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Ideas For Younger Eyes

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 18, 2007

"Track of a Panda"

By Nick Dowson; illustrated by Yu Rong

(Candlewick, $16.99)

Painting it in the style of Chinese watercolor, illustrator Yu Rong makes this simple story about a mother and her cub come emotionally alive. On the first page, the giant mother panda cradles a small, hairless pink creature - 900 times smaller than herself.

The accompanying text tells the story of mother and baby over the growth of the first year, a time when they are repeatedly forced to move to locate food and to flee the encroachment of humans. Each illustration also includes a short gloss, describing some aspect of panda life: eating habits, body structures, enemies and defenses. An engaging book, especially for readers 3 to 7.

"The People Could Fly: The Picture Book"

By Virginia Hamilton; illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon; with CD narrated by James Earl Jones

(Knopf, $17.99)

This classic African-American folk tale, first retold by Virginia Hamilton in a collection of stories in 1985, is here featured alone with new illustrations as a tribute to Hamilton, who died in 2002.

Leo and Diane Dillon have earned their own reputation over a lifetime of illustrating award-winning children's books. Here they illuminate the underlying truth of a fantasy tale with richly colored paintings that show both undeserved suffering and redemptive community.

The tale is about certain Africans who, when brought to a brutal existence as slaves in America, recall and can eventually summon their native ability to fly. This moving picture storybook celebrates the miracle of imagination - as important as the miracle of flight.

In story and illustrations, the slave owner, master and driver are depicted as static, chained to the earth in cruelty and hatred, while "the people" rise with love and grace, courage and beauty. For readers of all ages.

"Young Pele: Soccer's First Star"

By Lesa Cline-Ransome; illustrated by James E. Ransome

(Schwartz & Wade, $16.99)

Before his first youth soccer tournament at age 12, Edson Arantes do Nascimento was a short, ragged little boy whose only goal in life was to master the game. After that, he was simply "Pele" - the best and most well-known soccer ("football") player the world has ever known.

This book covers only his earliest years, when the poverty of his neighborhood meant he and his friends played shoeless, with a ball made of rags and string.

Nonetheless, Pele devoted himself wholeheartedly to his sport, revealing very early the heart of a champion. Illustrated with appealing oil paintings of his Brazilian town, his family and his earliest passion for the game, this book provides an inspiring story for readers 5 and older.

"Living Color"

By Steve Jenkins

(Houghton Mifflin, $17)

Unlike other books intended to teach children colors, this book celebrates unique and ingenious developments of color in animals, over millennia of natural selection. Red, for instance, can indicate a creature's dietary habits, its territorialism, its means for attracting a mate or repulsing (or avoiding) a predator, or signaling a parent to bring food.

For each color, Jenkins includes six to 12 examples of unique animal life, with cameo illustrations and capsule descriptions for each creature, as well as a framing humorous phrase. "More shrimp, please" is the mantra of the scarlet ibis. "I don't want a bath" is the sloth's way of keeping green algae living in its fur as protection from rain forest predators.

The illustrations are done in Jenkins' signature medium: cut-paper, richly colored and brilliantly designed. This is a grow-with-me book from those young enough to learn colors to those old enough to appreciate Mother Nature's complex and awesome diversity - and her sense of humor.

"Toby Wheeler: Eighth Grade Benchwarmer"

By Thatcher Heldring

(Delacorte, $14.99)

It's not easy being a middle schooler. Trick-or-treating with a buddy becomes a thing of the past, a reminder of how simple and good life used to be. Now the stakes involve moving from the easy fun of "rec" basketball to holding up your end of a school team - and your end is a warm spot on the bench.

Then there are the issues: playing for fun versus being competitive, the horror (and attraction) of girls (including some impressive athletes) and good friends morphing into complete strangers overnight. But narrator Toby Wheeler is a smart, sensitive guy with a quick sense of humor and an impressive way of discovering how to navigate this new and awkward world.

That, along with exciting action-packed descriptions of a dozen nail-biting basketball games, and Heldring creates a first novel that's a winner. While the basketball jargon can be challenging for those unfamiliar with the game, the book's characters and relationships ring true, proving that learning about yourself never really stops. For readers 8 to 12.

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