Seasonal Celebrations

In cultures and countries around the world, especially in the northern hemisphere, this time of year represents a pause.  Mother Nature is at rest, so perhaps it is a time for us to reflect on the past seasons and celebrate.  Possibly, there are small, everyday things to honor, elevating the ordinary to extraordinary.  There are centuries-old traditions to commemorate; many steeped in religious beliefs or holiday observances.  Cold, snow, and wind bring their own special events.  For many, a new year is welcomed.

Following are six titles (with one more to arrive soon), which you might consider for reading during these several months.  The first book, Season of Light (Farrar Straus Giroux, September 13, 2022) written by Jess Redman with illustrations by Ramona Kaulitzki, takes eight single words and wraps them in activities and elements, defining those words for those who participate and for those who wish to understand.  From beginning to end, this book is uplifting.

After red and green dreams,

We wake up before the sun.

We're counting down December days

But savoring each one.

Joy, wonder, together, giving, song, story, faith, and light are featured through observing three families residing in a community.  We see them making snowflakes, hanging ornaments and stockings.  Relatives are welcomed and visited.

Kindness is presented through the giving of gifts and food. Caroling sends music throughout the town, bringing happiness to families, businesses, and those now residing in communal spaces.  Stories of Christmases past and present are shared.  Together the children in the three families participate in a Christmas play before they and their parents step outside into the snowy night for a final gathering.

Author Jess Redman focuses on people preparing and participating with an emphasis on placing others first.  Her four-line rhyming text supplies a rhythm readers enjoy and anticipate as the pages are turned.  For each of the eight words, they are preceded by the same phrase---

This is a season of . . .

This technique binds all the portions of the narrative together and references the title of the book which is also the final thought.  Here is another passage.

Our voices ring out

Silver bells and midnights clear

First noels and glorious morns

Offerings of goodwill and cheer.

On the right side, front, of the dust jacket readers can see the three families circling the community tree.  Windows, tree lights, and handheld candles are alight amid the snow falling at night.  The title text is embossed in gold.  On the back, to the left of the spine, on a crisp white canvas are four of the children from the families.  Above them the words read:

This is a season of joy . . .

of faith . . .

of light.

On the book case the image from the back of the jacket is moved to the front beneath the title text.  The same words are used on the back of the case, but they are set in a bird's eye view of the city as snow falls on the hills, road, and homes.  A snowman is featured on the right side on the top of a hill.

The opening and closing endpapers in a muted red highlight a pattern of reindeer, a branch of berries, a pine bough, and snowflakes all done in muted brown and cream.  A double-page picture of a glowing sky, snowy landscape and bare trees provides a place for the title and verso pages.  

These illustrations by Ramona Kaulitzki, digitally rendered, are colorful and embrace the emotions of the holiday. They are full-page pictures, smaller visuals grouped together, and two-page images for the single sentence text announcing the next word. The use of light in each scene elevates the narrative.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page picture.  The sky, near the horizon, is glowing.  Buildings, windows lighted, line the background on the left, crossing the gutter.  Another building stands alone on the right.  In the distance is the church and another building.  In the town center is the Christmas tree.  Gathered around it are shoppers, dog walkers, children and families.  They are listening to the three musicians.  Snowflakes gently swirl in the air.

Warmth flows throughout Season of Light written by Jess Redman with artwork by Ramona Kaulitzki.  This title is both a reminder and a nod to tradition.  You will want to add this title to your personal and professional holiday collections.

To learn more about Jess Redman and Ramona Kaulitzki and their other work, please access their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Jess Redman has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Ramona Kaulitzki has accounts on Behance, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior images.

Back in 2002, author illustrator Matt Tavares illustrated 'Twas the Night Before Christmas Or Account Of A Visit From St. Nicholas (Candlewick Press).  This volume measures seven and one-half inches by eight and three-quarters inches.  Along the spine is a deep cranberry cloth binding which sets off the sage green border around St. Nicholas as he visits a home.  There are delicate gold elements in that sage green border.  That same green shade is featured within the book, outlining text and pictures with a fine line frame.  The opening and closing endpapers are patterned in shades of red, somewhat like wallpaper in homes during the time period in which the poem was penned.  The exquisite and highly detailed artwork done in pencil elevates this pictorial interpretation of the poem to spectacular.  

This year 'Twas the Night Before Christmas Or Account Of A Visit From St. Nicholas (Candlewick Press, September 13, 2022) written by Clement C. Moore with illustrations by Matt Tavares has been recreated in a larger volume measuring just under ten by twelve inches.  On the front of the book's dust jacket and book case, we can see a close-up of St. Nicholas driving his reindeer-pulled sleigh off into the Christmas night as he calls out his famous exclamation.  The golden text is embossed.  On the back, to the left of a bright red spine, the same bright red color provides a border for an interior picture.  It is Papa looking out the bedroom window  

to see what was the matter.

The same A Note from the Illustrator appears prior to the beginning of the poem with a few alterations.  The dedication to his wife, Sarah, remains in this edition.  The title page is artwork depicting town buildings glowing from snow covered objects and a full moon just as in the prior edition.  We look between those buildings, their shadows stretching from one side of the street to the other side.

In this stunning book, the artwork extends to each page edge, whether it is a single-page picture or a dramatic double-page visual.  The illustrations are darker, still as detailed, but have a slight grainy effect.  In this book the text is framed on the top and bottom with an intricate leafy border in red and white.  If the picture is a two-page illustration the border is only along the bottom.  On some of the pages of text, just as in the original book, there are smaller images representing a moment in time, like a candle just blown out or a jack-in-the-box jumping up.

One of my many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  It is if we are standing outside in the street at night.  Two different fence styles border the sidewalk, close to us as we look left to right down the street.  Behind the fences are trees and landscaping in front of magnificent homes.  When we can see the sky above those structures there are some clouds among the stars.  Santa and his sleigh are landing on one of the housetops on the right side.  It is the variety of perspectives which I find wonderful.

This volume of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas Or Account of A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore with artwork by Matt Tavares is a title to have in every collection, personal and professional.  It is one to compare with other artwork by other artists.  Some versions change the text, but this book keeps the text the same as it was originally published 200 years ago in 1823.

To learn more about Matt Tavares and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  There is a page dedicated to this book where you can view interior illustrations.  Matt Tavares has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

For fans of the one-of-a-kind, buttered-toast loving pig, a new title takes readers to Deckawoo Drive for a Christmas journey.  One of the residents has a deep desire to go caroling, but not one other person wishes to join her.  They all have excuses, but our carol-loving child is not deterred.  A Very Mercy Christmas (Candlewick Press, September 27, 2022) written by Kate DiCamillo with artwork by Chris Van Dusen is a faith-restoring, miracle-believing, and soul-brightening tale which is utterly charming.

Stella Endicott felt joyful.  She felt like something

miraculous might happen.  She wanted to sing.

Frank, Stella's brother, was not ready to go caroling at the drop of a hat.  Mr. and Mrs. Watson were in the middle of a fruitcake disaster.  However, Mrs. Watson suggested Stella take Mercy with her.  Mercy was happy to accompany Stella.  They headed to the Lincoln sisters' house.  

There grumpy Eugenia Lincoln refused to go caroling with a pig and her happy sister, Baby, was told no one was at the door.  At this point, Stella is feeling a wee bit less happy.  General Washington, the Lincoln sisters' cat joins Stella and Mercy.

Horace Broom is too attached to celestial gazing to carol, so Stella, Mercy and General Washington decide to do it on their own.  The trio sing out Joy to the World, and are surprisingly joined by Maybelline, LeRoy Ninker's horse.  

As dusk descends, Stella, Mercy, General Washington, and Maybelline are greeted with new sounds, joyful sounds.  Each voice chimes in to affirm the personalities we know and love.  As they travel for a feast of buttered toast, a true miracle quietly surrounds each person.  

With her beloved skill of blending narrative and dialogue, Kate DiCamillo tells a tale of neighbors realizing the truest definition of the word, neighbor.  Each time Stella stops at a neighbor's home, another layer is built into the story.  Although Stella's original spirit is dampened, she believes that Mercy and General Washington are the best kind of pals to go caroling.  Adding in Maybelline is a stroke of genius.  In this story, Kate DiCamillo uses Stella, (and Mercy, General Washington, and Maybelline) to remind all of us miracles are possible when joy is involved. (It is guaranteed the final sentence will give you goosebumps of happiness.)  Here is a passage.

The pig looked over at Stella, and then she put her

snout up to the stars and let out a strange sound.

It wasn't an oink.  It wasn't a squeal.

It was a noise full of hope and wonder and longing.

It was---almost---melodious.

Words like bright, colorful, and bold come to mind when you look at the open dust jacket made by Chris Van Dusen.  The snow-covered landscape of Deckawoo Drive with lights and wreaths sends out a holiday hello to readers.  Mercy and Stella are looking their Christmas best.  The title text is embossed in silver.  To the left of the spine, framed in a star-studded scalloped sky, is an interior image.  It shows the neighborhood group gathered around a table as Mrs. Watson approaches with a huge stack of buttered toast.

The book case is done in a hue of blue with thin lines fashioning stripes.  Tiny diamonds make a pattern in these stripes.  A wide red cloth band covers the spine.  On the front of the case is Mercy Watson looking at an open box or ornaments.  The opening and closing endpapers are yellow and white check.  With a page turn, we see a snowpig, Mercy, alone in a white setting with a blue scalloped border.  It is the attention to details that sets the work of Chris Van Dusen apart.  Above the dedication is Mercy's Christmas stocking with a piece of buttered toast peeking out the top.

Single page images opposite text framed in the blue scalloped border followed by brilliant double-page visuals encourage readers to turn the pages as fast as they can.  What will happen to Stella, Mercy and General Washington next?  It is the final double-page picture with the final sentence that will have readers releasing a long and satisfied sigh.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a single-page picture.  Here Stella, Mercy, General Washington, and Maybelline are standing and sitting together on the sidewalk.  Snow covers the nearby lawns.  Lights twinkle in outside trees.  Windows glow with lights inside the homes.  The sky is studded with stars as the horizon shows the sun recently set.  Stella, Mercy, General Washington, and Maybelline have their heads raised and are singing Deck the Halls.

Regardless of how you feel when you first start reading A Very Mercy Christmas written by Kate DiCamillo with illustrations by Chris Van Dusen, you will feel much more joyful when you finish it.  In fact, you'll probably read it again right then and there.  Your personal and professional collections won't be complete without a copy of this title.

To discover more about Kate DiCamillo and Chris Van Dusen and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Kate DiCamillo has another site linked here.  Kate DiCamillo has an account on Facebook.  Chris Van Dusen has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  Mercy Watson has a site linked here.  At Penguin Random House, you can view interior images.

One of the best parts of this season is discovering something new done by a person, a family or an entire country.  How wonderful it is to encounter an Icelandic tradition presented in The Christmas Book Flood (Farrar Straus Giroux, November 1, 2022) written by Emily Kilgore with pictures by Kitty Moss.  Once you've read this book, you'll agree this is a tradition to spread around the world.

Darkness blankets the land,

covering forests and homes,

mountains and bookshops.

Northern lights shine down on a village with people trying to stay warm inside and outside their homes.  Snow is coming.  So is the Book Flood.  Book Flood?

On December 24th, people give books to those they love.  

Reading is magic when you have the right book.

People shop in earnest for the perfect book for each person in their lives.  There are so many choices it is hard to select a title.  

Snow has started to fall as people hurry to make their purchases.  Each heart is happy as they move within the shops.  It is mere hours until the gift giving begins.  A final treasure is located!

Now wrapped, the waiting is nearly over. It's time!  Each present is opened.  Each book is a new beginning.  Hot chocolate is savored as are all the different books.  Reading throughout the night, stories travel throughout a community and beyond its borders.

With each sentence, author Emily Kilgore paints a picture as deftly as an artist.  She supplies us with a place and time rich in descriptive words.  We cannot help but join with the townspeople as they get ready for the Book Flood.  We feel the anticipation growing until we, like those in this town, can hardly wait.  Happiness flows from the pages as people seek the right book.  And then, satisfaction settles like a warm blanket as the reading commences.  Here is a passage.

There's laughter and hope

and holiday cheer:

bright twinkling lights,

hot cocoa, soft music,

Clouds of warm breath,

tight hugs of hello,

the soft crunch under boots

as they trudge through fresh snow.

When opening the dust jacket, the reader will first notice the city scene extends flap edge to flap edge.  The brightness of the setting sends out merriment along with the falling snowflakes and airborne books, moving like birds through the night.  The tree in the town center, made of books, draws our eyes to the main character, a child longing for the Book Flood and also seeking the right book to give.  Her furry friend is eager to start their next adventure.  The title text is embossed in gold.

On the book case, some of the shops are still the same.  The sky is darker with fewer snowflakes but books still fly.  The ground is covered in snow.  Our protagonist rides her bike down the street with her dog running alongside her.  The tree in the town center is now an evergreen trimmed in lights and ornaments.  There are so many small details on the book case and dust jacket, readers will spend hours looking at all of them.

The opening and closing endpapers feature the town before and after the Book Flood.  One shows the end of autumn with a crescent moon in the upper right-hand corner.  The other shows a snowy landscape with northern lights, flying books, and magic in the air.  The moon, still in the right-hand corner, is full.  The verso and title pages highlight a single image with the girl riding through town with her pup in the bike's basket.  It is as if they are riding inside a book.

Rendered by Kitty Moss, the illustrations appear to be alive.  The layers in each collage are intricate and well-defined covering single and double pages and once, a smaller one wrapped in white space.  They ask us to pause, and we do.  Her choice of colors mirror the time, place and mood of the narrative.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page picture.  The sky is now very dark with hints of snow and stars.  On the left side, buildings in the community are a backdrop for bustling people trying to make final selections.  A couple walks up a snowy hill outside of town on the left.  On the right side, our young girl rides her bike up a large snowy hill.  She appears as a silhouette with a long shadow.  The skeletons of several trees are visible.  An owl carrying a book in its beak flies over the town.

In case you've ever wondered why some people say books make the best gifts, this title makes it abundantly clear as to why this is a truth.  The Christmas Book Flood written by Emily Kilgore with artwork by Kitty Moss is a gift.  In an Author's Note more is explained about this tradition.  Be sure to place a copy of this title in your personal and professional collections.  Let the Book Flood begin!

To learn more about Emily Kilgore and Kitty Moss and their other work, please access their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Emily Kilgore has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Kitty Moss has accounts on Instagram and Pinterest.  This title is highlighted by John Schu at Watch. Connect. Read.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior images.

In my humble opinion, you will never forget the first time you see the northern lights.  For me it was very late one night, nearly very early in the morning.  I was traveling home after an event as my school's junior class advisor.  At the time, I was living in a community in northern Michigan, less than an hour away from the top of the Mitt.  As I turned off a major highway onto my road, I was stuck speechless by the sight before me.  The entire sky was pulsating in pinks and greens, in a wide arc from horizon to horizon.  It was incredible!

In his newest title, The Lights That Dance In The Night (Doubleday Books for Young Readers, November 1, 2022), author illustrator Yuval Zommer brings his considerable talents to bear in showcasing the natural spectacle known as the aurora borealis.  In this book, we follow the beginning and journey of these lights.  Through the words and artwork of Yuval Zommer, we experience this phenomenon as if we are standing beneath them.

We are the lights

that dance in the night.

We started our journey as specks

of dust blown to Earth

from the Sun.

The lights traveled to the far reaches of the north.  They cast a colorful, shimmering glow to animals below them.  Polar bears, Arctic hares, seals and puffins all noticed their presence.  They shone on boats traversing the seas and on whales beneath the water.  

Arctic foxes, musk oxen, wolves and wild cats played under and called out to the lights.  Birds flew and gathered.  Reindeer looked up at the skies.  Animals were not the only ones to marvel at this display of dancing lights.

People paused and stared.  Storytellers told tales.  All animals and all people regardless of their size or age wondered at this natural magic.  Piercing the darkness, this magic offered something for all.  

Whether you read the words penned by Yuval Zommer to yourself or aloud, they convey an extraordinary truth of the northern lights.  We know the science behind them, but they still reveal themselves as enchanting and otherworldly.  The rhythm supplied by the words mirrors the movement of the lights, rhyming beautifully like a melody.  Here are two separate passages.

Our dancing lights made whales sing 

and bells on boats began to ring.

We lit the skies for forest birds,

we sparkled over reindeer herds.

The signature artwork of Yuval Zommer begins to shimmer on the open dust jacket.  Here, on the front, animals and people are drawn to the lights in the night sky.  Different colored glitter covers most of the elements in this scene.  On the back, to the left of the spine, swirls of color cross the sky as white birds glide upward through the glow of the lights and stars.  Text describes the book above the snowy landscape.  

On the book case, a single polar bear stands amid hues of blue above the title text in white on the right side.  A few stars are positioned above the bear.  On the left side, we are brought close to puffins who fly and play and seals who clap beneath the lights that dance in the night.

A pale dusty lavender covers the opening and closing endpapers.  A trio of white stars and a single star with a tail above them makes a pattern across these pages.  Yuval Zommer's dedication reads:

Dedicated to all

light seekers.

A two-page picture covers the verso, dedication and title pages.  A boat, puffins, northern birds, reindeer, a polar bear and whales are together here.

Two-page visuals or a series of three panels fill the pages of this volume. The intricate elements in each illustration beckon us to look and wonder.  We feel as though we are in a northern forest or near the shores of an Arctic sea.  Which animal are we?  Or are we only observers?  As humans gather, will we listen to the tales told by tellers or stand outside and watch the lights?  Or perhaps, we will do both.  

One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page image.  Across the blue-hued sky, the northern lights pulse in yellow, purple, and green.  Forest trees are shown in white, standing among a landscape in blue and snowy white.  A reindeer on the left and a reindeer on the right face each other.  They wear traditional domestic blankets and harnesses.  Birds fly above them and rest in their antlers.

No matter how many times you read The Lights That Dance In The Night written and illustrated by Yuval Zommer, you are mesmerized by the marriage of the words and illustrations each time.  You cannot help but yearn for your next sighting of the northern lights.  Maybe it will be this year.  I highly recommend you place this title in all your collections and gift it to those you love.

To learn more about Yuval Zommer and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name which takes you to his agency's website.  Yuval Zommer has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Yuval Zommer frequently posts pictures from his books on both platforms, as well as artwork done by readers of his books.

After the December rest amid the celebration of holidays, families, and friends, January heralds in a new year, the start of something unlike the past filled with potential and possibilities, but typing the final entry in this post, my eyes fill with tears.  Carols, now Silent Night, are playing on an Ambient Worlds music video.  When I enter in the title, and author and illustrator names, I find it hard to believe Patricia MacLachlan is no longer with us.  In this book, Snow Horses: A First Night Story (Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, November 8, 2022), she is collaborating again with artist Micha Archer.  Together they have created a vision of beauty, a story of tradition and hope.  This is both a memory and a captured moment.

SNOW FALLING

all day---

all night.

Drifting over

meadows

and gardens

and roads. 

In a nearby barn, sheep, covered in snow, gather inside.  Patiently waiting in their stalls are two horses, Tim and Tom.  They long to pull the large sleigh outside.  Jenny, their driver, takes them from the barn, putting on their bell-decked bridles and turns on the lights on the sleigh.  Horses and driver leave the barn gleaming with tiny white lights.

Happily, the horses move toward town.  They love this time of year.  In the town's market, horns blare.  Children climb into the sleigh, their laughter and chatter filling the air.  A golden dog races alongside the sleigh.

Children, Jenny, Tim, Tom and the golden dog move through the streets with houses lit with white lights.  After the children go home to sleep, the sleigh again fills with riders.  These are the grandparents, uncles and aunts, and old friends who were once children riding in the sleigh on this last night of the old year.  They, too, fill the air with laughter and chatter and memories.  The golden dog runs with them, too.

Finally, Jenny, Tim and Tom go home. The sheep are fast asleep.  Soon the horses rest.  And the little golden dog . . .

Patricia MacLachlan was an author with the ability to bring readers into a specific time and space through her descriptive, lyrical language.  In this book, her characters, human and animal, are fully realized.  We want to be with them.  We want to know them. We understand what it is to be the sheep on a snowy winter night and the horses who can hardly wait to pull the sleigh.  Regardless of our ages, we experience the joy of both the children and the older adults.  This is the gift of Patricia MacLachlan's writing.  Here is a passage.

Tim and Tom pull the sleigh past the

library with a light in every window,

across the old stone bridge,

along the icy river,

up the hill,

and down the hill,

where in every window

of every house

there are little lights.

The town sparkles. 

Rendered in collage with homemade papers and ink by Micha Archer, the illustrations we first see on the dust jacket and book case are an introduction to the wonder waiting inside the pages of this book.  On the right side of the jacket, children in the town come to pet Tim and Tom, standing patiently amid the falling snow.  This visual continues over the spine and to the left edge of the back of the jacket.  The author, illustrator, and title text are varnished.  You can almost hear the jingle of the bells on the horses' harnesses.

On the book case is another two-page picture.  Here we are privy to a vast country landscape as the sun sets in the background behind a grove of trees and rolling, snowy hills.  In the foreground Jenny is in the sleigh with Tim and Tom pulling.  The little golden dog runs behind the wagon.

The opening endpapers are also the dedication and verso pages.  This showcases an even more vast pastoral panoramic view.  Lines of trees, etched in darker colors line rolling hills.  We see the barn on the far right side and in the distance is the town.  A full moon hangs in the sky with a frosty circle of light around it.  This is a bird's eye perspective.  On the closing endpapers, everything is colored in hues of blue now.  Snow is heavily falling.  Lights dot the path to the barn and light windows in the town.  Anticipation hangs in the air.

Readers will study each illustration, noting the details Micha Archer brings to each scene.  On the title page, a double-page picture brings us near to the barn amid lines of trees, groves of trees, rolling hills and a fenced area for the horses, now wearing blankets. (Be sure to study the branches of the trees and the materials used to form them.)  Each of the following two-page illustrations or one and one half page pictures with varying perspectives takes us on an exploration of this New Year's Eve festivity.  You will have to remind yourself to keep breathing after seeing the sheer loveliness before you.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for the above-quoted text.  The sky and landscape are done in shades of turquoise.  The homes are varied in color with snow on their rooftops.  Some of the houses are in the foreground and others are on the other side of the river in the background.  The streetlights cast large glowing balls of light.  Each window is glowing with light.  Snowflakes fill the air and cover the tree branches.  The children ride in the sleigh driven by Jenny and pulled by Tim and Tom.  The little golden dog runs next to the sleigh.  (A portion of this image appears on the cover of the November/December issue of The Horn Book Magazine.) 

This work by Patricia MacLachlan and Micha Archer is certain to become a seasonal and holiday classic.  Readers of all ages will find themselves in the pages of Snow Horses: A First Night Story.  You cannot help longing for a sleigh ride on New Year's Eve.  Do yourself a favor and make sure a copy of this book is on your personal bookshelves in case the sleigh does not appear in your town.  Your learners will enjoy reading a copy hopefully found on your professional shelves, too.

Here is a link to the obituary for Patricia MacLachlan appearing in Publishers Weekly on April 5, 2022.  To learn more about Micha Archer and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Micha Archer has an account on Instagram.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior images including the entire dust jacket and book case.

More Than One Way . . .

Decades ago, more than truckers had CB radios in their vehicles.  This was a time before mobile or cell phones.  CB radios provided a sense of security in case of an emergency. (My handle was Book Mama.)  The conversations between truckers were entertaining and informative.  They would often alert drivers of traffic congestion and alternate routes to follow.  Truckers would honk their horns when it was safe to pass and flash their lights when it was good to move back into a lane.  Travelers got the sense they were a part of a highway group who would look out for each other.

Truckers haul goods within a neighborhood, a state, or from one side of the country to another.  They are essential connectors.  In Big Truck Little Island (Candlewick Press, May 3, 2022) written and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen, a truck becomes the focus of an unexpected complication.  It is children who propose the obvious.

Out on the ocean, one bright summer day,

bound for an island, still five miles away,

a tugboat was towing a truck on a barge---

a truck that was hauling a load, extra large.

The load on the truck was covered, hidden from sight.  After the barge docked on one side of the island, the truck needed to reach the opposite side, an eastern meadow, by traversing a narrow winding road.  Progress was slow, the load weighed twenty plus tons.

The driver was at the beginning of his route when a switchback threw him a curve.  The twenty-plus-ton load shifted and the trailer was no longer under his control.  As luck would have it, the trailer stuck fast in the mud, but now the road was blocked.

Soon four cars, two from the north and two from the south, wanted to pass.  Meg, Barry, Pete, and Sue had things to do.  Parents with patience waning waited.  Meg, Barry, Pete, and Sue left their vehicles and gathered.  They devised a perfect plan.  

As friends and neighbors, they knew what to do.  So, a swim meet, ballet practice, science project, and dog wash were attended on time.  What happened to the truck, you ask?  Like the barge brought it to the island, a wrecker pulled it clear.  That night, the load on the truck's trailer was disclosed to the islanders.  It was a marvelous sight.

Whether read silently or aloud, the words penned by Chris Van Dusen create a lively, inviting cadence.  His rhyming couplets freely flow, forming a tale of cleverness and community.  His definitive word choices take us to a memorable place and time.  Here is a passage.

The trailer was tipping, everything slipping!

The wheels in the way back were no longer gripping!

They skidded and slid off the road and then---

Rendered in gouache, the full color artwork by Chris Van Dusen we see first on the open and matching dust jacket and book case gives us on the front, right side, the dilemma the truck driver and neighbors face.  To the left of the spine, on the back, on a cornflower blue background is an oval image.  On the white canvas, Barry, Meg, Pete, and Sue are assessing the situation and discussing a solution.  The title text on the jacket is varnished.

The pale yellow in the sky on the front of the jacket and case and in the title text is used for the opening and closing endpapers.  A luminescent image precedes the title page.  A blazing sun in a yellow sky fashions a shimmering path on the waterway.  In the distance along the horizon, the tugboat is pulling the truck and trailer on the barge.  With a page turn a double-page picture spreads between the verso and title pages.  We have moved up close to the tug, barge, truck and trailer.  On the far right we can see the island coming into view.  Dolphins dive on the right side of the vehicles as if to guide them.  Seagulls act as guardians.

Chris Van Dusen alternates between double-page images, full-page visuals, and smaller illustrations set in white space.  His representations of the four children waiting in their cars with visions of where they must be are fabulous.  They are set against the rocky walls rising on the side of the road.

His perspectives are stunning, offering us a gorgeous bird's eye view of the island and then we find ourselves feeling as though we are a passenger in the truck when the load shifts, dragging it over the edge of the road.  We experience the shock of the driver, the driver with a MOM tattoo on his arm.  His canine companion looks at the back, equally shocked by the sound.

The hues in his illustrations are breathtaking in their realism.  Near photographic details bring us deeply into the narrative.  Wildlife is present as is island flora like lupines.  The facial expressions on all the characters supply us with a clear understanding of their emotions. 

One of my many favorite illustrations is of Sue, her sheepdog Bunk and her Mom stopped by the truck crossing the road.  Sue is imaging Bunk at the dog wash.  He had a meeting with a skunk.  Sue's mom has a clothespin on her nose.  Sue is plugging her nose with her fingers as Bunk squeezes through the open window next to her.  Bunk is happy as the proverbial clam.

This book, Big Truck Little Island written and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen, is based on a real event.  An author's note describes the incident.  If you are seeking a story about community and cooperation, this title is a brilliant choice.  Readers will gasp at the last double-page image.  I highly recommend this title for both your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Chris Van Dusen and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  You will enjoy the informative Q &A section.  Chris Van Dusen has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  At the publisher's website, you can download an activity kit and a teacher's guide.  At Penguin Random House, you can view interior illustrations.

Learning And Laughter And Schools

Even seasoned students, teachers and parents will attest to feeling partly excited and partly anxious about the first day of school in any given year.  For those gals and guys attending for the first time, every emotion is super-charged.  They are going from the familiar to the unknown.  This might not only be their first day at school, but they might be living in a completely new community with no chance of seeing any friends.

Upon their arrival we welcome all of them equally.  We create a classroom community of mutual respect, compassion and support.  We learn to laugh together with abandon for this is the song which soothes souls.  Two recent book releases are fine, fine selections in creating an atmosphere of mutual joy and boosting creativity.  The first, The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! (Disney Hyperion, July 2, 2019) written and illustrated by Mo Willems brings back a character guaranteed to elevate the merriment of everyone.  This bird knows how to connect with every reader.

WAIT!
Don't 
read
that
title!

Pigeon frantically calls out to readers because he knows once the words of the title are spoken, he's doomed to go to school.  He simply does not understand why he has to go to school.  He's certain he can't be taught anything new.  He challenges readers to test his knowledge skills. Um . . .

He reminds anyone who will listen he is not a morning person.  He longs to be too young to go to school.  He is worried about not liking school at ALL!  He's working himself into a major panic when he wonders if the teacher will even like pigeons.

Now he's dramatically tense about learning more than he's ever had to know.  Will his brain be able to retain it all?  What will happen if he learns too much?

True to form, Pigeon finally gets to the truth of all his anxiety.  It's the newness of it all.  Every single thing bothering him comes pouring out.  He then presents a solution to these stressors.  He demands there be a place to practice before having to go to school.  As he lists the attributes of this place, one thing become abundantly clear.  He's just described school.  When his next question is answered by the appearance of a vehicle, nothing is going to stop this bird from going to school.


Without a doubt Mo Willems is a master of comic pacing; his page turns and punctuation are perfection.  He also has the inside scoop on the commonality in the hearts of his audience.  He begins with words a lot of students express; completely engaging us with Pigeon's perspective and personal conversation.

Pigeon's list of excuses is particularly hilarious because at one time or another, we've uttered them or heard them spoken.  The exaggerated theatrics and roller coaster emotional line of thinking has us hooked on the narrative until the over-the-top witty conclusion.  Here is a passage.

I wish
I was 
a little 
chick
again.

A little-itty-bitty
not-going-to-school-
baby-waybie pigeon!


Just as he did with his 2004 Caldecott Honor winning introduction to this bird, Don't Let the Pigeon Drove the Bus! and the five companion titles, Mo Willems sets the stage with the title in a speech bubble on the front of the book case and Pigeon, with his facial expression and body posture, starts the story visually.  To the left, on the back, Pigeon peeks from the left side stating:

I already know how to spel!

On the opening endpapers are nine empty school desks on a pale yellow background.  Each of the chairs for the desks are a different color.  An assortment of birds including Duckling and Pigeon fill those desks on the closing endpapers.  Pigeon appears to be raising his wing to speak.

Larger than life, a panic-stricken Pigeon is flapping his wings, in a close-up to readers, on the verso and title pages.  Throughout the narrative the background colors on full-page or double-page pictures alternate between shades of blue, green, brown, orange, pink, purple and gray.  Portions of the text are hand-lettered by Mo Willems.

To accentuate an emotion Pigeon increases and decreases in size.  He is very small on the page when we hear him say he is scared.  As the speed of his statements become faster and more vital, the images are grouped in eight panels.  There are two illustrations without words, but we have no doubt about what the Pigeon is feeling.

One of my many favorite illustrations is on a single page.  Pigeon is lamenting the fact there is a lot to learn.  On a light brown background, he is seated.  He is learning back in a dramatic pose.  His mouth is open with his tongue out and his eyes are rolled for effect.


The laughter factor is high in this new bird-tastic episode, The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! written and illustrated by Mo Willems.  As readers giggle and grin listening to Pigeon, they know they have a friend who is expressing exactly what many of them are feeling.  Make sure you include this wonderful title in your read aloud choices as well as giving it a place in your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Mo Willems and his other work, please follow the links attached to his name to access his website and blog. Mo Willems/Pigeon has an account on Twitter. The Pigeon has a website, here.  You'll love the video with children talking in response to the Pigeon about going to school. At the publisher's website is a series of activity sheets.  The cover reveal and post for this title is at Publishers Weekly.  An article about this book appears in the Wall Street Journal.




The second book is a companion title to two previous inventive publications, If I Built a Car and If I Built a House.  If I Built a School (Dial Books For Young Readers, August 13, 2019) written and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen takes imagining the ideal space for learning to new heights.  Teachers, gals and guys will flock to this school 365 days a year and adults will want to start their education all over again.

Jack, on the playground, said to Miss Jane,
This school is OK, but it's pitifully plain.

If Jack were the designer everything would change.  As he and Miss Jane explore HIS school they are greeted by a passel of puppies.  Large animals found in a zoo like an elephant, camel, giraffe, zebra, panda and antelope are part of the welcoming crew.  Seated in a shuttle, a glass tube looping around and around takes them to a class with a push of a numerical button.

The classrooms are perched like flowers on stalks with ceilings that open to let in the sun.  Miss Jane is asked to go to the front of her place; writing with a stylus her words appear as if written on an invisible board.  Students are seated at hover desks, looking like carnival bumper cars.  (Is this fun or what?)

Visiting the library is an entirely new adventure with each and every book bending reality.  Opening them leads to whatever is inside popping to the outside.  Off to the gym, readers, Miss Jane and Jack go, with a skydiving wind tunnel plus other amazing opportunities to enjoy.  If you're hungry, lunch is quite a treat with a special robot chef named Pete.  Whatever delicious meal you order, he delivers.

As if everything has not been utterly splendid thus far, recess on this playground raises the bar.  Can you see the zip lines or the three-story high slide?  Or how about taking some horses for a ride?  In the afternoon art, music or science is definitely focused on the future.  Normal school buses are a thing of the past with field trips literally out of this world.  Jack's School is sensational.

As soon as Jack says:

It's nothing at all like the school I have planned,

you know author Chris Van Dusen is going to have his protagonist revealing how his brilliant brain can construct a space everyone, especially students, will adore.  For his four-to-eight-line, playful, poetic and first-person narrative, every two lines rhyme, creating expectations in readers and listeners alike.  We find ourselves in tune with the cadence as one revelation after another unfolds, until Jack brings us full circle speaking what we all know to be true about learning.  Here is a passage.

It's off to the gym, and this place is so cool!
Around it, please note my perimeter pool.
The pool's a deep oval that everyone likes---
You race underwater on submarine bikes!
Up there is my trampoline basketball court.
It's partly a bounce house and partly a sport. . . .


The bright, partly pastel and partly primary, colors shown on the matching and open dust jacket and book case, are a signature choice used by illustrator Chris Van Dusen.  His details have a retro style to them, even though they propose futuristic designs through his main character.  By the expressions and body language on Miss Jane, Jack and his pooch pal, and the visible classrooms, our anticipation grows.

To the left, on the back, the background is divided by a line reaching from the upper, left-hand corner to the lower, right-hand corner.  On the right is the light teal hue and on the left is the pale yellow.  In the center is Jack's dog sitting up on a stack of books, one paw lifted and balancing an apple on his nose.  A pencil is between his ears.

On the opening and closing endpapers readers are in for an architectural spectacle in green and white.  On the first set are twelve possible school plans including but certainly not limited to a moon school, a school that walks to you, a treehouse school or a fantastic underwater school.  Commentary is written in Jack's handwriting.  On the back is My School by Jack drawn in all its fabulous glory with loads of labels.

These illustrations rendered

with gouache on cold press illustration board

span single pages with text on the opposite page or two pages with text blended into the image.  Sometimes we are given a panoramic view of an area and other times we are close to the action.  Readers will be stopping at every page turn to note the details; one of the pooch pals only has two legs and has wheels harnessed to his back, there is a robot dog, there are trees growing inside the school, the teacher's desk has an aquarium in it and all the students' desks have lamps on them.

One of my many favorite pictures takes place in the library.  Sky with puffy clouds can be seen through the ceiling and along the sides.  Book-filled shelves are lined up on the far left and we can see more shelving on the right along a wall of windows.  Closer to us is Jack seated at a table.  On the left, his canine companion has his paws up on the table looking at what popped out of Jack's open book.  His book is Jack and the Beanstalk.  A giant stalk extends from the book on the left to the top of the right-hand side with fairytale Jack astride the beanstalk.  Miss Jane is astonished.  Another student's open book, which is this book, shows a wondrous mode of travel shooting upward.


Students, teachers and parents will be eager to attend this institution of education built by Jack in If I Built a School written and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen.  You can be sure readers will be ready to design their own special kind of school inspired by the words and illustrations of this author/illustrator and his one-of-a-kind character, Jack.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Chris Van Dusen and his other work, please visit his website and blog by following the links attached to his name.  Chris Van Dusen does have an account on Twitter but it appears he is more active on his Instagram account.  At the publisher's website you can view the title page.  You'll find this interview with Chris Van Dusen at Art Of The Picture Book several years ago very interesting.  Chris Van Dusen writes a post at the Nerdy Book Club to describe how this book evolved.



You might want to add Bunny's Book Club Goes To School,  Truman, The King of Kindergarten, Butterflies On The First Day of School, Mae's First Day Of School, All Are Welcome,  The Day You Begin, We Don't Eat Our Classmates, Super Saurus Saves Kindergarten, or Second Grade Holdout and First Grade Dropout to your selections.   

Nothing Ordinary About This Porcine

Great storytelling takes the ordinary and places it with the extraordinary.  It shocks us.  It captivates us.  It endears us to the characters and their narratives.  Some elements in these marvelous tales are so powerful and positive, they leave a permanent mark on our lives. We seek those elements when we wish to recreate those remarkable moments.

Since the summer of 2005 a very special pig and the characters surrounding her have entertained readers. It all begins with Mercy Watson to the Rescue (Candlewick Press, August 23, 2005) written by Kate DiCamillo with illustrations by Chris Van Dusen. It is followed by five more titles featuring this pig and her signature activities.  To the delight of readers another series showcasing other characters, Tales of Deckawoo Drive, starts with Leroy Ninker Saddles Up (Candlewick Press, August 26, 2014).  To date the last book in this series is Eugenia Lincoln and the Unexpected Package (Candlewick Press, October 10, 2017). While fans of these books believe nothing can possibly get better, something wonderful happens.  A Piglet Named Mercy (Candlewick Press, April 2, 2019) written by Kate DiCamillo with illustrations by Chris Van Dusen tells about the arrival of Mercy as a tiny pig on Deckawoo Drive.

Mr. Watson and Mrs. Watson lived
in a house on Deckawoo Drive.

There is nothing about Deckawoo Drive or the town it runs through which is anything but typical.  Each and every day, Mr. Watson and Mrs. Watson engage in pursuits one would say are perfectly normal.  In fact, their lives are so routine, Mrs. Watson brings it to the attention of Mr. Watson.  Mr. Watson dismisses her desire for something out of the ordinary.  Why would anyone want to change that which is familiar?

Unbeknownst to Mr. Watson and Mrs. Watson, that evening something does change.  A truckload of pigs passes through town.  One of the pigs, a baby really, falls off that vehicle as it races down the street.  This tiny tot wanders to the porch of the Watsons' home.

In the morning the discovery of the piglet causes a host of surprises; Mr. Watson is only expecting to find his morning newspaper, Mrs. Watson can hardly contain her excitement and their next-door neighbor, Eugenia Lincoln is appalled.  Her sister, Baby Lincoln, is ready and willing to assist Mrs. Watson by offering a bottle of warm milk.  Inside their home, Mrs. Watson and Mr. Watson are beaming with happiness at the piglet, now wrapped in a blanket.  When the Lincoln sisters arrive with the bottle of milk, no one is happier than the piglet. Oink!  Does the milk fill up the hungry infant?  No!

Racing from one position to another the piglet discovers something even better than milk.  It brings her supreme comfort and contentment.  In the midst of cooing and commentary, a name (of which we are most acquainted) is given to the piglet much to the total annoyance of Eugenia.  And the rest, dear readers, is more than a decade of delight delivered to us with love and about love.


Even if you've never met Mr. Watson, Mrs. Watson or Mercy, as soon as you read or hear the words Deckawoo Drive and ordinary repeated twice in the first two sentences by author Kate DiCamillo, you can already feel excitement building.  In the next sentence the repetition continues adding to the promise of extraordinary circumstances.

Kate DiCamillo further enhances the narrative with conversations between Mrs. Watson and Mr. Watson.  When Eugenia and Baby Lincoln join these conversations, the comedy increases between the contrast of the bliss of the majority and the incredulity of one.  Here is a passage.

"Is that a pig?" said Eugenia Lincoln.
Eugenia Lincoln lived next door, and she
did not approve of surprises.  Or pigs.

"It is!" said Mrs. Watson.  "Can you believe our luck?"

"Don't be ridiculous," said Eugenia Lincoln.
"A pig is not lucky at all."


Rendered in gouache the lively illustrations of Chris Van Dusen as seen on the open dust jacket (and throughout the book) bring us immediately into the Watsons' home with the large black and white tile floors and contrasting yellow-striped wallpaper.  There is no possible way to resist learning more about the grinning piglet seated on the chair.  To the left, on the back, the flooring and wallpaper continue on the other side of the bright red spine.  Set in a scallop-edged white frame, we see the final image in the book.  It gives us a hint of the affection growing between the Watsons and Mercy and of the merry mayhem likely to occur.  Mercy, the piglet, seated in a green highchair is sure to produce plenty of laughter.

On the book case covered in the yellow-striped wallpaper with a wide, red cloth spine, we see piglet Mercy kneeling eagerly in front of a stack of her favorite food.  Steam rises from the top.  The opening and closing endpapers are done in a tiny, two-toned blue diamond pattern.  With a page turn the piglet appears, snout raised and looking expectantly to the right.  Perhaps she sees the small image on the verso page.  On the title page baby Mercy rests on a plump green pillow edged in yellow.

The bright, precise illustrations pair with perfection to the text.  Opposite a full-page picture text is bordered in yellow on white.  Circular and oval visuals follow with elements breaking the framing.  For pure dramatic effect a double-page picture highlights the piglet's nighttime fall and her location of the Watsons' home.  There is a rhythm to the image sizes, alternating between single page pictures, double-page illustrations and smaller visuals on a single page.  The facial features on all the characters contribute to the comedy.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is on a single page.  In the kitchen Mrs. Watson and Baby Lincoln have encircled Mr. Watson.  He is cuddling Mercy in his arms after she has devoured her new best-loved food.  They all look at her with adoration in their eyes as they give her a name.  Behind them stands Eugenia Lincoln with her back to them and us.  Her hands are on either side of her blue hair, possibly ready to pull on it, in utter irritation.  She is framed in white and facing the Lincoln home.


For fans of these books or readers new to Mercy Watson, there is no more charming explanation of her initial appearance on Deckawoo Drive than depicted in A Piglet Named Mercy written by Kate DiCamillo with illustrations by Chris Van Dusen.  This book is not only about meeting Mercy but also those people who love her the most and of course, grumpy Eugenia Lincoln, too.  You will certainly want this book or two or three in your professional collections and one for you, too, in your personal collection.

To learn and discover more about Kate DiCamillo and Chris Van Dusen and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Kate DiCamillo has another website located here.  At the publisher's website you can view an interior image.  Here is an activity kit.  There is a separate Mercy Watson website.  At Penguin Random House there are more interior images.  Kate DiCamillo and Chris Van Dusen are featured with interviews about this book at Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher's blog, Watch. Connect. Read. Readers will appreciate this interview of Kate DiCamillo at Read Brightly.  Chris Van Dusen chats about this book with teacher librarian and author Travis Jonker at 100 Scope Notes and with teacher librarian and author Carter Higgins at Design Of The Picture Book.

Making A Stop On Deckawoo Drive

We all know people who have a day to day routine set in stone.  They are the people who believe a place for everything and everything in its place.  They simply can't handle any deviation from the way they believe all things should be.  These demands they place on themselves and others tend to make them cranky.

This persistent peevishness in many (every) situations is so contrary to what others say and do, it's hard not to burst out laughing.  In Eugenia Lincoln and the Unexpected Package (Candlewick Press, October 10, 2017) written by Kate DiCamillo with illustrations by Chris Van Dusen, the latest entry in the Tales from Deckawoo Drive series, the story revolves around such a person, a very outspoken, familiar person. Her world is about to be turned upside down and inside out.

Eugenia Lincoln was a practical person, a sensible person.  She did not have time for poetry, geegaws, whoop-de-whoops, or frivolity.

Given her personality Eugenia was not happy when a deliveryman brought a large package to their door addressed to her.  It was not expected.  No one, including her sister Baby, had any idea who sent it and what was inside.  Neighbors Frank, a boy and Mrs. Watson and her pig, Mercy, arrived to speculate about the contents.  Against her better judgment Eugenia opened the box.  An accordion?!

Eugenia wanted an accordion like she wanted the proverbial hole in her head.  To make matters worse the company who sent it refused to take it back.  The only thing to do was make a list.

When a constantly-grinning, I-can-do-anything kind of man in a green velvet suit with a green velvet hat appeared at their door the next morning, Eugenia was sure he wanted to buy the accordion.  He did not.  He was there to teach her accordion lessons.  What?!  When he strolled right into their home, she was flabbergasted.  Had the world gone crazy? 

In no time at all Mr. and Mrs. Watson with Mercy and Frank were gathered in the kitchen.  Events quickly became unbearable for Eugenia.  To make matters worse a huge storm was raging outside.  Eugenia left for her room with General Washington, her cat, and hid under the covers on her bed.

When she woke up the next morning and came downstairs she was shocked several times by what she saw.  Deciding to take drastic measures, Eugenia, with surprisingly no plan in mind, and General Washington left 52 Deckawoo Drive carrying the source of all her troubles.  A voice from above and a request released a song held in a heart for too long.


When Kate DiCamillo writes readers can be sure to glean hidden nuggets of truth and love carefully tucked into her narratives.  These are heartfelt to the point you want to underline them or copy them into a notebook to savor later.  As you read the eight chapters and the concluding coda in this title, each ends with a single sentence, thought or spoken word signaling the end but also offering a beginning.  Lighthearted humor permeates this story through the events described by Eugenia's observations.  You will most assuredly find yourself smiling often and laughing out loud.  Here are some sample passages.

Eugenia Lincoln was very fond of lists.
They helped her think.  Lists calmed her.
They made the world seem orderly and
reasonable and manageable, even though
the world was none of those things. 

"No, no," said Gaston.  "I am here only
for your lessons, so you may learn to play
the sweet songs and the sad songs and all
the little songs in between."
"I refuse," said Eugenia.
"You refuse to learn to play the music 
that is waiting inside of your heart?"


Rendered in gouache by Chris Van Dusen the illustrations throughout this title add to the energy and hilarity.  Study the expressions on the characters' faces on the front of the dust jacket.  You see curiosity on Frank's face, nearly unbridled joy on Baby Lincoln's face and pure disdain on Eugenia Lincoln's face.  These are their personalities in a nutshell.  To the left on the back, is a panoramic view of Deckawoo Drive.  The book case is a darker shade of purple, textured in tiny diamonds.  The opening and closing endpapers are lavender with dark musical notes drifting down the middle.

There are only a few page turns without an image.  They vary in size depending on the plot of the story; extending a point and providing pacing.  They are expertly placed within the text. The settings, architecture and clothing are slightly retro.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is the first one.  It's a close-up of Eugenia Lincoln standing on the edge of the front porch of their home.  She is leaning to her right with her hand on the railing.  Her left hand is strategically placed on her left hip.  Her right foot is crossed over the left foot.  She is standing with a slight slouch.  Her face has the quintessential gaze of a complete grouch.


Eugenia Lincoln and the Unexpected Package written by Kate DiCamillo with illustrations by Chris Van Dusen is another stellar entry in this delightful collection.  In this title joy is searching for a way into a hardened heart.  The mystery of who sent the package adds an extra element to this tale.  I can't imagine a professional bookshelf without this title.  My copy for my collection arrived yesterday.  (I've already read it three times.)  If you desire to read all of the Mercy Watson and Deckawoo Drive books as I do annually, you can read about all of the previous titles in a blog post written here.

To learn more about Kate DiCamillo and Chris Van Dusen and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names.  At Candlewick Press you can view an interior image.  They also supply a teacher's guide.  At Penguin Random House they allow you a peek at twenty-one pages.  There is a special website specifically for the Mercy Watson and Deckawoo Drive titles. Both Kate DiCamillo and Chris Van Dusen were interviewed at Reading Rockets here and here.

On A Street In Gizzford

We all know stories are everywhere.  The most common, everyday object, incident or living being can be the spark for an extraordinary tale.  It can start with something simple, move toward unbelievable and leave us with hope in our heart and a sigh on our lips.

Eleven years ago to the day, a series of books began with a pig.  Does this pig live on Old MacDonald's farm?  No, this pig does not live on a farm.  This pig lives with Mr. Watson and Mrs. Watson in their home at 54 Deckawoo Drive.

Mercy Watson begins her adventures with Mercy Watson to the Rescue (Candlewick Press, August 23, 2005) written by Kate DiCamillo with illustrations by Chris Van Dusen.  At the close of every day the Watsons tuck Mercy into bed, singing

"Bright, bright is the morning sun,
but brighter still is our darling one.
Dark, dark is the coming night,
but oh, our Mercy shines so bright."

In this opening book, Mercy may be the cause of the Watsons bed, with them in it, to be on the brink of crashing through the floor to the room below.  She does have a constant craving for snacks, especially toast with

a great deal of butter on it.

This hankering leads her to leap from the bed, explore the kitchen and run next door to the Lincoln sisters' home.  Baby Lincoln, the younger, kinder one, thinks the snout in her window is a monster.  Eugenia Lincoln, the no-nonsense, stricter sister immediately calls the fire department.  When firefighters Ned and Lorenzo arrive the sight before them is not what they expect.  Mercy does love a good chase.

Are Mr. and Mrs. Watson saved?  Does Mercy Watson get buttered toast?  You'll have to read it.


As if this pig, the Watsons, the Lincoln sisters and Ned and Lorenzo, the firefighters, had not charmed readers enough, Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride (Candlewick Press, May 9, 2006) takes us on a trip quite unlike any other.  Every Saturday Mr. Watson and Mercy go for a drive.  It's a struggle to get Mercy out of the driver's seat but the promise of buttered toast on their return always does the trick.

On this particular Saturday there happens to be an extra passenger looking for folly and hiding in the back seat. On this particular Saturday Officer Tomilello is parked in his police cruiser.  When a speeding car with a pig in the passenger seat whizzes by, he's got a job to do.

Can pigs drive?  Can pigs fly?  Will grumpy Eugenia Lincoln butter toast?  You'll need to read this to discover the answers.


In her third escapade, Mercy Watson Fights Crime (Candlewick Press, August 22, 2006) noises in the kitchen at 54 Deckawoo Drive wake up Mercy.  These are toaster sounds,

screeeeeech and clannngggg.

She also may be hearing

"Yippie-i-oh"

being sung by a little man who wishes to be a cowboy but is currently robbing the Watsons.

Since Leroy Ninker is not making toast he is able to lull the investigating, sleepy Mercy back to dreams of buttered toast.  In no time at all two things lead to a wild ride, Leroy Ninker's inability to climb over Mercy and the sweet, sweet smell of Butter Barrel candy.  The words of

"Yippie-i-oh"

being hollered with glee work their way into the sound sleep of the Lincoln sisters and Mrs. Watson.

Will Ned and Lorenzo arrive at Deckawoo Drive again?  Will Officer Tomilello continue to ask questions and answer them himself?  Will the daily newspaper headline a

porcine wonder?  

Seventy pages filled with laughter will reveal the truth.


According to the calendar Halloween will soon arrive.  Mercy Watson Princess in Disguise (Candlewick Press, July 10, 2007) celebrates the holiday, trick-or-treating (with a Mercy emphasis on treating) and introduces readers to General Washington, Eugenia Lincoln's new cat.  On the festive night a signal from Baby Lincoln and the super abilities of Mercy's snout are the only elements necessary for chaos creation.

With the swipe of a cat's paw and a pig who loves a good chase, a race is soon being run.  Two curious neighbor children, Frank and Stella who live at 50 Deckawoo Drive, observe from a distance but nevertheless intend to join the parade.  Everything and everyone comes to a standstill at the base of an ancient tree.

Will the stuck general get unstuck?  Can we count on the firefighters?  Will worry-wart Frank approve of the offered fare?  Mercy Watson knows.  You will too.


On a warm spring day or perhaps in the midst of early summer nothing is quite as fine as enjoying the pleasures of outdoors.  Eugenia Lincoln is attempting to bring graciousness to their lives despite having a pig living next door.  In Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig (Candlewick Press, July 8, 2008) the peace and quiet of the neighborhood vanishes at the whiff of newly planted pansies.


This is the last "petal" for the elder sister.  A call is made to the

Animal Control Center.

With Officer Francine Poulet at the ready, help is sure to follow although she is not expecting the problem to be a pig.

Will an Unmentionable Horror happen?  Will a tea party come to a crashing conclusion?  Will there be dogs involved?  You should all expect toast...lots of toast....lots of toast with lots of butter.


The lives of Mr. Watson, Mrs. Watson, Mercy Watson, Eugenia Lincoln, Baby Lincoln, Ned and Lorenzo, firefighters you can count on, Frank and Stella, Police Officer Tomilello, Animal Control Officer Francine Poulet, and Leroy Ninker are about to get even more exciting in the sixth and final book, Mercy Watson Something Wonky This Way Comes (Candlewick Press, July 14, 2009).  It's a lovely evening in the town of Gizzford.  It's a perfect night for a visit to the local Bijou Drive-In theater to see When Pigs Fly.

Leroy Ninker, mostly-reformed thief who wishes to be a cowboy and practices with his lasso whenever he can, works at the concession stand selling Bottomless Bucket popcorn served with real butter.  With the strong smell of butter in the air, Mercy becomes a pig with a single thought front and center in her mind.  She must have butter whether it's on popcorn or toast.

Will Officer Francine Poulet really need her net? Did Officer Tomilello hear a scream?  Is that a fire truck siren?  Six books with stories within a story all lead to Mercy's best kind of ending.


The arrival of a new series, Tales from Deckawoo Drive, is (was) happy news to fans of the Mercy Watson titles.  In the first, Leroy Ninker Saddles Up (Candlewick Press, August 26, 2014) on a specific night at the Bayou Drive-In concession stand during a double cowboy movie feature, ticket taker, Beatrice Leapaleoni makes a very important point.  What Leroy needs more than any attire and his trusty lasso is a horse.  Beatrice also gives Leroy an important piece of advice.

Patty LeMarque is moving and all she wants for her horse Maybelline (not Tornado as Leroy would prefer) is a happy home.  She agrees to give Maybelline to Leroy but cautions him about three idiosyncrasies of Maybelline; she takes great pleasure in sweet words directed to her, she consumes large amounts of food and she cannot be left alone for more than the merest of seconds.

Will poetic phrases turn Maybelline into a speed demon?  Does Leroy have enough spaghetti?  Will a thunderstorm and an umbrella cause the end of a beautiful new friendship?  You, dear reader, will come to agree with Maybelline about the stories in the best movies.  Perhaps you will be surprised but you will understand.


Do you remember the animal control officer who may or may not have captured Mercy Watson successfully?  In Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon (Candlewick Press, August 25, 2015) this winner of forty-seven trophies for her astute animal capturing skills is baffled beyond belief by what she encounters one dark night.  Upon receiving a phone call from Mrs. Bissinger, residing on Fleeker Street, about a screaming-like-a-banshee, shimmering raccoon Francine, who fears nothing, finds herself on a very high roof facing said raccoon.

This meeting with the details better left for you to discover ends with Francine in the hospital with more than one broken bone and broken in spirit.  Upon leaving the hospital she does something completely out of character for a third generation animal control officer.  Words from Frank and a tiny treat from Stella leave Francine Poulet wondering about her future, wondering about her place in the world.

Will our humming genuine article save the day?  Will a new era begin?  You should ask the raccoon.


For the third volume in the series Tales from Deckawoo Drive, author Kate DiCamillo and illustrator Chris Van Dusen showcase a woman in need of change.  Where Are You Going, Baby Lincoln (Candlewick Press, August 2, 2016) begins, unlike the previous two titles, on Deckawoo Drive.  It follows the younger, more kind-hearted of the two Lincoln sisters.

Baby Lincoln was dreaming.

A dream of riding on a fast train and stars shooting in the sky comes to a fast close with the shouting of Eugenia.  She wants Baby to wake up and write goals for the day.  Today Baby does something she has never done.  She says no.  It's time for her to take

a necessary journey.

After packing her suitcase, which is no easy task for someone who has never done this and has no idea where they are going, she walks out of the house and down the street to the train station.  Along the way Stella asks to walk with her.  Stella is wise beyond her years.

Now on the train heading toward the town of Fluxom, Baby begins the most interesting part of her trip, speaking with other passengers.  A fur-hat wearing man and the comic section of the daily newspaper leave her filled with laughter.  A young woman with a bigger-than-big bag of jelly beans helps her to see the importance of given names, singing stars and tasting sunshine and springtime. A little, paper-crown-wearing boy, George, awakens the storyteller in Baby.

The station at Fluxom is deserted when Baby arrives.  Beneath the starry sky the only sound she hears is that of a lone cricket.  Thankfully, Stella is indeed wise beyond her years.


It does not matter if Kate DiCamillo is writing about animals or people.  It does not matter if the book is an early chapter book, a picture book or a novel.  There is universality about her writing which finds a way into every heart.  She makes us laugh.  She makes us cry.  And most of all, we are better people for reading her books.

Her storytelling is straightforward but brings many threads together in a nearly magical style of art.  She adds extra descriptive details to very exact portions of her sentences.  When we see the world through her eyes, we see more.  Here are some sample passages from this book.

Baby opened her eyes.  She didn't know exactly what she was talking about either.  But she knew that something important was happening.  Her heart was beating very fast.
The sun was shining into the kitchen, and everything seemed outlined in brightness, possibility.
Eugenia stared at Baby.  Her mouth was open.  She looked quite astonished.
Baby was astonished, too.

Calaband Darsh sounded like a very grand place, a shooting-star kind of place.  Baby opened her purse and took out her wallet.  She handed the wallet to Stella and watched as Stella counted the money inside. 
"Okay" said Stella.  She handed the wallet back to Baby.  She consulted the train schedule.  "Let's see."
It turned out that Baby didn't have enough money to get to Calaband Darsh.
She had enough money to get to Fluxom.
"Fluxom?" said Baby.
"Fluxom," said Stella.
Fluxom did not sound like a shooting star kind of place at all.


The Mercy Watson books and the volumes in the Tales of Deckawoo Drive series have been delightfully rendered with gouache by the talented Chris Van Dusen.  All of the book cases and dust jackets portray key moments in each one of these titles. The Mercy Watson books have full color in the interior pages.  The images in the Tales of Deckawoo Drive are in black and white.

In each of the books Van Dusen includes two page spreads, single pages and smaller picture tucked in the text.  The facial features on all his characters are guaranteed to evoke laughter.  He depicts the people and places exactly as you imagine them to be in your mind as you are reading DiCamillo's words.


In preparation for the most recent book, Where Are You Going, Baby Lincoln written by Kate DiCamillo with illustrations by Chris Van Dusen, I reread all the other titles yesterday.  It was a truly heartwarming experience to step back into the world at Deckawoo Drive.  There are moments of absolute and total hilarity and minutes you want to replay over and over because of their profound truths but most of all these books speak about love in all its forms.

To discover more about Kate DiCamillo and Chris Van Dusen and their other work please take a few minutes to visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Here is the link to a website entirely devoted to the Mercy Watson and Deckawoo Drive titles.  Here is a printable PDF outlining activities and lessons related to all the Mercy Watson books.  At each of the publisher pages for each of the nine titles there are many wonderful resources for each book.  They are in order of publication here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.