Cool Respite

The natural world rests in winter.  A lot of children, when asked, can name at least one animal that sleeps during this season.  Some of them can tell you why these animals pause in their daily activities.  Others can name this sleep, calling it hibernation.

If you were to question this same group of children about another season when animals sleep, you will get silence and a group blank stare.  In fact, if the group were people of all ages, the response would probably be similar.  In the marvelous manner we have come to expect from collaborators, author Melissa Stewart and illustrator Sarah S. Brannen, their new release Summertime Sleepers: Animals That Hibernate Estivate (Charlesbridge, April 27, 2021) does not disappoint.  We willingly stroll through the wondrous information given to us in words and artwork; knowing we are now far better equipped to be the stewards we are meant to be for our planet.

YAWN, STRETCH, BLINK!

As warm weather spreads across the land,

hibernating animals spring to life.

At the same time, other animals seek cool spots so they can slumber.  They are about to begin estivation.  Of these animals. some select to sleep in large bunches.  Alone, the mourning cloak butterfly nestles into a bark bed until it awakes in autumn.

Above ground on tree branches, hard-shelled creatures rest inside, closed off from the outside world.  Below ground, special occupants of Christmas Island go deep into their residences.  Did you know there are fish that burrow into mud when their water dries up in the summer?

Certain amphibians find refuge and prefer other animal hideaways. For animals that use other animals' homes, there are opposites that make their own place to rest.  Long treks are taken by particular reptiles.  They feast and then sleep, snuggled under forest floor bedding.  Although there are animals that travel to sleep, there are others who stay exactly where they are.

A long rest is in order for many of these animals.  For others, it is only a handful of days here and there.  Each season dictates specific behaviors, until places and spaces are switched.  Brrr . . . there's a chill in the air.

Author Melissa Stewart has our attention as soon as we read her first few sentences.  Each paragraph is replete with facts delivered through clever alliteration.  She employs a contrasting technique to present information, beginning on the left with a partial sentence and giving a more in-depth explanation on the right (or underneath) relative to one animal.  That partial sentence is completed with a page turn and another explanation is supplied for a new creature.  Here is one example.

. . . but others toss and turn before 

catching their zzz's. 

When the sizzling sun dries up the mangrove

killifish's watery home, the little fish jump

across land, flipping head-over-tail, until they

find a hollow log.  Crammed inside this dark,

damp den, killifish wait for wetter days.  If the

dry spell lasts long enough, the little fish slip

into a slumber until the rain returns.

In a large image, extending left to right, across the back and front of the open and matching dust jacket and book case, illustrator Sarah S. Brannen creates through curved lines, calm.  The desert hedgehog curls in repose, saving energy.  Its bungalow den is shaped from rocks in colors like its own. 

On the opening and closing endpapers, the design uses space to first give us a title page and last to provide the dedications and publication information.  On the opening endpapers, on the left, a naturalist's notebook is open to a drawing of a spotted turtle.  Beneath the pages, the turtle moves through fallen leaves on a forest floor.  Above a blue sky glistens.  On the closing endpapers, four other pages from the notebook, about four other animals, are spread from the left, across the gutter, to the far-right edge.

Each double-page picture rendered

in watercolor on Arches bright white cold pressed paper

by Sarah S. Brannen, with the exception of the first and last illustrations, places the named animals in their natural habitat when they are resting or searching for a location.  Within these large images are the page from the naturalist's notebook.  These are line drawings in black on a cream canvas.  They have the common and scientific names, the actual size, other positions, and place of residence.

In her illustrations, Sarah S. Brannen brings us close to the creatures, but usually includes a more panoramic view of the encompassing landscape.  Convergent lady beetles are seen in large numbers inside curved leaves of a ground plant.  Behind this plant are desert mountains dotted with spots of greenery.  These two perspectives are important so we can be mindful observers and protectors.

One of my many favorite pictures is for the mourning cloak butterfly.  We find ourselves standing in a woodland.  Tree trunks and leafy boughs rise to the top of the pages.  On one of the trunks to the left of the gutter, a butterfly, wings open, rests.  On the right, we move close to a single trunk.  There we see the top and underside of a mourning cloak butterfly's wings, just prior to it tucking away for sleep.  On the far left is a page from the notebook.  The actual size of the butterfly is represented as is a picture of it on an oak leaf.  We are given both names and the place where it is seen, Broughton Nature Area, Marietta, Ohio, US.

Readers of all ages will be amazed to learn about these resilient creatures who rest to escape the rigors of the hottest season.  Summertime Sleepers: Animals That Hibernate Estivate written by Melissa Stewart with illustrations by Sarah S. Brannen is a book to place on both professional and personal bookshelves.  The back matter includes More About Animals That Estivate, Estivation Versus Hibernation, Continue Your Exploration, Author's Note, Illustrator's Note, and Selected Sources.

To discover more about Melissa Stewart and Sarah S. Brannen and their other work, please visit their respective websites by following the link attached to their names.  Melissa Stewart has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Sarah S. Brannen has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. At the publisher's website you can view an interior picture, download a teacher's guide, and a readers theater script.  Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher, hosted the book trailer premiere on his site, Watch. Connect. Read.  Both creators are interviewed there.  At Maria Marshall's Making Nature Fun, a group of nonfiction authors are interviewed.  Melissa Stewart and this title are a part of that gathering.  Melissa Stewart is interviewed about this title at First Draft to Final Book. 

Repose

There comes a time when all living things need to seek stillness.  For many, daily rest is required.  For others, their slumber is on a seasonal cycle.  It seems we humans, whose lives seem increasingly at a frantic pace, would do well to take note of the natural world around us.  Our overall physical and mental health is directly related to how well we sleep when we sleep.

Two recent publications address regular repose, daily and seasonal.  In the first, Sleep: How Nature Gets Its Rest (Candlewick Press, September 10, 2019) written and illustrated by Kate Prendergast, readers visit a variety of animals in different habitats as they snooze.  These animals are both domestic and wild.

Cats and dogs sleep curled up . . .

when they aren't playing.

On the farm each animal can be found nestled and napping in their favorite sanctuary, a pond, a henhouse, a field or a barn.  As we move out into the wild, a harvest mouse is seen curled within a nest.  Snails seek shelter in their shells as do tortoises.

Did you know giraffes sleep while standing?  Can you name two animals that sleep upside down?  One of them is a winged mammal that sleeps during daylight and roams about at night.  Guess who never closes their eyes when they sleep?  There is a specific animal when in a group is called a mob and they

sleep in a heap.

One of the most fearsome animals sleeps as one.  Another animal prefers to snooze in the heat of the day.  Others have no choice but to pause in the bitter cold.  Did you know ants only sleep briefly?  After we see fourteen animals resting, a final question is asked.  Scientists have been searching for an answer for years.


With simple statements author Kate Prendergast brings us into the collected animals' worlds.  By stating where animals sleep, she invites readers near those habitats to look for those animals as they rest.  She reveals, as a result of her research, particulars readers will find fascinating. Her inclusion of animals from around the world is a huge plus enticing readers to do further exploration.


The illustrations in this book as first seen on the open and matching dust jacket and book case are rendered in mixed media.  The textured effect depicted on each image will have readers reaching to touch the pages.  The portrait of the sleeping tiger on the front is exquisite.  The word Sleep on the jacket is varnished.  To the left, on the back, on a rich midnight blue is a circle of pale yellow.  Within this circle on a colorful rag rug sleeps a dog and cat curled together. 

The opening and closing endpapers are a vivid orange, perhaps taken from some of the highlights in the tiger's fur.  Opposite the dedication and verso page, a mother bear and her cub form a circle as they hibernate in their cave.  This illustration is between the text on the title page. 

Throughout the book on white, heavy, matte-finished paper, the pictures supply a focus on the animals.  Other animals can be found in the illustrations; frogs at the pond with the geese, butterflies on flowers near the horses, a ladybug scaling a blade of grass near the harvest mouse and a beetle scampering away from the pile of meerkats.  The visuals may be on a single page or across two pages.  The attention to detail is marvelous.

One of my many, many favorite pictures is on a single page but the background colors of yellow-green and shades of purple cross the gutter to become part of the next image.  The picture of the giraffe is stunning.  What we see reaching from the top of the page is a portion of the neck and bowed head of the giraffe.  We also see four legs from above the knees, down to the hooves, near the head.  This is a wonderful perspective.


This book, Sleep: How Nature Gets Its Rest written and illustrated by Kate Prendergast, is ideal for promoting discussions on rest in the animal world, to inspire further research and to supply a sense of stillness.  At the close of the book are framed paragraphs with illustrations of more facts about each animal.  A list of resources is on the final page.  You'll want to include this title in your personal and professional collections.  I can't wait to use it in a storytime.

To discover more about Kate Prendergast and her other work, please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  Kate has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At Candlewick Press and Penguin Random House you can view interior images.



A pairing of stunning photographs with a rhythmic narrative gives readers an intimate look at the wonders of nature.  This second title, Wait, Rest, Pause: Dormancy In Nature written by Marcie Flinchum Atkins will have individual readers pausing at page turns and listeners gasping at what they see as they move closer to the reader.  After generations of adapting, plants and animals know how survive in the harshest of conditions as seasons and weather change.

If you were dormant, you would pause---
                 WAITING,
                       RESTING,
                           HUDDLING,
                                  CURLING,
                                          NAPPING.

For a tree dormancy looks different from animals.  A sugary substance runs through its branches and truck.  This keeps it safe from the cold just as the tiniest of leaves wrap around buds. Spring releases the sugary substance and tiniest of leaves, so new life begins.

Ladybugs get plumper and gather together when they sleep during winter.  This is how they stave off the chilly temperatures.  At the arrival of spring, they spread out and feast.

An Arctic ground squirrel stays curled in a ball resting away from the ice and snow, but you won't believe what it does to warm up after several weeks.  When the temperature rises outside, the Arctic ground squirrel is ready to romp and eat.

Chickadees are a common sight in northern Michigan (and other areas) every month of the year, but they have their own survival tactics.  For hours at night they pause, slowing their heart rate.  As the sun rises the next morning, you can hear them singing again.

For alligators, mud is like a blanket when cold descends. When heat chases away the cold, they creep outside to look for a tasty treat.  You might be able to guess where earthworms go when there is a drought, but you might not know how they protect themselves.  In all these examples, the opposite of what causes plants and animals to become dormant delivers them to continue or start anew.


The use of language by Marcie Flinchum Atkins in this title is spectacular.  A series of verbs describe the pause of the tree and the other animals.  (The repetition of words provides a cadence for each dormancy.)  We are then informed how those descriptions are accomplished.  The pacing is perfection because we are nearly holding our breaths as the next page is turned.  You can actually feel the joy associated with the arrival of spring, warmth or rain.  She makes the reading experience more intimate for each of us by placing us in the position of whatever being she is featuring.  Here is a passage.

If you were a dormant ladybug,
you would . . .
       FATTEN UP,
            PILE UP,
                STIFFEN UP.
You would swarm into a ladybug pile,
sharing warmth together.

You would pause. 


On the final page of the book, Marcie Flinchum Atkins gives credit to the photographers/photographs selected for this title.  They are full-page pictures, full-page pictures crossing the gutter, smaller framed pictures and one glorious double-page image.  The borders and placement of the photographs supply space for the text.  At times the text is placed within an image.

We are shown close-ups as on the front and back of the matching dust jacket and book case.  Those ladybugs look as if they are coated in sugar.  To the left, on the back, a chickadee rests on a cattail stalk, head bowed and eyes closed.  Then, as on the title page, we are shown a vast view of trees in a field coated in snow like frosting.  A  lush dark blue covers the opening and closing endpapers.  Each illustration is a beautiful match for the narrative.

One of my many, many favorite photographs is a close-up of another chickadee.  A branch arcs in a soft curve from another branch on the far right.  In the center of that curve, sleeps a chickadee. Its tiny feet grasp the branch.  Its head is bowed low and toward its feet.  The background is blurred.  This is a single-page picture.


No matter how many times you read this book, you will be awed by the resiliency of plants and animals to endure the elements of nature.  Wait, Rest, Pause: Dormancy In Nature written by Marcie Flinchum Atkins is a meticulously researched volume but also a tribute to those sharing this planet with us.  At the close of the book Dormancy Differences defines six kinds.  There is a list of books for more reading and a list of websites.  No personal or professional collection is complete without this title.

By following the link attached to Marcie Flinchum Atkins's name you can access her website to learn more about her and her other work.  Marcie Flinchum Atkins has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  I believe you'll enjoy this interview with Marcie Flinchum Atkins at The Lerner Blog.  Marcie Flinchum Atkins is also interviewed at Notable 19s and KidLit411.


Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by Alyson Beecher to view the other titles selected this week by those people participantig in the 2019 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.