Solid As A . . .

You can't live in northern Michigan without encountering rocks.  Just beneath the mostly sandy soil is an entire community of stones of every conceivable shape and size.  When excavating to build the basement for a house now sitting on a hill, these giants were unearthed.  Now they grace the top of the garden along a driveway.  A day at the beach, near the tip of the Mitt, will yield Petoskey stones found primarily in Michigan.  Large or small, this area has them all.  Wherever you go, there they are.

You can pick them up, skip them on the water, use them to build a wall or sit for a bit to just listen or look.  A Stone Sat Still (Chronicle Books, August 27, 2019) written and illustrated by Brendan Wenzel (They All Saw a Cat, Caldecott Honor winner, and Hello Hello) is a wonderful imagining of sensory perceptions with respect to a stone.  For all of you who have every wished an inanimate object could talk, this book speaks volumes.

A stone sat still
with the water, grass, and dirt

and it was as it was
where it was in the world.

Depending on the hour of day this stone appeared dark or light.  Depending on its current occupants, it was noisy or silent.  Depending on its age, to the touch, it was jaggy or polished.  Weather and the seasons changed its colors.

Even though its size remained basically the same, to one creature it seemed to be a place to step and to another critter a mountain rose up before them. Animals used the stone for a variety of purposes; as a sanctuary, a food preparation space or a vantage point for a predator.  Like other natural landforms, it served as a guide and a challenge.

The stone continued to be many things to many residents of the wild.  It told tales.  It hosted concerts.  In the spectrum of this planet's history, the stone was both old and new.

As climate shifted the stone was no longer sitting with

water, grass, and dirt.

Water rose until it was surrounded.  Then it vanished.  Or did it?


Even with repeated readings, the fascination of how one thing, a stone, can be much to many, does not diminish but grows.  Brendan Wenzel, with this narrative, stretches our thinking.  He asks us to use all our senses and to place ourselves in the position of an array of animals to determine the purposes this stone serves.

His pacing is impeccable.  His repetition of several phrases ties one portion of his lyrical observations to another portion.  Alliteration creates a welcoming cadence.  Here is a passage.

And the stone was the wild

and the stone was a home

and the stone was a kitchen

and the stone was a throne.


The liberal use of crisp white on the open dust jacket places emphasis squarely on the stone and the snail.  The lower left corner of the stone crosses the spine and extends to the back.  There blades of grass, some sprouting seeds, span most of the lower portion to the flap edge.  The stone and the blades of grass fashion a nook for the ISBN.  On the right side of the stone, on the front, its corner continues to the right flap with grass to the edge, also.  The title text, the snail and the stone are varnished.

On both sides of the book case we are given a close-up view of the stone.  It covers it completely.  The meanderings of the snail supply an intricate maze which, if the case is moved in the light, reflects its varnished trail.  The opening and closing endpapers tell a story of the stone.  On the first the stone is as it is.  On the second the stone is no longer in view on land as evidenced by what is now attached to its sides.

Rendered in a variety of media, including cut paper, colored pencil, oil pastels, marker, and the computer,

these illustrations, most spanning two pages, supply readers with an excellent sense of place and time.  For the purpose of altering the rhythm of his words, Brendan Wenzel inserts full-page pictures, a series of vertical vignettes, four, three and four, over two pages. For dramatic effect there are two horizontal images together on two pages.  These are followed by a wordless, double-page image which silently makes a huge statement.

Readers will want to ponder each picture.  They will want to follow the snail's progress and the resting and flight of the owl.   Will they notice the growth of the grass, plants and tree?  What will they think of the encroaching water?

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is for the words

and the stone was bright

At the top of a darkened sky with speckles of stars is a circular portion of a full moon on either side of the gutter.  Beneath it, ablaze with moonlight, is the stone covering most of both pages.  A few clumps of new grass are growing through the dirt around the stone.  A sapling has sprouted to its left.  On the stone, wide-eyed and on the right, sits an owl, feather tips gleaming in the glow.  What has the owl's attention?


Readers and listeners will want and need to re-visit this book, A Stone Sat Still written and illustrated by Brendan Wenzel, repeatedly.  It presents us with the advantages of viewing the world through multiple sets of sensory points of view.  It asks us to appreciate and admire our planet and all its inhabitants.  It requires us to question our purpose in caring for Earth.  This title is highly recommended for your personal and professional shelves.

To learn more about Brendan Wenzel and his other work, please visit his website by following the link attached to his name.  Brendan Wenzel has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  At each of these places, Brendan Wenzel shares his processes for this title and other titles.  Here is a link to a video he posted on Instagram about the development of the stone.  Here is another one about the creation of his cut paper moose.  There is a Q&A with Brendan Wenzel about this book at Publishers Weekly.  Enjoy these two marvelous videos.




UPDATE:  This title is featured at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast on November 6, 2019.

A Piece of Time

For anyone living or visiting northern Michigan the beaches along the Great Lakes are a treasure trove of all forms, shapes and sizes of rocks.  It is indeed the only place on earth to find the coveted Petoskey stone.  In fact, you don't have to go very deep on any piece of property to find sand, gravel and rocks.  Nearly daily I am unearthing rocks from walnut-sized to as large as a fist, mine and the Hulk's mighty clenched hand.

You find yourself wondering about the path taken by any single rock.  From where did it originate?  Is it part of a larger whole?  How long has it been here?  Was it present at a significant historic event?  A Stone for Sascha (Candlewick Press, May 8, 2018) conceived and illustrated by Aaron Becker, without words, takes readers on a passage through time and discovery of self.

A beloved canine companion is dead.  A girl morns the loss as the family lays the animal to rest near their home.  Shortly thereafter they leave for their camping vacation; one member is absent this year.

Taking a bucket to the beach to the girl searches along the sand and notices another girl with another dog.  As dusk blankets the area that night, a cosmic crack gives us a vision into the past.  In the time of dinosaurs a meteor strikes the planet; later large portions of it are found by early people.  It is taken from place to place and eventually appears as a carved monolith. Kingdoms and wars cause it to be broken and transported in pieces to other locations.

As a keystone it survives decades of time to be formed later into a precious and intricate work of art.  It is a gift.  It is plunder.  It is lost.  When finally found time has smoothed its edges and size to fill a hole in a saddened heart.  It becomes . . .


The beauty of this book, beside the glorious illustrations and profound story, is it will resonate differently with each reader.  It, like the stone, will heal and connect us to something larger than ourselves.  We will, thanks to the imagination and perception of Aaron Becker, take with us in the visual reading of this narrative a greater understanding of the passage of time, life and death.  We are all in this together.


When you open the dust jacket you see the girl gazing at the lake from the beach at her camp site.  Standing next to the bucket of rocks, she holds her golden treasure.  The flow of the complimentary colors is soothing to the soul, allowing us to feel a similar peace she now perceives.  To the left, on the back, on a canvas of light royal blue, is the ornate carved golden chest from ancient times.

The book case covered in a darker textured blue is bare except for the center of the front.  A golden dog tag, heart-shaped, inscribed with the word

SASCHA

holds this spot.  The text on the spine is also embossed in gold.  The opening and closing endpapers are two different maps, chronicling the journey of the stone.  Aaron Becker includes dates and place names.

On the title page a framed photograph of the girl and Sascha seated together is centered between the text.  The girl is hugging the dog as the dog leans into her.  The dedication and verso are placed on a two-page breathtaking illustration (all the illustrations are painted digitally) of the girl picking flowers to put on the dog's grave.  Her family watches in the distance.

A blend of small images on white, single-page visuals framed in white or placed edge to edge, and grand two-page illustrations fill our eyes with wonder.  To delineate the passage of time a series of vertical or horizontal panels are designed to cover one page.  Aaron's realistic colors are muted, softened, to take us back in time and to supply a specific emotion.  To accentuate meaning, his point of view shifts, bringing us very close to the moment.

One of my many favorite pictures is of the girl on the beach on their arrival at the camp site.  The curve of the water meeting the sand is a partial oval in front of her.  Behind her the bucket is overflowing with stones as she reaches into the water for another one.  To her left in the back is another group of campers.  Although she is reaching into the water, she head is lifted up and to the right.  A girl runs along the beach carrying a disc as her dog runs along with her.  A beach volleyball game is in the background.  Amid all this activity her thoughts are drawn to Sascha.  (One key technique to note is Aaron places yellow in every picture tying places and time together.)


There is hardly a reader who has not experienced the loss of a beloved family member, friend or cherished animal companion.  This book, A Stone for Sascha conceived and illustrated by Aaron Becker, gives solace.  Through his perspectives we are able to find our own.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Aaron Becker and his other work please follow the links attached to his name to access his website and Tumblr pages. Aaron visits super school librarian Travis Jonker's website, 100 Scope Notes at School Library Journal, to chat about this book.  I believe you will appreciate the video.  The cover for this book is premiered at All The Wonders.  At publishers' websites, Penguin Random House and Candlewick Press you can view interior images.  Candlewick Press also has a Q and A with Aaron.  Enjoy the other videos.


A Stone for Sascha - official trailer from Aaron Becker on Vimeo.