No Matter How Small, Retain Them All

When your family does not have a lot materially you learn to use everything you have.  Glass, plastic and cardboard containers are used for other purposes than their original intent.  You get your cousin's outgrown clothing and it's then passed on to your younger sister.  Each school year you are allowed one new pair of shoes for everyday wear and if you've grown another pair just for church or special occasions.  No morsel of food is wasted.  When you leave a room the lights are turned off.  The water faucet and shower are never left running.  Your family has a huge vegetable garden and the summer and fall mean lots of canning and freezing.  Conserving resources means less money, the little money you have, is spent and more is saved.  This life style is not easy for children to understand but it teaches you to appreciate what you do have and to help those who have less than you.

In an equally beautiful companion to Grandfather Gandhi (Atheneum Books For Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, March 11, 2014) authors Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus with illustrations by Evan Turk created Be The Change: A Grandfather Gandhi Story (Atheneum Books For Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, August 30, 2016).  The world saw a man of many talents, a beacon for passive resistance.  A boy saw someone else.

The world knows him as the Mahatma, Great Soul.
To me, he is Grandfather.  

Living at the Sevagram ashram, the grandson learns to live life as naturally as possible from sunrise to sunset.  Morning prayers are followed by days of work to maintain the life style of a simple and nonviolent people, numbering three hundred fifty.  Life in the ashram requires the residents to observe eleven vows.

The grandson struggles with

the vow not to waste.

He cannot see the connection between nonviolence and waste.  Bapuji asks the boy to be patient but a boy can only be patient for so long.  He welcomes the visit to the Nature Cure Clinic with his grandfather.  As he joins thousands listening to his grandfather his confusion on this vow continues but the words spoken by Bapuji still calm his soul.

One day while at Poona the grandson tosses the stub of a pencil away in the grass.  It's too small for him to use any longer.  When the boy asks for a new pencil a kind conversation follows with the child leaving, a flashlight in hand, to try to find the discarded pencil in the dark.  Hours later he locates the pencil, returning to his grandfather.  He still can't understand the tie between the pencil and nonviolence.

Back at the ashram Grandfather Gandhi works with his grandson.

"Waste is a violent action. ..."

He asks him to make a tree with violence as the trunk and branches for passive and physical violence.  The leaves are examples of each.  As the tree grows and grows the visual impact constructs a bridge between the pencil and violence in the boy's mind.  He realizes one of life's greatest truths.


At the close of the title Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus speak about the impact of passive violence.  It is a

fuel supply

for physical violence.  Examples of passive violence are shared.  They ask all readers to take the Be The Change Pledge.

What stands out for us in this story is the voice of Arun.  He speaks with great respect for Grandfather Gandhi but also candidly reveals his confusion.  In his wisdom and love Grandfather Gandhi allows the simplest action to be a catalyst.

Sentences, with vivid descriptions, convey life in the ashram and the interactions between the grandfather and his grandson.  The inclusion of the conversation between Arun and Grandfather Gandhi after he throws away his pencil shows us the true character of both as do the chats back at the ashram.  Grandfather Gandhi provides the impetus but Arun is granted the right to figure out the answer to his question on his own.  This is a powerful lesson taught by a master teacher. Here is a sample passage.

I set off into the dark.  My face burned with shame.  Grandfather had already taught me so much, and here I had more to learn.  I was a disappointment---to him, to myself.
I retraced my steps.  Past the bench with the broken leg.  Past a pack of stray dogs.  I stopped when I came to the scrubby grass that I'd cut across hours earlier.
Kneeling, I ran my fingers through the coarse stalks.
Nothing.
Above, the stars seemed to mock me.  Find it, find it, they twinkled, taunting.


All of the images rendered by Evan Turk in

 watercolor, paper collage, cotton fabric, cotton, gouache, white china marker, colored drawing pencils, and embroidery thread

is a luminous reflection of the life work of Mahatma Gandhi.  The matching dust jacket and book case speak to the single item which launches a valued lesson.  It demonstrates the affection of Grandfather Gandhi for Arun.  At the same time we can see the questioning behind Arun's gaze.  The intricate folds in the clothing and the stitching on the tree are a hint of the astounding illustrations within the body of the book.  On the back, to the left, is a geometric layout of the praise given to Grandfather Gandhi by professional reviews.

There is a deeper, richer sense in the color palette of this title with lots of red, orange, blue and purple.  Swirling blue outlines like clouds or flowers or rolling hills fill a red-speckled background on the opening endpapers.  On the closing endpapers the same pattern is evident but the outlines are red on a pale variegated yellow background.  A gorgeous, textured background in hues of red is the canvas for a single stitched stalk with three leaves and the words Be The Change.  This precedes the formal verso and title pages.

Eighteen striking two-page pictures interpret this priceless journey traveled by Arun. The depiction of light and shadow is marvelous.  The placement of the text never detracts from the visuals incorporated flawlessly into them.  In one picture the text is placed within a tree trunk and branches.  On that same page cotton has been picked by a woman and child.  It looks so real you will reach out to touch the page.

On another page the representations of the eleven vows are placed in connected squares of varying sizes.  We see these shapes replicated on the next two pages when Grandfather Gandhi is speaking and again in the formation of the tree.  Everything and everyone is connected.

One of my many favorite illustrations is the first one.  It is a varied orange background of watercolor.  On the right are the words for the first two sentences.  On the left in front of a large pale yellow sun are Grandfather Gandhi and Arun.  The walking stick Gandhi carries is the same shade as their skin.  Gandhi's glasses are a deeper yellow.  Their clothing is different shades of orange folded fabric.  Shadows extend from the walking stick and their feet.  There is a great deal of love in this scene.


Be The Change: A Grandfather Gandhi Story written by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus with illustrations by Evan Turk is the perfect title for this new year.  How will each of us be the change?  How can this true story be used to help everyone seek change?  For myself I am going to try to do one thing actively each month differently (except for October when I do my Halloween book giveaway).  For the month of January my new thing is when I return bottles at the grocery store I am going to leave my bottle slip for the customer behind me in line.

To learn more about Arun Gandhi, Bethany Hegedus and Evan Turk and their other work please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Evan Turk also maintains a blog. Visit this link to view a sketch Evan Turk has on Instagram. To view some of the interior pages please visit the publisher's website.

#Illustration from BE THE CHANGE: A Grandfather Gandhi Story #india #art #kidlit #bethechange #collage #global pic.twitter.com/NrKxLjT5Vd

— Evan Turk (@evanturkart) September 12, 2016

Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the other selections by bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Deep Sea Dreams

A book was published in February of 1974 with one of the most haunting scenes I had (or have) every read.  Serious consideration was given to not completing the story given the fear those descriptive moments created.  As I recall the passage it spoke to those horrific, unforeseen minutes of fear which can happen, when something comes out of the dark to change our lives permanently.

Even knowing what was coursing through the water toward the nighttime swimmer, I was one of hundreds of viewers screaming and lifting my feet from the floor, as we watched Steven Spielberg's movie interpretation of Peter Benchley's Jaws in the summer of 1975.  You don't forget that kind of terror. In her Author's Note Heather Lang talks about her fear of sharks sparked by the movie as a child but also how it drove her to learn as much as possible about a trailblazing woman.  Swimming With Sharks: The Daring Discoveries of Eugenie Clark (Albert Whitman & Company, December 1, 2016) illustrated by Jordi Solano is one of those stunning picture book biographies highlighting an incredibly brave human being determined to disprove the status quo.

Little Genie stood on the railing and pressed her face against the mysterious glass tank.

While others feared what she watched, she found these fish fascinating.  She dreamt of being in the water with them.  She wanted to swim with sharks!

On Saturday mornings she returned to the aquarium in New York City, chatting with people who came to the tank and educating them about sharks. To support her passion her mother saved money to get her a fish tank of her own.  This girl read, studied and asked questions about sharks.  She was determined to become a fish scientist.  Today this might not seem like an impossible dream but in the 1930s it was unheard of for a woman to follow this career path.

In college she took every class she could to work her way toward her goal, graduating with a degree in zoology.  Fortunately a famous someone recognized her merits.  Genie was a research assistant in California for an ichthyologist!  She lived in the water acquainting herself with every aspect of life under the surface of the ocean.

When she was twenty-seven years old and conducting a study for the US Navy, her dream came true.  Underwater collecting fish, a huge shark swam up behind her!  As still as stone Genie watched it dive deep and away.

She built a laboratory in Florida complete with a shark pen devoting herself to learning as much as she could about these often misunderstood fish.  Specific interactions would prove such things as sharks are clever, some are gentle and sharks are sophisticated.  Eugenie Clark spent a lifetime (actually diving when in her nineties) devoted to sharks and their preservation along with all marine life.


When you read about a woman like Eugenie Clark brought to life by the writing of Heather Lang you are astonished at her accomplishments, one giant step at a time.  Research and a visit with Eugenie Clark prior to her death in 2015 allow her to give us up-close-and-personal information about this remarkable pioneer in her field.  Her depictions of these incidents are vivid enough to bring us into the place and time.  The technique of including pieces of notebook paper with shark notes on them as part of the images brings us closer to her scientific revelations.  Here is a passage.

The ocean became her classroom!  Genie collected fish and studied them.  She took water samples.  She dissected a swell shark to investigate how and why it puffs up.

Wearing a face mask, Genie explored the underwater world for the first time.  Its beauty mesmerized her.  Genie couldn't wait to dive deeper, stay under water longer, and maybe even see some sharks.


Painted digitally after hand-drawn images are scanned into his computer Jordi Solano supplies readers with a world so real we expect the sharks to swim right off the pages.  The illustration on the matching dust jacket and book case on the front, the right, is extended over the spine giving us an expanded view of the aquarium tank and a fourth shark.  Even though Genie is on the outside looking in at the sharks, this initial picture seems to predict her astounding future with these creatures.

The opening and closing endpapers done in two hues of blue feature the outlines of many different types of sharks.  Beneath the text on the title page a loose circle surrounds Genie with her hands pressed against the glass at the shark tank.  Most of the images span two pages.  Solano's use of shading and shadow and his shifts in perspective give each illustration a deep sense of atmosphere and emotion.

For the first two page image we again see Genie, face against the glass at the aquarium, but this time we are closer to her and seeing her as if we are in the tank; it's a shark's eye view.  When Genie dives it's as if we are there with her.  All the shimmering shades of the ocean depths are shown.  Each picture is a study of Genie and her love of sharks.

One of my many favorite pictures is after Genie's mother buys her a fish tank.  On a single page, taking up nearly the entire area, is the tank filled with plants and tiny fish.  Behind them is the face of Genie, eyes wide open and watching everything in motion.  Solano has her hair on the outside blend with the plants on the inside.  The play of dark and light is wonderful.


After reading a title like Swimming With Sharks: The Daring Discoveries of Eugenie Clark written by Heather Lang with illustrations by Jordi Solano you find yourself first thankful for this woman and second hoping this story will inspire other women to pursue their heart's desire no matter what road blocks attempt to dissuade them.  Eugenie Clark fought against norms and prejudice and won herself a place as a highly respected scientist.  This is an excellent picture book biography!  There is, as mentioned above, an Author's Note, a More about Sharks page and a list of Selected Sources.

To learn more about Heather Lang and Jordi Solano please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Heather Lang has a multitude of resources about Eugenie Clark and sharks on the page for this title.  There is a six page teacher's guide.  At the publisher's website you can get a peek inside the book including one of my favorite illustrations.  At the publisher's blog illustrator Jordi Solano talks about his process for this title.  This is his first picture book.  Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher, showcases the book trailer premiere with commentary by Heather Lang on his blog, Watch. Connect. Read.  Heather Lang is a guest writer at the Nerdy Book Club speaking about research for nonfiction and fiction children's literature titles.  This title has been nominated at the Amelia Bloomer Project.

As this year is nearly at a close please be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to see the other titles selected this week by those participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Up Up And Oops!

It's a voyage to be always remembered.  It compares to nothing else in the sensory perceptions experienced.  You are riding through air using contained heated air.  It's all scientific but feels like a miracle.  Moving vertically and horizontally across fields, slightly above treetops, alongside roadways and over country homes you truly become like you imagine birds to be.


On November 21, 1783 the first untethered manned hot air balloon flight was completed in the country of France.  (Previously, a sheep, a duck and a rooster were successfully flown for two miles in eight minutes on September 19, 1783 in Paris, France.)  Despite several subsequent successful flights, there was yet another milestone to accomplish, manned flight from one country to another by hot air balloon. A Voyage in the Clouds: The (Mostly) True Story of the First International Flight by Balloon in 1785 (Margaret Ferguson Books, an imprint of Farrar Straus Giroux, October 11, 2016) written by Matthew Olshan with illustrations by Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall takes readers soaring and exploring; adding in more than a little laughter.

"Our big day at last!" cried Dr. Jeffries, leaping from bed.  He flung open the shutters and lifted his dog, Henry, to the window.

It is January 7, 1785.  Dr. Jefferies and Monsieur Blanchard are going to cross the English Channel from England to France in a hot air balloon.  The first glitch comes when the good doctor goes to pick up Monsieur Blanchard and finds him not in his room.  It seems Blanchard is already at the launch site and now is claiming only one man and one dog can go.

Rightfully so, Dr. Jefferies is puzzled as everything and everyone was carefully weighed yesterday.  When all is double checked it is discovered that Blanchard has mysteriously gained almost eighty pounds in one night.  What?!  Wearing a lead vest can do this for a man.

Taking flight amid constant bickering about who will step off first, which country is better, who paid for everything and who is captaining this vessel, the duo settle into an uneasy companionship as passengers are apt to do.  Dr. Jefferies documents the trip.  Monsieur Blanchard eats and naps.

While he sleeps something happens to the balloon.  Dr. Jefferies, being a learned man, believes he has solved the problem.  Perhaps he has solved it too well.  Waking Monsieur Blanchard, the twosome finds themselves in an awkward (frightening) situation.  When faced with nothing but the bare necessities, a gentleman's agreement is reached.


Using the original monograph as written and presented by Dr. Jeffries, author Matthew Olshan pens a blend of narrative and dialogue.  Infused with wit the facts weave flawlessly throughout the tale.  It's a rare gift to be able to bring the events of a single day to our attention with this caliber of intelligence and ingenuity.  Here is a passage.

The balloon rose into the sky.
By working the oars and the rudder,
Blanchard could turn the aerial car this
way or that.  Soon they were out over the
water heading toward France.  The views
were spectacular, but Jeffries was still 
upset about his speech.

You, monsieur,
are not gentleman.

The captain is busy.
Will the passenger
please be quiet?


An idyllic scene welcomes us to this book on the opened dust jacket.  The sea, sky and clouds continue to the left over the spine creating a single illustration.  Upon closer inspection the expressions on the faces of the four passengers reveal a sense of unease rather than peace.  It's a beautiful design for the title with the text on the cloud within the balloon.  The book case too is a single image.  It gives us a view of the bed of the channel beneath the balloon.  It hints of the measures taken by the reluctant companions.

The opening and closing endpapers are a gorgeous pattern in black, cream and gray.  Small nautical lines (ropes) extend from the top to the bottom.  Placed on these in a series of decorative ovals is the balloon over the channel with a cloud behind it and a gull flying above it.  The title page is an extension of the dust jacket; clouds, sky and sea with the tail of a whale breaching.

Utterly charming pictures in the interior span across two pages, single pages and partial pages.  Sophie Blackall uses speech balloons for much of the dialogue.  Sometimes she fashions a series of panels much like a comic in the same color palette as the endpapers to convey significant moments.  She varies her perspective to take us directly into the action; as when the passengers are calling to a warship below the balloon it's as if we are behind them or when the balloon is nearly to the coast of France we are able to see the smaller balloon high above the coastal sea town and hills.  The expressions worn on the faces of the characters contribute to the laughter we feel welling up inside us at the story proceeds.

One of my favorite illustrations spans two pages.  It's the balloon's eye view of the car carrying Jeffries, Blanchard, Henry and Henri.  With two sandbags inside the men are leaning back at opposite ends.  Jeffries is writing in a journal petting Henry.  Blanchard is holding a small cooked fowl, chewing on one of the legs.  Henri eagerly jumps on his knee hoping for a nibble.  Satchels are visible along with an umbrella and a violin.  For the moment everything is perfectly perfect.


As soon as you start to look at the dust jacket, book case and endpapers you understand why A Voyage in the Clouds: The (Mostly) True Story of the First International Flight by Balloon in 1785 written by Matthew Olshan with illustrations by Sophie Blackall appears on The New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2016.  The text and pictures work in excellent harmony to convey this marvelous feat by two men who really did not care for each other.  You should read this often and aloud whenever you can.  It is a must-have for your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Matthew Olshan and Sophie Blackall please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Sophie Blackall also maintains a blog.  If you wish to view interior pages follow this link to the publisher's website.  (One of my favorite pictures is shown.)  Julie Danielson, author, reviewer and blogger at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, highlights this title with Sophie Blackall sharing research images, sketches and final art.  Matthew Olshan is interviewed by Deborah Kalb about this title and his work in general.  In two posts this year on his blog, Watch. Connect. Read., John Schumacher, Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, chats with Sophie and showcases her Caldecott Medal speech.


While I realize this title is not nonfiction in its entirety, the author does include in a note about his research and what is fact and what is fiction.  For this reason I am including it in my selection of titles for Wednesdays during the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2016 hosted by educator Alyson Beecher at Kid Lit Frenzy.  Please visit this site to view the other books selected this week by participants.

Arctic Survivor

On December 14, 2015 an article was posted at the National Geographic website.  This article, Extreme Research Shows How Arctic Ice Is Dwindling, written by Andy Isaacson explains the journey of the research ship, Lance.

On the Lance's five-month mission its rotating crew of international scientists would investigate the causes and effects of ice loss by monitoring the ice across its entire seasonal life cycle---from the time when it formed in winter until it melted in summer.

One quote in this informative and interesting essay by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) oceanographer James Overland reads:

The Arctic really is the canary showing that climate change is real.

For species which make their home here and rely on the climate not to change to survive, this is a frightening fact.  The largest living land carnivore is in a precarious position.  The Polar Bear (Enchanted Lion Books, November 15, 2016) written and illustrated by Jenni Desmond (The Blue Whale) serves to enlighten readers about this majestic creature.

Once upon a time, a child took a book from the shelf and started to read...

As she begins to read she learns about the other name for the polar bear, a name given to them for their lives spent on the ice of the Arctic Ocean.  As remarkable as it seems, they thrive in the bitter temperatures, equipped with two layers of fur, thick skin and a layer of fat.  Did you know their necks are longer to help them swim with their heads out of the water?

Their huge paws, sometimes thirteen inches long, act as snowshoes, paddles when swimming and shovels when digging.  The bottoms of their feet are especially equipped to help them walk on ice.  Did you know the skin of polar bears is actually black?

Polar bear eyes and ears are quite like our own, except for a protective layer on their eyes which blocks the sunlight and helps them see underwater.  Their sense of smell, though, is phenomenal.   They can sense seals, their main source of food, miles away.  They can sniff out mates and locate their cubs.

The age of a polar bear can be found by counting the rings on one of their forty-two teeth.  (I might prefer to let that remain a mystery unless a tooth is found without being attached to the bear.)  Their eating habits rely on their food source.  Could you eat a meal every eleven days?  Or go without eating for three months?  As clever as they are at hunting, seals are much faster; more get away than are eaten by polar bears.

A home habitat for a polar bear can cover hundreds of miles of ice and ice floes.  After mating in the spring, the male will leave.  The female will only become pregnant in the fall if she has enough fat.  For three years cubs will stay with their mother learning how to survive.  Like humans at the end of the day or when exhausted, polar bears enjoy a good sleep.  It's all about survival.


By using a young girl wearing a red crown, dressed in cozy clothing and boots and reading this book, Jenni Desmond provides an inviting opening to this nonfiction narrative.  The child begins by reading the book in her home and then becomes part of the Arctic landscape as she continues to read.  In turn this brings us full circle on the final page, tying the actions of the polar bear to those of the girl.  In this way it's as if we are reading the same words at the same time as the girl.

Desmond breaks down the facts about the polar bear inserting them into conversational paragraphs; life on the ice, habitat and temperature, individual physical characteristics, socialization, hunting and eating, territory, swimming, mating, birth and life of the cubs and sleep.  Her research is evident providing her with captivating facts which she shares.  Here are two portions of a passage.

Polar bears have three ways of hunting.  The most common is waiting by a hole or at the edge of the ice for a seal to surface.  Then the bear will grab the seal with its teeth and pull it onto the ice.

Another is sneaking up on a seal that is already on the ice and then running at full speed to catch it.  A polar bear can run faster than the fastest human but only for a few seconds.


At her website Jenni Desmond states:

I work by hand using mixed media, and finish the artwork digitally.

On her matching dust jacket and book case, she places the subject of the book front and center, as if we are locked in a gaze with the polar bear.  Behind the bear and to the left, on the back, a barren Arctic panoramic view is broken by the flight of five geese.

The opening and closing endpapers are nearly identical.  The top half is the rolling hills of snow and the sun shining in an Arctic hazy sky.  The bottom half is the icy blue of the Arctic Ocean.  The polar bear is swimming to the right.  The little girl is kayaking, a tiny element in this grand scheme.  She does switch direction in the two.

The title page shows the girl removing this book from a shelf with other northern life and nature titles including Desmond's own The Blue Whale.  The heavier matte-finished paper gives realistic texture to the images.  The first picture gives us a view beyond the bookshelf of the girl stretched on a bed covered in cozy blankets.  Next to it is a low table with colored pencils, a sketch pad, a tea pot and a bowl of colored balls.  Her stuffed toys, eight animals, are reading along with her.

All of the illustrations span two pages.  Their scope and perspective impressively vary from the polar bear much smaller walking through a blizzard, showing him on an ice floe between glaciers, shaking off water and splashing the girl to an extreme close-up of his nose working to locate food, a mate, cubs or danger.  In one of many wonderful sequences we are given a bird's eye view of the bear swimming between ice floes with the girl leaning over to watch.  They are placed in the far right-hand corner.  With a page turn we are close to both of them, watching how the bear's body moves under water.

One of my many favorite illustrations is of the girl sitting on one side of a crevice and the polar bear on the other side.  The crevice is shown like a peak of a mountain stretching downward into the deep Arctic waters.  The polar bear can smell the seal swimming to the surface. The girl is holding a fishing pole over the water.  On either side of the hole is a large expanse of snow.


The Polar Bear written and illustrated by Jenni Desmond is a stunning piece of nonfiction.  In an Author's Note prior to the title page she speaks about the need to protect the polar bear and their habitat.  Their habitat protects our planet.  This title appears on The New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2016.

To learn more about Jenni Desmond and her other work please follow the links attached to her name to access her website and blog.  Jenni maintains a Twitter and an Instagram account.  Jenni Desmond was the recipient of a 2016 Sendak Fellowship.

You can find more information about polar bears at ARKIVE.  For more information about the Arctic and climate change go to the World Wildlife Foundation site and another page here.

Please visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to see the other titles selected by bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Looking For Answers

There are those who can never have enough questions answered.  They extend themselves daily not content with a reply but wanting to know why.  We have all had them in our collective classrooms.  We might even be one of those people who have a driving need to know.

The world is an entirely different, a better, place because of these people who never rest in their search to obtain a complete picture of whatever it is (or was) they are pursuing.  Charles Darwin's Around-The-World Adventure (Abrams Books For Young Readers, October 4, 2016) written and illustrated by Jennifer Thermes follows one of these people on a voyage which changed his life.  It changed all our lives, then and now.

Charles Robert Darwin would have rather been outside searching for bugs, beetles, worms, butterflies, birds, rocks, and bones than sitting in a classroom.

He was a seeker and a collector, much smarter than his teachers thought he was.  He was unable to follow in his father's footsteps in the medical profession but sought to become a clergyman.  After his completion of studies at Cambridge University, his professor of botany recommended Charles as the naturalist sailing with the HMS Beagle.  The ship would be voyaging to South America to take map measurements.

The ship was captained by Robert FitzRoy (he and young Charles did have disagreements).  It was ninety feet long.  There was not a bit of room to spare between the men on board and the supplies.  Thankfully Charles decided very early to journal everything about this journey.

Charles was happier than he had ever been when visiting the rain forests along the east coast of South America. Stick insects he observed helped him ponder how creatures adapt to continue their species.  He continued to collect and send specimens back home.  Did you know that Charles spent a lot of time on land while the ship sailed along the coast?  What he discovered there prompted other theories.  Everything he saw contributed to his quest to discover as much as possible about animals and their survival.

One hundred miles from the HMS Beagle Charles, the captain and a few sailors had a near-death experience.  Just reading about it gives you the shivers.  You have to wonder how our world would be if Charles had not survived.  Through personal experiences Charles formed hypotheses about earthquakes and volcanoes and their effect on the earth's surface.  One was confirmed with a trip to the Andes and a discovery there.

After four years the HMS Beagle needed to return home but first there were stops at the Galapagos Islands, around New Zealand, Australia, the Cape of Good Hope, Ascension Island, and back to Brazil.  Five years away from home changed Charles more than in age (22-27).  A path for his life's work stretched before him.


Painstaking research and a love of what she read lead Jennifer Thermes to create a nonfiction narrative which captivates readers. Interesting incidents make Charles Darwin the person more accessible.  In the first paragraph she relates an encounter with a beetle that will astound at the very least.  It's a little gross... in a good kind of way.

It's important for us to know Charles was often seasick but his desire for adventure and quest for knowledge overcame any hardships he met.  This leads into his being on land for more time than we might have previously known.  Thermes' descriptions of the surroundings in which Charles finds himself give us a sense of being there with him.  Another skillful technique she employs is to insert questions in the text, suppositions made by Charles.  It will lead readers into forming their own questions.  Here are two pieces of sample text.

In the rain forest, the ground soaked up the downpour while the plants grew green and lush.  Charles was surrounded by the buzz of millions of insects, yet the jungle wrapped him in velvet silence. 

He studied rocks and tried to figure out how steep cliffs and flat plains were formed.  Was it possible that the shape of the land affected the animals' survival?


In a clever artistic move Jennifer Thermes has the tree on the front of the dust jacket aligned with mountain peaks of the Andes on the back, to the left.  This image on the back is taken from the interior of the book.  The illustration on the front is a beautiful blend of a multitude of places Charles visited.  It allows us to see how his views expanded on this trek around the world.  The fine lines and exquisite attention to detail seen here is only a glimpse of what the remainder of the book holds for readers.  The book case is a series of waves, layered from nearly the top to the bottom.  Above them are sky and the HMS Beagle sailing west.  Beneath the vessel is a quote from Charles Darwin.

The opening and closing endpapers are elaborate portraits of the world portraying the voyage as a departure and as a return.  Arrows show the line of travel and stops.  Continents and places are appropriately named.  By turning the page to view vertically you can see a detailed timeline for the five years corresponding to the points in the journey.  The title page and verso is one single illustration of sea and sky with the HMS Beagle beneath the title text.  On the left a picture is placed over this.  There are several specimen jars, rocks, a shell, a bone, a butterfly, and other insects with a magnifying glass.  A dedication is placed on the largest bottle.  Under this is an open journal with the publication information.

Rendered in watercolor and black colored pencil on Fabriano Hot Press Paper these images, wonderfully realistic and brimming with elements, ask us to stop and look.  This is how Charles Darwin viewed our world.  He stopped and looked. (I love that Thermes places a puppy in the picture of Charles as a boy and has the dog grow with him and greet him when he arrives home.)

There are eight maps of varying sizes throughout this title, one which needs to be viewed vertically.  Thermes has them labeled completely and includes animals found in each of the places after leaving England.  Her images range in size from double-page spreads to single pages to smaller pictures set in larger ones.  Her cross section of the ship at sea is illuminating.  Her perspectives are marvelous; a bird's eye view of the ship at sea, Charles riding across the pampas amid mice, rabbits, armadillos, and birds. Gauchos ride alongside him swinging their bolas.  A close-up of collected fossils will have readers searching for their own treasures.

One of my many favorite illustrations is of Charles in a small sailboat in the Tierra del Fuego waters.  Behind him is the HMS Beagle on the left.  The scene is framed by sky and mountains.  Penguins stand on ice floes.  Seals swim near him and rest on ice.  Beneath the water we can view an array of marine life; seals, fish of all sizes, a whale, jellyfish, starfish, crabs and an octopus.  All move around in a garden of seaweed.

For this post I borrowed a copy of Charles Darwin's Around-The-World Adventure written and illustrated by Jennifer Thermes from my public library.  But rest assured I not only will be getting a personal copy but several others to give away.  This is a stellar work of nonfiction sure to promote curiosity and the value of never stopping pursuit of your passion.

To learn more about Jennifer Thermes and her other work please visit her website and blog by following the links attached to her name.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images including one of my favorite pictures.  There is artwork and process sketches at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  At Miss Marple's Musings Jennifer Thermes is interviewed.  We get to see her work space and more artwork tied to this title.  We also get to see more about this book and the process involved at The Little Crooked Cottage.  Enjoy Jennifer's tweets.

Out one month from today... CHARLES DARWIN'S AROUND-THE-WORLD ADVENTURE! @abramskids #kidlit #charlesdarwin #STEM pic.twitter.com/wxMBtLZfgP

— Jennifer Thermes (@jenthermes) September 4, 2016

Color proofs for CHARLES DARWIN'S AROUND-THE-WORLD ADVENTURE (Abrams, 2016). It's getting really real! pic.twitter.com/JGnTcyMnRW

— Jennifer Thermes (@jenthermes) December 9, 2015

Remember to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to enjoy the other selections by bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Oh, This Day Of Days

There are those books you remember how you felt as you were reading them for the first time.  You recall with clarity what popped into your mind when you finished and closed the cover.  You immediately open it and read the book again.  When you read it a third time you read it aloud, hearing the music the words make; their rhythm and flow washing around you like soft, warm air.  These books fill you with gratitude for being able to read this kind of beauty.

They reach out to you.  They teach you.  A Poem For Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of THE SNOWY DAY (Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, November 1, 2016) written by Andrea Davis Pinkney with illustrations by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson is such a book.  Every aspect of this title is remarkable.

BROWN-SUGAR BOY in a blanket of white.
Bright as the day you came onto the page.
From the hand of a man who saw you for you.

Jacob (Jack) Ezra Katz was the third and youngest child of Benjamin and Gussie, Jewish immigrants from Poland.  They made a home in one of the poorer places in Brooklyn, New York.  Benjamin worked as a waiter in a cafe.  Gussie had dreams of being a painter but she buried those beneath disappointment.

By the time he was eight years old, Ezra's talent and desire to paint began to shine.  He painted signs for merchants bringing money to the family.  But Ezra wanted more.  He wanted to be an artist.

His dad secretly used money to buy him paints and his teachers and friends offered encouragement.  Ezra discovered treasure in the Brooklyn Public Library.  Here he learned more than he thought possible about his world.  Here he could let his mind go free turning the impossible into the possible.

When he was in high school his painting Shantytown, depicting the darkness and despair of men out of work during the Depression, garnered him notice and scholarships but fate stepped in.  Death came calling.  Ezra's father died of a heart attack.  There was no graduation.  There was no art school.

Surviving on bits of work here and there, Ezra was finally fortunate to be a part of The Works Progress Administration, a piece of President Roosevelt's The New Deal.  From there he drew for comic books, creating heroes but something was missing.  The missing something appeared in a Life magazine article.  Ezra saved this something for decades.  From this a tiny speck began to grow.

After serving in the military during World War II, Ezra officially changed his name to Ezra Jack Keats.  He was well aware of the bias attached to those of Jewish heritage.  Slowly a crystal grew with branches being added until the wonderful year of 1962 when a snowflake formed.  This was the year Peter was introduced to the world.  This was the year when the something missing was seen by everyone.  And to this day we are all, yes, every single one of us, far better than we were before The Snowy Day. 


We understand the sensory sensation we experience during and after attending a play, a musical or a concert in which we have been not only entertained but moved by the performances.  After reading Andrea David Pinkney's words in this tribute piece to Ezra Jack Keats and The Snowy Day, you will find yourself applauding; more than willing to give it a standing ovation.  There is a beat in this poetic narrative which is in sync with the human heart.  It grows and swells within you.

The blend of fact and jubilation for this man and his work is marvelous.  You find yourself pausing and thinking, I didn't know that, before being caught up in the cadence once more. It's a shout.  It's a song.  It's lessons.  It's love...love of a man who

gave us eyes to see.

Here is a partial passage from a single page; one of my many favorite passages.

Snow made opportunity and equality
seem right around the corner.
Because, you see, Snow is nature's we-all blanket.
When Snow spreads her sheet, we all glisten.
When Snow paints the streets, we all see her beauty.


For those of us who have read The Snowy Day and shared it repeatedly over the years with others, the matching dust jacket and book case is cause for contemplation and celebration.  The image of Ezra Jack Keats walking with Peter is heartwarming.  If there is a place where characters can meet their creators, this is that place. To the left, on the back, three separate poses of Peter surround a photograph of Ezra Jack Keats within a snowy shape.  A rusty, burnt orange shade covers the opening and closing endpapers.

Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson rendered

the paintings for this book in acrylic, collage, and pencil on paper, using images from The Snowy Day, Peter's Chair, Hi, Cat, and Jennie's Hat.

Their color choices reflect the historical period of Ezra's lifetime including actual memorabilia.  Their layout and design envelopes and elevates the narrative.  Some of the page turns will leave you gasping or sighing.

Their attention to detail will have you stopping; the picture of Peter, a lion and a lamb signifying the birth of Ezra, a piece of newsprint with the partial word tenement stuck in a railing outside Ezra's home, dreams in the steam coming from Gussie's cup of coffee and the shattered pathway of Ezra's hopes as graduation floats away.  Fancher and Johnson vary their image sizes.  They select a single page, a double page or a group of pictures over two pages to intensify the text.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for the entire passage about snow in the beginning.  A varied pale blue background replete with snowflakes provides a place for buildings in Brooklyn.  The text is on the left.  On the right the darkened windows in the tenements make the lamp post light glow brighter.  It sits at the end of a broken fence row.  A tiny red mitten on a tiny piece of paper lays in the snow.  It hints of Peter's life growing.


A Poem For Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of THE SNOWY DAY written by Andrea Davis Pinkney with pictures by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson will lift your spirits sky high.  It will have you reaching for your copy of The Snowy Day and reading it over and over and over again.  Andrea Davis Pinkney talks about Ezra's Legacy for three pages at the book's conclusion.  She also talks about the form of her text in Keats, The Collage Poet.  A bibliography of Ezra Jack Keats' books is included as well as acknowledgments and a bibliography of books, websites, research collection archival materials and interviews.

To discover more about Andrea Davis Pinkney and Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson and their work please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Please stop at The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation to read more about this title and the man.  Andrea Davis Pinkney wrote a piece for November Picture Book Month, 2016.  This title was chosen by The New York Times as Children's Books That Tackle Race And Ethnicity.  Andrea Davis Pinkney is a guest on All The Wonders, Episode 300 hosted by teacher librarian Matthew Winner.  Andrea Davis Pinkney is interviewed at Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb.

Update: Andrea Davis Pinkney is a guest at NPR Books, December 1, 2016.


Please be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the other titles selected by participating bloggers in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Vibrancy...

Readers of all ages are faced with delightful dilemmas daily. What do we read next? What books will we seek from our libraries?  What books will we purchase for our home library?  We rely on professional journals, recommendations on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, chats on Voxer, online book groups like Goodreads and trusted mentors, colleagues and friends.

There are those very special books regardless of all of the above we would read anyway due to their initial sensory impact. Radiant Child: The Story Of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (Little, Brown And Company, October 25, 2016) written and illustrated by Javaka Steptoe is one of those books.  There is a resonant ring to the first two words in the title.  Take a moment to read them out loud once, twice and three times.  Without a doubt you are drawn to the front of the dust jacket. Who is this man?  And what does Javaka Steptoe have to say about him?

Somewhere in Brooklyn, between hearts that thump, double Dutch, and hopscotch and salty mouths that slurp sweet ice, a little boy dreams of being a famous ARTIST.

Jean-Michel works daily drawing and drawing focused on creating the very best.  He gets up in the middle of the night, confident a line here or a line there will make his work more perfect.  His art is a wild splash of color and shapes and beauty.

His mother, Matilde, is his inspiration.  Her artistic talents lie in design and sewing.  Through her cooking and cleaning their home looks ready for pictures in a magazine.  She teaches him art is found everywhere; literature, museums, theaters and the city in which he lives.  He always comes home from these visits and makes more art.

After an accident Mama Matilde gives him a book about the human body and its bones to calm his fears.  He draws from this book feeling comfort. But his complete healing is short-lived. His mama is taken from their home.  Her mind is sick.  Heartbroken Jean-Michel keeps on drawing, his emotions bursting from his art.  He visits his mother assuring her he will be famous.

As a teenager Jean-Michel leaves Brooklyn for New York City.  During the day he stays with friends moving from place to place leaving behind pieces of his art.  At night under the name of SAMOO he spray-paints his creativity in the city.  His work is noticed and now is showcased in galleries.  It is a proud day as an adult when he can visit his beloved Mama Matilde and give her the good news of his success.


Don't you think the first sentence by Javaka Steptoe reads like a melody? The book, in its entirety, seems to be a lyrical symphony in tribute to Jean-Michel Basquiat; each combination of words like waves of sound filled with his passion for art.  Throughout the narrative single words are enlarged and written in capitals to give them emphasis; words like ARTIST, BEAUTIFUL, MATILDE and PAINT.  Here is passage from the book.

Back at home, he creates art on the floor as his father, Gerard, plays jazz records.  Mama Matilde cooks arroz con pollo and calls Jean-Michel "MI AMOR."  The energy and life of the city can be felt in each line of his drawings.


In a note opposite the title page Javaka Steptoe talks about the artwork for this book.  As Basquiat did he gathered items from New York City.  He

painted on richly textured pieces of found wood harvested from discarded Brooklyn Museum exhibit materials, the Dumpsters of Brooklyn brownstones, and the streets of Greenwich Village and the lower East Side.  

When you open the dust jacket a collage of these found elements greets your eyes; each item relevant to the subject. On the front is Jean-Michel as a child. The yellow letters of the title text are raised.   To the left, on the back, he is shown as an adult with a different background filled with love.   The book case uses the same pictures without any text, enlarging them slightly.  The opening and closing endpapers are a pattern of white-painted objects on a blue canvas.

Every illustration spans two pages, with the exception of four single-page pictures, in stunning elegance.  The wood is pieced together like a geometric puzzle lines never detracting from the captured moments but adding to the design.  Looking at this artwork is like walking through an art gallery.  You pause with each page turn marveling at the masterful accomplishment.

One of my favorite pictures is of Jean-Michel waking at night to add a colorful line to one of his drawings. His art hangs on his bedroom wall taped there securely.  Clothed in patterned yellow pajamas he is reaching to add some blue to a dinosaur drawing.  To his right we can see the moon shining over buildings on his street.


Written and illustrated by Javaka Steptoe Radiant Child:  The Story Of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat is a striking and informative look at a unique artist.  The vibrancy of the artwork and beauty in the text will linger long after the book is read.  You need this biography in your professional collections.  It will be a welcome addition to your personal bookshelves particularly if there is an artist in your home.  In addition to the note at the beginning along with a bibliography Steptoe includes, at the end, a page with further information about Jean-Michel Basquiat, motifs and symbolism in Basquiat's work and another note.

To explore his other work and to learn about Javaka Steptoe please access his website by following the link attached to his name.  Art from this book is shown at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, the blog of author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson.  Javaka Steptoe speaks about this book at TeachingBooks.net.  Javaka Steptoe is engaged in conversation at School Library Journal.  Be sure to visit School Library Journal and listen to The Yarn Podcast, Javaka Steptoe---RADIANT CHILD Unraveled.  Thank to teacher librarian Travis Jonker and educator Colby Sharp for bringing this series to us.

Please be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy to view the other titles selected this week by bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

UPDATE:  After his Caldecott Medal win, Javaka Steptoe stops by Publishers Weekly.

Speak! Keep Speaking!

For those who have strongly aligned their lives with the preservation and protection of animals, it says a great deal about the compassion they have in their hearts for all lives.  Animals are much more adaptable to our presence than we are to their occupancy in shared spaces.  They hear and understand us more than we know.  What is continuously and abundantly clear is we need each other.

On November 3, 2016 The New York Times announced its Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2016.  Of the ten chosen titles one eloquently presents the young life of a practicing congressman in the United States House of Representatives.  Preaching To The Chickens: The Story of young John Lewis (Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, October 11, 2016) written by Jabari Asim with illustrations by E. B. Lewis will lift your spirits and make your soul sing.

Little John Lewis loved the spring.  He loved it not only because it was the time when the whole world came alive, but also because it was the season of the chicks.

John concurred with Mother Nature; spring was just right for new life.  His family relied on their strong faith in God and in working hard on their farm.  And make no mistake; the work was hard all day long, all year long.  His father turned the earth with a mule-drawn plow.  His mother washed their clothes and cooked food she grew over open fires outside.

John's main responsibility was to care for their sixty or so chickens.  When he feed them each morning they clucked a response. John believed they were thanking him.  They gathered around him like chicks around a mother hen.  He in turn would softly chat with them about God's messages to his children, all living things.

Other than his time with the chickens, John truly relished Sundays and time spent at church.  When the words and music of hymns surrounded him, the boy felt wrapped in pure contentment.  The messages he heard there so moved him, he started preaching to the members of his feathered flock.  Each one was an important individual to him.  

When a traveling trader wanted one of the chickens under John's care, he offered alternative solutions which his parents accepted.  More than once he saved his chickens' lives with the Gospel as his guide.  John believed practice made perfect.  He never stopped then and he has not stopped now.

On June 22, 2016 certain members of Congress refused to leave the House floor until an important vote was taken on gun control legislation.  One of those members was John Lewis.  Author Jabari Asim has given readers relevant insights into the early life of this very public figure who has been a champion for civil rights.  It's important he incorporates dialogue within the narrative making our reading experience more intimate.  It's meaningful he includes John naming each chicken thus giving value to their lives.  We can't help but feel a kinship to this man who is a beacon for those who need a light the most. We can't help but understand how a higher principle paves his path.  Here is a passage from this title.

When the hen called Big Belle fell into the well and got stuck, John was determined to save her. He filled a basket with bread crumbs, and when he lowered it down, she climbed in and was pulled to safety.

"God makes miracles every day," John preached.

Last week when I read this book aloud to a classroom of third grade students you could have heard a pin drop when they first saw the matching dust jacket and book case, rendered, as are all the illustrations, in watercolor and gouache by E. B. Lewis.  Look carefully at the realistic depiction of the boy and his chickens and the flow of the brush strokes.  This image is fully animated.  To the left, on the back, a group of chickens, shadows playing along with ground, by the light and their movement, are accompanied by opening text from the book.

A deep dark forest green covers the opening and closing endpapers.  Beneath the text on the title page in pools of shadow several hens and chicks move and stand frozen in time or perhaps listening to a young preacher. Across the verso and dedication pages is the landscape of the farm with the rows of cotton, young and green, the home and other buildings. 

All of the illustrations span two pages with the exception of two.  Their beauty strikes all your sensory chords; you can feel the sun shining on the boy's face, you can hear the gently clucking of the chickens and peeping of the chicks, you understand the muscle aches, tiredness and determination of the boy's parents, and you can see those chickens gathering to hear John's words.  The tenderness growing in this boy for these chickens is evident in his facial expressions.  You know he will become a man who listens to everyone and who listens to him. You know he will become a man who has deep affection for those who need him to step forward on their behalf.

One of my favorite illustrations is of John seated, cross-legged, on the ground outside the chicken coop.  We are close to him in this image. The chickens are gathered around him. He is cradling one in his arms.  A slight smile plays around his mouth. (I know this feeling when you believe you are one with an animal or animals in your life.  It is an unforgettable sensation, a gift.)

Preaching To The Chickens: The story of young John Lewis written by Jabari Asim with illustrations by E. B. Lewis is a remarkable portrait in words showcased with luminous illustrations.  This is reminder of how our children can grow to be the finest our country has to offer us and the world.  It is a tribute to John Lewis and to all those who endeavor to raise themselves up in service to others.  Please take a moment to read the Author's Note on the final page.

To learn more about Jabari Asim and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website. You can learn more about E. B. Lewis and his work by going to his website through the link attached to his name.  Julie Danielson, author, reviewer and blogger, highlights some of E. B. Lewis's images from this title at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast including one of my favorites.

Be sure to visit educator Alyson Beecher's blog, Kid Lit Frenzy, to see other titles selected by bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

To Be Strong...

When you consider the words strong and strength more than one meaning comes to mind.  Each of these refers to being physically powerful and muscular with the ability to do heavy, demanding tasks. In deeper definitions they refer to talents, skills, endurance and resistance.  The smallest individual can exhibit great strength.

Today, at this writing, there is currently 7, 461, 558, 20_ people in the world with the last three numbers changing faster than you can imagine.  Of this number the percentage of women is slightly less than that of men.  For every 110 men born, 107 women are born. (as of 2013) It is stated that due to longevity, statistics tend to even out but for quite some time the number of women has been gradually decreasing.  Given these facts it is absolutely astounding the accomplishments of the women highlighted in Women In Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed The World (Ten Speed Press, July 26, 2016) written and illustrated by Rachel Ignotofsky.  In her debut book readers find themselves inwardly cheering for the contributions these women have made for the benefit of this planet and its inhabitants.

Many people thought women were just not as smart as men.  The women in this book had to fight these stereotypes to have the careers they wanted. They broke rules, published under pseudonyms, and worked for the love of learning alone.  When others doubted their abilities, they had to believe in themselves.

Throughout history many women have risked everything in the name of science.  This book tells the stories of some of these scientists, from ancient Greece to the modern day, who in the face of "No" said, "Try and stop me."

These two excerpts from the introduction serve to shine a spotlight on fifty brilliant human beings.  With the reading of each of these one-page biographical essays our admiration for their achievements increases.  Without their commitments to their life's work, some of us would not even be here to read this book.

We begin with a woman named Hypatia who lived in ancient Greece furthering the study of astronomy, mathematics and philosophy.  She lost her life when killed by religious extremists.  We have Maria Sibylla Merian, born in 1647, to thank for the connection between caterpillars and butterflies.  Born in 1768 and in her short life of twenty-nine years, Wang Zhenyi left a legacy of being the first to formulate a theory dispelling the mystery surrounding eclipses.  Although she was not allowed to publish her work due to being a woman, Mary Anning was an important figure in the field of paleontology in Victorian England, determining that bezoars were dinosaur poop.

Can you imagine a doctor not washing their hands before attending a patient?  Until Elizabeth Blackwell (b1821), the first woman to receive a degree in medicine, made this connection and the spread of disease, doctors could

go straight from treating someone with the flu to delivering a baby without even washing up.

It is with deep gratitude we read about Karen Horney, a German psychologist who moved to the States in 1932, for creating the field of feminist psychology.  Marie Curie was known for carrying vials of radium in her pockets.  Putting her life in danger made our lives better.  Without the work of Mary Agnes Chase would we know so much about botany and food? She also opened her home in Washington, D. C. to visiting Latin American women botanists.  Physicist Lise Meitner had to leave Germany during Hitler's reign, but was essential in the discovery of nuclear fission. Her colleague, Otto Hahn claimed the Nobel Prize in 1944.  Everyone can move about better and use items in our kitchens thanks to Lillian Gilbreth, a psychologist and industrial engineer.

Before computers there were human computers, working in groups to accomplish similar tasks.  Edith Clarke was one of them and the first woman to graduate from MIT with a master's degree in electric engineering.  Love of their work and of each other placed Gerty Cori and her husband, Carl in the medical history books for their work in biochemistry.  It must have been a sight to see zoologist Joan Beauchamp Procter walking her Komodo dragon on a leash.  Sometimes the genius of a single woman had to wait to be noticed.  Barbara McClintock waited thirty years to receive a Nobel Prize.

How many of you can remember reading Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us?  Her attention to our waters was and is much needed.  Try to speculate how many lives would have been lost if Dorothy Hodgkin had not studied penicillin.  People may know Hedy Lamarr was an actress but how many know she was a co-creator of the FHSS (frequency hopping spread spectrum).  In 2015 Katherine Johnson, at the age of 97, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  Her work was essential to astronauts leaving and returning to planet Earth.  And talk about believing in yourself...Rosalyn Yalow had a bottle of champagne chilling at all times in the hopes of celebrating a Nobel Prize.  In 1977 her goal was rewarded.

Replica plating, proof of dark matter, discovering chimpanzees using tools, holding the women's depth record in deep sea diving, the first woman in space, co-founder of the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness, discovering pulsars at age 24, and finding telomeres and studying their importance are only a few more recent discoveries.  Who knew we had nerve cells that function like GPS?  I wonder if Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed Lietenant Uhura, knows how she influenced Mae Jemison.  Living to the age of 108, one of the most astonishing biographies is about Marjory Stoneman Douglas.  Through her studies and writing the everglades in Florida became a National Park.  No matter your age or gender, these women and their stories will inspire you to assess your goals and to accomplish them regardless of any obstacles in your way.


Not only does Rachel Ignotofsky write with accuracy in creating these portraits but she does so conversationally.  She points out the challenges these women faced due to gender, race and religious beliefs.  A great many of them was supported by either their father or mother but others had to make their own way. It is astounding to know how many of them worked without pay or recognition.  This did not stop them in their pursuit of needing to know and understand.

Around the full page illustration of each woman and the main body of text, Rachel places single facts about each individual.  Along the bottom of the image page, she includes a quotation usually attributed to the woman.  Here are two more sample passages from a single biographical essay.

Emmy worked for free for 7 years at Gottingen until she finally started getting paid, but she was the lowest-paid professor.  Despite the lack of recognition, she developed mathematical equations that are still an important part of the way we understand physics now. She produced developments in the field of abstract algebra by proving new concepts about groups and rings.  She made new connections between energy and time, and angular momentum.  In doing all of this, she developed the Noether theory.
Because Emmy was Jewish, the rise of the Nazi regime put her life in danger.  She was fired from Gottingen for being Jewish but continued to teach from her apartment in secret.  In 1933, Emmy escaped to America, where she was hired to teach at Bryan Mawr College.  Unfortunately, only 18 months after she began teaching with good pay and a real title, she became ill and died at the age of 53.


The intricate illustrations formed with delicate line work, and an attention to color and detail seen on the front of the book case are found throughout the body of this title.  The opening and closing endpapers are a mix of all things scientific, each one of importance to one or more of the fifty woman scientists.  Every body of text is framed in small pictures.

Opposite each depiction of the women in words on the right-hand side is a portrait featuring them, on the left, in attire appropriate to the time period.  Places significant to their world are showcased in this illustration.  Each one of them is holding one or two items of importance to their work.

The background of all of them is constantly the charcoal gray seen on the book case.  Black and other bright hues, yellow, blue, green, orange, pink, purple, and red, in a variety of shades, act to define the images and provide fill color.

One of my favorite illustration of many is of Patricia Bath, an ophthalmologist and inventor.  She is wearing a pair of dark slacks and a lab coat, holding a large eye model in one hand and an instrument used in the examination of eyes in the other hand.  Around her are eyes wearing glasses and small statements of her talents.


A debut book for Rachel Ignotofsky, Women In Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed The World, needs to be on every professional bookshelf.  Girls around the globe from all walks of life will see themselves in these pages.  No challenge is too great if you have the will to make your dreams come true.  Fifty women did it and you can do it too.  Throughout the book Rachel has placed other two-page places to pause, Timeline, Lab Tools, Statistics In Stem, and More Women In Science.  There are four pages of glossary terms and two pages devoted to sources, films, websites and books.

To learn more about Rachel Ignotofsky and her work please visit her website by using the link attached to her name.  At her website you can view numerous images from the book.  She also includes a more extensive list of resources for this title.  Rachel maintains Tumblr and Instagram accounts.  There is a website devoted to the title, Women In Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed The World.  You can read an excerpt of this title at a publisher's website.



To view other titles selected by bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge do visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher.

Seen And Unseen, Earth's Residents

There can never be enough.  There can never be too much.  The more knowledge and understanding we have about how the natural world works, the better able we are to preserve and protect its riches and value to all life.  The task of caring for our planet and its inhabitants is a continuous challenge.  Sometimes it seems as if we move forward a single step, then back two.

Even a small piece of information can promote admiration or awe.  In a companion title to Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature author and zoologist Nicola Davies has penned a collection of poems which both inform and inspire.  A First Book of Animals (Walker Books, October 6, 2016) with illustrations by Petr Horacek takes us to every corner of the world; we journey beneath the waters, across the land and soar in the air.

Divided into five sections, Big And Small, Colours And Shapes, Animal Homes, Animal Babies and Animals In Action, these fifty poems create a living landscape.  At the close of each of the five portions, two pages are devoted to discussions about animal categories, animal camouflage and warnings, parasites, eggs and animals that use tools.  It's a portable enchanting exhibition.

BIG AND SMALL
Blue Whale
Words can't describe a blue whale's size.
Big and huge and large don't work.
Even enormous, vast, gigantic aren't enough.
But when you hear a blue whale's blow---
a deep per-wuffing sound that makes you think
of caverns, caves and concert halls---
and see its breath punch upwards
like a house-high exclamation mark,
you know that it's the biggest creature
there has ever been.

Close your eyes.  Now think of a bird so large and another bird so small that it can fit inside the large bird's eye and you will have identified the ostrich and a particular hummingbird.  Elephants living in Asia and elephants living in Africa have an identical physical trait with one notable difference.  Who knew?  Have you ever wondered how ants can find food so easily? When it is discovered a scent trail is left for others to follow.

When you think of flamingos you think pink.  Why pink?  One hump or two humps, depending on the camel, help them survive.  The clever bird who weaves a nest is waiting for a companion.  It hangs from a branch with an opening at the bottom.  Certainly their shells offer safety but they also keep them wet not dry.  This is the life of a snail.

Anemones which look like colorful stems sting some but are a haven for clownfish.  Animal relationships are a puzzle but also a wonder.  Some mothers lay their eggs and leave, never to return.  Other mothers give birth and cuddle their young.  Would you rather be a sea turtle or a gorilla?  Name two animals with fathers that tend the eggs.  Here are some clues.  One is under the sea and the other is in the coldest place on the planet.  One does not neigh and the other does not fly no matter how hard its flippers are flapped.

A slow moving sloth turns green as tiny plants hook to its fur.  Bees may not know how to communicate with us but they do speak with steps and wiggles to convey distance and direction to their hive mates.  There is so much to learn.  There is so much to know.  This is what we need to do to help our animal friends live and grow.


A variety of poetic styles and use of language depict beauty, even if deadly, in the animal world in this collection. Nicola Davies weaves truth into her free verse, rhymes and alliteration like a master artisan creating an elegant tapestry.  She gives a voice to each animal by connecting us to them with her words.  We zip but do not buzz with the bumblebee bat.  We stalk with the deadly komodo dragon that does not need flames to fashion fear.  We turn streams into a lake with the engineering skills of beavers.  Here is another poem.

The Swiftest Sailfish
Fast and fierce:
Fin flouncing, flashing, flexing;
Sword swishing, stabbing, slashing,
Small fry flinch and die
As the sailfish feeds, swift and furious.


The panda seen on the front of the dust jacket is quiet and contemplative in a setting pleasing to them; among the bamboo in a forest.  The brush strokes, lighting and shading and choice of color create a textured, realistic quality.  To the left, on the back, a canvas is supplied in shades of blue and green.  It appears to be a pattern of beetles. In the center, a loosely-formed circle frames a Monarch butterfly on a pale yellow background.  The book case has the same background with two more loosely-formed elements.  The one on the front features a giraffe.  On the back is a hummingbird.

In hues of blue an interior image of Arctic terns is used for the opening and closing endpapers.  A swarm of Monarch butterflies in flight spans across two pages circling the title text.  You expect to hear the sound of wings in both these pictures.  Beneath the table of contents a scene from an African savanna stretches across two pages as elephants, giraffes and zebras walk and stand.

For each poem a lustrous painting by Petr Horacek spans two pages with the exception of eight single page pictures, the colors used as backgrounds are indicative of the animals' habitats; darkened blues, purples and greens for the bumblebee bat, hot golden yellow for the giraffes, lush shades of green for the leaf insect and chameleon, blowing snow for the polar bears and Emperor penguins and crisp, clean white to showcase particular animals and their poems.  For the five special sections they've been illustrated to look like journal entries; black, gray and two hues of cream.  The heavy, semi-gloss paper is an excellent selection for the pictures and the use this book will receive.

One of my favorite illustrations of many is of the two seahorses facing each other.  One, the male, is releasing teeny babies into the water.  Seaweed waves in the water around them. Soft swirls of greens and blues flow with the current.


A First Book of Animals written by Nicola Davies with illustrations by Petr Horacek reminds us when we are curious we care.  This collaborative team raises awareness in readers of known and unknown animals.  Some of the facts are familiar, other facts will astound readers.

To learn more about Nicola Davies and Petr Horacek and their other work, please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  They both maintain blogs; Nicola Davies chats about her life and work and Petr Horacek includes many posts about this title.  There is a lovely article about this title including artwork and comments by Nicola at The Guardian.  Picture Book Party, a blog maintained by Walker Books, highlights Nicola Davies and Petr Horacek in individual posts about this book.  They are absolutely wonderful conversations and Petr's is full of artwork and insights into his process.   For a pronunciation of Petr Horacek's name please go to TeachingBooks.net.  Petr Horacek is interviewed at Where The Board Books Are.  Enjoy the videos.







Please stop by Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the other titles selected by bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.