For The Girls

For centuries, for generations, women have struggled for equality.  For them to construct the best possible lives for their families, friends, and themselves, certain elements are valuable for success.  A solid, basic education with appropriate materials, qualified educators, and the opportunity to pursue a desired goal or dream gives all women, regardless of their age, a firm footing on a good future.  The support of a parent, guardian, or trusted mentor can be priceless in helping to form a foundation of beliefs or in supplying strength in the face of adversity.

Earlier this month, two children's literature publications address both elements.  The first, One Girl (Abrams Books for Young Readers, October 6, 2020) written by Andrea Beaty with illustrations by Dow Phumiruk, vividly portrays the power of a single young girl acquiring a single book.  Through lilting, rhyming words and luminous images, we see the power of both. 

One Girl.

One spark.

Faint and fading in the dark.

This spark is a book which cascades from the sky to appear glowing at the girl's feet as she sits on the steps of her front porch.  When she opens the book, the spark though faint continues to glow.  It burns without going out.  It is fire!

It grows brighter and brighter, inspiring her to follow a dream, a dream of being educated.  The more she knows, the more she grows.  She shares what she knows so others can grow.

The brightness spreads from girl to girl, girl to boy, and boy to boy, and boy to girl.  Each child is learning.  With their increase in knowledge, they can embrace the wonder our world holds for them.  What they read and what they write spreads farther and farther, up and out into all corners of the planet.

With this accomplishment sparks are traveling where they are most needed.  They, like falling stars, make wishes come true.  They land one book at a time at the feet of one girl.

Beginning this narrative with these two words has readers asking many questions.  Andrea Beaty immediately kindles our interest.  Her simple but profound word choices fashion a flawless flow, almost a melody, with repetition of specific words inviting reader participation.  Here are two more word combinations.

Flicker . . .

     Flicker . . .

          Flicker . . .

Glow.

Tiny ember.

Burning low.

When you look at the little girl on the front of the dust jacket, you feel the hope and awe shown in her face.  She has discovered the endless possibilities found in a book.  They grow up and out, blooming and flying.  The warm background of rich red, orange, and yellow hues extends over the spine to a home on a hill with the girl seated on the steps of her porch.  The book glimmering with potential is on the ground in front of her.  Words from the narrative invite us to open the book.

On the book case is a large interior image.  It shows the girl, now in school.  A star barrette holds part of her hair in place.  She is on the left, her hands crossing the gutter to rest on her desk.  One hand holds a pencil as she writes.  Stary sparks drift upward from her paper in a pale rainbow of color.  The canvas for this illustration is a shade of cream.

On the opening and closing endpapers on a variegated purple background is a pattern of delicate white flowers, vines, books, pencils, pieces of paper, rockets, stars, crescent moons, and white birds.  Some of the leaves are in several colors of green and blue.  With a page turn we are treated to a double-page picture of a community on a hill at night.  Some of the windows in the homes glow with lamplight.  A sliver of moon sits in the upper, right-hand corner.  A comet like object arcs over the title text.

These illustrations by Dow Phumiruk are rendered using 

pencil and Photoshop.

Some of the illustrations span two pages, single pages, or others are smaller with loose framing.  They are atmospheric, displaying not only the time of day, but the mood of the little girl and the other children.  The use of light and shadow are beautiful to see.  When the words of the book are released as wonder, the delicate designs are intricate, portraying a world of potential.  Just looking at the little girl and the other children will fill your heart with joy.  

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a two-page image.  The background from bottom to top begins as cream moving to a muted orange.  There are eight children spanning both pages, wearing their uniforms in white and navy.  They represent a diverse group of children.  They are gazing upward.  The main little girl, to the left of the gutter, has her right arm up and holding a pencil.  From this pencil scrolls of white lines and stars move above the children and around to the lower, right-hand corner.  Within this design are elements representing hopes and dreams.  The words read:

Shares her song.

The collaboration between author Andrea Beaty and artist Dow Phumiruk on One Girl gifts readers with a book to treasure.  It's a pleasure to read aloud, in fact it would make a marvelous reader's theater.  I highly recommend this book for your personal and professional collections to promote the true power of a book and education.  An author's note offers further explanation about books, knowledge, education, and the lack of education for too many girls globally.

To discover more about Andrea Beaty and Dow Phumiruk and their other work, please access their respective websites by following the link attached to their names.  Andrea Beaty has accounts on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  In addition to her website Dow Phumiruk has another site here, as well as accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view multiple interior images.

The second book is a promise from a father to his daughter, a love letter explaining how they can shape their world, her world.  What We'll Build: Plans For Our Together Future (Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, October 6, 2020) written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers is a journey of discovery and of finding one's capabilities, and a guide to accomplish what is true and good in our lives.  It shows readers how an adult can be one who endeavors to be an enduring bedrock or fortress if needed.

What shall we build, you

and I?

Let's gather all our tools for a start. 

In a row, all the tools represent a father and his daughter, a green crayon near a paintbrush, and a toy pig next to a wrench.  This is how they will make things, and if necessary, restart.  Perhaps they should build a door and a house around it.

They will work together building each other's future.  They will create love for when it is needed most.  They know a hole might be necessary so they can hide.  Sometimes it will be necessary to construct a mighty abode with a wall around it, but also a gate to allow entrance of former enemies.

From that fortress, together they will raise a tower from which to gaze upward at the world beyond ours.  No mountain will hinder their progress.  They will build a tunnel.  Whatever is necessary for them to build to enjoy endless opportunities, they will use their tools to make it.

They will rest.  They will travel in a seaworthy vessel.  And then when a low is reached, they will recover in a special place where loved objects reside.  Those with the earlier-made affection will remain until the lowest of the lows calls to them.  This father and his daughter have been busy planning, so as the narrative concludes they are warm and asleep by one of the oldest forms of comfort which they build together.

There is a childlike quality to the rhyming narrative written by Oliver Jeffers.  He moves freely from one thought to the other, like children do when their imaginations are set free, unhindered.  The narrative changes from building a tunnel through a mountain to constructing a road to the moon or from resting cozily in a hammock to a wild ride at sea.  The words let's, we'll, and I'll precede build multiple times to supply a soothing and comforting cadence.  Here is a single sentence which I could read over and over.

We'll put these favorite things beside

the earlier love we set aside.

When you open the dust jacket you see that the background on the front spans over the spine, flap edge to flap edge.  The stary sky and mountain range continue.  I love the complementary colors of purple, yellow and orange with the spot of red in the toolbox.  What a wonderful choice to have the title text be a sign built by the duo.  To the left of them, on the back, sitting alone is a fox.  This fox appears later in the narrative.  Words there, from the book, welcome you to the plans.

The book case is a pale lavender.  There are five tools in a row on the front.  They are embossed in red and silver foil, as is the text on the spine.  The tools shown, left to right, are a screwdriver, a saw, a hammer, a pencil, and a lightning bolt.

On a dark purple canvas elements from the story, looking like they were drawn in crayon, appear in hot pink on the opening and closing endpapers.  You have to smile when seeing these pages.  Father and daughter, hand in hand, are placed beneath the dedication on the verso. (Remember to read this wonderful dedication and a short note from Oliver and Mari, his daughter, also on this page.)  On the title page is the red toolbox, opened.

These illustrations by Oliver Jeffers are a blend of realism and whimsy with his signature style prevalent throughout the title.  They shift from double-page pictures to single-page images and in point of view for emphasis.  Several times careful readers will notice how one illustration connects to the other.  

One of my many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  Father and daughter are stretched feet to feet on a hammock they built between two small trees with pink leaves.  The trees are growing from what appears to be the surface of our moon, sandy in color.  Both are wearing glass helmets.  The father, arms behind his head, is sleeping.  The daughter with one arm raised is speaking.  Her toy pig rests on her stomach.  Her other arm is behind her head.  Two birds, wearing clear helmets are present.  In the distance in a pink and purple sky with stars is planet Earth.  This picture is one of contented and affectionate happiness, pure perfection.

This book, What We'll Build: Plans For Our Together Future written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, is a joyful, truthful exploration of what fathers and daughters can accomplish.  It resonated with this daughter, who to this day is far better for having a father who taught her to build and who she sorely misses every single day.  Hand this book to daughters, fathers, or anyone who is looking to form relationships founded in love.

To learn more about Oliver Jeffers and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  You can see a few interior images from this book there.  Oliver Jeffers has another website titled Oliver Jeffers' World.  Oliver Jeffers has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  I hope you enjoy these videos and are able to follow the VancouverWritersFest coming in a few days.

So Happy To Have You Here

Over the course of three days more than seventy-five girls and boys looked and listened.  There were collective gasps and sighs.  There were nods of understanding.  There was even applause at the conclusion.

Nine and ten-year old children are gifted with a unique kind of wisdom and freedom of thought.  These students realize a father has not only given his son but other daughters and sons of the present and future a remarkable gift.  HERE WE ARE: NOTES FOR LIVING ON PLANET EARTH (Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, November 14, 2017) written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers is a message of hope, a gift of love.

The dedication reads:

To my son, Harland

This book was written in

the first two months of

your life as I tried to make

sense of it all for you.

These are the things 

I think you need to know.

First we see a drawing, stretching across two pages, of our solar system with an arrow pointing to Earth with our moon revolving around it.  Then we read:

Well, hello.

Welcome to this planet.

We call it Earth.

This is a greeting given to a child; a greeting of gratitude from a loving parent.  It continues with an invitation to explore.

Generalizations are explained about land and sea; the two basic components of this globe we all call home.  The layers of atmosphere, the precipitation which forms and falls from it and the starry wonder beyond are spread before us.  It's difficult to understand but infinitely interesting.

People walk upon this planet with marvelous bodies needing food, water and warmth.  There is a warning to heed regarding the value in caring for each body.  No matter how different we may appear from one another, we are the same.  An array of animals on the land and sea are our companions.  Most of them can't speak like you will.  Patience is a virtue.

Each twenty-four hour period is divided into two parts.  Time is a tricky thing.  Make sure you enjoy it regardless of the perception of it moving slow or fast.  As a general rule people are improving but there is lots of work to still do.  The world is large but it and all of us need copious amounts of TLC.  Parting words issue the most comforting revelation of all.  

When Oliver Jeffers speaks to his son, it's as if he is speaking to all children (or the child in every single one of us).  His conversational insights contain a deep and abiding affection for this planet and all its inhabitants.  On some of the pages tiny extra thoughts, comments, contribute to a gentle humor.  The particular topics he includes move from one to the other with pure perfection; links in an unbreakable and essential chain.  Here is a sample passage.

There are animals, too.  They come in

even more shapes, sizes and colors.

They can't speak, though that's

no reason not to be nice to them.

The soft, cool blue hues seen on the front of the dust jacket, night sky, clouds and stars, extends over the spine to the left, on the back.  Our Earth happily hangs on the front as signs of our technological advances orbit in circles around it.  On the back a smaller Earth is identified as the place where we live.  Above it our moon is identified as a place devoid of life, but that could change.

The book case is a smooth pale blue with tiny embossed stars on the front and back.  A navy and gold Earth, a smaller version of the one on the front of the dust jacket, is surrounded by three gold orbits.  Instructions on how to navigate using a northern and southern sky through the constellations are placed on the opening and closing endpapers.

Oliver Jeffers's signature full-color illustrations reflect a prevalent use of shades of blue, purple, pink and red.  Each page turn transports readers to places on planet Earth; the land, sea (above and below), the atmosphere and space, people (inside and outside an individual's body and from all walks of life), animals of land and sea, a quiet countryside and a bustling city along a harbor.  Shifts in perspective, ranging from vast panoramic views of Earth and space beyond and then moving to closer more personal scenes, allow us to appreciate the value in the words we are reading 

One of my many favorite pictures is the cityscape along a harbor.  A large ocean liner is leaving the docks as smaller vessels move over the dark apricot water.  An airship, a helicopter and several planes fly in different directions.  Purple buildings rise into a rose and peach colored sky.  Pigeons fly above a man waving a flag on a rooftop.  All kinds of people are featured in the windows of the closest building to readers on the right side of the image.  Cars, trucks and a school bus cross a bridge.  A subway car moves beneath that same bridge.  You can almost feel this picture vibrate with life.

No matter how many times you read HERE WE ARE: NOTES FOR LIVING ON PLANET EARTH written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers you will continue to find more details in the illustrations which lift the impact of the narrative.  This blend of text and art conveys a love for a single child and for all our children.  It also asks the adults who read it to be our best selves.  Oliver Jeffers also has three important quotes listed on the page after his final sentence.  They are by Sally Ride, R. Buckminster Fuller and Oliver's dad.  All collections, professional and personal, will want to have a copy of this title.

To learn more about Oliver Jeffers and his other work, please follow the links attached to his name.  The second link offers readers all kinds of activities as extensions of his books.  Oliver Jeffers has an account on Instagram.  Oliver Jeffers is interviewed at Foyles, Wired, and Publishers Weekly.  Oliver Jeffers speaks about this title on First Time Dads.  He also explains how the book evolved on BBC Radio Ulster.  Enjoy the official book trailer and this video about Oliver Jeffers.

Oliver Jeffers from Bas Berkhout on Vimeo.

Anything Becomes Possible

Lifelong readers of every age know time takes on a new and more complex meaning when we step into the pages of a book.  We become one with the story dropping the time in which we live to replace it with the time represented in the book.  When we do this the minutes, hours, days and even weeks in our real world move as they always have even though we are bound by the events in the characters' lives.  Every reader knows the feeling of finishing a story, looking up from the page and wondering for those first few seconds where they are.

Every individual has their own story dictated by their choices.  In every imagined story anything is possible however improbable.  Therein resides the adventure.  A Child of Books (Candlewick Press, September 6, 2016) written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston is a celebration of journeys and destinations.

I am a child of books.

These are the words of a young girl, seated and reading a book.  Her legs are dangling in the water over the edge of a raft, sail taunt in a stiff breeze.  She moves over waves of words, words fashioned from her books.

She seeks another; a partner who will share in her explorations.  She notices some may have lost their ability to be a child of books but this girl knows the way.  She will guide the boy who accepts her invitation.

Words ignite their imaginations.  Together they can scale heights, find light where there seems to be none, see the trees as well as the entire woods and escape dreaded encounters.  When the day slips into night, they dream from beds built on classic melodies.

Each point in their travels exemplifies their final declaration, a declaration which gets to the essence of the worlds every living soul inhabits.  We live in our homes and in our own special spaces because of sharing a common connection.  It is the key to anything.


These two talented authors and illustrators, Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston, use eight lyrical observations to design their narrative.  Separately each one lifts up the capacity of story and books and what we each take away from reading.  Together they are a symphony of affection and appreciation. They begin with I and end with we.  They begin with a lock, leading us to the key.

But along these words I can show you the way.


The rich maroon seen on the front of the dust jacket extends to the end of each flap, slightly darker on the edges like an ancient piece of parchment.  The fragments of lines flowing from the book's spine are familiar beginnings.  The authors' names, the decorations on the spine and the lock are in gold foil.  To the left on the back of the jacket is a single item, a large golden key, softened in color, old as time.  The book case is red cloth, a lock embossed on the front and a key embossed on the back.  The opening and closing endpapers are rows and rows of titles of books in bold and their authors in finer and lighter print.

On the title page beneath the text in the signature blue, drawn by hand in ink, is the book lying flat, the lock like a welcome.  With a page turn the dedication appears with a pot of ink placed in the upper right hand corner.  Opposite this is a blank sheet of parchment paper with a metal tipped dip pen lying across it on an otherwise empty page.

Rendered in watercolor, pencil, and digital collage all of the images span two pages with the exception of the closing page.  Many portions of the pictures are formed using phrases and sentences tiny enough to be lines but large enough to be read.  The choice of books and words pair beautifully with each picture.  When the girl is sailing on the waves, the titles and words are from The Voyage of Doctor Doolittle, Robinson Crusoe, The Swiss Family Robinson, The Count of Monte Cristo, Kidnapped, Gulliver's Travels, and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.  In the forest titles and words of fairy tales form branches on the trees.  To escape a monster in a castle, the girl and boy climb down a rope from words taken from Rapunzel.  

The spare flowing lines and use of little color on the cream colored pages make the swirl of color and words toward the end even more dynamic.  From this visual forward no more titles and passages from books appear, making the final few pictures and the tiny words appearing absolutely breathtaking.  The final page is simply perfection.

One of my favorite illustrations is of the girl and boy at night.  The background is a steely dark blend of blues and blacks.  A few stars appear among eight clouds.  Five of the clouds are shaped from beloved lullabies.  On the left side a red ladder rests on a cloud where the girl sleeps.  On the right side a red ladder lays on another cloud where the boy rests.


A Child of Books written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston is a stunning title about the stories found in books.  It is a marvelous example of bookmaking; every single element chosen with a beautiful whole in mind.  This is a gift to share with everyone often.  It is a joy to open again and again.

To learn more about Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston and their other work please follow the link to their respective websites attached to their names.  At publishers' websites here and here you can see additional images.  A website dedicated to this book is here. Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston speak about this book at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, PICTUREBOOK MAKERS, The Guardian, Children's Books, and at Entertainment. Oliver Jeffers talks about the book on CBC Radio.  You can find a publisher generated interview here as well as a teacher's guide here.

Twenty-Six Tales To Tell

Twenty-six unique symbols with twenty-six individualistic sounds comprise our alphabet.  Twenty-six distinctive characters, either vowels or consonants, when combined make words.  A word or group of words strung together to form a sentence give us the opportunity to express ourselves in writing or through speech with extraordinary results.

If these letters were given the chance to sit down and chat with us we might be treated to twenty-six exceptional yarns spun from centuries of experience.  Or perhaps they might chose to whisper in the ear of the talented Oliver Jeffers.  Once Upon An Alphabet: Short Stories For All The Letters (HarperCollins Children's Books, September 25, 2014 UK)  written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers is a whimsical, original celebration of exactly what letters can and will do when placed in the hands of a master.

If words make up stories, and letters make up words, then stories are made of letters.
In this menagerie we have stories, made of words, made FOR all the LETTERS.  

These stories for the letters use as many parts of speech as possible starting with the individual featured letter.  To begin we have an astronaut afraid of heights even though he has been training for ages for a particular adventure to acquaint himself with aliens.  There is a bridge burned by two not-buddies, a cup who crashes after leaving a cupboard and a delightful daring girl who dashes away on a donkey.

There might be elephants and an envelope, an unfortunate frog, a glacier guy, a woman who wishes she had used a hammer and a suspicious iceberg.  A thieving dog, dancing royalty, an electrifying woodsman and a mysterious microscope might have something to do with keys, cheese, light bulbs and shrinking.   Discovering what those elephants and envelopes and nuns have in common will drive you nuts...with laughter.

Teamwork finds resolutions, questions lead to more questions (a certain vegetable will never learn and it seems something is lost), and robots have resorted to robbery.  A previous dynamic duo averts a drowning but a tree-eating monster switches his favorite food.  Monkeys, a frustrated musician, a weird but effective giraffe, special glasses, a discarded toy and the return of the astronaut tie all the tales together.


The sentences and phrases used for each letter number as high as eleven and as low as two.  Sometimes Oliver Jeffers uses succinct thoughts, short, to convey exactly what he wants readers to know.  Other times alliterative descriptions boggle your mind at their ingenuity.  More than once he uses a combination of rhyming words to depict his story.  Additions of conversations between characters and narrator asides increase the humor.  Before a story begins one page is devoted to a brief introduction.  As each letter's words are read you can't help but be amazed how Jeffers connects one to another.  Here is a sample letter.

I
The INVENTOR
There once lived an ingenious
inventor who invented many
ingenious things.
His latest invention allowed
him to observe iguanas in their
natural habitat...
...incognito.  

(Two iguanas talking)
Is that an iceberg?
I've no idea


The electric red dust jacket shouts out, "Hey readers!  Look at me!"  Oliver Jeffers includes the astronaut and the Zeppelin, the beginning and the end, on the front.  On the back of the jacket the alphabet is listed in rows in a darker shade of red.  O, R, S, T and Y are in white arranged to flow spelling story.  Embossed in the book case, which is the darker red shade, are eight rows of the letters of the alphabet in the jacket color.  Spread across the white opening endpapers are the capital letters of the alphabet again in the jacket red.  Small elements from the twenty-six stories are cleverly pictured on the closing endpapers.  The title page combines letters from the front and back of the dust jacket.

Each introductory page includes the heading, a large capital letter and a small significant visual.  Jeffers illustrations range from double page to single page to smaller insets.  Every detail is important; the text never says it but Danger Delilah is juggling daggers and naturally there is a fly zipping around from page to page near the frog,   You never know when something from one letter will appear with another regardless of the text; the ladder sticking out of a hole in the background for the letter L comes in mighty handy during the letter U story.  Many details from the O story reappear in this title or have appeared in another book entirely.  Jeffers artwork is playfully marvelous.

One of my favorite illustrations is a smaller one at the close of the L story.  The lumberjack who has been struck by lightning repeatedly is sitting up in his bed reading.  He is holding a glowing light bulb in his hand.  It looks as though there are bears on his pajamas.  The book he is reading is titled Once Upon An Alphabet.  The entire image is done in black and white.


Once Upon An Alphabet:  Short Stories For All The Letters written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers is a rich and rare alphabet book.  As soon as you close the back cover I'm certain you'll open up the front and read it all over again not once but many more times.  I would plan on having more than one copy available to your readers.

To learn more about Oliver Jeffers please follow the link embedded in his name to his website.  This link takes you to an interview at NPR All Things Considered.  Oliver Jeffers talks about this book and reads several of the stories aloud.

If Not You, Then Who?

When a squabble starts it can be easily resolved or last for generations.  Some say its cause might be the weather, making people crankier than usual.  Some look skyward, blaming the full moon.  It could be for a tiny slight unknown except by one party or it could be for a huge infraction known to many.

There are those who enjoy arguing for the sake of arguing; the enjoyment of intelligent debating makes them happy. Then again, it could be a disagreement between the Hueys.   Yes, friends the Hueys introduced to readers in The Hueys in The New Sweater  (Philomel Books, May 24, 2012) have returned.  Written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, The Hueys in It Wasn't Me (Philomel Books, an imprint of penguin Group (USA), is a clever personality piece in the puzzle known as the world of Hueys.

The thing about the Hueys...
...was that most of the time they got along.

Sometimes, the Hueys did not get along.  In fact when Gillespie comes upon a group of five, they are all talking at once.  This is not a polite conversation but full-blown bickering.

Gillespie, being his curious self, wants to know the root of this quarrel.  Well, I guess you know the current shouting stops and shifts.  Now the blame game begins in earnest.  Fingers are being pointed and denials escalate.

Voices get louder as not one of the Hueys agrees with another.  Gillespie attempts to get their attention. His single word is lost in the ever-increasing volume of verbal exchanges. Finally shouting himself---

WAIT!

Gillespie is greeted with silence.

Now he can again ask his initial question.  Gillespie is a Huey unlike the others.  Gillespie needs to learn.  Their mumbled answers prompt a statement from the wise-beyond-his-years Gillespie that sends everyone running and readers bursting out in uncontrollable giggles or maybe groans.


What works well in this book, even more so than in the first Huey volume, is the inter-play of narrative with dialogue.  The narrative makes observations but the ruckus created by the Hueys' words encourages reader involvement.  I daresay there's probably not a single individual who has not uttered those very words at one time or at least heard someone else say them.  Oliver Jeffers has the artful use of language firmly in place.


Making excellent use of white space and a bold, bright blue Oliver Jeffers makes sure readers, even those who have not met the Hueys yet, will pick up this newest title.  On the back he cheerfully invites us to investigate this story but to also explore the first title by using an illustration from the first of the multitude of Hueys gathered around the microphone and speaker.  A single Huey is holding up a sign in the lower corner which displays the ISBN.

Readers will appreciate how Jeffers includes the opening and closing endpapers as visual parts of the story.  Several speech bubbles connecting two or more of the Hueys depict the motivation for the first round of controversy.  (I won't disclose the bubbles' contents in order to keep from spoiling the story for you.)  Even Gillespie is making arm motions in the corner as a form of foreshadowing on the opening endpapers.

White space acts as a canvas on all the pages except for three; one in peach, another in a darker shade of blue and a third in mint green.  For the most part when the Hueys are shown on the white pages they are wearing colorful one piece outfits covering everything but their faces.  When the background changes they appear as black and white figures...except for two very important two-page spreads.

It's truly a gift as to how Jeffers makes readers love these characters shaped like eggs with stick figure legs and arms.  With perfect placement of his pencil on the page, a variety of emotions are conveyed. I think one of my favorite two pages is when Gillespie asks his final question.  It sums up the fantastic flow, the impeccable pacing, found in this title.


I cannot stop smiling.  I have read The Hueys in It Wasn't Me by Oliver Jeffers over and over.  Every single time I burst out laughing.  Sometimes we know exactly why we find ourselves in the middle of an argument but even if we forget like the Hueys do, let's hope Gillespie comes strolling by offering up his sage advice.

Please follow the link to Oliver Jeffers' website embedded in his name for more information about his other books and professional endeavors.  Here are several videos you might enjoy watching.

Colorful Complaints

Among all the papers, embellishments, ribbons, letters, pencils, pens, stamps and doodads I use for making my own greeting cards, is an unused box of 96 crayons. When I open the lid the smell is laden with decades of memories of many other boxes of crayons used with pleasure.  The colors, lined up at attention in rows, are a rainbow of possibilities.

Any size box of crayons offers endless potential for recreating what we see, doodling or filling in the spaces in our favorite coloring books. In my kindergarten years I never drew a picture without a rainbow tucked in somewhere.  To this day I have to stop to look whenever I see one stretched across the sky reminding me they are like opening a box of crayons.

You have to appreciate an author who imagines how the crayons in a box might feel about their individual treatment. The Day the Crayons Quit (Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.) by Drew Daywalt with illustrations by Oliver Jeffers finds twelve crayons in a bit of a dither.  In fact they are so upset they decide to take matters into their own... er...hands.

One day in class, Duncan went
to take out his crayons and found
a stack of letters with his name
on them.

To his surprise (I'm sure), the letters were from his crayons.  The first to air his frustrations is the color red, believing he works harder than the others.  He's absolutely pooped from all the pressure of his efforts on holidays.  No other color is used in the creation of the red-suited guy at Christmas or in all those hearts on Valentine's Day.

Who knew a crayon would nitpick about someone staying within the lines?  Not calling a color by its proper name can send them into a deep depression.  Not using them enough makes a bad situation even worse.

Gray is ever hopeful for smaller subjects to color; he finds whales, elephants and hippos exhausting.  Grumbling with just cause, white and black make solid points; why is the one rarely seen and the other usually seen as a line of varying widths.  One of the calmer, cool as a cucumber crayons, has a concern about two others bickering about the color of the sun.  Needless to say they both have written to Duncan, stating their claims in no uncertain terms.

Being a favorite color is no fun either.  You end up being rather diminished in the height department.  And what about the color that would never be used if it wasn't for Duncan's sister?  Where is Duncan's freedom of expression?  Clever and kindhearted guy that he is, Duncan's resolution is picture perfect but tape or glue might have been needed to fix peach's problem.


Lucky for we readers, it would appear Drew Daywalt has the very special gift of being able to speak and understand "crayon".  Every thought expressed by each of these colors is exactly what we might expect them to say.  Their range of emotional unhappiness or contentedness, in the case of green, is precisely and concisely stated.

It's the word choices, the emphasis, which will make readers laugh.  Even though the crayons are not pleased with Duncan each signs their letter as your _____ friend or your _____ pal.  Here are a couple of sentences from one of the letters.  Can you guess the color?

I'm not even in the rainbow.
I'm only used to color
SNOW or to fill in empty
space between other things.
And it leaves me feeling...
...well...empty.  We need
to talk.


You know you're in for some great artwork with liberal amounts of humorous touches when you read this in the publication information.

The art for this book was made with...um...crayons.

Fully animated, disgruntled, sign-carrying crayons on pieces of lined composition paper displayed across the matching, front and back, jacket and cover give a clear indication of events to come.  Miniature crayons patterned on the opening and closing endpapers continue the theme as does the title page; a single box of crayons closed with several signs lying near, one reading

We're not happy

Each of the letters is depicted on the left-hand side of a two page spread written in the correct color of the crayon having their say.  Different shaped, different styles of, paper provide the backdrop for the letters. If you were looking inside a student's desk at school, this is the kind of paper you might find there.

The childlike drawings on the right-hand side along with the cranky crayons are flawless, lively.  I can't help but wonder if the coloring book pages are real or from the hand of  Oliver Jeffers; the illustrations for this title couldn't be better.  It's a draw as to whether the red pages or the gray pages are my favorite.


I've been saving the reading of The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt with illustrations by Oliver Jeffers for the perfect day.  Yesterday was that day.  I knew it was going to be good but I had no idea how truly playful it would be.  I've read it over and over to myself and aloud.  Voices for each of the colors make it even better.

Please follow the link embedded in Oliver Jeffers name to access his personal website.  This is a link to the International Reading Association site containing an article, Putting Books to Work: Daywalt and Jeffers' THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT   In case you have not seen the video about Oliver Jeffers yet, I've included it below.

"Orange" You Glad You're Different

As they say, if I've heard it once I've heard it a hundred times from my Dad, "Just because everyone else jumps off the cliff, doesn't mean you have to jump."  Individuality was a virtue in our household.  So in my mind, you can never have too many books that highlight the importance of being exactly who you are, of doing exactly what you believe you should do or not being afraid to stick out like a sore thumb.

As an author/illustrator, Oliver Jeffers has distinguished himself with each and every picture book to his credit by winning numerous awards and honors.  His stories are surprising, versatile and just plain different in their singular approach with narrative and illustration.  The Hueys in The New Sweater (Philomel Books), the first in an expected series, Jeffers's newest title, was released on May 24, 2012.

The thing about the Hueys...
...was that they were all the same.

Not only do the Hueys look the same, with the exception of the younger ones who are smaller, but they think and do everything the others are doing.  And there are not just a few Hueys but lots and lots of Hueys as if they've popped off an assembly line.  Things are about to change because one of the Hueys, named Rupert, has an idea, one that none of them has ever had before.

This fresh thought has him doing an activity unique to the Hueys' way of life; Rupert is knitting. Not only is he knitting but he is knitting an orange sweater with two distinct zig-zags, one red, the other white, right in the middle of the garment. Up to this point the Hueys have gone unclothed.  A sweater?!

Of course in the realm of Hueydom his new creation is viewed with whispered conversations, shock and crying; until he goes to Gillespie.  Gillespie is looking at Rupert, wondering what he might look like in a snazzy article of yarn such as that.  He's thinking different is a pretty good thing.

Before you can say knit one, purl two, Rupert and Gillespie are looking like and as happy as two peas in a pod, identical in appearance.  What was odd when one does something is stylish when two do it.  Soon it's an orange sweater craze.

As far as the eye can see, different, a la Rupert, has completely caught on.  Readers already know Rupert is no ordinary Huey.  Will he do anything else?  If so, what's next?  He might be on to something.

Oliver Jeffers is a genius with pencils used in these illustrations, along with a bit of orange as stated in the verso.  Pristine white front endpapers show five Huey poses done in a light black or gray; casual, moseying around.  The title page still in shades of black on white have a couple of Hueys chatting, cups and saucers in hand. 

Throughout the remainder of the book the Hueys are shown engaged in activities, thinking and displays of emotion; always drawn in the same color but the background shifts from white to sand to pink to mint to sky usually a single page unless illuminating an important part of the text; the color then extends across the center to a double. Jeffers's deft skill in depicting his figures' feelings and movement with a single line is extraordinary.  His placement of visuals on the pages draws the reader into and along with the story.

I could not help but compare the Hueys with those eggs you can open up in the middle, prizes revealed.  In the beginning I imagine opening them up to emptiness or complete sameness, except for Rupert.  When you open up Rupert, inside you see the world; a sea of endless possibilities.  I love The Hueys in The New Sweater written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers for its delightful, novel introduction to the perception of being different and to an endearing group of beings.

Follow the link attached to Oliver Jeffers name above to go to his official website.  This link is for his author page at HarperCollins.  Here is the book trailer from HarperCollinsCanada.  Notice the change of sweater to jumper.  The video beneath this is one of several author videos posted by PenguinYoungReaders on YouTube.