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Storm Codes
This is a simple tale, told from a child’s perspective, about waiting for a loved one who has gone down to the inland sea in a ship.
During a November gale, Katy awaits the return of her father, a captain on a 600-foot “laker,” the Edward B. Greene, an actual bulk freighter employed by Cleveland Cliffs Steamship Company.
With illustrated scenes from the waterfront of Duluth, along with images of the lake during a wild turn, this book does an excellent job of explaining the maritime traffic on Lake Superior while giving a human perspective to the trade that separates families for long weeks. The best part, for older children, will be looking up the actual vessel to see its history. This book is a marvelous way to help children understand a vital part of our region’s legacy and an enjoyable read even for older “boat nerds” fascinated by the lake and those who sail on it.
– Konnie LeMay
Madeline Island ABC Book
This marvelously multi-tasking book cleverly combines the alphabet with Madeline Island history and a kid-friendly guide to the island and its wonders.
The book was funded through the La Pointe Center and Wisconsin Arts Board and it well serves promotion of the community.
The multilayered drawings provide plenty of opportunities for helping children to match what they see on the page with what they will experience on a visit to Madeline.
The end pages encourage additional exploration and learning with a page devoted to “treasure hunting” for items in the Madeline Island Historical Museum. (Can you find a canoe or references to Nebraska Row?)
Do read the acknowledgements and you’ll discover that one of the pages includes a watercolor done by the illustrator’s mother. - KLM
– Konnie LeMay
Wishing I Was Fishing
This is a fun read-aloud book with an uncomplicated tale that is one familiar to many of our region’s “small fry.” Dreaming from his living room as he watches the snow outside, a little boy hankers for summer and a fishing outing with his dad and his dog.
The realistic drawings will help children remember their own days out with family, casting a line and waiting for the bobber to go under and the excitement to begin.
– Konnie LeMay
My Little Cabin/ My Little Fish House /My Little Lighthouse/ My Little Pine River
Let’s see, let’s see, what can a book teach me? In the case of the My Little … series by Alice Palace, children can learn how to imagine themselves as what they see around them (“Let’s see, let’s see. What can I be?”). Because the world around Alice happens to be Ely, Minnesota, her books are especially fun for children from or visiting our region. The latest, My Little Sailboat is not pictured.
The simple rhyming text and bright, engaging illustrations (sometimes mixing drawings with actual photos) will inspire children to be better observers of the natural world. These stories are best suited for toddlers to early elementary school-age children.
– Konnie LeMay
Wolf Song
Off on an evening adventure in the North Woods, Nell and her Great Uncle Walter set out for a place where they can howl like the wolves and listen for the pack to answer. The text reflects a warm and realistic conversation between Nell and her uncle, all the while introducing some of the familiar “characters” of the north woods like the flying squirrels, loons and beavers.
Meanwhile, the illustrations perform a witty interweaving of the human story unknowingly surrounded (just as we often are in the woods) by the wolf pack engaged in their own activities.
Only one page brings the people and a wolf together without the “imaginary” border. This is a winning family story with two families - two-footed and four-footed.
– Konnie LeMay
I Saw A Moose Today
The main character, Whim Wiggins, is certainly well named as she imagines her way through a forest full of woodland critters to meet.
From her fenced-in backyard in the city, Whim first imagines the tree as a moose and whiles away the morning from there with loons and bats and woodpeckers and lynx and more.
This book is fun to read aloud and a tickle because it celebrates imagination while introducing children to northwoods animals. At then end of the book are some very useful tools especially for teachers. There are factual descriptions of the animals along with a glossary of “big words” and some suggested websites that will help children discover the answers to questions posed with the descriptions.
This is a lovely book for home and school with a winning character in Whim.
– Konnie LeMay
Great Lakes Rhythm & Rhyme
With a flourish of facts and whimsy, Denise more than 50 “inland sea” ditties dealing with the Great Lakes and life around them.
This book is a fun way for younger folks to learn about the lakes and gives great ways to remember them, too. (The poem “HOMES” shows how to remember Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior, for example.)
A particularly useful classroom book, this would also make a good read-aloud at home. The best method probably would be one or two poems in an evening, since the full collection in one swallow might be too much Great Lakes.
– Konnie LeMay
Are All the Heroes Gone?
A Finnish folk hero with a stoic face bravely wielding a red sword against a monster northern pike, poised for attack. This cover is enough to get any northerner to open up and see what’s about to happen next.
Margaret Olson Webster, a seasoned artist and storyteller of Finnish heritage, takes a sampling of the tales from the 19th century compilation of traditional Finnish stories in epic poem form known as The Kalevala, and weaves them into modern life. She uses the voice of a father telling the stories to his son to show him that heroes, sometimes unexpected, exist everywhere. The youngster Teddy explores the ancient tales with his dad at home and through a trip to Karelia in northern Europe to see where it all began. He learns, for example, about Pellervoinen, a thumb-size man who recognized a need for trees and so took it upon himself to be in charge of making certain that they thrived from tiny seeds. Considering all the trees in Finland, he certainly got the job done, and his size made no matter. Determination, belief in yourself and a willingness to take on responsibility are what makes a difference in the world.
The artwork is lovely, too, and each piece tells a part of the story with earthy colors and plenty of action, fusing humans with animals, water, plants, and weather depicting a world where all things are connected.
Though the book is written with children in mind, it’s a treat for adults as well … especially those of us who struggle with the original epic. Older children will appreciate reading it on their own and it’s an exceptional read aloud for a parent to share with the little ones.
