No Ordinary Afternoon Outing

You never get too old to forget how much you deplored afternoon naps as a child.  Who wants to sleep in the middle of a grand scheme?  As a parent, the relief of a child taking a break is real.  You are exhausted, needing quiet as much as they do.  As an elder, a rest is not craved so much as savored.

The ingenuity of parents who know their child needs to sleep is a marvel.  Strollercoaster (Little, Brown And Company, June 1, 2021) written by Matt Ringler with art by Raul the Third and Elaine Bay is an extraordinary cruise through the neighborhood.  It's a rip-roaring ride on the wild side!

There's a time each and every day when

the inside feels too small for Sam . . .

Blocks block every path!

Trains have become untrained.

This dad knows there is only one thing to conquer this regular ritual.  One, cranky child is placed in her stroller.  Once secured and reminded of proper protocol, father and daughter take off.  This duo has a need for speed!

They race by other homes, shops, and familiar faces.  They climb past the basketball court and park playground.  Reaching the crest, they whoosh down.  Sam feels her spirits lifting her up, her grumpiness disappearing.

Dad performs near magical feats.  Sam can't get enough of this fast and fascinating jaunt.  Twists and turns take them deep into darkness---a tunnel.

There is no time or need for fear.  A light appears ahead.  Sounds fade.  Speeds diminish.  Destinations are reached.  It is Strollercoaster for the win . . . again.

There is nothing quite so frustrating as being at odds with your world.  Author Matt Ringler describes this daily routine perfectly in his opening sentences.  The story quickly elevates when a walk becomes a rousing romp with a lively blend of dialogue, sound effects, and sensory observations.  Here is a passage.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD FLIES BY!  

Fresh sneakers.   Sweet smells.

Shouts from the basketball court.

One look at the open dust jacket and readers know this dad and daughter are whizzing toward fabulous heights.  (The image on the front and back extends to the flap edges.  It's a panoramic view of the street.)  On the right, front, we focus on Sam and her dad.  Readers are invited to stop and look at all the elements here and throughout the book.  Notice the smiling star and the stars on the stroller wheels.  Notice Dad's necklace and the tiny heart on the post.  On the spine, the symbol for the publisher is placed on an open paper scroll. (This placement is used for text on the title page, also.)

To the left, on the back, an ice cream store is called Sam's Shop.  Another building has the words stroll, foot and walk on it in English.  On either side of the doorway the Spanish words camina and pronto aptly describe what is happening.  (Spanish and English words appear in the illustrations throughout the book.)

On the book case is a replication of the original artwork.  It appears to be pencil on cream.  The details are marvelous.  This also gives the reader an idea of how transformative color is to artwork.

On the opening and closing endpapers is an identical illustration.  A robin's egg blue sky is placed over an intricately drawn depiction of the entire neighborhood.  That canvas is in varying shades of golden yellow with the lines in a rusty red. (It's guaranteed every time you look at this, you will find something new.)

The illustrations for this book were done in pen, ink, and pencil on paper and in Adobe Photoshop for the color

by Raul The Third and Elaine Bay. 

On the title page, the bright, bold hues and neighborhood scene welcome us into the story.  The title word looks like the marquee in an amusement park.  (Perfection!)  The image sizes and perspectives vary to heighten the moods and pacing in the narrative.

Readers will notice how things change from the beginning to the end of the story.  The expressions on the stuffies shift.  The alphabet blocks spell different words.  Facial features on Sam and her dad reflect the stage of their ride.  People in the community are happy to see the duo.

One of my many, many favorite pictures is a double-page image with two smaller insets on the left.  Sam and her dad are in the tunnel.  The technique reminds me of scratchboard artwork.  All the lines are in varied colors on black.  In the first picture in the upper left, Sam and her dad move along the wall with OSCURO in large letters.  Beneath this, in a second smaller visual, are the words

It's dark.

in a speech balloon.

As they move through the tunnel on the right toward the light and neighborhood beyond the exit, the word LUZ is written on the wall above the bricks.  A heart has been drawn on the wall.

Readers will be with Sam and her dad every step of the way from beginning to end of Strollercoaster written by Matt Ringler with art by Raul The Third and Elaine Bay.  Regardless of your age, you will identify with this story.  The words and artwork make this afternoon ritual soar off the pages and straight into our collective hearts.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Raul The Third and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  Matt Ringler has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Raul The Third has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website is a video chat with the illustrators.  There is a cover reveal and conversation at A Fuse #8 Production, School Library Journal.  Matt Ringler is interviewed at The Horn Book.

Fabulous Fare Everywhere

In college on Sunday evenings, our food commons were closed.  My roommates and I rarely had enough cash between us to get a single pizza.  We would lie in bed on those nights calling out our favorite foods and dine on an imaginary feast.

For far too long, for millions and millions of people around our planet, these same thoughts occupy the minds, on a daily basis, of those without food, incomes or the ability to leave their homes in safety to shop at markets.  Now it is an enormous global phenomenon with the numbers climbing daily due to the impact of the pandemic.  Yet, when they are able, people are posting on social media a plethora of recipes and anecdotes about creating home-cooked meals and baking from scratch.  And in the midst of this a book radiating pure bliss, brimming with color and a cast of enduring characters, is published.  VAMOS!: Let's Go Eat (Versify, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, March 24, 2020), companion to VAMOS!: Let's Go to the Market, written and illustrated by Raul the Third with colors by Elaine Bay is the newest adventure of Little Lobo, his dog, Bernabe, and their friend, Kooky Dooky. It's a mouth-watering exploration of their community's enticing edibles told using a melodious mix of Spanish and English language.  

Check out my new

bike, Bernabe.  Now

we can make our

deliveries faster.

Little Lobo! Un

mensaje importante 

from El Toro!

An important 

message from

El Toro!

With these opening phrases Little Lobo, Bernabe and Kooky Dooky are riding toward el Coliseo, the arena where a wresting event will unfold this evening featuring El Toro and his friends.  The trio join a procession of food trucks, also en route to el Coliseo.  When they arrive, El Toro and other wrestlers practicing for the performance reveal their hunger for an array of favorite cuisine.  Quickly jotting down their requests Little Lobo and his dos amigos get right to work.

All the food trucks are parked nearby, each one focusing on a specialty.  These mobile restaurants, for the most part, make their food fresh and hot on the spot.  The Painted Burrito is known for its signature salsa.  At Kimchi Kiosko Mexican and Korean cooking generates a pleasing flavor for their tacos.

Vendors share ingredients; unnecessary corn husks are useful to a tamale maker.  An elder with a gift for fashioning tortillas sells to makers of quesadillas and burritos.  Look at the size of that burrito!  Little Lobo gathers fresh fruits and vegetables from Pato Peeko to deliver.  She sells more to another who blends them into large fruit and vegetable drinks.

The crowning glory of Little Lobo's gathering is the desserts.  Pastries are piled into a basket.  Their wagon now loaded as high as possible with fabulous fare is held in place by Bernabe.  Kooky Dooky dozes in the side car.

Returning to el Coliseo, El Toro and his wrestling friends, Little Lobo and Kooky Dooky rush inside shouting about La Comida. It's hard to exceed the enjoyment of sharing a meal with friends, but it does get better.  El Toro rewards the efforts of the threesome as only he can.

You can feel the excitement and your cravings for each item of food and beverage growing page by page in this story.  Raul the Third masterfully tells this tale using an artful blend of dialogue and narrative. His mix of Spanish and English guides readers, regardless of their command of one language or the other, perfectly with a pleasing purpose.  In this respect the audience of readers (and listeners) is enlarged and a bridge between worlds is formed.  The short definitive sentences convey cheer throughout the book.  Careful readers will notice informative text on buildings, signs and vehicles.  Here are two passages.

Kooky Dooky leads them

to the back of el Coliseo.

Right this way!

Suddenly they feel a rumble

beneath their feet.

RUMBLE!

RETUMBO!

RETUMBO!

RUMBLE!

Que es eso?

What's that?

Every detail on the book case is significant.  Every detail says to the reader, join us.  Every detail welcomes us to learn about Little Lobo's community, their customs and food.  The bright yellow food truck supplies a sunny background for all the characters.  Bernabe is enjoying his stick.  Kooky Dooky is about to savor a buttered ear of corn.  Little Lobo will soon be tasting a taco.  Do you notice the little bug is back?  What is it holding?  The tattoo on Joe's arm educates us on the Spanish for carrot.  The characters and text are varnished.

To the left, on the back, is an introduction, words you might find on the front flap of a dust jacket.  Additional text sings the well-deserved praises of the first title and gives readers information about Raul the Third and his wife, Elaine Bay.  On the opening and closing endpapers on a sandy-colored canvas are words in Spanish and English for many of the wonderful foods found in this book.  They are colored in shades of green, yellow and red.

On the title page, Kooky Dooky is running down a sidewalk shouting out the title in a speech bubble.  The publisher text is cleverly placed on the edge of the sidewalk near the road.  Above a mailbox are the names, Raul the Third and Elaine Bay.  

The illustrations in this book were done in ink on smooth plate Bristol board with Adobe Photoshop for color.  

Hand lettering was done by Raul the Third.  The images span single and double pages.  Sometimes panels will be placed over an existing larger visual.  What readers will find captivating, and at the same time astonishing, are the multitude of marvelous details.  Every single line creating an element is done with intention.  

The facial features on all the characters, familiar and new, are spirited and highly animated.  You feel compelled to pause on every single page.  Each one is a study in imaginative brilliance.  You'll read this once and then again and then again, noticing something new each time.  

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a panel over a single-page picture.  In this scene Kooky Dooky, on the right, is holding a quesadilla in his hands (wings).  The other portion of it is in Bernabe's mouth, on the left.  The queso, cheese, is stretching from Kooky Dooky's piece around a pole to Bernabe.  Little Lobo is striding toward Kooky Dooky in amazement.  In the lower, left-hand corner is the Lobo's Delivery wagon, partially filled.  The ever-present bug is running with a burrito in its grasp.

This book, VAMOS!: Let's Go Eat written and illustrated by Raul the Third with colors by Elaine Bay, is a tour de force.  It is a visual and verbal joy from beginning to end every time you read it.  Readers will savor every page.  Listeners will ask you to read it repeatedly.  This is a title you will want on your professional and personal shelves.  On the final page is a lengthy Food Glossary, but in a note, readers are encouraged to look up the definitions of words not listed.

To learn more about Raul the Third and his other work, please visit his website by following the link attached to his name.  Raul the Third has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  The VAMOS! books are discussed in a Publishers Weekly article.  This title is featured at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Raul the Third was recently a guest at Jarrett J. Krosoczka's Draw Every Day with JJK video art lesson.  At the publisher's website you can download an Activity Kit and watch several videos, one of which appears below.