In The Darkening Wood

If you stand perfectly still and wait, wonder comes to you.  As the day ends, twilight descends.  Soon the only light comes from the stars or the moon depending on the date.  A world populated by nocturnal creatures begins to stir.

They call to those in their family and other residents of the forest.  You step into this nighttime realm when reading All ears, all eyes (A Caitlyn Dlouhy Book, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, March 7, 2017) written by Richard Jackson with illustrations by Katherine Tillotson.  The haunting beauty of their words and pictures linger enveloping you.

What sails?
What flies?
Those...these
Down low
nearby
far off...
up high
Who listens?
Who looks?
Who hears?
Who sees? 

These lyrical lines lead us into the woods.  An owl calls and notices two raccoons playing and feasting.  Nearby a prickly porcupine quietly moves as a bat soars above a deer.  If you listen closely, you can hear them.  If you look with careful eyes, you can see them.

Wings rubbing send out chirping.  (Wise listeners can tell the temperature from these sounds.)  Who is barking?  Who is harking?  Fireflies signal on and off, calling out for companionship.

Eyes adjusting to the dark, searching for woodland critters find some and miss others.  The owl continues to hoot.  What messages are being sent?  A lone tree frog replies with a familiar song.

The wind of the day calms but then starts again, pushing branches and leaves with unseen fingers.  All forest life is wide awake alternately moving and still, quiet and loud.  Good night.


Not silent but comforting are the words written by Richard Jackson.  We explore with eyes wide open and ears tuned to the music only heard at night.  Words rhyme.  Lines are brimming with alliteration and onomatopoeia.  As the animals go about their activities and communicate they remind us to rest easy.  Here is another passage.

What scoots
between roots?
All ears
a bat flies,
wings whirring

as light falls
and night rises.


Looking at the fox running through the deep forest falling into darkness under the watchful eyes of the owl and framed in the text is like an open doorway into this book.  The design choices are superb as are the selected hues.  To the left, on the back, of the matching dust jacket and book case is a large portion of white, a place for interior text.  Above it is a portion of the woods.  On the opening endpapers, in the same crisp white, a scattering of leaves drift from the upper left-hand corner to the lower portion of the right side.  Fewer leaves lift upward on a background of darkness and shining stars on the closing endpapers.

The introductory lines prior to the title, verso and dedication pages appear on a continuation of white with leaves and several birds in flight.  They are the remnants of day as the sun sets.  On the title page we step back with a more panoramic view of the woods before the verso and dedication pages which follow.

The illustrations rendered using a combination of watercolor and digital techniques by Katherine Tillotson all span two pages in breathtaking splendor.  They flow taking our eyes from left to right.  Leaves either frame or take center stage in all of them, further connecting each image to the next one.  The color combinations, greens, blues and purples, deep golden yellow and orange with purple and brown, an array of greens, pinks, blues and purples and more are gorgeous.  The method of layering asks us to pause after each page turn to savor the words and pictures.

One of my favorite of all the images features a canopy of leaves across the top in purples, blues and greens, some of them drifting down the right side.  Several tree trunks are highlighted in the foreground.  An owl is perched on a branch on the left.  A bat floats overhead as the fox continues to run.  A mouse sits quietly on a branch on the right side.  And nestled on the forest floor is a design close to my heart.  Can you see it?  I wonder if there are others.


Peace will settle over your soul as you read All ears, all eyes written by Richard Jackson with illustrations by Katherine Tillotson.  It takes us gently by the hand through the forest blanketed with the night.  I highly recommend this for your professional and personal bookshelves.  Read it aloud whenever you can with love; for surely this is how the words were penned and the artwork created.

To discover more about Katherine Tillotson and her other work please visit her website by following the link attached to her name. At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  This is one of the titles showcased by author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Deborah Kalb interviews Katherine Tillotson on her blog and Katherine Tillotson appears on Kathy Temean: Writing and Illustrating.   Bookology has an interview with Richard Jackson and Katherine Tillotson.

Footwear Fascination

There must be some kind of scientific explanation.  I may have even read it when I was consuming puppy and dog training books like chocolate when Xena first chose me.  The truth is dogs, especially puppies, like to chew.  They seem to have a preference for shoes.

To make it even more interesting (or frustrating depending on whether you are the chewer or owner of the chewed), they select the most expensive and favorite pair for their munching. Author Megan McDonald and illustrator Katherine Tillotson are back together again introducing readers to the one and only Shoe Dog (A Richard Jackson Book, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division).  This newly acquired canine companion is possessed with the need to nibble and gnaw.

Ooh, look at the puppy!
Who's a good boy?
You're so cute.  Yes, you are!

He perked up an ear at the kitchee-coo words.

The sound of that voice was like music to this homeless dog's heart.  How he longed to leave the shelter for the comfort of a real home.  How he longed to have a place to roam.  How he longed to feel the touch of a human hand giving tummy rubs and a human nose giving those special kisses.

Unfortunately he had absolutely no interest in the normal doggy treats and toys presented to him.  No, this little dog craved shoes.  Within the first twenty-four hours fifteen various items of footwear were reduced to pieces.

 His human was not happy.  His first night was spent not on but at the foot of the Big Bed.  The coveted signs of affection were not delivered.

He was simply delighted when a new box was brought home the next day and the day after that.  He could not resist the sound of the tissue paper, the lure of those new shoes.  No dog gate was going to contain him.  No set of stairs or Big Bed kept him from his goal.  There was also no sleeping on the Big Bed.  Night number three was on the cold floor downstairs.  Maybe Shoe Dog needed to readjust his behavior.

What's this?  It's his human with a big, big bag filled with three...yes three...new boxes.  Over the gate, up the stairs, under the Big Bed, on the Comfy Chair and into the Forest of Dresses he went.  Persistent explorer, shoe-sniffer extraordinaire that he was, this pup made a purr-fect discovery.


There are those books when silently read will fill the reader with the intended warmth.  There are those books with words when read aloud will sing off the pages.  There are those books which do both beautifully.  This is one of those books.

Megan McDonald has penned a romping, rollicking narrative without the use of rhyme.  Her precise pacing and repetition of words and phrases is masterful.  Knowing what Shoe Dog will do; how he will act will have you thinking she might be part dog or at the very least share her life with one.  Her descriptions of the woman's bed, furniture, second floor and parts in the home add to the overall attachment readers will have for Shoe Dog (and his woman).  Here is a sample passage.

The next day,
She came home with
a New Box.
Not a big box.
Not a little box.
A just-right box
with Noisy Paper inside.
Grr!


Cuteness abounds with the same vigor as Shoe Dog in pursuit of his pleasing pastime from beginning to end and on all the pages in-between thanks to the crayon and charcoal digitally-combined illustrations of Katherine Tillotson.  I don't know about you but I want to hug the pup pictured on the matching dust jacket and book case.  Tillotson's free-flowing lines (on the back), arcing as he bounces from the box with the new shoe in his mouth, are guaranteed to bring on the grins.  Two shades of green in a scroll pattern cover the opening and closing endpapers.  They are identical to the quilt on the Big Bed.

Not a moment is wasted; Tillotson begins the story on the single title page showing a shoe store across the street from the animal shelter.  It continues with a large picture crossing the gutter from right to left including the verso as the woman walks into the shelter.  Ample use of white space gives her visuals the look of carefully designed collage.  Her line work showing Shoe Dog's body and motion is impeccable.

Choice of medium provides a strong sense of texture.  You want to touch the pages.  This with the altered perspectives encourages reader participation.  To tell you the truth, I like so many of these illustrations I simply can't pick a favorite this time.


Shoe Dog written by Megan McDonald with pictures by Katherine Tillotson is one of the best dog books of 2014; totally wooferlicious!  Every nuance of dogginess is perfectly portrayed with words and illustrations.  Without a doubt hand this book to dog lovers of all ages or to anyone who longs for a story that is better than best.

Be sure to follow the links embedded in Megan McDonald's and Katherine Tillotson's names above to access their websites.  This link to the publisher's site will give you a peek at several pages from the book.

Life Giving Water

I just spent nearly an hour at the truly amazing website of writer, poet, musician, activist and teacher, George Ella Lyon.  George Ella Lyon grew up surrounded by books; her parents insisted that her grandfather, who built their home, make sure to include a library which he did over their garage. A child of the Appalachian mountains, to this day she is still most at peace in the woods or library but having a community minded mother, she sees herself as a citizen of the world. 

Initially attending college with the intent to be a folk singer she found that writing, especially poetry were more to her liking; for her writing is a spiritual practice.  It's when she feels in touch with the mystery of it all; writing for her is experiencing and expressing the mystery.  Her picture book, All the water in the world, illustrated by Katherine Tillotson not only informs but as does the music she appreciates most, makes a difference.

All the water in the world... (title page)
...is all the water in the world. (first two pages)

Continuing with melodic words that seek to enlighten and invite readers to journey with this life-giving force from the sky, we travel with it to earth, running through waterways until it seeks again its start in the clouds.

In the beginning we are told what water does:  flows, wobbles and fills.  Next answering a question we read:

Water doesn't come.
It goes around.

From soggy soaked days to dusty drought; worlds with and without water are explored.

A tribute to its contribution and a plea for its preservation concludes this passionate poem of praise, promise and purpose.

Lyon's command of the power of words to move is magical.  A rhythmic characterization of thirsty air consuming water like a beverage or describing the release of rain from its cloudy confines will make readers want to sing, dance, clap their hands and tap their toes.  Variations in text size, its boldness or slightness or placement on the page liken it to a musical score filled with marks of dynamics:  forte, piano, mezzo-piano, mezzo-forte, pianissimo and fortissimo.

Although this title is illustrated digitally Katherine Tillotson states at her site that most of her pictures are rendered in oil paints.  Through what can only be described as true artistic talent, that medium's same texture, movement and form have been duplicated beautifully.  Every subtle shift, rolling rhyme or lyrical cadence in the language of this verse has been enhanced, extended, framed and showcased; the animals hidden in the joyous blue hues of swirling splashes, the tiger outlined in tree greenery or the drops of whirling water gradually changing to Earth's flora and fauna.

All the water in the world written by George Ella Lyon and illustrated by Katherine Tillotson is a symphony of sound teaching us more eloquently than any textbook, straight from the heart.

(Quotes and information about George Ella Lyon are taken from an interview conducted at Berea College, Kentucky, on the Head of the Holler program conducted by Dr. Chad Berry.  The YouTube link is highlighted in blue or can be viewed at George Ella Lyon's website.)

A teacher's guide to this title is provided at Lyon's site as are other guides for some of her books.