A Cabinet Carved With Magic

With an alluring setting, a feisty and believable heroine, and resonant language that lingers like dark honey, Anne Nesbet has concocted a potent coming-of-age story with her debut novel, The Cabinet of Earths.

Against her will, 12-year-old Maya Davidson has left her comfortable life in California to accommodate her parents. Of course her dad, a scientist, would accept the one-year offer to work in Paris, even if it comes from the strangely named “Society of Philosophical Chemistry.” After all, her artistic mom has roots in France and longs to spend time there. And who knows how long mom’s cancer will be in remission –  if, in fact, it actually is.

Maya doesn’t know the city of Paris, but it seems to know her. Just across from her little brother’s new school, a bronze door handle shaped like a salamander seems to wink at her, and above the door, a carved face eerily resembles her. Inside that strange stone mansion lives a violet-eyed man named Henri de Fourcroy, who, it turns out, is a distant relation, both older and more dangerous than he appears.

What does this elegant man have to do with her dull Cousin Louise, who seems oddly invisible? What makes her brother James so charming? What is the nature of charm and beauty and inheritance? What does freedom entail? Maya’s questions, so attuned to adolescent soul-searching, will lead her to pursue her Parisian roots and will land her before that Cabinet of Earths, glittering with bottles that contain magic rooted in family greed, jealousy, and betrayal. There, in the dark home of another distant relative, who also claims to be Henri de Fourcroy, she beholds glints of her own destiny:

“. . . All at once the world went very still. She was floating; she was underwater: all the room’s sound was replaced by a throbbing hum, light streaking slowly away from everything it touched. She stretched one hand out (the air was as thick as syrup; her arm moved with the slow grace of an aquatic plant) and tried to say something, but her voice was gone, too.
……Maya…..
The cabinet itself was calling to her . . .”

Or is her new friend Valko right in assuming she is simply giving free rein to her imagination? The cabinet promises to reveal the source of the youthful appearance of the violet-eyed Henri and of other Parisians. It might also be the key to saving her mom’s life. Unlike the cabinet’s current keeper, will Maya be strong enough to preserve her identity and resist the cabinet’s power?

Inside this jewel of a novel, situated at the intersection of science and magic, you’ll find yourself entranced by its hypnotic, memorable images … its engaging young characters …  and by its eloquent exploration of the nature of loss, loveliness, and loyalty.

See also …

Four Cheers for Spring

A quiet little beauty is a highlight of the season’s picture books. In her debut book, Julie Fogliano gives us a fresh and lyrical approach to the long-awaited spring.

A small boy with a red cap and scarf surveys his brown world and when it is time, plucks seeds from the bag in his red wagon. Soon the rain comes, “and it is still brown,/but a hopeful, very possible sort of brown” that gradually makes way for seedlings. The boy senses

“a greenish hum
that you can only hear
if you put your ear to the ground
and close your eyes”

Erin Stead’s tender, humorous illustrations, created with woodblock prints and pencils, show not only the boy, but his dog, a turtle, and a bunny with their ears to the ground, listening for that special hum of life.  And beneath the dirt, mice and squirrels, worms and ants join them in listening. I can’t imagine illustrations that might more perfectly enhance the hopeful, patient spirit of Fogliano’s poetic words. One wonders if Ms. Stead will land another Caldecott so soon after her 2011 award for A Sick Day for Amos McGee.

And now, in the spirit of that nature-loving child, let’s find a tire swing and enjoy the sweet spring day. We’ve waited long enough.

More Spring Books

Shades of St. Patrick

Already the near-spring is bringing us shades of St. Patrick and the greening of fields and forests. With a hey and a ho, (Can you tell I’ve joined a group of madrigal singers?) I’m ready to open crisp, new books and take fresh peeks at old ones.

Congratulations to Bob Brooks for his new ebook, Tales from the Glades of Ballymore, a sweet fantasy that features an assortment of animals who create their own nurturing community. The gentle novel, set in 1891 in the Irish countryside, follows four seasons of their lives near a pond. From the kite-flying contest in March to the sustained project of building a boat to the hilarious tunnel-digging project for Mrs. Porcupine’s garden, the residents turn to each other for help — or at least for a humorous diversion.

Led by wise old Bartholomew Owl, the animals display a range of personalities and talents, ranging from weather forecasting to delivering messages. In between mishaps and a mystery involving a letter from the past, they learn the value of empathy and of working together for the common good. (You can join them by clicking on the title above to buy a copy for your Kindle or laptop.)

Tales from Old Ireland, one of Barefoot’s lovely compilations, offers a stirring selection of seven folktales for ages 8 to 12. Belfast-born storyteller Malachy Doyle employs a lilting, sprightly style that does justice to these strange and wondrous tales. The collection, available with CDs, includes the sad “Children of Lir,” the colorful Irish version of Cinderella (“Fair, Brown, and Trembling”) and the wise “Lusmore and the Fairies,” which illustrates the value of kindness and respect . The final story, featuring the legendary hero Finn Mac Cool, even includes the appearance of St. Patrick himself. Thanks to the Irish monks of the seventh and eighth centuries, we can still savor such wild, old Celtic tales.

For younger readers (ages 6 to 8), pick up Cynthia DeFelice’s
One Potato, Two Potato. DeFelice, an acclaimed writer and storyteller, has taken a likable Chinese folktale and transported it to Ireland. This charming tale about a poor couple finding a magic wishing pot but not letting it rule (or ruin) their lives is a timely and witty way to teach young ones the importance of simplicity and gratitude. One Potato, Two Potato is a treat to read aloud to young children and will generate interesting discussions of values.

And here’s Celtic Thunder in concert. Enjoy!

One Sparkling Lullaby

“As rain falls over the ark at night,
As water swirls in the dark of night,
As thunder crashes the seams of night,
As Noah tosses in dreams of night,
As restless animals prowl at night,
As they pace and roar and growl at night,
Naamah sings all through the night.”

Naamah and the Ark at Night is a lullaby that aims for starry perfection. Susan Campbell Bartolletti, acclaimed for her nonfiction (Hitler Youth won the 2006 Newbery Honor), has reached back in time to imagine the significant role Noah’s wife might have played. Employing the Arabic poetic structure of a ghazal, requiring couplets to end in the same word, she has created a simple but powerful bedtime poem.

Bartoletti’s lyrical work comes to life with the bright collages of cut paper and watercolors by Holly Meade (winner of a Caldecott Honor). Meade’s sense of movement echoes the gently rocking, repetitive nature of the author’s text. She infuses the book’s large pages with interesting perspectives, humorous details, and a sense of life’s harmony. Two by two, the owls nestle, the monkey curl their tails symmetrically, the zebras rest their heads on each other’s backs.

The author notes how, as a child, she would play with a wooden Noah’s ark whenever she visited her grandmother. As beloved as that Bible story is, the role of Noah’s wife has been overlooked. Rabbinical legends, though, tell that his wife was called Naamah (pronounced with three syllables as “Na-ah-mah” or “Nay-ah-mah”), a variation of Naomi, which means “sweet” or “pleasant.”  Some legends describe another Naamah, whose name meant “great singer.” Those interpretations, Bartoletti notes, led her to imagine how the woman could have inspired and comforted those on the ark.

Winner of the Sydney Taylor Honor Award and the Charlotte Zolotow Honor,  Naamah and the Ark at Night is a remarkable little beauty.

Also see …

A Mesmerizing Humming Room

Twelve-year-old Roo Fanshaw craves small places, dark spaces, the unlikely spots that escape detection by adults. That predilection saves her life when her parents die in a drug deal gone awry. It has also stunted her growth.

Her crouched days beneath the trailer end when the orphan is shuttled first to a foster family and then to a rich, eccentric uncle she has never met. With a plot that parallels Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic The Secret Garden, Ellen Potter plants her story on a bleak island called Cough Rock, in the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York. The author conjures an evocative gothic setting that, in its isolation, its associations with death, and its mysteries, becomes a mesmerizing place to watch a troubled protagonist to grow.

The stark landscape of The Humming Room mirrors the girl’s state of mind, as both are marred by neglect and grief. Uncle Emmett’s rambling estate was once a tuberculosis sanitarium and the last place some children ever knew. Soon after she arrives, Roo’s aloof uncle leaves her in the care of his employee Ms. Valentine and warns her the East Wing is off limits. Roo’s new home contains many closed-up rooms, just as she herself has walled off her own tortuous secrets from others. Again and again she hears inexplicable cries in the night. Do they come from the ghosts of those who died there?

Readers will relish the author’s skillful and evocative unraveling of Cough Rock’s mysteries. In the process, they will meet a young heroine who will linger long in their thoughts. Like Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden, Roo gradually sends out tendrils of new growth. Led by her sensitivity to nature—she likes to put her ear to the ground to listen to the sounds of life there—and her curiosity, she will track a tuneless humming she keeps hearing and discover not only a cousin, Phillip, but also a domed garden in a hidden part of the house.

Magic flickers in and out of the novel, especially in its associations with water. Roo encounters a wild boy the natives believe is a kind of fairy. Jack, like Dickon in the classic novel, is wedded to the forces of nature, in this case, to the unpredictable river he haunts. He is the first to assist Roo in restoring the shriveled garden. In time, she decides to share her secret with Phillip, who senses his deceased mother’s presence in the atrium where her native Brazilian plants once flourished. The rejuvenation of that meaningful space ushers in a sense of healing for Roo, Phillip, and, eventually, his mournful father.

Resplendent with the vivid hues of its characters’ hopes and sorrows, The Humming Room gives young readers a wondrous tale that does justice to its evergreen inspiration.

Reprinted with permission from the New York Journal of Books.

Also, see my post on The Secret Garden and consider these lovely books, all great to read to girls ages 8 to 10 …

It’s a Beautiful Day to READ ALOUD!

“I hear the echo of a voice, reading aloud to the nations…

Then I realize it’s not only a voice reading aloud to the nations

But it’s voices reading aloud all over the world…”

- The World Read Aloud Day

by Lesley, from Kenya, LitWorld Friend, Poet and Librarian

Whether you’re in NYC today for the 2012 festivities or snug in your own home, treat yourself and your family to an enriching read-aloud time! It’s a beautiful day for a book … or two … or … three … .

Related articles

• Reading Aloud Builds Better Writers (twowritingteachers.wordpress.com)
• World Read Aloud Day (thereaderonline.co.uk)

Wilma Rudolph Beat the Odds

Who says true stories can’t be more thrilling than fiction? Whip out Kathleen Krull’s acclaimed picture-book biography Wilma Unlimited for a rousing read-aloud experience for all.

Many children don’t know Wilma Rudolph made history by winning three gold medals for running in the 1960 Olympics in Rome. That won’t stop them from cheering for the athlete who contracted polio at the age of 5 and was told she would likely never walk again.

Born in 1940, in Clarksville, TN, Wilma was the youngest of 19 brothers and sisters. She defied others’ low expectations of her by relying on her own strong will. Not only did she manage to shed her leg braces and walk, she went on to play high-school basketball. That’s how a track and field coach discovered her talent and offered her a college scholarship, thereby enabling her to become the first in her family to attend college.

Neither physical hardships, poverty, nor racism could hold back Wilma Rudolph. Enhanced by striking illustrations by David Diaz, this story can’t help but inspire others and show how perseverance can lead to triumph. Why not get this Women’s History Month off to a running start with this winner?

Author Kathleen Krull Provides Tips on Using Biographies in the Classroom.

Check out the 2nd annual KidsLit CelebratesWomen’s History Month. 

and see …