From Wild Windy Weather

In mere seconds, a calm solstice evening, December 21, 2021, turns into one with winds gusting over thirty-five miles per hour.  The gently falling snow is now dancing across yards and shaking colored lights hanging from roof tops, porches, trees, and bushes.  Wind chimes are singing from house to house.  The brisk breeze whistles around pipes and chimneys.

Wind is both a best friend and a mortal enemy.  Two book titles this past autumn highlight the havoc it wreaks when it is at its worst.  They also disclose how something wonderful can rise from the damage like a phoenix.  Hurricane (Little, Brown and Company, September 28, 2021) written and illustrated by John Rocco asks us to see that a storm can be the impetus for using the best tools we have, our collective hearts.

This is my dock.

Really, it's the neighborhood's dock,

but nobody ever comes here except me.

This dock stretches into a river fed by the sea.  In this space, a boy swims, watches water creatures move under and around the dock, fishes, and catches crabs.  It is, as you might imagine, his favorite place.

One day as he returns home from the dock, his neighborhood is not the same.  At his house, his dad tells him a hurricane is coming.  That night, as the wind and rain batter the sides and windows of the boy's home, he worries about the river, now coming down the street, taking it away.

In the morning, all is quiet as the boy heads down to the dock.  His neighborhood is transformed.  So is his dock.  It all looks as though a fierce beast roamed at will.

When the neighbors are too busy to help him with his dock, he helps them.  He then decides to rebuild the dock himself.  One day of working on his dock leads to another day and then another day leads to another day.  When he feels as though the job is too much for one boy, something unexpected happens.  Something wonderful.  Something remembered.

We are immediately drawn into this story by author John Rocco through the first person point of view.  The boy gives us answers in his narration.  He tells us why the dock is his favorite place.  He presents us with real feelings, real situations prior to the hurricane, and an intense description of the hurricane's arrival and force.  The next morning and in the subsequent days, we willingly follow what the boy says because we understand loss, his loss and his determination to recreate his favorite place.  Here is a passage.  (This describes what many do to ease stress and uncomfortable events.)

I shut my eyes tight and try to sleep,

imagining what might wash up underneath my dock.

There are two different scenes on either side of the spine when you look at the open dust jacket.  On the front we are shown the boy, the narrator, with neighbors on either side of the shore as the hurricane approaches.  This illustration shows worry and fear at the unpredictability of weather.  The color palette reflects serenity and contentment on the back, to the left of the spine.

Here we see the boy, his back to us, walking down his dock.  The river on each side of the dock is almost like a mirror.  A seagull lands on one of the pilings to the left of the boy.  Ahead of the boy, in a blue sky, clouds puff up like cotton candy, the early morning light painting them.

On the book case is an expanded interior image.  The boy is nearly at the end of the dock lying on his stomach and looking down into the water over the left side.  An array of sea creatures are swimming toward, under, and past the dock.  These are what he imagines might be there as the hurricane rages on through the night.

The opening endpapers, in blue, white, and red, highlight the five categories of a hurricane.  A four-part diagram shows How a Hurricane Forms.  The Parts of a Dock are explained on the closing endpapers using brown, white, blue, and a bit of red.  Everything is labeled correctly and we are told how new pilings are placed into the bottom of the water.

Using 

pencil, watercolor, and digital color

John Rocco presents his illustrations in a series of horizontal panels on a single page, on two pages, edge to edge, or a combination of panels or two smaller images opposite a full-page picture.  To show the passage of time, smaller illustrations are grouped together.  Any dialogue is shown in small speech balloons.  The perspectives in each image are intimate and alternated to showcase that intimacy.  The boy's facial expressions and his body postures are realistic and enduring at the same time.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for the above-noted text.  In the lower, left-hand corner, the boy, eyes closed, is tucked into his bed.  He is dreaming of his favorite dock and the beauty swimming around it.  There are turtles, dolphins, a ray, smaller fish, and one huge creature.

This up-close-and-personal look at a storm, this sensory experience by this boy, in Hurricane written and illustrated by John Rocco is memorable.  This boy and his love of his favorite place brings a community together.  It is in the heart of a child that all hearts are joined.  I highly recommend this title for both your personal and professional collections.

To discover more about John Rocco and his other work, please visit his website by following the link attached to his name.  John Rocco has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website there is a video discussion with John Rocco about the art for this book.

John Rocco Presents HURRICANE from LB School on Vimeo.

There is nothing quite so unsettling as having a lifelong sailor tell you it's time to put on a life jacket as you head from the Intercoastal Waterway into the Atlantic Ocean as a storm strikes.  The wind and waves toss the sailboat like a rubber ducky in a bathtub.  You realize, once again, you are at the mercy of Mother Nature.  Hope At Sea: An Adventure Story (Anne Schwartz Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books,  October 19, 2021) written and illustrated by Daniel Miyares is a tale of wanting, wondering, storms, and the eventual return of light.

Whenever my world feels small,

I turn to the sea.

The narrator of this story, a girl, longs to go to sea with her father, a ship's carpenter.  He is about to leave on another voyage on a new clipper ship.  She is determined to sail with him this time.  She is going to stow away.

Timing is everything.  Soon, she is tucked inside one of the lifeboats as the anchor is raised.  Under the tarp in the darkness, she begins to wonder about her decision.  And then. . . she is discovered!

Her father acclimates her to life at sea.  The work is not easy, but she begins to feel comfortable doing things which need to be done.  They travel for weeks from one destination and climate to another, adding cargo to the vessel.

Words and pictures fill her journal.  This is her story.  As they near home, a horrendous storm tosses the ship from gigantic wave to gigantic wave.  She is told to stay below, but she wants to help.  Every sailor's nightmare happens.  Rocks. Thunderous cracking as wood bends and breaks to the will of Mother Nature.  Will the lifeboats endure?  

When author Daniel Miyares begins this tale, we know an adventure is in the offing as soon as we read the first sentence.  From there, the protagonist shares her longing to set sail with her father.  She wants to be a part of this next sea story.  Short but highly descriptive sentences and phrases by the narrator bring us into this experience.  It is almost like reading entries in a diary or journal, page turn by page turn.

What we don't initially know, but is cleverly presented, is the girl's name is Hope.  This gives two distinct meanings to the word as it is used in her narrative.  It also leads us to a conclusion full of light.  Here is one of several outstanding passages.

There's no turning back now.  I can hear the

sails snap to attention and salute the wind as we

pick up speed.

In looking at the open dust jacket, we are presented with the best and worst moments of this bold undertaking.  On the front, the ship heading toward us in brisk winds, sails full, you can almost feel that breeze on your face, smell the salt in the air, and feel the pounding of Hope's happy heart.  The sky, clouds, waves with crests of foam, the details of the ship, and Hope's position all signify adventure with a capital A.  

To the left, on the back, waves as high as several stories, roll and rage.  The ship under the dark stormy sky with rain falling in torrents is riding up to the top of a wave.  It is small compared to the angry water.  The text here reads:

ALL HANDS

ON DECK!

And in such a storm,

even hands as small as

mine are needed.

The canvas for the book case is cream.  Along the top is a red and cream diamond pattern. Along the bottom are arched lines in blue symbolizing waves.  On the left side, on the back, in an oval framed by a line (rope) and anchor is a formal portrait of Hope and her parents.  (Both parents play an important part in this story.)  On the right side, the front, underneath a nautical star is a ribbon woven around an anchor.  On the ribbon is the title text.  Two birds are holding either end of this ribbon.  They are swallows which are meaningful to sailors.

Both the opening and closing endpapers request readers to pause and study what they see.  Blue lines are placed on pale gray paper.  Intricate drawings of elements of value to the beginning and middle of the story appear on the first set.  Twenty-two items are labeled.  Without divulging the end of the story, the closing endpapers include fourteen labeled things.  They are either single objects or parts of an object.  The labels are handwritten on both the opening and closing endpapers.

These illustrations 

rendered in pen and ink with watercolor

by Daniel Miyares are exquisite in their detail and emotional impact.  They place us squarely in this time and in this place.  Color choices, the use of light and shadow, will have you stopping to take in every scene.  Each image, varied in size, extends the text by telling more of the story.  We are never told when Hope will stow away, but a picture tells us she sneaks out of the house dressed in a shirt and pants and hat as her parents are saying their final goodbyes at home.

Several of the wordless pictures, like the one where Hope is peeking out from under the canvas cover on the lifeboat, will take your breath away at their depiction of moods and emotions.  We are always aware of the vastness of the sea, the power of nature, and the size of the ship.

One of my many favorite pictures is a double-page image.  Spanning across both pages, perfectly aligned in the gutter is the clipper ship; its sails closed.  On the left side of the gutter, the ship sits under a cloudy, shades of gray, sky.  Large snowflakes drift down on sailors bundled in heavy coats and hats.  An iceberg juts out of the water at the back of the ship.  A whale's tail breaks from the water, silhouetted against the iceberg.  On the right side the ship is in the tropics.  The sky is blue with large fluffy clouds, partially pink.  The sailors are wearing lighter and less attire.  One jumps into the water from the front of the ship.  Others are hauling goods up in a net from a boat below them.  A single seagull flies overhead as if to make its way toward the rocky shore, grasses and palm trees.

Each time this book, Hope At Sea: An Adventure Story written and illustrated by Daniel Miyares, is read you will be uplifted by its ingenuity and conclusion.  Hope, like love, can be found in many places . . . if you are looking for it.  I can't imagine a personal or professional collection without a copy of this book.

By following the link attached to Daniel Miyares's name, you can learn more about him and his other work at his website.  Daniel Miyares has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.  At the publisher's website are interior illustrations to view.  Daniel Miyares and this book are highlighted at Picture Book Builders.  You will really enjoy this.

From The Woods

When you get to the conclusion of a book and wonder what happened, you know you have to read it again immediately and then again and maybe one more time.  You wonder if you need to separate what's perceived as real from what might be pure imagination.  You search for veracity. With these repeated readings you can form your own opinions. You believe what you want to believe and what you need to believe.

With books like this even after having formed a viewpoint, later it may shift as you bring new experiences to the reading of it.  Camp Tiger (G. P. Putnam's Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, May 21, 2019) written by Susan Choi with illustrations by John Rocco is a title with spellbinding words and illustrations.  It is in a word, unforgettable.

Every year, my mom and dad and brother and I go camping at Mountain Pond.  

It's a lengthy journey off the beaten path, ending on a road that's more rock than road until Mountain Pond, water between tree-covered mountains, appears.  The family camps at the far end of the pond.  They are alone here as school will start in September when they return home from this trip.  The narrator is not excited about beginning first grade. 

As they unload their gear from the car to set up the site, the family talks about the things they are apt to see.  During the setting up of a tent, the mother freezes.  Her family does, too.  A tiger walks out of the woods.  He's big, but not too big.  He's thin.  He talks!

He asks if they have a spare tent; his cave is cold.  When they have it erected, the youngest boy unzips it.  The tiger enters first and he follows him inside.  When he asks his mother to zip them inside, she tells him to do it himself.  She's been doing that more lately.  The child snuggles against the tiger as they chat.

During their two-day stay the tiger shares in their activities.  On the last night the tiger accompanies the boy to look for shooting stars; just the two of them in the canoe on the pond.  The next morning, an emotion threatens to overshadow the joy of the weekend for the narrator.  Arriving home before bedtime, a memory is preserved.

Award-winning author of books for adults, Susan Choi has written an enchanting story of the last lingering moments of summer and a treasured childhood age.  Her descriptions of place, family and being on the cusp of change are an exquisite blend of first-person narrative and dialogue.  These initial descriptions of the ordinary make the appearance of the tiger extraordinary and perfectly natural at the same time.  When humor finds its way into the tale, we willingly laugh with the family.  Here is a passage.

Inside the tent, the tiger lies down so he's shaped

like a C and puts his head on his paws.  I wrap my arms

around him and bury my face in his fur.  He smells like 

sunshine and pine needles.

"Tigers live in Africa," I tell him.

"Not Africa, Asia," he says.

"This isn't Africa or Asia," I tell him.

"No," sighs the tiger.

Accomplished artist John Rocco renders images so beautiful you'll have to remind yourself to breathe.  He begins with the illustrations on the open and matching dust jacket and book case.  By blending the partial face of the tiger into the landscape, the imagery is magnificent.  The title text looks to be formed from the clouds billowing up between the two sides of the forest.  The family with our narrator in the lead is striding into a memorable end-of-summer adventure.  

An interior picture is used for the back on the other side of the spine.  The families red SUV carrying their red canoe looks small on the rocky road along Mountain Pond.  The pond is indeed like a mirror between the forested mountains.  

On the opening and closing endpapers in shades of darker forest green, items taken on a camping trip are spread across two pages.  Some of them are cast iron pans, silverware, a fishing net, a fishing lure, sleeping bags, tents in bags, fishing rods, canoe paddles, a lantern, a utility knife, a first aid kit, a compass, an axe, a flashlight, a canteen, matches, hiking boots, a rope, binoculars and a backpack.  Curling up from the bottom of the center of the right-hand side is the tiger's tale, bright orange with black stripes.  It is an astonishing contrast.

The illustrations are rendered

using a watercolor sketch and wash pencil and then adding the color digitally.

On the initial title page, camping gear is placed beneath the text.  On the verso and title pages a cityscape on the left, with clouds layered like whipped cream behind it, leads to mountains on the right.  Along the bottom a road is empty except for the family's red car, lights shining in the early morning.  Several small horizontal visuals on a single page highlight the journey to Mountain Pond which is given a full-page picture.

In another part of the story, four pictures, two to a page, wordlessly convey what can only be defined as magical. John Rocco shifts his illustration sizes to accentuate the story but also to elevate it.  Double-page pictures add drama as does the use of liberal white space in other images.  The details, the use of light and shadow and the altered perspectives ask you to pause on every page.  And you do . . . with great respect and awe.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is for the text previously noted. Across two pages, inside the blue tent, shown with a textured and faint-light splashed background, are the tiger and the younger boy.  The tiger is curled in the C shape nearly from one edge to the other.  The boy hugging the tiger is cozily shaped within the C.  Both of their eyes are open.  By the expressions on their faces, they are content and comfortable in each other's company.

After you've read this book once, twice and at least a third time, you'll long for a camping trip like this one.  Camp Tiger written by Susan Choi with illustrations by John Rocco is sheer wonder in words and illustrations.  You'll want to share it often with as many people as you can.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Susan Choi and John Rocco and their other work, please access their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Susan Choi has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  John Rocco has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website and on John Rocco's website you can view a few interior images.  At Picturebooking with Nick Patton John Rocco talks about this book in a podcast.

Stormy Weather Wisdom

A big change in the weather sends out signals.  The wind knows.  The clouds know.  All the animals know.  Access to the latest forecast is not always readily available, so if humans look at the wind, clouds and animals, they know, too.

For some storms planning and doing are essential for survival.  Noah Builds an Ark (Candlewick Press, March 12, 2019) written by Kate Banks (Pup and Bear) with illustrations by John Rocco (Blizzard) follows a family as each member prepares for days of wild weather. One member realizes the planning and doing needs to be extended beyond their house.

Noah spied it coming from afar.  It started with a cloud peeping over the hill like a curious ghost.  A storm was on the way.

As his father went to gather tools and materials to make their home storm ready, Noah was watching salamanders, beetles, mice and ants in their back yard.  They felt the change in the air.  Noah decided to get his wagon and his tools to make something storm ready for these creatures.

Noah took off the wagon's wheels.  He attached sides and a roof to the wagon. He built a ramp and a secure door.  Noah made an ark for his animal friends.  Inside their home, Noah's mother and sister were getting food and water prepared for his family.  Noah did the same for the animals.

Knowing they were going to have no electricity, Noah's mother got candles and matches.  Noah secured a flashlight to the inside of the ark.  When he was called inside to safety, Noah asked the animals to come to the ark.  And they did.  Noah pledged to set them free when the storm passed.

As the storm raged, humans inside Noah's home huddled.  Inside Noah's ark, the animals huddled.  Each group, humans and animals, did what living beings have done for centuries, they passed the time with food, water, shelter and each other until exhausted they slept.  The storm angrily lasted for four days and four nights.  What of Noah?  What of the creatures on the ark?  A promise is made.  A promise is fulfilled.


A story of compassion unfolds through the beautiful language penned by Kate Banks.  Her descriptions of setting using simile are vivid.  In presenting the animals each verb matches their characteristics.  She creates a pattern between what the humans are doing in preparation and what Noah is doing for the animals.  She continues this by telling us what each group does during the storm.  It's a gentle comparison showing a connection between all living beings.  Within the narrative, making it more personal for readers, dialogue is placed, adding to the flow of the story.  Here is a passage.

Noah hurried into the house to watch and wait.  Suddenly the sun snapped
off its light.  A curtain of darkness drew across the sky.  The rain tiptoed at
first, pitter-patter, pitter-patter. And the wind whooshed and shooshed.
Then there was a silence so grand you could hear a tear drop.


One of the first things you notice when looking at the front of the dust jacket is the look of pure contentment on the face of Noah.  The animals gathered around him sense his affection for them based upon their closeness.  You expect this scene to quietly come alive.  One of the other things you notice is the placement of light and shadow.  This image glows.

To the left, on the back, on the other side of the spine, the fencing and stone wall continue.  On the far left is a flowering bush.  On the dandelion spotted grass rests the completed ark, waiting for voyagers.  The book case is an entirely different scene, more shadows than light, spanning from left to right.  We are peering inside the ark during the storm as rain pelts from the sky.  Hummingbirds, toads, a grasshopper, beetle, spider, mice, a snake and a salamander are waiting in the dimness.

A burnt orange covers the opening and closing endpapers.  For the initial and formal title pages John Rocco begins with a bird's eye view of buildings and back yards.  A single bird is swooping over the area.  With a page turn two birds fly over the roofs as the double-page picture unfolds in front of us.  Each illustration, in pencil and watercolor and rendered digitally, is either a two-page picture, a full-page visual or a smaller image(s) surrounded by white space.  The size of the illustrations enhance the story's pacing.

Careful readers will notice how John Rocco carries details from one illustration to the next illustration; the birds land in Noah's back yard, one next to him and the other in a bird bath.  How many pictures feature the grasshopper companion Noah speaks to?  For emphasis the point of view shifts bringing us deeper into the lives of Noah and his family and the lives of the animals.

One of my many favorite illustrations is on a single page.  Noah has just completed the ark.  He is kneeling in the grass between the stone wall and the ark.  It's the expression on his face which is most striking.  You wonder what he might be thinking.  It would make for an interesting conversation.


There are those who have a kinship with animals unlike others.  The animals know who these people are.  This boy is one of them.  Noah Builds an Ark written by Kate Banks with illustrations by John Rocco is a tender story of a child who considers those lesser than himself.  It is a story of stewardship.  It is a story of compassion.  I recommend this title for your professional and personal collections.

To discover more about Kate Banks and John Rocco and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Kate Banks has an account on Twitter.  John Rocco has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view an interior image.  There are other illustrations at Penguin Random House.

Making Magic For Her Boys

If you are fortunate, like I was, you grow up hearing stories.  Your parents tell you of their adventures as children, teenagers and adults before you became part of their world.  They speak of these things to create a familial bond with you; to give you an understanding of your heritage.  These tales are also meant to help you become the best person you can be; to assist you in realizing your potential.

There are other stories less truthful, born in their imaginations.  These transform hours, some of boredom and illness, into memories never forgotten.  There was an extraordinary woman, a mother, whose stories still hold their original magic today.  Big Machines: The Story of Virginia Lee Burton (How Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel And Friends Came To Life) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, September 5, 2017) written by Sherri Duskey Rinker with illustrations by John Rocco reveals how this woman used her remarkable gifts to bring joy to her two sons and other daughters and sons for generations to come.

This is Virginia Lee, but everyone in seaside
Folly Cove simply calls her Jinnee.
Anyone who meets Jinnee
will tell you that
she is quite
magical.

She has a way to coax colorful beauty into being in her gardens.  Animals, domestic and wild, see in her a friend they can trust.  When she dances, her shape seems to shift into whatever she wants us to see.  Best of all, when she draws, a spell is cast on all who view her work.

For her two boys, Aris and Michael, she pictures what they love best,

BIG MACHINES.

With her hands she brings to life a powerful train, a hardworking steam shovel, a tireless snow plow and determined cable car.  These machines' stories leave readers with timeless truths formed by their adventures and the work they do.

When Jinnee begins to draw a little pink house sitting on a hill with daisies and apple trees, Aris and Michael can see she has definitely strayed from what they enjoy most.  She asks them to be patient.  This little house is to be a part of an even greater adventure; one filled with the growth of a city and the machines who are a part of that growth.

In this book she shows the two boys how vehicles offer salvation to the little pink house.  She knows her two favorite readers and what they want and need.  She knew all of us too.


With each reading of this title penned by Sherri Duskey Rinker my appreciation for the accomplishments of Virginia Lee Burton grows.  The approach of beginning Virginia's story after her two boys are born brings a special connection to the intended audience.  Reminding readers of the admiration felt by the members of the Folly Cove community for her is a refreshing introduction to the magic of her talents as an artist and a writer.  Viewing her drawing and painting tools as a wand is genius.

When Sherri Duskey Rinker describes how Virginia Lee Burton creates the train, Choo Choo, the steam shovel, Mary Anne, for Mike Mulligan And His Steam Shovel, the crawler tractor turned snow plow for Katy And The Big Snow, and Maybelle for Maybelle The Cable Car it's like we are in the studio with her as she shapes and forms these characters.  With Sherri's words Aris and Michael are participants in each of these big machines' tales.  We watch and hold our breaths along with the boys as we see what is happening to the little pink house. Here are two passages.

And right before Michael's eyes:
A bucket loads and lifts, clearing
earth to make canals, cutting
through mountains for
railways, leveling land for
highways and runways,
digging deep into the
earth, making 
foundations.

Smoke blows from her stack.
There, loud and proud, strong
and steely, always hard at work:
Mary Anne!


The first thing, the very first thing, I did upon opening the matching dust jacket and book case was study those champion characters from children's literature recalling their stories read and shared repeatedly over the years.  When my eyes moved to the left, on the back, there was the little pink house, the city grown up behind her and on both sides.  The subway moved beneath her and the train ran around her.  Smoke filled the sky as the charcoal like images shown are washed from top to bottom in a shade of blue to green and then yellow.

The opening and closing endpapers are in pale yellow with light blue images.  Gears are stenciled around matching elements on the left and right.  It's the little house with the apple trees and daisies on the little hill.  In a circle around it are the cable car, crawler tractor, steam shovel, train and the truck in a repeating pattern.  Beneath the text on the title page, John Rocco places each of the big machines and the little pink house with the truck pulling it back home.

Rendered in watercolor, colored pencil, and digital media the full-color illustrations truly take us back in time.  John Rocco presents us with large two-page pictures and single-page images flowing and golden, many of them moving from the left into the right.  To show us the artistic process of Virginia Lee Burton he gives us a bird's eye view of her working from farther away to very close through a series of six small pictures on a single page.  As she draws the characters for her books, it's a different technique for the presentation of each one but the key factor is the two boys are always a part of the visual narrative.  The meticulous research of John Rocco is clearly evident.

I have many, many favorite pictures.  One of my favorites is of the creation of Katy.  On the left Virginia is first standing in front of a blank page.  She then sketches outlines of a crawler tractor on several sheets of paper.  They are filled in with red.  Then a blade appears.  Along the bottom on the left the boys dressed for winter weather are following Virginia, now wearing boots, as she puts on a winter coat.  They walk through snow and falling snow to the right.  Katy is there in front of them, larger than life.  She is framed with blue swirls reminiscent of the cover on the original book.


Big Machines: The Story of Virginia Lee Burton (How Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel And Friends Came To Life) written by Sherri Duskey Rinker with illustrations by John Rocco is a book to cherish.  You will read it over and over again.  You will hardly be able to wait to share it with others.  And you will get copies of the Virginia Lee Burton books to read at least once more, to share with first time readers or to add to your collection.  You need to have this book in your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Sherri Duskey Rinker and John Rocco and their other work, please visit their websites (and Sherri's blog) by following the links attached to their names.  Here is the link to a special publisher website for this book. Travis Jonker, teacher librarian and blogger (among other wonderful accomplishments) at 100 Scope Notes, reveals the cover for this title.  Sherri Duskey Rinker and John Rocco are interviewed at The Horn Book about this title.  Sherri Duskey Rinker is interviewed at KidLit 411, Where The Board Books Are and HENRYHERZ.COM.  John Rocco is featured about this title at the BookPage and at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Enjoy the video below.



Please take a few moments to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the other titles selected this week by bloggers participating in the 2017 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Good Night Sleep Tight 2015 Dreamland Reading Some Are Silver And The Others Gold #1

For quite some time I've been toying with the idea of starting a series using picture books, each one with a common theme, which combine older titles with recent titles.  When you've had the opportunity to read many books over decades, it's interesting to see patterns and to pair similar books together.  When participating in the Picture Book August 10 for 10 this past summer, I wrote about and selected titles highlighting the welcome quiet at the end of the day when parents, guardians and caregivers can share books at and about bedtime with children.  Here are seven recommended titles, three more than twenty-eight years old and four released within the last six months of 2015.

Goodnight Moon (Harper & Row, 1947) written by Margaret Wise Brown with illustrations by Clement Hurd

You have to stop and wonder how many times this book has been read to children in the past sixty-nine years.  The first four lines refer to colors and well-known objects and the next several phrases focus on nursery rhymes and a fairy tale.  There is comfort in the familiar.  A rhythm is established with the repetition of goodnight followed by listing items inside and outside the room.  It's a lullaby of gratitude.

In the great green room
There is a telephone
And a red balloon
And a picture of---

Bright primary and some secondary colors on double page images alternate with shades of black, gray and white used in single page pictures loosely framed using a liberal amount of white space.  The pictures on the wall, the kittens playing with the yarn and the crackling fire create a mood of serenity.  The adult rabbit knitting in the rocking chair, staying in the room until the bunny falls asleep brings a sense of safety and love to the story.

There have been numerous parodies and critical observations about this book but the fact remains it is and always will be a timeless classic.


The Napping House (Harcourt Children's Books, 1984) written by Audrey Wood with illustrations by Don Wood

As rain falls outside it's quiet in the house; all are sleeping.  A granny, a child, a dog, a cat, a mouse and a flea doze without the apparent knowledge one is stacked upon the other until the final tiny being does what comes naturally; bites the mouse.  One after the other reacts to the scaring, clawing, thumping, and bumping.  A broken bed, laughter and a rainbow signal a change in more than the weather.  A cumulative tale builds throughout with one sentence added to the next.  Audrey Wood knows how to tell a story supplying gentle tension and a delightful resolution.

There is a house,
a napping house,
where everyone is sleeping.
And in that house
there is a bed,
a cozy bed
in a napping house,
where everyone is sleeping.

Rendered in oil on pressed board the illustrative work of Don Wood in hues of blue progressing to the golden light of a sunny day is brimming with energy and humor.  The varied positions of the sleeping granny, child, dog, cat, and mouse along with their facial expressions are sure to generate giggles and grins.  When they each start waking up expect to hear guffaws.  Careful readers will notice the flight of the flea.

Follow the link attached to Audrey Wood's name to access information about the work of Audrey and Don Wood at their website. Here is a link to Harcourt containing an interview with Audrey and Don Wood.  At Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site there are discussion topics and activities regarding this title.


Can't You Sleep, Little Bear? (Candlewick Press, 1988) written by Martin Waddell with illustrations by Barbara Firth

After a day of playing outside Big Bear is ready to read his Bear Book in his cozy chair by the fire.  In the darkest part of the cave he has tucked Little Bear into bed.  Little Bear is not one bit tired and he is afraid of the dark.

Three times Big Bear goes to the lantern cupboard getting increasingly bigger lights to dispel the darkness.  Each time he is a few pages closer to the good part of his book.  When Little Bear admits to being as uneasy about the night, Big Bear takes him outside.

Final lights in the night, wise words and warm arms work their magic.  Martin Waddell uses a repetition of key phrases to invite readers to participate in the story.  The conversations between Big Bear and Little Bear are genuinely adorable.

"Can't you sleep, Little Bear?" yawned Big Bear, putting down his Bear Book (with just four pages to go to the interesting part) and padding over to the bed.
"I'm scared," said Little Bear.
"Why are you scared, Little Bear?" asked Big Bear.
"I don't like the dark," said Little Bear.
"What dark?" asked Big Bear.
"The dark all around us," said Little Bear.
"But I brought you a lantern!" said Big Bear.
"Only a teeny-weeny one," said Little Bear.  "And there's lots of dark!"

The illustrations rendered in watercolor, ink and pencil with the exception of three double page spreads, edge to edge, are framed in rounded arches, as if we are looking inside the cave.  Some elements in the images break the lines to give a sense of openness.  The antics of Little Bear in the bedroom are completely endearing.  Readers will be drawn to the realistic items in the living room and Little Bear's bedroom.

Here is a link to a page created by Candlewick Press where Martin Waddell and Barbara Firth talk about their work on all the Big Bear and Little Bear books.


Ask Me (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, July 14 2015) written by Bernard Waber with illustrations by Suzy Lee

This story takes us on a day long jaunt shared by a father and his daughter.  We stroll through a park and past a pond filled with geese.  We look closely at butterflies flitting among flowers.  We visit a small carnival and a playground.  As they romp and rest among the leaves, our understanding grows.  At the close of day their conversations continue as she gets ready for bed, is tucked in and good nights are exchanged.

Told through a series of questions and answers Bernard Waber takes an ordinary day lifting it into the realm of marvelous.  The freedom felt by the daughter to begin with

Ask me what I like.

and her dad's willing response

What do you like?

allows us to see the special bond between them.  Their chatter is like listening to a symphony.

Ask me what else.

What else?

I like rain.   I like splishing, sploshing,
and splooshing in the rain.  

Splishing, sploshing, and splooshing.
I like those words.

They're rain words.  I made them up.

I know.

Suzi Lee begins and ends her illustrations rendered in pencil on the opening and closing endpapers.  We first see the father putting on a hat and his daughter putting on her coat in their entryway.  At the close both pages are filled with fireflies, one of the girl's favorite bugs.  Her color palette is introduced on the matching front dust jacket and book case and continued throughout the book filling the pages with affection and the brilliance of the season.  All of the pictures cover two pages except for one.  Perspective shifts to match the importance of the narrative.

To discover more about Bernard Waber and Suzi Lee and their other work please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.


The Full Moon at the Napping House (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, September 1, 2015) written by Audrey Wood with illustrations by Don Wood

Without fail if squirrelly behavior is noted in children, dogs or cats, a check of the moon phase calendar will reveal a full one is in the offing.  In a companion to their 1984 bedtime classic, Audrey Wood and Don Wood take us back to the napping house.  Granny, the child, the dog, the cat and the mouse are sleepless, fidgety, playful, prowling and worried.  A wee nighttime visitor pays them a visit reversing the spell cast by the moon.

Using repeating phrases Audrey Wood welcomes us into the luminous atmosphere of a single night.  As words are added the activity increases until a pause announces the guest.  Verbs follow canceling the effects in a peaceful rhythm.

And in that bed
there is a granny,
a sleepless granny
in a wide-awake bed
in a full-moon house,
where everyone is restless. 

Using open acrylics on stretched and grounded watercolor paper Don Wood begins with a moon rising over rolling hills.  As the story progresses you can tell by the look on Granny's face and her eyes, the actions of the child, dog, cat and mouse are driving her a little crazy.  Careful readers will enjoy watching the movement of the mouse and the visitor.  The use of light and shadow is as masterful here as in the original title.




Beep! Beep! Go to Sleep! (Little, Brown and Company, September 8, 2015) written by Todd Tarpley with illustrations by John Rocco

A pajama-clad boy moves down the hallway with his three robot pals to get ready for bed.  After scrubbing up in the bathroom it's time for all four to snuggle and sleep in their individual places. The problem is the robots. They simply can't get settled. One mechanical complication after another seems to plague them.  Their boy is getting more frustrated by the minute.  A trick as old as time works wonders.  Mission accomplished! No more beeping only sleeping.

Told in rhyme Todd Tarpley lulls us with his words into the bedtime ritual.  His use of robotic terms fits as smoothly as a well-oiled machine into the story.  By having the automated companions interrupt the boy's rest once, twice and three times before his irritation causes a verbal explosion, the fourth and final request is more surprising and satisfying.

Three little robots, time for bed.  Time to dim your infrared.

On the front of the dust jacket readers can readily see the friendship between the boy and his rambunctious robots.  To the left, on the back, silhouettes of the three robots are shown jumping on the boy's empty bed with the full moon in the background.  The color from one of the robots and the book in the boy's hand provides the canvas for the book case.  On the right are the three robot faces.  To the left Beep! Beep! appears in large bold letters.  The spine is the same pattern as the wallpaper in the home.  The opening and closing endpapers are used to introduce and conclude this rollicking romp.

At the close of the book John Rocco talks about the mouse we see on all the pages as being his daughter's idea.  This little being ups the hilarity with his liveliness in every scene.  Rendered in pencil, watercolor and digital paint the images are warm and reminiscent of the recent past.  The decor and items in the home and the style of the robots mirror treasured childhood memories or those worth making.

Please follow the link attached to John Rocco's name to access his website.  There you can learn more about him and his other work.  He also has additional images from this book at his blog. At Todd Tarpley's blog you can view illustrations and read his comments about this book.  Simply follow the link embedded in his name.


Thank You and Good Night (Little, Brown and Company, October 6, 2015) written and illustrated by Patrick McDonnell

As the day closes with a sunset, a wee bunny, Clement, is getting into his pajamas with help from his human friend Maggie.  A doorbell ring announces the arrival of two friends, Jean, an elephant, and Alan, a bear.  Both are wearing sleepwear.  It's time for a Pajama Party!

The three take delight in bed bouncing, learning the chicken dance, participating in a funny face contest and a timeless favorite game, a bit of yoga and treats.  They might pause more than once wondering if they should go to sleep but they are having too much fun.  There does come a time when their activities are becoming quieter with looking, wishing and listening.

When they ask the question they have been voicing during the evening, Maggie finally says yes.  The trio performs nighttime rituals and toddle toward bed.  Tucked in tight they listen and then recite their thank-yous before whispering good night.  A tender surprise awaits readers.

Patrick McDonnell writes words that wrap around readers with the cozy comfort of their very own bed.  His simple sentences, stating the obvious, pair beautifully with his images quietly and softly leading us into his story.  The voices of the three friends are shown in speech balloons adding to the charm.  Even though they would not trade in a single minute of their play, they ask from time to time in a gentle refrain

"Is it time for bed yet?"

The front picture on the matching dust jacket and book case is sure to have you gasp aloud or whisper "Aww" in your mind.  Rendered in pen and ink, pencil and watercolor on handmade paper each illustration inspires a sense of calm.  On the back, to the left, the three are sleeping all in a row, sharing the same pillow, in a bed.  This picture, a circle, is loosely framed in a cream color.  The opening and closing endpapers are blue on blue like stars in a sky.

Heavy matte-finished paper in cream is the canvas for the art work of Patrick McDonnell.  Each image has a brush stroke frame or smaller pictures are placed on the page.  The details are sure to have you hugging the book.  When they are jumping on the bed Alan jumps right out of his pajama bottoms, their funny faces are roll-on-floor hilarious, Jean's hiding place in hide-and-seek is sure to make you laugh out loud and the attire of the singing night bird will make you smile.  This book is loaded with love.

To learn more about Patrick McDonnell please follow the links attached to his name to access two websites about him and his books.  Patrick McDonnell was a guest at Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries John Schumacher's website, Watch. Connect. Read.


Seven books speak about the time we take to rest.  We follow the stories about a simple, ordinary but memorable conversation during a day, special events or as bedtime approaches beloved rituals.  I predict many readings of all these titles for the comfortable connection they will create between readers and listeners.  

Blow Winds Blow, Blow The Falling Snow

It's like living inside a snow globe someone is constantly shaking.  The landscape is laden with more than a foot of white fluff.  Soon the winds will begin to howl rattling the windows and singing down the chimney.

When the National Weather Service issues a gale and winter storm warning together, it's time to expect the unexpected especially when Thanksgiving is ten days away.  Back in February 1978 no one was prepared for the severity of the storm; no one was sure the meteorologists were correct.  Caldecott Honor winning author illustrator John Rocco (Blackout, Disney Hyperion, May 2011) writes and illustrates his version, Blizzard (Disney Hyperion) with all the childlike awe this spectacular event deserves.

One day, when I was a young boy,

nearly four feet of snow fell from the sky.

On a Monday morning when school was in session the flakes began falling.  When they were dismissed early; they were accumulating, getting deeper and deeper.  Even as bedtime approached, the snow kept coming down.

Leaving the house by the door was not an option the next morning.  Moving through the snow was nearly impossible.  Thankfully a working woodstove and hot chocolate warmed up John, his older sister, Mom and Dad.

For the next few days endless shoveling and digging in the snow were on the agenda.  By Thursday no snow plows had been through the neighborhood yet.  Having enough food was becoming a concern.

For a boy who had faithfully read the Arctic Survival guide, there was only one thing to do.  On Saturday, with a list and creative ingenuity on his feet he left the house.  Many stops in the neighborhood were made, delaying his arrival at the local market.  

With his goal accomplished, getting home before dark was necessary.  Many stops in the neighborhood were made, making his arrival home all the more welcome.  In 1978 memories were made.  In 2014 we lucky readers get to read a book recreating those meaningful moments and the incredible efforts of one ten-year-old boy.

It's like John Rocco has turned back the clock several decades, allowing his younger self to tell the story.  His sentences highlight those exact things which would capture the attention of a ten-year-old.  The revelation of a series of personal events by using specific word descriptions gives readers a sense of being side by side with John.  Here are a couple of examples.

We laughed as we sank deep in the frozen powder.  

But walking was hard---

it was like trying to move through white quicksand.

We made camp by the woodstove,

and our feet tingled as we sipped

hot cocoa made with milk.

How can you look at the front of the dust jacket and not smile?  The ten-year-old boy with outstretched arms standing in his windswept snowy neighborhood is feeling downright joyful.  On the back of the dust jacket a picture taken from the book's interior of him, his dog and sister struggling unsuccessfully in the snow gives readers a precise idea of its depth.  Underneath the book case a bird's eye view of the rows of houses, buried beneath the storm's drifts as flakes swirl around, leaves no doubt as to the extent of the blizzard.  The opening endpapers are in a pale steely blue with heavy snow falling into piles.  Nothing but pure white covers the closing endpapers except for a path of telltale prints extending from one corner to the top of the next page.

I burst out laughing at the page before the double title page spread.  Using a single page John Rocco has a series of six pictures of himself holding a measuring stick.  In each one the snow gets higher and higher until all you can see is the boy's hand at the top of the stick and the top of his ski hat with the white pom-pom. Breathtaking would be a word to define the title page.  Again it's as if we are looking from above through a break in the storm clouds at the neighborhood below before the snow begins to fall.  

Rendered in pencil, watercolor, and digital painting the illustrations vary in size according to the amount of white space framing each.  Several span from edge to edge on a single page or across two pages.  Rocco has cleverly inserted the name of each day into the images; as part of the message on the blackboard in the classroom, squirrel tracks over a snow-covered roof, snow-covered branches on a tree, or raisins spilled across the floor from a snack box. His four-page fold-out of the boy's trip to the neighborhood market is wonderful.  The labels of all the stops made couldn't be more perfect.  

Two of my many favorite illustrations follow one another.  The first is the scene from the boy's bedroom as he gazes out the window at the falling snow on Monday night.  The Arctic Survival book in tented to a remembered spot on his bed, his penguin lamp glowing.  On the wall hangs an Everest poster.  Lying next to the bed is his dog.  Outside a street light illuminates the Stop sign.  About a foot of the post is uncovered.  On the next page all readers see is blue, lots of falling snow and the Stop sign, now partially covered in snow.  

Blizzard written and illustrated by John Rocco marvelously documents seven days during the blizzard of 1978 as seen and experienced by a ten-year-old boy.  It is said you should write about what you know.  John Rocco does it brilliantly in text and illustrations working together in seamless harmony.  This title is on our Mock Caldecott list.  

To learn more about John Rocco, his books and illustrations please visit his website by following the link embedded in his name.  Follow this link to a recent review by author and blogger Julie Danielson at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. (My two favorite pages are featured.) This links to a post at Kid Lit Frenzy as part of the blog tour for Blizzard. Several days remain on the tour.   

Chugga-Chugga---Calling All Trains!

Perennial favorite portions of nonfiction sections are "how-to" books.  Students gravitate toward those titles on drawing, cartooning, cooking, origami, seasonal celebrations and making paper airplanes.  Most of the volumes in the pet shelves are borrowed for a good part of the year; taking care of goldfish, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, spiders, frogs, snakes and turtles is of interest to many guys and gals.  One of the most popular areas is learning about cats and dogs;  curiosity for this grows year after year.

There has been a glaring void in one significant area.  For those who have read every single title having to do with anything and everything about trains, nothing, to their dismay, has been written about pet trains.  Pet trains?!  Yes, this little known but highly desired subject has finally with great imagination and in-depth information been addressed.  How to Train a Train (Candlewick Press, September 24, 2013) written by Jason Carter Eaton with illustrations by John Rocco is a manual guaranteed to go straight to the center of  your readers' hearts.

So you want a pet train? Well, of course you do!
Trains make awesome pets---they're fun, playful, and extremely useful.

To start you need to decide which kind of train you would like for your constant companion.  When this decision has been reached, a variety of methods, including the best, for tracking and trapping this monster in motion are offered.  Most paramount is knowing the proper way to get and keep their attention.

Of equal importance is whether they are as immediately attached to you as you are to them. Great thought should be given to your new train's name.  We all know the power in a name.

As the newest member of your family, the train might need extra attention to feel comfortable in its new home; a soothing soak, bedtime stories and a lullaby.  Time, lots of time, is needed to understand your train's likes and dislikes.  What are its favorite games or fears?  Can it learn to do tricks?

As much as you would like to have your train with you every minute of the day, there are times when this is not such a good idea.  You still need to provide social opportunities, the means for meeting new friends, for your train.  When all is said and done, when you least expect it, your train will show you, the only way it can, just how happy it really is.


Every single page in this guidebook is filled with fun, fueled by the inventiveness of author Jason Carter Eaton.  The narrator, speaking directly to the reader, leads us with simple statements toward the ultimate goal of having a loving pet train in our home.  Every possible concern is addressed with a wonderful kind of wit.  It's as if Eaton's inner child is fully alive and well.  Here are a couple of examples.

Freight trains live in the countryside and travel in herds. 

By now your train should trust you enough
to let you ride him...
but he may not trust you enough to ride in the engineer's car yet.
Start off in the caboose.


How can you not want to read a book with a jacket and cover like this?  It makes you want to head out to the nearest spot frequented by trains to experience the same joy as the three children riding their pet trains.  Opening the cover and turning the endpapers, gives readers a sneak peek at the book's narrator, a guide in safari hat and clothes, on top of a locomotive, bucking like a bronco.   The double-page title page showcases three different trains at rest inside a roundhouse.

Rendered in graphite with digital coloring, the animated illustrations of John Roco interpret the narrative with rip-roaring playfulness.  His double page, single page and smaller illustrations framed in white, compel readers to keep turning the pages as surely as the text does.  We want to see what Jason Carter Eaton has to say and how John Rocco will visualize it.

You have to appreciate the shifts in perspective; the close-up of the guide on the first two pages, holding a leash with a "Fido" tag at the top, large locomotive wheels in the background or the panoramic view of the western desert as the guide sends up smoke signals to attract a train's notice.  The personalities given to each train, their "facial" features, are impeccable.  Two of my favorite illustrations are of the boy with his teddy bear sitting on the train's cow-catcher reading a book by the train's headlamp and the three boy's playing a train song to help a new friend drift off to dreamland. The boys are playing country instruments, a banjo, a washboard and a jug.  These are absolutely charming.


I'm not sure how many readers want a pet train but I can guarantee after reading How to Train a Train written by Jason Carter Eaton with illustrations by John Rocco, you might be seeing trains showing up on children's wish lists.  Give this book to readers who love trains.  Give this book to readers who love pets.  Give this book to readers who love good storytelling, a picture book with text and pictures working together in faultless harmony.

Please follow the link embedded in John Rocco's name above to his website.  Here is a link to the publisher's website for a Q & A With Illustrator John Rocco.  This links to A Note From Author Jason Carter Eaton at Candlewick Press.  Check out this interview at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

Enjoy the book trailer, then make sure to have this book handy for reading.

 

Pair this title with Brian Floca's Locomotive and Elisha Cooper's Train.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

There are some moments, events, you never forget.  When I was growing up my hair was long and fairly wavy naturally.  My mom, using bobby pins,would make rows of pin curls after shampooing to make it extra curly when it dried.  In the spring of my tenth year that abruptly ended with a visit to her hair dresser (who, by the way, did her hair for fifty years).

My protests, which were many but respectfully presented, were not taken into consideration.  My hair was cut...short.  Perhaps this is some misguided rite of passage.  Author/illustrator and Caldecott Honor winner (Blackout), John Rocco, addresses this very thing in his new title, Super Hair-o and the Barber of Doom (Disney Hyperion).

Every superhero gets his powers from somewhere.

Young Rocco gets his from his hair which grows and grows; the longer his locks, the stronger his powers.  It's the same with his buddies and their hair.  These four are champions.

They are able to swing inside a tire hanging upside down by their ankles, leap across a stone bridge, frog and net firmly clasped in each hand, make awesome bike jumps off a homemade ramp, skateboard over train sets, kick box building block towers and dive off a ladder into a kiddie pool.  All is well until the fateful day when Rocco is abducted and turned over to the enemy, the big...bald...barber.  Ack!  Thoughts of retaliation swirl in his brain.

He can hardly climb into his treehouse in his weakened state; the loss of his hair makes him feel diminished.  He wonders, worries and attempts to replace it.  Plants, mops and dogs are not what he needs.

In this dejected state he meets with his friends only to discover they too have met with a similar fate.  Sitting on the playground bench, holding her doll, an observant younger girl zooms in to the rescue.  In a moment of instinctive reaction superpowers reappear as if by magic.


Part of the sheer fun in reading this title is the word choices used by John Rocco.  In telling this story as if it is an adventure shared by a champion and his comrades with extraordinary talents, he gives it a sense of heightened drama with a humorous flair.  The mix of first person narrative with dialogue and thoughts in balloons makes this boy's experience read like those superhero comic books he loves.  Rocco excels in the placement of the text with each turn of page.

When opening the book's jacket seeing Rocco whizzing along on his bike atop the big, bold primary colored title letters and on the back, astride his bike, Sidekick Sam sitting next to him, cape and hair billowing out in a breeze, you simply have to smile.  Close-ups of the superhero on his tire swing and riding his bike, filled with animated action illustrate the cover.  The exuberance in these four pictures is contagious.

The opening and closing endpapers done in two shades of rust feature silhouettes of Rocco performing various feats of derring-do with words like POW!, WHOOSH and SPLASH! patterned among them.  Readers paying close attention will notice the difference between the two; it's all in the hair.  Before the title page Rocco begins the story, a full page illustration of the boy superhero running from a comic book store, huge grin on his face.

With that initial page and in the remainder of the visuals within the book,  readers see the blend of black, white and gray with the full color elements; drawing your eyes toward the central character or action of that moment.  The book is alive with activity; alternating illustration size, switching between smaller ones surrounded by white space to the larger double page spreads.  The use of all the dots makes you feel like you are stepping into the pages of your favorite comic book.

The first two pages are extremely clever.  Rocco, in full color, is kneeling on a carpet reading his comic books.  The carpet is compromised of enlarged comic book pages.  We see the bottom of a chair, adult shoes and a portion of pant legs in the upper right hand corner.  These two pages are one of my favorites in this title.

From beginning to end Super Hair-o and the Barber of Doom written and illustrated by John Rocco is pure pleasure, destined to be read over and over again.  You can't avoid an appreciation for the resilience and ingenuity of all the characters in this book.  With many people looking for a first day read aloud, this title addresses having a passion for what you like and finding the source of your strengths.

There is a link embedded in John Rocco's name above to his official website.  Stop in and have a look around.  Enjoy the book trailer below.


SUPER HAIR-O and the BARBER of DOOM from John Rocco on Vimeo.