Seasonal Sensations #2

We are in the midst of a huge pause.  The winter solstice 2021 was observed on December 21, 2021.  Today, December 26, 2021 marks five more days before the new calendar year begins.  Some seasonal holidays have been celebrated; preparations for others are still being made.  It is as if everything and everyone are holding their collective breaths, waiting for what comes next.

Waiting is an important part of life.  It is not an easy skill to learn.  In The Snowflake (Harper HarperCollinsPublishers, September 14, 2021) written and illustrated by Benji Davies, two individuals learn the rewards far outweigh the act of waiting. 

High in the sky, one winter's night,

a snowflake was made.

She wheeled and skipped and twirled

between the clouds.

Starting to fall, she panicked.  A cloud reassured her as she tumbled.  Below her, a great distance away, a girl, Noelle, wished for snow.

Every time the snowflake thought she might land, she was blown away.  She was helpless.  She passed over country and city landscapes.  In one window, she saw a star on top of a tree.  Noelle with her Pappie saw the same tree. 

It got darker and colder and still the snowflake flew and fell until the sound of laughter announced the presence of hundreds of snowflakes.  Noelle found the branch of an evergreen by the walkway, the only tree they could afford.

At home, her mother and grandfather helped her to decorate it.  She placed it on the ledge outside their window and wished again for snow.  Early the next morning, a single snowflake and a little girl discover the miracle of waiting and wishing fulfilled.

Using a combination of narration, thoughts revealed and dialogue, author Benji Davies welcomes us into this story.  We understand the snowflake's confusion at not knowing her future.  We know, like Noelle, what it is to want something beautiful, but to settle for less.  In this confusion and in this settling for less, we realize, through Benji Davies's descriptions, something memorable and something unexpected can happen.  Here is a passage.

The snowflake passed many windows that

glowed through the evening light.

In one window sat a tree strung with lights,

and on top a bright star shimmered.

For a moment, the snowflake forgot

all about falling.

Oh, to be the star on

that glistening little tree!

she thought.

In both scenes on the front and back of the matching dust jacket and book case, Benji Davies introduces us to the snowflake and Noelle.  On the front, Noelle and the snowflake stand together in an imagined meeting during an evening snowfall.  The snowflake is looking for a place to be, and Noelle is hoping for snow on her tree.  On the dust jacket the title text is in gold foil.  Gold foil is etched in tree branches, along the side of Noelle's home, and other snowflakes.  

To the left, on the back, the storm has coated the landscape in snow.  As the sun rises, Noelle's home, her yard and buildings in the distance are bathed in a contrast of light and shadow.  Noelle and her dog are outside.  She stands and holds her tree up high, the snowflake at the top, glowing in the sunlight.  The words here read:

Wherever the wind takes us,

we all find a place to land. . .

The bright red shown for the author illustrator name on the front of the jacket and case covers the opening and closing endpapers.  Tiny pieces of white cut paper are strewn across this red background.  On the right and left sides a large snowflake is circled by six smaller snowflakes, creating one huge snowflake.  They all look like they've been cut from paper.  This is visually striking.

On the two-page picture for the title page we read this dedication on the left:

For my dad who inspired

this story---the real Pappie.

This illustration is at night.  Noelle's little house sits on a hill in the country outside the city.  Light shines from her bedroom window, a large window downstairs, and the doorway.  A few stars are set in the dark sky with clouds starting to gather.

The image sizes in the book range from double-page pictures, to full-page pictures, and smaller insets with loose frames, some alone on a single page and others sharing the single page with one or more visuals.  These various sizes further emphasize the narrative.  The facial expressions on the cloud, snowflake, Noelle, and her Pappie, in their simplicity convey a range of emotions.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page picture.  It is a night scene in the city, a panoramic view with us looking slightly down on the setting.  The city buildings and surrounding area are done in deeper colors of blue, purple, and gray with black.  Windows glow with different hues of yellow, and rose.  In the background a row of street lights outline a pathway.  Stores in the city, in the foreground, are festive in their window displays and the outside lights hanging on walls.  In the lower, right-hand corner is the window with the decorated Christmas tree.  The snowflake looks at it with wonder.  Pappie and Noelle are on the left, standing in front of a Fish & Chips window.

This gentle story, The Snowflake written and illustrated by Benji Davies, is full of promise and potential.  It illuminates patience.  Although the time of year is for those celebrating Christmas, this story works well in any seasonal story time or even as a bedtime story or a story to provide calm.  I highly recommend you place a copy on your personal and professional bookshelves.

By following the link attached to Benji Davies's name, you can access his website to learn more about him and his other work.  Benji Davies has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website is a short book trailer.

When cherished characters return in a book, there is nothing more satisfying.  When their appearance is in a holiday title, the happiness doubles.  In his two previous volumes, Bulldozer's Big Day and Bulldozer Helps Out, this little machine with a huge heart has won our collective hearts.  His return in Bulldozer's Christmas Dig (A Caitlyn Dlouhy Book, Atheneum Books For Young Readers, September 21, 2021) written by Candace Fleming with artwork by Eric Rohmann sends out a mighty message.

It was Christmas Eve,

and Dump Truck was carrying . . .

     carrying . . .

          carrying.

Digger Truck and Crane Truck were busy, too.  Bulldozer was still, but his mind was in overdrive.  He was worried he didn't have gifts for his friends.

Although the construction site was buried in snow, Bulldozer saw something sticking out the top of a drift.  Maybe, he could uncover a gift.  (You never know what treasures a dig will reveal.)

Three times, he raised his blade and scraped at the snow.  Three times, he uncovered nothing resembling a gift for his friends.  Did he stop?  No, he did not.  He worked until it started to get dark.  His worry increased. But then . . .

He started to push on the pile of junk he had unearthed.  He pushed and paused and pushed and paused.  He scurried to add the final touch.  The other trucks were ready to quit, but not Bulldozer.   Finally seeing his present to them, they were nearly speechless.  Bulldozer's feline friends added the top-tip treasure.  It was a one-of-a-kind Merry Christmas delight.

On page one, author Candace Fleming brings us into the rhythm of the construction site crew.  She uses repetition of action verbs, different ones for each vehicle, to invite readers to the story.  When Bulldozer is seeking to find presents for his friends, each time there is a 

Thunk

we know he is hopeful. (After each thunk, Candace Fleming inserts a new sound word.)  When Bulldozer and his friends speak, they usually do so with highly descriptive words like whooped, sniffled, boomed or clanged.  These word choices by Candace Fleming make this a sensory and participatory experience to be enjoyed often.  The word treasure plays a significant part.  Here is a passage.

Tossing it aside, he kept on digging.

Scra-a-a-a-ape . . .

     Scra-a-a-a-ape . . .

          Scra-a-a-a-ape . . .

Thunk-thud!

"Treasure?" hoped Bulldozer.

He may be a bulldozer, but looking at Bulldozer, smiling with the wreath draped over him, on the front of the matching dust jacket and book case will make readers want to reach out and hug him.  Two of the kittens under his care are featured along with ornaments and a present in the snow.  The snow topping the letters in the title text, embossed in red foil, and lights hanging from those two words hint at the tale's ending.  Shadows in the background on the front remind readers of the location of the construction site and also hint at the conclusion.  

To the left of the spine, shadows of the other vehicles and the cityscape are shown against the continuing night sky.  The ISBN is toward the top where more lights are draped.  A cardinal is perched on the ISBN.  Thumbnails of the front of the two previous books are tucked in the lower, left-hand corner and are wrapped in a bow like presents.

The left and right side of the opening and closing endpapers, respectively are red.  The opposite page is white with red text.  On the first is the title in block letters.  On the second is the dedication and publication information.  A two-page picture of the snowy city on the left and Bulldozer with three kittens shown through the wreath on the right is used for the formal title page.

The illustrations by Eric Rohmann 

were made using relief (block) prints.  Three plates were used for each image.  The first two plates were printed in multiple colors, using a relief printmaking process called "reduction printing."  The last plate was the "key" image, which was printed in black over the color.

Each illustration, whether it is a two-page picture or a series of four vertical panels is outlined in a thick black line.  Each element in each visual is outlined in black. (Readers will gasp at the wordless vertical image which requires them to turn the book.)

The kittens and the cardinal appear in most of the images.  The kittens are shown peeking, playing, resting with Bulldozer, or lending a paw.  Sometimes we are brought close to them and their antics.

One of my many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  Most of the background is a slowly darkening sky with snowflakes falling.  Along the bottom is a snowy surface.  Bulldozer is hurrying to the right.  He is almost off the page.  Trailing behind him is a string of colored lights.  The cardinal flies in front of him.  Racing behind him, left to right, are three of the six kittens.  The one at the end has paused to play with the string of lights.

Fans of the Bulldozer, the Christmas holiday, and ingenuity will welcome this newest edition, Bulldozer's Christmas Dig written by Candace Fleming with artwork by Eric Rohmann, to the series.  We learn, as does Bulldozer, the best presents are those made from the heart, and sometimes they are right in front of us if we use our imaginations.  This book is a wonderful addition to your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann and their other work, please access their respective websites by following the link attached to their names.  Candace Fleming has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior illustrations.

As we move from summer to autumn and now to winter, our clothing selections vary.  We wear more layers.  A short-sleeved t-shirt is worn under a long-sleeved t-shirt.  Sweaters are placed over long-sleeved t-shirts and turtlenecks are worn under sweatshirts and sweaters.  Although Sweater Weather (Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, October 5, 2021) written and illustrated by Matt Phelan takes place in an autumn setting, all you have to do is stand in any classroom at recess and lunch times during the winter months to know a similar version of this story is repeated hundreds of times on a daily basis in a single school building.

SWEATERS ON!

Papa Bear makes this announcement as seven cubs give him a confused stare.  Papa Bear sits to knit as he waits for those youngsters to don their sweaters.  It is taking a lot longer than it should.  And what are those loud noises coming from their bedroom?

These cubs have no clue on how to put on their sweaters.  Papa Bear reorganizes the disarray.  The cubs start again and it does not go well.

Finally, they are ready to go outside.  It took them so long, it is now dark.  Before long, the cubs make a discovery.  So does Papa Bear.  The night discloses its mysteries.

Papa Bear gathers up the group and takes them inside.  Two more two-word declarations are made.  Sweet dreams little bears.

A minimal amount of words by author Matt Phelan leaves room for reader interpretation which in turn leads to loads of grins and giggles.  Most readers among us have probably been a participant in the fine art of procrastination even when it is not entirely planned.  This increases the comedy.  The complaints and commentary by the cubs will have readers rolling on the floor with laughter, especially when the dialogue is reversed between the smallest bear and Papa Bear.  

One look at the expression on the face of Papa Bear amid the cubs on the front of the dust jacket is guaranteed to have readers smiling knowingly.  The seven cubs are struggling to get on their sweaters and creating chaos.  In an excellent design choice, Matt Phelan's name is written in yarn and the title text is stitched on a portion of sweater.  The title text is varnished.  To the left, on the back, in a horizontal swirl of red and orange we read written in red yarn:

Sweaters

     On!

The canvas for the book case is white.  On the front, Papa Bear is circled by the seven cubs in various stages of undress.  On the back, in a loose circular watercolor wash, Paper Bear is holding all the cubs.  Most of them are nearly fast asleep.

The opening and closing endpapers are red and orange with a knitted texture.  On the first set, a large ball of dark yarn is placed on the left with a single strand unwinding toward the right.  The ball of yarn is smaller at the back and is placed on the right with a single strand extending to the left side.

On the formal title page, Papa Bear stands in the window of their home, holding a cup of a steaming beverage.  Around their house is an autumn-colored woodland.  Large leaves are falling in front of the home on the left and near the title text on the right.

These images were made by Matt Phelan using

pencil, ink, and watercolor on hot-pressed paper.

They are full-page pictures, double-page pictures, framed images, two to a single page, and sometimes loosely framed visuals, three to a single page.  These variations in image sizes pair nicely with the spare text.  Multiple times the pictures are wordless.  Readers will enjoy the facial expressions and body postures of all the characters.  They are hilarious!  Careful readers will see a problem in the offing when the cubs try to put on their sweaters a second time.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page picture.  On the left, Papa Bear is standing in the cubs' bedroom doorway.  Spread before him across both pages are the cubs attempting to put on their sweaters.  One is upside down with the sweater not even off their head.  Another is standing up with one eye peeking out the neck of the sweater.  Two cubs are inside a single sweater.  And another cub is lying on the floor with only their feet showing out the bottom of the sweater.  The arms of the sweater have somehow managed to get tied together in a knot.

This book, Sweater Weather written and illustrated by Matt Phelan, is the ultimate title in showing how best-laid plans don't always work out, especially when seven little cubs are involved.  It does, however, depict how those same seven cubs can take a situation and make it memorable by learning something new and seeing something extraordinary.  The wearing of sweaters has never been as endearing as it is in this title.  You'll need a copy for your personal and professional collections.

To discover more about Matt Phelan and his other work, visit his website by following the link attached to his name.  Matt Phelan has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

In November of 2020, a startling discovery was made in New York City.  As is customary, a tree had been selected as the centerpiece at the Rockefeller Center.  It was cut down in upstate New York in the town of Oneonta and hauled from the woods to the metropolitan area.  Several days after its arrival in New York City, a worker found an adult Northern Saw-whet owl in the tree.  This book, The Little Owl & The Big Tree: A Christmas Story (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, October 19, 2021) written by Jonah Winter with illustrations by Jeanette Winter tells this miraculous tale.

There was once an owl who lived in a tree.

She had no name, but she was the tiniest owl in the eastern United States. She lived tucked inside a hole in a tree.  She only left that hole at night to hunt.

All was well in the world of this tiny owl until one day, she woke up before the night.  There were loud noises and voices.  Her tree moved.  It fell down.  It was wrapped and placed on a truck.  The ride lasted for hours.

During all of this the little owl never moved.  She was still inside her tree when a new barrage of noises reached her, the sounds of a city.  As the protection and bindings were removed from the tree, the little owl came from her hole.  A man was staring at her!

She was exhausted from the ordeal and offered no resistance.  The man carefully placed her in a box with pine branches.  His wife took her to a rescue sanctuary.  There a woman cared for the owl until she could find another tree in another woods.  The owl now was given a name, Rockefeller.

Simple sentence by simple sentence, each one ringing true, Jonah Winter builds the story of this remarkable owl.  The more we read his words, the more we realize how incredible the circumstances were.  By the end of the narrative, our respect for the owl and the man who found her is enormous.  Here are two passages.

It was loaded onto a truck

and driven away---

with the owl inside her little hole,

inside the big bundled tree.

The noise of the truck on the highway

was unlike anything this owl had ever heard.

Hours went by,

with the rumbling and the noise and the motion.

The cooler, calming hues used by artist Jeanette Winter on the open and matching dust jacket and book case, set the tone for the resilience portrayed in this tale.  The close-up of earth's full moon set in the starry sky with the owl perched on top of her tree allows us to see how truly small and exceptional she was.  This portrait of her is framed in the same color used in the title text.  To the left of the spine, on the back, a dusty pink color is used for the background.  A square visual is framed on this canvas.  Within the frame are the boughs of the tree.  On the boughs is the box with Rockefeller and the pine twigs inside.  On the front of the dust jacket the main title text is raised to the touch.

The opening and closing endpapers are covered in the same dusty pink shade.  Within a small circle bordered by pine needles, the owl sits looking out her hole at the forest.  This image is placed between the text on the title page.

Page turn by page turn framed illustrations in varying perspectives complement the text.  We see the owl, tiny with respect to her home and the forest.  Then we are brought close to her, seeing her sleep in her hole.  When the lumbermen arrive to cut down the tree, we are looking out her hole with her, wondering at the strange sounds.

Each visual created by Jeanette Winter is individually striking, but sometimes the illustration on the left is part of the illustration on the right, even though they are separated by the framing and gutter.  This supplies readers with a valuable and pleasing continuity.  

One of my many favorite illustrations is separated by framing and the gutter.  On the left page we see the interior pine branches with a portion of the worker's arm and gloved hand.  The tiny owl, on the right side, is nestled in the palm of the worker's gloved hand.  (Jeanette Winter did her research.  The color of the gloves matches those of the worker who found the owl.)

For a story time on birds, owls, seasonal holidays, or how humans and nature unexpectedly meet, The Little Owl & The Big Tree: A Christmas Story written by Jonah Winter with illustrations by his mother, Jeanette Winter, is an excellent choice.  At the conclusion of the book is an author's note giving readers more precise facts.  Both your personal and professional collections will be enhanced by including a copy of this title.

To learn more about Jonah Winter and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior images.  This publisher does include the entire jacket and case.

We know we are reading a great story when nonfiction reads like fiction and fiction reads like nonfiction.  Without realizing it, we've become a part of the story and it finds a permanent place in our hearts.  When you read  Red and Green and Blue and White (Inspired by a true story) (Levine Querido, October 19, 2021) written by Lee Wind with pictures by Paul O. Zelinsky, page turn by page turn, your initial sadness swells to something wonderful.  People honoring the differences of others by standing up to bigotry is about humans being their best selves.

On a block dressed up in Red and Green,

one house shone Blue and White.

In Isaac's home he and his family were preparing for Chanukah.  Across the street in Isaac's friend's house, Teresa and her family were decorating their home for Christmas.  Isaac was a poet.  Teresa was an artist.

Though they expressed themselves differently in their creativity and in their religious beliefs, Isaac and Teresa had loads of fun enjoying their similarities.  When darkness fell, one house glowed red and green and the other house glowed blue and white.  Deep into the night, while everyone was asleep, people approached Isaac's home.  A rock smashed their window and their menorah went out.

Though they were frightened, the next night the menorah light shone in the new window in Isaac's home.  To support her friend and his family, Teresa drew a picture of a menorah and labeled it

FOR ISAAC.

She placed it in her family's window and the light from their Christmas tree made it glow blue and white.  Can you imagine Isaac's joy at seeing this artwork in Teresa's window?

Teresa's idea spread from friends to institutions, and then to businesses.  Weeks passed.  Do you know how many drawings of menorahs there were in their community?  The number was staggering and uplifting and overwhelming in all the right ways.  Well done humans, well done.

To begin, author Lee Wind designs a subtle rhythm with his words.  We go back and forth between the two friends, learning about what makes them unique and what makes them alike.  Through his word selections, we form an emotional attachment to the friends.  We feel the fear of Isaac's family, their strength, and Teresa's relief when they light their menorah again.  It's all we can do not to start dancing with joy at the words we read when Isaac sees Teresa's drawing for him.  As the response by the community is recounted by Lee Wind, we feel the joy growing and growing.  Here is a passage.

They both loved playing in the snow,

counting down to

the holidays,

and thought you couldn't have

too many sprinkles on a cookie.

When you look at the open dust jacket and open book case, you realize they are similar.  Through the shattered window on the front of the dust jacket, we see homes decorated for the holidays.  We see people lining the street in front of those homes with joined hands.  In the face of prejudice, this community stands with Isaac's family.  In the broken opening stands Isaac's family and Teresa's family.  On the outside of the opening, the shattered glass is varnished.  On the back of the jacket, a cluster of six decorated homes is placed on the deep blue canvas. 

The book case has the same artwork except on the front.  The street is empty of people.  The open door is closed.  The shattered glass and text are removed.  It is calm.

The artwork on the opening and closing endpapers is stunning.  Tiny people from all walks of life frame the canvas.  Their arms are linked.  On the opening endpapers, the background is dark.  A scroll of red ribbon joins a scroll of green ribbon.  The green ribbon joins blue ribbon and on the far right white ribbon loops.  On the closing endpapers, the two pages are again divided into four vertical panels.  On the first, green ribbon loops on red.  Then on the second, a richer blue is placed on green.  Red loops through blue before blue loops through white on the final panel on the right. 

This artwork by Paul O. Zelinsky on matte-finished paper

was drawn on a Wacom tablet, in images of up to 150 layers,

using brushes of the artist's own creation.

For the initial and formal title pages, we are looking through clouds down at the community.  We move in closer at night to view rows of houses in the community decorated for the holidays as the story unfolds.  There is a superb blend of double-page pictures, full-page pictures working together as one idea, and a collection of smaller images to denote the passage of time.  You find yourself pausing after each page turn to study the details and marvel at the perspectives.

One of my many favorite pictures is a double-page picture.  It is at night and it is snowing.  Isaac has just seen Teresa's picture in her window.  It glows blue and white from her tree decorations.  On the left, Isaac runs across the street, arms outstretched.  He shouts one of his poems which appears written in white and the words float from left to right.  They are underlined in blue with blue menorahs at the end.  Teresa stands in the doorway of her home with her family behind her.  Light from that doorway shines outside.  The supreme happiness in this moment is palpable.

Although this title, Red and Green and Blue and White (Inspired by a true story) written by Lee Wind with artwork by Paul O. Zelinsky, focuses on the holiday season, it can be read any time of the year to remind us of the power of standing up instead of standing by.  This book is a classic to be shared widely and often.  Be sure to read the author's note at the end.  I highly recommend you place a copy in both your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Lee Wind and Paul O. Zelinsky and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Lee Wind has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Paul O. Zelinsky has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  This title is featured on The Book Of Life podcast.  It is highlighted by author, reviewer, blogger and librarian Elizabeth Bird at School Library Journal, A Fuse # 8 Production and by author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  At the publisher's website, there is a coloring sheet to download, interior images to see, and three videos to watch about this book.

Every year there are children around the world who wonder if Santa Claus will be able to find them.  They know the stories about where he lives and his method of transportation.  Perhaps, they have moved or live in more than one house or have no home at all.  Santa In The City (Dial Books For Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, November 2, 2021) written by Tiffany D. Jackson with illustrations by Reggie Brown is about a little girl with multiple worries about Santa visiting her home.

Every year, Deja counted down the days, hours, minutes, seconds until Christmas.

But some kids at school didn't believe in Santa like she did.

And truthfully, the insights of her classmates did sound reasonable, and this upset Deja.  Finding her crying in her room that night, her mother took her on a tour explaining how the magic surrounding Santa worked.  First, they journeyed to the first floor to observe their superintendent.  Then, they went all the way to the roof.  That solved the parking problem of Santa's sleigh and his reindeer.

The next morning despite her mother's reassurances, worry plagued Deja again.  Their city block was not decorated properly.  Santa might miss them.  Question after question popped into Deja's mind no matter how her mommy answered.

Her family always celebrated together on Christmas Eve.  Now, there was a whole group of people to help her solve all the pieces in her Santa worry puzzle.  Each and every reply made perfect sense to her, but the questions kept coming into her mind.

Even tucked into bed that night with mommy reading her a story, she still had things she needed to know.  Something her mother said gave her an idea.  Later, she sneaked into the living room to wait for Santa.  You'll never guess what happened.

If you are looking for an explanation of Christmas magic, look no further than the words written by Tiffany D. Jackson for this book.  The responses of the adults are creative and as Deja says:

Makes sense.

Through narrative and dialogue, the rhythm supplied by the questions, answers, and the above-noted repetitive phrase generates an enchanting atmosphere of its own.  This builds toward a most satisfying ending which surprises even Deja.  Here is a passage.

"Uncle Ronnie, how can Santa live up at the North Pole?

It's really cold up there!" Deja asked.

"Well, Santa works in tunnels underground, like

the subway, where it's much warmer.

Plus, he drinks plenty of hot cocoa."

"Oh," Deja said. Makes sense.

As you look at the open and matching dust jacket and book case, you cannot help but smile.  The shadowy cityscape on either side of Deja's apartment building frames the colored lights outlining her windows and the warmth of inside lights.  Dressed for winter, she stands on the balcony, hand outstretched to catch a falling snowflake.  We see what she cannot see.  Those red pants and black boots on the rooftop signify someone special visiting her home.  To the left of the spine, a large green bag full of presents sits on the roof.  On the back, the words read:

NOTHING

STOPS SANTA

FROM COMING

TO TOWN

On the dust jacket, Deja, Santa, the title text, the words on the back, and the bag of gifts are varnished.

A pale turquoise covers the opening and closing endpapers.  Inside a circular image on the title page, between the text, is a view of Deja's desk.  It contains some winter clothing, notebooks, a list, a pencil, an eraser, and a tablet counting down the days, minutes, and seconds before Santa arrives.  It's called

ELF ALERT.

Illustrator Reggie Brown made these images

digitally using photoshop, and a pinch of Christmas magic.

Bold, bright, and colorful they span two pages, and single pages.  Smaller illustrations are grouped together to depict a passage of time and enhance the pacing.  Sometimes, we are looking directly at the scene.  Other times, the perspective shifts, and we are looking at it as if we are Deja.  We are treated to wider views and close-up views.

The facial features on all the characters and their body postures make us feel as though we are walking along with them in real time.  We immediately find Deja utterly charming.  When she asks her questions, we know by looking at her they are heartfelt and express a curiosity known to many children.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page picture.  The elements are placed on a white background.  Deja and mommy are talking about the reindeer and the parking issue.  Across most of the two pages in a row, we see, starting on the left, a green vehicle, nine reindeer, and then, a red vehicle on the right.  You'll be laughing out loud looking at the reindeer.  Their faces are hilarious, as is the attire worn by some.  The one wearing the Reindeer Games Runner-Up sash is scowling.  Rudolph is lounging on the ground in front of the other eight reindeer.  He is wearing a first-place ribbon.  Deja is on the left in the foreground asking a question.  Mommy is on the right in the foreground giving her answer.

Santa In The City written by Tiffany D. Jackson with artwork by Reggie Brown is one you'll want to read right before drifting off to sleep during the Christmas holiday.  The realistic concerns of Deja and the marvelous replies of the adults paired with the lively illustrations will have listeners asking you to read it again and again and again.  This title is one you will want to include in both your personal and professional holiday collections.

By following the link attached to Tiffany D. Jackson's name and Reggie Brown's name, you can access their websites to learn more about them and their other work.  Tiffany D. Jackson has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Reggie Brown has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  This title is highlighted with an author interview at We Need Diverse Books.  You will really enjoy reading this interview.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior illustrations.  There is also an audio clip of the reading of this title.

Walks On The Wild Side

They walk among us, sometimes seen, and other times unseen.  Purpose is in every step they take.  A future destination guides their direction.  Perhaps they follow a well-worn path or a completely new route.  For some it takes only a day to reach their intended place and for others it is considerably longer. 

One creature known for its unhurried and steady pace is a turtle.  Turtle Walk (Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, October 6, 2020) written and illustrated by Matt Phelan is a family's exceptional trek through what is expected toward something extraordinary.  This journey will be long remembered by readers for its priceless and precious delight.

Turtle walk. Nice and slow.

Here we go.

Four turtles leave their home on a green spring day.  They pass by other wildlife enjoying the season.  Voices, the two youngsters, ask if they have arrived yet.  The answer is no.

Time passes, summer sun, is warming blooming blossoms, active insects, and happy children swinging on swings on a playground.  Fireflies light the family huddled together at night.  They have not reached their goal.

Leaves are turning autumn shades of orange, red, and yellow.  People and animals are gathering apples and nuts.  A jack-o-lantern glows.  The family rests but have not come to the right spot.

Snow blankets the ground, making the traveling much slower.  The turtles still go.  When the now familiar question is asked, the answer is in the affirmative.  Another question is asked, and a surprising answer is given.  No one is anticipating the pure bliss which follows as a circle is closed.

Carefully selected words by author Matt Phelan guide readers into the story.  Their repetition elevates the narrative and encourages participation.  This repetition is also a wonderful literary technique to lead us into the contrasting conclusion.  The spare text allows for the illustrations to further enhance the story.

When you open the dust jacket the white canvas on the front, right, and back, left, accentuates the vivid green turtles and the title text representative of the four seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter featured in the interior.  This text is varnished.  On the back one of the smaller turtles in on the back of an adult (mother).  Beneath them in purple are the words:

NICE AND SLOW.

HERE WE GO.

On the book case the two younger turtles, left of the spine, are moving to catch up with their parents.  The adults are moving toward the right edge of the front.  On the opening and closing endpapers, the cool purple of winter provides color.  Prior to the title page an adult (father) comes out of their home in a mudbank by the pond.  Two butterflies glide by and above him.  On the double-page picture for the title page, the father beckons to the mother on the left as the two little ones yawn and stretch as they wake up, on the right.  All the letters in the title text are shades of green.

Watercolor and pencils were used to prepare the full-color art

by artist Matt Phelan.  The illustrations extend across full pages, double pages, or are clustered in loose shapes on a single page.  Black text is on white and white text is used on most of the colors in the scenes.

Each image is replete with delicate details and charming depictions of animals and some humans.  The turtles can be seen in more panoramic views like when they walk beneath black-eyed Susans or brought close to readers when they are asleep among a pile of autumn leaves.  These varying views complement the pacing and lead us, along with the younger turtles, to the marvelous moment and the expansive winterscape view.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is during a summer evening.  The turtle family is huddled together, the two adults encircling the youngsters.  They are cozy in a circle of green.  About them are swirls of twilight blues.  Above them in golden circles, bodies glowing are five fireflies.  The perspective places us closer to the fireflies looking somewhat down on the turtles.  All the turtles are smiling at this wondrous sight.

When you read Turtle Walk written and illustrated by Matt Phelan for the first time, you do so knowing you will be reading it again and again.  The exquisite images implore you to join them on their walk as the words provide a rhythm for their journey.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.  

To learn more about Matt Phelan, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  Matt Phelan has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Matt Phelan was the featured creator on Author Spotlight Friday at Annie's Bookstop Worcester.  He visits author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast today to talk about this book.  At the publisher's website is a two-page activity guide.

Up in the far northern realm of the Arctic there lives an animal who touches noses with the same kind of animal to ask for food.  Can you imagine swimming as fast as six miles per hour?  These animals can do this because of their specially designed paws and legs.  They have black skin, but appear white because their fur is translucent, reflecting light.

It is a survival characteristic to have white fur when living in the Arctic.  Polar bears sometimes blend in with their surroundings.  A Polar Bear in the Snow (Candlewick Press, October 13, 2020) written by Mac Barnett with art by Shawn Harris follows a polar bear on a trip through the snow.  This bear moves with purpose.

There is a polar bear in the snow.

We cannot see this polar bear in the snow until it raises its nose to test the air.  Then the bear wakes up and begins to move. We have no idea where he is going or why he is intently going in one direction.

There are lots of seals in the snow, but the polar bear passes them.  He does not wish to eat.  He also does not wish to seek the sanctuary of a cave in the blowing snow.  

When the unseen narrator questions whether this polar bear is seeking a man, the answer is a resounding

NO!

This polar bear keeps on going through the snow until he can see his reflection in the water of the sea.  Now we know where the polar bear is going, but we still don't know why.  

When the reason is revealed readers will smile, wishing they have white fur so they can join this polar bear.  Once again on the snow, the polar bear is ready to go.  Where?

Individually the sentences are simple, but when they are connected, they form a captivating story, a story which will have you smiling from the beginning to the last two words.  You are not sure where the narrative or the bear is leading you, compelling you forward, page turn by page turn.  Mac Barnett cleverly asks questions and supplies answers while repeating one key sentence. 

You can already tell from looking at the open and matching dust jacket and book case, the artwork by Shawn Harris is going to be as brilliant as sun on a landscape newly coated with fresh snow.  Using 

cut paper and ink

he, through light and shadow, creates luminous images, realistically textured.  On the front, right, the polar bear looks right at the reader.  What does that look tell us?  The title text is varnished and raised.  To the left, on the back, all we see are the indentations of paw prints in snow, moving away from us.  

The opening and closing endpapers are a turquoise blue.  The verso and title pages have a snowy look to them.  The letters on the title page, due to shadowing, appear as if they are floating.  The same snowy look continues on the first two pages with the single sentence on the left.  Each change in the first three visuals are subtle, then the cut paper artistry begins in earnest.  These illustrations span two pages.

Shawn Harris brings us close to the polar bear, then we see him in an enormous vista of snowy mounds and hills. After encountering the seals, as they vanish, we see only his back half rambling off the right side.  Our point of view of him walking through the snowy wind is as if we are one of the Arctic foxes looking out from a cave.

When the polar bear in the snow reaches the sea, the hues of blue are crisp and cool.  The next three illustrations are breathtaking in their perspectives and depictions.  The third one is wordless, but most readers will gasp in admiration.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations (I can't select a sea scene without spoiling it for readers.) is when the polar bear walks past the cave with the Arctic fox family watching him.  Most of the polar bear is to the right of the gutter.  His head is bent as he leans into the snowy breeze.  The opening of the cave does cross to the left of the gutter.  To give readers a perception of how deep the foxes are in the cave, Shawn Harris has layered torn white paper with each circle a little bit larger than the one underneath it.  The foxes are placed in the far left, bottom corner.  There is an adult, and three young foxes.  Their body postures indicate curiosity.

When you think of the Arctic, snow, and polar bears you would never imagine the clever use of language and art found in A Polar Bear in the Snow written by Mac Barnett with art by Shawn Harris.  You can easily use this book in a study of bears, the Arctic, snow, or for the sheer pleasure of a superb story.  You will definitely be reading it more than once at a single sitting.  Readers will want to listen to it repeatedly.  Your personal and professional collections will not be complete without a copy of this book.

To learn more about Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Mac Barnett has another site here. He has an account on Instagram.  Shawn Harris has an account on Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. At Penguin Random House you can view interior images.  I hope you will enjoy these two videos.

White As...

Once the words fairy tale are uttered an aura of magic and mystery fills the place.  If others are present, without being aware, they move in closer to the speaker.  Even though the particular story selected may be as familiar as our own faces in the mirror in the morning, we still listen as if we are hearing it for the very first time.

Fairy tales have distinctive goodness in them working to overcome blatant evil.  They are not without supreme difficulties but we know there will be a happily ever after.  Author illustrator Matt Phelan, highly respected for his body of work, especially his graphic novels, brings to readers a haunting rendition of one of the most well-known fairy tales.  Snow White: A Graphic Novel (Candlewick Press, September 13, 2016) written and illustrated by Matt Phelan is remarkable for the brilliance of the artwork, setting and narrative.

The story opens with a beautiful young woman lying in a sleigh in a store-front window.  NYPD crime scene tape ropes off the area.  A police detective asks a crying youth:

What's the story here?
Who is she?

He replies:
White as snow...

By the attire worn by the characters, you know this story is taking place in the not-too-distant past.   With a page turn your curiosity is satisfied with the words

1918
Central Park

A little girl, Samantha White, is playing in the snow as her mother strolls along with her but the happy day turns tragic when the woman begins to cough blood.  She passes away shortly thereafter.  Ten years later, Mr. White reads a newspaper article about a hit performer at the Follies.  He is mesmerized by her performance.

Her new stepmother, the Ziegfeld Queen, has Samantha sent away to boarding school.  Back at home Mr. White seems to have survived the market crash but cannot survive the evil wishes and jealousies of his new wife.  At the reading of Mr. White's will his wife is shocked by an amendment leaving the bulk of the estate to Snow White.

A man is hired to kill Snow White but after chasing her in and through Hooverville, he warns her to never go home again.  This man visits a butcher hoping to convince the stepmother the deed is completed.  Snow White finds her way back to the city only to be nearly attacked by two villains in an alley. She is saved by seven boys who live on the streets.

That night Snow White takes the boys to Macy's department store to show them the winter window display, hoping to help them believe there is beauty everywhere.  This is a mistake.  Another mistake is made the next morning.

In a state of shock, sadness and anger, the seven give chase and watch as fate attempts to balance the scales.  Remembering Snow White's first love shared with them, they proceed, with heavy hearts, to carry out their plan.  A detective gets the surprise of his life.  Seven boys finally believe in the power of snow.


Within eighteen chapters Matt Phelan writes a minimal amount of text, the majority of it dialogue.  This presents pivotal points of the plot in more specific detail but allows for the atmospheric images to carry the story.  One highly ingenious twist on tradition is the use of ticker tape instead of a mirror on the wall.  This is no ordinary machine but one filled with malice printing out truth and suggestions to the wicked Mrs. White.  Here's some of the dialogue during the evening with the seven boys.

You're far from the country now, sister.
The same snow falls here.
Hmmph.
This city is beautiful, too.
It has its own magic.
Come on.
I'll show you.
Ain't you scared?  Someone's after you!
Scared?  Of course not.  I have seven brave protectors.


As soon as you open the matching dust jacket and book case you know this Snow White is going to be different.  The image from the left, the back, carries over the spine.  It's a night silhouette of the city skyline.  In the center of the darkness is a picture of the seven boys with a quote from the book.  In the black of the spine the title text and font are replicated.  The opening and closing endpapers are lighter as you get closer to the body of the book, moving toward dark gray on the outside edges.

After the chapter headings pages, a single picture of the face of Snow White in repose is shown.  We move seamlessly from the story's present, to the past, and moving again to the present. Matt Phelan alters his panel sizes to supply the narrative's pacing.

Rendered in pencil, ink, and watercolor with digital adjustments fairly wide margins of white frame each picture.  The details, specifically those depicting an emotional moment, are intensely real.  You will feel your breath catch at some of his close-up pictures.  Phelan's use of light, dark and shadows is masterful.

One of my many favorite pictures is at the beginning.  It's when the detective is speaking with one of the seven boys.  It is a single page picture of the boy crying.  We have zoomed in to his teary face.  A ball cap is off to the side on his head.  A striped scarf is wound around his neck. His head is slightly down and his eyes are closed as two large tears slide down his face.  He utters the classic phrase.


Snow White: A Graphic Novel written and illustrated by Matt Phelan has been named by School Library Journal as one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels | 2016.  Every time you read it you can understand why it received this designation.  Every time you read it, you discover another detail which enriches the telling.  This book should be on every professional and personal bookshelf.

To learn more about Matt Phelan and his other work you can visit his website and blog by following the links attached to his name.  At the publisher's website you can get a peek inside the book; more than forty pages.  At Candlewick Press there is a discussion guide and author's notes about this title.  Be sure to visit Watch. Connect. Read. the blog of John Schumacher, Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, for the book trailer premiere.  It gives you a real sense of the time and place of this version.  There are more teaching ideas for this book at School Library Journal's Inside 'The Classroom Bookshelf'.  This title is discussed with Matt at The Beat Comics Culture and The Comics Alternative for Young Readers.  

All In A Summer

While it's true the Internet provides users with untold amounts of resources, the ability to converse with people on the other side of the world and endless networking possibilities, exchanges of information, I still hold the belief that inside the pages of a book, the same is true.  Sometimes the most wondrous happenings then or now are closer than you think.  When these secrets are revealed to you, it's like opening a geode.

I was born and have lived in the state of Michigan for my entire life.  Walking through the botanical gardens at Michigan State University, spending days at the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, Mackinac Island and other parks, zoos, lakeshores, woodland trails and museums have enriched my sense of history and appreciation for our natural world.  In all those adventures, though, I have yet to do more than pass through Muskegon, Michigan.  Little did I know what happened in the nearby neighborhood of Bluffton in the summers of 1908, 1909 and 1910?  Illustrator and author Matt Phelan knows.  His newest title, Bluffton: My Summers With Buster (Candlewick Press), opens up possibilities, blending history and fiction in a pictorial journey back in time.


It's not every day a train rolls into the town of Muskegon, Michigan filled with vaudeville entertainers, an elephant and a zebra, but on a summer day in 1908, that's exactly what Henry Harrison saw.  The troupe has come to vacation in the cottages at Bluffton; the heat having caused the closure of all the theaters.  Henry decides to explore the next morning along the western shore of Lake Muskegon.  Crashes and flying bodies introduce him to Jingles, Louise and Buster Keaton.

Leaving for home with the promise of a baseball game the next day, Henry (and readers) get the inside scoop on vaudeville and the people at The Actors' Colony from a man on the porch.  For the next three months Henry and Buster play baseball, fish, swim, pull pranks and talk, reveling in all the peaceful bliss of summer.  Each can't help but hopefully wish for what the other has; Buster, a normal boy's life, Henry, a life on the stage.

Henry attends school, helps out in his father's hardware store and juggles away the months, longing for the companionship of his summer pal. Another boy who is part of the traveling group, Lex, keeps him informed with the latest news through letters, including problems the Keaton family have had with authorities about their knockabout act.  When they return Henry is more determined than ever to learn an act, to be on stage.

During the second summer more of the two boys' personalities and lives are revealed in their continued conversations and in the events experienced by both; boarding house fires, train wrecks, elaborately rigged contraptions, Harry Houdini, baseball and the presence of Sally, a neighborhood friend of Henry.  Regardless of an initial failed attempt and caution urged by Buster and Lex, an incident teaches Henry more than one lesson during their absence before the third summer in 1910.  Only three sentences are spoken throughout the pages of the last summer shared by Henry Harrison and Buster Keaton.  But the visuals speak loudly and clearly of glorious memories made.


In an Author's Note at the book's conclusion Matt Phelan writes about his admiration and love of all things Buster Keaton.  Keaton's autobiography, My Wonderful World of Slapstick, is the source of his inspiration for this title.  Phelan's knowledge is evident in every word.

His use of text is minimal but deliberate, providing contrasts and tidbits of information.  It acts as a main thread upon which all the conversations written and pictured are tied and woven together. Every verbal exchange provides insight into what it might have been like to experience those three summers.


Using watercolor Phelan illuminates the past for his readers.  It's as if we are peering through a looking glass watching the days of those three summers, the months in between for Henry, unfold before our very eyes, panel by panel.  We are given clues as to the time and its passage with details in the inside and outside surroundings.

There is a delicate intricacy to Phelan's work.  He might be giving us a panoramic view of a particular scene or a close-up of a facial expression, conveying much through his deft skills as a graphic artist.  One example early in the story is Henry, apple in hand, casually leaning outside against the train station building.  In the next panel from behind we watch him as the train arrives at the station.  He lifts the apple to his mouth for a bite.  The view shifts to the train, a ramp being put to the open door of a car. Henry looks startled, apple still in hand.  In the final panel we see the apple falling, bouncing up as it hits the ground.  Without a word Matt Phelan has told us that something extraordinary has been seen by Henry.

I feel fortunate that Matt was able to answer some questions I recently asked him about his work on this book.  My questions are in black, his replies are in gray.  Thank you so much Matt for making the time to do this and for including some artwork, the completed watercolor of Buster and a thumbnail of their first game of baseball.

When you were working on Bluffton, did the script (narrative) come first or did you visualize the story first?

I always write a complete script first and that goes through the usual editorial process. I don't start drawing until everyone feels the story is as tight as it can be. That said, the writing process for me is basically describing what I see in my head, panel by panel.

I am no artist at all (pitiful is the word that comes to mind) so I am wondering when you work on your illustrations is the entire book mapped out like a storyboard first in pencil?  Thumbnails?  What comes next after the first step is done?  Is it done again in pencil or is ink used? Are more details added this time?  Is the watercolor the final step? Was watercolor all that was used in the final work of Bluffton?  Do you enlarge the illustrations or is that done in the publishing process? 

Thumbnails always come first. Very small, very loose. Those are scanned in to the computer and the words are added. From those, I make a second round of layout sketches which are in some ways even looser, but clearly place the dialogue and composition elements. Then I draw the final art on a new sheet of watercolor paper in pencil and paint it with watercolor. The final art is 100% larger than the size in the book.

I am also wondering if you have ever visited Muskegon or Bluffton?  After reading your book, I sure hope to visit myself. J  When you consider I’ve lived in Michigan my entire life, it’s sad I have never done anything but pass through there before now.

I spent a week in Bluffton in 2010 before I wrote the script. It was well worth it. I really gained the necessary feeling that I needed to do the book.

Were the characters of Henry and Sally based upon anyone real in or near Bluffton during that time period or are they entirely fictional? (I know you said they are fictional in your author’s note but where did Henry and Sally come from?)  I love how you created this story around those three summers. 

Henry and Sally are entirely fictional. For Henry, I basically just imagined how I would react if I met Buster as a kid. Three years is quite a lot of time for that age, and part of the challenge in writing the book was to age the kids physically and emotionally from summer to summer.

I remember reading in your author’s note how you and your brother watched the Buster Keaton movies projected on the bedroom wall.  What sparked the interest in those movies?  Did your study of film and theater in college increase your passion for this master actor?

As a kid, I just responded to how hilarious those movies are. They really haven't dated. Growing up in my family, we never had a stigma against black and white movies. Some kids do (or think they do) today but I'm pretty certain that a few minutes of a Keaton film could change that. As I got older and learned more about film and acting, my admiration for him grew exponentially. I believe he was the finest filmmaker of the silent era and certainly one of the greatest film actors. There isn't a single moment of overacting in any of his films.

Bluffton:  My Summers With Buster written and illustrated by Matt Phelan is an outstanding tribute to some of the best times in the life of Buster Keaton as a youth.  It is also a story about finding your niche in life; discovering how to best use your gifts.  Even after reading it three times, I continue to find enjoyment in the illustrations, noticing a detail missed previously, and in the conversations between the characters.  This book is a historical fiction treasure.

To access Matt Phelan's website follow the link embedded in his name.  Here are two links to articles on his blog, The Road to BLUFFTON, Part One: Buster Keaton and The Road to Bluffton, Part Two: Vaudeville.  For a peek inside the book, more visuals, this link takes you to the publisher website.  Here is the link to a post Matt Phelan did recently at the Nerdy Book Club about a researcher's dream come true.

This link will take you to an introduction to the title and a Q & A with Matt Phelan.  This link is to an interview with Matt Phelan at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast with Julie Danielson.
Here is a video interview which was conducted during the American Library Association Annual Conference & Exhibition in Chicago this summer




Here is a trailer for the book.




Here are three videos Matt Phelan recommends watching to learn more about Buster Keaton.