Deborah KerbelReseñas

This book would be a good book for primary or intermediate readers
This book is about two neighbors and their different cultures. It goes into the neighbors learning about each other cultures and growing in friendship.
This would be a good book to have in a free read library as it provides new perspectives on different cultures.

This book is great for students at a primary level. It is about a young boy with a hearing impairment. The book has few words as we follow the boy and his mother to their neighbor's house. Once he gets there, he finds a friend under the table. They share cookies and begin to color together. I would introduce this book to my classroom to show my students what it is like to live in a world where you can hear or understand words from others.

This book was written in present tense and first person, which took me a little getting used to, but it was well suited to the story. There are two protagonists and the author does an excellent job of giving them their own voices: if I didn’t check who was narrating any particular chapter, it would be obvious from the writing which character was providing the current point of view.

There are two ways in which the portrayal of science and atheists bothered me. The main characters are supposedly atheist, but they really just substitute Newton for God and rever him in a vague and unsettling way. The main conflict essentially boils down to the idea that farming genetically modified crops is dangerous and it would be better to go back to traditional farming, which is in direct conflict with real life scientific consensus.

The rest of the science was handled well, accepting of course that the book is sci fi and not speculative fiction. And the plot of separation and reconciliation between the siblings was uplifting and positive. I would recommend this book to young readers, especially those who have an interest in trivia or bugs (one of the girls is fond of fun facts), or those who are interested in a story about how two very different siblings can learn to get along better. Adult readers may find the plot too simple and straightforward for their taste.

As a final note, the main characters have a great deal of interesting devices and apps, many of which are realistic (like smartwatches that monitor the kids and give health advice), and I loved the clever names for these.

A climate change science fiction book about a set of identical twin girls, in which one girl disappears into a sinkhole. The other twin searches for her missing twin, because you can't be twins with only one girl.
My girls really liked this one, the boys, not so much. But it is a charming story. I recommend it for tweens (my boys are preteens).

Slow Moe by Deborah Kerbel is a cute book about tolerance.

Ah, the metaphor. The little brother in this story is super slow, a.k.a. a snail! She loves her brother, but man can he be annoying!

This book is super cute and a great way to educate siblings about tolerance and learning to live with the little annoyances of life. I love the use of words like lollygagger, because it's a funny word that is also so true! I don't think all age groups will get the metaphor of the brother not actually being a snail, but I still think this is an excellent book. I think a younger audience will love the colours and fun of the story, but grade two and up might understand the snail reference.

The illustrations are also super cute, bright and colourful. That made for a very appealing book!

Three out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orca Books for sending me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

This is one of those books that takes us out of the bubble of pretending that animals don't die every day in service to humans -- as test subjects, as food, as collateral damage -- and while I don't rejoice in that knowledge, I am grateful for it. I was not expecting this when I picked up the book. I appreciate that it is a clear explanation about the history of Diabetes and the discovery of Insulin. I also appreciate that it's a tremendously good book about the history of medicine. I appreciate that it doesn't shy away from tough subjects, and that Fred mourned his test subjects. It's almost more of a picture book than a graphic novel, so I don't think of it as a particularly deep level of narrative or character development.

This is a very brief, attractive, oversize nonfiction book for older children that memorializes eight “endlings”—the last known survivors of their species. The diverse animals remembered were each known to humans—from Martha, the last passenger pigeon, who died in 1914 to Toughie, the last Rabbs’ fringe-limbed tree frog, who died in 2016. Most died in captivity. Habitat loss due to deforestation, pesticide use, pollution from industry or agriculture is the most common cause of species extinction. However, some animals have died out because humans introduced alien species to unique and sensitive habitats. Then, of course, there was overhunting.

Overall, the text is short on details and raises many questions. The vocabulary is relatively sophisticated, making the book suitable for kids 8 to 12. Included within are Aimee Van Drimmelen’s colourful portraits of the animals, which appear to be rendered in watercolour. Each profile provides the creature’s scientific name and begins with a rhyming quatrain. I honestly didn’t care for these snappy little rhymes, which seemed trite and even irreverent. I felt that, if anything, the poems trivialized the animals’ lives. Here’s the one about Toughie, the tree frog:

This handsome endling rests in peace.
Oh, fine amphibian!
Sweet Toughie has now hopped away
into oblivion.

Really? Why could the author not have composed something about the special qualities of the species to which the animal belonged? If anything, that would have underscored her message about the importance of the animals’ lives.

Kerbel ends with some sobering details and statistics. She lists thirteen creatures that may be extinct by 2050 and states that in less than a hundred years 50 percent of all species on Earth could be gone forever.

To her credit, she provides a list of seven practical things kids can do, from recycling and planting trees or habitat gardens to reading about the issues and talking about them with friends, classmates, and parents.

I think there’s value in brief books like this that don’t overload children with information, and to see individual named creatures does have power. I hate to quote him, but in this case Stalin’s observation, “One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic,” really does apply.

Thank you to Net Galley and Orca Books for providing me with a digital advance reader copy, which I compared with a final hardback copy.½

Warning: contains a lot of ideas that may be scary or produce anxiety in some kids. Read it first before sharing!

[spoilers]

Beautiful and affecting story about a child who becomes obsessed with drawing dogs to the point where it interferes with her life and schoolwork and concerns her family and teachers. When confronted about it she runs away and hides. She becomes frightened and draws more dogs to self-comfort. She hides overnight and is found the next morning. Some magical realism at the end.

I think this has the potential to be a good book to introduce some difficult psychological concepts and ideas to older children. But I don't think it's a good book for small or anxious children. After reading it I decided not to share it with my girls.

This book was so heartfelt and made me jump for joy. I would have never known how the diabetes treatment was discovered if I had not read this and I can relate to it because my grandpa was diabetic before he passed away.
Fred Bantling worked as a surgeon in a children's hospital in the 1920s when there was no cure for diabetes and it was considered a terminal illness. He opened his practice after his residency was up and things were slow so he taught at a school (college/university) where he was required to teach a lesson about the pancreas. The more research he did for this lesson the more he got an idea of what the pancreas's purpose was and what was in the pancreas. He then got an idea to perform a study/experiment on a dog by removing the pancreas from a dog extracting what every was inside that related to diabetes and injecting it with the substance. As the study continued he ended up picking up a stray dog and using her for the experiment but Fred was attached to her. He named the Stray dog Marjorie and she ended up living 70 days without a pancreas but sadly had to die because they did not have enough medicine to keep her alive and help the children with Diabetes.

Progress is not always a good thing, especially when it tears down the neighbors houses and leaves your house in a land of concrete. But dreaming big is always possible, and usually if you dream big enough, a solution to a problem will arise.½

Beware this book is in FRENCH!. I wasn't paying attention when I downloaded my galley. I used to be able to read french pretty well in high school so I really enjoyed putting my brain to work on this (even though I did have to look up a few words). The story was pretty cute and I loved the illustrations. I hope they put it out in english as well.

Finch is an eleven year old girl whose father died of cancer during last year. Her mom is struggling with depression and she feels like she has lost both her parents. Her brother, Harrison, has a very nasty friend who does some things to Finch which could be considered criminal. The person Finch considered her best friend has dumped her for someone more popular and she finds out that she has the same teacher she had the previous year and treated her very badly. She has trouble in school, especially in writing and is very frustrated. She has a dream that someday, she will grow feathers and be able to fly based upon a story about a feather that had grown out of her neck when she was younger. Whenever she is stressed, she rubs the scar from the feather that was plucked from her. As she tries to deal with all these issues, a new family moves next door with two girls and Finch tries to befriend the older one, Pinky. The family is from Punjab and the father is fearful of the girls going to public school or becoming friends with anyone. He thinks they will be teased and/or treated badly or worse, become Americanized. Finch does not give up on her new neighbour and they eventually find a way to become friends. Finch and Pinky both need to find themselves, develop some confidence and stand up for themselves. Through a couple of situations, the girls finally realize they can be friends, be who and what they want to be and stand up for what is right. This book was a compelling read and I could not put it down. I believe that middle grade students will enjoy this book as well as learn from it.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The kindergartens were really interested in the story. They thought it was make-believe because the sun always comes up and goes down here.

I liked hoe there was additional information throughout the book about the sun.

Great book.

Thank you for choosing this as one of the finalists @forestofreading @ola @deborahkerbel

The wonderful My Deal With The Universe by Deborah Kerbel was one of my vacation reads this year and it was absolutely perfect. Published by Scholastic Canada it's the story of Daisy and her brother Jack and their house, lovingly referred to as The Jungle.

Daisy and Jack are twelve year old twins, living with their parents, Nate and Frieda, in a house that is so covered in vines it looks "like the plant version of Cousin Itt". It's the end of the school year and summer is just beginning. Things are seemingly looking down for Daisy. Jack, who is in remission, has had to go back to the doctors for some mysterious appointments. Daisy's best friend Willow is headed off to camp for the entire summer and the miserable neighbours are making life difficult again. With unexpected friendships, a lot of love, and a whole lot more strength, Daisy soon discovers the power of being different.

This story is full of colourful and eclectic characters. There is the house which stands as a character in its own right. From the evil Pitt's to biker Grappa and everyone in between, there is not a "normal" character in this story making it accessible and relatable to a wide audience. Some of my favourite parts are the swear words Daisy has created for herself: "fajizzling" just love it! Deborah Kerbel has absolutely nailed the voice in this story. Daisy comes across as any twelve year old girl, with her own language and fierceness. At it's heart My Deal With The Universe is a touching story about owning your differences and appreciating the colourfulness of the world we all share. Without the colourful characters we meet everyday, our lives would be dull and unimaginative. Through Daisy, Deborah Kerbel show us it's okay to let the world know our true selves and to be proud of who we are and where we come from, whether that's in a perfectly manicured property or an overgrown jungle. Put My Deal With The Universe on your summer reading list.

Sun Dog by Deborah Kerbel and Suzanne Del Rizzo is a beautifully illustrated, impeccably written tale about a little sled dog pup who dreams of running with the big dogs.

Juno loves her boy and loves to play, especially in her home in the land of the midnight sun. Although she is little, she has a big, fierce dog on the inside. When a polar bear threatens her boy, Juno doesn’t back down. She puts herself in harms way, to protect her boy. With a little help from the big dogs next door they force the polar bear back onto the tundra.

Sun Dog is a lovely little story that will speak to all little children, who are just desperate to be bigger and older. One of the most common things I hear in my day job as a preschool teacher and mom is “I wish I was a grownup!” Juno is every child who is clamouring to have more responsibility and autonomy. Plus, she is just so darn cute! The text just rolls off the tongue and is written in a way that will make reading it aloud so easy and fun right from the first reading. Children will love and be inspired by the plasticine illustrations by Suzanne Del Rizzo. All of the illustrations are so vibrant and full of incredible details and mixes of colours to capture the beautiful sky in the far north.

Family trivia fun with classic Christmas songs