reminded, in the course of my reading, of some of Patricia Polacco's more autobiographical picture-books. This is high praise indeed, but Bean's stories merit the comparison, I think. I enjoyed both story and artwork here, although I did feel that Bean's illustrations weren't quite as appealing here in this second volume, as they were in Building Our House. Somehow they seemed a little bit more "scribbly" in appearance, more Quentin Blake-ish, than they did before. Leaving that aside, this was a wonderful book, one I would recommend to anyone looking for children's stories about home-schooling in particular, or life as a learning experience in general. show less

Picture-book author/artist Jonathan Bean, who made his debut with the 2007 At Night, here turns to his own family history to tell the story of how their home was built. Told from the perspective of Bean's older sister, the narrative here follows the Bean family as they move into a trailer home on the land they have recently purchased, and begin making preparations to build their dream house. From laying the foundation to raising the frame, it's a process that requires a lot of hard work, but show more plenty of love and community involvement too.

An engaging and informative book that works equally well as a family story and as an exploration of how a house is built, Building Our House is sure to have lots of appeal for children who enjoy looking at pictures of backhoes and trucks, as well as for those who simply wonder how structures are made. I enjoyed both story and artwork - as a cat lover, I particularly liked the way that the family cat shows up on every two-page spread! - and appreciated the inclusion of an afterward with photographs, documenting the 'real' story behind the story. Recommended to young children who enjoy learning how things are built, and to anyone looking for picture-books showing families living and working all together. show less

Emmy used to live with her loving parents in a small apartment over a bookstore, but when they inherited a big house and a lot of money, and Miss Jane Barmy became Emmy's nanny, her parents started to travel to far-flung places - without Emmy. And no one in Emmy's new school notices her - it's like she's not even there. But when Emmy frees the class pet, a rat, her life gets much more interesting...

With flavors of The Mysterious Benedict Society (narcolepsy), Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH show more (clever rodent societies), The Witches (shrinking to rat-size), and Bruce Coville's Magic Shop books, EMMY is incredibly imaginative and clever.

Quotes

"It's the meanest thing in the world," said Emmy severely, to ignore someone. It makes a person feel like she doesn't even exist." (17)

What was the use of trying to do everything she was supposed to when nobody ever cared anyway? (27)

"Suddenly, money meant nothing to them, except for the good it could do. They no longer cared about trying to make people envy them - they thought about making people feel valued instead." (Professor Capybara, 275)

She'd always thought it would be wonderful to be a grown-up - but not all at once. Not if she had to miss everything in between. (281) show less