How I Learned Geography

The Soaring Imagination of Uri Shulevitz

In two of his picture books Uri Shulevitz introduces a child alone in a room, isolated, similar to our quarantined children today who are stuck at home, cut off from friends. But where is the iPad, television or computer screen? Look closely—there are none in the pictures.
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The Mozart Season

The Mozart Season

Fresh Lookol­o­gy fea­tures books pub­lished sev­er­al years ago that are too good to lan­guish on the shelf. At the end of soft­ball sea­son and the begin­ning of sum­mer, 12-year-old Alle­gra Leah Shapiro learns that she has been select­ed as a final­ist in the Ernest Bloch Young Musi­cians’ Com­pe­ti­tion. She is the youngest final­ist, some­thing she wor­ries about as she spends the sum­mer prac­tic­ing Mozart’s fourth vio­lin con­cer­to.… more
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Beethoven in Paradise

Beethoven in Paradise

Fresh Lookol­o­gy fea­tures books pub­lished sev­er­al years ago that are too good to lan­guish on the shelf. Mar­tin Pittman takes a reader’s heart and runs with it. He lives in a trail­er park called Par­adise, but his home life is any­thing but. Martin’s father is abu­sive, his moth­er com­plete­ly cowed. He has no sib­lings. His grand­ma, Haze­line, who comes on Sun­days to take him to the Howard John­son Prince of Wales buf­fet, is quite a char­ac­ter — one the read­er is unsure of at first.… more
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