Finding Narnia

The Story of C.S. Lewis
and His Brother

Roaring Brook Press
(MacKids)
(pub. 11.19.2019) 
48 pages

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Caroline McAlister
 and illustrator:  Jessica Lanan

 
C haracter: C.S. Lewis and Warnie Lewis

O verview: 
     "Before C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, he was a young boy named Jack who spent his days dreaming up stories of other worlds filled with knights, castles, and talking animals.
     His brother, Warnie, spent his days imagining worlds filled with trains, boats, and technology.
     One rainy day, they found a wardrobe in a little room next to the attic, and they wondered, What if the wardrobe had no end?"

T antalizing taste: 
     "Another terrible war broke out. Families in London sent their children to the countryside to  be safe from the bombs. On Sundays, Jack noticed the church was full of refugee children, squirming uncomfortably on unfamiliar pews among unfamiliar people. He didn't know much about children, but he figured he and Warnie could help out.
     That's how two girls came to stay with Jack and Warnie. One rainy day, the girls were exploring the house, and they found the old wardrobe..."

And something more: Caroline McAlister's Author's Note explains that "Different groups of children arrived throughout the war, and Warnie met many of them. We don't know exactly which ones gave Jack the idea for the premise for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Perhaps it was more than one that asked about the old wardrobe." In these days of "shelter in place", it's nice to imagine stepping into a wardrobe into another world.

Fab Four Friends

The Boys Who Became
the BEATLES

This post joins other
kidlit bloggers at
Nonfiction Monday Roundup
& It's Monday!

What are you reading?

at Teacher Mentor Texts
& 2015 Nonfiction Picture Book
Challenge at KidLitFrenzy

Christy Ottaviano Books 
(Henry Holt & Co.)

(pub.8.18.2015)  40 pages

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Susanna Reich

           and Illustrator: Adam Gustavson

    

C haracters: The Beatles

O verview from the jacket flap: 

    "In 1957 in Liverpool, England, a kid named John Lennon and his band played music at a local church fair. In the audience was Paul McCartney, who liked what he heard and soon joined the group. Pal's friend George Harrison kept showing up at rehearsals until the older boys finally let him in. Eventually they found the perfect drummer - Ringo Starr - and the perfect name - the Beatles.

     This is the story of how four ordinary boys, growing up amid the rubble of postwar England, found music to be a powerful, even life-saving, force. This is the story of the four fabulous friends who became the bestselling band in history."

T antalizing taste:   
   
      "John attacked the guitar, strumming a fast as he could. He didn't give a fig about wrong notes. With some of his mates, he organized a skiffle group called the Quarrymen, pounding out souped-up folk songs and some rock 'n' roll. They had no idea how to play, but they loved making noise - lots of noise! Rehearsing in Mum's bathroom, the sounds bounced off the tiles. Bam, BOOM, bam, BOOM!"

and something more:  Susanna Reich explained in her Author's Note in Fab Four Friends that with so much material available about the Beatles she had to "make difficult choices about which fascinating facts and witty quotes to include. For example, did you know that when the Beatles were boys, milk was still delivered by horse-drawn cart and only the McCartneys had a telephone?... That Ringo liked being in the hospital because he got to have butter on his bread. 'A dollop of butter was big news in those days.'"  

        And the book's Glossary defines some of the intriguing terms from the story, such as "Skiffle. A form of folk music with jazz, blues, and country influences that uses homemade instruments such as washboard and thimble, tea-chest bass, and cigar-box fiddle, along with acoustic guitar or banjo." 

        I particularly like this quote from Ringo Starr as it applies to all of us who are passionate about our creative endeavors: "I believe that you actually feel the love in the craft, in the art, from the four individuals who were there."