To The Rescue

There are those individuals with hearts so full of compassion they will do anything at any time to come to the assistance of another.  They easily place themselves in the position of the being in dire straits.  All thoughts of their own welfare vanish.  They are the definition of a friend in need is a friend indeed.

If in the course of providing help an adventure should ensue, these individuals will greet every obstacle with unwavering confidence and courage.  In their collaboration Special Delivery (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, March 3, 2015) author Philip C. Stead and illustrator Matthew Cordell introduced us to such a person.  Her name is Sadie.

This gal, who will go the extra mile, literally miles and miles, returns in The Only Fish In The Sea (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, August 15, 2017).  Nothing will deter her from her goal.  Nothing.

"Hey, Sadie!  Did you hear about Little Amy Scott?"

Our story opens with Sadie's friend, Sherman, riding his bicycle as fast as his legs will work.  He yells out to her about Amy Scott's birthday present fiasco.  Amy Scott takes her gift of a goldfish, which she says is boring, still in the plastic bag and throws it off the end of the dock into the sea.

Sadie agrees with Sherman about this being a complete misfortune for the tiny creature.  In fact, she thinks it's terrible.  Why would anyone put a goldfish's life in jeopardy?  There is only one thing to do.  Rescue it.

With determination Sadie informs Sherman that Ellsworth (She names the goldfish because that's the kind of human being Sadie is.) will be saved.  There are items to be procured for this effort.  You won't believe why Sadie needs twenty-one pink balloons but as noted previously Sadie is a thoughtful, kind soul.  Although at one point a statement she makes has Sherman worried about the future of the goldfish after it's located.

Sadie and Sherman and six monkeys (Those monkeys from the first book have relocated to Sadie and Sherman's community.) set off across the sea with the monkeys rowing and the friends sipping tea.  It is, of course, raining.  As the wind picks up, sea creatures begin to circle the boat.

On the crest of a wild wave victory is in sight.  One of the passengers simultaneously notices another resident rise from the deep dark waters.  The fate of the rescue rests in the hands of this gallant gal, her friend and the boat's crew.  Back in the center of the village, townsfolk gather in a show of affection.  And what of Little Amy Scott you ask?  You'll have to read the book, dear reader.


To have Philip C. Stead bring back a protagonist and her cast of characters is cause for celebration.  As in the previous title dialogue opens before the title page in the form of Sherman trying to get Sadie's attention.  You can feel the gentle tension and excitement already starting to build with this technique.

Sadie, true to her personality as created by Stead, is ready to do whatever it takes to save that goldfish.  This time she carefully plans and stocks the proper gear for success, although the reader is constantly surprised by those items and their significance.  Told entirely in dialogue, the meticulous selection of text gives us the soul of the story; a life and death situation, others trying to avert disaster, urgency, comedy and ultimately profound kindness and justice.  Here is a sample passage.

"In the meantime, we'll have tea.  Patience, Sherman, is the most important part of fishing."


When you look at the opened dust jacket your eyes are first drawn to the right, the front.  Set in a scrolled, glided frame, this moment conveys the height of the adventure.  Sadie stands stalwart holding her cup of tea, Sherman has the net at the ready, the monkeys are in various stages of rowing.  Two are completely unaware of the danger wrapping itself around them.  One is totally frightened.  A fourth monkey has spied something in the distance. You can almost hear the scream of the wind and the crash of the waves and feel the rain on your face.

To the left, on the back, those crazy monkeys are painting the very picture we have just seen.  Two are at the easel, one is screaming aloud, another is taking a picture, one is stirring paint in a can and the final monkey is painting the hat of the stirring-paint monkey.  In other words, it's mayhem.  Sherman and Sadie stand back and watch.  This is on a white canvas.  In this image, as in all the illustrations in this book, Matthew Cordell is a master with details.  Sadie is carrying her helmet, sipping a cup of tea.

While I received an F & G at NerdCampMI, I wanted to wait to talk about this book until the release date today because I knew the book case would be amazing.  And it is.  The background is a map, one of the maps used to find the goldfish.  Pencils, rulers, compasses and protractors are placed amid snapshots taken before, during and after the adventure.  Almost all of them are a close perspective.  The opening and closing endpapers are different in color which is significant, a sage green and pink.

Having the dialogue and Cordell's illustrations bring the reader to the title page is superb.  It leads us into the reappearance of the monkeys, who are never actually mentioned in the text but play a huge role in the pictures.  When we see them on the title page, they are playing instruments in the town square on and near a fountain.  Bananas are everywhere, thrown to them for their music.  This is important because as Sadie and Sherman prepare for the trip, the monkeys make payments for everything in bananas in the visuals.

You will stop at every page to look at all the elements placed there by Cordell.  You want to see what the monkeys are doing. (You will be laughing nonstop.)  You want to notice the expressions on Sadie's and Sherman's faces.  You don't want to miss the items included from the previous title.  Most of Cordell's illustrations span two pages but he uses single pages to showcase the pacing.

It is nearly impossible to select a single favorite illustration from many but when they first start to save the goldfish is certainly one of them.  To the left one of the monkeys (They are all dressed in sailor outfits with the hats.) is running frantically across the sand, left behind.  He has dropped a paint can and a balloon is drifting away.  The rain is starting to fall harder.  To the right the boat is heading out to sea.  Sadie is talking to Sherman as she rows.  Two monkeys are shouting at the third running on shore.  Another monkey is rowing.  Another is using binoculars.  At the front of the boat a monkey searches the sea with a spyglass.  The crow watches.  The fishing poles are being used for one of several surprises.  Sherman's hat has blown off in a gust of wind.

No matter how many times you read this title you will begin and end it with a smile on your face.  You will burst out laughing more than once.  Like the companion book, The Only Fish In The Sea written by Philip C. Stead with illustrations by Matthew Cordell highlights a character you can't help but admire.  Her steadfast friend and the wild monkeys make this book one you will want to own for your professional and personal bookshelves.  We can never have too many characters who have kindness direct their lives and fuel their bravery.

To discover more about Philip C. Stead and Matthew Cordell and their other work, please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Here is another link to information about Philip C. Stead.  At the publisher's website you can view interior illustrations.  This book is mentioned in a post by author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  The cover reveal was hosted by teacher librarian Matthew C. Winner at All The Wonders with a conversation.  Philip C. Stead and Matthew Cordell chat at Publishers Weekly KidsCast about this book.

In Pursuit Of A Companion

Being alone does not necessarily mean you are lonely.  You may welcome the solitude.  In fact loneliness may descend when you are part of a crowd.  Loneliness may have more to do with not being in the presence of like-minded individuals.

If your circumstances have recently changed placing you in new surroundings the unfamiliarity may throw your state of being off balance.  Goldfish Ghost (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, May 2, 2017) written by Lemony Snicket with illustrations by Lisa Brown follows the roaming of a recently deceased pet.  His sense of belonging left with his life.

Goldfish Ghost was born on the surface of the water in a bowl on the dresser in a boy's room.

Although he was used to being in this place, someone to talk to would be even better.  So he left, floating from the boy's home.  A small seaside town with the usual small stores, a beach, a fishing pier and a lighthouse spread before him.  It was said the lighthouse was haunted.

There were squawking gulls at the pier and a fisherman but none of them seemed to notice Goldfish Ghost.  He continued drifting to town on the air currents.  He passed over all shapes, sizes and ages of people and animals but he was invisible to them.

It was no different at the beach.  Even the ghosts of all the sea dwellers floating over the water did nothing to make Goldfish Ghost feel less unwanted.  Having nowhere else to go after the sun set, he went back to his bowl in the boy's bedroom.  There was another goldfish there, a living goldfish.

Goldfish Ghost left a second time.  As he glided over the rooftops, he heard a sound.  Someone was speaking to him; someone wanted him.  Sometimes what you need is right in front of you.  You only have to expand your vision.


With his opening sentence Lemony Snicket has our immediate attention.  Before we turn the page questions are swirling as to the current status of this goldfish.  In a calm, contemplative tone the story informs readers of the character's wish to

find some company.

In describing each place Goldfish Ghost visits during the day and upon his return back to his bowl, we come to understand his need for a specific kind of companionship as well as the difficulty he is encountering in his search.  (In the initial presentation of the town, readers are given a hint of the conclusion.)  The repetition of the words company and good company creates a gentle cadence in keeping with the overall symphony of this story.  Here is a sample passage.

Another goldfish was there, but she was not a ghost.

She seemed nice enough, but she was not
good company, and the moon called
Goldfish Ghost back out the window. 


On the dust jacket the blue on blue polka-dot background is the wallpaper in the boy's bedroom, home of Goldfish Ghost.  By giving him a distinctive white color, it helps readers identify the other ghosts yet to come.  To the left, on the back, the canvas continues over the spine.  There we see memorabilia hanging on the wall, a pennant, a hand-drawn picture of the goldfish and a snapshot of the lighthouse.  A can of fish food sits on the table.

Rendered in India ink and watercolor on paper the illustrations have a soft, peaceful quality.  Subdued, earth tone colors on matte-finished paper contribute to this impression.  The visual narrative begins with a scene of the boy's home by the sea, a window giving readers a view of the fish bowl.  A sea gull perched on a hill to the left screams.  (I am working from an ARC but I believe this to be the opening endpapers.)  At the back we are shown a more panoramic view of the village at night with a full moon, a few stars and the group of ghostly sea dwellers hovering over the ocean.

The two pages for the verso and title are a single image.  It is a close up of the inside of the bowl with Goldfish Ghost floating over the text on the right.  An interesting quote wraps around seven bubbles coming up from the bottom of the bowl on the left.  All of the illustrations except for two are double page, edge to edge.  Those two single page pictures will give you pause.  They are gorgeous.

The details in each of the illustrations ask you to stop and notice the references to children's literature, the community, the locals and the tourists.  Readers will love finding the titles on book spines, watching the eyes on the teddy bear, spying the cats, the open door of the pet shop and the recent patron, and the seagull at the beach stealing someone's lunch.  The place where Goldfish Ghost finds good company gives him a new life as shown by the golden glow.

One of my favorite of several pictures is when Goldfish Ghost has left the house the second time.  It is deep into the night.  A few upper story windows in town shine with light but the others are dark.  The cloud of ghosts from the ocean lingers over the water.  Goldfish Ghost is drifting toward the voice, up on the hill.  A full moon shines down on the scene.  A hint of the outcome is visible.


Having read this book repeatedly over the course of weeks, I find Goldfish Ghost written by Lemony Snicket with illustrations by Lisa Brown to be deeply satisfying.  For those readers who have lost pets or recently family or friends, this title will provide them with comfort.  Some of the words spoken by Lemony Snicket invite further discussion as do the illustrations of Lisa Brown.  This is an outstanding collaboration.  You need to have this title on your professional and personal bookshelves.

To discover more about Lemony Snicket and Lisa Brown and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  The publishers have created a special site for this title with numerous additional resources and views of interior images.  I hope you enjoy this video of Lemony Snicket and Lisa Brown on tour for the book as much as I did.  It's worth every minute of your time.

More Than Meets The Eye

Life experiences teach us people are rarely as first impressions would indicate but instead they are the sum of multiple influences, layer upon layer.  We may think we fully understand someone but often they surprise us.  Certain situations reveal their true character.

Like people Mother Earth has given advantages, many initially unseen, to her living beings which in turn assist them in survival.  The most beautiful can be deadly to predators.  The frailest can become fierce in the face of danger.  Poor Little Guy (Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC, June 7, 2016) written and illustrated by Elanna Allen takes us deep into the sea.  When you are the smallest of the small, it's a frightening place.

The story starts without words as a tiny, unassuming, spectacle-wearing yellow fish approaches certain peril.  A watchful eye on a beast is larger than the tiny swimmer.  As the fish glides in front of and past the white giant fear fills every fiber of his body.

Passing unharmed he utters a sigh of relief.  What he doesn't know is the long arm of an octopus is reaching toward him.  Oh, no!  He's been captured!

The behemoth begins to sing sarcastic phrases taunting the little guy; who will surely be his next meal. As each is uttered the clever colossal creature forms a variety of corresponding shapes around its victim.  Bringing him close to his mouth, he opens wide and places the terrified teeny being inside.

YIKES!  What happens next is too startling to reveal. No one will be more astounded than readers.  Mother Nature does not disappoint.


The lack of text on the first two double-page images followed by a single word on the next three pictures creates absolute perfection in timing and suspense.  Elanna Allen then displays a keen sense of humor with her creative word play.  The tension builds supplying a most excellent atmosphere for the shocking shift in the narrative.  Here are two of her sentences used to intimidate the tiny, unassuming, spectacle-wearing yellow fish.

Catch of the Day!

Let's play the LOST IN A MAZE game!


Both the back and the front of the matching dust jacket and book case, two different images, prepare readers for the alarming situation the fish encounters.  To the left he anxiously peers upward, surrounded by swirling portions of octopus arms.  The opening and closing endpapers feature eleven sea creatures determined to consume the little guy as an entree or munchie.  There is a significant contrast in the two which cannot be disclosed as each begins and concludes the tale.

Using a limited color palette, pale green, white, black, yellow, brown, blue and purple, Elanna Allen visually enhances the text in a series of double-pictures and two single page illustrations rendered in pencil and ink with digital color (And lots of coffee).  The verso and title pages continue the narrative as started on the opening endpapers with the tiny fish looking worried as he glances backward.

She increases the sense of foreboding with varying points of view drawing us close to the action as when all we see is water, two large eyes in a white face with the fish swimming in front and then moving away to give us a more wide-angle perspective when the octopus is whirling in the center of the page tossing the fish from one arm to the other.  When she wants to intensify her text there is a drastic shift from one image to the next.  Her font size also mirrors exact moments.  The use of eyeglasses on the fish is a smart choice, elevating the expressions in his eyes.

One of my favorite illustrations is when the arm of the octopus extends toward the little guy.  Reaching from the left side, large and menacing, it moves across the gutter to the right arching above the tiny fish.  He is swimming toward the lower right-hand corner with his eyes closed.  A single word is placed above his head in a speech bubble.

Phew.


Poor Little Guy written by Elanna Allen is one of those books readers are going to read repeatedly even when they know the ending.  The combination of text and images is so astutely crafted the irony will not diminish.  When read aloud, be prepared for gasps and giggles.

To learn more about Elanna Allen and her other work follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Follow this link for seven pages of fun-filled activities.  Enjoy the book trailer.

To See In The Sea

It's not done very often.  When it is done, it's a rip-roaring success.  If it's been memorable, you would think it would become standard practice.  Call it intuition of a lifelong reader but reading a book aloud to a group of students for the first time without reading it first yourself, can be and has been pure magic.

There are those books when you first gaze at the dust jacket and book case, it's as if they are speaking to you.  If you are like me, you've learned to listen.  One look at Barnacle Is BORED (Scholastic Press, May 10, 2016) written and illustrated by Jonathan Fenske and you can hear the laughter of readers and listeners building in the background, softly at first and then bursting forth loud and long.

Sigh.
I am BORED.
Bored.
Bored.
BORED.

Attached to the underside of a pier, Barnacle wishes he could be anywhere but where he is.  This crustacean's spirit is crushed.  It doesn't matter whether the tide is in or out, nothing is right.

This member of the marine community sees no joy in absolutely anything, day or night.  When a happy, bright and colorful fish swims by, Barnacle instantly gets a case of the-sea-is-bluer-on-the-other-side-of-the-dock.  He is certain this fish's days are filled with merry moments as opposed to his dull and dreary lifestyle stuck in a single spot.

Barnacle imagines all the activities the fish enjoys with other residents of this watery realm.  Diving, soaring and flipping are only a few.  Perhaps a game of tag is played with other smaller ocean occupants.

As Barnacle is about to speculate on another fine bit of fun this fish is surely savoring, he stops mid-sentence.  Mr. Humdrum is at a loss for words.  When the next sentence is uttered, there is a marked difference.


Jonathan Fenske wants readers to become as attached to Barnacle as he is to the wharf.  With Barnacle as the sole narrator, listing every mundane thing in his stationary situation, we are lulled by the established rhythm. (I really like the use of opposites in this portion.)  This allows for the creation of a lively contrast upon the arrival of the fish and Barnacle's descriptions.  Fenske perks up the discourse with alliterative phrases which in turn sets us up for the final hilarious twist.  Here are some sample sentences.

Waves roll OVER me.
Waves roll UNDER me.

I bet he DIVES with dolphins.


When you open the book case you are treated to a single image of Barnacle attached to the dock on the right just past the spine.  On the back, to the left, bubbles surround the text about Jonathan Fenske just as they do the title text on the front.  The simple color palette of white, black, green, blue, shades of brown and pale peach is used throughout the book with the exception of the other sea creatures.  They provide a distinction by being more colorful.  This pairs perfectly with the text.

Fenske uses every portion of the book for this tale with the beginning and conclusion on the endpapers.  The first is a more panoramic view of Barnacle, the pier and the sea.  The second is a close-up for maximum impact. On the verso, dedication and title pages, we zoom in on Barnacle with his dismal expression and two of his four limbs crossed.

When Fenske changes his perspective of Barnacle and the other sea creatures, it brings us directly into the mood of the story.  We can see clearly the expressions on Barnacle's face and the other faces too.  Barnacle's eyes, mouth and arms are what trigger the laughter.  Fenske also adds some additional commentary text by the fish and a pelican guaranteed to elicit giggles from readers and listeners.  Three wordless images are particularly powerful.

One of my favorite illustrations of many is when Barnacle is describing the fish with two speech bubbles of text; one which says:

The little polka-dotted show-off.  

We are brought in close to his face.  The four identifying green circles are more pronounced.  His eyebrows are critically raised over wavy eyelids and eyes full of sarcasm.  If he had hands and hips, those hands would be his hips.


Trust me when I say, readers will hardly be able to contain their laughter when the pages of Barnacle Is BORED written and illustrated by Jonathan Fenske are read by an individual or as a read aloud.  The kindergarten students and I could not stop laughing once we started.  The comedy builds and builds until the final picture.  There is hardly anything better than sharing a funny story with others and this book delivers.

Please visit Jonathan Fenske's website to learn more about him and his other work by following the link attached to his name.  By following these links you can read a bit about the journey of this book's publication and the celebration of its release.  This title was included in a post by Rocco Staino at School Library Journal when he interviewed Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher and in a post by teacher librarian Travis Jonker on his blog 100 Scope Notes at School Library Journal.  Jonathan Fenske is interviewed at Eyes And Books. 

UPDATE:  Jonathan Fenske is a guest at Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher's blog Watch. Connect. Read.  Sunday, May 22, 2016.

UPDATE: May 24, 2016  I am happy as can be to have Jonathan on the blog today chatting with me about his work.  I think you all are going to enjoy his answers as much as I do.  

From your website we read that you have a BFA in Sculpture from Clemson University.   You have a successful career as a gallery artist.  From the birth of your first daughter this love of art and illustration transitioned to being a picture book creator.  As a child were you always intrigued with art?

Yes!  I wasn't exposed to a lot of "classical" art as a child (museums, etc.), but I was always fascinated by things that exuded creativity. Cartoons, namely Droopy Dog and Looney Tunes, were probably the art form that I was most drawn too at an early age!

Did you enjoy drawing and painting then?

Oh yes. I would draw anything in sight. As a young teen, I would just sit around and do black and white drawings of cars and airplanes from magazines. My school notebooks have margins full of doodles of teachers, classmates, or my own made up characters.

Or was there a defining moment when you knew this is what you wanted to do?

I was never one of those people who knew from an early age what I wanted to be. When I went to college, I enjoyed creativity and the creative process and wanted some sort of direction in that realm, but what I really wanted to be was a professional soccer player. Obviously, I came to my senses as my art classes displaced my sports fantasies and became my passion. 

Did the image of Barnacle as we see him in this book come to you immediately or did his physical traits evolve?

I have a little doodle of Barnacle on the back of an ATM receipt that I did when the title first came to me. For someone who loves the process of character development, I am surprised at how remarkably unchanged Barnacle is since that first doodle. He's pretty much the same four-tentacled, doofy-eyed creature dangling from his shell. One change was that in the original rough storyboards I had him hanging sideways on the pier, which presented some challenges that were solved by having him dangle straight up and down.

Could you tell us briefly about your process in creating this title.  Did the text come first or the images?  What kind of medium did you use for these illustrations? 

I tend to wake up at 3 a.m. with book ideas in my head (I don't know why...unfortunately, that seems to be the time I am most creative!). Almost always the words and images come out together in a rough storyboard format. Sometimes the words dictate the pictures or vice-versa, but they do tend to come to me hand-in-hand. I do a rough dummy in pencil, then character development in more polished pencil sketches. I then translate the sketches to a digital format and color them. The original rough dummy and pencil and paper drawings are absolutely my favorite part of the process. 

Your comic pacing in Barnacle Is BORED is wonderful.  Do you have a favorite humorous picture book?

Well, first of all, thank you so much for the compliment! I would have to say Lane Smith's The Happy Hocky Family is one of my favorite picture books. The way he skewered the traditional "Dick and Jane" format was pitch-perfect, and the illustrations, though very different from a lot of his work, were such simple yet elegant (not to mention hilarious) companions to the text. 

Thank you for answering these questions Jonathan.  Is there anything else you would like to share?

I would just like to share my gratitude to all those who support children's literature. I am very fortunate that there are so many librarians, parents, teachers, etc. whose passion is the driving force keeping these kinds of books on the shelves. Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

They're On The Case

I never go anywhere without a book; they are my constant companion and my best friend (except for Xena).  My purses are on the large side so I can always carry at least one (or maybe two) book(s).  Books educate, reaffirm, entertain and enrich me and my life.  Opening their pages removes me from where I am to the realm created by the written words.

A few days ago I found myself unexpectedly sitting in a hospital emergency room...for two hours.  Within a matter of minutes I had taken Platypus Police Squad: The Frog Who Croaked (Walden Pond Press, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers) written and illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka out of my handbag, opening the cover for the first time.  All the sights and sounds surrounding me faded away; a crime had been committed on the docks in the dead of night in a city familiar but unlike any I had ever known.

This is the city.  Kalamazoo City.  Population: 75,000. By day, it's a bright, vibrant metropolis, the kind of city where dreams come true. ...
But it is a different city once the sun goes down.  The criminal element, asleep by day, haunts certain dark corners at night. ...

With those sentences from the first page of the prologue, your attention has been captured.  Your sense of anticipation is heightened.  By the time the final thought has been read, an esteemed faculty member, Professor Hopkins, a frog of impeccable reputation, has vanished.

Apparently an illegal purchase of synthetic fish has gone awry; a duffel bag filled with the odorous critters is at the scene.  Why, you may ask, was a teacher down at the docks?  Why does his coat bear the tire tread marks of a car?

Rookie Detective Rick Zengo, still living at home with his parents in a rather affluent section of the city, arrives at Platypus Police Squad for his first day on the force.  His late grandfather Lieutenant Dailey's portrait hangs on the wall. He is a hero, having lost his life in taking down the biggest criminal at the time in the city, Frank Pandini, Sr., a diabolical panda if there ever was one.

His new partner is veteran Detective Corey O'Malley, whose physique shows his love of one donut or cupcake too many.  A family man, two sons, one in middle school, the other in high school, and a teenage daughter with a new boyfriend, living with his wife in a lower income, established residential area of the city, O'Malley is known for following procedures, slowly fitting the pieces of a case together.  He was part of the team that took Pandini, Sr. down.

Zengo's gut instinct tells him that Frank Pandini, Jr., philanthropist extraordinaire, savior of the city, is not all he purports to be.  It seems he has his "finger in every pie" in town; possibly the missing person case they have been assigned.  When an evening stake-out at Pandini's club, Bamboo, goes sour, Zengo and O'Malley are taken off the assignment and reduced to elementary school crossing-guard duty by an enraged Sergeant Plazinski.

Can the newly-formed duo put seemingly unimportant clues together to solve the separate but connected crimes?  Have they been served their last best root beer floats in the city?  Readers and the detectives find themselves surprised at the answers.  And the last four pages?  Let's just say...put your pedal to the metal, flip on the siren and put the light on the roof.  It's going to be a ride to remember.


In his debut chapter book, Jarrett J. Krosoczka has created a cast of characters with distinctive, memorable personalities; Zengo and O'Malley are a likable, admirable pair, old school clashing and collaborating with eagerness, their families are humorously normal, the sly reporter, a lizard, Derek Doherty is lurking and looking, the two loud-mouth, annoying detectives, Diaz and Lucinni, are a little short on brains, the gruff Sergeant Plazinski is sharp, quick to anger but also to praise, rolling with the circumstances and then there's Frank Pandini, Jr. and his lackeys who put on a good show but....  The plot unfolds through a fast-paced narrative, snappy dialogue and the atmospheric descriptions of place and time.  Readers are completely engaged through the listing of where the characters are and the exact hour and minute beneath each chapter designation.  Here are a couple of example passages.

Even during the daytime, the docks were dank and dreary.  Dockworkers carried crates off and on boats, and the air was filled with the sounds of distant foghorns.  Zengo wasn't used to this, having grown up in the heights, far away from the poorer areas on the east side of Kalamazoo City.  He shivered.  It seemed ten degrees colder by the water, not to mention the stench! It hit Zengo so hard in the face that he gagged.  It was the kind of stink that would linger on his clothes for days.

"Don't worry, rookie. Not everyone has forgotten." Something passed over O'Malley's face. "Oh, crud, this is our exit!"
Zengo clutched the passenger-side door as O'Malley veered across three lanes.  When the car finally straightened out, the skyscrapers in the side-view mirror receded as the sprawling upscale business complexes rose up ahead.
"Not sure who's a bigger threat to society there, partner!" said Zengo, straightening his shirt and jacket.
"Can it, rookie."


Krosoczka begins this book by illustrating opening and closing endpapers with the docks at night, the buildings of the city behind, the slightly wavy water in front, in blacks and grays.  The title pages cleverly display pertinent information on lighted billboards on building roofs.  Less than twenty-five two page spreads are without some type of visual done in tones of black and white; varying in size to enhance the text appropriately.  Each chapter begins with a full page illustration on the left.


Combining all the best elements from decades of mystery and detective literature and television Jarrett J. Krosoczka brings to middle grade reader in Platypus Police Squad: The Frog Who Croaked an action-packed first installment to what promises to be an exciting new series.  When these boomerang-carrying, crime-solving detectives are on the job no criminal is safe.  Readers (myself included) will be ready for the next episode as soon as the final page is turned.

Follow the link embedded in Krosoczka's name above to visit his website.  This link is to his Nerdy Book Club post, Penguins Are Done In This Town.  Access the Zengo and O'Malley Rookie Rules Activity Kit here.  If you want to read the first forty plus pages follow this link. Be sure to mark May 23, 2013 on your calendar for the virtual launch party; more details are here.

Jump Right In!

When you live in a state surrounded by water filled with inland lakes and rivers, learning to swim is a necessity.  After nearly drowning during lessons at the YMCA, swimming under water became less frightening than swimming on the water.  My wise and caring Dad helped by placing coins in the shallow section to be retrieved by jumping in and swimming along the bottom of the lake.

Sometimes it's more important to feel safe.  Sometimes it's more important to do what you can when you can.  Deborah Freedman's newest release, The Story of Fish & Snail (Viking, June 2013), is about trust; leaving safety and doing more than you think you can to be where you want to be.


Every day...
Snail sits in one special spot, waiting 
for Fish to come home with a story.

On this day Fish returns home excited by the discovery of a new book.  Snail is thrilled with this news, too, wondering if Fish will tell the tale.

Delight turns to dismay when Snail learns this story is not going to be told.  Fish wants Snail to come into the new book.  Fish's zest for the vastness of a watery wonder filled with adventure in this fresh tome completely overlooks Snail's sense of security in staying exactly where Snail is.

Snail fails to see the joy in secret treasure and a pirate ship.  Snail finds pleasure in princesses, kittens and sleeping in the same spot.  With these thoughts voiced, Fish responds that what Snail likes is boring.   

Taunts are tossed between the two; voices getting louder and sentences getting shorter until...with a flash Fish leaves their book. But...but...but...how can this be?  Snail is in a story about Fish and Snail with no Fish.

Snail calls.  Snail looks.  Snail leans.  With a leap of faith toward friendship, Snail astounds Fish.


Told entirely in dialogue except for the introductory and closing sentences, Deborah Freedman instantly invites readers into the intimacy of Fish's and Snail's world.  Within a few conversational exchanges it's easy to understand the two personalities; the one preferring the comfort of routine, the other needing the challenge of change.  This is even enhanced further by the word choices given to Fish upon returning from the new book; 

"Ahoy, Snail!" ...
"Arrrgh, Snail, I promise we can come back here later. ..."

It's also crystal clear, though passionate about their respective positions, they are bound to one another.


In looking at the two-page array of the cover, splashes of water following Fish leaping toward Snail, the three colors against the blacks, grays and white of the bookcase, you can't help but feel the pure elation of the moment.  Lightly tinted blue-green watery opening and closing endpapers welcome readers.  Zooming back from the cover image the title page shows an open book in the thematic color palette, on a stack of the tonal black books, a huge splash of water with the glimpse of a golden tail on the left with the information on the right.  The verso and first page of the narrative continue with the same perspective giving readers a clue as to the smaller world in which Snail and Fish live; a fish bowl.

As the conversation begins and intensifies we move in closer and closer; Fish's movement about the page highlighted by splashes and bubbles as if swimming in water.  We are well aware of the emotional state of each by the position of eyes and eyebrows.  The viewpoint shifts again after Fish leaves to capture the lengths...and heights Snail needs to conquer to follow Fish.  All of the illustrations extend over two pages.

Freedman's use of watercolor and pencil and/or ink with the contrasting limited color palette skillfully presents the realm of a fish bowl or ocean within a book within a book.  You can't help but be amazed at this portrayal of speculative visualizing.  I adore so many of these illustrations but two of my favorites are:  the pile of books in front of the book shelves with the huge SPLOOSH! reaching to the top of the stack representing Snail's bravery and the two friends on the wavy pages of the new book, alternate personas in place as they embark on their journey.


The playful pal and comfortable companion are delightfully depicted in The Story of Fish & Snail written and illustrated by Deborah Freedman.  When it comes to friendship, living the story is much better than listening to the story; your world grows, your spirit soars and your heart is brimming with happiness.  Oh, let me tell you; this book is meant to be shared...again and again.  This would be lots of fun as reader's theater or at the very least be sure to use a special voice for each of the characters.

I've placed links to Deborah Freedman's website and her blog with her names above.  Update:  An Educator's Guide to the Works of Deborah Freedman is now available.