Quick-paced and tightly constructed, “Re-Gifters” tells the story of Korean-American Jen Dik Seong aka “Dixie,” who studies the ancient Korean martial art of hapkido and has a great chance of winning an upcoming championship. Only she has fallen for fellow classmate Adam, which has thrown off her Ki or “universal energy.” As Dixie struggles between focusing on her form and gaining the affections of Adam, she learns about what truly is important in friendship and love.

“Re-Gifters”’ art is very dynamic and expressive; and although the depiction of Dixie as younger looking than a number of the other characters is slightly jarring at first, it is in its own way representative of how different people are physically in real life. In a Buffy-esque way, there is something very inspiring about Dixie as a heroine, a petite female character up against male characters twice her size. But like Buffy, Dixie is flawed. And it is this imperfection of emotion that gives Dixie depth and the story its conflict.

Teenage girls will especially relate to the nature of crushes and infatuations, and Korean girls will relate to the importance of maintaining the traditions of one’s heritage. Another winner from Mike Carey and the art team of “My Faith in Frankie.”

While the writing is nothing groundbreaking, the imagination of friends Ivy and Bean are those that six to ten year-olds can definitely related to. During a gathering of the informal gymnastics club, Ivy avoids performing cartwheels by pointing out something she sees outside the entrance of the girls’ bathroom. It’s white and wispy…A ghost! Pretty soon most of the kids at school hear of Ivy’s ghost and she and Bean must expel it. With medium print, a small trim size (6” x 7.5”) and cartoon-like gray illustrations scattered throughout, this easy chapter book seems perfectly designed for those growing out of the easy reader.

What do a sheep and a goat who are fenced in a small meadow (save for one loose board) talk about? Well, the outside world for a start; but also family, dreams, longing and happiness. A number of reviewers have appropriately likened Sheep and Goat to Frog and Toad. The wit and the message of these brief vignettes are subtle; and although the characters aren’t necessarily waiting, this work reminds me of Waiting for Godot in that profound realizations can be made in the mundaneness of life.

This simple, yet elegantly written and illustrated book shows just how a cat can grow on a person. David Roberts’ art has soft colors, yet is precisely outlined and quite expressive. Also commendable is Roberts’ contrast in layout from page to page, which is not jarring, but on the contrary, aides in expressing the sentiments of the narrative. Unity is created by repeating the following layout types: full page bleeds (or full page spread bleeds), three vertical panels, single character against white and multiple characters against white. An example of the effectiveness of this contrast in illustration occurs at the very beginning. The story opens with a two page spread of houses in a rainstorm, muted colors except for the figure of a golden cat walking up the porch. The very next two page spread shows Mrs. Crump on one side of the the gutter and the cat on the other, looking wet and forlorn. They both appear isolated against the bright white background, this illustration more empty compared to the fullness of the one preceding it.

Just as David Roberts’ illustrations are carefully crafted and laid out, so are Linda Smith’s words. At first glance, they seem simple. However, Smith’s use of repetition to show how Mrs. Crump tries to convince herself that she does not want a cat is poetic. While Mrs. Crump says one thing, other details in the writing reveal that Mrs. Crump really feels something else. And in combination with the illustrations, this makes for an incredibly smart and touching picture book.

Talking about death can be difficult for anyone, but this is especially true for those who need to talk to children about death. According to the note at the beginning of The Purple Balloon, when children are asked to draw how they feel once they’ve become aware that they are dying, they tend to draw a purple or blue balloon floating free. Author/illustrator Chris Raschka expands upon this notion, depicting people as translucent watercolor balloons against textured watercolor backgrounds. His words are simple and straightforward and yet poetic in their repetition. In few words, Raschka lays out the truth: “Dying is hard work.” At the same time he mentions the support system available, including family, friends, neighbors… In combination with his poetic words, Raschka’s use of soft hues evokes a calming, peaceful mood. At the end of the story, he also includes a list of what one can do to help a dying friend. A recommended choice for aiding adults in talking about this difficult subject with their children.

In “From Pictures to Words: A Book About Making a Book,” illustrator Janet Stevens is a character in her own story, where she attempts to create a picture book with the help of her characters Koala Bear, Cat and Rhino. Throughout the book, Janet’s creations are rendered in colorful, yet soft hues while Janet’s depiction is in shades of gray. This choice in style helps to separate reality from idea. For a book published in 1995, the frequent use of word balloons and panels allude to the current trend of graphic picture book publications and of picture books themselves adopting comic book characteristics. For the most part, the use of comic book elements in the story appropriately emphasizes the storyboarding necessary in creating a picture book. However, words outside panels that reiterate the same points found within panels tend to disrupt the flow of the story; and Janet Steven’s words have little rhythm or poetry to them, instead reading simply as expository text. Overall, this book is good as a reference for those interested in teaching children about the process of creating a picture book. However the elements of art and language don’t quite fit together seamlessly.

My advanced copy of this graphic novel says that I shouldn’t quote or review this without comparing it to the final version of the book…but I must say one thing. This Rocks! :) I will definitely be back with a more in-depth review. This is published by DC Comics new line of graphic novels aimed at teenage girls. You can read all about Minx in this Publisher’s Weekly article: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6435455.html

All I can say? Excitement! What a wonderful way to get girls into the graphic novel format. :)

Criss Cross tells the story of a group of young teenagers in the suburbs grappling with issues of self-discovery, crushes, and basically, growing up. The story is told from multiple points of view (third person limited omniscient) and is at times aided by demonstrative illustrations. While Criss Cross contains bits of insight and ingenuity, such as the chapter where two of the characters invent haikus about their senior classmates and the chapter where a character discovers live music that inspires a foray into guitar playing, it works mainly as a character study. And while one can argue that novels need not have strong plotting to work as a piece, the characters and message of Criss Cross are neither compelling nor strong enough for the book to hold its own.

First published in the United States in 2003, Taiwanese import On My Way to Buy Eggs is a Hsin Yi Picture Book Award winner (this was award created to support local Taiwanese picture book authors and illustrators). At a glance, there is something rather unassuming about the book, whose cover is the color of a brown lunch, or better yet, grocery bag. Flipping through the construction paper weight pages, one sees similarly mute colors. Still, there is something about the use of shape, shadow and delicate lines of this story that makes it visually appealing. The typeface, although sans serif, is quite elegant in its variation in weight and reminiscent of Asian calligraphy. The end pages are detailed with Taiwanese neighborhood facades.

The story itself follows a young girl, Shau-yu, on her trip to the neighborhood store to purchase eggs for her father. It is a story both universal and culturally revealing. Shau-yu does many things that children do; she plays and pretends. She follows a cat’s shadow while it walks on the roof. She peeks in a blue marble and the world turns blue. She pretends to be her mother when she talks to the shopkeeper. And yet there are details that reveal much about Taiwanese culture. For instance, the blue color of the marble is compared to the color of cats’ eyes. Assuming that most Taiwanese have brown eyes, this is an interesting analogy. Also, Shau-yu mentions to the shopkeeper that she needs eggs for making fried rice, which is certainly a more typical Taiwanese use for eggs. At the end of the story, there is a note from the American publisher, explaining the significance of traditional neighborhood stores in Taiwanese culture.

While the combination of universal and Taiwanese makes this book an excellent choice for introducing younger children to another culture, it is ultimately the depiction of a child’s imagination that makes this story so appealing. In point of fact, judges of the Hsin Yi Picture Book Awards believed that this book would “make children feel there is endless happiness, humor and warmth in their everyday lives.” Though at first its muted colors may not seem to indicate this, On My Way to Buy Eggs does indeed bring warmth and humor to a topic that otherwise would be rather ordinary, even mundane.

I briefly met author Walter Dean Myers today at a Multicultural Children’s Book Festival. Though we only chatted briefly, Myers expressed his interest in writing a story on this topic because of the large number of youth he witnessed in the detention system.