Kids fall for reading> Bangor librarians offer autumn’s best books

Editor’s Note: Each month, the children’s librarians at Bangor Public Library offer a selection of old classics and new favorites designed to encourage reading and provoke thought in young readers. The books may be purchased at local bookstores or found at your local library.

Young adults

WALK TWO MOONS by Sharon Creech, Harper Collins, 1994, 280 pages, $16.

Once in a great while a children’s book is published that not only entertains, it enriches the spirit. This 1995 Newberry winner is one such book.

It is the story of 13-year-old Salamanca’s journey from Euclid, Ohio, to Lewiston, Idaho. She travels with her charmingly peculiar grandparents along the same route that her mother took the previous year when she left home unexpectedly. Salamanca feels an urgency to arrive in Lewiston on her mother’s birthday, like a charm to bring her back home. To abate her anxiety, she tells her grandparents the story of her friend, Phoebe, whose mother also left home. It is through this telling that Salamanca sees her own story through different eyes.

Throughout the novel, Creech injects the spirituality and beauty of nature and the importance it can have on people’s lives. And while dealing with the heavy subjects of loss and grief, the author’s writing bubbles with humor and hope. It gives the term “closure” a good name.

Grades 4-6

WATER SCIENCE, WATER FUN: GREAT THINGS TO DO WITH H2O by Noel and Phyllis Fiarotta, Sterling Publishing Co., N.Y. 1996 80 pages, $17.95.

Serious, fun, mysterious, necessary for existence. Water. With this introduction begins a fantastic “recipe” book for water activities. All kinds of scientific experiments, arts and crafts, games, and recipes are in one of three sections — water is a liquid at rest; water is a liquid in motion; water is a solid, crystal and vapor.

This book is so easy to follow! All the project pages are set up the same way: A water property, then an explanation of that property with vocabulary in bold print, followed by the “recipe.” Also included are a checklist of items needed, the directions, the results, all accompanied by a colorful illustration.

This book is a welcome addition to home or classroom.

Grades 1-3

SODY SALLYRATUS, retold and illustrated by Teri Sloat, Dutton Children’s Books, N.Y. 1997 36 pages, $15.99.

Looking for a great read-aloud for older children? “Sody Sallyratus” can fill the order if it’s fun and participation you’re looking for. The “chippity-chitterin”‘ pet squirrel will not settle down ’til he gets some freshly made bakin’ soda biscuits. Because she’s fresh out of sody sallyratus (better known as baking soda), the old woman sends the boy, the girl and the old man, one by one, to the store to fetch some. Needless to say, none of them, including the old woman, who finally decides she must go herself, returns with the sody sallyratus, thanks to the hungry, big, black bear who eats it all up. Finally, it is left to the squirrel to right the situation by outsmarting that big black bear, so the mouth-watering biscuits can be baked and eaten by the whole family.

This humorous Appalachian tale, with Sloat’s lively text, becomes a real page-turner in anticipation of the repetitious events of the story, especially each time the big black bear appears. Because of the tale’s comical nature and Sloat’s expressive illustrations, the readers and listeners will find the big black bear most appealing even if he is grumbly and eats people. And, after having read the story, the reader’s sense of smell and taste will be aroused, tempting them into making some of their own hot, delicious biscuits served with melted butter and honey dripping off them, by using the “Old Woman’s Bakin’ Soda Biscuits” recipe at the end of the book. But, they should just be hopin’ that they’re not “fresh out of sody sallyratus!”

Pre-school to kindergarten

THE SQUIGGLE by Carole Lexa Schaefer, illustrated by Pierr Morgan, Crown Publishers Inc., N.Y. 1996, $17.

A young girl finds a piece of string as she and her classmates walk to the park. A playful romp ensues. Seizing the string, she envisions a dragon dance, great wall, a circus acrobat and more. She then flamboyantly communicates her flights of fancy to her classmates and teacher. The fun continues. The earthy warmth and simple lines of the “real” drawings and the dramatic luminescence of the gouache “imagined” scenes combine pleasurably with the precise text to evoke a childlike sense of awe and make-believe. The simplicity of line play bursts from the oatmeal-speckled pages, KA-BOOM! Buoyant and satisfying, “The Squiggle” applauds and invites creativity in delightful fashion. Readers and lookers will be charmed.