In thinking about the titles in the stack next to me for this post, I am reminded however unpredictable the world may be outside the walls of my home, the quality of children's literature is as outstanding as ever. In fact, in my humble opinion, it gets better every year. These authors and illustrators take years of their lives to give us their very best. The time they spend on research and revisions informs us about something new or reminds us of something we need to remember. I am grateful for their commitment to excellence.
TRADITION
Finding My Dance (Penguin Workshop, September 13, 2022) written by Ria Thundercloud with illustrations by Kalila J. Fuller
At the publisher's website, you can view the opening endpapers. There is also a sample from the audiobook read by Ria Thundercloud. Here is a link to a Facebook site where the book case is shown in Let's Talk Picture Books by host Mel Schuit. Here is a link to Native Viewpoint that talks about Ria Thundercloud and this book.
My name is Wakaja haja piiwiga, which means "Beautiful Thunder Woman."
I am from the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin and
Sandia Pueblo in New Mexico. These tribes have
different languages, cultures, and ceremonies, but
both value an important part of my life: dance.
At the age of four, Ria was gifted with a jingle dress, hand sewn by her mother. She was told by her mother that the dress was a healing dress. When she danced wearing this dress, blessings would be sent to those watching.
The dress was given to her in preparation of her attendance at a powwow. Ria describes the meaning of a powwow and how it felt to dance there for the first time. For many summers after that she and her brothers would dance in powwows all over the county.
She became a shawl dancer at thirteen. She studied modern, tap, contemporary and ballet dance. She had a huge success with her dance team, but struggled with classical dance, nevertheless she was determined. From being an outsider during school as the only Indigenous girl, she was free when she danced. She became a professional dancer traveling around the world. One of her cherished gifts when she was older was that of a set of eagle wings. With each transition in her dancing and personal life, Ria Thundercloud stays close to the earth and her ancestors, their past, present, and future guide her.
The illustrations of Kalila J. Fuller are majestic in their portraits of significant moments in Ria Thundercloud's dancing life. The realistic colors mirror Ria, her culture, and her place in it. The traditional dance attire is breathtaking. The opening and closing endpapers differ as do the dust jacket and book case.
FOUNDATION
Concrete: From the Ground Up (Candlewick Press, September 13, 2022) written by Larissa Theule with illustrations by Steve Light
There are interior illustrations at the author's website and at Penguin Random House. At the publisher's website, you can download a teacher's guide. There is a two-page bibliography at the end of the book.
CONCRETE is a composite building material.
Composite means made up of different parts.
The different parts that make up concrete are stone, sand, water, and cement.
With those first three sentences, this reader already learned something new---concrete and cement are not the same. In fact, we are educated on the purpose of cement in forming concrete and the different jobs for which each is chosen. We are taken back in time to the earliest forms of concrete. This is done through narrative and conversational dialogue by people present in each scene.
Historically, there were other materials like concrete but the Romans were the first to use it as a sturdy foundation in their building. Some of the Roman buildings made of concrete are still there for us to see today. Brilliant. (The ingredients and their proportions were lost when the empire fell.)
Other civilizations turned to stone structures. Finally, one thousand years after the Romans an engineer named John Smeaton used concrete again. This was all because of a lighthouse. (You'll have to read the book.) As the desire for concrete grew, so did the inventiveness of engineers and architects. They combined steel with the concrete for the best tensile and compressive strength. (You learn about tensile and compressive strength.) You won't believe some of the structures still standing today that are built of reinforced concrete. Wow!
These intricately detailed images by Steve Light were rendered
in pen and ink, watercolor, and ink splatter.
The first two-page illustration is stunning. It is a blend of buildings fashioned from concrete. They are done in black and white and hues of blue and green with sky in the background and water in the foreground with bridges. His people throughout are lively and filled with emotion.
VOICE
Maya's Song (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, September 2, 2022) written by Renee Watson with illustrations by Bryan Collier
At the publisher's website is a teacher's guide. At the close of the book on two pages is a timeline of significant events in Maya's life. There is an author's note and an illustrator's note on separate pages. You will enjoy the video with Renee Watson chatting with Nikki Giovanni with reference to this book at Renee's website.
April 4, 1928
Marguerite Annie Johnson was born on an ordinary day.
A St. Louis Wednesday caught between winter and spring.
Her papa, Bailey, loved her so.
Her mother, Vivian, loved her too.
Her brother, Bailey Jr., loved her most.
He called her Maya. . . .
These twenty-seven poems are a deeply moving ode to a remarkable woman with artwork radiating from the pages as much as Maya's voice radiated into our world. She learned to hold her head high from her father. When her parents' marriage ended, she and her brother were sent to her grandmother, Miss Annie and Momma, in Arkansas. She was three.
It was here she learned to read and where words started to grow a fire inside of her, a fire of power. Her Uncle Willie taught her mathematics. At the age of seven, she and her brother had been home in St. Louis with her mother and her mother's boyfriend for about a year. What Maya suffered during this time is handled with these words
Sometimes bad things happen.
Sometimes darkness comes.
Bailey never left Maya's side in her five years of silence. She and her brother returned to Arkansas, living with Momma. Exposure to poetry released the words Maya had stored inside her for those years.
As an adult she became a singer, friends with James Baldwin and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She traveled to Ghana, but returned home to tragedy in the form of two assassinations, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Her friend, James Baldwin encouraged her to tell her story, stories of her life. She did in her first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. On January 20, 1993 Maya Angelou became the first woman and Black American to read a poem they had written at President Bill Clinton's Inauguration. It was titled On the Pulse of Morning.
Using watercolor and collage, Bryan Collier formed the vibrant and beautiful illustrations for this book. He takes us through the life of Maya Angelou using selections in color to reflect the high and low points of her journey. You will see evidence of his knowledge and research of Maya Angelou in the elements in each image.
SONG
Standing In The Need Of Prayer: A Modern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual (Crown Books for Young Readers, September 20, 2022) written by Carole Boston Weatherford with illustrations by Frank Morrison
At the publisher's website, you can listen to Carole Boston Weatherford read a portion of this book. There is nothing quite like hearing an author read their work. At the close of the book are twelve pictorial and textural paragraphs referencing phrases written by Carole Boston Weatherford. This is followed by several online references. These are followed by an author's note speaking about spirituals and the memories attached to them for this author.
It's me, it's me, O Lord,
Standing in the need of prayer.
It's me, it's me, O Lord,
Standing in the need of prayer.
Beginning with the refrain and following with one of the original verses, readers are invited into this spiritual. For the next nine page turns, the verses take us through portions of Black history beginning with enslaved people, families crushed by separation, and runaways. This is followed by mention of Nat Turner and his rebellion.
The first and second line of each verse rhyme, supplying readers with a cadence not unlike the song itself. The Emancipation and Great Migration are paired. Airmen during World War II and famous musicians are included.
Those who were champions during the Civil Rights Movement are followed by present day heroes, like Florence Griffith Joyner and Colin Kaepernick. The retelling closes with representation of Black Lives Matter and the refrain, bringing us full circle.
Much can be learned by studying the front and the back of the matching dust jacket and book case created by Frank Morrison. Look at all the elements, symbols of history and events. The opening and closing endpapers differ; the one shows the deck of a slave ship and the other brings us to contemporary times with a young person carrying a sign to a protest. These images rendered
using oil and spray paint on illustration board
are eloquent and illuminating.
BUILD
The Lodge That Beaver Built (Candlewick Press, September 27, 2022) written by Randi Sonenshine with illustrations by Anne Hunter (NOTE: This title has been categorized as both nonfiction and fiction with information by libraries.)
At Penguin Random House, you can view the first several pages, including the title page and verso, of this book. At Anne Hunter's website, your patience will be rewarded with a scrolling view of several interior illustrations. The author and illustrator are interviewed by Betsy Bird at A Fuse #8 Production, School Library Journal about their collaborations and this book for the cover reveal. At the conclusion of the book are two pages of additional beaver facts followed by a glossary and websites and videos about beavers.
This is the crunch in the darkening wood
of teeth against bark where the willow once stood
on the shore near the lodge that Beaver built.
Using the structure of the nursery rhyme, This Is The House That Jack Built, we take a trek into the world of the often elusive beaver. (In all my life and walks in the woods, I have never seen one in the wild, only the results of all their efforts.) We are reminded of the dams beavers fashion to block water so their lodges are secure.
Using sticks and mud, yearlings make repairs. We learn about other animals who might share the interior of the lodge or sleep in the mud beneath it. We see how this well-built structure offers protection from predators.
When spring arrives, the new little beavers swim close to their mother as other babies living in the pond do alongside their parents. Other animals seek the water for food and drink, until a flood breaks down the dam. The beavers leave that lodge seeking a site for the construction of another lodge.
Done in ink and colored pencil on tinted paper,
the illustrations by Anne Hunter are softly textured and soothing, like an invitation into a mysterious and fascinating world. You are welcomed to pause at page turns to enjoy her intricate elements. Her scenes are both panoramic and up-close.
GUIDANCE
Going Places: Victor Hugo Green and His Glorious Book (Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, October 4, 2022) written by Tonya Bolden with illustrations by Eric Velasquez
There is a teacher's guide at the publisher's website. Publishers Weekly hosts a chat with these collaborators about this title. The author is interviewed at YA and Kids Books Central. At the close of the book is extensive back matter featuring a timeline, more about Victor Hugo Green, a page of notes, a selected bibliography, and other places to learn about The Green Book.
Once described as "tall, well-built, always impeccably groomed," Victor Hugo Green seemed to walk about with sunshine inside.
And plenty of pride.
What's more, he "not only believed in facing a problem, but also in doing something about it."
Victor Hugo Green was a mailman for several days each week in different communities in New Jersey. Even after he and his wife, Alma, moved to Harlem, he kept on delivering mail in New Jersey. All kinds of Black Americans made their home in Harlem, everyday people and famous names you will always remember.
It was during the Depression, people were told now was the best time to buy a car; roads were beckoning and prices were less. People traveled for business, for family, and for recreation. For Black Americans travel was not without
hassles, humiliations, hardships.
Many feared for their lives, and rightly so. They had to avoid sundown towns. No Black Americans were allowed there after dark. Travelers needed to be savvy, learning from newspaper articles and by listening to others.
Victor Hugo Green read, researched, and listened. What he discovered, he placed in a book, the Green Book. At first it was the size of a pamphlet in 1936. It only covered the New York City area and other towns close to New York City.
By 1940 it had spread to include every state and was 48 pages long. It now not only listed places to stay and eat, but other essential places that were safe. By the early 1950s, trains and planes had their own books. In 1958 the efforts of Victor Hugo Green were noted in the New York Age's travel section. What Victor Hugo Green really wanted was not to have to keep expanding his Green Book. He wanted everyone to be welcome everywhere.
Artwork by Eric Velasquez for this title was rendered using
oil paint on prepared watercolor paper.
His depiction of clothing, architecture, and automobiles is true to life. The inclusion of collaged postcards, newspaper articles, recreated photographs, advertisements, maps, and travel banners adds to the authenticity.
PRESERVE
The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories And Photographs (Scholastic Press, October 4, 2022) written by Chana Stiefel with illustrations by Susan Gal
You can download a curriculum guide at the author's website. At the illustrator's website, you can view an interior image. The author is interviewed about this book at The TeachingBooks Blog, The Whole Megillah, author Jena Benton's site, and the Jewish Standard. Both the author and illustrator are interviewed about this title at Picture Book Builders. At the end of the book is a timeline of Yaffa's life and work, a bibliography, and an author's note titled Every Person, A World.
She was a spirited girl who loved her home and her family.
She was born in a shtetl, a small Jewish town that pulsed
with love, laughter, and light. The name of her shtetl
was Eishyshok (Ay-shi-shok).
Can you imagine the traditions and stories of the people living here went back 900 years!? The children enjoyed playing with each other in every season of the year. Yaffa would go to the market with her grandmother to sell candles and share in the banter of the other merchants. Yaffa's other grandmother had a photography business. Everyone wanted to have their pictures taken by Alte.
When Yaffa was six, everything changed. German soldiers with their weapons invaded their community. Yaffa's father escaped where people were stuffed into a synagogue. He helped Yaffa's family escape death. She took photographs with her. For many months Yafa's family was hidden by caring people until the war ended.
From Jerusalem, Yaffa, now grown, and her husband went to America. She flourished and studied, becoming a professor recognized for her knowledge of the Holocaust. She was asked by President Carter to work on a museum about the Holocaust in Washington, D. C. Yaffa decided to build a memorial of her shtetl with photographs.
Over many, many months she located survivors and their pictures. It took her seventeen years! Today her efforts are visible in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, more than 1,000 photographs, three stories high. It is a testament to Yaffa's efforts and those lives lost. These images speak of who and what was and hold hope high.
The illustrations by Susan Gal
created with ink, watercolor, and digital collage
bring the love, laughter, and light found in Yaffa's shtetl to readers. Her colors reflect the joy and sorrow. Her lines, and light and shadow reflect the diversity of each person and their place in their community. One of her most powerful images is of Yaffa seeking the survivors and matching them with photographs superimposed on their faces.
ABSURD
The Real Dada Mother Goose: A Treasury of Complete Nonsense (Candlewick Press, October 11, 2022) by Jon Scieszka with illustrations by Julia Rothman
At the publisher's website, you can download a teachers' guide (I always did a unit on Mother Goose nursery rhymes during National Poetry Month with my older students. I still have twenty versions of those nursery rhymes in my personal collection.), an activity kit, and an informative marketing article. At Penguin Random House, you can view interior images which include the table of contents. At the close of the book in pages of notes the interpretations like Morse Code, Esperanto, secret codes, haiku, and rebus, among others, are explained. In the final section, More Notes, we find information on the history of Mother Goose, Blanche Fisher Wright, and a bibliography of her work. Blanche Fisher Wright is the author of The Real Mother Goose.
Old Mother Goose,
When she wanted to wander,
Would ride through the air,
On a very fine gander.
New Dada Geese,
When they want to wander,
Play around with old rhymes,
To make them goofy grander.
Thirty-six poems defying normalcy, loaded with fun and pure craziness, are used to reinvent what we know about Humpty Dumpty, Jack Be Nimble, Mother Hubbard, Hey Diddle Diddle, Hickory Dickory Dock and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. These extraordinary word formations are followed by one final rhyme titled Never End. Here readers are invited to concoct their own versions of the old, making them new.
Portions of the phrases in Humpty Dumpty are spelled in Morse Code and translated from English to Spanish. Other languages make an appearance before English is used again. Can you say Jack Be Nimble's rhyme in Pig Latin or in a version of a Mad Lib?
What would happen if you offered possible verb choices for Mother Hubbard making her journey to the cupboard to get her dog a bone? Believe it or not you can change the whole rhyme by substituting the final four words. (That dog is like my dog.) Raise your hand if you want to take a POP QUIZ after hearing Hey Diddle Diddle.
You might want to brush up on your interpretation using Egyptian hieroglyphs to read one version of Hickory Dickory Dock. Try messing around with the vowels in the phrases of Hickory Dickory Dock. You could use the military alphabet to rewrite Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Twinkle, twinkle, little Sierra Tango Alpha Romeo.
The illustrations of Julia Rothman done in mixed media match the sheer craziness of this volume with perfection. She adds her own interpretation to what looks like the original artwork. The geese are everywhere, displaying a variety of antics. When you take time to look at the images, you'll be laughing out loud.
NUMBERS
Counting In Dog Years: And Other Sassy Math Poems (Candlewick Press, October 11, 2022) written by Betsy Franco with illustrations by Priscilla Tey
At the publisher's website, you can download a teachers' guide. At Penguin Random House, you can view interior illustrations plus the four-part contents. To view more artwork, please go to the illustrator's Instagram pages.
Multiplying Mice
I know that mice can multiply.
I'm sure 'cause I kept score.
I started out with two of them
but soon had twenty-four. . . .
Four divisions named Hanging Out At Home, Math Musing, School Daze, and Last Bell, School's Out! contain a total of twenty poems certain to get your mind whirling and your giggles starting. They play with numbers, numerical functions, and words, entertaining you and testing you. They rhyme with gusto and will have you toe-tapping in no time.
Mom Time will have readers cheering at the twist. The title poem explains how a dog and a grandfather are the same age at eight and fifty-six. Fractions of Me will have readers and educators rearranging their thinking in the best possible way. For a reason we all know, all readers will be laughing at Washing Machine Magic.
You will be shaking your head at the reality of Palindromes as you are saying Who knew? Get ready to smile and giggle at the students graphing the items in the lost and found. Exercising in spurts really does add up---to exhaustion.
When school is out for the summer, numbers are still around. They are found in shapes and the cell numbers of friends. (Can you figure out the missing numbers?) You might have to measure the movement in a bug race. Or readers can find solace in the final poem, Math Makes Me Feel Safe.
Vivid, colorful and quirky are words that come to mind when looking at the artwork of Priscilla Tey for this book. Readers will be charmed by the book case that differs from the dust jacket. Rambunctious robots frolic on many of the pages and introduce each section. Everything is highly animated, even if it is not moving!
FREEDOM
The World's Loneliest Elephant: Based On The True Story of Kaavan And His Rescue (Christy Ottaviano Books, Little, Brown and Company, October 18, 2022) written by Ralph Fletcher with illustrations by Naoko Stoop
At the close of the book one and one-half pages are dedicated to more information about Kaavan who resides today at Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This is followed by a list of sources. If you visit the Instagram page of the illustrator, a story highlights this title. There you can see some of the interior artwork.
This is the story of Kaavan, an elephant who made a remarkable journey from one part of the world to another.
At one year old, the child elephant, Kaavan, was taken to a zoo as a gift for the daughter of the president of Pakistan. Marghazar Zoo was Kaavan's home for thirty-five years. For those thirty-five years, Kaavan was chained and resided in a small enclosure. For twenty-two of those years, he had a female companion Saheli. When she passed away, the male elephant was destitute.
Dr. Amir Khalil, an Egyptian veterinarian, knew about Kaavan and visited him. Dr. Khalil implored the government to release Kaavan. The plight of Kaavan went viral, with Cher and her organization, Free The Wild, taking up his cause. Finally in 2020 it was ordered that the zoo close. Kaavan was going to a new home.
It was not easy to gain the elephant's trust, but Dr. Khalil worked through singing Frank Sinatra songs. Who knew? He helped the elephant lose weight for his journey and taught him to eat and be relaxed in the enclosure needed for his transportation from Pakistan to Cambodia. It was an eight hour journey by airplane.
When the plane arrived in Cambodia, Kaavan was greeted like the hero and survivor he was. For the first time in decades, this elephant had plenty of room and the companionship of other elephants. You will be pleased to know whenever Dr. Khalil and Cher visit Kaavan, they sing to him.
Naoko Stoop beautifully portrays Kaavan and his plight and eventual rescue.
The illustrations for this book were painted on wood with acrylic paint and gouache, then combined with digital drawings.
This technique lends itself to this narrative superbly, capturing place and history with authenticity. We feel as though we've stepped into this book.
ENVELOP
Tree Hole Homes: Daytime Dens And Nighttime Nooks (Random House Studio, October 25, 2022) written by Melissa Stewart with artwork by Amy Hevron
At the publisher's website, you can view the first few pages of this title. At Melissa Stewart's Celebrate Science Celebrate Nonfiction blog she has a link in a post on the artwork created by Amy Hevron. Melissa Stewart is interviewed at YA and Kids Book Central and at author Lydia Lukidis's site about this book. Melissa Stewart has written a guest post at The TeachingBooks Blog about this title. At the close of the book, we learn more about all the animals mentioned in the narrative. Selected sources are included as well as more references about homes for animals.
Imagine this:
One day
while walking in the woods,
you spot a towering tree
with a hole big enough
to slip inside.
So you do.
Using a series of opposites, Melissa Stewart explains how the size of the hole in a tree can determine who resides there. Sometimes the resident likes silence and less activity. Other residents prefer a more rambunctious lifestyle.
Each time she makes one of these points, she gives us facts about those creatures. We are told how far off the ground the hole is likely to be, where it is, and when the animals will seek this sanctuary.
Far into the rain forest high above the ground, a female tree frog lays her eggs on the side of a hole above a pool of water. When the eggs hatch, they fall as tadpoles into the pool. Easter bluebirds like more openness, selecting a hole near a field.
Some holes are made in the trees by birds, like black-capped chickadees and woodpeckers or by lightning or when large branches are broken away from the trunk. These holes are used by their creators or other animals for homes. They stay within the hole depending on whether they eat during the day or at night.
The illustrations by Amy Hevron were rendered using
acrylic paint and charcoal pencil on various types of wood and digital collage.
The book case is different from the single image spanning the dust jacket. The opening endpapers show a child naturalist discovering a hole in a tree. The closing endpapers show her leaving and going to her home. Most of these fabulous images cover two-pages, giving us varying perspectives of life for the animals in these tree hole homes.
STRENGTH
She Sang For India: How M. S. Subbulakshmi Used Her Voice for Change (Farrar Straus Giroux, November 8, 2022) written by Suma Subramaniam with illustrations by Shreya Gupta
At the publisher's website, you can view multiple interior illustrations. There is a teacher's guide you can download at MacKids School & Library. (46 pages) At author Cynthia Leitich Smith's site, Cynsations, the creators of this book talk about the cover design. The author talks about her writing of the book at author Kathleen Temean's Writing and Illustrating. Betsy Bird speaks with the author about this title on her blog, A Fuse #8 Production, School Library Journal. In the final pages of the book is a letter to readers from the author, information about Carnatic music, a glossary, a timeline about M. S. Subbulakshmi, and a selected bibliography.
and beat. Her grandmother, mother, and sister strummed the violin, tambura, and veena. Her brother's fingers struck plum-jham-nam-dhim-thom on a mridangam.
Kunja's voice was like hearing magic, but she was not free to sing wherever she desired. Women were not allowed to attend concerts open to the public. People would leave if a woman was asked to perform.
Kunja's mother recognized her talent and her efforts were rewarded one day when someone in the audience asked to record her. Now people knew about Kunja's voice like her family did. When in her teens, she studied Carnatic music.
She still was not invited to sing at the Madras Music Academy. She was determined, though, singing around the country whenever she could, even if she was not given a good time slot to sing. Finally, with her acclaim growing, the academy asked her to sing. She was the first woman and the youngest to sing there.
At 30 years old, she was asked by Mahatma Gandhi to sing for peace and freedom. When India was divided into India and Pakistan, she sang. She sang after Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. She was heard around the world. She was asked to sing at the United Nations, the first woman to do so. Prior to her singing at the UN, something happened to her voice. Did that stop her? She sang.
For readers, the pictures created by Shreya Gupta bring us a personal portrait of the singer. We see her with her family, singing with her mother and championed by her mother. We feel as though we are in the audience when she sings, and when she is frustrated by the norms of India for women. We find ourselves cheering for her when she triumphs. We are inspired.
AVIAN
The Bird Book (Clarion Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, December 6, 2022) by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page (Steve Jenkins passed away on December 26, 2021.)
At the close of the book are pages of a table showing the size, diet, and range of the birds in this book. If you are interested in more information there is a list of books and websites. This book is a companion title to The Beetle Book, The Frog Book, and The Shark Book.
About 150 million years ago, a small feathered animal launched itself into the air, flapped its wings, and flew away.
It was the first bird.
Today, thousands of different kinds of birds are found all over the world. They have become one of the most successful groups of animals.
In a word, this is another stunning volume by one of the best collaborative husband and wife teams. The illustrations alone are captivating. The words alone are engaging. Together, they make a masterful nonfiction picture book.
On the first two pages, we are greeted by thirteen birds shown comparatively in size across those pages. Up close and personal we examine what makes a bird, featuring an American robin. We study beaks, feet, and feathers. We explore their senses.
The intricacy of flight is explained. The history of the evolution of birds is clarified. How their minds work is discussed. We are asked to watch how they act and sing and what it can mean. Their nests and eggs are presented.
Birds can and are both predator and prey. There are indeed some birds that cannot fly and others who have to live near water. There are some who fly incredible distances to migrate. Did you know the arctic tern flies up to 25,000 miles? In closing, we are told about champion birds and their statistics, birds who are in danger and those who are extinct.
Using
torn--and cut-paper collage,
the images by Steve Jenkins have us believing the birds will fly or walk off the pages any second. They are realistically presented in all their glorious color. His close-ups of birds are astonishing. The tiny, exquisite details are unbelievable.
MIRACLE
The Universe In You: A Microscopic Journey (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House, December 13, 2022) written and illustrated by Jason Chin
At the publisher's website, you can download an educator's guide. At Penguin Random House you can view the first three pages. Jason Chin and Neal Porter chat with John Schu about this book on his site, Watch. Connect. Read. You can pair this title with Jason Chin's other title, Your Place in the Universe. Jason Chin and this title are showcased at The TeachingBooks Blog. Jason Chin is featured at Time for Kids with an interview about this book. At the close of the book are pages talking about elementary particles, atoms, the atomic nucleus, the elements, born in stars, molecules, cells, molecules and cells, the smallest life, DNA and genes, genes and physical traits, and what is life. There is a note from the author, a note on the illustrations, and selected sources.
With every page turn, the thing being discussed is smaller and smaller, until you look up from your reading (and certainly by the end of the book) and think about what a miracle everything in the universe truly is. We move from bird to butterfly and then to bee. Then we go to a vellus hair. These are the smallest hairs on our bodies. For each of these movements to smaller, Jason gives us the measurements, which get tinier and tinier.
Our skin cells are even smaller than the vellus hairs. Bacteria make an entrance and we learn how even dead skin cells offer protection against bacteria. Go human body, go!
Cells are examined and we go closer and closer to what we find inside them. Words like nuclear pores and molecules appear along with DNA and atoms. Wow! Everything you thought you learned about atoms is expanded.
When protons and elementary particles are considered, you realize how connected everything and everyone is. Yet, Jason Chin is careful to point out the uniqueness we each have. You will find yourself sighing in agreement at his final thought.
The illustrations in this book rendered
using watercolor, gouache, and digital techniques
is exquisite. As Jason Chin takes us closer and closer and examines items that are smaller and smaller, we can't help but feel like we are on an extraordinary journey into the wonder that is life. His artwork elevates his text to marvelous heights. In addition to the text, there are small explanatory paragraphs with the illustrations as well as definitive labels. The matching dust jacket and book case do focus on an eye on the front, but this is only a portion of the face of the main character which is continued over the spine and nearly to the left edge of the back. When you open up the jacket and case, you'll gasp.
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