An Intersection Of History

To this day, I can't believe my parents allowed it.  To this day, I can't believe I did it.  What were they thinking?!  What was I thinking?!

One fine day when I was still in high school, my friend and I left our tiny community and arrived at another tiny neighboring community.  After appropriate procedures and some hefty propeller spinning, the two of us lifted into the air in a two-seater plane built by her father and another man.  My friend, at sixteen, had her pilot's license.  To see our town and our homes from the air was amazing.  All those moments are firmly embedded in my mind and heart as a perfect day.

Nearly sixty years earlier, someone else had what must have been a perfect day.  Wilbur Wright Meets Lady Liberty (Christy Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt And Company, March 9, 2021) written by Robert Burleigh with illustrations by Wendell Minor is an exciting recounting of a historical ride lasting less than ten minutes. For every one of those minutes, you, like the spectators and Wilbur Wright, are enchanted and enveloped in euphoria.

It won't work!  This guy Wilbur Wright must be out of his mind!

I'll believe it only when I see it!

What will people dream up next?  Flying to the moon? 

Those were only a few of the thoughts voiced by the crowd gathered on September 29, 1909.  They wanted an answer to the question of the Wright Flyer really being able to perform.  Wilbur Wright was ready and prepared.  He had a canoe attached to the bottom of the plane, just in case something unexpected happened.

On the water, a congregation of boats and ships, including the Lusitania, were waiting for the flight.  Newspaper reporters stood by in hopes of headlines.  Wilbur Wright took his seat.  The combination of the spinning propeller and the runway lifted the Wright Flyer into the air.  Soon Wilbur Wright was moving at one hundred feet above land and water.

Below him was a city and its people in miniature.  Ahead of him was the Statue of Liberty.  Can you imagine being this man?  He had to get close but not too close.  Even though his focus was firmly on his task, Wilbur Wright could not help but hear the shifting tones of the people below and around him.  Gripping the levers, his feet resting on the bar, Wilbur Wright skillfully maneuvered the plane around this immense symbol of all that is supposed to be held true in these United States of America.

The chorus of celebration was a roar (and so was the foghorn from the great luxury liner).  When Wilbur placed the plane back on Governors' Island, he was swarmed by news people.  Maybe dreams do come true.

For the time you are reading this book, the world around you fades away.  Robert Burleigh skillfully takes his research and forms a realistic, historical narrative.  He brings the sensory experience of that day felt by Wilbur Wright and the spectators to readers with each sentence he writes.  To make it more inviting and inspiring to all ages, he takes the presence of ten-year-old Juan Trippe at this flight and brings his voice into the discussion four times.  (Juan Trippe learned to fly and founded Pan American Airways.)  Here is a passage.

Careful! Is the Flyer too close?  Wilbur hears the

roar of alarmed voices---a roller coaster of cries.  He

understands so well:  If even one tip of the Flyer's wing

touches the statue, he will spin crazily out of control

and plunge to his death.

Looking at the color palette used in this book, first seen on the matching and open dust jacket and book case, you are reminded of air and water.  It's as if artist Wendell Minor has captured those elements and placed them within his paintings.  On the right, front, he uses the red canoe placed on the Wright Flyer by Wilbur to add a bit of color to the text, too.  On the dust jacket, the text, Wright Flyer and Statue of Liberty are varnished.

On the left, back, is a scene as Wilbur flies over the water.  A tug moves from left to right, smoke steaming from its stack.  In the background, on the right, is an important historical building known to those who immigrated to the United States.  Above this, Wilbur slides through the sky in the Wright Flyer.

On the opening endpapers is a recreation of a newspaper headline from this notable date.  It is done in sepia tones.  On the closing endpapers, Wendell Minor has created a map of Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Hudson River, the East River, Governors' Island, and the Statue of Liberty.  It is carefully labeled and there are two explanatory sentences.  It shows the route Wilbur flew.

Across the verso and title pages is a panoramic view of the spectators, thousands gathered along the water.  Several trees show signs of autumn beginnings.  Most of the page is sky, hazy with blue and clouds.  Flying high on the left is Wilbur in the Wright Flyer.

These illustrations rendered using 

gouache watercolor on Strathmore 500 Bristol paper,

like the text, take you back in time.  Some of them are single-page pictures.  Others are vast views spanning two pages.  The details are highly intricate.  Both the Wright Flyer and the Statue of Liberty are breathtakingly portrayed.  One wordless two-page image is stunning.  (Juan Trippe is always in sepia tones.)

One of my many favorite illustrations is a full-page picture.  It is a closeup of Wilbur Wright seated in the Wright Flyer.  Dressed in a suit, tie, white shirt, and cap, he looks nothing like a pilot except for the firm, determined set of his jaw and look of concentration in his eyes.  Each hand is grasping a lever.  His legs are stretched in front of him, and his feet are placed on the bar.  Some of the mechanics are visible on the left.  Behind him are pieces of sky.

Each time I read Wilbur Wright Meets Lady Liberty written by Robert Burleigh with illustrations by Wendel Minor, I am astonished at the accomplishment achieved on this day.  Through the words and images, you can feel the intensity in each of those minutes.  At the close of the book is an AUTHOR'S NOTE divided with these headings, Into the Air---Maybe!, September 29, 1909: Look Up, America!, and Some Interesting Facts About the Wright Brothers and the New York Flights.  There is also an ILLUSTRATOR'S NOTE.  Included is a bibliography for both older and younger readers and a quote source.

To learn more about Robert Burleigh and Wendell Minor and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Robert Burleigh has an account on Facebook.  Wendell Minor has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  On Pinterest Florence Minor, an author and Wendell's wife, has a board highlighting some of their books.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.

A Wee Winged Warrior

If you listen closely, you'll hear them before you see them.  By remaining as still as possible, they'll hover close to you as they sip sweet nectar.  From your peripheral vision their striking colors are vividly apparent through a blur of wings.  Their size would seem to delegate them as delicate beings, but that is far from the truth.

Each year they endure an arduous adventure few humans would undertake.  Tiny Bird: A Hummingbird's Amazing Journey (Christy Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt and Company, April 14, 2020) written by Robert Burleigh with illustrations by Wendell Minor explores every aspect of this feat through facts, an exquisitely descriptive narrative and realistic, remarkable paintings.  You will enjoy memorable moments as you marvel at this inspiring wonder found in nature.

Today is the day.

In the yard,
the last orange flowers
open their petals to the slanting sun.

Three inches in length, a ruby-throated hummingbird seeks food within the orange flowers.  Wings moving rapidly, nearly imperceptible, help it to suspend above the petals.  It darts with efficient and succinct speed, sipping vital nectar necessary for the journey about to begin.

Tiny Bird, this ruby-throated hummingbird, knows with the arrival of autumn, its flight starts soon.  This bird, all alone, heads south of this well-known yard in the northeastern section of the United States.  Sometimes thirty miles an hour are traveled just above the treetops.  Along the way Tiny Bird still sips nectar from flowers and spears the occasional insect when diving closer to the ground.

In the nick of time Tiny Bird escapes the clutches of a hawk.  At times Tiny Bird rests, but the need to keep going is strong.  Soon the Gulf of Mexico stretches before the ruby-throated hummingbird.  It crosses this large body of water flying without stopping for more than twenty-hours.  With skill Tiny Bird uses waves to block the wind but watch out!  It's another close call by a predator.

Then the worst happens, a mighty storm.  Tiny Bird is losing strength fighting the wild weather. Salvation comes from two sources before the little creature continues once more.  Thankfully, in the light of a rising sun, a southern home is spotted.  A reward of rest and a banquet found in flowers await this wee winged warrior.


Information is woven into poetic lines by master of words, author Robert Burleigh.  Sound effects add authenticity to the narrative.  Alliterative and rhyming text supply a soothing but captivating cadence.  Readers are fully invested in this breathtaking and challenging trek.  Here is a passage.

Zap!
It flits down.

Flower to flower,
backward, forward, under, over,
like an acrobat of the air!

Radiant green feathers glimmering,
ruby throat shimmering,
Tiny Bird delicately dips its beak
into the heart of each flower,
extracting precious nectar.


The enlarged view of the ruby-throated hummingbird, Tiny Bird, on the front of the dust jacket (I am working with an F & G at the moment, awaiting the arrival of the new release.) brings readers close to this astonishing being.  The intricate details will have you longing to have the bird take a moment's rest on your outstretched hand.  The pale blue wash of the sky provides a wonderful canvas for the brilliant bird and flower.

To the left, on the back, a dark grass green background, one of the many hues in the small bird, showcases an oval image taken from the interior of the book.  It is a startling scene of the ruby-throated hummingbird struggling to survive during a fierce thunderstorm.  An introductory sentence arches above the illustration.

On the opening and closing endpapers are a series of explanatory images about these amazing birds.  Each illustration is captioned with facts.  The size of their nest is compared to a coin, their stature with spread wings is shown, their egg is compared to another familiar egg and there is a map of this ruby-throated hummingbird's route.

These pictures, paintings by Wendell Minor, are rendered using

gouache watercolor on Strathmore 500 Bristol paper.

Each one is connected to the next, like a row of artwork hanging in a gallery.  Wendell Minor brings us close to Tiny Bird in a double-page picture or a series of smaller visuals.  Then he takes us to larger settings or landscapes so we can appreciate the astounding nature of this bird's life and trip to the south.  Sometimes we are observers and other times it's as if we are Tiny Bird.  We gasp at its near brushes with death and sigh when it is safe.

Each brush stroke adds life to each painting in a pattern of light and shadow.  The portrayal of movement is stunning.  We can readily hear the hum of rapidly beating wings, the rush of air from an ocean breeze along the Gulf of Mexico or the rumble and crash of thunder and lightning in a horrific tempest.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture.  It's a depiction of the storm Tiny Bird flies through during the crossing of the Gulf of Mexico.   The upper portion of the image is a darkened sky marbled with angry clouds only broken by a flash of lightning, forks extending to the horizon.  The horizon, a line, above the churning and white-capped water is an eerie golden shade.  The wind-tossed waves span the lower section of the scene.  On the right above splashing droplets of water flies Tiny Bird.  We are very close.  One eye is shown, determined and focused.  The wings are shown frozen in flight, one extended from the body and the other downward before it raises again.  You can feel the supreme struggle Tiny Bird is experiencing.


Compelling at every page turn, Tiny Bird: A Hummingbird's Amazing Journey written by Robert Burleigh with illustrations by Wendell Minor is an excellent informational picture book.  At the close of the book a section titled Fun Facts About Hummingbirds furnishes further items under headings such as How Tiny?, Really, Really Tiny, A Little Bird with a Big Appetite, More Than a Few Days and Feisty Hummingbirds Defend Their Territory (to name a few.)  There is also a page dedicated to How to Become a Member of the Hummingbird Helper Club. This section begins with a reminder to look, but don't touch them.  We are encouraged to plant particular types of flowers, place hummingbird feeders in our yards, given instructions on how to make a feeder and fill it with proper food and finally a list of books is shared.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Robert Burleigh and Wendell Minor and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  At Wendell Minor's website you can view illustrations from this book, including one of my favorite ones.  Wendell Minor has accounts on Facebook and Twitter. (One of Wendell Minor's biggest fans is his lovely wife, Florence, who is also an author.  She has an account on Instagram where you can see his work.)  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.

UPDATE:  Wendell Minor is interviewed at author James Preller's Blog about this book, birds and birding, our natural world and his amazing body of work and his art.


Be sure to visit educator Alyson Beecher's site, Kid Lit Frenzy, this week to view the selections chosen by other participants in the 2020 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Portraits Of America

In the course of American history, there will always be women and men whose names are synonymous with their accomplishments. Their achievements, some over the course of their lives or for others one shining moment, will not be erased by time.  From generation to generation who they are and what they do are remembered.

As often quoted, many of them will find a firm place in the psyche of Americans for how they make people feel.  One man who presented everyday, and at times extraordinary, circumstances continues to give us a view of his truth.  Hi, I'm Norman: The Story of American Illustrator NORMAN ROCKWELL (A Paula Wiseman Book, Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, October 1, 2019) written by Robert Burleigh with art by Wendell Minor is a personal look at this remarkable man and his love of making art with paints and brushes.

Hi, I'm Norman.  Norman Rockwell.  Come on in.

Norman Rockwell, as an adult, invites readers into his studio.  It's a welcoming place for him to concentrate on his work but this is not the first place Norman, as he tells us, made art.  He has fond memories of drawing with pencil and paper on the family dining room table as his father reads aloud.  The characters in the book are his subjects.

Never one to join in the more athletic activities of the boys in his neighborhood, his workspace is the sidewalk.  The boys ask him to draw something and he does, taking chalk from his pocket.  In grade school, one of his teachers has him draw scenes on the chalkboard regarding whatever they are studying.  (Academics is not his forte, but drawing is his gift.)

When attending art school, it is challenging at times for Norman, but he is determined, improving and improving more.  He takes his learned skills and paints whatever he can to earn money.  (Did you know he placed

100% in gold at the top of his easel?)

He works until whatever he does cannot not be improved.

At the age of twenty-two he takes some of his work to the Saturday Evening Post.  They are looking for cover illustrations.  On the spot all five of Norman's illustrations are accepted. Norman eventually does more than 300 covers for the Saturday Evening Post.

Norman likes to doodle into existence his ideas for his work.  Then he combines his drawings to tell a story.  He uses models, even animals.  (The turkey incident is tricky.)

Life through Norman's eyes is at its best, but he does not shy away from the harder aspects people, regular people, face during war or as in one of his more famous paintings of Ruby Bridges (The Problem We All Live With) walking to school guarded by four U. S. Marshalls.  Norman closes his discussion with readers by returning to work on a commemorative painting of himself wrapping a Happy Birthday ribbon around the Liberty Bell.


There is an openness evident as soon as you begin this book written by Robert Burleigh.  You get a very real sense of the passion Norman has for his work as we journey with him from boyhood to his becoming a skillful artist.  The research done by this author comes through in every conversational sentence Norman presents to us.  It's as if we are standing with him in his studio and he is painting a picture of his life through his words.  When Robert Burleigh takes a five-word sentence from earlier in the book and uses it again to bring all the parts of Norman's life together, it's wonderful.  Here are two passages.

I can still picture the room where the art students
worked:  the gray light drifting down through the 
skylights, the smudged walls, and the floors littered
with rags and hardened paint.  But who cares?  If you
love something, you take the bad with it too, right?

Funny, but I sometimes felt I was chasing and at the same time being
chased.  Chasing my dream of becoming a great artist.  But also being chased
by the fear that I wasn't good enough.


On the matching dust jacket and book case, artist Wendell Minor, in a stroke of design genius, gives us two perspectives in this single visual.  Norman is looking at us as he paints the picture we see behind his right shoulder.  His personality, his love of his painting, shines on the features of his face.  Portions of this illustration are varnished.

To the left of the spine, on the back, we see Norman as a boy drawing with chalk on the sidewalk.  Two of the other boys are seated and kneeling near him, watching closely as a lion takes shape before their eyes.  A contented cat sits outside on a window ledge.

On the opening endpapers Wendell Minor features a younger Norman, standing in a field, looking directly at readers as he gently holds a frog.  An older Norman, the narrator of this book, is riding his bike down the street in Stockbridge, Massachusetts where he moved in 1953 on the closing endpapers.  These two images, other than those on the jacket and case, show Norman as he showed others, extraordinary in their ordinariness.

Each illustration,

rendered in watercolor, gouache, and pencil

in Wendell Minor's unmistakable style stands alone but is also an intricate part of the exquisite whole these combined visuals create in this book.  On the title page a young Norman carrying a fishing pole is standing with his dog on grass and wildflowers with a circular pastoral scene behind him.  On the verso and dedication pages an older Norman is shown standing in the entrance to his studio with the building and lush green grass, shrubs and trees framing him as they fill the page and a third visual.

With every page turn we see either groups of smaller illustrations, a small framed illustration, a full-page picture, or double-page visual, most in full color, but sometimes Norman as narrator is shown in black and white near another image.  Every detail is finely fashioned with delicate or broader brushstrokes dictated by the elements in the illustration.  Sometimes Wendell Minor has us outside looking in at Norman working or next to him in front of his easel.  The use of light and shadow, as always in his work, is marvelous.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a single-page picture.  It is a close-up of a window with a pigeon on the outside of the sill.  Through the window we can see a young-adult Norman seated in a chair in front of his easel.  He is wearing a smock, holding his palette in his left-hand and painting with a brush in his right hand.  His subject is a boy, dressed in winter garb, skating across the ice and holding a hockey stick.  You can plainly see the 100% at the top of his easel.


To have two great creators themselves working on this book, Hi, I'm Norman: The Story of American Illustrator NORMAN ROCKWELL, elevates this tribute of an American icon.  Robert Burleigh gives us intimate insights through Norman's voice due to his research.  Wendell Minor paints with the same sure knowledge through his study of Norman Rockwell.  In their notes at the close of the book, their respect for Norman Rockwell is clear as is their gratitude for being able to tell his story in this title.  In addition to their notes there is extensive back matter.  There is a two-page continuation of facts about Norman Rockwell's life.  There is a list of Rockwell's paintings rendered by Wendell Minor in order of their appearance in this book.  There is an important date timeline.  Five of Norman Rockwell's paintings are shown:  Checkers, Freedom from Fear, Art Critic, The Problem We All Live With and Liberty Bell.  There is a bibliography of books and some Norman Rockwell quotes.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Robert Burleigh and Wendell Minor and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Wendell Minor has accounts on Facebook and Twitter. (One of Wendell Minor's biggest fans is his lovely wife, Florence, who is also an author.  She has an account on Instagram where you can see his work.)  At the Norman Rockwell Museum website this book is showcased with interior artwork images.  At the publisher's website you can view other interior images, mainly from the beginning of the book.  Please take a few moments to watch this video of Wendell Minor talking about his work on this book.




Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the titles selected this week by other participants in the 2019 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Gliding Through The Darkness

If you stand still, there is no sound outside tonight, not even the whisper of a north wind.  As soon as you move your breath is serenaded by the crunch of snow beneath your boots.  It's easy to believe in a special kind of magic on this evening in December.

If a long, low whistle sounds in the distance, you'll know passengers are traveling to a special place along the nearby rails.  Night Train, Night Train (Charlesbridge, October 9, 2018) written by Robert Burleigh with illustrations by Wendell Minor is about a similar journey where the everyday becomes marvelous and new.  Light and shadows cast a spell.

Train ride! Bump-bump.
Chug-chug. Slow.
Faster.  Faster.
Off we go.

A child looks out a train window as it leaves the station.  As it moves through the darkness all he can see is shades of gray.  Before too long the engine pulls the cars over a road, spots of red flash.

Through the countryside it goes.  Look!  A blue hue glows in a single window in a farmhouse gable.  Alabaster sparkles from a single star.  Color springs uninvited by the night but is nevertheless welcome.

Metal on metal flares into a familiar combination.  Along a busy highway a sign glimmers as it points toward a destination.  Water laps along a shoreline beneath a bridge.  Light beams from a full moon.

Speeding down the track the train streaks toward another station.  Inside on his seat the boy drifts into dreams.  Soon the shades of gray are banished by the rays of a rising sun.  A new day begins.


After reading the first set of four lines readers will feel the urge to read this book aloud.  Robert Burleigh takes the rhythm of riding on a train and incorporates it into each phrase, rhyming the second and fourth words.   In-between the introduction of nine colors amid those phrases, a repetition of the four-word title plus additional descriptors further defines the train and travel on this train.  Here are some passages.

Round. Yellow.
Mr. Moon.
Watching.  Whispering,
"Be there soon."

Night train, night train, beam-of-light train.


When you look to see the illustrator's name on the front of the opened dust jacket, you realize this is a departure from the usual work of this beloved artist.  After reading the book you can't imagine any other medium or style working as beautifully as the graphite on paper and digital choices of Wendell Minor.  The limited palette, gray, black, white, blue and yellow, on the front (right) of the dust jacket beckons to us.  To the left, on the back, the boy, holding his teddy bear is close to us as he gazes out the train window.  Red, white and blue are elements in this view, too.

A textured gray paper (cloth) covers the book case.  Along the bottom of the front a train track is embossed.  Above this in silver foil is the title of the book.  A soft charcoal is used for the opening endpapers.  On the closing endpapers a pale yellow announces the dawn.

Beneath the text on the title page the boy's suitcase is placed, covered in travel stickers.  His smiling teddy bear is seated next to it.  Opposite the verso and dedication page, which contains a thumbnail of the front of the dust jacket, is a wordless picture of the boy looking out the window.  His teddy bear sits next to him on the seat.  Light outlines them as it does other items throughout the book.

For each of the full page pictures a large border of white frames them.  This is followed by magnificent double-page illustrations spanning from page edge to page edge.  Wendell Minor elevates the mood of the narrative and its pacing by bringing us close to the scene or giving us a more panoramic view.  Sometimes the gutter and borders separate two pieces of a larger image.  The details, light and shading ask us to pause at each picture.

One of my many, many favorite pictures is nearly a bird's eye view of a small community along a river.  It spans two pages.  On the left older buildings, homes and a church with a tall spire nestle together.  The train speeds along the track at the bottom, left to right.  On the right the river stretches to the tree line and horizon.  It's starting to cross a bridge.  Wendell has added spots of colors already mentioned in the poem; an orange light in the church window, a blue shooting star, a red light on the right river bank, white stars, a purple glow in another building and black and gray.  (Every time a color is named the font is changed from white to that specific color.)


The mix of narrative and artwork creates a soothing, rhythmic feeling whenever you read Night Train, Night Train written by Robert Burleigh with illustrations by Wendell Minor.  To acquaint readers with colors and travel on a train, this title is a stunning choice.  It would be wonderful with a storytelling train theme, as a quiet time or drifting-off-to-dreamland bedtime book.  I love this book! (Wendell Minor talks about the locomotive in the pictures at the conclusion in an illustrator's note.)

If you want to learn more about Robert Burleigh or Wendell Minor and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  Wendell Minor maintains an account on Twitter.

Delivered From Danger

Technology today affords us connectivity unlike anything we have ever experienced previously.  The deeds of a worthy hero can go viral within mere minutes.  Other times only the rescued and rescuer silently observe the events.

On a Sunday at 8:30 in the morning on December 11, 2005 a crab fisherman, eighteen miles off the shore of San Francisco in open water, noticed a humpback whale in serious distress.  It was tangled in crab trap ropes and pots.  The weight was making it almost impossible for the whale to successfully breath.  Trapped!  A Whale's Rescue (Charlesbridge, April 14, 2015) written by Robert Burleigh with paintings by Wendell Minor is a fascinating retelling of this true story.

The huge humpback whale dips and dives.  Her sleek black sides shimmering, she spyhops, lobtails, flashes her flukes.

On one of mammals' longest known migratory trips, she is making her way from the northern polar region along the California coast to more tropical waters.  She consumes massive amounts of krill in her daily diet.  This mighty queen of the ocean is free to perform her spectacular dance.

What she does not know is the lines attached to crab pots left by fisherman are in her path. (Each rope can be up to 240 feet long with traps weighing 90 pounds attached.)  Soon they are wrapped around her.  She cannot free herself. They are so tight, they cut into her body.  Her struggles leave her exhausted.

Still in the water a sound reaches her.  Boats with rescuers arrive.  The only way to save her is to risk their lives by diving next to her and cutting the ropes.  It may be too late already.  Nearly seven hours have passed since she was first sighted.

They cautiously begin to slice the lines.  Any movement she makes could kill one of them.  When the final rope falls away from her body, she does not swim away.  She circles her liberators.

No one can explain what she does next.  No one can know what she is thinking.  One by one each diver is nudged as if in gratitude.  It is unforgettable.


Through lyrical sentences Robert Burleigh brings readers full circle.  He begins with descriptions of the whale's beauty in moving above, through and below the water, easily giving us a sensory perception of her life.  As the ropes trap her, the tone created by his words darkens, causing us to feel her loss of freedom and her sense of despair.  With the arrival of the divers, a shift in his word choices allows us to comprehend the risk of her rescue.  His final three phrases clearly define her remarkable actions.  Here is another sample passage.

With each thrust of her tail, she tries.
Her sides heave.  She flops.  She flounders.
At last the great whale shudders and lies still.


In a stunning image extending across the open matching dust jacket and book case, Wendell Minor brings us immediately into the enormity of the situation.  His painting portrays with realistic and emotional accuracy.  A shade of the blue used in the text for the title becomes the background color for the opening and closing endpapers.  Beneath the words on the title page, Minor has painted a close-up of the whale's eye watching the diver cut away the rope caught in her mouth.  Across the two pages for the publication information and dedication, a fishing boat is off to the left as a whale tale breaches the ocean surface, water dripping and splashing.

All of the illustrations rendered in gouache span two pages edge to edge with the exception of four single pages framed in small white borders.  Minor's paintings breath as if alive; giving us sight, sound and smell.  We can see the grace, the majesty, of the whale's movements.  His altered perceptions give us a true sense of her size in comparison to the divers and boats.  We watch in wonder as she moves among the swimmers, finally free again.

One of my favorite illustrations is the final wordless spread.  A clear night sky filled with stars is shown for most of the two pages.  Beneath is a calm sea.  Just off to the right of the gutter a full moon glows.  In the center a whale emerges from the water fins outstretched.  Her body is outlined in luminescence.  A streak of light is painted across the sky as her left fin arches.  The beauty will make you gasp or sigh or both.


Trapped!  A Whale's Rescue written by Robert Burleigh with paintings by Wendell Minor is a stunning recreation.  Every bookshelf will want to hold a place for this blend of words and artwork which compose a beautiful nonfiction picture book.  At the close of the title are two pages of columns of information, Behind The Story, Rescuing Whales, More About Humpback Whales and Did You Know?  This is followed by a page of print and online resources.

To learn more about Robert Burleigh and Wendell Minor and their work please follow the links attached to their names taking you to their websites. This link takes you to the publisher's website where you can view an interior image from the book.  This links to a discussion guide developed by the publisher.  Here is a link to a newspaper article in the SFGate (San Francisco).  Another resource for learning about humpback whales is these pages in ARKive.  This page from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife gives you an idea of the shape and size of the crab traps.  Scroll to the bottom for size and weight. Enjoy the whale song video.

Please be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by Alyson Beecher to see what other participants have included in their 2015 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge this week.

Here is a fun tweet from John Schumacher, teacher librarian extraordinaire who hosts Watch. Connect. Read.

Trapped! A Whale's Rescue https://t.co/NXwWXLaiRk
— Wendell Minor (@WendellMinor) April 18, 2015

Painting Perceptions

When reading good nonfiction, besides providing you with intriguing information, it challenges you.  You are asked to think about how you view your world.  Perhaps you need to look at things through the eyes of the author, illustrator or, if it's a biography, the way the person made choices or followed a dream.  With each book I find myself taking extra hours and days to discover more about the topic.

Having had an interest in art and artists for most of my life, I was thrilled to be able to take an art appreciation class during college.  It enlarged my knowledge of art history and gave me the ability to recognize a specific artist's work.  For me, those like myself, those who have no understanding of a particular artist and people needing to understand the joy of pursuing your passion, Edward Hopper Paints His World (Christy Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt and Company, August 19, 2014) written by Robert Burleigh with paintings by Wendell Minor is an unexpected gift.

Little Edward Hopper had many dreams.  But one dream was biggest of all---he was going to be a painter when he grew up.

Even at an early age Edward was committed; drawing day after day and placing his signature on his work as an artist would do. With his high school education completed he set his sights on New York City.  Taking classes there made him feel as though he was on the right track.  To enhance his skills as a painter, he left the city he loved to spend time in Paris studying and painting outside.

After Paris he came back to New York City working as an illustrator for periodical publications.  He lived economically, working by day to make money, painting what he desired by night and in his spare time.  Despite receiving no recognition for his work, he continued.

Houses and lighthouses, the way the light fell on each portion, fascinated him.  When he was forty-two, a woman he had met previously in art school, Jo Nivison, became his wife.  In her, Edward had a champion.  The two would travel the countryside finding bits and pieces of Americana for Edward to paint.

Though they eventually built a small cottage on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Edward was always drawn back to the city for inspiration.  He had a unique way of depicting what he saw focusing on items others would not choose or miss entirely.  Sometimes he would combine details from various scenes creating from his marvelous mind a place of fiction.

Over time Edward Hopper's work was noticed for the genius it was and still is today.  He and Jo maintained their life style moving between the city and shore with the seasons.  He was a man who lived the

biggest of all

his dreams,

to be a painter. 


One word comes to mind upon repeated readings of this book, inspiration.  Robert Burleigh has combined his painstaking research with his remarkable skills as a writer to give readers a picture of Edward Hopper's life from boyhood to old age; one spent living that which he imagined, never faltering.  Burleigh includes personal information which binds readers to this man; writing "WOULD BE ARTIST" on his pencil box, his nickname of "Grasshopper", statements made by Hopper about his work and the relationship he had with his wife, Jo.  We can't help but feel we know this man after reading this book.  Here is a portion of a passage from a single page.

There, a couple reading in their living room.  There, a man working late in a dim office.  There, a lonely stroller on a dark street.  Often, the people were serious. They seemed slightly sad.  What had happened to them?  What was about to happen?  These small mysteries became the subjects for many of Edward Hopper's paintings.  


Accompanying the narrative work of Robert Burleigh is the paintings of Wendell Minor.  When I (every reader really) hold this book in my hands, it's like holding a museum.  Each visual, each portrayal is splendid.  Minor begins with his interpretation of one of Hopper's most famous paintings, Nighthawks, on the matching front dust jacket and book case.  On the back we see a close up of a piece from the interior of the book, young Edward painting a sailboat while sitting on a dock. The opening and closing endpapers are a gorgeous picture of Edward rowing across the water with a sailboat towing a smaller boat in the background.  It is done in shades of blue looking like a drawing.

Wendell Minor using a full color palette presents double page and single page spreads historically accurate as to time and place with lighting and shading which will take your breath away.  Opposite most of the single pages on the right, he has placed a smaller illustration done in a single color to again look like an artist's sketch.  On two of the double page illustrations he has used this same approach.  This mixture of illustrative techniques compliments the pacing of the text perfectly.

One of my favorite illustrations is his depiction of Edward Hopper's Gas.  In my mind Minor is showing how Edward and Jo might have been driving one evening, coming upon the station as the sun is setting.  Minor's use of color, his brush strokes and choice of details take you right into the moment.


Edward Hopper Paints His World written by Robert Burleigh with paintings by Wendell Minor is a triumphant tribute, a passionate portrayal, of not only a significant American artist but a memorable man.  In the Afterward Burleigh asks readers to think about whether an artist could be a hero or an explorer.  He highlights three important quotations of Hopper explaining their meanings.  Four Hopper Paintings are highlighted further.  On the third page at the back we find important dates, author and artist references and web sources.  Wendell Minor's Artist's Note On Images In This Book is well worth a read.  This book has my highest recommendation.

Please follow the links embedded in the author's name, illustrator's name and the book title to access their personal websites.  You will get a peek at interior illustrations from the book.  Don't miss them.


Each week I consider myself fortunate to be participating in Alyson Beecher's 2014 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge at her website, Kid Lit Frenzy.  Please stop by to see the other posts.  There are fantastic nonfiction titles listed there by other bloggers.