Taking A Moment

Sometimes, we forget to look beyond ourselves.  We fail to seek what might be hidden from our immediate viewpoint.  In these situations, one of the best alternatives is to step outside and embrace what the outdoors might offer.  If you are fortunate, take your canine companion with you.  They give new meaning to a walk on the wild side with all their senses on high alert.

More times than not, they suddenly stop.  It's in these moments our outlook shifts.  We see, hear, or smell something we might otherwise miss.  Beneath (Little, Brown and Company, January 17, 2023) written and illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld is about looking with new eyes.  It is about opening up our minds and hearts in order to understand the wholeness of someone or something.  This is when we are our best selves.  This is when life is richer and larger.

Finn was in a horrible mood.

Grandpa wanted to talk about it.

When you are in a horrible mood, talking is the last thing you want to do, and Finn was no different.  Grandpa suggested they take a walk.  Finn agreed, reluctantly, as long as staying under the quilt was an option.

This is when Grandpa suggested that even though Finn was hidden, he would remember what he could not see.  Walking among the trees, Finn listened as Grandpa explained there was as much underground as there was above ground.

It was the same for a boat they saw floating on the calm water.  What was moving underneath that boat?  At times, we can make a guess as to what we cannot see, but sometimes we wonder what is being seen, heard or smelled by another animal.  Why are they doing what they are doing?  Why is the fox's nose pointed toward a hole in the ground?

What we see on the outside is only a portion of what might be happening on the inside.  This is true for plants, animals, and humans.  (Do you think it's true for other things like the moon, planets, and stars?)  Last season's leaves are dying, but beneath them new shoots are sprouting.  As daylight turns to dusk and the moon rises, Grandpa offers his final beneath words.  We know Finn tucks these away like the treasure they are because of the reply given. 

As you read these words penned by Cori Doerrfeld, one of the first things you think of is how wonderful it would be to have walked with Finn and Grandpa.  And then, with gratitude, you realize that every time you open the covers of this book, you are there with them on that walk.  We can read their heartfelt and sincere conversations, ponder what they are saying, and wonder about all the beneaths in our world.

With the exception of a few sentences, this entire story is told in dialogue.  This helps readers to connect with Grandpa and Finn on a personal level.  Here is a passage.

"And people?" Finn wanted to know. (page turn)

"Of course!" Grandpa answered.

"Everyone is more than what you see.

"Beneath appearances

are experiences.  . . .

Using digital paint, Cori Doerrfeld created the images for this title beginning with the open dust jacket.  Here, on the front, Finn is strolling through the forest, using the beloved quilt as a hooded coat.  Moss speckles tree trunks as a squirrel and blue jay move and rest above ground.  Beneath Finn's feet is another world of tunnels for chipmunks, a mouse, and food. 

The illustration moves flawlessly over the spine to continue on the back of the jacket.  The tunnels underground continue as homes and pathways for mice, chipmunks and a frog.  Above them, Grandpa travels between the trees with his walking stick.

On the book case, the seasons have passed.  It is now winter.  On the right side, the front, Finn, happily, with open arms is turning to speak with companions.  Behind Finn, are Grandpa and Gramma, holding hands on the left side.  This time Gramma is holding the walking stick.  Snow frosts the surroundings and blankets the ground.

On the opening endpapers is a close-up of a portion of Finn's quilt.  We can see the patterns and prints in the squares.  They contain items from the outdoors in bright, cheerful colors.  On the closing endpapers is the underside of the quilt in squares of blue.  On the left in several of the squares is what we would normally see on the verso page.  On one of the squares in the lower, right-hand corner is a hand-stitched message.  

to Finn

(heart-shape)

Gramma

The pictorial story begins on the title page with a double-page visual.  Beneath a wedding picture of grandfather and grandmother is a sewing machine.  Grandpa is peeking into the bedroom.  Finn is a bump on the bed, totally covered by the quilt.  Through the subsequent double-page and full-page pictures from various perspectives with cut-aways, Grandpa's and Finn's conversations are brought to life.

As they move through the forest, Finn starts to uncover more and more from the quilt.  When Finn asks Grandpa to keep walking, the quilt is removed and wrapped around Grandpa's shoulders.  In the final scene, as they are seated under the stars, they are wrapped together in the quilt.

The facial features on Finn, Grandpa, and the other characters will engage readers.  The details in each scene ask us to pause and think like Finn.  What exactly is beneath us and others at any one time?

One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page picture.  On the left side, Grandpa and Finn are looking up as we look down at them.  They are placed between a leafy branch and leaves along the top.  On the right side, close to us, is a bird sitting on a nest snug among another kind of tree and its branches.  In a cutaway, we see four tiny eggs in the nest. (The bird might be a cardinal or a cedar waxwing.)

All of us can use a hug when the wrong sort of mood moves into our day.  This book, Beneath written and illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld, is exactly the kind of hug we need.  It asks us to rethink our mood and appreciate that which we cannot see.  This title is certain to promote discussions about our relationships to each other and the world around us.  I highly recommend you place a copy in your professional and personal collections.  

To learn more about Cori Doerrfeld and her other work, please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  Cori Doerrfeld has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website, Victoria Stapleton talks in a video with Cori Doerrfeld about her artwork in this title.