Beginning To End And Circling Around Agan

When you have gardens on all sides of your home, every day is a weeding day.  Each day there is a quick walk-through, removing unwanted greenery which seems to appear overnight.  At least one day a week, the entire day is devoted to refreshing the soil and making sure the only thing in the gardens is desired.  It is a chance to carefully look at all the plants and assess their health, growth, and beauty.

It is a day of discovery.  The perennial, you hope survived the winter, has new shoots.  To see tips of green come from the dirt is like a miracle!  With each passing week, flowers blossom and fade and new ones become the stars.  One day the squash and tomato plants have baby squash and baby tomatoes on them! (You might squeal in delight.)  A Seed Grows (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House, June 21, 2022) written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis is a circle story supplying readers with rhythmic phrases and splendidly designed artwork.  It is for the youngest and oldest of readers.  It is a celebration of life.

A

seed

falls  

When it drops, it lands in dirt.  There it nestles, like a child tucked into bed at night.  This seed is heated by the sun and given moisture from the rain.

Then, a tiny sprout breaks free of the shell.  With its newfound strength, it stretches out from the dirt and drinks in the sun that warmed it.  This plant does not stop growing.  

Finally, at the top is a bud.  Slowly, the bud gets larger until a flower bursts forth.  In the center of the flower, seeds form.

As the seasons pass, the flower loses its luster and the blossom droops.  The seeds scatter on the ground.  These seeds make meals for the birds.  One day, one of those birds drops a seed.  And . . .

The deliberate words penned by Antoinette Portis are presented with impeccable pacing.  The first seventy-two words form a single sentence until the final four words form the second sentence in the book.  Those seventy-two words flow like the notes on a marvelous melody.  With each page turn, we can feel something building and swelling until a height is reached and it gently ebbs.  Here is one of the phrases.

and settles into the

soil

When readers open the matching dust jacket and book case, the brilliant blue sky provides a canvas from flap edge to flap edge.  Along the bottom on both the left and right, back and front, is the wide border of dirt.  A large sunflower is placed on both sides.  The sunflower on the front holds the title and the sunflower seedling, newly risen from the ground.  On the back, the sunflower is shown in two shades of yellow.  The center holds praise for two of Antoinette Portis's books, A New Green Day and Hey, Water!  On the dust jacket the title text is varnished.

On the opening and closing endpapers and first and last pages are close-ups of the seeds inside a sunflower in shades of brown, orange, and yellow.  On the title page, a portion of a sunflower at the top holds the title text.  Beneath this, a bird carries a sunflower seed in its beak.

Antoinette Portis rendered these illustrations

using various printmaking

techniques, including gel printing, linocutting, potato stamping

and printing with a celery stalk.

The text is placed on a white background on the left.  For each phrase a specific word is enlarged and printed in an appropriate color.  The images on the right are simple, but that simplicity draws our focus.  The perspective takes us very close to the elements.  When the flower emerges, readers are treated to a vertical gatefold.  For the last six pages, Antoinette Portis switches to two, double-page pictures and two full-page pictures with the text embedded in the illustrations.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a single-page visual.  On the sky blue background with smudges of white is the bud.  It is placed in the center.  Its size makes us feel like a hummingbird.  Underneath the bud is the stalk with two sets of leaves on either side.  They are made in two hues of green.  The bud consists of layers in more colors of green gradually turning to yellow at the top.  These layers are so delicate, they look like tissue paper.  

For introducing readers or reminding readers of the wonder tucked inside seeds, A Seed Grows written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis is magnificent.  At the close of the book, with her signature images, are pages describing Parts of a sunflower seed, Parts of a sunflower plant, What the seed needs to sprout, and the Life Cycle of a Sunflower Plant.  There is a More to explore section of eight books and a website.  This book needs to have a place on your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Antoinette Portis and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Antoinette Portis has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At Penguin Random House, you can view the endpapers.  I believe you will enjoy this video.  Antoinette Portis takes us on a tour of her studio, gives us insight into two of her previous books, and we get to see some process art for this title.  

Fifty Years Of Energy and Efforts For Mother Earth

For fifty years it's been the same date every year.  On April 22, 2020 around our planet Earth Day celebrations are going digital for the first time in its history.  A host of prominent people are participating.  The organizers promise to

flood the world with messages of hope, optimism and, above all---action.

Numerous recent publications shine a light on the means for all of us to make a difference in our natural world.  We need not do anything grand.  Even the smallest endeavor can bring about change.  We must engage with our world because it depends on us, all of us.

From a true story comes The Bear's Garden (Imprint, a part of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC, March 24, 2020) written by Marcie Colleen with illustrations by Alison Oliver.  Through the imagination of a child a dream takes shape.  Through an accident and efforts of many, this dream becomes a reality.

IN THE BIG, BUSTLING CITY, all the people were busy.

They did not see the neglected buildings, but a little girl did.  To her they offered opportunity.  To her they were an invitation to grow, play and love.  This child made her own beauty.

Planting seeds in an old tomato can, she and her stuffed toy bear nourished tiny sprouts. The can placed on her windowsill, provided sun and fresh air to the plants.  One day, a bird flew by, knocking the can to the ground beneath her apartment window.  It rolled and rolled right across the street.

In the vacant lot where the can rested, those small plants grew.  The child cared for them with water and her affectionate heart.  She talked to them, giving them encouraging words.  Those busy people soon noticed the little girl and her plants.  

When the girl had to leave, she worried about what would happen to her garden. She left her bear, loaded with hugs, to act as guardian.  The single act of a generous spirit bloomed in her absence.  Upon her return, she and her bear were surrounded by beautiful bounty.

To begin author Marcie Colleen gives us a broad overview of the city and then leads us to a single child whose outlook is in contrast to many others.  Simple sentences build toward an astonishing conclusion.  We become more invested in the story with the use of dialogue when the little girl voices her thoughts.  Her faith in her stuffed toy bear (and life in general) as presented in the narrative is endearing and enduring.  Here is a passage.

One night, the girl's imagination

spilled onto the sidewalk, 

rolled across the street,

and sprouted.

The scene on the front of the dust jacket gives a close view of the child and her bear enjoying the beauty the garden is offering to them.  Their eyes closed in contentment present a calming representation.  The sky and clouds continue over the spine to the left, the back of the jacket.  There the garden continues with buildings in the background.  The title text on the front is embossed in foil.  The little girl, her stuffed toy bear and some of the leaves and blossoms are varnished.

On the book case, the position of the girl and her stuffed toy bear are the same but everything else is different.  Their eyes are wide open in cheer.  The garden is bursting with color and blooms spreading over the spine to the left at the back.  In a word, it's joy.

On the opening endpapers is an aerial view of this New York City area with a pin placed where the garden is.  The bear's face is on the pin.  On the closing endpapers the visual is enhanced and closer.  Multiple gardens are shown.  This closer view is also shown on the verso and title pages, but no gardens are visible yet.

These illustrations rendered by Alison Oliver using 

marker, pencil, brush pen, charcoal, cut paper, and Photoshop

depict varying perspectives, a bird's eye view, multiple moments grouped in a two-page picture or in four separate wordless frames.  They span two pages and single pages.  Black as a background is used to fabulous effect.

The personality of the little girl shines on every page through her facial expression and body postures. The portrayal of the bear is vivid to the extent you expect it to come to life.  The bond between the child and the toy is as real as any human relationship.  

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is on a single page.  The little girl is seated near the tiny plants, the can tipped to spill them and now planted in soil.  Near her is an empty cardboard box with a black kitten inside.  On top of the box is a teapot.  In front of her toy stuffed bear, a tiny mouse, a pigeon and the plants are teacups.  The girl, smiling, is holding a teacup, ready to sip.  It's a garden party.

This book, The Bear's Garden written by Marcie Colleen with illustrations by Alison Oliver, is brimming with hope.  It's certain to inspire others to begin community gardens.  At the close of the book an Author's Note explains the garden which sparked this story.  I highly recommend this title for both your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Marcie Colleen and Alison Oliver and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  At Alison Oliver's website you can view the endpapers and interior images.  Marcie Colleen has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  Alison Oliver has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  Marcie Colleen is featured at The Children's Book Podcast with Matthew Winner.  She and this book are also highlighted by Debbie Ridpath Ohi at her website, Inkygirl.  Please enjoy this peek at the book case courtesy of Let's Talk Picture Books.

The Bear's Garden by Marcie Colleen and Alison Oliver from Let's Talk Picture Books on Vimeo.



Although in northern Michigan at the moment snow is swirling in high winds, for months collective minds here and in other parts of the world have been turning to gardening. Seeds and soil have been gathered.  On warmer days, walks have revealed shoots from bulbs pushing through the dirt and perennials are starting to turn green as buds get larger.  In My Garden (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House, March 24, 2020) written by the late Charlotte Zolotow (1915-2013) with illustrations by Philip Stead is a journey through the seasons.  It is a shared trip through time and the offerings Nature bestows on all of us if we choose to notice.

IN THE SPRING what I love best in my garden
are the birds building nests.

As the narrator chats with us, she quickly relates other things about the garden for which she has affection; things like tulips, violets and other seasonal blooms. There is also one thing, above all others, which is enjoyed the most.  This is kite flying.  It is not the only thing done, but it is the best.

Other flowers take the center stage in the summer.  Among the most prized are roses of all colors.  Lunching under the pear tree is one of the narrator's greatest pleasures in the summer.  Birdsong, gliding butterflies and dips in a stream provide other delights.

In autumn, leaves shifting from green to an array of colors and animals collecting food for winter are observations appreciated, but the chrysanthemums are the narrator's favorite part of this season in their garden.  There is also an assortment of activities to like in the fall but raking leaves is number one on the list.  JUMP!

When the garden is covered with snow, sculpting different shapes, this is the best part of the season.  Of all the outdoor pursuits during these blustery months, ice skating upon the frozen pond is simply the best.  Gliding on this watery world offers time for reflection and appreciation.


Each time the words written by Charlotte Zolotow for this book are read, their timeless quality envelopes you.  You are wrapped in the narrator's respect for each sensory impression.  You experience on a personal level each thing done.  A repetition of certain phrases creates a calmly cadence.  With her words, Charlotte Zolotow transports you to the garden.  Here is another passage.

In the spring what I love most to do is fly kites.
     Of course there are other things I
love to do---play dolls and roller skate
and skip rope.


What readers first notice about the open and matching dust jacket and book case, are the two figures under the pear tree in the garden.  This introduces us to the visual interpretation of Charlotte Zolotow's words by Philip Stead.  The bird resting on the E in the title is a nod to the first line in the story.  The red tulips refer to the next lines of the story.  This entire scene on the right, front, is one of participants standing in a sanctuary.

To the left, on the back, poetic words are framed in a circle of flowers, leaves and colors of the four seasons.  Two more birds are featured prominently in a blend of blue, yellow and purple.  On the opening and closing endpapers a soft shade of purple has been placed.

On the initial title page, a bird rests on the letter E.  For the formal title page and verso, a cat is perched on a stone wall stretching from left to right across both pages.  Bright yellow rays shine from the upper right-hand corner as green and purple shade the area on the right.

This artwork by Philip Stead is

handmade using oil-ink monotype techniques and carbon transfer printing.

Each illustration spanning two pages is a study in perspective, design and color.  We are given larger views and then brought closer to individual settings.  We look straight at a scene or peer down from above.  We are participants and observers.  One double-page picture during spring and winter are wordless but convey the essence of the narrator's words.

One of my many, many favorite images is the one for the first sentence of this story.  On the left, along the bottom a shade of pale green shifts to spring green before it crosses the gutter.  In the first green are three birds, gathering twigs for a nest.  One red tulip stands tall on the left side of the gutter.  To the right of the gutter two other red tulips behind a birdhouse on the ground frame it.  Two birds are in front of the birdhouse and a third is on the roof.  The spring green hue changes to yellow as it moves up the page.  On the far right a tree truck extends off the page.  Another bird is leaning out from the trunk, twigs in its beak.  The birdhouse is palest green with purple and yellow.


Regardless of your age or the time of day, In My Garden written by Charlotte Zolotow with illustrations by Philip Stead will supply your soul with much needed serenity.  Philip Stead's artwork elevates the stunning rhythm of Charlotte Zolotow's poetic perceptions.  This book has my highest recommendation for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Charlotte Zolotow and Philip Stead and their other work, please access their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Philip Stead has another site with information titled The Stead Collection.  An article at Publishers Weekly addresses the reissue of Charlotte Zolotow's book with Philip Stead's artwork.  At author and teacher librarian Travis Jonker's blog, 100 Scope Notes, at School Library Journal, a video highlights how Philip Stead made the artwork for this book.  At the publisher's website there is a link to an Educator's Guide for this title.



In his newest brilliant artistic entry in children literature, author illustrator Henry Cole does not disappoint.  The conception and illustration of One Little Bag: An Amazing Journey (Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., April 7, 2020) is a wordless display of transformation.  It is a loving tribute to people, their lives and their love of each other and our Earth.

Prior to the title page, Henry Cole in a series of framed single-page pictures, horizontal and vertical panels and two large double-page pictures, takes us through the process of making paper from logged timber to large rolls of paper to the delivery of boxes of paper bags and to the use of a single bag at a small community market. We follow one particular tree through the use of spot color as it makes its way from the forest, to a logging truck, to the paper mill, the processes at the mill, and the packing of one paper bag among hundreds in a box.  The final two-page image before the title page is an amazing display of the interior of a small grocery store highly stocked with all kinds of items.  People walk on wooden floors with carts laden with their groceries.  At the counter is a boy and his father and the brown-colored paper bag.

The father, having drawn a red heart on the bag, uses it as a lunch bag for his son's school meal.  After a nightmare, the bag is used to mute a flashlight as comfort next to the child's bed.  As the boy grows up the bag is always present, used for a variety of purposes.  When he leaves for college, the bag goes with him.

His musical gift for guitar playing attracts the attention of another guitar-playing individual, a young woman.  The bag holds rolled up music. As they study together during college and enjoy outings with each other the bag is nearby.  The young woman draws another heart on the bag prior to the young man's proposal of marriage.

As the two journey through their shared lives, the bag's presence is noted.  At the birth of their son, another heart appears on the bag attached to the baby's bed.  When the new boy's grandfather visits, readers will know it is the first boy.  Years pass, memories are made by the grandfather and his grandson and another heart is added.  The bag's final use after decades is poetic, purposeful and perfect.


In his dedication Henry Cole states:

TO MY MOM

WHO INSPIRED THIS STORY,

TO ALL THOSE

WHO PACK LUNCHES EVERY DAY,

AND TO THOSE

WHO ALWAYS CARRY REUSABLE BAGS.

Each carefully visualized image, rendered using

Micron ink pens on Strathmore Bristol paper

by Henry Cole is an ode to our forests, trees, paper, paper bags and recycling.  It also addresses the abiding love of family and the nearness of the bag in some of the simplest but most memorable moments of his characters' lives.  The black and white illustrations with only spot color of brown and red are exquisitely detailed and highly emotional in their portrayals.

On the open and matching dust jacket and book case, we are presented with two points of view.  On the front, the bag is introduced to us through the boy and his father as they shop in the local market.  To the left, on the back, a doe peers from behind the trunk of a large tree among a stand of large trees, their tops not visible to us.  The forest floor is carpeted with grass and wildflowers.  A single butterfly sips at one of the flowers.

On the opening and closing endpapers the view of the woodlands is expanded.  The doe is still present on the far left.  A flock of turkeys cautiously moves through the trees on the right.  The tree which becomes the bag is the only bit of color in this black and white artwork.

Each page turn is a revelation of the tree's and bag's journey.  To accentuate pacing the picture sizes vary as does their point of view.  We move from a single-page picture to a series of four smaller pictures on the opposite page as we step back farther and farther.  Henry Cole's placement of smaller pictures on one or two pages is intentional as is the placement of the bag in each image.

The characters' facial features and body postures supply readers with a range of emotions.  The settings in which they are shown contribute to the personal involvement of readers in this story.  We are there with the characters in each situation.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is when the original boy, now a grandfather, is walking with his grandson.  It is a single-page picture, page edge to page edge.  They are walking on a path in the forest.  Their backs are to us.  They are holding hands.  The grandfather on the left is using a cane to aid his walking.  The family cat follows along on the boy's right.  He holds the bag, now bearing four hearts, in his right hand.  As we look ahead of the duo, through the trees, Henry Cole has placed a glow, a lightening.

This book, One Little Bag: An Amazing Journey conceived and illustrated by Henry Cole, is as they say in the children's literature community, a heartprint book.  It will leave a mark on your heart.  This story and the characters will remain in your mind long after the book is finished.  It will cause you to pause in the future, reflecting on its intelligent message so marvelously delivered.  At the close of the book in an Author's Note, Henry Cole speaks about his personal story and the premise for writing this story.  I can't imagine any collection of books without a copy of this title.

To learn more about Henry Cole and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his personal website.  Henry Cole has accounts on Facebook and Twitter.  The cover reveal for this book is at Nerdy Book Club.  Henry Cole is interviewed about this title at The Horn Book and Publishers Weekly.

Our rewards from Nature are proportionate to the attention we give it.  The more we look, the more we see.  Every detail is a delightful discovery.

In her newest release, A New Green Day (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House, April 14, 2020), Antoinette Portis asks us to think about alternate descriptions for that which is familiar.  Through her words and illustrations, magic happens.

"Morning lays me on your pillow, an invitation, square and warm.

Come out and play!"

Who is speaking in these first two sentences?  With a page turn we realize we have been welcomed to participate in a guessing game with elements found in Nature.  Sunlight is talking first.

We are asked to follow a doodle on a path and a map within a home.  What we hold in our hand, can act as a measuring tape.  A newborn in a nearby stream is a form of punctuation, a pause before adulthood.

A pebble is a sweet delicacy if a river is the taster.  Is there a mountain that can move toward you?  This answer will surprise you.  It is usually a prelude to 

"I'm a chorus 

of a million tiny voices. . . ."

and several more wondrous riddles which follow.

Other apt descriptions have you searching your mind for answers as you put the clues together.  As the summer day comes to a close, a final voice calls to sleepers.  It's a reminder of what we have seen and what we have yet to see.

Using lyrical but carefully chosen words, author Antoinette Portis, presents two-sentence puzzles for readers to ponder.  She requests of readers to contemplate beyond our initial thoughts allowing us to witness beauty we might otherwise miss. Fourteen poems following a similar premise lead us to a new appreciation of our world.  

The amazing shades of green which light up trees, shrubs and plants as spring turns to summer move from the right, front, to the left, back, of the open and matching dust jacket and book case.  The garland of leaves extends from flap edge to flap edge on the jacket.  Placing them on a crisp white background gives them a special glow.  We are introduced to the character who proceeds through the summer day on the front of the jacket and case.  The title text on the jacket is varnished.

On the opening and closing endpapers and the first and last page turn are brush strokes, looking somewhat like marble.  They are in various shades of green. Prior to the title page, on white, is a single tiny cricket.  Across the two pages given for the title are five different leaves, all in green hues.

The initial two sentences of each poem are placed in a colorful but muted square on white.  For the answer to the poem, a full-page picture is offered.  These illustrations rendered by Antoinette Portis 

using brush and sumi ink, leaf prints, vine charcoal and hand-stamped lettering with color added digitally,

supply readers with different points of view.  We stand next to a sleeping child. We are at eye level with a snail.  We see an enlarged tadpole as if we are with it in a stream.  We watch from the safety of a neighborhood of homes as lightning slices into a tree.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is for the answer to the first riddle poem.  Below the words

says sunlight

the little girl, one pigtail spread across her pillow, sleeps with her face turned away from readers, to the left.  Her red top provides a contrast to the white pillow with shadows and the green of her blanket.  As sunlight comes in through the window, we see outlines of leaves on a tree outside her home on her blanket and top.  A new day is gently beginning.

Inspiring and hopeful, A New Green Day written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis is a book to read repeatedly.  It celebrates our planet and elements large and small found everywhere.  It requires us to think.  It encourages us to see the magic in the ordinary.  Perhaps we can write our own puzzle poems.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Antoinette Portis, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Antoinette Portis has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website there is a link to an Educator's Guide.

Never has it been more apparent than the beginning of 2020 how vital the outside world is to all living things.  We humans, if not previously so appreciative, are now.  We recognize the value of embracing what has been so freely present.  The urgency of preserving and protecting it is heightened.  

In their first collaboration author Deborah Underwood and illustrator Cindy Derby work to show readers the allure of what we find beyond the four walls of our homes.  Outside In (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April 14, 2020) looks at the benefits of becoming one with the world around us.  It awakens memories of the past bringing it to the present.

ONCE

we were part of Outside

and Outside was part of us.

There was nothing between us.

This has changed considerably.  Now, even when we venture to the Outside, we do so enclosed in another form of Inside.  Our recollections of 

ONCE

are clouded.

The most important thing to remember is that Outside has not forgotten.  It tugs at those murky memories.  It does so with bursts of color and growth.  

The sunlight streaming through a window is a reminder.  Birdsong is a reminder.  Twigs brushing on rooftops are a reminder.  Outside is calling to us through our senses.

If we stop to think about it, Outside is responsible for our care.  It gives us food.  It gives us clothing.  It gives us shelter.  It brings itself to the Inside when we hug and cuddle our dogs and cats.

Outside is a clock.  We mark our days with light and darkness.  Sometimes Outside sneaks in through tiny creatures.  It might race through pipes only to return from where it came.  Outside implores us.  Will we respond?

A lilting rhythm in the words written by Deborah Underwood recalls a collective time in our consciousness.  A very personal connection is fashioned by having Outside become a character in the story.  The examples of Outside reminding us are always present for us to experience, but in Deborah Underwood's stellar use of language, they are enchanting.  They cast a spell and we willingly allow it to work.  Here are two sentences.

It beckons with smells:

sunbaked,

fresh,

and mysterious.

Outside cuddles us

in clothes,

once puffs of cotton.

The open dust jacket for this book is entirely varnished.  Small portions of the images on the left, back, and the right, front, bleed to the flaps.  The glorious display of Outside as presented on the front with the girl and her cat walking from Inside is uplifting and comforting.  You will find yourself pausing to look at all the details embedded in this illustration (and in all the illustrations throughout the book.)  The play of light and shadow is outstanding.  On the back the Outside opens from the bottom and slightly left like a beautiful blossom.  The blend of greens and blues is luminous.

On the book case moving from the deep blue hues on the left and over the spine to the right, we are drawn to a doorway.  Light streams in through the opening.  As we gaze through the doorway, we see, with anticipation, the Outside.

On the opening and closing endpapers in brush strokes of green on white, Outside calls to us.  Swirls of leaves, branches and tiny creatures greet our eyes.  A page turn at the beginning and end reveal green on green and a cluster of evergreens.  On the initial title page, the child, standing on a pathway, is looking back at the Outside.  On the double-page picture for the formal title page, she is now seated on a large tree branch enjoying the Outside spread before her.

Each image, rendered

with watercolor and powdered graphite on cold press paper

by artist Cindy Derby, mirrors an affection for Outside and the words by Deborah Underwood. 

Some of the lines were created with dried flower stems and thread soaked in ink.

Although the colors are bright and bold, as are the pictures they disclose, there is a soft texture about each one.  All the visuals span two pages or single pages.  To accentuate the text, perspective is shifted, sometimes within a single image. 

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a two-page picture.  The little girl's body is resting on the floor, her head on the left and the rest of her body is on the left, crossing the gutter and her feet are stretching nearly to the right edge. Her eyes are closed as her body curls around the sleeping and curled form of her dog.  Lying on top of her, eyes closed, is her black cat. The cat is on the right.  The girl's top, a mix of red, blue and orange highlights her form and the forms of her dog and cat.  This picture of the Outside is not only universal but happening more often in our current world circumstances.  

This book, Outside In written by Deborah Underwood with illustrations by Cindy Derby, is to be read and shared often.  I expect you will receive requests of read it again.  It restores our ties to the Outside.  It is a balm, a treasure, for a craving we sometimes can't identify.  You'll want to have a copy of this title for your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Deborah Underwood and Cindy Derby and their other work, links attached to their names allow you to access their respective websites.  Deborah Underwood has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  Cindy Derby has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson showcases this book and the artwork of Cindy Derby on her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Enjoy the recent video below made by Cindy Derby where she demonstrates how she made some of the art for this book.

Seventy-One Percent

Close to two-thirds of our planet is covered in water.  Of that water, ninety-six point five percent is contained in our oceans.  Depending on your geographic location you can dig through the ground and reach a point that is completely saturated with water.  You have found the water table.  There is a certain amount of water in the air we breathe measured by our humidity (currently ninety-seven percent in my community).  You would be astonished to realize how much of our blood contains water.   Liquid life is literally everywhere, whether we can see it or not. 

Being one of those fortunate people, within five minutes the expanse of Lake Michigan is available for me to see, spread out until it touches the far horizon. It is both a humbling and joyful moment.  Hey, Water! (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House, March 26, 2019) written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis (Wait, Best Frints in the Whole Universe and Now) explores all the marvelous manners in which water touches our everyday existence.

Hey, water! I know you!
You're all around.

faucet

Unless you've experienced the lack of it firsthand, the act of turning on a faucet with clean, clear water running out is nothing short of a miracle.  (It should never, ever be taken for granted.)  How fortunate are we to be able to run through a sprinkler in the hot weather as our lawns or gardens are watered.  To stand in a shower and feel it cleanse our bodies is a little bit like heaven.

Have you ever noticed how the water coming out of the end of a hose replicates this same action on a grander scale?  Watch a stream as it winds through a forest or field.  Watch a river racing toward a larger body of water.  

These larger bodies of water are as majestic as an ocean or as peaceful as a lake or as geometrically-shaped as a manmade swimming pool.  Who among us has not laughed and jumped in the smallest area of water?  Once warmer weather descends, do you see the drops of dew sparkling like diamonds in the early hours of the day?

The shapes of water are found near us and around us.  They are found inside our homes and high above our heads in the outdoors. They can be solid and bitter cold but feel as light as a breath of a breeze.  Water is recognizable everywhere.  Let's look!

The exuberant voice of our youthful girl guide, as penned by Antoinette Portis, has our immediate attention.  In her conversation to water, she shifts her focus in a relatable, flawless flow.  Water comes from things humans have made, then it moves naturally until it comes back to where we start.  Along with the narrative, single words are attached to the descriptive action. A hose trickles water.  A stream gurgles with water. Rain roars and pours. Here is a passage.

Water, even when you try to fool me, I know you.

You blast and huff.

You whistle and puff.

steam

From left edge to right edge, back to front, on the open and matching dust jacket and book case, ripples of water, in varying hues of blue form a pleasing welcome pattern.  As if block-printed the text appears like another form of water, clouds.  The girl, the first-person voice in the narrative, smiles in open invitation.  The mask on her face is varnished on the jacket.

On the opening and closing endpapers lighter blue waves wash over the pages and follow on the first and last page turn.  On the title page, the girl, seated, grins at us from a bathtub.  On the towel rack, a brick-red striped towel hangs.  It is matched by a solid-colored rug on the floor.  In a puddle next to the tub sits a toy whale. 

Rendered with brush and sumi ink with color added digitally, the illustrations brilliantly move from one form of water to the next mirroring shapes.  The spray from the faucet (down) is the same as the spray from the sprinkler (up) and from the shower head (down).  The s-shape in the trickle attaches to the s-shape in the stream which attaches to the back and forth motion of the river.  This is replicated when other groups are gathered and introduced.  

A limited color palette elevates each image as does the matte-finished paper.  Both enrich the tactile experience for the reader.  Antoinette Portis varies the perspective in her pictures bringing us close to the actions or giving us a more panoramic view depending on the action or object.   We see the ends of the girl's feet and the tips of her toes next to the light blue trickle of water coming from a bright emerald green hose on the grassy green grass.  Huge, no-two-snowflakes-alike visions fall from the sky as we look down on a tiny version of the girl wearing winter clothes and rolling another snowball toward a standing snowman wearing a top hat.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is for the word puddle and the narrative:

I stomp in you and

scatter droplets everywhere.

The text is placed on the left.  On the right a blue puddle is brushed into place.  The girl, wearing a red and white checked skirt or coat (We can only see the bottom portion.) is stomping with her yellow boots in the puddle.  Drops of water cross the gutter to the left on a background of white on both sides of the double-page picture.

You will read Hey, Water! written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis repeatedly for the share joy and information found in its pages.  The use of words, color, design and layout are fabulous in this ode with gratitude to water.  At the close of the book Antoinette Portis includes a one-page discussion on the forms, liquid, solid and gas, of water and another page dedicated to the water cycle.  This is followed by a conversation on conserving water and five print resources.  This title is highly recommended for your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Antoinette Portis and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Antoinette has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website is an essay on the making of this book.  Antoinette Portis has a recent interview at Only Picture Books. 

Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher where titles are featured by those participating in the 2019 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

There's No Time Like...

More than four hundred fifty years ago, a phrase was coined indicating you should do something immediately rather than wait for a more opportune time.  It was understood there was no purpose in planning and fretting about possibilities; it was believed the present was the optimum moment.  Today this definition still holds true.

Another perspective for there's no time like the present would be to ask ourselves to pause and rest our minds.  Are we constantly mulling over an incident from the past?  Are we thinking about something which may or may not happen in hours, days or weeks in the future?  What wonder would we enjoy if we focused on the present alone?  Now (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, July 11, 2017) written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis (Wait, Best Frints in the Whole Universe) through the mind and actions of a child depicts finding joy in the moment.

This is my favorite breeze.

A single leaf, this leaf, held like a fan is cherished by the child, the narrator.  She also relishes one particular hole in the ground.  It's the one she is sitting in.  It's the one she is digging.

As she stands in mud, holds a worm and gazes at clouds, she declares each one her favorite.  It's not because of a particular quality each one exhibits but because she is experiencing that puddle of mud, that wiggling worm and that gauzy cloud now.  This little girl is teaching us that nothing is better than reveling in this second.

No matter the weather or the loss, she looks for the bliss.  She uses her senses, encountering her world through sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing.  Her favorite song is not at the top of the charts, it's the one she happens to be singing now.

She prods the empty space in her mouth, missing a tooth.  Her cat is the not so thrilled recipient of a goodnight embrace.  But as this day of many days comes to a close she declares her final favorite.  It's a declaration of why Now is the very best now of all nows.

The simplicity of the statements written by Antoinette Portis allows readers to be lifted up and into the story.  Through the voice of the child we come to understand how delight can be found in everyday things; most of them free for all.  The grouping of the sentences establishes a rhythm; the naming of two favorites followed by a third because it is engaging the little girl at the present time.  Here is a sample group of three phrases.

This is my favorite rain.
That was my favorite boat.
This is my favorite tree because it's the one where I am swinging.


When you open the matching dust jacket and book case the attraction of the front of each is increased.  Now we can see the entire face of the girl continuing over the spine and to the left on the back.  It's not entirely symmetrical which is an excellent design choice.  There is more white space on the left.  On the left the girl's ear is covered with her hair.  The center of the leaf is tilted to the right.

The hue from the title text and the leaf covers the opening and closing endpapers.  Pale green clouds dot the title, verso and dedication pages.  A large sun holds the dedication name.

The illustrations, rendered using sumi ink, brush, and bamboo stick with color added digitally by Antoinette Portis, extend the openness of her text filling the pages with utter delight.  A limited color palette, leaning toward earth tones and perfect for the heavier matte-finished paper, adds a sense of realism.  We can easily imagine ourselves finding the same contentment as the little girl.

One of my favorite of many illustrations is the first one we see.  Spanning two pages, it portrays the girl standing on a grassy hill on the right.  Her eyes are closed.  Her hair is blowing behind her.  Her arms are lifted on either side of her toward the sky.  Large brush strokes of teal stretch from left to right blending into the girl's face, shirt and striped skirt.  She is feeling the breath of the breeze.


Now written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis is about standing still in the rush around us.  It's asking us to observe and extend gratitude for each given opportunity...now.  This perspective grants readers a feeling of peace.  It would be interesting to see how readers would extend this title relative to their surroundings at the moment.  I can't imagine a professional or personal bookshelf without this title.

To learn more about Antoinette Portis and her other work please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  You can view interior images at the publisher's website.  Antoinette Portis maintains an Instagram account.  Author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson shares her review and interior images at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  There are several interviews and conversations with Antoinette Portis from two years ago at Number Five Bus Presents..., The Horn Book, Publishers Weekly and Kid Lit Frenzy.  While the title discussed the most in these is Wait, you can still learn about Antoinette Portis and her process.

Across The Cosmic Expanse

For those studying space sciences there is an entirely different set of theories about space, space travel and life on other planets than for those fans of science fiction television shows, movies and books.  We can boldly go where no man has gone before by watching Star Trek, wish for the Force to be with us as we travel with the characters in Star Wars, or heed the advice of Robot in Lost in Space, Danger, Will Robinson, danger.  We can travel beyond the boundaries of Earth's gravity in books such as Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke, Akiko on the Planet Smoo by Mark Crilley, Lowriders in Space by Cathy Camper and Raul The Third or Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce.

We may discover again and again the inhabitants of other outer worlds share some common characteristics with us.  Best Frints in the Whole Universe (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, July 5, 2016) written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis explores the relationship of two individuals from a unique planet.  These buddies boisterously proclaim their affection amid their antics.

Yelfred and Omek have been best frints since they were little blobbies.

Frints?  Blobbies? Not only are their physical characteristics remarkable but their language is a teensy bit unusual.  Being best frints (friends) is a challenge in this world; with teef (teeth) and tempers posing problems.

Yelfred and Omek are inseparable.  They enjoy eating together.

They play eye ball in the peedle pit.

YUCK! Eye ball?  This is especially tricky when you realize the peedles are plants with teef.  An incorrect throw can cause hours of back-and-forth discourse.

When Yelfred gets a spossip (spaceship) for his birthday he can hardly wait to show Omek.  Omek can hardly wait to drive it.  Yelfred is not willing to let Omek drive his new spossip; worried he will destroy it.  Omek is not happy with that answer, not happy at all.

With a whoosh and an oops the two frints find themselves in a difficult situation.  Never ones to be quiet, never ones to be indecisive, their tale takes a turn.  Teamwork can patch up more than one thing, especially those things in which nature does not do the fixing.


With a mind for creating books which ask readers to extend their thinking Antoinette Portis builds a new world, characters and a vocabulary in her most recent release.  I have to believe she completely enjoyed herself while writing a narrative with accompanying dialogue similar to how friendships on planet Earth are grown with hilarious twists.  The comedy is heightened with the repeated use, in parentheses, of this phrase

Not like here on planet Earth.

This sentence, of course, means the opposite of what is stated and is sure to bring on bouts of laughter.  Here is another sample passage.

They share.  Unless they don't feel like it.
"No! You'll schmackle it to bits."
"I'm the best driver on Boborp!
Let me have a turp!"


The first thing you notice, other than the two strange grinning creatures on the front of the matching dust jacket and book case, is the signature color palette.  The vivid purples, blues, greens, and pinks definitely proclaim we're out of our world.  Spanning from left to right is a single image, rolling textured hills with multiple moons on a starry sky.  On the opening and closing endpapers with a background of large circles in muted dark green, golden yellow, pink and orange Portis provides readers with a Boborpian Glossary, twenty-five different line drawings and translations with one spot left for readers to make up their own words.

On the pages opposite the title and final pages those circles on the endpapers overlap in a kaleidoscope of shades.  Portis continues to use the circles to place smaller images within liberal amounts of white space.  The single and double page illustrations are a blast of action and color.  You never know whether the background will be yellow, teal, magenta, deep blue, spring green, or white.  The abstract landscapes, flora and fauna are carefully placed with an eye for design and layout.

Her characters of Yelfred and Omek are expressive in their facial looks and in the use of their arms, legs and antennae.  Portis gives readers panoramic views, moves in closer and really zooms in on a particularly significant image.  You can't help but smile at the high and low points of this relationship.

One of my favorite illustrations is at the beginning.  On a single page Yelfred is standing on a red round outcrop with four colorful moons on a yellow background.  His purple arms, antennae and legs are spread wide.  His face is front and center looking at the reader wearing a huge grin so we can see his three large, long teef.


With every reading of Best Frints in the Whole Universe written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis your happiness will grow larger and longer.  These two pals seems to be at odds as much as they are in sync but they help us to realize no matter where you reside the essence of friendship can withstand anything, even the schmackle of a spossip.  It also helps to have one special item handy at all times. (You'll have to read the book to discover this valid piece of advice.)

To learn more about Antoinette Portis and her other work please follow the link attached to her name to visit her website.  You can view eight pages at the publisher's website.  Readers will enjoy the four-page activity guide.  Antoinette Portis is a guest at All The Wonders, Picturebooking, Episode 45 with Nick Patton.

Wily Wind

It can be as gentle as puppy's breath or as fierce as a lion's roar.  It scatters seeds planting them where they fall. It creates currents in the sky for gliding birds. It moves boats of all shapes and sizes through waters, large and small.

It sends visual, vocal and written messages a few feet or across an unknown amount of miles.  The wind can unwittingly (or maybe by plan) lend a helping hand in the forming of friendships.  The Red Hat (Disney Hyperion, December 8, 2015) written by David Teague with illustrations by Antoinette Portis traces paths taken amid great gusts.

Billy Hightower lived atop the world's tallest building.
Even the clouds didn't reach so high.

When you live higher than the clouds, you miss out on some of nature's more welcome moments.  The one thing you always have is wind.  Some days are breezier than others.  On those days, the wind is a complete trickster.

Rather than wide open sky, Billy Hightower finds himself, after a series of changes, one morning looking at another building higher than the clouds.  On the roof of this towering structure is a girl; a girl wearing a red hat.  He shouts out his name.  The wind blows it up and over those two super skyscrapers.

A paper airplane is creased and folded.  Written on the surface is a message for the girl from Billy Hightower.  The wind swirls it out of reach.  A kite with words on the tail suffers a similar fate at the whims of the wind.

With determination and more than a little courage Billy Hightower appears on his roof again with a large blanket.  Oh, my Billy!  First it billows out and then ascending like a balloon the wind carries the boy toward the girl in the red hat.  A relentless burst of boisterous breezes foils his plans and steals her hat.

Back on terra firma despite the howling blasts Billy Hightower strides toward his goal, as resolute as ever.  Something catches his eye.  His heart swells with happiness.  His now knows he can reach new heights.



As surely as a warm spring breeze swirls dandelion puffs skyward, the words written by David Teague will lift your spirits.  Simple sentences and phrases full of wonderful verbs supply a blustery atmosphere as well as describing a boy with wishes he is willing to make come true.  Teague uses repetition to reinforce Billy's intentions.

Then he folded it, and folded it, and folded it...

Through this story we are beside Billy each time he tries to connect with the girl, adding more thoughts to each message.  In this boy we are able to see how a hindrance becomes the means to an end when a creative mind is at work.  Here are two more sentences.

The wind howled.
It yowled down alleyways,
almost stopping him cold.


When I opened up the dust jacket the use of four colors with spot glossy whirls of a light teal made me whisper in appreciation.  The sky, swirls and clouds continue to the left over the spine to the back.  The flaps are in red with white text.  It's a stunning combination. The stolen hat shaped like a heart sends us a hint of the warmth found in this story.

The book case is white, front and back.  Shiny light teal whorls come from the lower left-hand corner on the back meeting another whorl coming from the lower right-hand side of the front.  Tucked in their center is the girl's red hat.  The opening and closing endpapers are the same blue as on the dust jacket with clouds along the bottom.  Black and white buildings peek through the tops of the clouds.  The wind currents are shown swooping across the entire image.  This is carried over to the verso and title pages.

Antoinette Portis begins by alternating between double-page images and single page pictures framed in white.  The single pages are tied together over the gutter through creative design.  From the moment Billy brings the blanket to the roof, the remainder of the illustrations spans both pages as the narrative intensifies.  Another color, gray, becomes more visible when Billy lands on the ground walking through the city.

The heavy black lines, the color palette and shifts in perspective completely captivate readers.  We don't know what a page turn will bring but we can hardly wait to find out.  Portis tucks in little details to make the story more endearing; the shape of a balloon caught in tree branches and the name of the girl's building.

One of my favorite illustrations is of Billy drifting through the sky.  He's still among the clouds, arms stretched high as the wind holds the blanket aloft. (All we can see are the grasped corners of the blanket.)  As you would expect his mouth and eyes are wide open in surprise and anticipation as to what might happen.  Along the bottom of the visual are a row of city buildings in black.  The swirls of air are wrapped around him, carrying him down.


When the Children's Choice Book Award nominees were announced last week John Schumacher, Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, posted the press release on his blog, Watch. Connect. Read.  The Red Hat written by David Teague with illustrations by Antoinette Portis was selected as one of the Children's Choice Illustrator hopefuls.  The blend of text and art in this story is a brilliant example of less is more.  Whether it means to or not the wind fuels a growing warmth on every page.  This book offers readers a chance to discuss and ponder many things.

To learn more about David Teague and Antoinette Portis please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  I really enjoyed this post by Betsy Bird, Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system, at Fuse #8 Production, School Library Journal.  In the final publication the text she speaks about in her second to last paragraph is wonderfully visible.

Not Too Fast...Please

There was a time when most families did not own three, four or more cars or trucks.  (Several of my immediate neighbors with two in the household own four vehicles.)  We had one car in my family of four until I was in high school.  If my mom needed it to run errands, she would drive my dad to work in the morning and race around until it was time to pick him up.  Needless to say before my sister and I were in school, the three of us were in pretty good shape from fast walking or running from place to place.

Looking in store windows or browsing in the aisles was not on the agenda.  Although to be fair we did stop at our favorite candy shop for a treat.  I wonder what we missed seeing by dashing from place to place.  Wait (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, July 14, 2015) written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis examines the beauty to be found in slowing our pace, pausing to enjoy the world through which we pass. 

Hurry!

With the first page turn after the title word, Wait, we see a mom scurrying down a city street with her son holding her hand.  She glances at her watch, clearly on a tight schedule.  Alternating between his wait and her hurry we travel with them to their destination.  

Her focus on where they need to be makes her oblivious to all the simple joys all around them (us) every single day.  It's impossible to resist a friendly kiss from an eager dog.  Road repair crews need a cheerful greeting during their work.

Everyone knows hungry ducks in the park crave bread hand-outs.  See that one there.  Wouldn't that ice cream bar taste good?  Did you see what is in the pet shop window?  I spy something among the flowers in the planter.  

Large drops of rain are starting to fall.  No time to waste now.  Mom is really in a rush.  

Wait.

 Antoinette Portis has used language to perfection.  Two words, finally a third, and the punctuation drive the rate at which the story unfolds.  When one of the words is used repeatedly in succession the tension builds to the best possible conclusion.  

Rendered in pencil, charcoal and ink with color added digitally the technique and style used by Portis calls to younger readers.  It also draws attention, by way of contrast, to the delicate details she includes in some of her illustrations.  Upon opening the dust jacket (I am working with an F & G.) the boy is watching a mother cat trailing behind her three kittens who are fascinated with a ladybug.  When you first look at the title page, see if you notice anything special.

Her first of thirteen double-page images extends across the gutter into the verso on the left.  When Portis uses single page visuals among these, the flow is flawless.  Her point of view shifts from close-up to more expansive but even in those, for the most part; we see things from the height of a child.  When she zooms in on one particular picture expect gasps.  

One of my favorite illustrations is when it begins to rain.  The boy is standing with extended arms, head tilted back to catch raindrops on his tongue.  His left arm spreads into the right page.  His mom is holding an open rain coat.  Even though we read the word 

Hurry!

she is waiting for him to put his arms in the sleeves.


Antoinette Portis in words and pictures engages readers in the fine art of observation in Wait.  All of us need to look at our world through the same lens used by the little boy.  Readers will come to the realization we need more wait than hurry in our lives. Sometimes all it takes is a rain storm.

To discover more about Antoinette Portis and her work please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  At the publisher's website you can view eight interior images.  Antoinette Portis is featured at Kidlit 411.  She was recently interviewed at both The Horn Book and Publishers Weekly about this title. Update:  July 26, 2015 Antoinette Portis chats with teacher librarian extraordinaire John Schumacher on his blog, Watch. Connect. Read. Further update:  Antoinette Portis is a guest at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast hosted by reviewer, author and blogger Julie Danielson.