Erin McGill

Excerpt from a longer article:

Synergy: Exploring World War II

WORLD WAR II was a global conflict between two military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. From 1939-1945, many of the world’s countries fought on land, sea, and air killing an estimated 70-80 million people. Civilian populations were particularly hard hit. Many people were held in prison camps around the world.

To understand a concept, it’s useful to read a cluster of books related to a theme. Explore these recently published books for young people:

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WE ALSO SERVED by Erin McGill shares true stories of brave animals in the military along with other heroic tales. Designed for children, the brightly colored illustrations and short blocks of engaging text highlight the efforts of dogs and other animals who served on the front lines of World War II along with other eras. Each story concludes with a key word related to their service. ARC courtesy of Sourcebooks Explore, an imprint of Sourcebooks.… (mehr)

This book is a simple tribute to many of the animals who served with their country's armed forces in times of war, including two guide dogs who helped many in the towers disaster. There were the pigeon corps in WW1, a dog who became a POW in WW2, and even the British Camel corps. There are many specific animals who served and had to wait decades for their service to be recognized. This is a great book for all ages.
The illustrations by the author are fun, simple, colorful, and delightful.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to anyone, but especially to a school or your public library!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from SOURCEBOOKS Kids, Sourcebooks Explore via NetGalley. Thank you!… (mehr)

Sophie and Herb send away cereal box tops to get their free elephant. But, when he arrives, he has no name. What will his name be?
The author uses colorful, collage illustrations combined with rich language to create a simple story about the origins of our names. This book is recommended as a read aloud for children ages 3-7. The children will have fun trying to name the elephant. They will also be prompted to talk about how they got their names. It would work great with an “all about me” theme.… (mehr)

Herb the rabbit, tired of having his ears grabbed by Al the magician during his signature magic trick, decides to leave his job as magician's assistant, and look for another occupation. After considering the life of a wild rabbit - too insecure! - and a vegetable farmer - too much work! - he settles on pet rabbit. Answering an advertisement in the Carrot Chronicles, he meets Sophie, a little girl whose ideas of fun match his own...

This debut from author/illustrator Erin McGill - I believe she may have illustrated some other titles, but I Do Not Like Al's Hat is the first picture-book she has both written and illustrated - has an amusing premise, and quirky mixed media illustrations, so I was expecting to be utterly charmed by it. Unfortunately, something about it just didn't work for me. Perhaps I expected to find Herb a more endearing character, given the sympathy I felt at first for his poor ears? Having recently had to deal with the goldfish "fallout" from a magician's act - after using quite a few hapless creatures in his act, he abandoned them, instructing the staff at our store to flush them down the toilet** - I am keenly aware of the ways in which such performers misuse living creatures in their work. That said, I felt the narrative focus here was rather scattered, and that the story squandered the initial emotional involvement that the opening scene evoked. Whatever the case may be, although the story here wasn't a complete hit with me, I did find McGill's artwork appealing, and will be interested to see what she does in the future.

**Although we did no such thing, most of the fish died regardless, as we didn't have the right equipment to keep them alive. One, Pippin, survived and is currently thriving in a proper tank, which we were forced to buy, in order to give him a proper home.… (mehr)