Look Up, Look Down, Look All Around

While it's important when developing collections to center our focus on those readers we primarily serve, it's also worth remembering they have members of their immediate or extended families who need to read.  For this reason, there was never any hesitation to place picture books in a middle or high school library (or board books in an elementary school library).  Picture books are powerful whether the narrative comes from someone's imagination or gathered information.

On the release date of picture books, sometimes the same titles are available in board book format.  Nerdy Babies: Ocean and Nerdy Babies: Space (Roaring Brook Press, May 7, 2019) written and illustrated by Emmy Kastner are two such books.  With cheerful, informative and humorous text and images our youngest readers (and those who read to them) are invited to travel the oceans and into outer space.  Let's first see what the watery realms reveal.

Off the coasts, 
swirling between
each continent
on our planet . . .
you'll find the ocean.

 Although most of our planet is covered by ocean water, we can't drink it.  It's salt water.  Animals live on shore and hunt for food in the ocean like birds.  Some ocean dwellers show themselves on the surface of the ocean when they need to breathe or sleep.

The sun not only warms the ocean but helps plants and animals who live there.  Ocean life, like blue marlins and leatherback sea turtles, migrate just as birds do.  Animals in and around the ocean stay warm because of their blood, fur, feathers or blubber.  Do you know how many miles deep the ocean is?  Do you know which ocean animal is kin to elephants?  You can be as curious as a marine biologist no matter your age.


We need to look up, farther than our eyes can see, to explore outer space.  As big as the oceans are outer space stretches on and on and on.  What can we find there?

Hello, Nerdy Babies!
Do you ever wonder about
SPACE?
You probably do.
You're curious.

It's home to countless stars.  The temperature is cold.  You'll float up there because of the absence of gravity.  It's quieter than quiet; there is no sound.

In our solar system planets spin in orbit around the hot, hot, hot sun.  It takes Earth 365 days to go around the sun.  Our moon spins along the orbit too.  Did you know footprints made on the moon will always stay there?

Each of the eight planets has unique characteristics.  One of them is the smallest.  Another one spins backward.  And still another is home to the tallest mountain in the solar system.  Neptune is so far from the sun; it can't complete one orbit in any recorded human's lifespan.  Astronauts are as eager to learn about outer space as anyone else of any age; especially a nerdy baby.


The spare narrative of Emmy Kastner peaks readers' interest.  It provides answers to questions they might have about oceans or outer space.  They will be fascinated by all the topics she covers in the limited pages.  Her additional text in speech bubbles and captions supplies facts and humor. Here are two more passages.

Most of the ocean is cold.

AREN'T YOU COLD?

Since fish are cold-blooded, their bodies
adjust to match warm and cold water.

Do you love the moon?
Earth sure does!

They travel around together.

LIKE PEAS
AND CARROTS!


Sturdy case covers with expandable binding, durable pages and vibrant colors give immediate appeal for the intended audience.  Four babies wearing eyeglasses and appropriate attire appear throughout the books.  Two different ones introduce the topics on the front but all of them are shown on the back of the book cases.

When the case cover is opened the narrative and illustrations begin.  They continue until the final page.  Definitive lines, delicate details and easily identified shapes permeate the images.  Readers will enjoy identifying all the elements in each picture; a tiny hermit crab coming out of a shell, baby turtles heading to the water, a teddy bear wearing a pair of water goggles, or a beverage bottle drifting inside a space capsule.

The pictures are either double-page, full-page or several small illustrations are loosely framed on a single page. The backgrounds vary according to the location.  The text, speech bubbles and captions are placed in a manner to promote participatory reading.  All the creatures and space objects are animated

Two of my many favorite illustrations are on a double page and a full page.  On the first a white canvas is used to highlight an array of colorful ocean creatures.  Some of the animals are put in an ocean setting which frames them.  In the lower right-hand corner, the child seen on the front of the book case has changed his gear.  His teddy bear is diving with him.  He asks DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE?
The second picture is placed on a white background which acts as a wide border.  One of the children is running across our moon, wearing a white space suit.  The footprints remain.  The moon is smiling with closed eyes.  A few stars can be seen in the darkened background.


Whoever reads Nerdy Babies: Ocean and Nerdy Babies: Space written and illustrated by Emmy Kastner will find themselves smiling at the author's use of imagination, information and art.  Trust me.  I've been smiling for hours.  I recommend these for both your professional and personal collections.  They will work wonderfully for one-on-one reading or with small groups.  They are certain to prompt further research, discussions and learning.

To learn more about Emmy Kastner and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Emmy Kastner has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  There is a separate website for Nerdy Babies.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images for Nerdy Babies: Ocean and Nerdy Babies: Space.  The cover reveal for the books is at the Nerdy Book Club.  Emmy Kastner is featured at author Jarrett Lerner's website and at teacher librarian Travis Jonker's School Library Journal 100 Scope Notes.

Illumination

It is everywhere, except rarely when it isn't.  When it is completely gone, it is used to describe that absence.  It's found in songs, nursery rhymes and poems, common phrases, children's games and religious scripture.  Perhaps you've heard You Light Up My Life (a 1978 Best Original Song Oscar winner sung by Debby Boone), Star Light, Star Bright, to see things in a different light, Red Light, Green Light or don't hide your light under a bushel.

Our eyes and minds take light and translate it into color.  Depending on the season and time of day, those colors can range from subdued to radiant.  In his newest title, You Are Light (Candlewick Studio, an imprint of Candlewick Press, March 26, 2019), Aaron Becker, Caldecott Honor winner for Journey, first in a trilogy followed by Quest and Return, takes a single word, die-cuts, an original poem and frosted acetate to fashion a book glowing through combinations of twelve hues and resplendent words.

This is the light

that brings the dawn

As the light rises and spreads, all it touches feels its heat and comfort.  When it reaches seas and oceans a familiar pattern begins. It is a circle of rising and falling.  We need the rain to promote growth; the growth of foods we and other lives need to survive.

When this necessary light strikes plants, they turn to accept it.  It gives them life.  They give us oxygen and more in return.

Buds and bulbs open or push forth eager bursts of color when light warms and touches them.  At day's end, when the sun dips beneath the horizon and the moon rises, it shines from the same light.  Like the land, seas and oceans, the falling rain, the food consumed, leaves, flowers and our moon, light is a part of who we are.


This four stanza poem, the first in free verse and the following three with the second and fourth phrases rhyming, speaks simple truths but author Aaron Becker leaves each thought open to interpretation.  It is meant to be shared as each portion presents the opportunity to ask questions and promote discussions.  Although the gentle cadence supplied by the words is soothing, this light, the sun, generates action.  Some of the activities are straightforward; others are more figures of speech.

to warm the sky
and hug the land.


The trim size for this book, 8 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches, is perfect for any age.  The sun on the front and first page is the only intricate die-cut in addition to the twelve circles.  The sturdy board and more durable frosted acetate guarantee this book will be loved for a long time.  The crisp white used for all the pages, except for the moon in black, is a wonderful canvas for the colors.

With each page turn, a series of circles are removed from the original set we see on the front.  For the first one, it's five yellow circles which alter their hues depending on the kind of light shining through them from their back.  Readers will be fascinated to see how many circles are moved each time.  Will they see a pattern?  Based on the narrative, Aaron Becker has carefully determined which color scheme will be on the left and what will remain on the right.

On the right, in the center of the circles, original cut shapes are painted in delicate watercolor hues.  These match the colors of circles moved from right to left.  The text is placed in the center of the circles on the left except for the beginning and the end; when it is placed on the right.  This makes the entire poem and the images a circle.

There is not a page turn or an image in which readers, me included, will not be enchanted.  Without taking away the joy of reading it yourself, the blend of words and images when Aaron Becker is speaking about the sea and a blossom are two of my favorite pairs.  In each of these a different type of figure of speech is used.  The companion artwork makes you want to reach out and cup it in your hands.


Whether you use natural light or artificial light or the light in your heart, be sure to shine it through You Are Light written and illustrated by Aaron Becker.  It is guaranteed there will be multiple readings.  I highly recommend this title for any and all collections, professional and personal.

To learn more about Aaron Becker and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  Aaron maintains an account on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter and Vimeo.  At the publisher's website you can view an interior image.  At author, reviewer and blogger, Julie Danielson's website, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, Aaron talks about his process art.  You will enjoy seeing all the artwork.





UPDATE:  Aaron Becker talks about this book on public radio on August 30, 2019.