Of Pasta, Pachyderms and Power

Pasta is one of those wholly sensory words.  Whether you see the word or forms of pasta, hear it spoken, smell it cooking or served, taste it in its many shapes and sizes and in an array of combinations with other ingredients or touch it, cooked or uncooked, it generates an emotion.  It calls forth memories.  It transports us to other places and other times or inspires future culinary endeavors.

One thing pasta might have never done before is encourage resistance.  Noodlephant (Enchanted Lion Books, February 12, 2019) written by Jacob Kramer with illustrations by K-Fai Steele shows readers how a love of pasta provides a persistent elephant and her group of friends with necessary courage.  Their inventiveness triumphs!


Once there was an elephant who loved noodles.  She loved noodles so much that all her friends called her Noodlephant.

As you can imagine an elephant can consume quite a bit of noodles.  This elephant had all kinds of neighbors in the community where she lived.  One group, though, was unlike any of the others.  The kangaroos regulated relentlessly through their rules.  No one could enjoy the beach, Butterfly Garden or make laws, but kangaroos.

Noodlephant and her buddies knew this was not right, but they compensated with other activities.  They did not want to end up as residents of the Zoo.  The event they all enjoyed the most was Noodlephant's pasta parties.  Sometimes she even used her grandmother's secret sauce recipe made with mushrooms.

A pasta party was planned and Noodlephant was grocery shopping when a kangaroo stopped her.  She was breaking a new law.  Elephants could not eat noodles, only kangaroos could eat noodles.  The penalty was imprisonment in the Zoo.  At the party that evening the consuming of acacia branches was not delicious, it was a disaster.  Contemplating this state of affairs and her bellybutton, Noodlephant was struck with a brainstorm.

This pachyderm and her pals got right to work.  They conceived, they collected, and they constructed a marvelous machine.  No one, certainly not the kangaroos, was going to take away the joy they found in Noodlephant's pasta parties. Those wily kangaroos raided their party!

It did not go well for Noodlephant in the courtroom.  Worried for her well-being, her friends found a way to smuggle help into the Zoo.  The Town of Rooville had never seen before what happened next.  When many minds and hearts act as one, change will arrive.  The Town of Rooville was never the same.


Readers are initially engaged in the story with the three noticeable things the community is not allowed to do and the three things they do instead.  It's the strength of three in storytelling.   The word play, the use of alliteration and puns, by author Jacob Kramer additionally involve us in the rhythm they supply.  There is a pleasing and flawless blend of narrative and dialogue placing emphasis on important portions of the story.  We want to join in the community songs and speeches by Noodlephant, quatrains with rhyming couplets.  Here are two passages.

"Ummm," said Noodlephant, trying to stay calm, "I was thinking of a fresh batch of fettuccine?
Maybe curly cavatappi would be nice.  Or I could stretch a tangle of tagliatelle . . ."

As she was being led away, Noodlephant shouted,

Justice is for all of us,
Not just for the bossiest.
And though right now, it sounds absurd
One day, you'll want to eat your words!


If you love any kind of pasta you will immediately identify with the image of Noodlephant on the front of the matching dust jacket and book case.  Look at the happiness on her face! Look at the size of that bowl of noodles!  Do you notice the design on the bowl?

To the left on the back, with the same canvas shades in peach and pink, a stern kangaroo is searching in his rule book (or writing a ticket for infractions) and wearing a stick around his waist.  Framing him is a series of seven different pasta meals with noodles ribboned between most of them.  The serving dishes are varied, too.

On the opening and closing endpapers artist K-Fai Steele has painted in black and white (and hues of gray) a map of the Town of Rooville with a visible distinction on the closing endpapers.  Around a steaming plate of pasta labeled Exhibit B beneath the text on the title page are the same pasta dishes as seen on the back of the jacket and case.  Readers will smile to see the tip of an elephant trunk appearing on the right side.

Rendered in watercolor all the illustrations are fully animated and filled with details asking readers to pause.  The expressive eyes and body postures convey joy, rudeness, dismay, fear, sadness, resolve, anger, kindness and contentment.  The image sizes shift from full-page, to double-page to small vignettes on a single page; each contributing to pacing.  The alternating points-of-view assist in emphasis.

One of my many favorite pictures spans two pages.  It is a forest scene with a pathway winding through leafy branches, trees and tree trunks.  Another trunk extends from the left side as Noodlephant seeks and sniffs out a singular ingredient.  Mushrooms, looking like morels, are growing from the forest floor on the right.  There is something wonderful and funny about this pictorial moment.


This book, Noodlephant written by Jacob Kramer with illustrations by K-Fai Steele, is in a category all by itself.  It's about making necessary changes.  It's about speaking out against injustice.  It's about a love of pasta, too.  You could pair this with other pasta books like Strega Nona for a delicious story time and a comparison.  It would be a great companion for The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet if seeking to stress the value of making your voice heard.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal collections.

If you wish to discover more about Jacob Kramer and K-Fai Steele and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Both Jacob Kramer and K-Fai Steele have accounts on Twitter. K-Fai Steele has an account on Instagram.  The cover reveal with a Q & A is found on teacher librarian Travis Jonker's 100 Scope Notes, School Library Journal.  Jacob Kramer and K-Fai Steele visit with author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast to discuss process and art.  You can view more interior illustrations at the publisher's website.

Noodlephant — Book Trailer from Enchanted Lion on Vimeo.

It Never Fails

She was in her twenties before she heard him say those three powerful words to her.  He was a believer in actions speaking louder than words.  There was no doubt of his love for her but to hear those words spoken to her with quiet purpose is a cherished memory.

Love manifests itself silently without fanfare in everyday moments, a smile or an extended hand.  It can roar so the whole world is aware of its presence.  Love (G. P. Putnam's Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, January 9, 2018) written by Matt de la Pena with illustrations by Loren Long lifts up love so readers can rejoice in its beauty as it radiates into our hearts and surrounds our souls.

In the beginning there is light
and two wide-eyed figures standing
near the foot of your bed,
and the sound of their voices is love.

If you listen and look you will hear it and see it in the city scene as you pass by in a taxi.  Love makes an appearance no matter where you live or the time of day.  You need to let it wash over you in the gifts given by Mother Nature and in the singular sounds of human progress.

Children of all ages in all seasons give love in their laughter.  Reach out, share it and join in their joy. In the midst of tragedy, heartache, or a nightmare, a voice can shelter us or a pet can comfort us and speak of love.  Love wraps around us every single day if we think about the people who are a part of our lives.  What they do is a love song just for us.

Have you ever studied the face of a grandparent, parent or beloved adult?  The wrinkles lining their faces represent paths traveled to give love.  Do you remember family stories?  Is there one member whose tales are taller than the others?  This is love.

Strangers send love into the world when they pursue their musical passion.  You have love too.  It's seen in your reflection.  So sweet children, wherever you go, there is love in you, in others, and in the world.


These twenty five sentences, these phrases, written by Matt de la Pena speak of seeking and finding love in ordinary places, in spaces we share with others.  He asks us to be aware and to understand the numerous forms of love.  Readers will be connected to other readers through Matt's depictions of love beginning with his first sentence.  This connection will broaden and grow deeper page by page.  Here are three sentences, one following the other.

And in time you learn to recognize
a love overlooked.
A love that wakes at dawn and
rides to work on the bus.
A slice of burned toast that tastes like love. 


When I first looked at the dust jacket with the shades of yellow and rich blues with a hint of purple, it wrapped around me like a hug. (When I left home for the first time going to college my mother made me a bedspread, pillow case and pillows in these colors.  She said it was to remind me of her and her favorite flowers, violets.)  Artists will tell you these hues are close to complementary.  The front of this dust jacket reminds us storms will pass and sunshine (sunrises and sunsets) will always follow, like love.  This image of the father and child with the yellow umbrella is precious.  To the left, on the back, the darker blue color provides a canvas for a puddle spreading from the top, left portion.  Reflected in the puddle is the child walking and carrying a closed umbrella.  The title text is varnished.

On the book case a thin layer of grass spans from left to right.  Along the top is a slightly larger layer of sky with wisps of clouds.  In the center is bright golden yellow.  This is deeply symbolic.  On the opening and closing endpapers is a deep, deep shade of blue.  On a background of pure white the initial title page shows the word love.  On the formal title page the design of the book case is repeated.

Rendered in

collaged monotype prints, acrylic paint and pencil

the illustrations created by Loren Long will literally take your breath away.   Some of them are loosely framed circles on a single page, others cross the gutter from left to right or right to left leaving a column for text and others span two pages framed in white.  There are single page pictures too.  Loren uses full color but his choices convey mood such as when the child is searching for love in a dream and can't find it.  His perspectives represent shifts in emotion and emphasize those emotions.

The words of Matt de la Pena are enhanced by Loren Long's images.  When Matt speaks of a ride in a cab through a city our eyes are immediately drawn first to the taxis lining the curb.  We are aware of the layers of buildings in the background and the framing of the trees.  We are transported to this park.  A red balloon drifts in the air.  We see the vendor's stand on the far left.  A woman holding a hot dog in one hand and a dog leash, attached to her pup, in the other hand is watching.  To the right a boy in a wheel chair is holding out a hot dog to a man resting on a bench.  A single crutch is leaning against that bench.  There are many stories in this scene.  Each illustration Loren has given us is replete with details inviting discussion and contemplation.

One of my many favorite illustrations is the one for the above-quoted text. It is on a single page.  Two children stand at a window.  The younger of the two is looking outside the window.  It's winter and a man carrying a lunch pail is trudging through the snow toward a bus.  An older sibling is facing the boy, handing him a glass of juice and carrying a plate with burned toast on it.  A large radiator is beneath the window.  (My dad worked in the same factory for forty-one years.  I still have the thermos he carried.  I can't remember him ever missing a day of work.  And I can't eat toast unless it's burned.  My mom always burned the toast.)


Love written by Matt de la Pena with illustrations by Loren Long is as the title states but make no mistake, this is a book conceived and created with love by these two men.  The words and images are about all of us.  We can see and sense ourselves on every single page.  You will want to have multiple copies of this title for your professional collections, at least one for your personal collections and this is one you will be gifting to others often.  Thank you Matt de la Pena and Loren Long.  Thank you with all of my heart.

To learn more about Matt de la Pena and Loren Long and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Both of them have pages on their sites dedicated to Love. (Matt and Loren)  Please visit those special pages for further understanding of their work on this title.  At the publisher's website you are given a peek inside the book.  Matt de la Pena and Loren Long are guests on NPR's All Things Considered.  You will certainly want to visit Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher's blog, Watch. Connect. Read., to read the interview with Matt and Loren.  You can also view the marvelous book trailer too.