Inside, Outside, What Will You See?

Regardless of their speed, they move in silence.  They were revered in ancient cultures, elevated to roles as deities. They have intermingled and lived with humans for thousands of years, yet they are said to be aloof.  Those humans who share their days with them often disagree with this assessment as does a recent scientific study.  They find them to be the best kind of companions. 

Our feline friends are beloved for a multitude of reasons; perhaps one is their ability to notice what others do not.  In 1985, thirty-five years ago, author illustrator Ashley Wolff published a book titled Only the Cat Saw (Dodd, Mead & Company).  (I was able to obtain a paperback copy released by Puffin Books in November 1988.)  In this book, as a family goes about end-of-the-day and nighttime routines inside their home, their cat makes its own observations of the outside world.

After making a gift of this original edition to her editor of ten years, Ashley Wolff was requested to update the images for a republication. Most of the text remains the same with the exception of a name change and the concluding sentences which add an exquisite enchantment to the story.  All the illustrations, the paintings, are new, supplying readers with enhanced perspectives and a diverse family.  One thing remains wonderfully the same.  This book, Only The Cat Saw (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, June 16, 2020) written and illustrated by Ashley Wolff,  is a classic calming ode to our world at day's end and during an nighttime rain shower, inside and outside a home.

It was suppertime,
and night was coming soon.
Mother was busy with Sam.
Tessa was helping Father.

So only the cat saw . . .

With a page turn, a double-page wordless picture reveals what the cat saw.  In both books the cat is still inside looking out at a pastoral scene as the sun sets behind rolling hills.  The number and size of windows has changed as well as the setting in the foreground and the animals.  We are much closer to the cat, the large geranium plant on the table and other objects.

In each of the subsequent moments, the rhythm of text on the left with accompanying full-page image on the right, followed by a dramatic wordless double-page image is beautifully consistent.  We move with ease and contentment from bath time, to bedtime, to dreams, an unplanned early morning awakening, Mother and Sam awake mere hours later, and then it is time for breakfast.  Each of these episodes in the home runs parallel to the cat's journey outside.

Horses are visited as fireflies become playthings.  From under the cover of large leaves, the cat watches an owl swoop to catch an evening meal of a mouse.  Will the owl or the mouse be the victor?  Perched among slumbering ewes and a ram, the cat watches a star arch across a star-studded sky.

As the rain showers concede to a sunny new morning, the cat watches high above the ground.  When the family members stir inside, a shift in the story takes readers to a new point of view.  There is a time and a place for every being to see and to be seen.


In each portion of the narrative, author Ashley Wolff includes one or all of the family members.  She intimately involves readers in these familial situations.  She creates a cadence for readers using the same format for each selection.  You find yourself holding your breath after you read:

So only the cat saw . . .

You wonder what surprise awaits you with the page turn.  Here is another passage.

At bedtime,
Mother and Father were reading.
Sam was finally asleep,
and Tessa was supposed to be.

So only the cat saw . . .


When you open the matching dust jacket and book case, you are greeted with a breathtaking, soothing nighttime vista.  As your eyes move from left to right the perspective alters from a background to the foreground on the right.  On the left, as if we are a cat, the two-story family home, lights glowing in some of the windows, rises above wildflowers and grasses in a surrounding meadow.  Behind the home is a starry sky with a full moon.  The white puffs of flowers mirror the moon.  Several moths sip nectar as a small brown mouse freezes on the far left.

On the right, front, the cat comes toward readers, looking directly at us.  If you compare the two front covers, this cat is much closer to us.  It's tail here (and in other scenes) is more curved becoming linked to the title.  This newer cat has different eyes and more distinctive white spots.  The fur is textured.  In the most recent edition two beetles have paused on leaves.  The title text on the jacket is raised.

The opening and closing endpapers are a canvas of golden yellow like the author's name, the flower, and the "O" in the title.  The first illustration on the title page is a single page picture in both editions.  In each one the cat is stretching as if recently waking up.  In the newer version the cat is closer to readers and looking at us.  In this edition of the book is appears as if cooler colors and more vibrant colors have replaced golden shades and subdued hues.

With a page turn we are greeted with a double page picture.  In my older version the mother is hanging laundry.  There is a basket for clothes and one for Sam.  Amy has both arms holding the basket as it rests on the ground.  On a large sheet is the dedication and publication information.  In the new release Dad is hanging up the laundry.  Sam is in front of Dad in a baby carrier.  A small basket on the ground holds clothes pins.  In the laundry basket is a pile of clothes with the cat on top.  Tessa is peeking between two sheets.  The dedication is on one of them. In this book the publication information in on the last page with a stunning picture of the cat.

In the earlier edition all the full-page illustrations were bordered in white.  In this book, the images bleed to the edges.  In all of them we are closer to the subjects.  We are drawn into each location.  The details are many with intricate fine lines.  The use of light and shadow is splendid.  Readers will find comfort in the way the images by Ashley Wolff extend her words.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture.  The color palette is limited, but it conveys strong emotions.  Inside the barn the ewes, lambs and a ram are curled and cuddled in sleep.  Through the one visible window light from the full moon casts a beam.  The cat is sitting on the body of one of the sheep.  It is looking through the open barn door at the rolling hills, the night sky and the falling star.  You can't look at this picture and not wish to be there.


Both editions of this book are lovely in the lullaby they generate for readers in the words and pictures, but this new release of Only the Cat Saw written and illustrated by Ashley Wolff is eloquent.  Readers will request to have this read to them repeatedly.  It is now one of my favorite bedtime, quiet time, titles.  You could also use this to promote writing, imagining a scene inside a home and what the cat might see outside. There is not a personal or professional collection that would be complete without this title.

If you would like to discover more about Ashley Wolff and her body of work, please visit her website by following the link attached to her name to access her website.  Ashley Wolff also has accounts on WordPress, Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  In a post at Publishers Weekly Ashley Wolff is interviewed about this new titles and the changes made and why.  I believe you will really enjoy reading it.  In the video below Ashley Wolff talks about the new edition and reads it aloud.

Seasonal Views And Hues

This year in the northern hemisphere on September 22 summer will come to a close.  The daylight hours are already shortening but during those minutes the world around us is bursting with color in every hue imaginable.  The blend of shadow and the height of the sun give us breathtaking beauty.

We wake to filtered sunrise rays peeking through trees, bushes and flowers giving them a golden glow.  Cloud cover alters every instance.  Wind works a special wonder.  Summer Color! (Little, Brown And Company, May 15, 2018) written by Diana Murray with illustrations by Zoe Persico takes us on a tour of a summer day shared by siblings and their family.

The hot summer sun lights the sky like a torch
as folks fan themselves on the shady back porch.

With this opening sentence we see the first hue of the day---yellow.  It shines on the sunflowers.  As parents and cousins join the duo ice cold sweet treats on a stick are shared.  Their vibrancy shines with a primary color.

Brother and sister run fast past familiar places until they realize the day has darkened.  Clouds swell turning a stormy gray.  All the animals in the field hurry toward the safety of the green woods.  As the rain falls everything starts to shimmer.  Brights are brighter.

The companions traverse farther into the forest, seeking a cool sheet of white water tumbling to a pond.  Making their way home past the lake with people seeking shelter beneath blankets of purple and past meadow mice tucked in their cozy abode, they run to their door.

Soaked through and through, they cuddle under the warmth of orange towels noticing the color of the fence and shed in their backyard.  As suddenly as it arrived, the disturbance disappears.  The leftover droplets cast a silvery sheen.  The children run outside looking at the clear blue of the sky only to find an arching surprise.


Listening and reading children alike will find themselves caught in the cadence of the words written by Diana Murray.  Twelve vivid hues are spotlighted in rhyming couplets (and other poetic techniques such as alliteration), each focusing on an action; everything and everyone is in motion.  Diana Murray's descriptions of place and time entice us to recall similar experiences or to create new adventures in the near future.  Here are two couplets.

Splashing and splattering, streak after streak,
the rain soaks the earth and sweeps over the creek,
where frogs start to croak and the water snakes slink,
and wildflowers glisten with petals so pink.


Using an F & G (looking forward to having my own copy of the book), the dust jacket unfolds to display a green hill topped with the children's home, a field of flowers spreads from flap edge to flap edge.  The blue summer sky holds places for fluffy white clouds, the warm yellow sun and a cardinal gliding on the breeze in the far left upper corner.  On the opening and closing endpapers a fun-filled meadow scene is shown. (In the back these endpapers also display the dedication and publication information.)

A fox calmly watches eleven white mice and nine blue-green frogs frolic on and off the pages.  Eight snails slide across the right corner.  A variety of flowers and mushrooms grow in clusters.  Two of those snails move across a meadow with brown farm fencing on the two-page picture for the title page.  In each corner we are given a close-up view of flowers.

Rendered by Zoe Persico using traditional-art-inspired digital brushes and media the illustrations radiate from every page, blissfully conveying the magic of a summer day.  Each two-page picture feels as though it's in motion, frozen only for a moment until we can jump in and join the characters.  The facial features on the humans are those of contentment and happiness.  Even in the animals there is a sense of harmony.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a close-up of the children running from stone to stone across the creek as the rain begins in earnest.  They are moving from left to right on the left side.  All we can see are their sneakers, legs, a pair of shorts, a skirt and the bottom portion of their shirts.  The girl's hands and arms move in motion with her legs.  Pink land and water flowers dot the image.  A snake glides toward the left side of the page.  A brilliant green frog watches from a rock on the right.  We can see the rain drops streaking downward.


You'll want to use this title, Summer Color! written by Diana Murray with illustrations by Zoe Persico, for your seasonal story times as a charming introduction to all that can be seen in a single summer day. It can also be used with a unit on weather and for any theme involving the concept of color.  Children (and children at heart) will be attracted to the gentle but energetic beat of the words and the spirited illustrations.  It would be wonderful to have this title on your professional and personal bookshelves.

To learn more about Diana Murray and Zoe Persico and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Both Diana and Zoe are on Twitter. Diana has an account on Pinterest.  Zoe has Tumblr pages and an Instagram account.  Both of them are interviewed by writer and illustrator Jena Benton about this book on her blog.  Enjoy the trailer.

Curiousity In A New Setting

Once you've lived in northern Michigan, hiked through the woods, walked meadow pathways, strolled along one of the many beaches, canoed in the rivers and gazed at the night sky brimming with stars, the conveniences of life in a city downstate do not compare to the beauty one can see every single day in the tip of the mitt.  Recently returning to this area has offered the opportunity to see some of Mother Nature's gorgeous displays when walking with my furry friend through the woods and along Lake Charlevoix.  You notice the oddly shaped tree, the lichen growing on rocks along the road and the work of woodpeckers.  The play of sunlight and shadow is breathtaking.

Author illustrator Philip Stead, who gave children's literature the wonderfully creative Ideas Are All Around (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, March 1, 2016) through observations when walking with his dog Wednesday, brings another reflective book about taking note of your surroundings as well as how the past blends with the present. All the Animals Where I Live (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, March 20, 2018) acquaints us with the area in which the Steads and Wednesday now reside.  They have moved from the city to an old farmhouse in the country.

IF YOU FOLLOW THE DIRT ROAD DOWN FROM MY HOUSE,
past the family of wild turkeys that roost on the wooden fence,
you'll find a ninety-year-old woman who lives all by herself.

It is no surprise a bear was looking through the old woman's window one day.  With no fear, she went outside and chased it away.  Philip, on the other hand, has never seen a bear in the city or the country. He does have a special bear sitting near him when he works. It is Frederick, a gift from his Grandma Jane.

I loved my Grandma Jane.

He remembers a room in her home always smelling of maple syrup.  He remembers a wool blanket made from squares with chickens in the center.  He remembers how he slept beneath that blanket.

He imagines his grandmother as an animal, a hummingbird.  All the other animals would consider her a friend before she flew to Philip's old farmhouse in the country.  Wednesday, of all the places she has lived, loves this place best.

Wednesday watches the coming and going of all kinds of animals; dragonflies, cranes and a lazy toad.  Wednesday sees a turtle drop from the sky.  At night a whole new crew of creatures makes sounds in the darkness.

Summer passes into autumn.  Wednesday still watches but she plays a game with the deer that come to feast on the fallen apples.  Soon snow covers everything in sight.  Everyone is tucked up tight except for brave birds coming to feed on the seed.  One other thing lingers.  It's a sweet, sweet memory.


Like the master teller of stories he is, Philip Stead, sends readers an invitation with his opening two sentences.  He paints pictures as eloquently with words as he does with his art.  He invites us to walk down a familiar road.  We feel like we know the elderly woman who encounters the bear.

We become more intimately involved when Philip shares memories of his past with us.  With enchanting imagery he ties his grandmother to the present and Wednesday and their old farmhouse in the county.  With his use of language we are transported.  Here is a passage.

Then the coyote howls, and nothing moves.
Except for Wednesday.
She runs to the window and barks, barks, barks.
Wednesday echoes through the dark field,
over the apple trees,
and into the woods where the coyote disappears for a while.


Rendered

entirely by hand using a combination of techniques including oil ink monoprinting, printing from found objects, and drawing with China marker, bamboo calligraphy brushes, and Sumi ink

all of the art beginning with the opened dust jacket are signature Philip Stead supplying readers with atmospheric settings.  The red used in the title text and on the old farmhouse add extra warmth to the countryside scene.  To the left, on the back, of the jacket, the shades of green and rustic golden yellow for ground and sky continue across the spine.  They provide a canvas for a crane with one leg lifted, head raised and beak open in a call.  The painstaking care given to the placement of each element gives readers insight into the love of the artist for his work.  Each detail is exquisite.

On the book case the red used on the jacket is replicated as a background for the front and the back.  Embossed on the front in the lower, right-hand corner in black is a chicken.  A pale mint green covers the opening and closing endpapers.  The initial title page contains a hummingbird at rest on a branch with two delicate leaves in the same color as the hummingbird.  The verso and formal title page contain a more panoramic view of the farm, a cluster of birch trees and the apple trees.  It is done in black on cream with the only color the red of the title text.

With each page turn readers will find themselves pausing to enter each illustration.  We are drawn into the moments presented to us.  We are in the room looking at the bear looking at us.  We feel the love flowing from the image of the teddy bear given by Grandma Jane.  We're warm from sleeping under the chicken blanket.  We easily follow Wednesday as he travels around the farm day to day, season to season.

Of my many favorite illustrations in this title which finds a place in my heart spans two pages (as they all do except for the final picture).  On cream, red and golden birch leaves are pressed along the top on both pages with one drifting down.  Along the bottom are grasses in shades of autumn.  On the left a large hollow stump is the residence of a chipmunk family.  One is sitting in the doorway at the base.  Two others have left; one is seated and the other is running.  They are wary because Wednesday is on her hind legs, paws resting on the edge of the stump.  Her head is bowed as she peers inside.


This book, All the Animals Where I Live written and illustrated by Philip Stead, is an exploration not only of his and Wednesday's worlds but of how we can view the world in which we live.  It allows us to appreciate every aspect of our past and present.  It asks us to live in each moment valuing it for what it can teach us.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal collections. 

To learn more about Philip Stead and his other accomplished works, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  At The Stead Collection website you can follow links titled books, authors, resources and contact.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  Here is a link to an activity kit.  I believe you will enjoy this older interview with Philip C. and Erin E. Stead at MackinVIACommunity.

A Change of Pace

An early morning walk this week heralded the difference.  The sky was a bit bluer.  The air was crisp and much cooler.  The humidity prevalent in this Great Lakes state was thankfully lower. In less than three weeks the advent of autumn is official.  This season awakens treasured memories of family vacations taken annually in the fall.  The normal routine of school and work left behind for an entire week to explore and enjoy the wonders of this time of year in northern Michigan.

Readers fell in love with a very special blue-and-pink-polka-dotted elephant and his equally small friend with one notched ear introduced in Little Elliot, Big City (Henry Holt and Company, August 26, 2014).  When they returned in Little Elliot, Big Family (Henry Holt and Company, October 6, 2015) our affection for the pals grew.  Little Elliot, Big Fun (Henry Holt and Company, August 30, 2016) strengthened the duo's friendship, making us lifelong followers of whatever adventure they chose to take.  Like my family fall getaway the charming companions are taking a break from life in the city with Little Elliot, Fall Friends (Godwin Books, Henry Holt and Company, August 29, 2017) written and illustrated by Mike Curato.

Little Elliot and his best friend, Mouse, loved living in the big city.

Despite this love, the city could be too much of everything sometimes.  Mouse's declaration of them needing a vacation found them on a bus to the country as soon as possible.  As they left the hustle and bustle and noise behind, they were welcomed with the colorful array of fall foliage.

The views as far as their eyes could see left them nearly speechless.  It was so wide.  It was so open.  Before too long Elliot's need for food had them heading down a hillside toward some apple trees.  With full stomachs and play in piles of leaves, Elliot and Mouse were having the time of their lives.

At Mouse's suggestion of a rousing game of hide-and-seek, Little Elliot was hiding and Mouse was seeking.  They discovered nooks and crannies in the nearby forest and on the farm.  When Elliot hid among the rows of corn stalks, he was sure Mouse would never discover this spot.  Mouse did not find him.

Sunshine turned to sunset.  There was no Mouse.  As Elliot wondered about this situation, his nose for sweet treats caught a whiff of something scrumptious.  He followed the scent to an open farmhouse window.  A freshly-baked pie sat on the sill.  There was more, much more, waiting for the elephant than pastry.  A friend knows a friend's nose.


In this fourth title through conversations, thoughts and the narrative, Little Elliot and Mouse find a forever place in readers' hearts. Simple sentences with meticulously chosen words by Mike Curato ask us to enjoy the vacation with the two friends.  We experience their exuberance at discovering what the season and location have to offer.  The wisdom presented to us through this friendship is lasting and profound.  Here is a sample passage.

Elliot and Mouse got off the bus
and smelled the fresh air.

"Wow," said Elliot.  "This country
is even bigger than the city!"

"I'll race you up that hill!" said Mouse.


The design and elements on the front of the dust jacket are reminiscent of driving down a country lane to your favorite farm and enjoying the fruits of a fall harvest.  The autumn leaves along the top, the sign holding the title text, the rolling hills, the colored trees, the pumpkin and basket of apples are all part of a best-day-ever scenario.  Clearly Elliot and Mouse are enjoying themselves.

To the left on the back amid a burnt orange background Elliot and Mouse are having a romp in a pile of leaves.  A yellow oval, like a spotlight, draws our attention to them.  The ISBN is framed in wood.  Significant items on the front and back are varnished.

On the book case, done in two shades of a textured orange, with a wider, darker shade along the spine, Elliot and Mouse are featured.  On the front they are gobbling up apples.  Elliot is tossing an apple in the air to the left, on the back. In both images grass provides an area for them to sit and stand.  The opening and closing endpapers are patterned in apples in various positions, with and without leaves attached.  One is a core.  The colors used are nearly the same as Elliot's hues.

The verso and title pages is a single scene of a barn on a hill in the country in the background with a signpost and arrows in the foreground on the right containing the title text. The dedication on the left reads:

For city sunrises and country sunsets.

Rendered in pencil on paper and digital color in Adobe Photoshop Mike Curato brings all the charm of this relationship and life in the country in the autumn to his illustrations.  He alternates between breathtaking double-page spreads to single page pictures framed and other single page pictures edge to edge.  Sometimes more than one visual will be on a single page.  Each of these choices contributes to the pacing; asking us to pause and notice. (One particular picture using silhouettes reminds me of a famous fairy tale.)

It's interesting how Mike shifts his color palette between his city scenes and the country life.  In the first illustration we understand why Elliott and Mouse love their life in the city but we also understand why they need a break through the following pictures.  Perspective, bringing us close to the characters and then shifting to a panoramic vista, is used to marvelous effect as is white space in one sequence.  (I love the snail.)

I have many, many favorite pictures.  One is a wordless scene on a single page.  On either side of a grassy lane are apple orchards. At the end of the lane sits a farmhouse. In the foreground Mouse is sitting on a branch among apples throwing one down to the waiting Elliot with outstretched hands.  Once again a friend is helping a friend.  In this illustration, as in all of them, the choice of shades and the use of light and shadow are stunning.


I know readers familiar with these characters are going to ask for this book to be read repeatedly.  For those not yet introduced to Elliot and Mouse, Little Elliot, Fall Friends written and illustrated by Mike Curato is a wonderful choice, perfect for this time of year.  There is something extraordinarily special about these two friends and each book in which we find them.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal bookshelves.

To discover more about Mike Curator and his other work please follow the links attached to his name to access his website and blog.  He has several images from this book on his website.  The publisher's website also contains interior illustrations from this title.  There is a special website dedicated to the Little Elliot (and Mouse) books.  Mike Curato is featured at All The Wonders, Episode 379.  Make sure to check the previous posts to learn more about Mike Curator, his art and his process.