

The greatest amount of conversation anyone has takes place silently, inside your own head. When we aren’t speaking out loud, it hardly means our mind is shut off. Even when we sleep, the mind is working.

We must make countless decisions every day, thinking about those decisions without necessarily speaking the words. We silently wonder, question, marvel, and seek to find additional information that will assist us in this business of life. Sorrow, humor, dislikes, attractions, embarrassment, and joy are often things we experience without speaking about them.

Books provide a tremendous source of the same multilayered stimulation for conversations in our mind. Books can remind you of things, can promote empathetic thoughts, and can teach things we’d never thought of. All of this, and so much more, found in the pages of a good book, such as those reviewed below.

Feed a child’s mind — read.

 

BOOKS TO BORROW

“The Three Questions,” written and illustrated in color by Jon J Muth, Scholastic Press, 32 pages

Read aloud: age 6-7 and older.

Read yourself: age 8 and older.

There once was a boy named Nikolai. He wanted to be a good person, but didn’t always know the right way to go about that. Nikolai felt that if he could find answers to his three questions, then he would always know what to do.

Nikolai’s friends tried to help him answer his questions, giving their best advice, but Nikolai wasn’t satisfied. Finally, he decided to ask Leo, a wise old turtle. “When is the best time to do things? Who is the most important one? What is the right thing to do?” Nikolai asked. Rather than answering Nikolai directly, Leo patiently waited for the answers to reveal themselves to the boy, and they did.

Based on a short story by Leo Tolstoy, “The Three Questions” is Jon J Muth’s adaptation for a younger audience, providing a powerful and important message about compassion, seeking the truth and having faith in yourself.

 

Librarian’s Choice

Library: DeHoff Memorial Branch Library, Stark County District Library, 216 Hartford Ave. SE, Canton

Executive Director: Tena Wilson

Branch Manager: Linda Bennett

Choices this week: “National Geographic Kids Brain Games: the Mind-Blowing Science of Your Amazing Brain,” by Jennifer Swanson; “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” by Judith Viorst; “Becoming President,” by Michael Rajczak; "The Very Quiet Cricket,” by Eric Carle

 

BOOKS TO BUY

“Questions Asked,” by Jostein Gaarder, illustrated by Akin Düzakin, translated by Don Bartlett, Elsewhere Editions, 2017, 72 pages, $14.00 hardcover

Read aloud: age 8-adult

Read yourself: age 8-adult.

A little boy is on a journey where he is asking questions about what it means to be human and what is life. Exploring questions about memory, time, the past and the future, loss, fear, dreams, friendship and more, Questions Asked is extraordinarily profound and encourages readers to seek answers to their own questions.

Perfectly complemented by the beautiful illustrations by Akin Düzakin, author Jostein Gaarder provides a deeply philosophical work that will resonate with readers both young and old.

 

“Beyond the Bright Sea,” by Lauren Wolk, Dutton, 2017, 293 pages, $16.99 hardcover

Read aloud: age 10 and older.

Read yourself: age 10 and older.

As a newborn, Crow was cast adrift in a small vessel. Her tiny boat washed up on the rocky shore of an island where Osh found her and took her into his home and heart. Crow’s life with Osh was simple but filled with love and fishing and lessons from their neighbor, Miss Maggie. Crow was happy and content, but when she turned twelve, Crow had insatiable desire to know her own history. Where did she really come from? Why do the local islanders keep their distance from her? Why was she cast out to sea?

Crow’s longing for answers set into motion a journey of far greater magnitude than she, Osh, and Miss Maggie could have imagined. Fraught with danger and discoveries, Crow ultimately comes to understand what family, bravery, and belonging really means.

A sweeping work self-discovery and love, Beyond the Bright Sea is thought-provoking and pitch-perfect in every way.

 

Nationally syndicated, Kendal Rautzhan writes and lectures on children’s literature. She can be reached at kendal@sunlink.net

 
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