Better Together #4

Each day circumstances present opportunities for us to discover potential personality traits or increase (or decrease) those we already have.  We may be shocked at what is revealed.  It is in these revelations our confidence grows.  Our comfort in expressing ourselves is deepened and widened.  

We come to understand there is more than one definition for certain attributes.  Be Strong (Roaring Brook Press, August 10, 2021) written by Pat Zietlow Miller with illustrations by Jen Hill, a companion title to their Be Kind (Roaring Brook Press, February 6, 2018), addresses this very concept.  A young girl struggles with being strong and its various meanings and power.  Her ultimate understanding benefits everyone.

My school gym has tall walls.

I never noticed them before.

But, today I have to climb them.

Classmates make it to the top of the wall without struggling.  Tanisha cannot get beyond the bottom.  She does not have the strength to pull herself up.

Some days, trying to lift the simplest things, are hard for her.  Her family tells her to be strong.  This is how you get through the tough times in life.

When she asks for help, Dad, Mama, and Grandma Zee give her real-life examples of strength.  Being strong is sacrificing your time to help others, speaking up again and again to right a wrong, and committing to a goal.  At school and home, Tanisha notices moments to put their advice in action.

Dad, Mama, and Grandma Zee each offer one more suggestion.  Sometimes the tasks she attempts seem daunting, but first one thing, then another thing, and finally a third thing keep her going. And Tanisha learns the most important definition of being strong.  What do you think it is?

To begin, Pat Zietlow Miller gives us a problem.  Climbing a rock wall is a situation many have faced, so we can easily find ourselves identifying with the protagonist.  She uses this to present other perspectives on being strong, other than the obvious physical one.  In the characters of Dad, Mama, and Grandma Zee and their instances, we see applications for being strong.  These applications are (or may be) present in each of our communities.  Pat Zietlow Miller establishes a rhythm in her storytelling by repeating three two-word phrases three times, connecting separate portions of the narrative.  Here is a passage.

Grandma Zee says being strong means not giving up.

Like when she started running.

At first, she barely jogged a block.

She worried people would laugh.

But she keeps going.

Day after day.

Block after block.

Even when it rains.

One look at the children holding up the sign displaying the title text on the front, right, of the open and matching dust jacket and book case sends a strong impression.  The diverse ethnicity and colorful array of clothing suggest differing personalities who have united in a common cause.  Of particular interest is the purple hue surrounding them.  Purple can imply royalty or in this case, future leaders strong in the knowledge of themselves.

To the left of the spine, on the back, Tanisha and Grandma Zee are featured on a pale and tiny herringbone pattern of white and gray.  They are seated on mats and working on touching their toes.  Over their heads are the words:

Together, we can be strong.

The people and the area closest to them on both the front and the back are varnished on the dust jacket.

The opening and closing endpapers are covered in the bright orange shade shown on the front of the jacket and case in the one child's clothing.  Tanisha and Grandma Zee are presented on the title page using a part of an interior illustration.  Together, they lift a heavy backpack, each grabbing a strap.

Jen Hill rendered these pictures using

gouache on paper and retouched with Adobe Photoshop. 

The image sizes, full-page pictures, double-page pictures, and two smaller pictures on a page, supply readers will different perspectives.  At times we are observers, watching Tanisha being strong enough to be on stage playing her accordion.  Sometimes we are standing with Tanisha, as if we are her shadow.  These are intimate but brief time periods with this character.

In several of the illustrations, Jen Hill uses white space as an additional element allowing the other elements to seek and hold our attention.  The tiny features on the characters' faces convey a range of emotions.  This is no easy task, but Jen Hill does it splendidly.

One of my many favorite illustrations is on a single page.  It is in the school cafeteria.  Two circular tables are placed next to each other.  Around these muted-yellow tables are deep purple blue chairs.  The cafeteria trays are an orange red in color.  Groups of students at both tables present a diverse representation.  We see Tanisha's strength at work on the table closest to us, toward the bottom of the page.  She is placing a sign on the table.  It reads:

make a friend.

Endearing readers to these characters and their circumstances in Be Strong written by Pat Zietlow Miller with illustrations by Jen Hill is accomplished by the realism portrayed in word and images.  We know people who encounter these same happenings.  And this title offers hopeful, doable solutions readers can use in their own situations.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

In accessing their websites by following the link attached to their names, readers can learn more about Pat Zietlow Miller and Jen Hill and their other work.  Pat Zietlow Miller has accounts on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Jen Hill has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Vimeo.  At Macmillan Publishers you can view interior images.  Pat Zietlow Miller has a guest post at PictureBookBuilders about this title.  She has a video interview at Action News 2, Wisconsin about this book and her other work.

Like the word, strong, the word courage has multiple meanings.  For some individuals, courage is instinctive.  For others, it is learned.  I Am Courage: A Book of Resilience (Abrams Books for Young Readers, September 7, 2021) written by Susan Verde with art by Peter H. Reynolds is the sixth book in a series by these two talented collaborators.  The focus on a single word is enhanced through a first-person narrative of affirmations.

When there are challenges in front of me,

when I feel unstable,

like I might fall . . .

This child's voice tells us that in spite of obstacles and hesitancy, there is a can-do attitude found within them.  Like the engine in the classic The Little Engine That Could, this child keeps going.  Bit by bit with a heart full of faith, this child realizes possibilities.  They state:

I am courage.

Instinct, recognition of one's strengths, and endurance, even in the face of fear, keeps this child moving forward.  A stumble does not stop this person because they have learned to ask others for help.  All these things give this child the courage to use their experiences to support others.

This confidence helps this child to continue no matter what happens.  This child constantly looks to their core for courage.  This, in turn, inspires others.  

I becomes we.  The qualities of one become the qualities of others.  The journey of one becomes the journey of many . . . together.

You cannot read the words written by author Susan Verde in this book without, page by page, feeling a spark inside you grow brighter and brighter.  Through the mindset of this child, we look at each setback as a test to ace.  Throughout the narrative after a series of thoughts, Susan Verde follows with two word:

I am.

She does use courage after those two words several times, but she also uses words synonymous to courage or words in support of courage.  This is how the story flows toward a conclusion embracing other persons in their quest for courage.  Here is a passage.

I can know there is no shame

in sharing.  I tell my story.

I can step in when others are struggling.

I know how to help.

There is much to be learned when removing the dust jacket and opening it up.  For this book, the illustration on the right, front, introduces us to the main character, the voice in this story.  This child, wearing a shirt with a symbolic flame within a shield, is the picture of resilience fueled by courage.  The body language says I stand strong.  In fact, this child radiates this attitude.  The first three title words are done in foil.

On the back, to the left of the spine, the child with their bike is joined by two other children with their bikes and a canine companion.  Each is carrying a flag bearing the flame.  As a reader we wonder how one becomes three (plus one more brilliant being).

Also, by removing the dust jacket, we view a stunning book case.  It is done entirely in black and shades of yellow.  From left to right, with the bikers riding to the right in a row, they appear as a force, a force for good.  The flags are now on the back of each bike.  The dog is carrying a flag in its mouth.  There is a wide band of black at the bottom representing the path.  The children and their bikes are in black except for a lighter yellow inside the wheels.  The background is a marbled golden yellow.  (We later realize this is an interior image.)

A rose swirl, a center spiraling outward, covers the opening and closing endpapers.  Perhaps this is a depiction of the deep down of which the protagonist speaks.  Each illustration by Peter H. Reynolds was

created using traditional and digital inks, gouache, watercolor, and tea.

These double-page and full-page pictures tell their own story.  Peter H. Reynolds uses a boy traveling on his bike to elevate the text by Susan Verde.  He begins with a palette of purple and blue hues transitioning to light, bright, white and yellow as canvases.  He works the dog into the story, first as something possibly to fear, but an accident changes this outlook.  As presented, we cannot help but relate to the three children.

One of my many favorite illustrations (besides the book case) is a single-page picture.  Night has fallen and stars pinprick along the top of the page.  Between a grove of trees, a small tent is pitched.  In the foreground the three children sit on big rocks around a small campfire.  The two boys sit across from each other, the dog, head on paws, next to his human.  The fire lights the face of the girl who needs help.  The main character is telling his story of courage and resilience.

You will want to keep this title, I Am Courage: A Book of Resilience written by Susan Verde with art by Peter H. Reyolds, ready to read repeatedly.  At the close of the book is an author's note and four yoga poses and breathing exercises to inspire you to be your best self.  You will want to have a copy of this book in both your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Susan Verde and Peter H. Reynolds and their other work, please access their respective websites by following the link attached to their names.  Susan Verde has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Peter H. Reynolds has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior images.  There are activity sheets to download.

Blog posts, Better Together #1, Better Together #2, and Better Together #3, provide other titles to use with these two books if you like.