Lifting Each Other Up

Tuesday morning an article said the first of twenty-one funerals began on that date, May 31, 2022.  There will be twenty-one celebrations of life and mourning, and the worlds of those families and friends are changed forever.  On May 24, 2022 the shock of another school shooting reverberated through a community, a state, a nation, and around the world.  For parents, caregivers, and educators the weight of this latest horrific tragedy is very heavy.  The more we know about the events of that day, the more heartbreaking it becomes.  We seek to make sense, when it does not make sense.  We seek security, solace, and serenity.

My friend and colleague, John Schu, recently released a book titled The Gift of Story: Exploring the Affective Side of the Reading Life (Stenhouse Publishers, May 3, 2022).  In chapter two we learn about Story as Healer.  At the close of this chapter, John suggests books in support of the chapter's premises.  After a brief description of each title, John offers commentary about his choices.  I have gone back to this section and read two sentences in particular over and over this past week.  John says:

This story is about grief, how it can weigh us down, but how, over time, our friends can help share the burden and in the process make it smaller.

It's not dread and worry that sustain us, but rather the love we share and the memories we create that will last.

Keeping these two sentences in my mind and heart, I selected six new titles from my bins of new releases.  Previously, author Pat Zietlow Miller and author illustrator Eliza Wheeler have collaborated on two wonderful books, Wherever You Go and When You Are Brave.  Their third title, When I'm With You (Little, Brown And Company, March 1, 2022), declares, reaffirms, and pays tribute to those individuals who make us whole.

There's something that I've noticed.

Perhaps you've seen it, too . . .

Life is so much better

when it's me and you.

Sometimes it seems as though you've always had that one special companion.  Other times, you realize your relationship has grown like a well-nourished seed.  You complement each other wherever you go and whatever you do.

You see a brighter future from sharing it with this being.  You might be opposites, but together you make something beautiful.  What you need, when you need it, is provided by this forever friend.

There will be moments when things go awry, but you and this partner support each other.  You work through the less than ideal situations.  The sad and bad are not as sad and bad.

Whether you explore the new or repeat a previous adventure, it is best when experienced with a perfect pal. When you are older, nothing will change despite distance and time because nothing without this soul has reason or rhyme.  Nothing will ever separate these two.

Each time the rhyming lines in this narrative are read, the warmth of the words written by Pat Zietlow Miller wrap around you.  Her four-line lyrical observations, double couplets, speak of building bonds using two parts to an array of relationships.  She speaks of commitment, creativity, comfort, laughter, sadness, mistakes, and mending.  One abiding current threads through the entire book.  It is the word constant.  Here is a passage.

You're the hat that fits my head.

You're the hilltop for my sled.

When I sneeze,

you say, "Ah-CHOO!"

And that makes me

laugh with you.

The open and matching dust jacket and book case introduce readers to the four groups of best friends featured throughout the book.  On the front they are all enjoying the delights of a sunny day, kite flying, playing in a tree house, swinging, and having a tea party.  The two main children, the kite and string and the title text are varnished on the jacket.  To the left of the spine, on the back, the day is coming to a close.  

The pals in the tree house are sitting on a branch of the tree gazing at a pink and peach sky dotted with pink clouds.  Birds are in the background.  Butterflies flutter in the foreground.  The kite-flying friends are now seated in a hammock, arms around each other's shoulders.  They, too, are facing the setting sun.  The sun is dropping below a body of water.  The children have their backs to readers.

The opening and closing endpapers are charming visions.  They are panoramic pastoral vistas showing the four homes where the children and their families live.  On either side of the gutter are two large trees.  On either side of them are two homes.  Each of the homes are as different as the occupants.  In the background are faint outlines of rolling hills and evergreen forests.  In the foreground is the pond with a stream stretching to the right between two of the homes.

The adults are all engaged in activities as the children play.  On the opening endpapers it is daylight.  On the closing endpapers it is night.  Lights glow in the windows of the homes.  The parents are now inside each house.  A crescent moon and stars decorate the sky.  On the left side, the children (and one canine companion) gather around a crackling fire roasting marshmallows. 

These images by Eliza Wheeler were 

created using ink, watercolors, acrylic paint, wax pastels, and digital collage. 

On the title page, we see the seven children and the one dog at the trees setting up for a day of wonders.  This is one of many double-page pictures.  Single page illustrations cross the gutter to be joined with smaller visuals on the opposite side.  Eliza Wheeler skillfully combines two separate illustrations into a larger picture.  You will stop at every page turn to absorb all the included details.  Everywhere you look there is joy and a blend of reality and imagined reality.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture.  It shows all the children in a magical underwater scene.  Only the outline of a fish tank in the upper, left-hand corner of the image indicates they are inside a fish tank.  Two friends wearing helmets and their regular clothing are cleaning.  A ray is smiling as it is dusted.  The two tea-party pals are feeding the fish and carrying a huge seaweed cupcake to an octopus.  Two other companions are caring for the underwater flowers and seahorses.  The final child is wearing scuba gear as he explores a treasure chest.  The dog is above him in a personal submarine powered by paw action.

This book, When I'm With You written by Pat Zietlow Miller with artwork by Eliza Wheeler, is an ode to friendship and its power.  It is a lively and lovely invitation to share life with a special individual.  It is a balm for all our souls.  I highly recommend it for both your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Pat Zietlow Miller and Eliza Wheeler and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Pat Zietlow Miller has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Eliza Wheeler has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Pat Zietlow Miller was recently interviewed by Madison Magazine.  Pat Zietlow Miller and Eliza Wheeler chat about this book at PictureBookBuilders.  John Schu, librarian and writer, highlights this title in conversations with Pat Zietlow Miller and Eliza Wheeler on his blog, Watch. Connect. Read.  Pat Zietlow Miller is in conversation with Eliza Wheeler about this title in a previous Crowdcast event.

When your canine companion is considered a sporting dog, regardless of the weather or your state of health, you walk miles every single day.  It is a commitment you must keep.  There are times when the very thought of leaving the cozy comfort of your home is downright daunting, but you go.  Without fail, something wonderful happens.  You see a deer crossing the road in front of you, a group of raptors gliding overhead, countless sunrises in breathtaking colors, and ever-changing cloud formations, and the birdsong is like your own personal symphony.  In Climb On! (North|South, March 8, 2022) written by Baptiste Paul with illustrations by Jacqueline Alcantara, this is exactly what occurs.  

Morning, Dad!

Morning!

It's a great day for

watching futbol.

The child quickly reminds her father of a promise to hike to the summit of a local mountain.  They place essentials in their backpacks and begin their hike.  Dad keeps offering reasons to stop or turn back.

There are too many beautiful things to see to turn back or stop.  His daughter reminds him to climb on.  When she asks him to swing on a vine to take a plunge in a waterfall pond, he takes up the mantra of climb on.

The father is exhausted and wants to know if they are at the top.  They are only midway to the top.  There is a small setback, a slip and fall, but through the leaves they see their multi-colored town below them.

Now tired, the child rides on her father's shoulders as he steadily continues in the heat with muscles aching.  They break through the vegetation.  A single three-letter word describes what they behold before them.  Wonderful.

Through a blend of narrative and conversation, author Baptiste Paul tells the tale of a memorable trek, a day of shared revelations.  Short sentences, sometimes only a series of single words give readers a real sense of participating in this climb.  The inclusion of Creole words in the dialogue between the Dad and his daughter draws us further into their adventure.  Here is a passage.

The rocks weep from yesterday's rain.

Each step slower than the last.

Fe vit.  Hurry up!

     Step.

          Breathe.

               Sweat.

Not only does the front, right side, of the open and matching dust jacket and book case inspire you to climb a mountain, but it invites you to open the book and read the story.  The natural beauty of the area in which the tale is told is reflected in the vivid hues of blue and green with spots of other colors.  You can almost feel the heat and humidity and breathe the salty air.  The green found in the palm leaves is used for the spine and back of the jacket and case.  Here flora and fauna found on the hike are displayed around praise for the previous collaboration by the author and illustrator, The Field. 

On the opening endpapers is an illustration of a green field.  Houses frame the border on two sides.  On the left side in the foreground, we can see the beginning of the trail to the mountaintop.  In the distance the sea and sky appear as one.  In a word, this is serenity.  On the closing endpapers, the child and her father are back at the waterfall pond.  Together they are swinging on a vine over the water.  It is a lush setting with various shades of green with the waterfall in the background.

These illustrations by Jacqueline Alcantara begin and end with the endpapers.  On the verso and title pages, her pictorial interpretation starts with the daughter, first, studying a map, and second, lifting a hat from her resting father's face.  The images, double-page and single-page, extend to the edges.  Even though opposite single-page pictures are different scenes, they flow together superbly.

Readers will find themselves carefully looking at each image, studying the details.  What flora and fauna are on display?  The facial expressions on the child's face mirror her every emotion.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a single-page visual.  The child is close to readers in the foreground.  She is bending over to study a caterpillar on a cupped, dark green leaf.  In the background, her dad is lying on his back, stretched out over a large boulder.  He is clearly exhausted.  Graceful, red and green leafy vines act as a partial border on either side.

There will be times when you would rather not keep a promise or a commitment, but in honoring it, positive discoveries will be made.  Climb On! written by Baptiste Paul with artwork by Jacqueline Alcantara clearly depicts this truth.  Natural world wonders heal.  You will want to have a copy of this title in both your professional and personal collections. (There is a surprise challenge tucked into the closing endpapers.)

To learn more about Baptiste Paul and Jacqueline Alcantara and their other work, please visit their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Baptiste Paul has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Jacqueline Alcantara has accounts on Facebook, Behance, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website, you can view the first few pages and download resources.  At Simon & Schuster, you can see other interior illustrations.  The cover reveal was hosted at School Library Journal, A Fuse #8 Production by Betsy Bird.  Both the author and illustrator are interviewed about this book at We Need Diverse Books.

Unconditional love is powerful.  It is always present, like a heartbeat that does not stop.  How do we know if we are loved unconditionally?  We know in ordinary and extraordinary moments, some lasting seconds and others lasting years. Author Andrea Beaty and illustrator Vashti Harrison have created a heartwarming portrait in poetic phrases and tender lively artwork of this love in their new collaboration, I Love You Like Yellow (Abrams Books for Young Readers, March 29, 2022).

I love you like yellow.

I love you like green.

Like a flowery orchid

and sweet tangerine.

These three sentences begin a sensory expression of love.  Opposites, too, are used to show the extent of this love.  This love happens in times of jubilance and in times of sorrow.

If you could taste this love, it would be like sugar and dill pickles.  It is there when time pauses or speeds, even when the recipient of this love is slow when they wish to be fast.  Whatever the weather, rain or sunshine, hot or cold, the love is still there.

This love is present in daylight and beneath the stars at night.  Like those stars, it is there, always.  From the beginning of the day and until the end of the day, this love is ever constant.

During each moment of the day, at work or at play, you are loved.  You are a song.  You are silence.  When you are nestled in your bed, more asleep than awake, you will be embraced by love.

Whether the sentences written by Andrea Beaty are read silently or aloud, they are like singing a song.  The rhyming words (and use of alliteration) fashion a melody.  You find yourself humming, quietly or aloud.  These words remind us of the vastness and universality of love.  Here is a passage.

Like brisk and breezy.

Like bouncy and bold.

After looking at the open dust jacket, I think I need a pair of yellow boots to match my yellow raincoat.  I know I will find as much joy as this parent and child in puddle splashing.  Their spirited play surrounded by the softly-textured setting is definitely welcoming.  The title text and rain gear on the jacket are varnished.

The scene continues across the spine.  The meadow stretches to the left side.  Reddish pink flowers mound in the lower, left-hand corner as a blue butterfly stops for a sip.  Across the grass, there is another bunch of yellow flowers and orange butterflies near them.  Above the misty slopes, a rainbow arcs from the left to off the top of the visual.

On the book case, we have moved to a close-up of the puddle covering both sides.  There is some grass framing the puddle along the bottom and right side.  The parent and child stand still in the puddle, but you can tell by ripple marks they just moved.  All we can see are their boots and a small portion of their legs.  The parent is to the left of the spine and the child is to the right of the spine.  

On a crisp white canvas on the opening and closing endpapers is a pattern of items found within the book.  The elements are a paper airplane, leaves, butterflies, lemons, playing cards, orchids, apples, and yellow umbrellas.  On the initial title page, the parent and child look out a window at the rain.  On the formal title page and dedication page, the mother is putting a raincoat on her child.

For each of the four phrases, a different parent and their child or children are featured.  Using 

colored pencil and Photoshop,

Vashti Harrison has created warmhearted, playful, and highly animated images.  She shifts her perspectives, bringing us close to the families at times and then places them in a more scenic setting.  The illustrations are full-page pictures, groups of smaller visuals, and glorious double-page images.  The families reflect a range of ethnicity and ages.

One of my many favorite pictures is a single-page illustration.  A father has been spending time with his daughter and her younger brother.  They are now baking cookies.  On the kitchen counter in front of them are ingredients and a cookie sheet with some cutout cookies ready for baking.  The father has his hands in a bowl mixing the ingredients.  On his head is a pie tin.  The daughter is laughing with her arms up in the air.  Her brother is seated on the counter.  He, too, has a pan on his head and he is holding a wooden spoon.  There is flour in the air along with the laughter.

The love portrayed through the words of Andrea Beaty and the artwork of Vashti Harrison in I Love You Like Yellow radiates from the pages.  This book is certain to soothe souls of all ages, readers and listeners alike.  There is a lot of happiness to be found here.  No personal or professional collection is complete without a copy of this book.

To learn more about Andrea Beaty and Vashti Harrison and their other work, please access their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Andrea Beaty has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Vashti Harrison has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior images.  There is also a video there with Andrea Beaty discussing the inspiration for this title.

We try to measure and keep track of time with watches, phones, clocks, planners, and calendars, but truthfully time has always gone at its own pace, altered only by our perspectives.  It seems to go slow when the only thing we want is for it to speed like a lightning flash.  Then, the older we get, the faster it goes.  We find ourselves frequently thinking, how could so many years have come and gone . . . like a lightning flash.  In their two previous collaborations, Drawn Together and Lift, author Minh Le and author illustrator Dan Santat gave us life's truths by putting their collective hearts into their words and art.  They have done this again, beautifully, in The Blur (Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, May 3, 2022).  

From the beginning

there was something different

about this child.

Yes, this child had a shockingly loud voice and limber arms and legs.  She mastered hearing the softest sound.  And, this child could become invisible.  These traits blended to make the most fascinating characteristic of all, magnetism.  People gravitated toward this bundle of superpowers.

As a youngster, the parents could hardly keep up with all the tasks this child presented, except when she slept.  Then time seemed to stop, until she learned to walk.

Wowee!  Look out!  She's always in motion.  Again, moments blended into one another because of 

The Blur.

As years pass at a ferocious pace, the girl embraces every activity with unbridled enthusiasm.  There are mostly high points, the sadness of loss, and some tense-filled seconds for her parents.  Before any of them realize it, time halts again.  It is high school graduation day.  And then, she's off once more.  All those memories fueling this superhero, a child who was different from the beginning.

With that first sentence, author Minh Le has us hooked.  What made this child different?  As each aspect of her personality is disclosed, each reader will bring their personal experiences to interpret those aspects.  You will find yourself nodding knowingly or howling with laughter or both.  Three times, Minh Le takes us on a whirlwind of growing up, only to have us pause and savor that pause.  It is a splendid storytelling technique.  Here is a passage.

NOTHING STANDS IN THE WAY AS

THE BLUR TAKES THE WORLD BY STORM!

And yet . . .

CRASH!

How can you look at the front, right side, of the dust jacket and not want to hug this family?  Happiness radiates off this image.  Everyone is smiling, the parents, the daughter, the puppy, and even the stuffed toy lion.  (It looks like a smile to me.)  Artist Dan Santat has placed these individuals on a background collage of captured moments from the interior pages.  The dots consist of color combinations from the title text.  They might also signify time and how fast it can pass.

To the left of the spine, on the back, on a light cream and peach background is a single image.  It is a graduation hat thrown in the air.  Multi-colored dots balloon up from the hat.  Everything on the front and back of the dust jacket is varnished except for the background and background pictures.

On the book case the canvas changes to a blend of white and teal.  Teal swirls and loops on the back and front indicate a path taken by The Blur.  She is running on the front, eyes closed in bliss with her mouth open in happiness and her arms wide open.  Her cape is flying behind her as colored dots follow her movements.  Her puppy is running and barking beside her.  (I want to run with them!)

On the opening and closing endpapers on a white background are large, vibrant dots.  They look as if they are circles of watercolor or chalk.  On the right side of the opening endpapers, there is an additional element.  It is a bandage appearing under the words:

THIS BOOK IS FOR:

These images by Dan Santat were

created using colored pencil and watercolor on paper and Adobe Photoshop.

On the title page sits the stuffed toy lion next to a vase of flowers with a congratulations card.  That lion is on its way to resting with the child in the hospital bed on the next two-page picture.  Illustration sizes vary from double-page visuals to single-page pictures, edge to edge, or surrounded by white space for dramatic framing.  Sometimes there will be multiple pictures on a single page to interpret the words pictorially. Several times the parents (and The Blur) are placed among smaller images.  The details in the illustrations and facial expressions of the parents and their daughter ask us to stop, to freeze time and remember and laugh and cry.  (I love how the younger girl swings into a series of pictures on one page and with a page turn she swings out of another set of images, but is now much older.  Brilliant.)

One of my many favorite illustrations is when The Blur believes she is invisible.  She is seated on the floor, wearing a one piece pair of pajamas with feet.  She has her cape, now much larger, held in her hands and covering her eyes.  Her puppy sits next to her, tail wagging and nose sniffing.  They are enveloped in white space.

This book, The Blur written by Minh Le with artwork by Dan Santat, is about a special child, all children, and time.  It is a recognition of how precious every moment is, even though when we are in the midst of them, we don't always appreciate their value.  It asks us to hold fast to life.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal collections.  You will find yourself gifting this title repeatedly.

To discover more about Minh Le and Dan Santat and their other work, please access their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Minh Le has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Dan Santat has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Minh Le and Dan Santat Talk with Roger at The Horn Book about this title.  Minh Le and Dan Santat are interviewed about this book at We Need Diverse Books.  The cover reveal was at School Library Journal, 100 Scope Notes, hosted by Travis Jonker and an interview with the collaborators.  At Penguin Random House, you can view the endpapers.

The thing about life is regardless of our past, present, or possible future, things happen beyond our control.  There are things wonderful beyond our imagining and things which plunge us into deep sadness.  We find ourselves stunned by both.  

What we can do in those times of tragedy is look for a sliver of silver lining.  It may not be there for a long time.  If we cannot find it, perhaps we need to change or be a part of a larger change.  If children are a part of our lives, as parents, caregivers, or educators, we need to help them to understand their futures are full of potential and promise.  Like the weather, the clouds pass to reveal the sunshine or moonlight and stars.  You Are Here (Chronicle Books, May 10, 2022) written and illustrated by Zach Manbeck is a joyful reminder to be ourselves, going forward with hope.  It is his debut book. 

YOU are here.

And from here,

you can go anywhere! 

Readers are next asked a question.

But how will you find your way?

The following pages paint in words and pictures possible positive paths.  Although it might seem obvious, we need to begin.  Depending on our abilities, we will all begin differently.

We are invited to be explorers.  There is no perfect direction for everyone.  Some individuals will go quickly, others more slowly.  There will be those who are at the same pace as we are. 

Will the path be smooth?  Sometimes it will.  Sometimes it won't, but we need to be relentless in seeking our potential and promise. 

We need to be ready for what we might discover using our senses.  Perhaps we begin anew each day.  That is why it is most important to remember where we are . . . always.

The thoughts presented in this book by Zach Manbeck are bursting with positivity.  Every recommendation is as if he is cheering for readers, encouraging them forward.  Individuality is paramount in this delivery.  Here is a passage.

BE PATIENT

You'll find your way . . .

if you let if find you.

The color palette shown on the open dust jacket is used throughout the book.  It speaks to warmth and new growth and being fully alive.  On the front, right side, we are introduced to many of the children and one of the animals seen often in the narrative.  The yellow butterfly figures importantly and prominently in many of the images.  It can be seen as a symbol of change, growth, and the beauty of becoming your best self.  The rays are embossed in gold.

To the left of the spine, on the back, more children and two animals run to the right.  They are running through what appears to be a jungle, replete with tall plants, trees and hanging vines.  One individual has a pair of binoculars and the other holds a magnifying glass.

On the cream book case a large yellow butterfly is displayed.  The center of the butterfly is in the center on the right side.  The left wing crosses the spine into the center of the left side.  The right wing bleeds off the right side.  A looping line from the left indicates the flight of the insect.  The thumb and finger of a child reaches toward the body of the butterfly from the bottom of the illustration.

The opening and closing endpapers are bright yellow with spots of green and orange.  Three separate pages, a word on each page, delivers the title to readers.  The word "here" is shown in a circle of cream on orange with the yellow butterfly zooming in from the left.

These illustrations by Zach Manbeck 

were rendered in gouache and various mixed media, then edited digitally.

Large circles become frames for the children and text and act as design elements with stars and splashes of bright colors, depending on the setting.  The setting might be a garden, a jungle, a cave, different modes of travel or an array of contraptions.  The layouts draw our eyes to the individuals and their activities.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture. It is a jungle and floral scene.  All we can see on most of the visual is darkened outlines, except for a particular area.  On the left side, a child, the first child and wearing a backpack is running into this darkness.  In one hand they are holding a flashlight.  It makes a beam of light through the darkness to the right, ending in a large circle holding the text.  Wherever the light shines, the colors are boldly shown.

The exuberance you feel after a positive affirmation envelopes you with every page turn in You Are Here written and illustrated by Zach Manbeck.  This book is yes to no and go to stop.  It is hope.  You will want to place a copy on the bookshelves in your personal and professional collections.

By following the link attached to Zach Manbeck's name, you can access his website, finding out more about him and his work.  Zach Manbeck has accounts on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior pictures. 

In my cupboard is an array of tea canisters.  Each one holds a different flavor of tea.  They supply me with selections based on the time of day, my level of thirst, and my emotional frame of mind.  Tea is a source of comfort.  Depending on the type of mug or glass, the tea can cool on a sweltering day or warm hands and body on a chilly morning or evening.  It can elevate a meal or celebration or be a reminder of people no longer with us.  (I still have some of the tea cups and saucers my mother collected.)

Tea and tea ceremonies are found in all corners of the world.  When drinking tea, connections are made with those other people and their communities.  In an endearing story, a bow of respect, to those connections, Luli and the Language of Tea (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House, May 24, 2022) written by Andrea Wang with pictures by Hyewon Yum presents to children the power they have through sincerity and their hearts to add light to their worlds.

The playroom was quiet.

Luli couldn't speak English.

Neither could the others.

Not being able to communicate with each other, the children were apart, playing by themselves.  This was what Luli did when she was previously at the playroom.  Then, she had an idea.  She made a picture to show Miss Hirokane her idea.  

This next time Luli took special items from her backpack.  She removed 

a thermos, a canister, stacks of cups, and a fat-bellied teapot.

Luli got busy combining and using these items.  Then, Luli called out a word in Chinese.

The children stopped playing and looked at Luli.  Soon single words were called out, child by child, around the room, in nine different languages.  Do you know what those words meant?

Pulling up chairs, the children came to the table.  The tea was poured in the first cup and passed from child to child until each child had a cup.  Wait! There was no tea left for Luli.  Luli's cup was passed from child to child.  Everyone was speaking the same language, the language of sharing and the language of . . .

With simple, lovely sentences Andrea Wang supplies readers with an understanding of Luli's heart and the hearts of the other children in the room.  Are we not all looking for connections and commonality like these children?  After Luli calls out tea in her language, a cadence is supplied by each child responding with the word for tea in their language.  Andrea Wang also gives us their first name, making the story more intimate. (The word for tea is also written in its native language.)  She again generates a rhythm when the tea cups are passed from child to child, naming them and once more when Luli's cup is passed from child to child.  Andrea Wang's carefully chosen words welcome us.  Here is a passage.

Now everyone had a share.

Hands curled around warm cups.

Mouths curved into shy smiles.

In looking at the matching dust jacket and book case, we meet Luli, the one child who made a huge difference, and how she changed the entire atmosphere in the playroom.  On the front, right side, her quiet, gentle smile speaks volumes.  We want to know what she has to say and what the language of tea is.  To the left of the spine, on the back, we see the children after drinking their tea.  There are still some at the table with Luli.  Two more are chatting as they walk away.  Two children are on the floor playing with a toy bulldozer.  Two are standing by the shelves watching three goldfish swim in a bowl.  

Still using a brilliant white canvas with excellence, Hyewon Yum features ten cups for tea gathered from the countries of Morocco, Iran, China, Chile, India, Kenya, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Germany on the opening and closing endpapers.  They are drawn in detail and labeled.  Two more page turns begin the pictorial story.  The first double-page picture shows parents going through the door to a classroom for learning English as a second language.  The children enter the playroom door next to the classroom.  For the verso and title pages, this image shows Luli peeking through the playroom doorway.

Rendered with

colored pencils

by artist Hyewon Yum, the illustrations complement the narrative with their delicate details.  The images are double-page pictures, some of them including two moments in one visual, and single-page pictures. Sometimes there are two images to a page using vertical and horizontal panels. Her use of white space is splendid with it acting as another element.  Perspective is shifted to accentuate the pacing and to provide us with added emotion.  The bird's eye view of the table with the seated children and their cups of tea is exquisite.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a single-page picture.  Luli is seated at the table.  Before her are the

full-bellied teapot, stacks of cups, and the canister

in blue and white.  Luli's mouth, after she took a breath, is wide open as she shouts tea in Chinese.  This is the beginning of something important.

When I think of the children in this playroom, alone and separated by a language barrier, my love for this brave and wise child swells.  Luli and the Language of Tea written by Andrea Wang with artwork by Hyewon Yum allows children to see, regardless of their age, the power they have to make positive changes.  At the close of the book is A Note from the Author, words under About the Children and Languages in This Story and a focus on people from Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America.  The children are identified by the country from which they immigrated.  I highly recommend you place a copy of this book in your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Andrea Wang and Hyewon Yum and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Andrea Wang has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Hyewon Yum has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Andrea Wang and this book are showcased at author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Andrea Wang speaks about this book at PictureBookBuilders for the cover reveal.  At Maria Marshall's site the author and illustrator are interviewed about this book, their work, and themselves.  At the publisher's website, there is an educator's guide.  At Penguin Random House, you can view the endpapers.

Keep Going By Keeping Together

It was a frequent topic of conversation.  When it was not being directly referenced, our way of life mirrored the past experience.  We used everything.  Very little was discarded.  Somethings were made from nothings. We had a huge vegetable garden.  Food was preserved.  If you left a room after dark, you turned off the light.  Water was never left running, ever.  Purchases were made with cash or not made at all.

The lessons learned during The Great Depression after the Stock Market Crash by my mother, then nine-years-old, and my father, at ten-years-old, carried forth into their adult lives. You don't forget those circumstances, but truthfully, I never heard either of them complain about those lean years.  In a tender tribute based upon the childhood of her grandmother, Home In The Woods (Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, October 1, 2019) written and illustrated by Eliza Wheeler allows readers to see the strength and worth of familial love and ingenuity.  Season by season the impossible becomes probable.

This is my family.
Marv (8)
Rich (10)
Ray (14)
Mum (34)
Bea (12)
Dal (2)
Eva (3 mo.)
Lowell (4)
This is me.
Marvel (6)

Marvel's family has lost a father and a husband and their home.  It's summer.  They find a dilapidated, one-room shack in the woods.  There is a nearby outhouse.  Their mother reasons they might find glad surprises inside this barely standing house.  Inside is a table, a couple of empty wooden crates, an oven, potbelly stove, and some box springs. Amazingly enough two of the siblings locate a trap door.  It leads to a cellar with shelves filled with glass jars, a pail, a stack of cloth rags and a hand pump that works, giving them fresh clean water.

As the children and their mother work to clean and ready the shack for living, two other siblings make another discovery.  The dirt on the forest floor after years of falling leaves is dark and fertile; perfect for gardening.  To the children the woods reveal animal pathways, a creek brimming with trout, and lush berry patches.

Autumn signals the need for other tasks.  Words are written on paper slips and siblings complete the assigned work stated on the slips they select randomly.  For money their mother walks into town to assist other families with their household jobs.  The root cellar shelves are slowly filled with the fruits (and vegetables) of their labors.  Only able to afford essentials during visits to town, the siblings, now home, invent their own game of buying whatever they want.

Like the woods outside their home, winter brings indoor activities except for Ray and Marv who daily hunt in the snow and cold.  Success makes for a lively celebratory feast.  A mother watches outside a window deep into the chilly night as her children lay nestled next to her.

The first fresh breaths of spring announce new hope.  Homemade goods are exchanged for milk and eggs at a nearby farm.  Wildflowers and returning birds decorate the woods with color and song.  As Marvel looks at the shack, she marvels at the changes the seasons can bring on the outside and on the inside of her.


The voice of six-year-old Marvel reveals truth in short, poignant thoughts and sentences.  Three different voices are heard when Eliza Wheeler includes dialogue four times.  It raises the authenticity of those moments.  During each of the seasons, we are aware of all the activities inside and outside the home through beautifully described events, simple but eloquent. It's as if we are members of this family.  Here is a passage.

Bea huddles in the lamp's glow.
Mum teaches her that scraps,
put together,
make colored patchwork.

I huddle by the warm stove.
Rich teaches me that letters,
put together, make words . . .
and words, put together, 
make stories.


As you look at the front of the dust jacket, you find yourself drawn into the scene by the delicate details and natural framing of the woods.  Although the family is engaged in chores, there is a sense of peace and accomplishment, too.  The tree trunk you see on the left, continues on the other side of the spine.  When you open the jacket, the continuation is flawless.  The foreground remains darker and brighter and the background fades to near white as your eyes move left.  This space provides an opportunity to talk about this book and Eliza Wheeler's Miss Maple's Seeds.  The title text is slightly raised and varnished.

Beneath the jacket, the book case gives us another view of the shack.  It is winter.  Marv and Ray are walking away from their home to go hunting, their footprints leaving a path in the snow.  We are standing farther back from the clearing as a panoramic view spreads out across both the back and the front of the case.  You get a very real sense of the stillness, cold and probably the crunch of footsteps in the snow.

On the opening and closing endpapers, in soft shades of green, Eliza Wheeler, artist, has created a bird's eye view of the shack and surrounding woods.  Important places and points of interest are labeled.  Many of these spaces are visited by the children and their mother in Marvel's story.

Rendered in

dip pens, India ink, watercolor, acrylics, and pastel pencils

all the illustrations, in intricate, fine lines and superb use of light and shadow, portray people and places in which readers, regardless of the time period, can identify.  Many of the images are full-page pictures, double-page pictures, visuals crossing the gutter to fashion a column for text or another picture or small illustrations grouped on a single page.  In addition to the narrative text, Eliza Wheeler adds explanatory short captions.  The facial expressions viewed are those of people you wish to know.  In a word, every page turn discloses, exquisiteness.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  It is probably very late at night or early in the morning during a bitter winter.  On the left we are inside the shack.  The children are stretched out from their mother, Mum, who leans against the window holding the youngest child.  All eight are under a quilt.  We can see the faces of five children.  The other two have their heads at the other end of the bed.  All we see are their feet covered in socks.  Light from the stars and moon shine on the mother's upturned face. Eliza Wheeler cleverly takes the wall on the inside of the shack and turns it into the outside wall as it crosses the gutter.  Drifts of snow sparkle under the stars among the trees in the woods.  Here is the final sentence in the passage for this picture.

But Mum stays awake
into the night . . .

. . . whispering
to
the 
stars.


This book is filled with hope and potential.  For all who read Home In The Woods written and illustrated by Eliza Wheeler you can see how resilience leads to success, and how hope guided by love leads the way.  The potential found here is for a multitude of discussions with readers.  On the final page in an Author's Note Eliza Wheeler speaks about the inspiration for this book, her grandmother, Marvel.  Today four of the children are still alive including Marvel.  Eliza Wheeler also invites readers to talk about their family stories.  I highly recommend this book for your professional and personal book collections.

To learn more about Eliza Wheeler and her other work, please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  There are multiple resources related to this book.  Eliza Wheeler has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view the title page.  I know you will love reading this article in the Southwest Journal about the journey to write this book.  I did.  I might have been a bit teary, too, at the end.

UPDATE:  On December 10, 2019 Eliza Wheeler visited PictureBookBuilders to chat about this book.  It's a wonderful post with loads of information.

UPDATE:  Eliza Wheeler uploaded two videos about this book.  I believe you will enjoy them.

Finding Your Fearless Center

Depending on any given situation we need, throughout our lives, all kinds of courage.  It comes in all shapes and sizes; a little bit is welcome here and a whole bunch is imperative there.  What we find daunting, others may accept with ease.  It is most important to remember everyone, without exception, needs courage.  Finding that necessary strength is the key to unlocking our potential.

When a family moves, all the changes and all the unknowns, regardless of a sense of adventure some feel, are hurdles of fear to be faced.  When You Are Brave (Little, Brown and Company, March 5, 2019) written by Pat Zietlow Miller with illustrations by Eliza Wheeler addresses how one girl works her way to bravery.  It's not easy but it is well worth the effort.

Some days,

when everything around

you seems scary . . . 

you have to be brave.

There is the brave a bird feels when first flying, a dog needs when looking for home and a caterpillar cocooned and waiting must summon.  If you think back, there are times, other than today's challenges, when you were looking directly into scary situations.  Do you remember how overwhelming it was?  It was too much of everything.

When this happens, and it will, you must look for the special place where courage is tucked away.  You have to focus. Soon what you seek will appear.  Sometimes it's tiny but you can make it bigger.

Keep your eyes closed and imagine it spreading like the sun's rays at daybreak, warming more and more of everything it touches.  You have the power to determine how large your courage will be.  You have the power to keep it growing.  Think of the love inside and outside of you.

With this kind of bravery, you know you can leap over all those barriers to true happiness.  Will it be easy? No.  Will there be setbacks? Yes.  We are all still here and you will be, too.  

The voice used in this narrative by Pat Zietlow Miller is soothing and supportive.  She can see into a child's heart with sincere compassion.  She builds from scary situations toward bravery by defining it with things a child would usually see; a bird, a dog and a caterpillar.  She refers to other frightening circumstances experienced by the little girl, noting how those were overcome.  

What is most pleasing is the reference to courage as a light in the dark.  Her descriptors create a sense of security.  Most of us know how a spark can grow into a flame of brightness, glowing and reaching as far as we desire.  Here is a passage from the interior and back jacket.

You can make your courage

so big it brightens your heart,

fills your fingers, and flows to your toes.

When you look at the girl standing on the front of the jacket (I'm working with an F & G.) her bravery lights up the world around her.  Artist/illustrator Eliza Wheeler works complementary colors into the other elements in the new neighborhood.  Do you see what the tiny beams of light are forming around the smiling child?  This is a stunning reference to some of the narrative.  

The scene on the front carries over the spine to the left, on the back.  Here we see a lovely forest landscape at night with stars shining overhead.  The family's car, pulling a trailer full of household items, is traveling over a bridge.  A stream extends from the hills and falls under the bridge.  We can see the sparks of light from the girl's courage coming from the car and lighting up portions of the leaves below the bridge.  It's interesting how the perspective from the front, a close-up, shifts to a more panoramic view on the back.

The opening and closing endpapers reflect the growth of the girl's courage.  On the first swirls of yellow light flow into blue.  The blend makes green framing.  On the back the light is larger and brimming with warmer colors.  It pulses with life.

Eliza Wheeler wastes no space using the verso and title pages for her first interpretive illustration.  The father and a neighbor are packing the car as other neighbors help.  The mother waits for her daughter, still inside and peeking out her bedroom window.  There is a slight glow in the sky.  With each page turn this glow dims until everything is cloaked in darker hues of blue.  

Most of the pictures rendered

with India ink, watercolors, colored pastel pencils, and acrylic paint on Lanaquarelle Watercolor paper 

span two pages.  We are aware of the emotional outlook of the child by her facial expressions and the altered perspectives.  We see her sitting in the backseat of the car, a stuffed animal close to her and a box of toys on the other side.  She is holding a photo album.  With a page turn the album is spread across the page. Eliza Wheeler keeps shifting the point of view in complete sync with the narrative.  Just as the light faded in the beginning, it becomes a sunrise as courage blooms and the family arrives at their destination.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is looking through the front window in the back seat at the child.  In front of her are her parents, the one sleeping and the other driving.  The girl is visualizing her courage with closed eyes.  Wings are spread wide on either side of her, delicately dotted with tiny beams of light.  (If any of you need to hold a picture in your mind or heart when thinking of courage, this is the picture you need.)

When You Are Brave written by Pat Zietlow Miller with illustrations by Eliza Wheeler is a beautiful portrait of finding courage.  It is one of those books readers will read repeatedly.  It is one of those books listeners will ask you to read not once, or twice but certainly three times.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal book collections.  Be sure you read the other wonderful title by this collaborative team, Wherever You Go.

To learn more about Pat Zietlow Miller and Eliza Wheeler and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Pat Zietlow Miller has an account on Twitter.  If you want to see the book case, Pat has a pinned tweet displaying it for viewers.  Eliza Wheeler has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Pat Zietlow Miller wrote a guest post at author Lynne Marie's My Word Playground about this title. Please take a few moments to enjoy the video below as Eliza Wheeler speaks about her process for this book.  I hope you love it as much as I do.

Book Chat with the Illustrator: Eliza Wheeler from LB School on Vimeo.

Picturing Story

We save things.  Some people save more than others.  The most precious of these saved things usually represents a memory we choose to remember for as long as we can.  Some families pass on items from one generation to the next.  There are always stories attached to them.

It seems most children like to tell tales about themselves and hear those of others.  They know instinctively as Kate DiCamillo, author and National Ambassador for Children's Literature 2014-2015, says stories connect us.  Tell Me A Tattoo Story (Chronicle Books, April 12, 2016) written by Alison McGhee with illustrations by Eliza Wheeler allows readers to share in the warmth of a family evening.

You wanna see my tattoos?

A little guy tugs on his father's shirt eager to see the pictures inked on his skin.  It's a frequent request the father enjoys fulfilling.  The first selected tattoo represents the father's favorite book and all the times he listened to his mother read it aloud.

Moving from his shoulder to the inside of his wrist are two words rather than a picture.  The boy's father never wants to forget how his dad lived his life.  An intricate floral tattoo recalls his meeting a pretty girl.  When his son wants to know why she was so pretty and if he has met her, his dad's reply is certain to make you smile.

As a fourth tattoo is shown, the dad remembers a journey taking him far from home for a long time.  Now and then, it is a hot land, a foreign land, across an ocean.  The final tattoo is small with three numbers and three words.

It's been placed on the dad's chest near his heart.  As the two converses the boy declares the tattoo he cherishes more than the others.  It's at this point the father's shares a secret.


As surely as if she had written the words once upon a time, Alison McGhee has our attention with her first sentence, a question. We want to see the tattoos too.  What do they look like?  What do they represent?  We become the little man.  Having the father as the sole speaker reinforces this feeling.

As each portion of the narrative (and the tattoos) is revealed to readers we realize they signify milestones in the child's father's life.  They are the foundation for what will be become the boy's life story. Here is a sample passage.

This one, well, this one's from my favorite book that my mom used to read to me.
Did she read it to me over and over and over?
She sure did.


When unfolding and opening the matching dust jacket and book case we get a sense of familial love and a kind of elegance.  The golden yellow used in the rays is a part of every single image.  Sometimes it is a pale, tiny spot color and other times it draws us directly into the picture.  It's a soft glow of light, a radiating of memories.  The exquisite details on the tattoos appear throughout the book.

On the back, to the left, on the same background color, a white dove is flying carrying a sprig of olive branch.  The opening and closing endpapers are awash in a blend of the tattoos and other elements from the story.  The same palette as shown on the jacket and case is used here.  On the title page Eliza Wheeler features the family's home in the foreground at night with the city in the background in silhouette.

Rendered in India ink with dip pens and watercolors all the images span two pages.  Delicate lines shape the elements in the pictures.  With every reading you discover new precious pieces working to create a marvelous whole.

One of my favorite illustrations is for the first tattoo.  On the left both the father and his son are facing readers.  The father, smiling, looks at his son as he pulls back a portion of his shirt to get a better look at the tattoo.  On the right, crossing the gutter to the left, the father as a little boy is sitting in his mother's lap beneath a clothes line outside.  His mother, wearing an apron with pockets holding clothes pins and a shirt flung over her shoulder, is holding a book with him reading aloud.  Baskets of clothes are to the right and left of them.  A breeze is blowing the clothes already on the line and the surrounding wildflowers.  Behind them is the farm house, fields of corn and the barn with a silo.


Tell Me A Tattoo Story written by Alison McGhee with illustrations by Eliza Wheeler is a heartwarming title brimming with love; a love of stories and of a nightly family ritual.  Readers will thoroughly enjoy not only what the tattoos depict but moving through the bedtime preparations. You will want to have this on your personal and professional shelves.  The end, like all wonderful books, will have you going back to the beginning so you can experiences it all over again.

To learn more about Alison McGhee and Eliza Wheeler please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.   Alison McGhee is interviewed via Skype at Take Two.  It's a wonderful podcast about the spark behind the story.  Eliza Wheeler wrote about this title and the process at Picture Book Builders.  She was a guest at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  You can find two additional interviews of Eliza Wheeler at Andrea Skyberg's site including a tour of her studio and Miss Marple's Musings.

UPDATE:  Please stop by 100 Scope Notes hosted and written by teacher librarian and 2014 Caldecott Medal committee member, Travis Jonker to read his insightful review of this title.

Roaming The Roads

Some are large and obvious.  Others are faint and more hidden.  Both are used, starting, stopping, wandering and weaving. All are roadways.

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail extends from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine.  Stretching for about 2,200 miles, it's a hiker's challenge.  Route 66 one of the original highways in the United States bridges the distance between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angles, California.  It has been commemorated both in song and in a television show in the early 1960s, Route 66.  These are well-known avenues of travel.

Less recognizable are those pathways shared by local wildlife through woods, meadows and vacant lots in communities.  Only a keen nose, instinct or sharp eyes can find them.  Wherever You Go (Little, Brown and Company, April 21, 2015) written by Pat Zietlow Miller (Sophie's Squash) with illustrations by Eliza Wheeler (Miss Maple's Seeds) follows a free-spirited rabbit journeying to search and see.  Let's check the air in our tires and oil the chain on our bikes, pack life's essentials, invite a friend and join him.

When it's time for a journey, to learn and to grow,
roads guide your footsteps wherever you go.
Roads give you chances to seek and explore.
Want an adventure? ...

The country path from his doorway leads him through the woods, up and down hills and beneath a covered bridge.  He and his buddy, an owl, gaze with wonder at roadside streams and over the large expanse of an ocean.  In the distance the lights of a large city beckon.  Tall buildings line the streets, vehicles of all shapes and sizes speed by and the duo join the noisy night life.

An unplanned trip through a village built near small and large waterways provides them new options and connecting structures to cross.  At times two roads blend together creating a greater route to places and pals yet unknown.  It's a leap of faith to follow where these highways lead.

Each decision offers enriching experiences.  Others on the road slow to a stop or pause to peek at the views.  New vehicles supply transportation to towering heights.  Hikes to the top above the clouds present panoramic sights.

Rest and reflection on the trails taken or not, the planned and unplanned circumstance and with whom each step was shared are part of the trip.  Soon the haven of home calls to the travelers. Back they go beneath the covered bridge, down and up hills and past trees as familiar as friends to the place where their hearts reside.


Like a feather caught in currents of air, moving gently up and down, over, under and around, Pat Zietlow Miller's phrases envelope and carry us as we shadow the adventures of rabbit and his companions.  Her meticulously chosen words form quiet rhymes flowing as naturally as a sunrise and sunset.  They take us places, real and imagined, on roads being as they are meant to be.  Here is another sample passage.

Roads...merge.
Small, distant roads sometimes travel alone,
marking the miles out there on their own.

Then a new road wants to join in the fun,
heads the same way, and the two become one.


In what can only be described as a glorious scenic vista spanning both sides of the opened matching dust jacket and book case, Eliza Wheeler has created, here and within the book, marvelous realms for us to traverse rendered in dip pens and India ink and colored with watercolor and gouache. You can smell the sweet fresh air along with rabbit and feel the delicate breezes.  Do you notice the little animal reading on their front porch?  On the back, to the left two alligators are heading to their fishing hole, poles over their shoulders.  The orange van a la Volkswagen carrying a menagerie of travelers crosses a bridge in the distance.  The rustic red blush seen on the trees provides the solid background for the opening and closing endpapers.

A soft golden luminescence appears on all the pages, like a perfect opportunity.  A soothing palette permeates all the pages with darker hues at night.  The exquisite line work, the painstaking tiny details on the animals, the structures and natural elements is breathtaking.  You will want to pause on every single picture, almost all of them spanning two pages but often depicting the passage of time from left to right.

Her artwork not only enhances the words of Miller but offers more stories to the careful observer.  On one particular two pages, rabbit with owl in the front basket is passing by two mice floating down a river in their houseboat.  When the sky darkens and rain begins to fall, we see rabbit and owl with umbrellas over their heads.  On the back of the bicycle beneath rabbit's umbrella, the mice and their boat are safely strapped in place, sheltered from the shower.

One of my many favorite illustrations (I would frame and hang any of them in my home.) takes place in an old forest filled with tall, tall trees.  It starts with dusk falling as the van loaded with the adventurers, including rabbit and owl, winds down the road.  To the right with darker purple shades on the tree branches, we see all sorts of homes built on the trucks glowing with light.  The trees are connected with wooden slat bridges.  In the center of the right page, all the friends are gathered around a table outdoors enjoying tea and treats.  You want to walk right into the page and sit down with them enjoying the laughter and conversation.


Wherever You Go written by Pat Zietlow Miller with illustrations by Eliza Wheeler is a heartwarming trek on all types of roads, in all kinds of weather, during all parts of the day through wonderful landscapes.  Hope bursts forth on every page.  It reads aloud beautifully, so I highly recommend it for sharing.  I will be adding it to my Mock Caldecott list.

To discover more about Pat Zietlow Miller and Eliza Wheeler please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Here is the link to a post Eliza Wheeler did about her process at Picture Book Builders. It is a must read.  These two links take you to interviews at Inkygirl.com hosted by author/illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi with Pat Zietlow Miller and Eliza Wheeler.  Enjoy the book trailer.

When The Wind Blew In

It's a rarity in the north along the Lake Michigan shoreline to have a day without wind.  Small craft advisories and gale warnings are commonplace.  Depending on the direction these breezes can be a blessing or a curse.  You're never sure what sights you'll see during the gusts or after they subside.

Wind can play a paramount role in a book; whether the piece is fiction or nonfiction.  Its part, sometimes so integral to the narrative, can make it feel like a character.  The Grudge Keeper (Peachtree Publishers) written by Mara Rockliff with illustrations by Eliza Wheeler has fantastic fun with this force of nature.

No one in the town of Bonnyripple ever kept a grudge.  No one, that is, except old Cornelius, the Grudge Keeper.

Cornelius receives everyone's grudges, no matter their size or importance, storing them carefully within the rooms of his cottage.  When a goat eats zinnias, a schoolboy hooks the teacher's toupee like the catch of the day and a clumsy guy treads, not so lightly, on a gal's new shoes at the local dance, grievances are aired at the Grudge Keeper.  As you can well imagine after much time passes, every nook and cranny is overflowing with grudges in Cornelius's home.

In the true nature of folktales, life as the people of Bonnyripple know it, is about to change.  A wind starts to blow.  At first no one notices but when a particular pie flies off a window ledge and the schoolmaster's hair piece ends up as a goat's entree, unease ripples through the town.  As the gale continues to howl during the night, people gather their grudges to be taken to Cornelius as soon as they safely can.

All is calm as the day dawns except for the state of the folks' attitudes.  Marching up to the Grudge Keeper's house on the hill, they can't believe their eyes.  Grudges are everywhere in a ginormous pile, mixed and matched not according to size or importance. More than one discovery is made this day. A mischievous boy, a cat and, of course, the wind may have lent a helpful hand.


Fortunately when Mara Rockliff has a thought, her imagination takes wing fashioning it into a timeless picture book for all ages.  Word play abounds in exquisite descriptions, alliteration and puns.  When she makes a statement she supports it with picturesque phrases.  Characters' names roll off your tongue leaving a smile on your face.  Here is a single passage.

The wind had mixed and mingled, tossed and turned,
tumbled and jumbled, and finally dumped the rumpled,
crumpled grudges in one whopping pile.


You know you are going to someplace special when you open the dust jacket and matching book case on this title.  The golden glow continues on almost every single page of the story.  The pastoral setting, the style of the homes, inside and out, and the attire wore by the townspeople is from a time past, a time filled with just enough magic to make it fanciful.

The opening and closing endpapers, different, feature important characters before and after the wind. The initial title page gives a snapshot of the village with Cornelius trudging up the hill in the distance, wheelbarrow loaded with grudges.  The formal title page and verso is a two-page spread of the village in the distance zooming in on Cornelius.

Double page illustrations, almost exclusively throughout, made using dip pens, India ink and watercolor by Eliza Wheeler exude welcoming warmth. Delicate lines convey a wealth of emotion, movement and whimsy.  Careful readers will sense events to come based upon hints in her visuals; the swirl of wind during the night or the glance of the schoolmaster at the crouching boy.

One of my favorite illustrations is the cutaway of the Cornelius's cottage in the beginning.  The layout of the home is small but filled with comfortable items.  Tiny scrolls representative of the grudges are sorted in numbered jars; a quill and inkpot sit upon a desk next to a book for record keeping.  Already every possible storage space is overflowing.  Cornelius is reaching for a jar on the mantel, stuffing yet another grudge into the opening.


With a delectable union of narrative and pictures The Grudge Keeper written by Mara Rockliff with illustrations by Eliza Wheeler has all the earmarks of a charming, enduring story.  You feel as though you've discovered a forgotten fairy tale on forgiveness.  Will there be words younger readers might not know?  Yes, but that's the joy of this book, the wonderful use of language.  I highly recommend this title.

Please follow the links embedded in Mara Rockliff's and Eliza Wheeler's names to enjoy their websites.  This link is to an interview of them both at the Peachtree Publishers blog about the making of the book.  Here is an earlier interview of Mara Rockliff at John Schumacher's blog, Watch. Connect. Read.

A Caretaker

Every time I make a discovery in my gardens or while walking along the lakeshore or in the woods, it's when I pause, kneel down and look.  When you narrow your field of vision, shrink it to another level, you can see a smaller world within the larger one.  Once you've explored like this and found something new, you begin to see it more often.  You've developed a different way to see.

You'll start to notice miniature burrows around your yard, spider habitats, tiny spotted green shoots coming through the brown leaves, adder's tongues, or vanishing ripples on a pond's surface, recently awakened frogs playing in the mud.  Miss Maple's Seeds (Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.) with story and pictures by Eliza Wheeler imagines a very special, tiny person, living in this smaller world unseen by us...until now.  Her greatest joy, her work, is an essential element in the circle of life.


On a bright August morning, Miss Maple flies home.  She has hurried ahead of the flock to get ready for her guests.

During the summer months when everything is growing abundantly, a small figure has been gathering.  All those seeds, who somehow lost their way earlier in the spring, are being found throughout the land.  Upon the backs of her feathered friends, bluebirds many, in grass-filled baskets, in all shapes and sizes, they will find a loving home with Miss Maple.

She will learn about each of them, calling them by name.  Together they will travel down a stream, through the air and over the fields and forests.  During these little journeys she will explain how they need to settle in the mud or dirt; who will help them and who they should avoid.

Like a parent with a child each night she reads them stories.  Forest friends come to visit during the windy wintry weather when staying inside is for the best.  With the spring rains come dancing lessons .

 After eight months of tender loving care it's time to release the orphan seeds into the wild, each filled with a sense of purpose and direction.  With farewells murmuring in her mind, Miss Maple settles in for a spell.  In time she will be needed again.


This is a gentle tale, a yearly ritual, revealed in two, three or four descriptive sentences on a single page.  The narrative has been written with a lyrical pace, a lightness in tone, to the point you can almost sense a kind of music playing.  It is the repetition of one particular piece of advice during the story which binds the work of Miss Maple to her seeds.  Here are a couple of  examples of Wheeler's writing in this title.

In bustling gardens, seeds must take care to stay clear of weedy characters.

Snuggled in each night, Miss Maple reads flower tales by firefly light.


Through a pictorial display spanning across the front and back jacket and cover readers enter the world of Miss Maple as she floats over the fields in her flowery balloon.  Opening and closing endpapers, a lively shade of blue, provide the background for scattered buttercup petals and flowers.  Eliza Wheeler creates her illustrations throughout with dip pens, India ink and watercolors using hues taken from the natural world awash in glowing greens and yellows.

Infinite care has been given to the details of depicting the miniature world of Miss Maple; the small rosebud tucked into her hat, the door, windows, and steps of her home in the maple tree, her leafy boat and umbrella, and the tiny baskets used to send the seeds into the world by air or on the water.  Delicate lines capture the features of her helpers and friends, bluebirds, frogs, squirrels, mice, and rabbits.  An entire page opposite Miss Maple giving all her seeds a sudsy bath is dedicated to picturing and labeling twenty seeds.  Any of these illustrations are worthy of framing; the smaller insets highlighting text, or her single and double page visuals enhancing her story but my favorite is the one similar to the front cover of her gliding the wind currents, hand outstretched in explanation to the seeds.


I dare say I'll be looking for a wee woman from now on gathering in those forgotten seeds.  The debut picture book of Eliza Wheeler, Miss Maple's Seeds, is a charming glimpse into a wonderful world; a world where care is given to the smallest, where encouragement is delivered in loving and healthy doses.  This is a small treasure to be shared any time of the year but absolutely perfect for Earth Day.  It could be paired with A Seed Is Sleepy by Diana Hutts Aston with illustrations by Sylvia Long or And Then It's Spring  by Julie Fogliano with illustrations by Erin E. Stead.

Please follow the link above embedded in Eliza Wheeler's name to her official website.  She has printable handouts available for this title.  This link takes you to an interview at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast where she explains her process for this title.