Dear Readers

Stitched in librarians' hearts are the words

the right book for the right reader at the right time.

When this happens, the world of that reader and those around them changes.  In their excitement at reading this book, they read it to others or speak about it with others.  These others in turn do the same.  Words are powerful.  They are even more transformative in books.

It is also said this purpose is shared by all those devoted to books and reading.  It is a gift happily given again and again.  Yours In Books (Cameron Kids, September 21, 2021) written by Julie Falatko with illustrations by Gabriel Alborozo is an endearing correspondence between two individuals,  One is a bookshop owner.  The other is someone seeking solitude to read.  During the course of their written conversations, we grow in understanding of the power of words lovingly written and illustrated in books.

Pine: A Bookshop

Knobby Pine Northeast of the Big Fir

Dear Sirs:

I received your marvelous catalog in the mail and

spent many long hours reading the descriptions

of all the books.

Owl T. Fencepost has requested a book be sent to his address at the 

Top of Oak

Near the Clearing

and the Noisy Small Animals.

He wants to soundproof his home so he can read in peace and quiet.  B. Squirrel, the bookshop owner, replies to Owl his desired title is out of stock.  Is there another title he wishes to purchase?

Well, Owl has decided to vacant his premises and wants to locate on an island far, far away from the Top of Oak.  As the second title is also out of stock, B. Squirrel decides to send a book encouraging Owl T. Fencepost to stay where he is.  You get the real sense of Owl's frustration in his next letter.  As he reads another book aloud, the noisy neighborhood children appear and want him to read it aloud to them.  He does this but writes it will be for the last time.  

The other thing readers will notice is the shift in the letter writing between B. Squirrel and Owl T. Fencepost.  Their greetings and closings are becoming friendly rather than professional.  A relationship is forming.  Instead of a book on fence building, B. Squirrel sends Owl T. a book on cooking and baking.

Each book B. Squirrel sends is having the opposite effect Owl T. wants in response to the boisterous children.  The evident humor and budding trust in their letter writing increases.  An invitation is issued by Bessie.  She wants Owl to visit the bookshop.  In the next several exchanges between Bessie and Owl, something is being planned by the children who now fill Owl's abode.  The messages between Owl and Bessie get shorter as anticipation and excitement build.  Books, reading, and most importantly, children, can make our lives better.  They did for a bookshop owner and an individual who thought he wanted to read in solitude.

There is an art to letter writing.  That art is even more evident when an author pens letters written between two characters.  Julie Falatko through the exchange of letters allows us to participate in the developing relationship between Bessie and Owl.

This friendship forms through their shared love of books.  In the titles of the requested books and those sent by Bessie to Owl, we are recipients of Julie Falatko's wonderful sense of finding and sharing joy and her keen observation skills of relationships.  Here are portions of a letter to Bessie from Owl and her reply.

However, the aromas of warm food heating on

my stove brought all the noisy neighborhood

children to my doorstep.  Please send The

Busy Owl's Guide to Food That Will Not Entice

Neighborhood Children to Stop By Uninvited.

The book you requested does not seem to exist.

Is it possible you were making a joke?  If so, I

am delighted.  It sounds like you and the children

might enjoy 50 Fanciful Biscuits and Cakes, which

I have enclosed, of course.

When you look at the open dust jacket, you get a preview of what artist Gabriel Alborozo imagined when reading the manuscript written by Julie Falatko.  To the left of the spine, on the back, is a close-up view of Owl T. Fencepost's writing desk.  He has started a letter to the bookshop.  His pen rests on the paper with his glasses nearby.  Stacks of books can be seen on either side as well as a vase with flowers and a matching teacup and saucer.  Through a picture window we get his view from the Top of Oak.

To the right of the spine, on the front, we see Owl and Bessie reading together in her bookshop with some of the children.  Do you see the snail in the lower right-hand corner?  It is a postal worker.  (I love the nod to snail mail.)  Another enchanting aspect are the two birds holding the paper, letter writing paper, with the text.

The book case is designed to be a book wrapped in brown paper, tied with two-tone string.  The bow is on the front along with a cancelled stamp.  The cancellation is for Oak Post Office.  A crowned owl is featured on the stamp.

Two distinct scenes are showcased on the opening and closing endpapers.  They are fine-lined drawings in black on creme.  The first is an overview of the oak in the lower, right-hand corner and the bookshop in the upper, left-hand corner.  Included are a pathway with a bridge over a stream, other trees, a pond, and a playground.  We zoom in to Owl's tree on the closing endpapers.  It is large and fills nearly all the right side, crossing the gutter as the treetops spread to the left.  Owl stands in his doorway holding a book as the children play below him.  Owl and Bessie, each holding a book, stand together on the title page.

These full-color images vary in size and perspective.  Many of them are double-page pictures with the letter placed on the side opposite most of the illustration.  Sometimes, for the purpose of pacing, single pages are devoted to the letters and their writers.  And to heighten the expectations of events to come, smaller visuals are grouped two to a page for several pages.  These illustrations reveal the personalities of Bessie and Owl in the descriptive and included details.  You will be thrilled with two wordless, double-page pictures.

One of my favorite illustrations is a double-page picture.  We are inside Owl's home.  Celebratory chaos is evident.  Birds are flying.  A bunny swings on a ceiling lamp.  A tiny hedgehog clings to the broom handle held by Owl.  Other animals are scampering about the room.  Owl holds a red balloon in one claw.  Food is scattered.  Is that water on the floor?  Is that a plunger a squirrel is holding?  Is that a roll of toilet paper unraveling?

If you are of the mind one can never have too many books to read or too many friends, Yours In Books written by Julie Falatko with artwork by Gabriel Alborozo is the title for you.  Read this book for sheer enjoyment or to promote a discussion about the power of books to change lives or how letter writing can forge friendships.  This title is charming from beginning to end and should find a place on both your personal and professional bookshelves.

To discover more about Julie Falatko and Gabriel Alborozo and their other work, please access their respective websites by following the link attached to their names.  Julie Falatko has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Julie Falatko chats with Heidi Fiedler at Book Magic.  Gabriel Alborozo is highlighted at Words & Pictures.  After watching this video, you'll be inspired to bake or you might get lost down the rabbit hole of acorn crafts, book making crafts or tea parties on Pinterest.

We See This

Some of the most cherished memories of spending decades as a teacher librarian are not the moments when children finally understand you, but when you understand them.  It's those times when you step outside your thinking, refreshed by the children's thinking.  Their perspectives tend to be clear, honest, and profound.  You should never underestimate their powerful capacity for compassion, or their wonderful ability to find humor and laugh out loud with abandon.

For these reasons, among many others, children are to be cherished. We live our lives so those who come after us have a richer (and more informed) experience.  If You Come To Earth (Chronicle Books, September 15, 2020) written and illustrated by Sophie Blackall is a book for all children, of all ages.  It's inspired by children and written as a letter from a child to a visitor from outer space.  It's a love letter about this fragile, but fierce planet and its inhabitants.  It's a remarkable read.  

Dear Visitor from Outer Space,

If you come to Earth,

here's what you need to know.

You'll know Earth from the other planets around the Sun by its color, its green and blue.  It has land and water.  Usually people live on the land in spaces of all sizes, or in rare cases alone and away from anyone else.

There are a vast variety of homes, made of a vast variety of materials depending on an equal number of factors.  Living in these homes are families, members who care for each other with love.  The billions of people populating Earth come in all shapes and sizes with a vast array of abilities.  Each one is unique, thinking their own thoughts, which are sometimes mirrored on their faces.

People dress for their jobs, their everyday activities and their weather.  Our weather can be breathtakingly beautiful, nearly perfect, but it can also be terrifying with people losing their homes and worldly possessions.  People find it necessary to move from one point to another, traveling in various methods on land, in the air, or on the water.  

Our letter writer addresses the recipient by revealing they are

a kid. 

They attend school to become informed to make better decisions as an adult.  As adults, people do many, many different things to keep society functioning.  When not working, their methods of enjoying free time exhibit their particular passions.  Our narrator goes on to discuss the necessity of food and water and its unequal availability.  This takes us to the sea and its saltiness.

On the surface the sea looks vast and fairly empty but it is not.  It is teeming with life, as is our land and our air.  The child presents to the reader what they wish to be if they were not human.  They talk about kinds of singing, music, language, and colors.  They compare those things found in nature, and those things made by humans.  They discuss those things not seen, some lovely, and some dangerous.

In closing the letter, the kid muses how on Earth we don't always agree, we fight, but this is not the best way for us to treat each other.  We find ways to make life easier for each other; those older take care of those that are younger, until their roles are reversed.  We honor the gifts of every age. There are things we don't know, but the writer states if you (being from Outer Space) come here I will honor the invitation at the end of this letter with an open heart.

Well, Sophie Blackall, you've again put your heart and mind on the pages of a book.  You've connected us with your words through the child letter writer.  You've shown us not only where we live, but how we live.

You, with your gorgeous language and ability to place yourself in the soul of your characters, take us from the solar system and to Earth.  We journey with you and your words to communities, to homes, and the people in them living their lives as best as they can.  You communicate through this child the less than best in humans and the best in humans focusing on what is here now, and what we can do to preserve it.  You offer hope.  With your sentences, you leave room for your artwork to offer further interpretation. Here is a passage.

There are more than seven billion people on Earth.

We all have bodies.

But every body is different.

I wish you all could see the marvelous details in the open dust jacket.  There are tiny gold foil dots in the blue sky and in the pattern of planet Earth.  The child's letter spiraling upward is a pictorial presentation of all the wonder to be found by a visitor when they arrive here.  

To the left, on the back, beginning with the ISBN the letter path is wider.  It weaves upward and loops toward the sun in the upper, left-hand corner.  The end of the letter is attached to a circular spacecraft.

On the book case with the universe in its black and starry expanse are possible beings from outer space.  There are four on the back, and one that crosses the spine.  There are four others on the front.  They are all colorful and singular in their design.

On the opening and closing endpapers, Sophie Blackall presents readers with the initial beginning and ending of this story.  First, the sun is rising across a washed sky in early morning blues and purples.  Shrubs fan out on either side of a hillside patchworked in mounds of floral displays.  On the right side of the hill is a two-story home with the letter ribboning out from a lighted second-story window.  On the second set of endpapers, our Moon, full and glowing, hangs about the same house, now on the left.  The letter has been released and found a recipient in the circular spacecraft hovering above the hill in a dusky sky with remnants of the sunset rising above the hill.  The letter flowing from the house on the opening endpapers continues across the verso and title pages, surrounding the text on the first and providing a place for the text on the second.

The illustrations in this book

were rendered in chinese ink and watercolor.

Each image by Sophie Blackall shifts in size to enhance her words.  Sometimes we are looking down on the illustration or looking at a panoramic presentation.  The intricate details will have you stopping at every page.  They ask you to pause and enjoy our Earth and all it offers to us.  They invite you to grow your appreciation for all people, and the inhabitants of this planet, our home. 

Within the two-page pictures there are panels dividing the space, highlighting specific examples to expand the words.  There is also a collection of circular images, or a cluster of windows, horizontal or diagonal illustrations, or a large group of portraits, each amplifying the child's statements.  Diversity is shown repeatedly as reflected in real life.  There are single-page visuals used for direct comparisons.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations in which I gasped out loud when I saw it is a double-page picture.  It is the artwork for the child speaking about birds.  Across the two pages is the shape of a large bird.  This shape, wings in flight, body, head and beak, and tail, is brimming with all kinds of birds in flight or repose.  The penguin is speaking the words:

I can't fly!

If I had a large trunk for treasure it would be filled with books, books with special significance and certain to be classics in time, if not already.  This book, If You Come To Earth written and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, would have a place in this treasure trunk. It is stunning in every respect, words, artwork, design, and in the quality of paper.  No matter how many times you read it, you'll find something new and leave the reading with your spirits lifted.  There is a full page Author's Note at the end with Sophie Blackall speaking about her inspiration for this book, her work on this book, and what she wishes readers will take away from this title. I highly recommend this book for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Sophie Blackall and her body of work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Sophie Blackall has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view lovely, displayed interior images.  Further images are available at the book's website along with a letter writing kit.  Sophie Blackall and this book are featured on PictureBooking and at author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

Correspondence Confusion

Bright and early yesterday morning after a rain shower, a discovery was made.  A soggy letter was found in the middle of the road.   It was returned to its rightful owner after a blurred address was deciphered.  What might have happened if it had not rained and it blew farther away?  Did the owner of the letter find it stashed on their porch?  Are the contents important?

Whether you find a soaked message in the middle of the road or a written note placed in an envelope and left inside your dry mailbox by the postman, there is still today, with all our advanced technology, a bit of magic attached to unexpected correspondence.  There is usually a bit of an internal conversation taking place before the envelope is opened.  Is this good news or not-so-good news?  Will this letter change my day?  The Love Letter (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, October 8, 2019) written by Anika Aldamuy Denise with illustrations by Lucy Ruth Cummins is a charming combination of hopefulness, misunderstanding and truth in words and art.

Hedgehog was late.
He did not like being late.

Hedgehog's mood was the opposite of cheerful at the point when he spied something out of the ordinary on the ground.

It was a letter.

Reading the words, Hedgehog realized it was a love letter.  He believed someone loved him because the salutation read Friend.  He took the letter with him, stashing it inside his backpack.

When Hedgehog arrived in the meadow, his mood was happier than normal.  Everything he did with his friends, Bunny and Squirrel, was downright enjoyable.  He was pleased to walk Bunny home.  After she hugged him in thanks, she found something on the ground.  It was that letter.

Bunny was jubilant.  Hedgehog loved her!  At home Bunny was more helpful than normal.  When her chores were completed before and after dinner, she decided to visit Squirrel, bringing him a bundle of acorns.  Guess what she dropped as she left?  It was that letter.

Squirrel believing Bunny loved him was more carefree than normal.  Nothing was going to change the way he was feeling.  He slept long and hard until he raced to the meadow in the morning.

Each one of them, Hedgehog, Bunny and Squirrel, believed someone loved them.  Two were certain they knew who it was.  There were more than a few surprises at the meadow that day.  Wise words act as a reminder and retie the threads of friendship.


You have to admit when Hedgehog first finds the letter and reads the words, you feel a bit excited for him.  A new normal has popped into Hedgehog's day.  This is how author Anika Aldamuy Denise immediately invites us into the story.  When he voices his thoughts out loud, our heartrate picks up a little bit, too.  This is why we understand the difference in how he relates to his friends during their daily meadow visit.

With the discovery of the letter by the other two characters, we fully comprehend their joy, but we also feel a tension growing.  Who wrote this letter and for whom did they write it? For each of the characters, Anika Aldamuy Denise simply doesn't state they are more cheerful, helpful or carefree.  She gives examples.  This assists in elevating the gentle tension.    An added bit of humor by Anika Aldamuy Denise is the exclamations made by Bunny and Squirrel when they believe they are loved.  Here is a passage.

Down in the rabbit hole, Mama put her straight to work.
Normally Bunny pretended to nap at chore time, but today
she had a love letter and was feeling oddly . . . helpful.


Readers will find the limited color palette, introduced on the open dust jacket, will wrap around them like their favorite cozy clothing.  Throughout the book black, white, brown, yellow, pink and hues of gray create pleasing portraits of the characters and their surroundings.  The design on the jacket and inside the book is stunning.  Careful readers will notice something very special about the framing of the woodland scene with Hedgehog on the front.

To the left, on the back, Bunny, Squirrel and Hedgehog have arrived at the meadow, all believing they are loved.  They are bundled in their winter apparel and boots.  None of them are making eye contact.  The setting is more open expressing the shyness and vulnerability they feel.

On the book case it's night.  The darker sky highlights the falling snow, a row of birch trees from the left edge to the right edge and the ground covered with snow.  A full moon fashions shadows of the trees on the snow as it shines in the upper, left-hand corner.  A trail of tiny footprints moves from the far left to the tiny creature making them on the right.  It is our first hint.

The yellow used on the varnished title text on the front of the jacket covers the opening and closing endpapers.  Before the title page, Lucy Ruth Cummins gives readers another clue on this first page.  A typewriter with paper and envelopes is placed in the lower, right-hand corner.  The size of the chair and a teeny teacup are another hint.  With another page turn, the darker night lit only by the moon and glowing windows in a nearby home provide a place for the verso and dedication and title pages. The trees stand like silent sentinels.  A third clue is seen in the other place with glowing light, the inside of a log. (This same log happens to appear in the first narrative page in the book.)

The images rendered using

Navah Wolfe's old-timey typewriter, gouache, brush marker, colored pencil, and ink wash before finishing the illustrations digitally for this book

by Lucy Ruth Cummins are double-page pictures, smaller illustrations placed on white space, full-page pictures and several smaller images grouped together on a single page.  Every time the letter is read it's a close-up.  Lucy Ruth Cummins's double-page picture of the three friends walking in the snow to the meadow is an outstanding layout.  Her fine lines and delicate details further draw the reader into the story.  The eyes on the characters leave no doubt as to their current mood.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a full-page picture.  Even without the text, you know something in the story is changing.  Several leafless trees stand near two large birches against a pale gray sky.  Brown grass covers the lower half of the page.  It is slighting rounded.  Hedgehog, with his back to readers, is walking away between the two birch trees. Bunny is in the foreground bending down to pick up the dropped letter.  (At this point in a read aloud, listeners will be gasping or crying out.) Her pint sweater, bluish gray backpack and shoes and yellow polka-dot skirt are a pleasing contrast to the meadow.


If there were a huggable category for books, The Love Letter written by Anika Aldamuy Denise with illustrations by Lucy Ruth Cummins, would find a place there.  To believe you are loved is wonderful, to know it, is even better.  This book inspires us to shine love whenever we can, wherever we go.  I highly recommend a copy for your personal and professional book collections.

To read more about Anika Aldamuy Denise and Lucy Ruth Cummins and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Anika Aldamuy Denise has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Lucy Ruth Cummins has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior illustrations.  I was honored to host the cover reveal for this book and was able to ask questions of Anika Aldamuy Denise and Lucy Ruth Cummins.  You can read the full post here.

The Love Letter Cover Reveal

 As I write this, we are in the middle of another howling winter storm.  It is a day for bundling up and venturing outside for short walks close to home.  It is a day for hot drinks and comfort food. It is a day for snuggling under a cozy blanket and for losing yourself in a book by stepping into a story.

In two days, it will be Valentine’s Day 2019.  On this day we give extra recognition to love, acts of love and those we love.  Secrets are revealed, as this day asks us to declare that which we value the most.  I can think of no better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day 2019 than chatting with two wonderful creators in the world of children’s literature. I am very happy and excited to welcome Anika Aldamuy Denise and Lucy Ruth Cummins to Librarian’s Quest for the cover reveal of their new book, The Love Letter.   

Thank you so much for having us, Margie. And for sharing the cover of our new book.

I want to know about the character on the cover. Who is it? Why this animal?

This is Hedgehog. He’s a bit prickly. Why a hedgehog? I suppose part of the credit goes to my friend Emily. She’s an artist and a proud hedgie mommy. She posts pictures of her sweet hedgies (Figgie and Doodle) on her Instagram feed all the time—curled up sleeping, nestled in her arm, taking a bath. I guess I had hedgies on the brain as I sat down to write. Our story begins with Hedgehog, and a mysterious letter.

.

What inspired Hedgehog’s story?

Well, it’s a shared story, of three friends, Hedgehog, Bunny, and Squirrel—and a small mouse. The idea began with something my daughter Sofia started years ago, where she’d write a poem and leave it for me to find. Her poems were short and lyrical. They always made me smile. And so, I started writing poems back to her. We've done this on and off through the years. No matter what our poems are about, finding them unexpectedly makes us both feel happy.

It got me thinking about how a simple unexpected expression of love, or joy, or gratitude… can be powerful. The story came from that basic idea: the effect of kind words.

Lucy, what was the first visual that popped into your head after you read the manuscript?

The first thing that popped into my head was a vision of the little mouse silhouetted against the moon. I knew I wanted it to be a quiet, private moment, and I knew I wanted the enormity of the moon to overtake the whole scene. I wanted readers to feel the emotional significance just from scale alone.  

I was so taken with Anika's words, and so excited at the prospect of setting a story in the woods, and in the snow. That was a thrill for me, having set most of the books I've worked on in cities and neighborhoods that look very much like where I live with my family in Brooklyn. I grew up in Central New York, though, where it always seemed like we spent 10 and a half months of the year freezing cold, buried under a foot of snow, and fully encased in snowsuits, and where there were giant, beautiful trees everywhere you looked. It was neat to be able to unload all my visual memories of those views into the pages of our book.

What medium did you use for the cover and the art in the book?

I used anything and everything, as is my habit! I seriously have a hard time limiting my materials. I paint with gouache, use pencil and charcoal to define shadows and contours, crayon for texture here and there, brush marker for details and patterns, and digital line work overall.

I also had a lot of fun incorporating real bits of typewriter text for the letter—I used my friend Navah's typewriter and the ribbon was SO dry I had to press and hold each key for 10 seconds, wiggling my fingertip and pushing with all my might!

Is there a character in the book who you most relate to?

I am such a Rabbit! And I love naps just as much as she does. I think she would enjoy a mountain of varied art materials just as much as I do—her frenetic energy and joie de vivre spoke to me! And I'm married to a Hedgehog—it's...an interesting balance!

And you, Anika?

I think I’m a little like Mouse. A bit of a dreamer, the unlikely optimist. Small, but opinionated. And if it means I get to spend my days in Lucy’s lovely winter woods, under the big beautiful moon, then yes, I definitely want to be Mouse.

Thank you both, Anika and Lucy, for taking a few moments to talk with me about your book. I can hardly wait to show the world the cover. When I look at it, I can't help smiling and wanting to twirl around and hug someone. So . . .

Happy Valentine's Day 2019 to Anika Aldamuy Denise,

Lucy Ruth Cummins and

The Love Letter

This title published by HarperCollins Children's Books will be released on October 8, 2019.

Other books featured here written by Anika Aldamuy Denise are Baking Day at Grandma's, Monster Trucks, Starring CARMEN!, and Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre. Books written and illustrated or illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins showcased here are A Hungry Lion or A Dwindling Assortment of Animals, This is NOt a Valentine, and Stumpkin.

To learn more about Anika Aldamuy Denise and Lucy Ruth Cummins and their other work, please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names. Both Anika and Lucy have accounts on Instagram. You can find both of them on Twitter, too, here and here.

Anika Aldamuy Denise is the author of many picture books including Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre, Starring Carmen!, Lights, Camera, Carmen!, and Monster Trucks. She grew up in Queens, New York, and spent summers in the Adirondacks where she had a series of jobs including: chamber maid, breakfast waitress, ice cream scooper, and t-shirt seller at Fort William Henry. She now lives with her family near the coast in Rhode Island where she happily works as a writer. She still enjoys ice cream. Her favorite flavor is coffee.

Lucy Ruth Cummins spends her days at Simon & Schuster, art directing everything from picture books on up to young adult novels, and her evenings at home, drawing everything from the very, very cute on up to the very, very weird. She made her picture book illustration debut with a parody of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree---The Taking Tree and is the creator of A Hungry Lion, Or a Dwindling Assortment of Animals as well as the Stumpkin. She is also the illustrator of This Is Not a Valentine by Carter Higgins, Truman by Jean Reidy, and the covers for author Stuart Gibbs. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and once worked at a Taco Bell restaurant.

Unexpected Educator

One of the most classic cases of a substitute teacher's name striking fear in the hearts and minds of students in the classroom is found in children's literature.  In the case of this woman you can certainly judge her character by her appearance. Her frumpy black dress, striped stockings and black clunky shoes accentuate her exaggerated facial features and hair.  When you combine this with her unwavering sense of discipline students have no choice but to behave with robotic-like goodness.

Miss Viola Swamp first stepped from the pages of Miss Nelson Is Missing written by Harry Allard with illustrations by James Marshall in 1977.  To this day it would be hard to have an inclusive list of books about classroom teachers without mentioning her and this book.  A more recent title also broaches the subject of what happens when the regular teacher is absent.  Dear Substitute (Disney Hyperion, June 19, 2018) written by Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernick with pictures by Chris Raschka has a distinctive presentation. 

Dear Substitute,
Wow. This is a surprise.
What are you doing here?
Where's Mrs. Giordano,
and why didn't she warn us?

As the morning begins each element of the usual routine and special activities enjoyed on a Tuesday are addressed by the little girl.  She writes to them as if they are recipients of a letter.  Regret and empathy are expressed for the mispronunciation of students' names during attendance.  Mrs. Giordano is missed.

It's discouraging to have sacrificed what you want to do in order to complete your homework only to discover it will not be collected on the due date.  A weekly trip to the library is not made.  The substitute has another plan. 

The classroom pet, a turtle, is not going to have his tank cleaned.  Our letter writer asks Elmo to be patient.  Classroom rules are not followed.  An earned turn at being line leader is ignored.  Lunch may be the only ordinary thing about this day until the eyes-in-back-of-her-head substitute catches the girl breaking a lunchroom rule.  How is this fair?

A change during story time further unsettles the girl.  This is when an extraordinary shift in the day happens.  This is when the student makes an unforgettable discovery about the day, herself and the substitute teacher.


Every reader, regardless of their age will identify with the apprehension voiced by the protagonist.  Authors Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernick tap into the emotional state of the girl and her universal worries with keen insights.  They are well aware of the importance of stability during the day in a classroom but they are also savvy enough to realize the benefits of creative change. 

By having the girl write letters to each portion of her day, a deeply personal level is achieved in the story.  These letters build upon each other leading us to the surprise.  Here is another letter.

Dear Class Rules,
We have you for a reason.
And one of the rules should be:
the whole day can't be
changed around by a sub named Miss Pelly.
"Pelly like a pelican," she told us.
And then she laughed---again.
Miss Pelly doesn't take anything seriously.


Upon opening the dust jacket readers are treated to a view of the endearing student writing the letters.  The carefree swing of her pigtails invites us to know this girl and comprehend her disquiet in this situation.  The border of apples and pencils, well-known symbols of classrooms and teachers, supplies an additional sense of welcome.  The color choices by Chris Raschka are cheerful contributing to the spirited and heartfelt messages of the girl.  To the left, on the back, Elmo, the classroom turtle is showcased, enjoying a clean tank. 

On the book case in bright loose squares are thirty portraits of students from all racial and ethnic backgrounds.  On the opening endpapers the lower portion of students' bodies are highlighted as they casually stand in a hallway.  On the closing endpapers is a view of items found on a teacher's desk.  The use of color is limited to those objects.

On the verso and dedication page Chris allows readers to see the reason for Mrs. Giordano's absence.  Tongue protruding from her mouth in concentration the girl is writing beneath the text on the title page.  Each page turn is a study in the signature style of Chris Raschka who rendered these illustrations in watercolor and gouache.

His loose lines and brush swirls of hues depict the emotions conveyed in the narrative.  His choice of colors enriches the moods as well as the time of day.  His shifts in point of view place emphasis on stronger feelings.  When the girl is near tears, all we see are her eyes, nose and some hair.  Some of his images are on single pages; others span two pages.

He frames the text in curtains, scenes from around the school or with elements in his pictures.  Humor is present in his clever details.  He gives Miss Pelly the shape of a pelican.  The girl is shown as a fish.

One of my many favorite illustrations is of the letter addressed to 

Dear Story Time.

In this picture spreading across two pages Miss Pelly is seated on a rosy red rug on the right-hand side.  Her red glasses, cheeks and lips are mirrored in the flooring.  She is seated, head bent and reading.  Clustered around her along the top, sides and bottom are the feet of the students on their rugs, seated and listening.  This is a turning point in the story.


The beautiful blend of words of Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernick with the artwork of Chris Raschka gives readers a treasure to hold in their hands with this book, Dear Substitute.  We are privy to a transformation.  We realize people might not be what they appear to be at first glance (except for Miss Viola Swamp).  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Liz Garton Scanlon, Audrey Vernick and Chris Raschka, please follow the links attached to their names to access informative websites.  At the publisher's website there is an educator's guide to download.  At Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher's Watch. Connect. Read., the cover is revealed with a post by the authors.  At the blog, For the Love of KidLit, Liz and Audrey are interviewed.  This title is one of several new books focusing on school featured at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

A Message Meant For You

As you wind through the woodland paths hiking with no particular destination in mind, it suddenly appears like a signal among the forest flora.  The bright white is hard to miss.  You've been told to never touch it when it's attached to a tree but now it's a gift left for you to treasure or use.  Aptly named, the bark of the paper birch is akin to pages in a composition notebook, waiting for words.  It presents possibilities.

This opportunity is like a question, what will you do with what you have?  I Wrote You A Note (Chronicle Books, June 13, 2017) written and illustrated by Lizi Boyd follows the journey of a message sent.  It considers potential based upon perspective.

I wrote you a note.
Did you find it?

No, the note is not found by the intended recipient but Turtle found it.  Did he read it?  No, he did not but he used it as a sail for his log-style raft.  It started to go faster than he was accustomed to going, so he swam away.

Then Duck discovered the note.  Her ducklings were tired.  A dock would be nice.  Spider needed help crossing the stream.  Bird wanted to strengthen her nest.

The note drifted to six more creatures of forest and field.  Each time they found a unique use for it.  Once it was a book.  Another time it was a sun hat.  It was even a napping tent.

Finally the wind found it.  It rose high in the air, moving about on the currents like a gymnast.  When it landed, a request was fulfilled.


Like the note written by her character Lizi Boyd sends an invitation to readers to participate in the narrative as it unfolds.  She creates a welcoming beat with the question

Did you find it?

followed by the three animals who did find it.  When she precedes

found the note

with the name of an animal, we wonder what they will make.  We wonder why they leave their newly designed object.  Here is a sample passage.

Squirrel found the note.
He folded it in half
and made a book.
But squirrels don't 
sit still for very long.

Squirrel dropped 
the book and
scampered up
the tree.


Looking at the opened dust jacket the scene from the front continues on the other side of the spine.  The rows of delicate flowers and grasses provide comfort for five of the animals who find the note.  It's a nice design element to have the girl writing Lizi Boyd's name on the birch bark.  Also by having the girl wear black and white clothing it's a reflection of the black ink on the white birch bark.  The color palette seen on the jacket is continued throughout the book with the addition of other spot colors.

The book case is like a piece of birch bark.  The only thing on it is the title text on the front, to the right.  The opening and closing endpapers are a pattern of grasses like at the top of the dust jacket prior to the sky.  They are done in blues, greens, white and gray.  On the title page the blue bird is carrying the piece of bark with the text on it. Prior to the first page and after the final page, a page is devoted to the replication of birch bark.

With the exception of the first and last pages all of the other pictures span two pages.  Parts of the pattern on the endpapers are woven into each image.  The tiny details supply a form of symmetry which in turn generates calm.  Readers will note a portion of the next animal to find the note is placed on the previous page.  This is a fine example of foreshadowing and suggests that readers make predictions.

Rendered in gouache each brush stroke is placed with painstaking care.  Other animals are added to most of the scenes; a honeybee, a frog, a salamander, a woodpecker, blackbirds, a butterfly, a grasshopper, and a caterpillar.  Each picture is a study of a natural setting.

A favorite picture of mine (of many) is of Duck using the note to make a dock for her tired ducklings.  On the left along the bank of the stream, Turtle from the previous page is moving from behind a rock in the background.  To the right in the background the girl is observing a spider web in the grass.  In front of her the small head of a frog is peeking from behind a rock.  Along the bottom the stream stretches from page edge to page edge.  Duck is swimming on the left with one duckling.  The other two are on the piece of birch bark on the right.


Readers, who enjoy titles which expand their thinking, stretching the "what-if", are going to read I Wrote You A Note written and illustrated by Lizi Boyd again and again.  They will pause at ever page turn to take pleasure in each illustration.  This book would be wonderful to explore letter writing, perspective, how certain animals might view a piece of birch bark and as an exploration of the natural world.  Who will you meet?  You will most definitely want a copy of this title on your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Lizi Boyd and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  If you wish to see an inside spread please visit the publisher's website.  Lizi Boyd is featured at PictureBook Makers.  Several other posts highlight the work of Lizi Boyd during the release of her title, Flashlight.

Penned Passion

For some people it is far easier to express themselves by writing rather than speaking face to face with an individual or especially a large group.  Writing, for them, allows a full disclosure of opinions and feelings without fear of unwelcome consequences.  It is a relief; a form of happiness to finally confess what may have been carefully hidden and nurtured for a very long time.

When you send mail filled with affection to your heart's desire for the first time, it is done with a great deal of hope.  XO, OX  A Love Story (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, January 3, 2017) with words by Adam Rex and pictures by Scott Campbell is a tale of a rocky road to love, letter by letter.  You will find yourselves cheering for one character while wondering about the indifference of the other.  You will undoubtedly find yourselves hardly able to keep from grinning and giggling a great deal.

Dear Gazelle,
For some time now I have wanted to write a letter to say how much I admire you.  You are so graceful and fine.  ...

Ox goes on to say that even running from tigers Gazelle looks like she's dancing as a member of a top ballet company.  Before he signs the letter he delivers those three most magical words

I love you
XO,
OX

Gazelle does not reply in kind.

In fact she uses a form letter inserting Ox's name in the blank and enclosing an autographed picture of herself.  To Ox this letter, although not personally handwritten by Gazelle, is a sign that his hope is not unfounded.  He believes she DID reply personally.  This dear reader is where the fun begins.

In return Gazelle sends the exact same letter with the exact same autographed picture.  To Ox this is even more thrilling.  He sees it as an example of her brilliant mind.  She is not only pretty but intelligent.  (Clearly this ox looks at life as a glass full to the tip-top.)

In the third letter sent to Ox from Gazelle she points out she has many faults but being monotonous is not one of them.  This will be the final letter from her to him.  She asks him to not write to her again.
As we have come to expect, Ox's perspective on Gazelle's words is not what she intends.  He writes to her again.

In her most verbose answer yet you get a sharp sense of her growing frustration.  (Of course, the previous letter was not her final letter.)  In two more exchanges we see the steadfast nature and love Ox holds for Gazelle never waver.  Gazelle, on the other hoof, is increasingly showing parallels to Mount Saint Helens.  What will Ox's next letter cause Gazelle to do?  Is this a tale of unrequited love?


Through the letters Adam Rex carefully forms the qualities of these two characters.  They are in complete contrast which is an open invitation to loads of laughter.  Ox is one of those individuals, who once committed, stays true to the course.  His interpretation of Gazelle's words strengthens her annoyance.  She is entirely focused on herself and unable to understand his love for her.  Here is another partial letter.

Dear Ox,
You have made a mistake.  I suppose you cannot help it, since you are an ox and probably have a clumsy brain.
But when I say that I have many faults, people usually like to tell me that I do not have any faults at all. ...


One look at the matching dust jacket and book case and readers know Ox is totally smitten with Gazelle.  This bovine is brimming with affection.  He's ready to write a letter declaring his love.  The white canvas on the front and back draw our attention to Scott Campbell's color palette and the characters.  The text is varnished on the jacket.  To the left, on the back, a smaller Ox, as if we are viewing him in the distance, is dancing along smelling a long-stemmed red rose.

On the opening endpapers twenty-six small images show Ox and Gazelle engaged in various activities.  Ox is a well-rounded gentleman; cooking, reading, painting, playing a guitar, feeding the birds, and clipping his bonsai to name a few things.  Gazelle is...well...primping and looking in a mirror over and over and over again.  On the closing endpapers careful readers will notice a difference in the background colors and the twenty-six activities.

On the title page Campbell uses white space as an element focusing on the huge mail basket full of letters for Gazelle.  Only one has a heart on the outside.  Her assistant, a spectacle-wearing mole, is carrying letters off the right side of the double page picture.  The illustration for the verso and dedication pages is a swirl of pinkish peach clouds forming a large Gazelle.  Ox, with his back to us, is skipping along with a rose as two friendly birds watch.

All of the two-page images rendered in watercolor and colored pencil on paper are light and airy.  The tiny details Campbell includes ask you to pause and reflect on what they say about the individuals.  Both Ox and Gazelle have pictures of her on their walls.  You have to smile at the tiny bug in a floatie in Gazelle's swimming pool.  Twice when showcasing Ox, Campbell groups several smaller pictures together to show his dedication and intent.

  By the expressions on their faces and their body postures, we can feel their moods for every moment featured.  When Ox gets the second identical letter from Gazelle he is gleefully reading on his bed unaware of her intent.  Gazelle's overly dramatic pose on her divan is hilarious as she pens a very short note to Ox.

One of my favorite of many illustrations is of Ox sitting on a park bench.  A big green tree is behind him and low bushes stretch out to the right.  He is wearing his overalls, white shirt and a beret.  With a cup of coffee in one hand, he is writing a letter to Gazelle with the other hand.  A paper bag of bird seed is next to him on one side.  On the other rests a picture of Gazelle and his guitar.  Birds are pecking at his feet.  A tiny bug watches.  In the pond in front of him, ducks, a fish and lounging frog complete the scene.


I can't stop smiling whenever I think of this book which I read on its release date.  XO, OX  A Love Story with words by Adam Rex and pictures by Scott Campbell is comic correspondence at its finest.  You must have this book on your professional and personal bookshelves.  And read it aloud whenever you get the chance.

To learn more about Adam Rex and Scott Campbell and their other work please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  From Adam Rex's website you can go to his blog.  He also maintains Tumblr pages with his books.  At the publisher's website you can view interior pages.  Adam Rex is interviewed at KinderLit.  There is lots of art and process art by Scott Campbell at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's site, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Scott Campbell has lots of art and process art here.

Dear People on the Internet,
I love you so much I've written a book for you. It's called XO, OX: A Love Story, illustrated by @scottlava. pic.twitter.com/1wHQJoE0Nl

— Adam Rex (@MrAdamRex) January 3, 2017

Gastropod A Go Go

The arrival of the mail every day is a neighborhood event.  After the postman's little truck stops and starts and stops and starts at every mailbox and finally leaves one street to make deliveries down another, front and side doors on houses open with residents walking out to see what was left for them.  You can pretty much determine the contents from their body postures as they return to their homes.

An enduring favorite on elementary school library shelves are The Jolly Postman and The Jolly Christmas Postman written by Allan Ahlberg with illustrations by Janet Ahlberg.  So well-loved are these books they are continually being replaced and multiple copies are a part of the collection.  Children love to open the envelopes, look at what is inside and read them over and over.  SNAIL MAIL With Pull-Out Postcards (Hodder Children's Books, September 8, 2016 UK, Hachette's Children's Books, April 4, 2017 US) written and illustrated by Sharon King-Chai is a charming, colorful ode to waiting for the delivery of news from a missed companion.

Hi there! I'm SAM, the Seashell Snail.  I live by the seashore.

Sam has a mama, a papa, a brother named Tiger and several starfish and crab friends.  He also has a Teddy bear.  This family is anything but slow, loving one adventure after another.  On this particular day, Tiger is off on a special trip.  He gives Sam his word he will write to him every single day because Sam loves

SNAIL MAIL.

On Monday Postman Perry brings a yellow, green and black envelope to Sam.  Tiger has written clues on the outside of the envelope asking Sam to guess where he is.  When Sam opens the envelope he pulls out a postcard with BRAZIL in the corner.  A turtle, eel, whale, dolphin and Tiger are dancing the Samba.  In his chatty message to Sam, Tiger talks about the Carnival.  A stamp in the upper, right hand corner highlights one of the new Seven Wonders of the World found in Brazil and another features the country's favorite sport.

Sam's family dons their floats and dances on the waves as his friends do the same underneath them.  On the next day, Tuesday, during seahorse racing Postman Perry presents another envelope to Sam.  Clues on the outside lead to AMERICA.  Tiger is thrilled to be playing with a band called ROCK and SOUL.  Not wanting to miss out on any of the fun, Sam and his friends form their own musical group.

The envelopes and postcards come on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Each day Sam learns about a new country and what you might see there but on Saturday Postman Perry does not come.  Did something happen to Tiger? Sam is about to get the surprise of his happy life.


The words selected and used by Sharon King-Chai form simple sentences easily understood by the intended audience.  Each of the family members introduces themselves in speech bubbles.  Otherwise Sam is narrating the story.  To demonstrate the active lifestyle of this family of snails whenever the mail is received they are engaged in an activity.  After Tiger's postcard is read, they try to duplicate what he has done.  Not only are readers learning the days of the week but they also tour to five other countries, learning greetings in their language.  Here is another sample passage.

On Thursday, I'm rock climbing when Postman Perry delivers my fourth SNAIL MAIL.
KITES! What a good idea.  We make our own and spend the day flying them...
higher
and 
higher!
OOPS! 


When readers open the book case they are welcomed with two different bright and cheerful images.  On the back, to the left, is the publication information on a canvas of vivid blue.  The snail family and a starfish surround the text along with a splash of water.  The postal colors of red, white and blue extend from the front, over the spine and to the back.  The text is done in red foil on the front and spine.  Just look at the joyful faces of Sam and Postman Perry!  You know good things are going to be found in this book.

On the opening and closing endpapers Sharon King-Chai has drawn a map of the world.  She includes papa, mama, Tiger and Sam as well as those friends Tiger meets in his travels.  For every country he visits she has written a salutation in their language.  At the bottom framed and in capital letters is

SNAIL TRAIL.

Each time a word is written in capital letters it appears to have been stenciled letter by letter, by hand.  Many of the images span two pages.  Single page picture stretch edge to edge or are framed in generous amounts of white space.  The envelopes are secured to vibrant backgrounds in keeping with the county from which they have been sent.

Rendered in mixed media the illustrations are replete with lively details and some are quite humorous like the seagull flying over a starfish and leaving a dropping on its head.

The snails are paper cut outs, layered and juxtaposed with a variety of marks created in ink, paint, pencil, potato stamps, leaf and seaweed prints, photography, collage and digitally manipulated.  

Papa born in France has a mustache and wears a beret.  Mama wears a white ribbon in a bow.  Both Sam and his Teddy are wearing blue bow ties.

One of my many favorite illustrations spreads across two pages.  The text is placed on a narrow white border at the top.  Notes swirl in the rockpool as a crab, starfish, seahorse and Sam make music.  Sam is wearing large square sunglasses.  The crab, starfish and seahorse might be mirroring other rock stars.


SNAIL MAIL With Pull-Out Postcards written and illustrated by Sharon King-Chai is sheer bliss.  Readers are guaranteed to love opening the envelopes and reading the postcard messages.  The information found on the postcard in the note and on the stamps is sure to prompt more research on those named counties.  I would plan on multiple copies.

To discover more information about Sharon King-Chai and her other work please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  At her website is a link to her Etsy shop.  This title is showcased at the North Somerset Teachers' Book Award website.

Penned Perceptions

For more than a year two people have exchanged messages by mail, email, almost daily.  These letters are written and sent in the morning.  They are a way to stay connected, to gather thoughts about each day, to set goals, rejoice in accomplishments and to chronicle events.  They are a way to understand each other's likes, dislikes, and personalities and to grow a friendship.  These two people realize the value of written communication, the art in selecting the right words.

When you know you will be sending and receiving mail, there is a special kind of anticipation.  If you have not met the party in real life or are beginning a new relationship the air of mystery magnifies the excitement.  Dear Dragon (Viking, September 6, 2016) written by Josh Funk and illustrated by Rodolfo Montalvo is a delightful, epistolary adventure.

Hello, students!
Our poetry and pen pal projects
this year are combined.
Upon your desks you'll see the pen pals
that you've been assigned.

Two classrooms, with students completely unaware of each other, are beginning to practice their written rhyming skills.  George Slair and Blaise Dragomir have been paired as pen pals.  Although both admit to not liking writing, as readers we are immediately aware of the differing viewpoints of the boy and the dragon.  Words have very distinct definitions for each of them.

When Blaise mentions skydiving George imagines himself jumping from an airplane, parachute open, googles over his eyes and arms and mouth open in complete abandon.  For the dragon his favorite sport, skydiving, begins after jumping from Falcor Peak spreading his wings and cruising over the countryside.  When George mentions he is going out trick-or-treating in a knight costume, Blaise is decidedly less enthusiastic.

As the new year ends and another starts, the formality in the exchange of letters is dropped.  Blaise Dragomir becomes Blaise D.  George Slair is changed to George S.  The duo is becoming more comfortable in their conversations by letter.  The word confusion continues as they each believe they are writing to the same kind of individual.

George's curiosity is peaked when Blaise mentions his father has won the fire-breathing contest twice.  What kind of job does he have?  His parents are teachers.  Blaise's reply conjures up a scene in George's mind far from the truth.

As the school year comes to a close, so does the pen pal project.  A greet-and-meet picnic is planned.  By the changes in the letters it's clear the twosome have ideas of their own.  Can you imagine what will happen at the picnic?  Oh, those two teachers are certainly clever.


As he did in his debut title, Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast, Josh Funk spins a lively tale with his word selections.  His rhyming is never forced but full of fun.  Each correspondence is written in the mindset of the characters, appropriate to their ages.  Their talk of building forts, sports, skydiving, flying, and pets (one has a dog, the other a Bengal kitten) and favorite subjects in school is totally typical even if their perceptions are in complete contrast.  This provides continuous comedy.  Here is another sample passage.

October 31st
Dear Blaise Dragomir,

You know how to skydive?  That's
as awesome as it gets!

My dog destroyed my fort last 
night.  Do you have any pets?

Happy birthday, by the way! I
don't have mine till June.

I'm trick-or-treating as a knight.
We're heading out real soon.

George Slair


Looking from left to right Rodolfo Montalvo has presented to readers a panoramic view of buildings in a community surrounded by mountains on the dust jacket. (I am working with an F & G.)  The placement of George among the buildings with Blaise upside down above him in the sky is perfection.  To the left on the back a portion of Blaise's tail is holding the envelope for the opened letter he is reading.  The envelope holding the title text in George's thoughts is a foreshadowing of the depictions to follow.  Another two-page spread spans the title page.  George is walking along a picket fence reading a letter.  Above him Blaise is also reading as he flies over the town in the opposite direction toward the mountains.  George's dog, right next to a fire hydrant, is looking up.

Rendered in watercolors, black acrylic ink and graphite the images prior to and after the letters all span two pages.  Every line and brush stroke conveys emotion; especially in several wordless illustrations.  For each letter being read Montalvo has placed a viewpoint with a thought bubble over the reader's head.  On the opposite page with no framing is the intended picture.  The expressions on Blaise's and George's faces are fully animated.  The details in each visual are spirited and humorous; George's dog tugging on his knight's cape, the water faucet in Blaise's bathroom in the shape of a dragon's head, the wallpaper in George's bedroom, and the "face" on the excavator.

Two of my favorite illustrations are when George gets the letter from Blaise stating his father has won the local fire-breathing contest twice.  The letter George is reading has three singed corners.  In his mind a performer clothed as a daring, caped prince breathing fire is placed in a thought bubble of darkened smoke.  On the opposite page in swirls of fire Blaise's father is roaring out flames as he happily watches.


Dear Dragon written by Josh Funk with illustrations by Rodolfo Montalvo is an energetic exploration of letter writing, rhyming and misplaced notions.  Readers and listeners are sure to grin and giggle more than once at the contrast between the ideas held by the boy and the dragon.  You might want to have paper, pencils and pens along with envelopes ready for use after reading this gem aloud.  I would recommend pairing this with Herman's Letter, A Letter For Leo and It Came In The Mail.  


To learn more about Josh Funk and Rodolfo Montalvo and their other work please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Josh Funk has some extra goodies for this title at his website.  Josh also wrote an article about this book at the BNKidsBlog.  The dust jacket is revealed at educator Jen Vincent's Teach Mentor Texts.  At All The Wonders there is a book cover premiere and an interview with both Josh Funk and Rodolfo Montalvo.  The book trailer is celebrated at the Nerdy Book Club.  Educator Gigi McAllister highlights this title and interviews Rodolfo Montalvo at The Late Bloomer's Book Blog.  Josh Funk is highlighted on teacher librarian Laura Given's blog, LibLaura5 here and here.

Cluck Cluck Capers

Big changes bring big challenges.  These challenges can come in the form of living conditions, environment, financial status, loss of friends or family dynamics.  Leaving what is known to venture into the unknown takes a special kind of savvy.

Fitting in as the new person in a small community, regardless of your outlook, is dependent on the personalities of those established residents.  Unusual Chickens For The Exceptional Poultry Farmer (Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, May 12, 2015) written by Kelly Jones with illustrations by Katie Kath is a remarkable exploration of a twelve-year old girl's new life.  Told through a series of letters, this story will resonate with readers regardless of their age.



Blackbird Farm
                                                     June 2, 2014
Mr. or Ms. Catalog People
Redwood Farm Supply
Gravenstein, CA 95472

Dear People Who Send Catalogs to People on Farms,
My great-uncle Jim had your flyer in his barn.  I can't ask him about it, because he died a couple of months ago.  But we live on his farm now, and if I have to live on a farm, I think it ought to be an interesting one, with chickens and ducks and maybe some peacocks or something.  Right now, we don't even have tomatoes, just rows and rows of grapevines.  And they don't even have grapes yet. ...

Sophie Brown, her writer mom and out-of-work dad have moved from an apartment in Los Angeles to a big, cluttered-with-junk, rambling farm house complete with a barn and out buildings they have inherited in a small rural town.  On top of adapting to life in the country, they miss the comfort of Sundays spent with relatives, companionship of friends, job security and a steady income.  There are no close neighbors, the mooing of cows sounds like a zoo and Sophie and her mom are the only people with brown skin except for Gregory the mailman, a tall black man.

In an effort to make the best of things Sophie explores the parameter of the farm finding a small wooden house near some blackberry bushes.  She also sets up a small area in the hay loft with a desk and old typewriter she finds.  The next morning a rather cantankerous small white chicken is standing in front of the house giving it and Sophie a slow inspection.  Unknown to Sophie this chicken is quite extraordinary.

Several days have passed and Sophie has still not informed her parents about the presence of the chicken.  She is doing her best to care for the hen on her own.  She does discover the uncanny abilities this chicken has.  Do you know any chickens that can latch and unlatch their hen house door?  Do you know any chickens that can make objects float?  Do you know any chickens that lay glass eggs?

Before you can cluck, cackle or coo, a single incident, an attempted theft actually, sets off a chain reaction of events.  Henrietta, named after a character in The Hoboken Chicken Emergency, is discovered by Sophie's parents, the thief, one Sue Griegson, has been lying, the town librarian Ms. O'Malley sets the record straight, lessons are learned and quizzes are taken, a strange predator is swooping and snooping around, more of great-uncle Jim's unusual chickens return to roost and Sophie meets Chris, a poultry-loving boy her age.  A frightening episode, an otherworldly revelation and an annual exhibition supply a truly memorable conclusion.


As readers move from letter to letter written by Sophie to Redwood Farm Supply, Mariposa Garcia Gonzalez, Sophie's deceased maternal grandmother and Mr. James Brown, her father's uncle, they will become fascinated with the story and characters created by debut author Kelly Jones.  Sophie puts her heart on these pages of correspondence knowing her grandmother and great-uncle will never reply.  She does receive rather cryptic answers from an Agnes at Redwood Farm Supply, contributing to an air of mystery.

In a matter-of-fact, descriptive manner Sophie relates each day's activities.  Conversations are repeated word for word.  We get the full scoop thanks to Sophie's wit, twelve-year-old wisdom and never-ending curiosity.  Her studies of chickens are printed for us to enjoy and learn as she does.  I am confident readers will enjoy the moments of humor found often in the letters, even in the address; Sophie first sending her grandmother a message to Heaven, then A Better Place Than This Farm and Somewhere Gregory can't deliver the mail to.  The letters are an ingenious storytelling technique endearing readers to Sophie, her parents and the cast of supportive characters including the unusual chickens.  Here are several more example passages from this book.

Thank you for considering my request.  I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest opportunity.
(I think Mom must have found me some old letter format, because no one talks like this.  If I did this wrong, it isn't my fault.)

The barn isn't red, like I thought barns were; where it isn't painted, it's just really old brownish-gray wood.  It's kind of neat inside, though.  A ladder goes up to what Mom says is the hayloft.  Don't worry, it isn't falling down or anything.  It's really peaceful, like a library, with a high ceiling and dusty old wood, and it smells like a pumpkin patch.  It makes me think of horses sleeping. 

PS What were you saving all those piles of junk for?
PPS What am I supposed to do with this chicken now?
PPPS Don't come back from the dead to answer, okay?  I'll figure it out somehow. 


The black and white illustrations by Katie Kath heighten the overall charm of this title.  They are placed as a prelude to events.  Her details highlight important moments relative to each letter furthering the humor.  These images draw you even deeper into the story.


If teachers are looking for a fantastic read aloud give them Unusual Chickens For The Exceptional Poultry Farmer written by Kelly Jones with illustrations by Katie Kath.  Hand this book to readers who enjoy realistic fiction with lots of action and an air of the supernatural.  This is 213 pages of pure pleasure which will surely prompt a flurry of future letter writing.  In this age of email, texting and forms of social media, this story clearly shows the value of sharing your thoughts with others through more formal correspondence.  It's not often I stay up into the wee hours of the morning to finish a book but this one will hold you captive.

To learn more about author Kelly Jones and illustrator Katie Kath please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.