The Benefits of Being You

Most people reach a point in their lives when despite their excitement for a future event, they've learned to not wish their days away.  Once in a while though, in the midst of a hot and humid week, thoughts of cooler and clearer weather drift into your thinking.  Autumn follows summer bringing clarity.  It also includes a favorite holiday enjoyed by many.

On October 31 Halloween allows costumed trick-or-treaters to go door to door hoping for generous neighbors.  In the realm of children's books there are beings who are not costumed.  They don't pretend to be ghosts, witches, superheroes, robots, famous or fictional personalities because that's who they are.  The Itty-Bitty Witch (Two Lions, July 16, 2019) written by Trisha Speed Shaskan with illustrations by Xindi Yan is a warmhearted story of using what others see as a fault to seize the day.

Betty Ann Batsworth couldn't wait to get to her classroom. It was her first day as a first-grade witch.

When Betty walked into her classroom with her kinder-broom instead of a first-grade broom, she was teased and given the nickname of Itty Bitty.  She said her name was Betty but inside she was starting to shrink.  When her teacher Ms. Fit explained the Halloween Dash to her students, Betty knew she had to win.  Then they would call her Betty instead of Itty Bitty.

The very next day the practice for the race began.  Betty struggled because her broom was shorter.  She was left behind.  She thought a running start might help but it was a disaster.  She felt herself getting smaller inside.

For an entire month, Betty challenged herself but nothing, even arm-flapping, worked.  When Ms. Fit showed them the route the dash would take, Betty made up a poem to remember.  The teasing continued.  Betty informed one of her fellow students that she was not Itty Bitty but Betty. She did not feel big in her heart of hearts.

On the night of the Halloween Dash Betty had a great start, but her lead was short-lived.  She chanted the poem.  When she tried to follow the others past the cave, she nearly fell off her broom.  What should she do?  Sometimes we make our own magic.


Readers will find themselves entering into Betty's classroom willingly through the clever and compassionate writing of Trisha Speed Shaskan.  They will find themselves grinning at the last names given to the students.  Through dialogue, first-person thinking and narrative, we find ourselves identifying with and cheering for Betty Ann Batsworth.

For each attempt at becoming better at flying and the resulting teasing of some but not all her fellow witches, Trisha Speed Shaskan repeats how Betty feels inside, itty-bitty.  This makes the ending even more lively and uplifting.  What readers will appreciate is no matter how Betty feels, she does not give up.  She keeps thinking and having ideas.  Here is a passage.

Betty tried for speed.
She nose-dived.

WHOOSH!
UH-OH!
OOPS!

"Oh, Itty Bitty!" Sam said.
"It's Betty!" Betty said.
But she felt itty-bitty inside.


When you open the dust jacket you are treated to a two-page scene on a full-moon night.  (I am working with an F & G.) Betty Ann Batsworth looks simply enchanting and lovable tucked inside the hollow log with the jack-o-lantern hanging to give her light for her work.  The bats and wide-eyed frog along with sparkles of magical light complete our close-up view of her.

The log continues over the spine with a large evergreen tree extending beyond the top of the right-side of the back portion of the jacket.  A full moon is framed by boughs from this tree.  Another large tree reaches in from the left.  Behind the ground along the bottom, a river winds through rolling hills.  Across the sky, in the distance, four witches fly.

Artist Xindi Yan does not waste any space and begins her visual interpretation on the title page with students walking by a scarecrow with a jack-o-lantern head and holding a sign reading:

Welcome 1st Years!

The verso and first pages are a two-page picture of the darkened hallway outside the classroom.  One of the eerie items in this hallway is a huge caged eyeball hanging from the ceiling.  Through the doorway light drifts out, highlighting Betty.  Inside a skeleton of a dragon is suspended and in front of a large medieval-style window.

Each illustration rendered digitally spans two pages, full pages or smaller images are grouped on a single page.  Readers will pause at every page turn to admire all the atmospheric details; bats, plants, snakes, ghosts, headstones, and jack-o-lanterns.  Careful readers will notice how the moon gets closer and closer to becoming a full moon on Halloween.  The rich color palette provides added emphasis on the place and time of the story.  The wide-eyed looks on all the characters, especially Betty, will endear readers to them and her.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is when Ms. Fit is showing her students the Halloween Dash course one night.  On the left of the double-page picture deep in the woods and above headstones is the map of the route.  Two bats are holding it in place.  The students are making their way down a large fallen log which acts as a bridge over the river.  In the distance are those rolling hills, mountains and a nearly full moon is shining down on the landscape.  Floating jack-o-lanterns light the path for Ms. Fit and her witches.  This is delightfully shivery and fun.


Readers are going to read this over and over, and listeners will request it read to them repeatedly.  The Itty-Bitty Witch written by Trisha Speed Shaskan with illustrations by Xindi Yan is going to be a fabulous seasonal title.  It brightens the way for those who feel as though they are diminished.  It asks those who might tease others to stop and think.  It features students who don't tease but decide to cheer for others.  You'll want to have a copy for your professional and personal collections.  You might want to purchase multiple copies to give away on Halloween instead of sweet treats.

To learn more about Trisha Speed Shaskan and Xindi Yan and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Trisha Speed Shaskan has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Xindi Yan has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Please take a few moments to watch the charming book trailer premiere at Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries John Schumacher's Watch. Connect. Read.  John chats with both Trisha and Xindi.

UPDATE:  On October 7, 2019, the illustrator posted a video about the process for creating the images.  

Clamorous Calamity

Your best of what you do best has been done all day long.  The last little bit of light bows, ushering in twilight.  All the items on your mental checklist have been completed.  You look forward to a nice, long rest.

Without warning a sound shatters your solitude.  Bustling bat wings, what's that?  Hildie Bitterpickles Needs Her Sleep (Creston Books, April 12, 2016) written by Robin Newman (The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake A Wilcox and Griswold Mystery) with illustrations by Chris Ewald introduces readers to a clever, rather charming, witch with a dilemma demanding her undivided attention.

There's a little-known secret about Hildie Bitterpickles.  She needs her sleep.

As regular as sunrise and sunset Hildie runs through her bedtime routine.  Snuggled, cozy and comfortable with her cat, Clawdia, she is rudely disturbed.  A new arrival in the neighborhood is raising a ruckus.  A fee-fi-fo- fum friend from the land of fairy is operating an elevator of the vegetable variety.

With a quick exit and an equally quick return, she puts an end to the noise but low and behold, it's back the next night with a new addition.  You-know-who living in a shoe with a horde of guys and gals has moved in next door.  There is no slumber for Hildie as they engage in their favorite pastime during the darkest hours hitting home runs against the side of her residence.

A wolf with exceedingly bad aim misses the mark on the new pigs' place and Hildie finds herself without a roof over her head.  At her wit's end, Hildie has to locate somewhere else to live.  Monty, the real estate rat, does his best to accommodate her demands.

Nursery rhyme characters create a commotion in one new abode after the other.  In a quirk of fate Hildie finds it necessary to use the previously mentioned cleverness and consummate charm.  A little bit of mix-and-match hocus-pocus may bring about the solution our weary witch is seeking.


Like her created character Hildie, Robin Newman weaves a masterful spell with words.  Employing a classic and much-proven storytelling technique of events in threes she forms a cadence, a sense of expectation, for her readers.  An extra layer of rhythm is supplied with the repetition of a key phrase which welcomes us all to participate.  More fun is found in the onomatopoeia of noisy neighbor characters from well-known folklore.  Here is a sample passage.

"I need a quiet house," said Hildie.  "WITHOUT NEIGHBORS!"
"You've come to the right rat!" said Monty.  He scampered through his files.
"This farmhouse with three blind mice seems promising."
"Are they quiet mice?" asked Hildie.
"Quiet as church mice!"
Hildie and Clawdia move in.



The atmospheric front of the book case with a worried-looking Hildie searching for help by reading, her trusty cauldron and potion-filled flask next to her, will cause readers' curiosity to heighten.  You can already see evidence of the attention to detail provided by Chris Ewald, debut picture book illustrator, in the placement of the tiny cobwebs.   On the back, to the left of the opened case, are a blurb and two recommendations above a sleeping Clawdia underneath Hildie's hat.

The opening endpapers depict a close-up view of Hildie's magical work space, glass vessels, a closed and open book in her own handwriting with a drawing, a skull and a tail belonging to an unknown creature.  The closing endpapers reveal the results of Hildie's ingenuity.  Ewald shifts his image sizes to enhance the text while enveloping readers in every fantastical and funny moment.

There are single pages, edge to edge, double-page pictures, edge to edge, two smaller images with elements extending into the other visual and small groupings framed in white space with a color palette reflective of the time of day.  Perspective is altered also to increase the intensity of a selected scene.  Readers will find themselves pausing at every page turn to notice all the extra items Ewald has included; a cow clinging to a crescent moon, classic flamingo yard ornaments in front of the shoe house, the hip old woman has vivid green tennis balls on her walker, the dish and spoon grinning as they sit on a cabinet in Hildie's house and Humpty Dumpty (as a mover) wearing two band-aides on his forehead.  The facial expressions on all the characters are the crowning comedic glory.

One of my favorite pictures is when Hildie and Clawdia have moved into a cottage with a bunch of black sheep, supposedly quiet.  By the glow of candlelight they are crowding into the room with our duo, all wanting to sleep in the same bed.  The expression on Hildie's face and the placement of Clawdia's paws tell a tale all their own.  Someone who has lost her sheep is peering in the window.


Look for knowing nods from listeners as Hildie Bitterpickles Needs Her Sleep written by Robin Newman with illustrations by Chris Ewald is read aloud; famous fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters replete in the narrative and images.   Get ready for bursts of laughter and requests for read it again. Have a witch's hat handy and a friendly black cat for company.

To learn more about both Robin Newman and Chris Ewald and their other work, please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names. By following this link you can access another site maintained by Robin Newman.   For a peek at one of the two-page images access the publisher's website.  Robin Newman is a guest at KidLit TV in an interview loaded with information and activity ideas.  Here is the link to a twelve page teacher's guide for Hildie Bitterpickles Needs Her Sleep.  Enjoy the videos!

A Single Letter

It might be safe to assume in most school classrooms, when a teacher announces it's time to practice spelling, the reactions will be varied; ranging from excitement by a few, a collective sigh by many or outright groans by others.  When this same announcement is made by a professor at Hogwarts, wands will appear along with grins and heightened anticipation.  Definitions shift and change based on word use and context.

Playing with words, bending them to convey meaning, peaks interest in our reading and writing. It's a sign of taking joy in spoken or written language.  Author George Shannon loads up the pages of his newest book, A Very Witchy Spelling Bee (Harcourt Children's Books), illustrated by Mark Fearing, with frenzied fun.

Cordelia loved broccoli, spelling, and snakes.  

That's not all this little witch liked.  She spelled whenever she was talking.  If she asked permission to go outside to play she would say, "Mama, may I go outside to play, P-L-A-Y?"

Usually she did not have to ask.  Her mother would shoo her out of the house because she practiced spelling and her spells nearly nonstop.  Even then Cordelia continued, loving to zap letters changing one thing into another.

An O transformed her cat into a coat and back again.  Before the feline had time to feel normal, a K turned the creature into a tack.  Chances were, if you were around Cordelia, an assortment of surprises in all shapes and sizes could be expected.

Like a beacon, a sign posted in the park reading The Witches Double Spelling Bee, Held Every Ten Years to Celebrate Good Spelling and Spells, Saturday Next at the Big Old Barn, caught her attention.  Advising caution because of her age, her mother wanted her to wait to enter but Cordelia was confident, C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-T.  She knew with every fiber in her being she could win.

Thirteen time winner, Beulah Divine, two hundred and three years old, heard the news, gleefully grinning at the chance to beat a youngster.  As the fates would have it, the contest was held on a dark, stormy night.  Witches gathered.  The rules were read.  The contest began.

A letter was to be chosen from a bowl.  Using the letter an object on stage needed to be changed into something else.  First Opal drew an M, changing some ice into mice.  Witch after witch drew, cast and transformed.  Cordelia wowed the crowd with her first feat.

Beulah shocked the crowd with her malicious enchantment, scaring all the remaining contestants, leaving only Cordelia.  With each casting the tension grew; the anger of the crowd at Beulah's tactics spiraling.  A scream from the crowd and a single letter changed the fates of both contestants.


George Shannon makes his own kind of magic in this clever tale of spelling and spells.  Using language he has crafted a believable story about the power of words, with or without witchery.  In Cordelia he has fashioned a character feisty in her determination to win, courageous in pursuing a goal. By having Cordelia repeat three key sentences each time she is faced with a decision, our admiration and empathy grows.  This technique generates a flow, a rhythm, between the story elements.  Here is a sample passage.

Beulah sneered at the crowd. "I'm a what?"
The barn fell so quiet, nothing was heard but the heartbeats of bats.
"Never mind," snorted Beulah, turning back to the bowl.
"Let's get this thing over.  I'm ready to win. And I don't want to wait."


Green-skinned dueling witches riding around the prize on the front jacket and cover, the flyer advertising the contest nailed up on the back, set the stage for events to come.  Jacket flaps, title page, verso and dedication page each feature a tiny significant picture, Cordelia zapping her cat, witches entering the barn, an owl perched near a pumpkin, pencils, a sharpener and a notebook and a witch's hat.  Rendered in pencil, then altered digitally, Mark Fearing waves his artistic wand to conjure illustrations focusing on and extending the text.

A striking use of green, blue, orange, red and purple shades appropriately depict the characters and setting.  Pattern and prints, a mix and match of many, color the witches' attire adding to their uniqueness.  Exaggerated facial features and expressions depict moods, marvelous magic and moments to be remembered.  By changing the size of and the perspective shown in the pictures, they mesh well with the narrative.

One of my favorite illustrations is a double page spread, showcasing Beulah zapping Cordelia (yes, she was that vile), red streaks extending from her fingers as the young witch is lifted into the air.  Beulah, large, toad-like in stature, arms extended, is leering squinty-eyed at Cordelia.  Cordelia's wide eyed look of surprise is in sharp contrast to the other. (Expect gasps and giggles.)

For a language arts lesson, a Halloween read or both, A Very Witchy Spelling Bee written by Geoge Shannon with illustrations by Mark Fearing, is the perfect pick.  Readers and listeners will love the battle of wits, the goodness of one winning over the badness of the other.  Your spelling lessons will never be the same.

Please follow the links embedded in the author's and illustrator's names to access their websites.  Mark Fearing has plenty of artwork on his blog.  This link to the publisher's website has a few more illustrations for you to view.