Better Together #5

When individuals are confronted with an unfavorable situation, they want to remedy the circumstances as soon as possible or at the very least, ensure the same incident is not repeated.  Moving forward on a new path is often challenging.  In fact, the first step is often the hardest.

To hear a voice offering encouragement gives you strength.  To find someone willing to shoulder the work with you is inspiring.  To know you are not alone adds a lightness to your soul.  Change Sings: A Children's Anthem (Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, September 21, 2021) written by the youngest presidential inaugural poet in the United States of America, Amanda Gorman, with artwork by Loren Long is a beautiful portrait guaranteed to encourage, inspire and bring the lightness to every soul who savors the words and images.  Each reader, of all ages, will understand their destiny to make a difference for the good of all.  No action, however small, will fail to offer a positive impact. 

I can hear change humming

in its loudest, proudest song.

I don't fear change coming,

And so I sing along.

This song is not soft, but strong.  The narrator screams and dreams.  What is done, again and again, fuels hope.

They join voices across our planet, past and present.  They offer help to those who need it the most.   They are staunch in their support of others who seek change.

For those who do not understand, a compassionate person asks them to join in the song.  Being right is never wrong.  Working together constructs sturdy structures for all to enjoy.

Countries of origin are recognized.  Those things which seem to imply distinctions are doors into similarities.  Like poets and songwriters of the past, this narrator realizes real change begins in each individual.  When that thinking shifts inside us, we sow it.  We release it into the world and grow love.

When you read these words written by Amanda Gorman, you don't know if you should do so silently or break into song, so you do both, separately and then together.  Each rhyming sentence adds a layer, building from a single soul to many.  We know this because the sentence beginnings alter from "I" to "We" with the concluding pages.  Here is another couplet.

I hum with a hundred hearts,

Each of us lifting a hand.

I use my strengths and my smarts,

Take a knee to make a stand.  

Rendered 

by hand on illustration board, using acrylics and colored pencil

these pictures by Loren Long we first see on the open and matching dust jacket and book case radiate in a rich color palette. The image spans from the left edge on the back and continues to the right edge on the front.  The pieces of color on the wall behind the main character are like stained glass alluding to the sun, its rays and the symbolic rings of rainbow colors.  The girl's face shows an open expression.  In her hands, the guitar is offered to readers as an invitation. The text on the front and on the back is varnished.  The text on the back is the first two sentences of the anthem.

A sunshine yellow covers the opening and closing endpapers.  On the title page, between the text, a tuba, tambourine and drum sticks rest in grass.  The first image spans two pages.  A crisp white background provides the perfect space for us to meet the girl again as she sits strumming her guitar.

With each page turn, Loren Long supplies readers with his pictorial interpretation of the words.  It is a journey, double-page illustration, by double-page illustration, from the girl to another child and then to another child.  With each meeting a new instrument is given to the new character.  We get a real sense of something growing.

We see the children cleaning up litter on a playground, feeding someone on the street, delivering groceries in a red wagon to those who cannot get their own, building a ramp for a child in a wheelchair, and cleaning up a storefront in their city.  The children represent a range of ethnicity with endearing expressions.  Their faces amid each setting glow with confidence and anticipation.  They believe they are making a difference.  They are.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a paved basketball court in the city.  We are looking down on the scene.  Basketball hoops are positioned on either side of the image.  Chalk hopscotch boards are below each of them.  Other chalk drawings are featured on the left and right.  Chalk is scattered on the left near a bucket of chalk.  In white a large outline of the continental United States spreads from basketball hoop to basketball hoop.  Inside this outline is the girl with the guitar.  She is handing a trombone to a boy who was playing basketball.  With her is the reluctant boy with his dog, now holding a trumpet, the boy wearing a religious hat with the tuba, and a girl in a wheelchair holding a drum and accompanying sticks.  This illustration is for a single sentence.

I talk not only of distances,

From where and how we came.

What a wonderful representation of those words and a beautiful lead to the next two sentences and a joyful visual.

No matter how many times you read, Change Sings: A Children's Anthem by Amanda Gorman with pictures by Loren Long, and believe me you will read it repeatedly, you will find a promise of great things in these pages. You will hum, sing and share this title.  Be sure to have a copy on your personal bookshelves and professional bookshelves.  Gift it to someone often.

To learn more about Amanda Gorman and Loren Long and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Amanda Gorman has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Loren Long has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior pages and are offered a teacher's guide.

When something bad happens to us as individuals or to other individuals or groups, a range of emotions wash over us.  We are stunned.  We are deeply saddened.  We want to know what we can do.  Something Good (Little, Brown And Company, October 19, 2021) written by Marcy Campbell with artwork by Corinna Luyken addresses this kind of occurrence.  It follows the response of students and staff at a personal and group level.  It offers a positive answer for change.

The day the custodian found the bad-something

on the bathroom wall, all the girls from Mr. Gilbert's

class were called into the principal's office.

As Principal Martinez addresses the girls, there is a mixture of responses.  She states in no uncertain terms:

"This kind of thing won't be tolerated at our school."

Even though told not to enter the bathroom, four girls do, curious about the bad-something.  The four girls were overwhelmed by what they saw.  There was silence, anger, tears, and a flight.

The locked bathroom created a detour for the girls.  The bad-something had students looking at other students.  Who would do this?  In a short amount of time everyone knew what the bad-something was, including parents.  Their reactions, like the girls, were mixed.  In the following days, the bad-something changed everyone, not always for the good.

Principal Martinez called an all-school assembly speaking the same words as she did to the girls in Mr. Gilbert's class.  Students were given buttons with ribbons in their school colors to remind them of what their school represented.  Mr. Gilbert had a plan, too.

He spoke with his students as they all sat in a circle.  Paint, brushes, and freedom of expression were given to the students as they entered the bathroom where the bad-something was found.  Brush stroke by brush stroke the wall and the students were transformed, each contribution forming a wonderful whole.  It was so beautiful, they continued for days, until they were amazed at their achievement.  Painting, then poetry, healed a room full of students, a school full of individuals deciding to make a difference.

Through her words, Marcy Campbell presents an intimate view of an intolerable event.  Her first-person narrator brings us clearly and with intention into each moment of the evolving situation.  We experience it with all the girls, the four girls, the entire student body, and with Mr. Gilbert's students.  The thoughts and actions of the students are described with realism and a keen aptitude for the behavior of children in this position. Here is a passage.

We missed the days

before the bad-something

appeared, because everything

was different now.  Some of us

felt worried or confused or sad

or angry.  No one felt nothing.

With a limited color palette and her signature artwork, Corinna Luyken gives readers on the front of the dust jacket a foreshadowing of the good something the students and their teacher create together.  The predominant presence of yellow and the facial expressions on all the individuals suggest determination and a lightening of their spirits.  On the back, to the left of the spine, is a display of three paint cans, yellow, teal, and rose.  The colors in each rise like mist, erasing the bad-something.  In the upper, right-hand corner are the words

The bad-something

has no place here.

On the book case, on either side of the spine, is a two-page interior picture.  It shows in greater detail ten students painting an array of elements on the wall.  On the far right one student is on a ladder as the other one steadies it.  There are rosy flowers among dark teal leaves, dragons, a school, handprints, the sun and a row of people in pink along the bottom of the wall.

On the opening endpapers is the wall in the girl's bathroom.  The bad-something has been painted over by the custodian in a dull color.  On the closing endpapers we see how the students and their teacher remade the wall.  On the left-hand side is the dedication and publication information.  If you turn back a page, the title page is on the right and an author's note is on the left.  By placing this information at the back, the narrative is given greater importance.  The bad-something is never shown to readers.

The illustrations for this book were done in gouache, colored pencil, and ink on paper.  They are two-page visuals with shifting perspectives for dramatic emphasis.  While there is an overall feeling of softness when looking at these pictures, almost like chalk smudging, the linework is distinctive.  The faces on the children are highly revealing.  Each time you turn a page, it is like an emotional jolt, heartfelt and true.

One of my many favorite pictures is when Mr. Gilbert is seated in a circle with the students as he explains their art project.  These twenty-five children are actively engaged.  They know change is happening.  They know they are going to be a part of the change.  Most are leaning in with their heads raised.  Several have their eyes closed. We can see those without their backs to us wearing their ribbon pins.  The people are awash in pink, a bit of yellow and white.  Their hair and faces display a variety of ethnicity.  In front of Mr. Gilbert are paint brushes and rollers.

Sometimes when we seek a silver lining, we have to make it.  In Something Good written by Marcy Campbell with pictures by Corinna Luyken, that is exactly what Mr. Gilbert and his students do.  As Marcy Campbell states in her author's note, this book is the result of personal knowledge.  What happens in this school is only one solution.  This title is certain to promote discussions on an individual or group basis.  I highly recommend it for your personal and professional collections.

By accessing the websites of Marcy Campbell and Corinna Luyken by following the link attached to their names, you can learn more about them and their other work.  Marcy Campbell has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Corinna Luyken has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website is a video chat with the illustrator about this book and a two-page Teaching Tips document. At Mel Schuit's Let's Talk Picture Books, there is a short video showing the book case.  At author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast this title is showcased.  There are many pieces of art, process and final to view.

Here are links to Better Together #1, Better Together #2, Better Together #3, and Better Together #4.

Handheld Hilarity 3

Reading a newsletter yesterday written by a soon-to-be-published romance author, who is also a master teacher and friend, two words tied her series of thoughts together.  Those two words, silver linings, ask us to look beyond our current circumstances.  When we seek silver linings, they will reveal themselves to us.  Sometimes they are a tiny sliver.  Other times, they are huge, life-changing moments.  

For many of us, books which make us grin or giggle, or guffaw are the silver linings every time we read them.  They are silver linings which never fail us.  When a character returns to a series of books, it means more fun is in the offing.  We first met him eight years ago in Crankenstein and again in A Crankenstein Valentine.  He has returned in Trick Or Treat, Crankenstein (Little, Brown And Company, August 17, 2021) written by Samantha Berger with illustrations by Dan Santat.  In this newest entry, a beloved holiday is not as it should be.

Do you know what today is?

Crankenstein knows what today is.

It's a day that rhymes with Schmalloween, and

it's Crankenstein's FAVORITE day of the year.

His first inkling the day is awry is a throbbing toothache.  It goes downhill further when his brother fails to recognize his costume identity.  And just when he thinks it can't get any worse, it does.  No one mentions a raging rainstorm was coming.

Every activity at school to celebrate the holiday is off kilter.  What are the chances of someone else having the same costume and standing next to Crankenstein in the parade?  That night in his neighborhood trick-or-treating, someone is handing out toothbrushes instead of candy.  What kind of person does that?

Some other neighbor has a weird idea of frightening decorations. Crankenstein is not happy at being scared.  Back home, finally, his sly brother is swiping his candy.  What has happened to 

Crankenstein's FAVORITE day of the year? 

Wait! Is that the doorbell ringing?  Opening the door, Crankenstein is shocked at what he sees.  He bursts out laughing.  He keeps on laughing when he sees a lot more great minds who think alike.

This author, Samantha Berger, knows comedy.  She understands how delighted readers are in the contrast between the expected and the reality.  AND either through experience or observation, she has included the perfect pairs of opposites.  Initially, she creates a rhythm through the use of the word

EXCEPT

bringing it back to great effect at the close of the story.  She then establishes another cadence which increases Crankenstein's grit-your-teeth frustration and our rib-tickling laughter.  Here is a passage.

EXCEPT---when his brother doesn't know

WHAT he's supposed to be, and laughs till he falls

off the couch.

Crankenstein would say,

MEHHRRRR!

Look at the front, right side of the dust jacket!  Everything screams Halloween and not any ordinary Halloween.  This is a Halloween gone wrong.  There are webs in the title text with a black spider dangling between the K and O.  Bats fly around Crankenstein on an orange background.  The handle on his treat bag is ripped, spilling his collected candy.  His signature reply to his fateful events is carved into the jack-o-lantern.  Crankenstein's face allows for no denying his current mood.  To the left, on the back, in shades of gray is a silhouette of Crankenstein shouting his displeasure.  Across Crankenstein's form is a toothbrush with a jack-o-lantern, TRICK or TREAT tag hanging from the handle.  Adding insult to injury along the handle it reads:

Dr. Spooner DDS 555-9874

On the book case, on a cream background, is Crankenstein.  On the front he is facing us in his 

ROBO AVENGER COSTUME

with all the parts labeled.  On the back Crankenstein has turned his back to us.  Four parts of his costume not previously shown are labeled.

You cannot, I repeat cannot, just glance at the opening and closing endpapers.  Illustrator, Dan Santat, has fashioned a collage of enlarged candy.  Each of the candies have been renamed to depict the spookiness of Halloween.  The wrappers are familiar, but the names are decidedly not.  Have you had

TOOTHROT

It suffices  

or

Original

Skulltills

Imbibe The Spectrum!

Even some of the information on the verso has been "Halloweened." 

Each of the double-page illustrations (and a group of smaller panels) were rendered in Adobe Photoshop.  All the scenes inside Crankenstein's home depict a love of his favorite holiday.  There are ghoulish lamps and lampshades, and Halloween cups, glasses, bowls, placemats, pillows, and blankets.  The exaggerated facial expressions will have you grinning from ear to ear.  For most of the pictures, we are close to the action.  We are a part of this story. 

One of my many favorite illustrations is the only panoramic setting.  Across most of the two pages are hues of green formed into a corn maze. Four costumed classmates of Crankenstein are gleefully running down several pathways on the left.  Across the top of the page is a gray sky with a smattering of darker rain clouds and some parked vehicles on the right.  On the bottom of the image, to the right of the gutter (with one arm crossing the gutter), is a scarecrow.  He is looking grim.  Where is Crankenstein you ask?  Two arms with clenched fists extend straight up in a row on the right.  Above those arms in a speech balloon is a visual of an angry face.  Crankenstein is lost! 

Guaranteed to make you smile at the least and surely laugh out loud, Trick Or Treat, Crankenstein written by Samantha Berger with illustrations by Dan Santat is a feast of fun.  Readers will relate to the mishaps but will be pleasantly surprised by the conclusion.  Treat yourself to a copy for your professional and personal bookshelves.

To discover more about Samantha Berger and Dan Santat and their other work, please visit their respective websites by following the link attached to their names.  Samantha Berger has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Dan Santat has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  

Many individuals use meal preparation as an act of love or as an artistic expression.  There are a few others, a very few, harboring an ulterior motive.  One such fellow is found in Chez Bob (Little, Brown And Company, September 21, 2021) written and illustrated by Bob Shea.  This alligator has a voracious appetite but is loath to exert himself.  What he lacks in energy and ambition, he more than makes up for it in ingenuity.

Bob worked very

hard at being lazy.

"Being lazy is making me very hungry,"

said Bob to no one.

Bob hopes his request for birds to fly directly into his mouth will work.  They flee with haste.  He then observes how grass entices birds to it because of its seeds.  Like the proverbial lightning strike, Bob has a plan.

His long snout will house a birdseed restaurant.  It will be so successful, other alligators will want to purchase his idea.  He will be wealthy, but most importantly, he will no longer be hungry. 

The first bird at Chez Bob is impressed.  Bob has to let him go rather than eat him.  He is going to spread the word about the delectable meal on the menu.  Chez Bob is an international success.  Before long, a community surrounds Bob and his restaurant.  There is a school for the youngsters and a library for everyone.  As a member, new member, of this flock, Bob participates in a service project.  He joins a book club? Oh, Bob!  

Mother Nature exerts her will.  Bob has a huge decision to make.  Birds or breakfast?  What could possibly be worth more than fame and fortune?

When author Bob Shea pens a story, his keen sense of humor shines in every sentence.  His blend of narrative and Bob's personal voice and thoughts is true and perfectly paced.  The hilarity escalates with Bob acting and saying one thing and thinking about consuming the birds at the same time.  Then, in the best possible manner, a dilemma is presented.  It is a heightened what-if moment.  Readers will appreciate the choices made by both Bobs.  Here is a portion of one passage and the following two sentences.

"Oh, then I will not eat you,"

said Bob.

"What?" said the bird.

"I said, 'So nice to meet you,' "

said Bob.

And he couldn't wait to meet

the bird's tasty friends.

Soon Chez Bob was

the talk of the trees.

Birds flew in from all

over the world to eat

on Bob's face.

(Please note I am working with an F & G.  I was hoping to have a copy this week, but unfortunately, they have been delayed.  The anticipation grows.)

The expression on Bob the alligator's face on the right side of the open dust jacket has me laughing out loud every time I see it.  That smirky grin with one hand attempting to cover it is priceless.  Bob salting the bird as the bird salts its seeds is over-the-top comical.  The choice of the teal canvas makes Bob and the bird shine.

On the left, back of the dust jacket, Bob is seated on a navy background.  Birds are around him, his hat, and his face.  It is movie night.  On the end of his nose is the screen.  Bob is scooping popcorn into his mouth as birds nibble what is on the ground.

On a spring green canvas with short yellow and blue blades of grass, birds of a variety of colors gather on the opening endpapers.  On the far left, a pink worm looks at the group of birds aghast.  With the same background, the closing endpapers tell a different tale.  It is a blur of bicycles, birds, and Bob . . . on a bicycle.  The verso and title pages present a double-page picture of Bob lazily resting on the edge of the water with the jungle flora and fauna around him.

The color palette of blues, greens, purple, yellow, pink and white welcomes readers to the story.  The images, double-page pictures and single-page pictures, are highly animated.  When Bob opens his mouth, he opens it WIDE!  The tiny details in some of the scenes ask readers to pause.  There are birds in lounge chairs around a pond.  There are birds riding on a roller coaster.  There is a tiny bus with two passengers and a capped driver.

One of my favorite illustrations is when Bob is taking his patrons on a sunset dinner.  Among the lily pads, some flowers holding candles, are a frog happily waving as Bob passes and a turtle rowing a boat nearby.  Bob, mostly above the beautifully hued water, is wearing his chef's hat, eyeing his customers, and smiling.  Across his back are tiny tables with red-and-white-checked tablecloths. Pairs of birds are seated, enjoying their birdseed meals and chirping conversationally.

Sometimes when the best-laid plans shift in their results, so do personalities.  Our protagonist in Chez Bob written and illustrated by Bob Shea is a prime example.  Innocence can soften the cleverest and hungriest heart.  If you are looking for a title replete with laughs that lead toward newfound friendship, this book comes highly recommended for both your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Bob Shea and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  Bob Shea has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  This title is featured at author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson's wondrous Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  There are many process pieces there to see.  

UPDATE:  Please enjoy this interview with Bob Shea about this title at Max's Boat on September 16, 2021.

Bob Shea Presents CHEZ BOB from LB School on Vimeo.

Book Chat with the Illustrator: Bob Shea for CHEZ BOB from LB School on Vimeo.

Handheld Hilarity

For those who read aloud, whether to a single soul or a group of listeners, when the story generates, first, giggles and then outbursts of laughter, the atmosphere in the setting changes.  It is charged with a special connection.  Uniting through happiness is lasting, sometimes for decades.  You don't forget it.

When it comes to wishing, you need to carefully weigh all the consequences attached to a wish.  Our favorite grumpy, not fun-loving bear is back (somewhat) in a new title, The Bruce Swap (Disney Hyperion, May 4, 2021) written and illustrated by Ryan T. Higgins.  His housemates, the mice, Rupert, Thistle, and Nibbs, and the geese, wish Bruce was less like himself and more like them.  Due to the paper-consuming geese, a comedy of errors unfolds on this day.

There was a letter in the mailbox

at 13 Go Away Lane.

No one would ever know except for a reader what the letter said because a goose ate it.  It announced a visit from Bruce's fun, fun, fun cousin, Kevin.  Bruce detested fun.  In fact, that night each of Bruce's housemates made wishes about Bruce because he lacked any inclination toward fun (or sandwiches).

The next morning Bruce left the house to go fishing.  He wrote a note explaining his absence.  Guess who ate it? Guess who showed up at the house looking like Bruce but acting like the housemates wishes came true?

Even when the bear said his name was Kevin, no one believed him.  They knew their wishes were granted.  The fun started in earnest.  Candy was bountiful.  Multiple pizzas were ordered.  Outdoor activities were celebrated inside the house.  And the noise was deafening.  Moving to the outdoors, downright dangerous stunts were performed.  

Kevin's fun, fun, fun friends arrived and added to the craziness.  Three mice and four geese looked around, saw a humongous mess and realized too much of a good thing is not a good thing.  Kevin did not like messes, so he drove away with his pals. 

Can you imagine what Bruce was going to say when he got home?  You'll be surprised more than once as this story concludes.  Three cheers for grumps!

With every sentence author Ryan T. Higgins pens in this title, you can feel the humor growing.  He uses the repetition of a single word or phrases for emphasis and to fashion a cadence.  One two-word combination he inserts into the story is guaranteed to have readers and listeners rolling on the floor laughing.  His blend of narrative and dialogue is flawless.  Here are two passages.

Early the next morning, before the first rays of sun crept

across Soggy Hollow, Bruce woke up to go on a fishing trip.

Alone.

By himself.

He left a note, of course.

Gone fishing.

Don't make

a mess!

---Bruce---

But nobody read that note either.

NOM NOM NOM

One look at the open dust jack, front and back, and you know something the exact opposite of ordinary is in the offing for Bruce and his housemates.  On a blue background on the back, to the left, is a photograph of Bruce and Kevin.  Their facial expressions could not be more different.  There is one grump and one goof featured.  This photograph is varnished.  On the front, to the right, Bruce on the left is totally unaware of Kevin.  His fun, fun, fun grin is shocking to Rupert.  On this image the title text is varnished.

The book case design mirrors that of a pizza box in red and white check.  In the center is a circle framed in green.  On the front and back a bear, wearing a chef's hat, is showcased in red on white within that circle.  One is Kevin and one is Bruce.  Let the hilarity commence.

On the opening endpapers Bruce has placed sixteen signs around his home, advising people what they can't do.  The final sign in his paws reads:

NO PLAYING.

Behind the signs and Bruce are his home on the right and the lake across both sides.

Kevin has worked his fun on the closing endpapers.  The lake, trees, and Bruce's house are all the same.  The signs have all been changed by Kevin.  Each NO has been crossed out and GO is written in green next to the crossed-out NO.  Kevin stands at the NO PLAYING sign with a green marker in his paw.  He has already altered that sign.

These illustrations by Ryan T. Higgins 

created using scans of treated clayboard for textures, graphite, ink, and Photoshop

send the hoopla soaring (much like Rupert who finds himself attached to an airborne kite).  The facial expressions on all the characters depict every emotional moment from glee to despair and other moods between the two.  Readers will pause at every page turn to enjoy all the details.  Images span single pages but cross the gutter to join spot visuals on the previous page.  Other single-page pictures, panels and partial-page illustrations accentuate pacing and the story line.  For dramatic effect double-page pictures tell a story all their own.  Most of the conversation is found in speech balloons.

One of my many favorite pictures is a single-page image.  We are in the living room of Bruce's home.  It has been transformed into an indoor swimming pool.  Water is nearly up to the window casements.  Kevin wearing a red-and-white striped swimming suit, floaties on his arms, a bathing cap, and swim goggles is having fun.  The geese and mice are not so sure.  One is grasping the floating telephone.  Two others are using a door as a raft.  Rupert remarks:

This might be an 

electrical hazard.

Regardless of how many times The Bruce Swap written and illustrated by Ryan T. Higgins is read, laughter will resound each and every time.  The return of beloved characters coupled with the narrative, dialogue, and comical illustrations are an unbeatable combination.  You'll want to have a copy of this title for both your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about other titles by Ryan T. Higgins go to his page at the publisher's website by following the link attached to his name.  Ryan T. Higgins has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website is a link to a lengthy guide on the work of Ryan T. Higgins.  It would be great for an author study.

Several weeks ago, when I stepped out on the front porch with my canine companion to begin our last stroll for the day, panic and a stench overwhelmed me.  It was not quite pitch black outside yet.  Where was the skunk?  Was it on the lawn?  Was it under the porch?  Was every person's nightmare about to unfold?  We were lucky this time.  Something Stinks! (Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, June 15, 2021) written and illustrated by Jonathan Fenske is about a being with an experience similar to mine with one huge difference.  A skunk can't figure out where a horrible smell is emanating.  (I don't know about you, but I am laughing already.)

Pee-yew!

Something STINKS!

The narrator continues by telling us how fortunate we are not to smell what he is smelling.  We are then told exactly how stinky it is.  Comparisons are made to three kinds of stink.  How can it be stinkier

than a rotten tuna and onion sandwich?

Skunk then informs us he will track down the source of this odoriferous aroma.  No nook or cranny will be overlooked.  When he offers up the source as underpants, he is mistaken.  The scent is increasingly worse.

It seems to be following Skunk.  He then asks the reader to move in closer so he can make sure it is not they who stink.  Really?  

By now Skunk is getting nauseous.  He asks for readers' help.  When there is a response, he can't comprehend the words or gestures.  Skunk is at his wit's end.  Suddenly, a change clears the air.  What has happened?  We know, but Skunk is oblivious.

From the first words out of Skunk's mouth, written by Jonathan Fenske, the hilarity begins.  We are active participants in the story as Skunk speaks directly to us in short sentences.  Questions are asked and replies are given.  To elevate the humor, another character, a fly, adds commentary.  Here is a passage.

Wonderful.

Now the smell is

getting WORSE.

Like someone or someTHING

has been dragging a great big

cloud of stink everywhere!

The two hues of green shown on the front and back of the open book case clearly indicate an odor capable of inducing illness.  By the placement of the darker of the two, readers realize the origin of the stink.  The presence of the fly, first smiling on the front, and then with eyes crossed in displeasure on the back, suggests the extent of the stench.  The text on the back is an introduction to the story with Skunk speaking to us.

On the opening and closing endpapers is a pattern of Skunk, much smaller, standing almost sheepishly amid the smell.  He has no idea he is the cause of the odor.  Zipping around him in loops and swirls is a dotted white line on the green canvas.  This is the flight pattern of the fly who makes an appearance on the closing endpapers.  On the title page, a perplexed Skunk stands trying to locate the source of the stink.

These illustrations by Jonathan Fenske range in size from double-page pictures to single-page images, and groups of smaller visuals to supply pacing.  Often, we are brought very close to Skunk, further inviting us into the story.  His expressive wide-eyed looks, exaggerated facial features, and gestures contribute to the laughter factor.

Background colors are either gruesome green or crisp white.  Every line is spotlighted.  This raises our awareness of the situation in which Skunk finds himself.  You can't help but laugh!

One of my many favorite pictures is on a half-page.  Skunk is trying unsuccessfully, to figure out what the reader is telling him.  In this image he is saying:

I see you pointing.

On the green background with the green odor gathering at the bottom is the upper part of Skunk's face with one arm.  His hand is placed on his forehead as he tries to see.  His eyes are wide open.  He is looking squarely at us.  He just doesn't get it.  Therein is increased comedy.

With a book like Something Stinks! written and illustrated by Jonathan Fenske, you know how readers will respond.  Even now I can hear peals of laughter.  And once this laughter starts it won't stop, even when the story ends.  This is going to be a much-requested story time favorite.  You'll need a copy in your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Jonathan Fenske and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  Jonathan Fenske has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you get a peak at the initial title page.

Duck. Duck. Listen.

It's not until you become an adult, or a parent yourself, that you realize all those sayings heard from your mom and dad are true and downright handy.  As children their repetition is enough to drive you bonkers.  You're sure "Many hands make light work" are words meant to enlist your help when you'd rather be doing something else.  You're positive "When in doubt, don't" is a phrase designed to take all the fun out of your life.

Fortunately, at any age, those words and phrases, unbidden, pop into your mind exactly when they are needed.  Follow Me, Flo! (Candlewick Press, March 10, 2020) written and illustrated by Jarvis brings readers into a ducky daughter and daddy relationship.  The cheerful words and illustrations depict a constant conflict between children and their parents with understanding.


There are certain things
that all little duckies must do every day:

Of those three things, eat, bathe and go to bed, Little Flo does not do even one.  She devours desserts.  She splashes through mud puddles.  She is noticeably absent at bedtime.

Her Auntie Jenna has a new nest so Little Flo and Daddy Duck are going to visit.  Daddy Duck insists Little Flo follow him.  Daddy Duck turns his request into a song which he sings to Little Flo.  Much to the bird's dismay, her father does not sing

VERY high 
and VERY LOUD.

Little Flo, determined to make her own music, sings an original follow me melody.  Her voice is high and loud. Intent on her personal tune, she is unaware of a new threat.  Roxy Fox is hungry.  Where is Daddy Duck?

Little Flo is on the run.  Words, singing words, come into her mind.  She follows those words.  Roxy Fox follows Little Flo.  Look at that darling duckie daughter go!  A series of surprises conclude this delightful tuneful tale.


On his first page Jarvis uses the storytelling technique of three to engage readers.  He also makes the story more intimate by including a little bit more within parentheses.  It's like he's whispering additional information to us.  He uses this again at the end of the story to create a circle.

When Daddy Duck sings his desires for Little Flo to follow him, it's an open invitation for readers to participate in the story.  In this musical interlude a rhythm is supplied in rhyming words and the use of opposites.  Little Flo also uses opposites in her melody adding to the fun as well as generating suspense.  Here are a few phrases from each of their songs.

"OK, Flo, but listen to me first.
We're off to somewhere new.
So stick to me like glue.


So Flo made up her own song.
"Follow, follow, follow me.
I'm little duckie
FLO!

"Follow, follow, follow me.
I'M SUPER-FAST,
NOT SLOW.


A first glimpse of all the joy within the pages of this book is seen on the matching dust jacket and book case.  These, as well as all the interior images, are rendered in

pencil, chalk, and paint and colored digitally.

The spring green canvas on the front is carried over on the other side of the spine, to the left.  The colors in the rocks, Little Flo, Daddy Duck and the insects all complement each other.  On the back, the left, Little Flo and Daddy Duck are gliding over the turquoise blue water of a pond.  A bee and a fly are keeping them company.  (I love that the ISBN here is showcased in a smaller version of the sign on the front of the jacket and case.)

The opening and closing endpapers are done in two tones of the palest lavender.  Rocks and grasses are placed among pond water.  Insects and a tiny bird share the scene.  On the title page (with the publication information), the dedication is carved into a heart on a tree truck behind a singing Little Flo and Daddy Duck.

The illustrations range in size from a cluster of three or two on a single page, single page, edge to edge, or double page, edge to edge.  Several times during the book, Jarvis supplies readers with a series of vertical panels to provide pacing and the passage of time.  Once triangle-shaped panels are used.

These illustrations welcome readers to reach out and touch them.  There is plenty of texture.  The details focus on the setting, the wide-eyed expressions and the extra creatures in the world of Little Flo and Daddy Duck.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  It is when Little Flo and Daddy Duck are first starting their journey.  It is an up-close perspective of the duo.  Behind them is the forest, trees, bushes and flowers, in various pastel shades.  A bright blue and red butterfly flutters nearby.  Another blue and white polka-dotted butterfly rests on a series of vertical leaves on the left.  Little Flo and Daddy Duck are swimming along in the pond.  A bee follows them.  A ladybug pauses on a rock.  Musical notes in the same color as Daddy Duck appear above him.  This visual is happy, happy, happy.


This book, Follow Me, Flo! written and illustrated by Jarvis is a merry celebration of the affection, and sometimes conflict, between a child and their parent.  The inclusion of the songs within the story and lighthearted illustrations equals a superb storytime selection.  You can expect to have requests to read this repeatedly.  I highly recommend this for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Jarvis and his other wonderful work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  Jarvis has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website and at Penguin Random House, you can view interior images.  I've also created a Pinterest board with other duck books and a few crafts for storytime fun.

Grow Into Your True Self

Sometimes it is very well hidden or it might be the first thing you notice about an individual.  It's a condition which can appear suddenly or it may have formed over a long period of time.  Whatever the circumstances, you want to do everything you can to reverse the course which this person seems to be following.  Their self-esteem is at rock bottom.

These children (and adults) need to realize there are choices.  Every person has the potential to be who they want to be.  The Bad Seed (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, August 29, 2017) written by Jory John with illustrations by Pete Oswald takes the definition of two words and turns it around for readers.  It shows those readers who feel their lives are locked in stone a way to break free.

I'm a bad seed.
A baaaaaaaaaaad seed.

As the seed walks by the other seeds they point and confirm what he believes, out loud and in whispers when they think he can't hear them.  He hears every word.  In case readers might not believe he is as truly bad as everyone thinks, he lists his dastardly deeds.

Of his ten stated offenses here are several:

I never wash my hands.   Or my feet.

I lie about pointless stuff.

I cut in line.  Every time.

Of course the entire list of his faults is considerably longer because he is the worst kind of character.  He freely admits he has absolutely no control over his actions.

At this point we are privy to his backstory.  He grows up happy among the numerous members of his family on a sunflower.  As the sunflower ages, disaster strikes in the form of sunflower seeds being harvested.  To the seed's horror he finds himself in a bag and barely escapes with his life because of a huge spit.

As his tale continues, from then on his attitude is NOT of gratitude.  His aimless drifting on the streets hardens his heart.  Surprisingly enough a huge decision is finally made by this bad seed.  He's tired of being a cranky creature.  Does he still do bad things?  Does he do good things?  Let's just say he likes what he's hearing now much better.


The play on the two words, bad seed, is brilliant on the part of Jory John.  By definition a bad seed has no hope of redemption; their condition is a part of their essential nature.  His repetition of key phrases emphasizes the deep-seated mood of this seed.  As John reveals the conditions placing this seed in the bad category and the reason for his attitude, our understanding is increased.  We realize, like the seed does eventually, hope is present.  After the seed's change of heart, John makes several profound statements. Here are a few more sentences which serve as examples of the rhythm created by Jory John's writing.

But I can hear them.  I have good hearing for a seed.

How bad am I?

You really want to know?


The unique illustrative technique, scanned watercolor textures and digital paint, used by Pete Oswald is evident on the matching dust jacket and book case.  The limited color palette of the faded background buildings, which is employed in many parts of the book, focuses our attention on the seeds.  Evidently the bad seed is wickedly happy about using the crayon in his hand to announce the condition of his character.  To the left, on the back, in a different view of the same spot, mother seeds are standing with their children.  They are declaring two different opinions about the bad seed.  One, in the first bit of comedy, is covering her baby's eyes.

On the rustic red endpapers thick white outlines of other seeds show every single one of the twenty-eight smiling.  The bad seed is frowning. (Careful readers will note a change in the closing endpapers.) The thicker, matte-finished paper superbly highlights the images made by Oswald.

With each page turn we are treated to different perspectives.  When the bad seed declares

A baaaaaaaaaaad seed.

all we see is his eyes, freckles and frown along with a portion of his body above these facial elements.  When the other seeds are talking it's a collage of moments spread over two pages.  Hilarity is part of the pictures in Oswald's interpretation of the words.  When we read

I cut in line.  Every time.

three unhappy seeds, two of which are voicing their disgust, are waiting in line to go to the bathroom.  The bad seed cuts ahead and opens the door to a porta-potty.  What makes readers pause, though, is the attention to details; the variety of expressions on the seeds' faces, their tiny arms and hands, the shifts in point-of-view and the use of color to denote mood.

One of my many favorite illustrations is the large sunflower taking up nearly a single page.  In the center of the blossom is a collection of seeds, the bad seed's family.  They are cheerfully engaged in a variety of activities; playing tambourines, maracas, a guitar and a horn, painting, writing in a journal, laughing, talking and singing.  This bright yellow flower at the edge of a leafy stem is like the sun itself in a pale blue sky.


As soon as you read The Bad Seed written by Jory John with illustrations by Pete Oswald you'll get the urge to share it with others as soon as possible.  The text and images work so splendidly together, it invites you to read it aloud.  I can't wait to see what students think of it this week.  I'm know there will be discussions.  Please make sure you have a copy on your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Jory John and Pete Oswald and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Pete Oswald maintains an Instagram account. Enjoy the book trailer.

A Passion For Primates

When a subject reaches out and grabs us, we have a deep need to know...everything.  We want to immerse ourselves in information.  For some people this desire lasts a lifetime defining everything they do.  For others it can last days, weeks or months, until the next intriguing topic occupies their every waking moment.

This is one of the absolute joys of working with children as an educator.  Their thirst for knowledge about what they enjoy has no end.  Priscilla Gorilla (A Caitlyn Dlouhy Book, Atheneum Books for Younger Readers, March 7, 2017) written by Barbara Bottner with illustrations by Michael Emberley follows the daily adventures of a gal who loves gorillas.

When Priscilla turned six,
her dad gave her a book called
ALL ABOUT GORILLAS.
They read it a million skillion times! 

From that day forward nothing was done without focusing on gorillas.  No matter the type of special day at school, she managed to showcase gorillas.

On Events Day
she performed her own 
original gorilla dance.

As a final act at the end of each day, wearing her gorilla pajamas, she wrote in her special journal dedicated to gorillas, the GORILLA GAZETTE.

Priscilla's fascination with gorillas stemmed from her belief in them always getting their own way.  She, unlike them, did tend to spend time in the Thinking Corner in Mr. Todd's class.  He did not understand why Priscilla would be teaching Lily the gorilla dance during nap time.

On class photo day all the students came dressed in their favorite animal costumes, prepared to give a report. The problem for Priscilla was she did not want to remove her gorilla pajamas for the photograph.  (She kept on talking about gorillas even when her time was up.)  Priscilla was not in the picture but she occupied the Thinking Corner...again.)

To Mr. Todd's chagrin Lily showed up wearing her lion pajamas the next day.  Two people ended up in the Thinking Corner.  The next day the Thinking Corner was surprisingly filled to capacity.

At home that evening Priscilla, always truthful about her school day, prompted comments from her father about information in her ALL ABOUT GORILLAS book.  She pondered his points and looked over her considerable treasury of gorilla portraits.  At school the next day two major viewpoints shifted prior to and during a school outing.  Step lively, Mr. Todd!


By the second sentence of this story readers are well aware of Barbara Bottner's adept ability to depict the true heart of her characters, especially the younger gals and guys.  She understands how children can become addicted to learning about one or many things.  Another enjoyable aspect of this story is the portrayal of the adults.  Her parents are supportive but offer advice when necessary.  This advice allows Priscilla to make her own decisions.  This is true, too, of her teacher Mr. Todd; he expands on the potential of a teachable moment.  The blend of narrative and dialogue is perfection.  Here is a sample passage.

Lily's lion roared at Priscilla's gorilla.
AAAHHOO!
RAARRHH!
Lily was invited to join Priscilla in the Thinking Corner.
You are my VERY best friend.
Priscilla whispered.
Sam said:
"You're both troublemakers!"
"I was just being a gorilla.  
Nobody tells a gorilla
what to wear."
Priscilla told Sam.
"Gorillas don't wear anything," said Sam.


Rendered in pencil and watercolor the illustrations by Michael Emberley are brimming with exuberance.  The tilted display of Priscilla, wearing her gorilla pajamas, on the front of the dust jacket, is a hint of the liveliness found throughout the title.  The shades of primary colors invite reader participation.  To the left, on the back, Priscilla is striking an upstanding gorilla pose.  Behind her a huge gorilla mimics her stance.  This is shown on a canvas of white.

On the book case of white, the image from the back of the jacket is enlarged for the front.  On the left side, the back, Priscilla is swinging in the corner upside down.  Two of her classmates are standing on the ISBN looking upward.  The opening and closing endpapers are covered in a bright yellow (just like Priscilla's personality.)  Beneath the text on the title page, Priscilla is squatting on all fours on top of the kitchen counter.

White space is used superbly on every single page.  Michael Emberley shifts his illustration sizes in keeping with the pace of the narrative.  He begins with a marvelous two page picture of Priscilla and her father sitting together in an overstuffed armchair reading her book, ALL ABOUT GORILLAS.  He combines smaller images on one page and places a colorful background behind a special grouping of multiple pictures.  He breaks an understood frame with elements as when Priscilla is drawing gorilla pictures and they tumble from her workspace in the kitchen.

What readers will appreciate the most is the humor.  It is present in all the pictures in the details, facial expressions and body positions. (Notice the cat at home, the children's costumes, and how Priscilla draws.)  The looks on Mr. Todd's face will have children and adults alike roaring with laughter.  Believe me when I say you expect any illustration at any moment to come alive.

One of my favorite of many illustrations is when Priscilla is leaving her home on class photo day.  Out the open doorway and down the porch steps, the faint outline of a parked school bus is present.  Leaning against the door frame, her mother leans in to kiss Priscilla goodbye.  Priscilla is hanging from a ring over the door, wearing her gorilla pajamas and carrying her backpack.  To the right of the doorway are storage cubes, many filled with books.

Regardless of the time between readings of this book or the number of times you read it, I guarantee you will always laugh out loud.  Priscilla Gorilla written by Barbara Bottner with illustrations by Michael Emberley is a read aloud gem.  You might want to have animal hats ready for your listeners to wear.  It would be fun to have an animal report day as Mr. Todd does.  Make sure to have a copy of this title on your professional and personal bookshelves.

To learn more about Barbara Bottner and Michael Emberley and their other work, take a few moments to visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  If you wish to view interior images, stop by the publisher's website.  Michael Emberley is the featured illustrator at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast on July 27, 2015. He talks extensively about the process for this particular book at Kathy Temean's Writing and Illustrating.

She's Here. No She's There. Where Is She?

When a being we love, real or fictional, returns we greet them with a joyful heart.  We wonder if those things we most enjoy about them are still part of their personality.  Speculation abounds as to whether those traits, if still present, are stronger than ever or if they have been overshadowed by new and different charming quirks.  Time spent with them will answer all our questions.

By sheer force of nature she burst forth in the children's literature scene in 2000 earning the attention of a multitude of readers and winning Caldecott Honor recognition in 2001.  It's been five years since the seventh book featuring her go-big-go-bold outlook was published.  We are never happier than when reading Olivia and the Fairy Princesses (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, August 28, 2012).  To the delight of her many fans the porcine wonder has a new title, Olivia the Spy (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, April 4, 2017) written and illustrated by her creator Ian Falconer.  This time Olivia's audacious attitude leads her into uncharted territory.

One afternoon Olivia was walking down the hall when she heard her mother talking to her aunt.

Olivia's mother was expressing her distress at Olivia's actions.  She had just finished cleaning the kitchen when Olivia made a blueberry smoothie.  Despite her instructions the kitchen and Olivia ended up as a new blue hue.

Olivia also recently helped to launder her father's white shirts.  Regardless of her mother's guidelines, at the last minute Olivia decided to throw in her socks.  You do remember her favorite color, right?  Red.  Voila!  Pink shirts!

Her mother was so upset she remarked she wanted to send Olivia somewhere, anywhere, until she started to think before acting.  When Olivia heard this, she knew it was time to act.  Oliva the spy was born; cunning and cleverness were necessary.

Olivia used every trick in the book to become invisible but still able to listen and learn.  She did not like what she overheard.  Words like military school and institution had her worried especially when her teacher said prison was an institution.

Prison?!

The next day when Olivia's mother told her to be ready to leave the house at six in the evening, dressed for somewhere out of the ordinary, she knew she was doomed.  The ride in the taxi was one of the saddest she could remember.  When they arrived at the institution this pig, hardly ever surprised at anything, was shocked.  Needless to say, she was not the only one stunned by events which followed.  Lesson learned.  Maybe.


When Ian Falconer writes about Olivia we can't help but feel connected to her.  Her actions are outrageous and fairly normal at the same time.  Her courage to carve her own path in life is inspiring and downright hilarious.  When she makes a mistake, she is usually able to see the silver lining.

In this title Falconer gives readers a mix of narrative and conversations.  We are privy to Olivia and her mother talking and to Olivia listening to her mother and aunt and mother and father chatting.  We know more than Olivia because eavesdropping does have drawbacks.  As Olivia discovers, you don't always get the complete picture.  Here is a sample passage.

"I told her,
'Don't fill it up to the top,
Don't put all the blueberries in.
And not too much milk,
or then it will splatter!' "

"Mommy, I KNOW how to use the blender."

"Guess who had to clean that up? ...


For those who have read all the Olivia books, seeing her on the matching dust jacket and book case sneaking around the corner is sure to bring on the laughter.  Everyone, whether you've read any of her books or not, will wonder what this little porker is doing.  The color choices, layout and design are outstanding on the front and on the back.  To the left the canvas changes to a darker mint green.  A larger keyhole is located in the center.  Peeking through the opening is a large pig snout and one eye.  (I can hardly contain my laughter writing this.)

Using his signature liberal use of white space Ian Falconer has Olivia looking around a corner on the far right of the opening endpapers.  On the closing endpapers she is properly attired and reliving her institution experience.  On the title page the back of the jacket and case is replicated.

Rendered in charcoal and gouache on paper the illustrations are as lively as the main character.  Falconer, to supply pacing, alternates between full page pictures, groups of smaller images on a single page or for maximum impact two-page spreads.  He continues to use real photographs as backgrounds to amazing effect.  His use of black, white and fine lines with splashes of color is masterful.

Every page turn has me smiling but one of my many favorite pictures is of the blender incident.  It is a single page image.  Olivia has finished making her blueberry smoothie.  She is walking away from the counter carrying her drink, wearing her red socks.  In the glass is a red and white striped straw.  Olivia is covered in blueberry splatter, smiling with delight.  Most of the counter, except where the carton of milk blocked the spray is covered in blueberry splatter.  On the white wall where Olivia was standing on the stool is a white outline of her body surrounded in blueberry goo.  Oh, Olivia!

Anyone who loves to laugh is going to read and reread Olivia the Spy written and illustrated by Ian Falconer.  Olivia is as courageous as ever but this time she discovers it's much better to get the whole story.  Listening to mothers when you are supposed to can have benefits.  I highly recommend you find a place for this title on your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Ian Falconer and his other work please visit the website he shares with Olivia by following the link attached to his name.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  They also include six activity sheets which you can download and print.

Oh...The Splendid Strength Of Story

Image taken from the
 Wingspread Collector's Guide
Santa Fe Taos
1994

In the tradition of Pueblo pottery artisans Helen Cordero made a doll in 1964.  This first storyteller featured a man inspired by her grandfather with five children on his shoulders and lap.  He had an open mouth; the words of a story ringing out toward his eager listeners.  In subsequent storyteller figures there might be a woman instead of a man with even more children and her eyes might be closed to bring the memory of her story to life.

If you've ever read stories aloud or told them to listeners, whether they are initially interested or not, you witness the transformation as the story wraps itself around those individuals.  They lean and move toward you until sometimes there is no room between you and them.  Their eyes widen.  They gasp, cry, laugh and sigh.  This is the strength of story.

Stories have the potential to soothe a frightful beast.  Dragon Was Terrible (Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, August 23, 2016) written by Kelly DiPucchio with pictures by Greg Pizzoli is about a particular dragon in need of an attitude adjustment.  He's downright despicable.

Dragon was terrible.  Naturally, dragons have a bit of terrible in them because they're dragons after all.

This dragon was not a normal kind of terrible but terrible times ten.  In the castle community he wrecked the gardens, was nasty to the palace sentries and it's unmentionable how the pastries were treated.  Wherever he went his manners were totally disgusting.

At long last the king knew something needed to be done.  He sent out a decree asking for the services of brave knights promising them a

nice gift.

If you think this was a success, think again.  Dragon grew worse.

The townspeople decided to send out a more emphatic message asking for assistance from everyone else.  As you may surmise, it was an utter failure.  And you-know-who was increasingly intolerable.

Finally a single boy had a plan.  (Marshmallows did play an important role.)  The ultimate success of the boy's endeavors relied on a single factor.  Do you want to know what that was?  It's a secret known since words were spoken.


An unseen narrator speaks in a knowing voice as if readers are confidants.  Kelly DiPucchio supplies extra comments sure to evoke grins and giggles from us.  The described actions of Dragon while vile will have readers laughing out loud.  It's the word choices and the sentences in which they are placed which lead us happily along to more than one wonderful conclusion.  Here is a sample passage.

That's not all.  He scribbled in books.
He threw sand.
And he took candy from baby unicorns.
Honestly, that's terrible.


Extending from left to right across the matching dust jacket and book case Greg Pizzoli creates for readers two sides of an identical castle wall.  On the back, to the left, three posters ask for help in ridding the kingdom of the menace.  Flowers are growing along the wall.  On the front sits the one and only BIG problem with mischief on his mind.  Obviously he can't wait to spread his own special brand of graffiti along the blank slate of the wall.  The opening and closing endpapers are in the same shade as the dragon's body.

Image size and framing perfect the pacing of the narrative.  Some of the illustrations span two or single pages edge to edge and other pictures are placed two on one page, covering a single page or double pages with edges framed in a single line with indented corners.  Most of the backgrounds are white; some containing the faint outline of a castle wall in varying shades.

The facial expressions on Dragon and the other characters are downright hilarious regardless of the mood.  Pizzoli interjects his own brand of comedy into the visuals with his interpretations of the text.  For the words

He chased fuzzy yellow ducklings around the moat, 

Dragon is running after the baby ducks spaying them with a garden hose.

One of my favorite of many illustrations is of Dragon drawing faces on the drawbridge.  Using his trusty can of spray paint he's made a charming picture of himself and written DRAGON RULES.  He also has made a likeness of the king with the words

KING IS A BABY.  

This is done on a chocolate brown background.


Dragon Was Terrible written by Kelly DiPucchio with pictures by Greg Pizzoli is a comical tale of terrible meeting its match through story.  It's hard to resist a tale well told, especially if the character connects with the listener.  To learn more about Kelly DiPucchio and Greg Pizzoli and their other work please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  They both maintain blogs here and here respectively.  To view interior images please follow this link to the publisher's website.   Kelly DiPucchio and Greg Pizzoli are guests at All The Wonders, Episode 281 with teacher librarian Matthew C. Winner.

Stories have the potential to endure thousands and thousands of years.  They mirror people, places, and cultures in exquisite detail if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.  I Am A Story (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, September 6, 2016) written and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino flows through the ages following humans in their quest to be remembered, understood and valued as individuals and collectively as a whole.

I am a story.
I was told around a campfire,
then painted on cave walls.

Under a darkened sky an oral tradition is born.  In order to never forget people begin to create tangible, tactile records of what they hear and experience.  Through time their methods and materials change but the spirit of their intent remains the same.

On walls large sweeping pictures become smaller images representing not moments but single words.  Tablets of clay make their recollections more portable.  Papyrus, paper and fabric hold stories.  Hands around the world work to preserve stories through printmaking and elaborately illustrated manuscripts.  The invention of the printing press changes everything.

Books are shelved in private libraries, then gathered in collections for everyone to use.  They appear in small spaces and travel to far-off places.  Technology expands, bringing stories to us first from radio then from computers.

Stories have stood the test of time surviving those who would remove them from our midst.  They create champions working for the good of all.  Wherever we go stories go also; even with a family on a camping trip, faces aglow from a fire, seated under the ever-present constellations.  Story is...always.

Personifying story is a marvelous choice by Dan Yaccarino.  Traveling through time seeing how the preservation of story has evolved through story's own simple sentences gives story power. The other technique employed by Yaccarino to end where we begin is an excellent example of the beauty of circle stories.


Beginning with his dust jacket Dan Yaccarino enhances his text adding another layer of wonder to his book.  The deep shades of blue in the sky and stars extend from right to left, front to back.  The use of complementary colors, the purple and hues of orange and yellow, illuminates his illustration.  All of the added elements on the front are varnished.  The bird in flight on the front is standing in the lower left-hand corner on the back under a crescent moon.  On the book case only the red bird appears in the starry sky, flying up toward the right-hand corner on the front.  The opening and closing endpapers are a series of fifteen panels signifying the delivery of story through time.

Using India ink on vellum for the images Yaccarino begins this story on the verso and title pages with two early people sitting beneath the moon and stars as the red bird flies under the title text.  Alternating between single page visuals and double-page pictures we are not only given a tour of the timelessness of story but we are given a history of storytelling, bookmaking, literature and mankind. We travel from caves to rooms with women using woodblock printing in ancient Asia and then to medieval walls in castles and on to monasteries and to a Shakespearean stage and to a little free library.

With each page turn one thing remain constant...story.  In some form the bird is always there.  Yaccarino's signature style creates scenes we can walk into by joining a group or working with an individual.  His people, their attire and architecture are fabulously appropriate.  His details bring us laughter and light.  In the two page picture of the king walking past tapestries with four knights at attention, one of the knight's eyes shifts toward the boy holding the king's cape.

One of my many favorite illustrations is of the monk, alone, painting a manuscript at a desk.  Behind him in shades of brown, green, yellow, orange and red are shelves lined with books.  He is wearing a robe in a darker hue of blue as he paints using a lighter blue.  In an open cupboard a cat is curled at rest.  A tiny mouse peeks from beneath his desk.  Crescent moons, stars and the bird can be seen in the room.


 I Am A Story written and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino is a joyous celebration of a truly timeless constant in humankind...story.  For the colorful, meaningful images, simple text and powerful message this book comes with my highest recommendation.  To learn more about Dan Yaccarino please visit his website and blog by following the links attached to his name.  Please enjoy the book trailer which is premiered at Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries John Schumacher's blog, Watch. Connect. Read.