Persuasion With A Purpose

Over the course of the last three hundred, sixty-five days your excitement has become enormous.  You've hoped.  You've dropped hints discreetly and not so discreetly.  The Happy Birthday Song has been sung.  The candles on the cake have been blown out and a wish was made again.  Now it's time for presents.  Will it be there?

This scenario is played out more times every day of the year than can be counted.  A determined little girl in One Word from Sophia (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, June 16, 2015) written by Jim Averbeck with illustrations by Yasmeen Ismail is going to leave nothing to chance.  Her wish simply has to be fulfilled.

Sophia's birthday was coming up, and she had five things on her mind---
One True Desire and four problems.

Sophia's One True Desire is not what you would expect.  It's as extraordinary as she is.  She wants a pet, a pet giraffe.  Her problems are her family members, a mom, a dad, an uncle and a grandmother.  Each has a focus in their lives which Sophia finds appealing.

To her mother, a judge, Sophia lays out the facts in legalese heavily laden with reason.  Her final argument involves travel to ballet class complete with a map.  Not swayed in the slightest and pointing out a flaw, her mom says no citing her presentation as too lengthy.

Not one to become discouraged, Sophia rallies for problem number two, her dad, the businessman.  Making money involving poop complete with a profit graph is sure to get her father's attention.  As he points out, Sophia forgot to figure in costs.  He comes to an identical conclusion as her mom.  Sophia is using too many words.

Her uncle, a politician, is not convinced by her poll of cherished toys nor her chart.  When he mentions the word loquacious, she knows she needs to change her tactics.  Approaching Grand-mama with resolve, she begins.  Her grandmother quickly utters a resounding

"No"

along with, by this time, familiar firm guidance.

Sophia is going to give one last plea to the entire group.  Her request is refined and defined by nothing more than a single word.  It might also involve kneeling and clasped hands.  Is the perfect pet in her future?


In a book titled about one word, Jim Averbeck uses words to great effect.  Instead of the word wish, he uses One True Desire.  He designates her family as problems, hurdles to be jumped to get the ultimate birthday present.  His heart is aligned with his audience.

We cheer for Sophia because of her bubbling assurance in attaining her goal and her clever mind working to her problems' strengths.  Her proposals are sincere in every respect making us at the very least smile but at other times laugh out loud.  The conversations between Sophia and her mom, dad, uncle and grandmother are appropriately splendid.  The introduction of new vocabulary adds to the authenticity and liveliness of the narrative. (A glossary at the end defines the words in simple terms.)  Here is a sample passage.

Her proposal was accompanied by a compelling graph showing how much money she would make.
"I'm sorry," said Father, "but your business plan is unsound.  You failed to count the cost of care and feeding for your manure producer, not to mention the warehousing of poop.


Looking like laughter perched on top of a giraffe, wearing her every-present tutu, Sophia dances into our hearts on the matching dust jacket and book case.  On the dust jacket little hands will love to feel the embossed portions of the image.  To the left, on the back, an assortment of toys from her room is placed on the page.  They further represent her on-the-move personality.  The opening endpapers are in giraffe yellow with line drawings in black of Sophia in an assortment of activities and moods.  In pure white the closing endpapers feature Sophia riding her new pet on the left pointing at the glossary on the right.

A two-page illustration spans the verso and title page.  Striped ribbon frames the visual of Sophia tying a big, big bow on her pooch pal.  Rendered in watercolor and colored pencil on a white background the pictures' sizes shift from two pages to a series of small vignettes on several pages.  Yasmeen Ismail changes perspective to punctuate the pacing of the story.

The style of the illustrations are altered to depict Sophia's thoughts.  They appear as if drawn by a younger person.  These contribute to the humor and liveliness of the text.  Her portrayal of Sophia is so charming we expect her to leap off the page.

One of my favorite illustrations spreads across two pages.  Sophia is standing in front of her shelves speaking to her favorite stuffed toys.  She is posed on one foot, like a sprightly ballerina, with a checklist and pencil in her hands.  A blue stool and a scattering of toys are spread behind her.


One Word from Sophia written by Jim Averbeck with illustrations by Yasmeen Ismail directs our attention to the power of persuasion and the impact of our word choices. In a completely winsome story with a character you can't help but embrace, you realize the value of less is more especially backed by genuine emotion.  You'll want to add this to your must-read-aloud stack.

To discover more about Jim Averbeck and Yasmeen Ismail please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  You can view several images from the book at the publisher's website.   You can view loads of art at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast hosted by author and blogger, Julie Danielson, along with a link to her Q & A with Averbeck and Ismail at Kirkus. Enjoy the book trailer.





In a search on birthday traditions I located this video by John Green for Mental Floss. 

Watch Out For The Water!

It's that time of year when the end of school is fast approaching or for some, summer break has begun.  The days are longer which means more outdoor fun; bike riding, skate boarding, baseball games, days at the beach building sand castles, and endless neighborhood games of capture the flag and hide and seek.  When the children come tumbling inside instead of being cold and covered in snow, they are coated in grass stains, dust, dirt and mud.  In that case, it can only mean one thing and one thing alone...the dreaded bath.

It's a major accomplishment to get them in the tub.  Bargains are made.  Usually, but not always, the watery occupants end up with pruney skin despite their earlier protests.  For some though, as in OH NO, Little Dragon! (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, August 2012) written and illustrated by Jim Averbeck, pruney skin is the least of their problems.


Little Dragon had a spark in his heart,
so he could huff and puff and ...
PHOOSH.

Oh my, how he loves to phoosh decorating the air with fire like an artist who puts paint to paper. And his mama loves her fiery child and his flames.  But anyone knows, where there is fire, eventually there will be soot.  And Little Dragon looks as if he has been dipped in the stuff from the top of his head to the tip of his claws.

Little Dragon is no different than any other child...baths produce protests like "phew", "phooey" and general grumpiness all around.  Finally succumbing to the inevitable, playing with his new wooden boat, it falls victim to his huffing and puffing.  Fire on board!  Cannonball to the rescue! Sploosh! Gulp!

OH NO!  Something is missing.  There is huffing and puffing.  Something is still missing.  The spark has sputtered and gone out.

Little Dragon thinks and tries.  Nope, no spark.  He thinks and tries something else.  Nope, no spark.  Will this work he wonders?  He tries but no spark.  Tears fall as he wonders if his mama will still love his flameless self.

Her reply to his question will warm you as much as it seems to Little Dragon.  Little Dragon is getting warm.  Oh, yes he is.  He might even be getting hot.  Could it be?  Spark or no spark, Little Dragon has learned a significant bath time lesson. In the future he is taking no chances.


Spare text and pacing make all the difference in this title.  Little Dragon's remarks and reactions are typical for his age and for his er...specie.  Readers will feel a kinship with his attempts at finding his spark, with his thought processes.  Repetition of Oh no and Phoosh entices readers into the rhythm of the narrative.


As soon as I saw the cover, I knew I had to read this story.  The panic-filled, wide-eyed look, the anxious mouth and hands placed on the face of the blue dragon was a huge invitation.  The back portion shows a burned and smoking heart-shaped, child-like drawing of a mother dragon holding her little dragon with the word PHOOSH! underneath.  Opening and closing endpapers done in two tones of gray feature a row of six trees (a line, a circle with dots scattered around), one with flames shooting out the top.

The first title page has the gray outlines of castle bricks in the background, blue dragon hands holding a red crayon finishing a drawing of a family of dragons.  Following is the verso and second title page, a single illustration spread across both.  Burned edges frame another crayon drawing of four homes in a row; three are similar with green trees and red apples.  The fourth is a gray castle with a burned bare tree next to it. Throughout, liberal use of white space with the outline of bricks supplies the best kind of canvas for Little Dragon, his flames and Mama Dragon.

Rendered in handmade papers and oil pastel on textured paper, digitally assembled and enhanced in Photoshop by Jim Averbeck, the illustrations convey a range of emotions on Little Dragon's face and in his body movements.  All the flames are realistically portrayed in contrast to the rest of the pictures.  The details of the Viking boat for his toy, a Viking helmet as the faucet head on the bath tub and the skull under the bathtub claw add to the atmosphere of the story.  The combination of all these elements adds up to a heartwarming tale guaranteed to bring smiles.


OH NO, Little Dragon penned and pictured by Jim Averbeck will have readers looking for their own special spark, a talent unique to them.  (It would be fun to list talents with a sound effect associated with each.) I can already hear the chorus of "read it again", as this title should be shared one-on-one or aloud with a group.  You might want to have flippers, a mask and snorkel handy.


Follow this link to the publisher website to see a couple of illustrations from the book.  This title was recently named to The Pennsylvania Center for the Book: 2013 A Baker's Dozen: The Best Children's Books for Family Literacy.  There is a link embedded in Jim Averbeck's name above to his official website.