Joanne Schwartz (1)Critiques

Picture book about a little boy and his life by the sea. It goes through his day which included, getting out of bed, eating lunch, playing with his friend, supper time, and bedtime. It also highlights the boy's dad as an undersea coal miner.

This book was wonderful! It was visually and textually stunning. The story was simple, yet amazing. As an adult, I throughly enjoyed this book that I would set up for 1-2 graders. I would definitely have this book in my classroom.

Such a bleak and depressing look at life in a coal-mining town in Canada in the 1950s.

If you need an antidote afterward, try Homer Hickam Jr.'s Rocket Boys or the movie adapted from it, October Sky.

Legend

Reads like a poem, a perfect poem, about a day in the life of a boy from a coal mining town. His father goes to the mines; the boy plays outside. The illustrations of the boy by the glittering sea are juxtaposed with images of the father in a dark, oppressive underground tunnel.

The story includes the boy visiting the seaside grave of his grandfather (also a coal miner). The pictures lead the reader to believe that the tunnel the father was working in may have collapsed (but the father does come home unharmed at the end of the day). The book ends with the boy revealing, quietly but dramatically, that he will one day join his father in the mines.

So I think there is a subtle message in the book that older children and adults will pick up on. I feel like the message is about recognizing the bittersweet nature of growing up in a coal mining town by the sea. On the one hand, there's beauty and simplicity and stability (at least there was in the 1950s). On the other, there's the fact that it's a dangerous profession and the boy's future is already decided for him.

I can see this book as an ode to hardworking coal mining families. At the same time the story acknowledges that it may not be what a person would choose, if they had a choice.

The time period and the specific location are never mentioned in the text, but the illustrations subtly hint at the story's 1950s setting (which is confirmed in an end note.)

The main character's recitations of how things are and repetition of his dad's location and task foreshadow the text's closing lines: "One day, it will be my turn. / I'm a miner's son. / In my town, that's the way it goes."

The art style is not much to my taste, although I do think it works much better for depicting the sea than people. Some of the spreads of the sea are fantastic. If you want another view of it at another time of day, peek under the dust jacket.

A little boy enjoys a summer day by the sea, but thinks often of his father digging for coal underground, and how one day that will be his job as well.

I don't like this style of illustration; the muted colors, smudged blurry lines, and overall more somber tones. The story is so brilliant, however, I still have to give it a good rating. The rich vocabulary, simple but clear explanation of the day's activities, descriptive sentences, and a look into a mining town.½

This is an absolutely breathtaking book about a boy in a mining town describing his typical day, all the while his father is far below the beautiful, sunny sea, mining for coal. The illustrations in this book are beyond words. Illustration types vary from full spreads to vignettes to panels. One double page spread in particular depicts the sea with the sun shining down and it is amazing. This book is about the sacrifices people will make for their families and could be used to teach historical context of what it would be like to grow up in a generation of miners and what mining coal entails.

A boy learns to understand his life and his father’s career as a coal miner. This book features beautiful poetry and the boy in the story is able to recognize his own self-awareness through the images all around him. He deals with the passing of his grandfather, and looks at the experience through the eyes of a wise child.

1st Grade
I enjoyed this book and know it would be a great way to effectively implement the questioning strategy. The young boy's story is moving and the absence of names makes it easy for anyone to place themselves into the story.

Town Is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz (Author), Sydney Smith (Illustrator) is a beautiful children's picture book with wonderful illustrations. I loved the feeling and views of the sea tough less enthralled with the illustrations of mining under the sea. Those are sort of depressing as meant to be. I heartily recommend this book for children and for adults like me who are inspired by picture books for young children.

After a difficult and haunting winter full of strange noises and the disappearance of many of his fellows, Inuit hunter Quannguaviniq sets out one spring day for a walk, only to meet a tuurngaq on his way. Knowing that he cannot defeat this evil spirit through the use of force, our hero feigns death, and is carried home as food by his enemy. Still feigning death, Quannguaviniq waits until the tuurngaq is sleeping, before making his move. But although he decapitates his adversary, the tuurngaq's wife gives chase as he escapes. How can Quannguaviniq defeat her...?

This Inuit pourquoi tale explaining how fog came to be - the tuurngaq's wife is tricked into drinking far more river water than she can hold, before exploding and forming the first mist - is apparently one of a number of similar variants from the Canadian Arctic region. The story, retold by Inuit elder and artist Quanaq Mikkigak and picture-book author Joanne Schwartz, is engaging, highlighting the importance of cunning in a hunter, and delivering an example of the triumph of brain over brawn. Children who enjoy somewhat spooky tales will definitely relish The Legend of the Fog, as will anyone who enjoys folktales. The artwork by Danny Christopher, an illustrator who also teaches art through the Nunavut Arctic College, contributes eerie visuals to the telling. Sometimes I found his figures a little flat, especially when Quannguaviniq is walking at the beginning of the tale, but at other times, as when our hero cautiously opens his eyes in the cave of the tuurngaq, the effect was quite dynamic. I really enjoyed this one, just as I have pretty much every book I have read from Inhabit Media, an Inuit-owned publisher based in Nunavut. I do wish that there was a glossary of Inuit terms included here, as there was in some of their other books. Leaving that quibble aside, this offered an enjoyable insight into Arctic life and culture, and an entertaining tale in its own right.

Lyrical text and a reassuring rhythm evoke the atmosphere of a seaside mining town, contrasting the sparkling beauty of the sea with the black depths of the mine.

Modern, urban take on an alphabet book, The photography in the text includes pictures of letters that are found in urban or city settings, often painted on walls, or buildings. The letters are included in both upper and lower case. One page contains the letter and word and then the opposite page contains the photography of the word.

There is no story in the book, but this text can be used to provide the alphabet and associated words in a different context that is often found in children's literature. This book can also be used in conjunction with a phonics lesson as the words selected include many of the basic concepts that young readers need to learn.½

I love this book because it uses a city and uses things that students do not normally think of having numbers to show them that numbers really are everywhere.

I loved the behind the scenes look of an old neighborhood grocer.

Anna Maria spends every Saturday helping her grandparents run their Italian neighborhood grocery store. Sequential story from morning until dusk about the details of her day. Great adjectives describe each task Anna performs. Lots of white space allows focus on detailed watercolors. This is the type of book I would have loved as a kid. Author and illustrator are librarians so it's no surprise it's good!

kids hated it