Defining And Defending Equality

There are those who see injustice and speak out loud about it.  There are those who see injustice, speak out loud about it, and take action to correct it.  There are a select few among us who see injustice, speak out loud about it, take action to correct it, and devote their entire lives to inequities.

At eighty-seven years old, there is a woman, currently sitting on the Supreme Court who is one of these people.  In her twenty-seven years of service to our Constitution and laws, her voice has not wavered. Ruth Objects: The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Disney Hyperion, February 11, 2020) written by Doreen Rappaport with illustrations by Eric Velasquez is a memorable portrait in words and images of a remarkable woman.

Ruth's mother, Celia, wanted to go to college,
but her family had only enough money
to pay for their eldest son to attend.  
When Celia married, her husband
made her stop working as a bookkeeper.
He worried that people would think
he couldn't support his family.

For her daughter, Ruth, Celia wanted other choices.  She wanted her to be firm in her resolve, but to do so without animosity.  Both her parents supported strong academic pursuits, as well as outside interests.  The family observed lighting of candles on Friday evenings to begin the Sabbath.  While her childhood was filled with a wide range of opportunities and experiences, deep sadness came to Ruth right before she graduated from high school.  Her mother died.

College at Cornell exposed different conditions, more constraints for women than men.  An event there determined the course Ruth's life would take.  Prior to graduating from college Ruth met her perfect life partner, Martin Ginsburg, an attorney.  He fully supported her endeavors.  When Marty began his service in the military, Ruth began working in government, but when she informed her employer she was pregnant, her responsibilities were diminished, and she was required to leave in her ninth month.

Graduating first in her class paved the way for Ruth to attend Harvard Law School, but here too, she faced gender differences.  Ruth and her husband shared parenting, and Martin was the better cook.  When they were both working on their law degrees, Martin got cancer.  Ruth continued her studies and made sure Martin missed nothing.  She rarely got enough sleep.  Marty survived and was hired in a firm in New York City. Ruth completed her law education at Columbia Law School.  She tied for top of the class.  Not one judge would hire her as a law clerk, until a professor intervened.

In 1963 Ruth was teaching at Rutgers University in New Jersey, getting less pay than a man doing the same work.  Ruth's students, women law students, asked her to teach a class on

women and the law.

Ruth and other female law professors decided to petition the court for equal pay.  They won.  This was the beginning of one successful win after another as Ruth challenged the norms which failed to live up to the Constitution.  Ten years later, in 1973, she argued her first Supreme Court case.  She won with an eight to one vote.  Ruth continued to fight for gender equity, for women and for men. 

In 1993, as a newly sworn-in member of the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg stayed the course. Even if a case was not decided to her liking, a dissent could sway another body to take action as in the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act which President Barack Obama signed into law on January 29, 2009.  A year later Ruth Bader Ginsburg lost the love of her life, Martin Ginsburg died due to cancer.  Today, Ruth is one of three women on the Supreme Court.  May her strength be a guide for us all.


With each reading of the words written by Doreen Rappaport for this book, you will find yourself more in awe of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  The detailed facts allow us to be a participant in many aspects of her life.  Each time Doreen Rappaport gives us an accounting of a certain portion of Ruth's life, she includes a quotation.  This increases the authenticity of the narrative.  Here is a passage.

Ruth tied for first place in her graduating class,
but not one law firm interviewed her.

"Traditional law firms were just
beginning to hire Jews, but to be a
woman, a Jew, and a mother to boot,
that combination was a bit much."  


If the picture on the front of the matching dust jacket and book case does not take your breath away, you might want to make sure you are breathing.  The portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg with the rendering of the Constitution of the United States behind her is wondrous.  (In my humble opinion, it should be hanging in a gallery.)  You expect her to start speaking at any moment.  To the left, on the back, is a red curtain, folded and still.  The title text is placed here along with the author and illustrator names.  Under the secondary title is a bit of lace in reference to the signature jabot for which Ruth is known.

On the golden, painted opening and closing endpapers are two different quotations of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  On the title page between two sets of text, artist Eric Velasquez has placed a judge's gavel and block.  These stunning paintings by Eric Velasquez vary in size to elevate the text, and to extend the visual interpretation.  They are one-and-one-half pages creating a column for text, smaller insets on a larger image, a series of vertical panels on two pages, two horizontal panels on a single page, or dramatic double-page pictures.

The elements included in each illustration reveal the meticulous research by Eric Velasquez.  The facial features, body postures, and clothing reflect the historical perspective and moment being showcased.  Through his illustrations we are able to watch a young girl grow and change to become the esteemed person she is today.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a one-and-one-half page picture with a column on the left for text.  Eric Velasquez's painting of the Constitution of the United States supplies the canvas for an image of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  It is a depiction of a younger Ruth.  We see a greater portion of her body, from the waist upward.  She is dressed in attire for this period.  She has a copy of the Constitution in her right hand.  She faces readers with a look of calm determination on her face.  This page is discussing the lawsuit for equal pay for women professors.  They did win.  In this illustration, as in all of them, Eric Velasquez is masterful with his use of light and shadow.


Even after repeated readings, readers will feel their respect and admiration of this woman climb.  Ruth Objects: The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg written by Doreen Rappaport with illustrations by Eric Velasquez is an outstanding presentation of this woman's contributions toward equality for all. At the close of the book are Important Dates, Author's Note, Illustrator's Note, Selected Bibliography, To Learn More About Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Acknowledgements and Source Notes.  You could pair this with Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R. B. G. vs. Inequality by Jonah Winter with illustrations by Stacy Innerst.  You will want to include this title in your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Doreen Rappaport and Eric Velasquez and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Eric Velasquez has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.


Please take a few moments to see what titles were selected this week by other participants in the 2020 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge hosted by educator Alyson Beecher at Kid Lit Frenzy.

A Titan-Type Of Tale

Tales told from generation to generation take on a life of their own.  They are embedded in familial traditions.  They are the threads binding all the members into a single woven tapestry.  Most, upon examination, are based on truth or the possibility of truth.  They are universal with respect to taking what seems to be ordinary and having it transform into something wondrous.

This shift is the power of storytelling, enveloping all who listen.  Octopus Stew (Holiday House, August 17, 2019) written and illustrated by Eric Velasquez is a story brimming with anticipation as soon as you look at the jacket and case.  Each page turn heightens the readers' awareness of something fantastical about to happen.

When Grandma saw my painting of Super Octo, she got the idea to make pulpo guisado, octopus stew---not exactly my favorite dish.

A small question asked by the boy, Ramsey, was quickly rebuffed by his determined grandmother.  Later he had to relinquish his superhero cape to accompany her to the store to purchase an octopus for the stew.  He took lots of pictures of the fish on display.  His grandmother bought the largest octopus.

As they proceeded to the cashier, Ramsey tried to tell his grandmother an important fact he located online about octopuses, using his phone.  She was not interested.  At home Grandma prepared the octopus, putting it in a pot to boil.  Ramsey avoided the entire process.

Later when Grandma came to join Ramsey in the living room, the duo heard weird sounds from the direction of the kitchen.  The noises grew louder and louder.  When Ramsey and his grandmother stood in the doorway to the kitchen, they were shocked by the sight which greeted them.  The octopus was enormous.  It was outside the pot.  It was alive!

Hiding and thinking with speed reserved for heroes, Ramsey put on his cape (and one on his perro), raced to the kitchen, held forth an object and made a loud demand to the octopus holding his grandmother.  At this point the tale takes one of two surprising twists.  Each conclusion relies on the reader's capacity for stepping into the unexpected with their eyes wide open.


As soon as the story starts, the personalities of Ramsey and Grandma are revealed through the narrative and their dialogue.  This technique, of blending text and conversation, used by author Eric Velasquez enhances the intimacy of the story for readers.  Using a mix of Spanish and English plus sound effect selections takes readers farther into the experiences of the boy and his grandparent.  Careful choice of words builds the suspense readers feel until they are faced with not one, but two, startling revelations.  Here is a passage.

Then Grandma came to sit with me while I did my
homework.  All of a sudden, strange noises started to
come from the kitchen.
Blimp, Blump, Brr, Blimp, Blump, Brr.
"Que sera eso? What could that be?" Grandma 
asked.  "Ramsey, quedate aqui.  Voy a ver. Stay here."


One look at the front of the matching dust jacket and book case and readers know they are in for an amazing adventure.  Chana, Ramsey's dog, Ramsey, and Grandma are astounded by the sight before them.  Hints of what they are seeing are behind them like steam on the blue canvas.  Grandma's arm and open hand held in front of Ramsey for protection are a sign of her affection for him.

To the left, on the back, on a lighter shade of blue, rows of fish, as seen at the market, are arranged along the bottom. On the opening and closing endpapers Eric Velasquez has placed a bright yellow background.  Vertical rows of white circular shapes like those found on an octopus are shown.

These illustrations rendered

in oil on Fabriano 300 lb. hot press watercolor paper

are rich and realistic.  Bold full-color images, highly animated, are spread across double pages or on single pages framed in a white border.  At times to enhance the pacing two smaller pictures are included on a single page.  For a highly dramatic effect a large, nearly full-page picture is laid on a double-page visual.  At a turning point in the narrative a wonderful, four-page gatefold will leave readers gasping.  The facial expressions on the characters heighten every moment and mood.  You'll find yourself completely captured by their story.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  On the right-hand side Ramsey is leaning out from behind his grandma.  His dog is leaning to the left of and behind him.  Grandma is standing, legs spread apart with one hand to her heart and mouth wide open in the doorway to the kitchen.  On either side of the doorway are the bright yellow walls of the kitchen.  The refrigerator is on the far left.  The floor is a rusty red tile.  Stretching from the top on the right to the far left are two gigantic octopus legs with the huge suckers visible.  A large

Thump!

is above one leg as it strikes the refrigerator.  The lid to the pot is on the floor.


From the minute you look at this book, you know you're about to enter into something marvelous.  Octopus Stew written and illustrated by Eric Velasquez is the best kind of storytelling, leading you into the extraordinary with two stunning twists.  Oh, this book is a superb title for sharing repeatedly, one-on-one or with a group.  I highly recommend it.  At the close of the book is a splendid author's note and a glossary of non-standard Spanish Eric Velasquez says was spoken in his home. 

To learn more about Eric Velasquez and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  Eric Velasquez has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  You can learn more about Eric Velasquez in an interview at the Center for the Collaborative Classroom. A poster is available to download at the publisher's website.   At another publisher's website you can view interior images.  School Library Journal interviews Eric Velasquez during a Facebook live event about this book.

A Quest For Truth

When you finish a book, close the cover and sit in silence, it's a book worth remembering.  If this particular title should be a biography, you can't help but think, not for the first time, how much better our world is for this person having lived here.  If you are unfamiliar with this individual and their accomplishments, you send waves of thanks into the universe for the work of those responsible for this book.

Next to me as I write this post is such a book.  I am filled with wonder and immense respect for this man who is introduced to readers in Schomburg: The Man Who Built A Library (Candlewick Press, September 12, 2017) written by Carole Boston Weatherford with illustrations by Eric Velasquez.  If he had lived past his sixty-four years, what other treasures might he have discovered?

The American Negro must remake his past in
order to make his future . . .History must
restore what slavery took away.
                        ---Arturo Schomburg

You would like to think educators treat all students equally, lifting them up and realizing their potential.  For Arturo Schomburg, a fifth grade teacher did not lift him up.  She told him

. . . Africa's sons and daughters
had no history, no heroes worth noting.

This statement lit a fire in Arturo and it was never extinguished.  He dedicated his life to searching for and finding primary sources and facts to proclaim the truth of black heritage.  No child should ever hear what he heard in fifth grade.

As a boy his search began, reading everything he could.  Benjamin Banneker's words and achievements fueled his fire further.  At seventeen Arturo left Puerto Rico immigrating to New York. He became involved in political issues, taught Spanish as he was learning English and, regardless of a setback with his educational records, found work as a law clerk.  His book collecting started in earnest.

Arturo had a gift for finding items others might miss.  He was fascinated with Phillis Wheatley, learning more about her than he imagined.  For Arturo Frederick Douglass was a glorious example of the power of the pen.  The more Arturo searched, the more he found.  Toussaint Louverture, David Walker, Denmark Vesey, and Nat Turner were his heroes.

He discovered connections to Africa in the ancestry of John James Audubon, Alexandre Dumas, Alexander Pushkin and Ludwig van Beethoven.  By studying volumes he unearthed, he made connections to like-minded people such as Paul Cuffee, a wealthy African American (1759-1817) and Marcus Garvey, a well-known name in the Harlem Renaissance.  Now working as a mail room clerk Arturo was highly respected for his growing personal collection and knowledge.  He was asked to search for those items most likely to further instill black pride.  He brought to light one fascinating piece of information after another.

Eventually he had more books than his home could hold.  The Carnegie Corporation bought his collection for $10,000.  It was donated to the New York Public Library in 1926 becoming the core of the 135th Street branch and the Division of Negro History, Literature and Prints.  Arturo ventured out of New York to Fisk University for a year.  Eventually he traveled to Spain, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Cuba.  Least you think he only collected books, he added art to the Division of Negro History, Literature and Prints.  A little more than two years after his death, the Division of Negro History, Literature and Prints was renamed the Schomburg Collection for Negro History, Literature and Prints.  What would this remarkable man think of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture found at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem?


As readers turn each page in this title they will indeed feel respect swell for Schomburg as presented by Carole Boston Weatherford.  There is a passion for this man revealed in every sentence she writes blending his quotations and his personal life within her conversational, lyrical narrative.  We walk in his shadow as Carole Boston Weatherford shares with us his findings about specific individuals.  She weaves all these lives together with beauty.  Here are two passages.

But Phillis was most phenomenal as a poet.
If only Arturo could have been a gull
swooping and crooning above the waves
as Phillis crossed the Atlantic a second time,
bound for London to promote her book---
Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral---in 1773.
If only that same year Arturo could have witnessed
that stroke of pen granting Phillis her freedom.
If only Arturo could have looked over her shoulder,
seen her penning that praise poem
to George Washington during the Revolution.
Although she offered subscriptions
for a second book, her final manuscript
was never published or found.
If only, thought Arturo, I could find that. 

Art, he thought, might reach those
who would never read a rare book.


Rendered in oil on watercolor paper the illustrations on the matching dust jacket and book case (as well as all the interior images) by Eric Velasquez are luminous. In each one our eyes are initially drawn to Schomburg.  We focus on his current situation with respect to the text.  Notice how the light shines on portions of his face.  Then our eyes wander to the other elements noting the historical accuracy of the architecture, clothing and transportation.  I am particularly pleased to see how Velasquez has the books stacked in Schomburg's arms, exactly as he arranged them in his collections.

To the left, on the back, an interior illustration is featured.  It shows Schomburg standing, with arms crossed, in his collection, positioned between two acquired sculptures with book cases behind him.  The opening and closing endpapers are in a pale rustic red.  On the first is a book plate reading

EX LIBRIS.

On the title page is a picture of the 135th Street branch building beneath the text. Spanning from left to right is a row of books, color-coordinated, on the verso and dedication pages.  Full color pictures crossing the gutter create larger than life portraits of Schomburg.  Others are shown on single pages or portions of pages.  These visuals depending on their size provide columns for the text.  When Schomburg is learning about an individual person, the images are framed in fine red lines with a date tucked into the painting.  The people are depicted engaged in the activity Schomburg most admires.  These illustrations are like snapshots of history, accurate but emotional.

One of my many favorite pictures covers a single page and extends over the gutter to half of the right side.  It is the 135th Street branch building.  It rises into a blue sky dotted with clouds.  It is shown at an angle as if we are gazing upward at it.  In fact, Schomburg is standing in front of the building with his back to us, hands on his hips.  This historic building is like a treasure chest holding a man's life's work.


Schomburg: The Man Who Built A Library written by Carole Boston Weatherford with illustrations by Eric Velasquez is an outstanding picture book biography highlighting a fascinating life. This remarkable man never wavered in his quest.  At the close of the book a time line, source notes and bibliography are presented.  I highly recommend this title be a part of your professional and personal collection.

To learn more about Carole Boston Weatherford and Eric Velasquez and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  At the publisher's website you can view an interior illustration.  There is an eight page teacher's guide.  They've also prepared several pages on Eric Velasquez.  Carole Boston Weatherford is interviewed at Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb.  Author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson highlights Eric Velasquez on her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Eric Velazquez is showcased at The Brown Bookshelf. 



Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to read about the titles selected by other bloggers participating in the 2017 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Standing Strong For Right

There is nothing that restores your faith in humanity as when a group of people band together to do the right thing.  A specific moment may prompt an individual of courage to rally others to the cause.  The lifestyle of an entire community can reflect bravery in the face of laws which dictate they act otherwise.

On September 18,1850 The Fugitive Slave Law was passed by the United States Congress as part of a compromise between free and slave states.  If a slave was found in a free state, it was a matter of law they be returned to their owners.  The Price of Freedom: How One Town Stood Up To Slavery (Walker Books For Young Readers) by Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin with illustrations by Eric Velasquez is a nonfiction picture book that speaks volumes on the commitment of people, their willingness to break the law, to help their fellow humans.

One frigid January night in 1856, John Price and his cousin Dinah took two horses from their master's barn.

They had a friend, Frank, on another farm who was to join them.  The three left Kentucky to make their way to Ohio, a free state.  Although the Ohio River was frozen it wasn't until daybreak when they found a way to climb the river bank.

Taken in by a Quaker man until they were well after their harrowing escape, they eventually split up; the two men going one way, Dinah another.  John and Frank knew they needed to get to Canada to be truly free.  Making their way along the Underground Railroad, they reached Lake Erie only to discover it was not yet safe because of ice.

Oberlin, Ohio , the site of Oberlin College and then, an active community in helping runaway slaves, is where the two decided to wait out the winter.  Nearly two years later, having felt welcome and living in the company of other African Americans (close to 400), John and Frank were still there.  But trouble had followed and found them in the form of Anderson Jennings, a slave hunter from Kentucky.

Jennings had been promised $500 per man to return John and Frank.  He found a family in Oberlin who supported The Fugitive Slave Law.  Their son, Shakespeare Boynton, was given $20 to betray the two men.  As their plot unfolded John Price was taken against his will.

A seemingly uninterested Oberlin college student, a wagon ride to nearby Wellington, the attic of Wadsworth Hotel, a train bound for the southern states and hundreds of men and women, of all ages, of differing occupations and color, changed the fate of John Price.  When verbal negotiations failed, the heroic actions of men prevailed.  While John, Frank and Dinah disappeared like so many ghosts of the past, hopefully finding freedom, many of the men who aided them were not so fortunate, eventually serving time for their defiance.  The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue of 1858 is permanently affixed in history

What makes this title excel is the obvious thorough research on the part of authors Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin.  Interwoven in the narrative are personal accounts, names and occupations and dialogue of rescuers.  That day in September 1858 is heightened by the listing of the hour and minutes before each specific passage.  The recounting of the arrest of one of the rescuers and the subsequent trial add to the gravity of the undertaking.  Here is an example passage.

Oberlin student William Lincoln was in his room when some classmates pounded on his door.  He was the man to rescue John Price, they told him, offering him a gun.  Lincoln hated slavery, but he also hated violence.  Unsure what to do, he knelt on the floor with his Bible and asked himself:
"If it were your own brother, what would you do?"


The matching jacket and cover support the heart of this historic event, the front visualizing the people willing to stand up for John Price, the back showing one adult hand dropping a $20 coin into a younger outstretched hand with the words, How much is one man's life worth?  Opening and closing endpapers show a darkened river landscape.  Wood-grained planking provide the background for the title pages.

Rendered using mixed media with oil paints on watercolor paper, the illustrations of Eric Velasquez are brimming with atmosphere and emotion.  Many are spread across two pages to capture the intensity of a given situation.  Wood-grained framing is used repeatedly on single pages, a double page picture and on two smaller visuals to provide a sense of the past.  You can't help but feel that any minute the pictures might come to life allowing you to step into the world of 1856-1858.  One painting in particular stands out:  John and Frank looking around a large tree near a fence with the moonlit sky in the background as they make their escape.


Even though I've read The Price of Freedom: How One Town Stood Up To Slavery by Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin, illustrated by Eric Velasquez, several times, the power of the story is still the same.  The combination of the writing and pictures is captivating, compelling the reader to turn the pages as quickly as possible.  I am thankful for these authors and this illustrator, for the time they committed to keeping this portion of history alive, for calling attention to the bravery of many.

At the back of the book are a short explanation of the Underground Railroad, a bibliography, recommended sources for further reading and a list of websites.