You've Got This!

In every person's life there comes a time when your spirits dip.  You are faced with a situation in which your courage and comfort are challenged.  You need to dig deep in your mind and heart and find your inner strength.  You need to remember your talents and your achievements.  For those who are younger, this is not always easily accomplished.

Two recently published titles offer the means for boosting your beliefs in your abilities in any given circumstance.  The first, When You Need Wings (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, March 3, 2020) written and illustrated by Lita Judge helps your imagination to soar to new heights.  These heights reach out to hope.

On a day when you feel
like no one is listening,

and everyone is LOUD,

and you are afraid,

and you wish you could just disappear,

shut your eyes and listen.

You will hear something extraordinary.  It's not the rhythmic thumping of your heart.  No, it's something you might not know you have.  It's your wings, your inside wings.

No one but you know they are there, stored within your essence.  You can use those wings to leave and to seek.  They will assist you in discovering riches within yourself.

These riches help your soul to find joy.  This joy will send you a song, a song to help you dance.  You will not be alone in this joy.  There are friends here, residing in this bliss.

It's important to keep listening.  Your wings are waiting just for you.  With them, you will soar.


Many times, when faced with a position you would rather avoid, your heart rate increases.  To have Lita Judge ask readers to listen to this and describe it as

your very own wings, beating within

is sheer genius.  When she expands on this idea with a suggestion of flying away to the wonderful world of imagining, we realize she is showing us the path to finding our own personal solace and bravery.  The thoughts expressed in her ten sentences are encouraging but leave room for her glorious illustrations to expand our vision.  These ten sentences are carefully placed page turn by page turn to provide expert pacing.  Here are two portions of a single sentence.

and use them . . . to fly far away,

if you need to today, 


When you open the dust jacket you can see the white birds frame the feature on the front, right, as well as the back, left.  The little girl with closed eyes and outstretched arms is clearly deep in thought.  Her smile indicates happiness at what her mind is supplying her.  The bird in the lower left-hand corner crosses the spine to the left.  This bird and three others along with the title text are varnished.

To the left, the girl and her imaginary tiger friend are roaring with gusto and facing right.  In a lightened portion to the right of them, two of Lita Judge's previous books are highlighted.  Praises are listed for Red Sled and Flight School.  

On the book case with a canvas of the palest cream and lavender white birds in a variety of perspectives fly from left to right.  The opening and closing endpapers are a delicate hue of blue.  Five pages, three single-page pictures and one double-page picture begin the narrative without words prior to the title page, another double-page picture.  They tell the tale of a little girl leaving home and walking with her father to preschool.

In each of the subsequent illustrations, varying in size from double-page pictures to single-page images, framed or edge to edge, we are transported into a world of wonder as this little girl explores her potential and finds her fearlessness.  The depictions of the children and their animal counterparts are jubilant and endearing.  Their facial features, clothing and backpacks are pure delight.

The attention to detail in every scene by Lita Judge draws readers into the written and visual narrative.  We glide on air to particular places; we gaze in fascination and play with abandon. We feel the freedom of finding our wings.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  A flock of white birds fills the air near the girl who is also in flight.  Movement is shown in her hair, scarf, spread arms and trailing legs.  They sail above treetops over a forest.  Below, in the forest, golden light spills from the tiny windows in tiny homes.  The colors used in the sky and forest are more subdued, but the girl's clothing is bright and cheerful as shown on the front of the dust jacket.


To know, to believe, you can close your eyes and find a beating center, is empowering.  When You Need Wings written and illustrated by Lita Judge is a guide to this wondrous wealth within us.  This is a book to be read often and widely.  This is a book you will want to have on your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Lita Judge and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Lita Judge has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  Please enjoy the following videos.






The second book, Be You! (Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., March 3, 2020) written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, is a motivational manual for walking through the ups and downs life delivers.  Every statement is a shout to lift you up.  Every page turn will elevate your tenacity.

You were born to
BE
so many things.

Of those many things you were born to be, the narrator's desire is for you to be exactly who you are.  You are advised to be ready to embrace whatever path is laid before you.  You are told to investigate and seek answers.

There will come a time when an opportunity presents itself to you.  Fear not and walk where you have not walked before.  You are reminded to surround yourself with people you know love you as you are.

Regardless of the adversity you face, go through it.  Don't end your endeavors.  Celebrate those things which make you uniquely you.  There is no shame in this.  Choose compassion so others can be themselves.  If there is something you fear, ask yourself why; then try.

Before you follow or join, think.  Bravely go the right way for you.  Pursue peace, the peace of pausing in being alone.  Sometimes reaching a goal takes longer than you imagine.  Sometimes reaching a goal requires assistance.  Wherever you go and whatever you do, go with the knowledge you are sustained by affection, the affection of every connection you've ever made.


From beginning to end the words of Peter H. Reynolds are like sunshine for your soul.  He begins and ends this book with the same declaration, bringing readers full circle.  He not only wants you to be you, but he tells you how to realize who you are.  Single phrases preceded by

Be

are followed with a more complete explanation of the request.  Here is a two-page passage.

Be your own thinker.

Think for yourself and
set your own unique course.
It isn't always easy
but you'll be heading
in the direction of YOU.


When you look at the open dust jacket of this book, the sky-blue canvas mirrors the endless sky, full of possibilities, above our Earth.  The child in the boat on the front, held aloft with balloons with hearts, is a symbol of a potent statement found in the book near the end.  Love does indeed lift us up.  The clouds and golden wishes streaming from the boat cross the spine to the left edge of the back.  A single balloon drifts upward.  Beneath it are the words:

Live a big life!

Many of the elements on the front and back of the dust jacket are varnished.

The book case, also in sky blue has the golden wishes spreading in a gentle wave from center left to the bow of the boat.  Now the child in the boat is higher on the right and closer to the right edge.  The opening and closing endpapers use the yellow orange color from the balloons as a background.  In a lighter shade are written words describing what you can be.  Peter H. Reynolds has placed a framed space in both sets; the first for your own writing and the second saying:

Go ahead.
Be yourself.
Be the best version of you.
Each day is
a new chance to
be more you.
---Peter Hamilton Reynolds

On the title page the frame is held in the hands of the boat occupant in front of their face as they run, eyes closed across the page.  In his signature style Peter H. Reynolds presents all kinds of children on the left beneath his declarative statement.  On the opposite side in a variety of solid colors is his guiding text.  At times the image on the left will extend to the right for emphasis.  White space creates a dramatic effect.

The clothing worn by the children, the color of their hair and skin mirrors all the amazing types of personalities and ethnic groups.  Their activities are as varied as they are.   Each page is an invitation.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is for the text noted above referencing

Be 
your own thinker.

It's a double-page picture on a crisp white canvas.  On the left a group of four children and a canine companion are walking to the left.  The children are wearing identical clothing and red and white striped birthday hats.  The dog is wearing the same hat.  On the right another child in different clothing carrying a walking stick is moving to the right edge.  A happy cat is following as it looks at readers.


If there ever comes a day, or if you want to be prepared, when you doubt the direction you are taking or what makes you one-of-a-kind, Be You! written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds is the perfect book for you.  Readers of all ages will discover and rediscover their individuality.  During storytime expect listeners to change their body positions, leaning in and then sitting tall as the story concludes.  I know you'll want a copy of this title in your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Peter H. Reynolds and his other work, please access his website by following the link attached to his name.  Peter H. Reynolds has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  The publisher has developed a fabulous page with a video for you to enjoy and an audiobook sample.  I hope you enjoy this video.

In Her Care

She's always in motion, spinning morning into night and night into morning.  As one day stretches into three hundred, sixty-five, she gives us winter, spring, summer and autumn.  Land and water in its varied forms span her surface.  She is home to flora and fauna populations too numerous to count.  Weather swirls above her.

From the sun she is third, sustaining life for all.  For this she is to be cherished.  My Friend Earth (Chronicle Books, February 25, 2020) written by Patricia MacLachlan with illustrations by Francesca Sanna is a love letter to our planet.  The text and images, with flaps and die-cuts, work in marvelous unity.

My friend Earth wakes
from a winter nap.

She listens to sounds of spring, humans working the land and a chorus of birds.  Nothing escapes her attention.  She watches a seed sprout and a web spun by a spider.

When an albatross takes wing, a mole digs or a chimpanzee sleeps, she is there.  She guides a lost baby animal to its mother in a group of mothers.  On a prairie, the tundra or across a glacier, she nurtures all forms of life.  Regardless of size, no ocean resident is without her protection.

Rain, too little, too much or just the right amount springs forth under her guidance.  Fierce winds or gentle breezes flow from her mouth.  The cold arrives again.

Snow comes from her fingers settling over animals at rest in dens, mud, and nests.  Everything she watched in the other seasons is tucked away for a pause.  Earth pauses, too, ready for a new beginning.


Every thoughtful sentence written by Patricia MacLachlan combines to create a melodic whole.  Truthful, soothing and rhythmic words define how our planet, Earth, acts moment by moment to sustain every living being.  Alliteration, repetition and wonderful adjectives supply readers with highly visual scenes with their distinctive cadences.  Sentences are spaced to generate perfection in page turns.  Here is a passage.

She tends the prairie where sun-dappled horses run
through grasses that swish against their legs---

the tundra 
where the reindeer
graze for moss,

and the glistening ice
where the young polar bear
pads on mittened feet. 


When you open the book case, you will find yourself either gasping or sighing in appreciation of the artwork of Francesca Sanna.  Earth shown on the front, right, open-eyed with a gentle smile tugging the corners of her mouth, rests among her creatures of many sizes on land and along the water.  Her hilly, tree-covered tresses extend to the other side of the spine, on the left.  There more creatures of the forest, air and water are displayed.  An otter, fish, dragonfly, spider, ants, frog, seagull, squirrel and crow happily enjoy a moment in harmony.  The color palette is stunning and complementary.  On the front of the case the title text and elements in the scene are raised to the touch.  Other details are varnished.  These are a subtle invitation to open the book.

On the opening endpapers a series of hills, trees, clouds. stretches of water and grass pattern the pages in shades of green, golden yellow, orange, blue and white.  Earth is peeking over one of the circular hills in the lower, right-hand corner.  There is another series of hills, trees, clouds, stretches of water and grass in different colors on the closing endpapers.  The hues are deeper and include a rusty red, teal and various purples.  Earth is walking from the center of the far left.  Her arms are raised with tiny sparkles (seeds) trailing behind her.  The birds shown in the first set of endpapers on the left have moved to the right in the final set.

Rendered in pencil, ink, and digital painting, the illustrations are marvelous.  On the title pages Earth rides in a curled leaf on the right as leaves cascade behind and in front of her.  Across each of the two-page pictures, readers will find flaps to lift which alter the initial image.  Die-cuts offer hints of what is to come and what has been.  Large loosely scalloped edges along the top of partial pages provide intrigue and depth.  Gradually they are altered in placement and shape as the seasons and places differ. 

At times Earth blends with her surroundings becoming part of them.  Other times she is a participate in the scene.  She can shift her size to work her magic.  Sometimes we see the scene straight-on and other times we see it from above.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations has scalloped edges in the lower left-hand and right-hand corners with smaller cuts along the top on each side.  It is an Arctic spread with lots of cream color.  Reindeer, polar bear and human prints pattern this area.  On the left side the reindeer is moving to the right.  On the right, Earth and a young polar bear, on their stomachs, are looking at fish swimming beneath a hole (die-cut) in the ice.  This is a bird's eye view for us.


This book, My Friend Earth written by Newbery winner Patricia MacLachlan with illustrations by Francesca Sanna, is stunning.  It's an expression of all Earth gives us.  It's a reminder of all we should preserve and protect.  This would be an excellent read aloud for any story time but especially so for a study of our planet and her creatures and Earth Day.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal bookshelves.

To learn more about Francesca Sanna and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Francesca Sanna has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior illustrations with the flaps and die-cuts.



On March 3, 2020 another book was released with a focus on our Blue Planet.  One EARTH (Worthy Kids) written by Eileen Spinelli with illustrations by Rogerio Coelho is a special counting book.  In a rhyming poetic intonation with sweeping cheerful images readers are reminded of the spectacular beauty of our home and how we can honor her.

One wide, sweeping sky.
Two honeybees.

As children walk, they see more of each item named in the numerical poem.  Long-eared baby rabbits are snuggled near towering trees, some nearly one thousand years old.  Flora clusters in golden hues near resting reptiles.  Carrying their homes with them must be tiring.

Above and in the sea mammals leap and birds dive and call.  Back on land, over a vast patchwork of fields, critters burrow.  With Earth's elegance noted, what can be done to help her?  We start at ten and go back to one. 

Litter and bottles are gathered.  What can be recycled?  What can be reused?  Let's take old towels to animal shelters.  Let's take clothing no longer worn to others who need them.  You can always turn off extra lights at night.

Get out your needle and thread and mend.  No seed is to be wasted.  Place them in a pocket in the dirt or ground.  Give them water and sun.  What tools do you need to fix that which is broken?  Ask a friend.  Now we are at one.  Look to the sky and those two large shining orbs, one at night and one in the morning. 

Remember---
   only one.


For readers of all ages but for those younger and learning to count, Eileen Spinelli weaves a wondrous tapestry of our planet with her words.  She asks us to notice those things large and small found in fields, forests, along streams and the sea.  When she arrives at ten, it's an ingenious technique to count backwards and to state how those things previously noted can be protected.  Each example takes only time and the help of an adult, sometimes but not always.  Here is a passage.

Eight plastic grocery bags?
Weave them into mats.
Seven towels getting thin?
Good for shelter cats.


The layout and design of the open dust jacket is wonderful.  To the left, on the back, the picture of the first boy walking from his home, across fields toward the sea stretches to the left flap edge.  A group of homes sit on a slight hill.  A seemingly endless sky covers most of the back and flap with soft clouds layered on the blue.  A flock of birds fly from right to left.  The words read:

One EARTH.
One you.
Count the ways to help.

On the front of the jacket, the abundance of birds resting in and from the tree, butterflies among the flowers and fish swimming in the waves present all Earth offers to us.  The four children featured throughout the book are introduced to readers here along with their cat and dog.  As one they look to the sun.  The title text is raised. 

On the book case is a celestial setting, plentiful with stars.  On the right, front, is our planet with faint longitude and latitude lines.  Our moon and the sun are near as a comet crosses in the upper, left-hand corner. 

On the opening and closing endpapers is a golden marbleized canvas.  On the final page are two dedications, one by the author and one by the illustrator. A small bird flies between them.

On the title pages illustrator Rogerio Coelho starts his visual story, showing on a double-page picture a two-story farmhouse on a hill.  Some fencing and a few trees dot the fields.  With a page turn the narrative begins with the boy leaving the house. 

Each of the subsequent two-page pictures are a colorful delight in a variety of perspectives.  We are privy to panoramic vistas, standing at the base of redwoods as they soar upward, strolling between a lighthouse and dolphins leaping in swells, or watching as legs and feet stride over worms tunneling underneath fields spread before us as far as we can see.  In the pause before the count backwards, the four friends stand in breathtaking spot.  We gaze at them though a grove of trees.

The four friends walk into town to observe people striving to protect our planet.  Many races and ethnic backgrounds are featured as are generations.  The facial expressions, especially the eyes, are full of purpose and happiness.  The time of day is reflected in the hues chosen by Rogerio Coelho.  Readers will take great pleasure in noticing all the details in these images.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is when the original boy and two girls meet with the second boy at the beach.  For most of the right side dolphins move up and through the wavy water, across the gutter and tapering to the left hand corner on the left side.  On the left side the beach with rocky mounds meet the sea.  On the far-left side, a lighthouse stands tall on rocks.  Seagulls glide on the wind over the water and sand against wisps of clouds.  You can hear the water, wind and gulls.  If you listen closely you can also hear the happy chatter of the children.


To promote discussions about Earth and how we can be her guardians, One EARTH written by Eileen Spinelli with illustrations by Rogerio Coelho is a title you will want on your personal and professional bookshelves.  You can write and draw about your own special things found on our planet.  You can write and draw about the ways to assist in conservation and care.  These collaborators have featured those things of many sizes to notice and do.  Superb.

To learn more about Eileen Spinelli and Rogerio Coelho and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Rogerio Coelho has a blog also.

Lasting Impression

Those adults who most influence our lives as children can be our parents, grandparents, extended family, an educator, a neighbor or a stranger.  There will be a statement they make, sometimes more than once, or a single act they complete which will resonate in our minds for the rest of our lives.  At the time we might not be aware of their effect on us, but those words or that deed or gesture will come into our minds when we need it the most. 

During his tenure, March 4, 1933 to April 12, 1945, as president of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed the first woman to a position as a cabinet member.  She faithfully served in that capacity during his presidency.  The Only Woman in the Photo: Frances Perkins & Her New Deal for America (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, February 4, 2020) written by Kathleen Krull with illustrations by Alexandra Bye adeptly presents her life and service to her ideals and her country.

Little Frances Perkins was shy.  She couldn't speak up even when asking for a book at the library or a spool of thread at the store in her cozy New England town.

Heeding the words of her grandmother, who she felt a kinship, Frances let nothing stand in her way to doing her best.  Frances's younger self observed people and their treatment by others and society.  Through the support of her father, believing in equality in education for women, Frances ruled the debate stage in high school.  A requirement by an astute college professor propelled Frances to do more for those stuck in circumstances not of their making.

Rather than seeking a spouse as many women did, Frances entered the field of social work.  She was a fierce advocate for women's right to vote.  She pointed out unhealthy working conditions and the lack of fire safety in numerous workplaces.  She was devastated and furious about the loss of life in The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.  Theodore Roosevelt recognized the work of Frances and she became the head of a city committee on workplace safety.

How was Frances able to head a committee comprised of men?  She studied them, their actions and reactions.  She built a bridge.  She was soon heading the commission for regulations in the workplace for the entire state of New York.  This was a platform she needed to succeed in her desires.  In 1929 Franklin D. Roosevelt, then governor of New York, gave her a new position.  The stock market crash that year prompted Frances to even greater levels, speaking out against President Herbert Hoover.

At fifty-two years old, Frances Perkins became a member of FDR's cabinet in 1933 as his Secretary of Labor.  She took this position with a list given to FDR of what she wanted to achieve.  Working together the New Deal became a reality.  Two years later the Social Security Act was law.  Her vision and his foresight and power helped Americans live better than they had previously.  Her legacy continues to this day.


The true value of Frances Perkins and her life's work is revealed in the research and words of Kathleen Krull.  She closes her narrative the way she begins it, using a similar choice of words but these words allow her to showcase the talents and triumphs of Frances Perkins.  The insertion of quotations by Frances Perkins and her grandmother supply readers with a personal look at her youth and adult experiences.  Specific examples add depth to the presentation.  Here is a passage.

Against her parents' wishes---they preferred she start husband hunting---she moved to New York City and began working.  A new way to help fight injustice, called social work, was flourishing there.

The more she saw, the more she wanted to help.

"I had to do SOMETHING about the UNNECESSARY hazards to life,
UNNECESSARY POVERTY.
It was sort of UP TO ME."

She started off delivering milk and food to starving children, getting landlords to give a break to those unable to pay their rent, and asking for donations.  In dangerous neighborhoods, she defended herself with the tip of her umbrella.


Note paper, letters and envelopes showcasing the United States Postal Service stamp commemorating Frances Perkins provide a pleasing canvas for highlighting recreated photographs of Frances Perkins and her successes.  The depiction of Frances Perkins striding across the front of the matching dust jacket and book case highlights her calm determination.  Frances Perkins and the title text are raised to the touch.

To the left, on the back, of the jacket and book case a quote by Frances Perkins is placed in the center of a collage of photographs.  It reads:

"The door might
not be opened to
a WOMAN again for
a long, long time.
And I had a kind of a
DUTY to walk in &
sit down in the chair
that was offered."

---Frances
Perkins

On the opening and closing endpapers illustrator Alexandra Bye features the changes that occurred during Frances Perkins' life.  On the first set in two tones of blue are the faces of many men with Frances, in shades of brown, positioned among them in the upper, right-hand corner.  On the second set of endpapers are a collection of women, more modern-day, with Frances, again inserted in the upper, right-hand corner.  The women are shown in the same color as Frances was on the opening endpapers.  She is in a lighter and brighter color on this second set.

These digitally rendered images, in full color, place Frances Perkins in a historical perspective with the clothing worn, architecture and means of transportation supplied.  All her quotations are enlarged and colorfully displayed in a flourish of various fonts.  To complement the text the sizes of the pictures vary from single-page pictures to double-page visuals with smaller circular insets on some of the pages.

One of the more dramatic scenes is Frances Perkins rushing to the site of The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, skirts held in her hands so she can run.  Her skirt drapes back over the gutter to the left where on a white space a spilled cup of tea indicates her urgency.  Sometimes the double-page pictures will include several settings to indicate the passage of time and Frances Perkins's engagement with all kinds of people and workplaces.

One of my many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  Night has fallen.  Frances Perkins is back in her single room, her bedroom. Light glows from two lamps, one at her bedside and one on the wall near a mirror over her chest of drawers.  There is a single chair in the room.  Across the red, white and blue quilt on her bed is her dress, her Women's Suffrage sash and her hat.  Her shoes are next to the bed.  Frances, wearing her night clothing, is standing on a soap box practicing speaking aloud in front of the mirror. Nothing was going to stop this young woman in her endeavors.


While you may have heard of Frances Perkins and read of her when she is mentioned in US history textbooks, this book, The Only Woman in the Photo: Frances Perkins & Her New Deal for America written by Kathleen Krull with illustrations by Alexandra Bye, will expand your perceptions and knowledge of the depth of this woman's remarkable life and her influence then and today.  At the close of the book is a page and a half titled The Power of Frances Perkins.  Following this is a list of sources.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.  It will promote discussions and further research.  Trust me. 

To learn more about Kathleen Krull and Alexandra Bye and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Kathleen Krull has an account on Facebook.  Alexandra Bye has accounts on Behance, Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  Here is a link to a curriculum guide.


Take a few moments to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the other titles selected this week by participants in the 2020 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Heed The Warning

It's an annual inevitability.  Regardless of the signs, boaters on lakes and rivers feed the ducks.  The ducks flock to surround the boat if it's stationary or trail behind it as it moves.  On the sandy beaches of lakes, seas and oceans, gulls hover, waiting for an unsuspecting little human.  With the precision of a military operation, they swoop as the child extends an arm and hand holding a treat or part of a picnic lunch. The startled beach walker will usually drop everything and run.  These wily birds are not deterred.  They stalk until the entire scenario is repeated.

Those beings living in the wild, especially those with a handy escape plan like wings, have learned how to more easily acquire food from children (or unobservant adults).  If you are not aware of how their minds work, you find yourself in an unwelcome situation.  Don't Feed the COOS! (Henry Holt and Company, February 25, 2020) written by Jonathan Stutzman with illustrations by Heather Fox presents this exact situation in one comic moment after the other.  (You can't even say the title without laughing, can you?)

When you see a coo,
              you will be tempted
                                to give it a treat.

At first glance a coo appears the very picture of charmingly cute.  Under no circumstances whatsoever are you to succumb to this temptation to give them food, because if you do, your life will change without hope of returning to normalcy.  Feeding even one triggers a signal for all the other coos to converge.

As you run willy-willy to escape the crowd of coos, they follow you as surely as if one of them planted a tracking device on you.  The look on your mother's face when you arrive at home with this coo company is not one of happiness.  All your usual planned activities now include the coos.  There is no freedom from this flock.

As everyone knows, what goes in, must come out.  Yes, those coos are pooing everywhere.  No surface is safe.  As you look at all the coos' poo, you find yourself on the brink of a nervous breakdown.  Every brainstorm to rid yourself of these coos is a bust.  What's a person to do?

You could welcome the outcome of feeding one coo.  You could welcome them into your life like your new best friends.  This might include taking them to the park for walks.  And there you and all those coos will experience the wonder of your ingenuity.


Truthfully, it is all I can do to write this post without laughing non-stop.  The first two sentences written by author Jonathan Stutzman give no clue as to what will follow but are the perfect set-up for the third and fourth sentences.  Each subsequent portion of the narrative is truer than you can imagine.  Perhaps, this is what makes it so humorous.  When the story launches into the unavoidable result of feeding coos (all the poo), it's the veracity of this which makes it off-the-charts funny.  The listing of attempts to get rid of them will have your sides aching with the hilarity and provides for the contrast in the attitude switch.  Every turn leads to the surprising twist.  Here is a passage.

And to thank you
for feeding them, the coos

will
leave
poos.



One look at the right, front, of the open dust jacket instantly generates suspense.  What are those coos going to do?  Their wide-eyed looks at the girl and at us are strangely startling and funny at the same time.  The child is clearly thinking---YIKES!  The bright colors, definitive lines and stylized shapes on the white canvas have our undivided attention.  The neon orange title text is raised to the touch.

On the other side of the neon orange spine is a pale purple background.  In a large font in white we read:

WE
WARNED
YOU.

Perched on the e in warned is a single gray coo.  The book case is a delicate blue.  Three coos are featured on both the front and the back.

On the opening and closing endpapers are six rows of twelve coos.  They are positioned to show us one side.  Two of the coos appear to be winking at us as the others stare wide-eyed.  The colors for these endpapers are hues of blue and purple.  With a page turn a single gray coo is positioned on white saying

COO.

On the verso and title pages coos are in flight, left to right, chasing after the girl, on the right, running to rid herself of the coos.

These digitally created illustrations by Heather Fox are full of personality.  Heather Fox uses white space to great effect.  It heightens the narrative and adds to the pacing and drama.  At times another background color is used for emphasis.

Heather Fox alters her image sizes to enhance interest, moving from two-page pictures, to full-page visuals and groups of smaller illustrations on a single page.  Every detail she includes showcases the comedy in this protagonist's situation.  Her brilliance shines in the pages in which the girl is doing everything she can plot to evade and chase away the coos.  I love how the girl's eyes and her wearing glasses seems to mirror the eyes of the coos.  I also found the sign in the park and its similarity to the front of the dust jacket perfect.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  It is an overview of the park with buildings and a roadway on the right portion of the right side.  It shows the girl running through the park trying to elude the coos.  A dotted red line shows her path as she weaves everywhere.   You can expect bursts of laughter as she exits the park and a taxi driver tries to help her.  Here, as throughout the book, are bright colors and distinguishing black lines on a white canvas.


The connection established between readers and Don't Feed the COOS! written by Jonathan Stutzman with illustrations by Heather Fox is based on a shared knowledge of birds, especially pigeons, and their constant desire for food.  With each page turn the blend of words and illustrations will increase the laughter factor.  I know there will be requests for read it again.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about husband and wife, Jonathan Stutzman and Heather Fox, and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Jonathan Stutzman has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  Heather Fox has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher, featured this title along with chats with both creators on his site, Watch. Connect. Read.   At the publisher's website you can view interior images.

UPDATE:  A book trailer has been released by the publisher.

A Transformation

With the arrival and departure of each month differences are noted.  Some are subtle, only evident by keen observers.  Others are more obvious.  With each seasonal shift the length of daylight and darkness lessens and grows in proportion.  More darkness signals rest and more light announces rebirth.  Wild creatures carefully watched declare changes with their presence or absence. 

The newest of three titles (Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn August 16, 2016, Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter September 5, 2017) celebrating seasons, Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring (GodwinBooks, Henry Holt and Company, February 18, 2020 written and illustrated by Kenard Pak, follows a boy and his dog as they walk and send out greetings.  They move and mark aspects of these two seasons.  They do not go alone.

Hello, winter night.

Hello, snow.

Hello. From high up in the sky.

Snow continues the conversation with the boy and his pooch pal, telling of its actions and where its flakes fall.  Strolling past a pond covered in ice, the child bids the fish hello.  And they reply. 

An empty greenhouse draws attention to its own discoveries.  A winter brook, footprints left in the snow, trees and a nest acknowledge the young explorer and his dog.  A wild winter storm voices its own opinion.  And then it stops.  Silence.

Looking out his window in the morning, those places visited the previous night glow in the dawn's light rising behind neighboring hills.  A new day means a new walk is in the offing.  The effects of the previous night's weather diminish in the warmth of the sunlight.

Multiple salutations address all the changes.  Heat helps to melt.  Heat helps buds to unfurl.  Heat calls to sleeping animals.  All the welcome words bring forth responses.  The joy of a new time reverberates across the landscape.  A boy and his dog run to meet spring.


The technique of using greetings and responsive greetings in the narrative by Kenard Pak creates a personal experience for the reader.  We travel in faith and appreciation with the child and his canine companion.  The replies from what most would consider unable to speak enrich the dialogue and elevate the magic to be found in our world.  Here is a passage. 

Hello, glass house.

Hello.  I'm cold inside.
The swaying trees through my glass panels are like tall, slender ghosts.
The last logs are draped with snow. 


When you open the dust jacket the image spans from the edge of the left flap to the edge of the right flap.  The illustration on the book case matches that of the jacket.  From left to right we move through a chilly wintry scene in the country toward a small community as the snow falls.  As the scene crosses the spine a few new leaves appear on a tree as the landscape warms with the changing season, sun and clear sky.  Shades of gray turn to hues of green.  Clearly the two walkers are enjoying their adventure. 

On the opening and closing endpapers a steely blue gray provides the background.  On the title page a single sapling on top of a hill catches falling snowflakes.  Kenard Pak

used watercolor and pencil, digitally enhanced, to create the illustrations for this book.

Each picture graces two pages with the exception of four full-page pictures.  There is a stunning wordless visual deep in the night before sunrise.

The narrative begins in the evening with winter colors darker than during daylight which supplies a better contrast to the lightness of the new day after the storm and the coming of spring.  Each image presents a different perspective depending on who is the observer.  We view scenes from the boy's and dog's viewpoints, from snow's point of view, or from the fishes' sight.  Sometimes all we see of the boy and his dog are their feet and paws.

Each page turn asks readers to pause.  We look at each setting carefully noting the layers and what Kenard Pak chooses to place with bolder colors and those he chooses to fade.  Each element is placed in each picture with intention.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a bird's eye perspective of the boy's home and surrounding area.  From here we can see his house, the pond, the greenhouse, the brook, and plentiful trees.  On the left snow still covers portions of the grass, trees, and roof of the house.  Our eyes move to notice the brook, greenhouse and pond before crossing the gutter.  A blue jay and blackbirds soar in the sky on the right.  Beneath them the boy and his white dog race through a clearing.  You can feel the surge of joy at all the new beginnings visible in the change of colors.  There are shades of green everywhere you look.


Reading Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring written and illustrated by Kenard Pak is a soothing journey from season to season.  It invites readers to take their own walks and greet what they see.  It welcomes them to imagine responses.  It enhances the value of observation and appreciation for our natural world and its cycles.  This could be used successfully to promote discussions and enhance specific themes of study or storytimes.  You'll want to place a copy of this in your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Kenard Pak and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  Kenard Pak has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Here is a link to an interview at Art Of The Picture Book.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.

To Know Them

As an understanding of each living thing on our planet grows and is known, our perspective shifts.  We come to view these individuals as more than their name suggests.  They respond to each other and to us in distinct manners.

If the opportunity presents itself to study and interact with a specific individual, their essence is revealed.  If you have not been fortunate enough to experience this in your own life yet, the newest nonfiction picture book by masterful author and photographer April Pulley Sayre reveals this beautifully.  Being Frog (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, February 4, 2020) is about developing a relationship on a sensory and personal level with the world around you.

A frog 
is a being.
It is watching.
It is seeing. 

Just as the frog is watching and seeing, we, too, can watch and see them.  A frog can choose to sit on the same rock or log.  They favor one place over the other, day after day.

Food is hunted for survival.  Attempts are made until there is success.  In the heat of the day, a frog seeks relief from the warmth in shade or water.  Sometimes as the frog rests, is it thinking?

Perhaps it remembers its youth.  Perhaps it remembers the journey from egg, to tadpole and baby frog. During the day it moves up a rocky slop, stops and then, suddenly jumps skyward, only to sit again.

Time for humans is measured by clocks and calendars.  What is time like for a green frog?  How does it measure the days of its life?  A frog is.


Through weeks of watching frogs at a nearby pond April Pulley Sayre pens a poetic ode to their uniqueness.  Her simple but profound sentences describe the meaningful moments of their lives.  Her language vividly mirrors their movements.  A rhythm is supplied with rhyming words, phrase length and punctuation.  She repeats words from the beginning at the end to generate a circle, a powerful, meaningful circle.  Here is a passage.

This log.
Its daily job?
Support the frog. 


From your initial look at the front, right, of the open and matching dust jacket and book case, you find yourself fascinated by the sheer elegance of the colors and shapes on this frog.  There is a majesty in this captured minute.  The title text is raised.  To the left on the back are three rows of four photographs with narrow white lines in a grid defining them.  Frogs are shown in various positions and places on their pond.  Lovely presentation of flora is there also.

Additional pictures are shown on the end flaps as well.  The opening and closing endpapers are a shade of yellow as seen on the frog.  On the title page a front view of a frog's face peers through a spectrum of color.

The photographs throughout the book, taken by April Pulley Sayre, range in size from a single page picture crossing the gutter to create a large column for text, nearly full-page illustrations, several panels on a single page, and full-page images.  Their size and the white space for text shape the pacing and emotional effect.  The point of view in these photographs is outstanding.

One of my many, many favorite photographs is the first one.  It spans a single page on the right and crosses the gutter a bit to the left.  It is a close-up of a frog's face with the area surrounding it blurred.  Although the frog is still, you believe it could leap into action at any second.  It's a breathtaking portrait.


Readers of all ages will find the words and photographs in Being Frog written and illustrated by April Pulley Sayre either shifting or enhancing their belief in every living being having individual worth.  At the close of the book an Author's Note offers insights into the process, the difference between anecdotal evidence and scientific data, and April Pulley Sayre's observations and thoughts about those observations.  Resources for Further Exploration are offered.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about April Pulley Sayre, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  April Pulley Sayre has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.


Please take a few moments to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to enjoy the other titles selected this week by participants in the 2020 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Staging Success

Every time we tell a story to a friend, we are in the spotlight for those brief moments.  We are a presenter with an audience of one.  For many of those storytellers speaking to one, the thought of sharing themselves or their talents with a larger audience is simply not going to happen.  Their preference is for working behind the scenes and being an invisible supporter.

As life would have it, sometimes what is desired and what is needed are two entirely different scenarios.  The Bear Must Go On (Philomel Books, February 11, 2020) written by Dev Petty with illustrations by Brandon Todd focuses on a group of forest friends with a zest for jazzing up their current situation.  Their endeavors are filled with exuberance and loads of hilarity.

Four woodland animals could not decide how to spend their spring day.

Rabbit proposes they put on a show and it's enthusiastically endorsed by Squirrel and Other Squirrel.  As Rabbit, Squirrel and Other Squirrel shout out the details of said show, Bear volunteers to be the note taker.  When the truth dawns on Rabbit, Squirrel and Other Squirrel, they are aghast that Bear does not want to be in the show.  He tells them he is much too timid to perform.

As Bear takes notes of their loud demands, his humming to himself turns into a lilting tune he begins to whistle.  The trio voice their requirements for hats, tickets and a curtain exclaiming how every item needs to be perfect to keep the show from being ruined.  Bear happily writes; confident he is not going to be out front on the stage.

As you can imagine, nuts have to be offered to all attending the show.  They are the ideal refreshment.  Four working as a single unit begin to assemble all the elements for their splendid show.  Each time Rabbit, Squirrel or Other Squirrel mention something else, Bear notes it.  They work all day and into the early night.

As the population of the forest arrives to see the show, everything is as the friends planned.  The curtain opens and then everyone is stunned, especially Rabbit, Squirrel and Other Squirrel.  Bear scans his notes.  Bear makes a suggestion.  He is not overjoyed with his companions' response, but Bear is the best kind of friend.


Readers are quickly endeared to the characters, Rabbit, Squirrel, Other Squirrel and Bear, in this story because of their shared conversations in the narrative.  Based on their commentary by author Dev Petty, their highly animated personalities are guaranteed to have readers laughing out loud; in particular when Rabbit, Squirrel and Other Squirrel are compared to Bear.  (And if you aren't grinning at a character named Other Squirrel, then you need to check to see if you have any sense of humor.)  An additional technique author Dev Petty employs is to drop hints as to what Bear's notes reveal with respect to the conclusion.  She keeps adding and increasing one specific aspect.  Here is a passage.

"We also need tickets," said Rabbit.  "SHINY tickets."
"VERY SHINY," SAID Squirrel.
"Write SHINY in big letters, Bear!" said Other Squirrel.  "No one will come if the tickets are dull.  Everything will be ruined."

Bear surely didn't want anything to be ruined.  He wanted everyone to come to the show, especially since he wouldn't be in it.


When you initially look at the front, right side, of the matching and open dust jacket and book case, it's obvious Bear is less than eager to do what his friends, Rabbit, Squirrel and Other Squirrel are urging him to do.  The facial expressions on all the characters' faces is our first hint at the differing personalities.  Here, too, is our introduction to the full and vibrant color palette used throughout the book.

To the left, on the back, on the same light tan canvas is a bowler hat among flowers with a SHINY gold ticket stuck in the hat band. A speech bubble above the hat reads:

ENCORE!

in bright green letters. On the opening and closing endpapers are a variety of hats, pencils, and flowers patterned on a pale blue background.  A double-page picture of the four forest friends chatting on a hilly meadow supplies a scene for the title page.  Digitally rendered by Brandon Todd the illustrations range in size from double-page pictures, to full-page images, and to a group of geometrically-shaped visuals on a single page.

In each of these images Brandon Todd includes a vast array of details and perspectives.  His speech bubbles become highly valuable features.  Comedy is frequently embedded in these pictures.  Readers will find themselves deciphering Bear's notes which appear above him and finally around all the characters.

One of my many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  It is early evening with a full moon sitting on the horizon.  On the left side Rabbit is sewing the red and green striped curtain draped on the floor of the carefully built stage.  Squirrel and Other Squirrel are putting tiny hats with strings on the heads of birds and handing them the invitations.  The birds are delivering the invitations to the show.  On the right in a clearing among the trees is Bear.  He holds his pencil in one paw and polished, SHINY, tickets in the other paw.  Musical notes lift from his mouth.  The setting for the stage on the left is wooded with night hues in the trees, flowers and gently rolling hills. 


For anyone in need of courage and inspiration to give something out of their comfort zone a try, The Bear Must Go On written by Dev Petty with illustrations by Brandon Todd is an excellent choice.  For those who love a super story filled with humor, friendship and several shocking surprises, this is the book for you.  Truthfully, I can't look at the front of the jacket and case without smiling.  You'll definitely want a copy in your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Dev Petty and Brandon Todd and their other work, please access their respective websites by following the links attached to their names.  Dev Petty has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  Brandon Todd has accounts on Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view the endpapers.  Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher, hosted the book trailer and a chat with Dev Petty at his site, Watch. Connect. Read.