Great Reading: Bookmark It!

Volume 31, Number 1, October 2003.

Ruth Cox

Fathers and Sons

Pictures for Miss Josie. Sandra Belton.
Greenwillow, 2003. $17.89. 0-688-17480-9. Grades 2-6.
A young boy is afraid of Miss Josie because she is so tall and strong, but through the years he learns to love her just as his father does. Miss Josie is based on Josephine Carroll Smith, the African-American educator who drew the boundaries for desegregating schools in Washington, DC.

Silent movie. Avi.
Atheneum, 2003. $16.95. 0-689-84145-0. Grades 2-6.
Papa Hans cannot find his Swedish wife and son when they arrive in New York. His search ends when he sees his son Gustave in a silent movie. The detailed black-and-white ink drawings are boxed to look like movie still frames.

Whales passing. Eve Bunting.
Blue Sky Press, 2003. $15.95. 0-590-60358-2. Grades K-4.
A father and son watch a pod of orcas. While they discuss how orcas communicate, the whales laugh about how different humans are. Lambert Davis’ paintings bring the orcas to life as they frolic in the brilliant blue water. A factual section concludes the text.

Whistling. Elizabeth Partridge.
Greenwillow, 2003. $16.89. 0-06-050236-3. Grades PreK-2.
While on a camping trip, a father and his young son wake before dawn so the boy can practice his whistling skills. First he whistles awake the birds and then, with the help of his father, he whistles the sun into the sky. Anna Grossnickle Hines beautifully renders this quiet tale in quilt block illustrations. Step-by-step details on how Hines created the quilt blocks conclude the text.