For the Elders . . .,

At the beginning of this year in an effort to highlight as many wonderful books as possible in posts before the ALA Youth Media Awards, I included seven titles under the word Elder in the second of three posts for fiction picture books.  These books focus on relationships between the generations, mainly between grandparents and their grandchildren. They revolve around a generational tradition, the passing of seasons and those with whom we share them, customs and food in different countries, how finding the perfect gift reveals more about the giver than the recipient, activities shared with all kinds of grandparents, the wisdom of grandparents and how it seems magical, and returning joy to a grandparent who needs to remember.

In March and April of this year, two more outstanding books showcasing grandmothers and their grandchildren speak to our collective minds and hearts.  Despite the recent return of winter in the upper Midwest, daffodils, tulips, delphiniums, and peonies are poking through the soil, eager to add color to our landscape.  Parsley, dill, thyme, sage, and chives are thriving in the vegetable and herb gardens.  Author Jordan Scott and artist Sydney Smith have collaborated again to bring us My Baba's Garden (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House, March 7, 2023).  Memories of Jordan Scott's grandmother grace the pages of this book, lovingly lifted in tribute by the luminescent images by Sydney Smith.

My Baba lives in a chicken coop beside a highway.

Her home is near a sulfur mill, a pile of yellow as a testament.  Every morning his father drives the child to Baba's home.  She does not greet him, but each morning there she is in her kitchen.  She cooks, moving with her own rhythm within the small space.

Every place around the kitchen table is filled with preserved food from her garden.  When Baba brings him breakfast, it is the same each morning.  She does not eat, but if the child should happen to drop any food, she picks it up, kisses it and puts it back in his bowl.  They speak through gestures, a few words, and a shared affection.  

If it's raining when Baba walks with her grandson to school, she moves slowly watching for worms.  She picks them all up and places them in a jar with dirt.  They will find a new home in her garden.  After school, her grandson watches her place them in the dirt of her garden, explaining their purpose to him.

This goes on for years until Baba leaves her chicken coop to live with her grandson and his parents.  A building replaces the chicken coop, but the garden remains, now overgrown without Baba's care.  Before school, her grandson feeds Baba the same thing each morning.  He has planted some seeds in a pot on her windowsill.  One day when it's raining, she clasps his hand and draws a familiar line on his palm.  Remembering other rainy days, he runs outside.

Lovely similes are woven into vivid descriptive text by Jordan Scott taking readers into his warm remembrances.  Each place the child is with his grandmother, her kitchen, walking with her to and from school, sometimes in the rain, her garden, and in his home, are replete with intimate details. We become that child, experiencing their love built on those shared activities.  Here are several sentences from different portions of the narrative.

My Baba hums like

a night full of bugs

when she cooks.

We don't talk very much. She points and I nod;

she squeezes my cheeks and I laugh.

Using watercolor and gouache, artist Sydney Smith brings us deeply into this story.  On the front of the open dust jacket Baba and her grandson are shown walking into Baba's garden.  Do you notice how the characters and the larger flowers are outlined in white?  It's as if we are walking with them.  This image crosses the spine, extending to the left edge of the back flap. (The front also extends to the edge of the right flap.)  Two birds are flying over the garden.  The sulfur hill juts up in the far left, upper corner.  Text on the back showcases praise for I Talk Like A River. 

On the book case, on either side of the spine are two framed portraits.  On the left, seated at his Baba's kitchen table is the boy.  Hands resting in his lap he looks at us.  An apple from his grandmother's garden sits on the table.  Garlic bulbs woven together hang from the ceiling over a basket of fruit.  The play of sun and shadow is stunning.  On the right side is Baba.  She, too, is seated in her home.  To her right are shelves of dishes.  To her left is a table holding a jug with flowers. Bright sunlight glows all around her.  She sits straight in the chair, her hands resting in her lap.  Her face reflects her survival of World War II and living a simple, hard life in Canada where she and her husband emigrated from Poland.

The opening and closing endpapers are a golden, orange yellow.  Sydney Smith begins his pictorial story on the title page, displaying the grandson and his father getting into the car in the dark hours of morning before the sun rises.  He then, with a double-page picture, continues as they drive along the sea on a highway.  This provides a place for the publication information and the author's note titled, My Baba.

The next two-page picture is a drawing the grandson has made of him and his Baba in front of her house.  Two-page images, full-page visuals, edge to edge and some with wide white borders bring readers into the shared days of Baba and her grandson.  Sometimes to show the passage of time and to enhance the pacing, smaller illustrations will be grouped on a single page.  These represent cherished personal moments.  Sometimes, they only show eyes, hands or a portion of a body.

There are seven wordless pictures of varying sizes on four pages near the end of the book.  They represent the grandson taking and sharing breakfast with Baba.  They are tender and extremely touching.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page image.  It is a wide-angle view of Baba's kitchen as sunlight streams in the window over her sink.  She stands on the right side working at the counter, dishes displayed in open cupboards above her.  Kettles steam on the stove to her right.  On the left, we see her refrigerator, more cupboards, and shelves filled with preserved food.  Warmth radiates from this scene.

This is a book for all ages.  With each reading, My Baba's Garden written by Jordan Scott with illustrations by Sydney Smith will be more endeared to each reader.  It will help us to recall our own memories of our grandmothers or if we have none, how wonderful to be able to share those found in this book.  You will want to have at least one copy of this title on your professional bookshelves and one in your personal collection.

To learn more about Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Sydney Smith has artwork from this title on his website.  Jordan Scott has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Sydney Smith has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website is an educator's guide.  At Penguin Random House, you can view the title and verso pages.  At Mel Schuit's Let's Talk Picture Books, she has a short video of the book case reveal. 

Have you ever searched for buried treasure?  Did you ever find something unexpected and wonderful when you were turning over dirt for a vegetable or flower garden or planting a tree?  Have you ever buried something, hoping to dig it up years later?  If you did bury something, what did you or would you put inside the container?  In The Red Tin Box (Chronicle Books, April 4, 2023) written by Matthew Burgess with artwork by Evan Turk, a young girl buries a red tin box early one morning just before sunrise.  This is a secret she will hold in her heart for decades.

On her eighth birthday, when the sun

was peeking over the treetops

    and everyone in the house

    was still asleep,

Maude stepped outside

and across the wet grass

to the edge of the woods.

There was a special spot at the base of the tree where she buried that red tin box.  No one else but Maude knew what was inside the box.  No one else heard Maude speak a promise to herself.

Maude grew up.  Soon she had a daughter of her own.  Maude always remembered the red tin box, even if her memories of the items inside faded.

Now a grandmother, Maude felt something stir inside her one autumn afternoon.  She picked her granddaughter up from school the next day.  In Maude's red pickup truck, they traveled several towns away.  Maude told her Eve about the red tin box and the promise she made as a little girl.  When they arrived at Maude's old home, the dogwood tree was still there.

Would they find the red tin box?  Both were eager to discover it and see what was inside.  Maude walked until she was sure she was standing on the special spot.  The duo dug and dug and dug until they heard a 

clink!

For each of the seven items inside, there were stories.  Eve listened and questioned as Maude talked all the way home. Do you know what Maude did when they arrived home?  Eve knew what to do and she did it under the starry sky.

Each word written by Matthew Burgess fashions an eloquent atmosphere of a special place and time.  There is a bit of mystery and magic in finding the spot for burying the red tin box and the whispered words by Maude.  It returns when Maude is a grandmother, and she knows she needs to take Eve to the red tin box's site.  This shared event is beautifully represented with reminiscent phrases as the pair travel to the dogwood tree.  Matthew Burgess uses repetition to elevate the feeling of an unbreakable bond between grandmother and granddaughter.  Here is a passage.

One November afternoon,

Maude was seized with a feeling---

a feeling like a bright spring sunrise.

Rendered in gouache, these breathtaking visuals by Evan Turk are first shown to readers with a single illustration on the dust jacket spanning from left to right, across the spine.  There we see how night is turning into day, as the sun pushes back the darkness with pinks and oranges and reds.  Little eight-year-old Maude has dug the hole near the dogwood tree and is gently placing the red tin box inside.  I don't know about you, but the mystery and magic in this illustration envelope me.  

On the book case, Evan Turk takes us into the branches of the dogwood tree.  Their blossoms and boughs are highlighted by the blushing sunrise sky behind them.  The opening and closing endpapers are a deep red with darker hints . . . like a red tin box.  On the initial title page, the light text is placed in a starry sky with clouds.  On the formal title page, it is still dark outside.  The blossoms on the dogwood tree are depicted in hues of purple, blue, pink, and red.

The color palette by Evan Turk emanates warmth with every page turn.  His use of light and shadow is marvelous in each of the lush settings.  He shifts his perspectives to intensify the text.  Sometimes we are shown a dramatic panoramic view, other times it is as if we are in the hole looking up at whoever is there, and sometimes we are given a bird's eye view.

Most of the illustrations span two pages.  When Maude and Eve are riding in the truck, walking on the property near the dogwood tree, digging, and speaking we are close to them.  We can see their eyes.  Their facial expressions invite us into this story.  There are two wordless images near the end which are superb.

One of my many favorite illustrations accompanies the above-noted passage.  Maude, on the left, her gray hair ringing her face like a halo is lifting her head up as if listening.  She is dressed in warmer clothing in shades of green and red as she works in her garden.  The garden foliage and surrounding trees are in rich autumn browns and golds and cream.  The sky is golden with a much lighter color of turquoise.  Over Maude's left shoulder is an outline of her home.  She is wearing her signature red glasses.

Whether you read this book, The Red Tin Box written by Matthew Burgess with illustrations by Evan Turk, to yourself, one on one with a single listener or as a group read aloud, you might want to have a supply of red tin boxes handy.  This supremely gentle generational story on time and memory is certain to promote discussions as readers are wrapped in the love exuding from the pages.  You will want to have multiple copies of this title in your professional collection and one in your personal collection.

To discover more about Matthew Burgess and Evan Turk and their other work, please access their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Both Matthew and Evan have interior images from this title displayed on their websites.  Matthew Burgess has an account on Instagram.  Evan Turk has accounts on Instagram and Twitter. 

Always There . . .

Early the other morning, before sunrise, the moon, a tiny sliver, was hanging above the golden horizon.  Can you see it framed by the still black lacelike tree branches?  That orb in all its phases has supplied this human with a sense of security and wonder never fading over decades. 
 

Fortunately and with gratitude, my canine companion ensures most days begin and end with views of the moon, when it is visible.  Within the past month, two newly-released picture books focus with great beauty on this celestial sphere.  We believe we are participants in the revelation of a secret when reading Moonlight (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House, August 23, 2022) written and illustrated by Stephen Savage.

Something is on

the move.

We are not told what is on the move, but we follow it.  We shadow it as it traverses through a forest of trees and vines.  It boldly and quickly advances.

It seeks the path of a cascading waterfall and the river which catches that water.  Soon, we see it at sea.  There it appears to stow away on different vehicles, one on the water and the other in the air.

With the agility of an acrobat, it leaps from the sky to a towering point and then trails behind a train.  The train takes it from a pastoral landscape to a city scene.  It pauses.

In that pause, we know, for this day, the exploration has been completed.  We are reassured.  A new journey begins anew . . . tomorrow.

For readers and listeners, the first sentence penned by author Stephen Savage is an irresistible invitation.  It is a statement, but also a question we need to have answered.  For the next five page turns, descriptive, alliterative verbs take us from the forest to the sea.  In our minds, the question is still unanswered, so we proceed with heightened anticipation.  Six more page turns take us into a neighborhood.  We wait. Three final sentences give us our answer.

This technique of having portions of a sentence spread over several page turns makes the reading experience more inclusive for us.  We are captivated and curious.  Here are two of the sentence portions.

hopping off on

a mountaintop,

sliding down

silvery tracks,

The artwork on the dust jacket extends flap edge to flap edge.  On the front, right side, past the forest with the tiny bird in flight, a steamship moves to the right.  The moonlight plays on the water.  The title text is embossed in blue foil.  On the back, to the left of the spine, an airplane streaks past a tall palm tree, flying to the left.  From the dark foliage on the left side, the upper portion of an antelope's body is shown.  It is looking to the right.  The spare color palette, black, white and hues of blue are used throughout the book.

The book case is covered in a deep blue.  On the front the same circular shape, the moon, holds the title text.  This circle supplies a background for the words.  It is the blue foil.  The text is the same color as that used for the book case.

The opening and closing endpapers are either a dark, dark blue or black.  Going from the opening endpapers, the first illustration is wordless.  The moon is peeking between clouds in a blue and black sky.  Its light outlines nearby clouds in white.  For the title page, a double-page picture gives us a peaceful sea setting with the mountains and forest off to the left.

This artwork by Stephen Savage 

was created with Linocuts using Speedball water-based ink on Speedball Arnhem 1618 printmaking paper.

The lines made for each double-page image pair wonderfully with the text, fashioning an enchanting mood.  Color choices for each element lead us into spaces and along in the direction the moonlight takes.  We can almost feel the difference in temperature, sights and sounds as the moonlight progresses as it has for ages.

One of my many favorite illustrations is when the moonlight graces the tops of mountains.  The leafless trees, aspens or birches, stand tall like guardians.  Behind them mountain peaks rise and fall. The entire area is covered in snow kissed by the light of the moon.  As the airplane moves to the right side of the page edge, an owl glides between two featured mountains.  In a word, this picture is serenity.  

Without a doubt, this title, Moonlight written and illustrated by Stephen Savage, will be a much requested title by a group of listeners or when caregivers are soothing their children into dreamland.  We could all use the lure of moonlight to lull us into sleep at the end of any day.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.  (You must read the two dedications.  I got a little teary at both of them.)

To learn more about Stephen Savage and his other work, please visit his website by following the link attached to his name.  Stephen Savage has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  On his Instagram account Stephen has some art process and some sneak peeks.  At the publisher's website, you can download a fun activity.  At Penguin Random House, you can view an interior image.  At Publishers Weekly, Stephen Savage is interviewed about this title.

In all weather and in all seasons, walking outdoors brings breathtaking vistas for all beneath the moon.  Certain factors can cause the moon to appear larger or to shift in color.  Sometimes there are rings of varying sizes around the moon.  No wonder animals howl at it, perhaps in appreciation.

In this next book, Hello, Moon (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, September 20, 2022) written and illustrated by Evan Turk, readers enjoy a tribute to the moon.  We wander outside with a parent and child witnessing the phases of the moon.  We experience its magical light night after night.

Look! The Moon!

Should we go say hello?

Coats, hats, and scarves now worn by the duo cover them as they stand on a hill beneath the moon.  A greeting is shouted.  A conversation continues between the child and the moon.  The moon is reminded that they will return.  And they do.

On another night, the child notices the moon seems to be disappearing.  The parent says little by little the moon is hiding until it is gone.  They go outside to comfort it in its apparent shyness.

Night after night they walk with the moon as it hides and gets smaller.  Some nights are windy and wild and others are silent and soothing.  On the night of the New Moon, they visit the now shuttered light.

The child encourages the moon to be fearless.  The stars surround it with light.  The child tells the moon, they will keep it company until it begins to shine again.  And they do.

Readers are immediately drawn into this story by the child wishing to greet the moon.  This pure inquisitiveness and eagerness is true and refreshing.  That the child continues to speak to the moon then and throughout the book establishes a kinship with not just the moon, but for all things of our natural world.

Evan Turk in this narrative uses dialogue between the parent and child and child and the moon to explain the phases of the moon splendidly.  The portions of the tale are tied together with the repetition of the title phrase each time the parent and child visit the moon.  Here is a passage.

Hello, Moon!

It's such a crisp, clear night.

I can barely see you, but that's okay.

When we're together,

we don't have to be afraid of the dark.

In looking at the open dust jacket it seems the front, right side, is a single-page picture with a more universal night sky on the front flap.  The entire dust jacket is shiny, but when you run your hands over the moon and title text, the texture is slightly rougher.  (Children will love that. I always directed my students to explore the dust jackets and book cases.)

Including the spine, all the way to the left flap edge is a vast skyscape at night.  The colors are deeper and more varied shades of blue and purple with stars of all sizes, resplendent in the sky.  At the bottom of the left flap and crossing the fold to the back is a rounded black hill.  Standing on this hill is the parent and child, tiny in comparison to the sky.  The parent's arms are raised in joy.

On the book case, beneath a sky more the colors on the front of the dust jacket, the parent and child, wearing red coats, stand, hand in hand.  This sky covers most of the back and front with a snowy portion at the bottom.  There we can see the footprints of the duo.  Stretched across this sky, left to right are eight moons.  Each is in a different phase.  

On the opening and closing endpapers is a deep midnight blue.  A part of a full moon hangs above the text on the title page in a sky with a few stars.  Whenever the parent and child are inside, the hues are warm and glowing.  Outside, the shades are blues, blacks, whites, grays, and purples.  Evan Turk made these double-page pictures

with marbling inks and gouache. 

There are wordless pages throughout the book; some of them are double-page images and others are a series of vertical panels across two pages to indicate the passage of time.  The shifting perspectives in the visuals realistically replicate standing beneath a moon and looking skyward.

One of my many favorite illustrations is of the moon half alight in the breezy darkness.  If you've ever walked in the snow on a windy night among the trees, you will understand the angle of the trees and snowy land as depicted by Evan Turk.  This scene gives a true sense of the speed of the wind.  The trees are leaning to the left.  As they are shown, it is as if the moon is nestled in their branches.  To the right of the trees, the parent and child stand in the snow, scarves billowing in the wind.  The parent is holding tightly to both hands of the child.  (I love that their coats are red.  This ties to the warmth found inside their home, but also contrasts well with the nightly color palette.)

Once this book, Hello Moon written and illustrated by Evan Turk, is read, you can expect many more moon watching excursions taken by readers.  This book offers a lovely explanation of the moon's phases within an affectionate parent and child relationship.  It is sure to inspire further research.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To discover more about Evan Turk and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  Evan Turk has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website, you can view several interior images, including the open dust jacket.    

An Eye For Truth

Our view of the world, at a personal, local, state, national, and global level, is determined by more than one thing.  We are shaped by the people who are our family, our closest friends, our colleagues and even those who wish us harm.  We respond to small and large events and those things which register in our minds subconsciously. As whole people, we are comprised of many parts and their particular influences.

When we look back at our lives, we can see this is true.  When we are presented with the facts of prominent people's lives, we understand why they took the direction they did.  The People's Painter: How Ben Shahn Fought For Justice With Art (Abrams Books for Young Readers, April 20, 2021) written by Cynthia Levinson with pictures by Evan Turk is a luminous exploration in words and art of a man who urged others through his creativity to look around and to make what they saw wrong, right.

"The first thing I can remember," Ben said, "I drew."

As a young boy Ben lived in a village in Lithuania.  He drew what he saw; his parents and grandfather making their own kind of art.  Paper was a rarity, so Ben would draw in the margins of Bible story books.  Ben was known for speaking his mind in the classroom.

When he was very young, his father was taken from their home to Siberia.  His father managed to escape to America, asking his family to come there, too.  Ben was only eight.  He, his mother and younger siblings made the journey leaving his grandfather behind.  Already in his young life, change was tarnished with sadness.

Five people in a two-room apartment in a crowded building in a crowded city was difficult, as was the new language, and bullies at school.  Guess what made the bullies stop their taunting?  Several teachers noticed Ben's artistic skills and offered encouragement.  At fourteen his dreams of finishing school and becoming an artist were dashed.  His father lost his job, forcing Ben to quit school and go to work.  Fourteen.

As years passed Ben perfected one form of art during the day and studied at art school at night. The problem was he wanted to paint people and tell their stories.  He left America, traveling to Europe and Africa, finding what would become his signature style.  His first outstanding work was twenty-three pictures telling the story of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.

His depictions of people and injustice were so effective, he was hired in 1935 and again in 1937 by the United States government.  But it was not always smooth for Ben.  There were others who thought his artwork was anti-American.  Ben persevered, bringing inequality into the light.  He was and is remembered as a champion for those whose voices needed to be heard.  (The final three sentences and accompanying double-page image are a breathtaking portrait of a life lived to its fullest, a life lived in the service of others and those yet to be born.)

Even without the extensive back matter, readers are well-aware of the meticulous research employed by author Cynthia Levinson in the writing of this book.  Carefully selected and specific information with the insertion of quotations form, piece by piece, a powerful explanation of this man.  
Cynthia Levinson also chooses the right words to not only inform, but to give readers a very real sense of place, time, and emotional impact.  It is as if we are walking next to Ben Shahn.  Here is a passage.

Ben didn't know yet how to draw his outrage.  But, feeling his father's boldness

inside himself, he marched up to the sentry at the end of the street and shouted,

"Down with the Czar!"

The soldier chased after him, but Ben escaped.

(Ben was four.  This was after his father was taken to Siberia.)

There is strength in the double-page artwork shown on the open dust jacket.  The white doves, a sign of peace amid the pastel background on both sides of the spine, are significant.  On the right, front, Ben and the text are varnished drawing our eyes to him.  To the left, on the back, there is a childlike depiction of Ben's family, his grandfather, parents, and younger siblings done in black.  The doves fan out around them.

For the book case, artist Evan Turk has used the space as a single piece of paper.  Its texture is like whitewash on brown paper.  On the left side, one of Ben's hands holds the paper in place.  On the right side, his other hand, grasping a large pencil, is completing a self-portrait.  Across the top of the left side and continuing to the right of the spine is the outline of a dove in flight.  (This is also a near replica of the first image in the book.)

The opening and closing endpapers are covered in the same color seen on Ben's shirt on the dust jacket.  The initial title page uses the same font as shown on the dust jacket, stating the first three-word title.  On the formal title page, between the text, Ben's hands are releasing the dove so it can fly.  This is done in black outline drawings.

The illustrations for this book were made with gouache, acrylic, pencil, chalk, and linoleum block prints.

All of the pictures, double-page pictures with four full-page images, are full of emotion.  They are bold in color, composition, and their lines.  You can feel the passion which fueled this man and his work.  You know of child Ben's pride in his parent's and grandfather's workmanship.  In this visual, Ben is off to the side with a book.  With a page turn, Ben and the book are enlarged so we can see him drawing in the margins.  The heartbreak at leaving his grandfather is a single page showing the grandfather's hand clasping little Ben's hand.  They don't want to break this connection.  But this is followed by a wordless double-page, three panel depiction of the family's arrival in New York, going through Ellis Island with other immigrants, and embracing a waiting father.

One of my many, many favorite pictures is a double-page image.  It seems to be designed like an open book with the left page smaller in the lower, left hand corner and enlarging as it spreads to and across the gutter filling the entire right side.  Above where the left page begins is black space for the white text.  In that lower, left-hand corner is Ben painting a series of portraits, first in black outlines.  As faces, eyes, hands, and certain circumstances are collaged together, we see a breadth of people forgotten and needing someone to speak for them. Ben does this through his art.  The rich colors accent each individual element. 

One word comes to mind after every reading of this book, gratitude.  There is gratitude for people like Ben Shahn. There is gratitude for people like author Cynthia Levinson and illustrator Evan Turk for making an exquisite book titled The People's Painter: How Ben Shahn Fought For Justice With Art.  At the close of the book are an author's note, an illustrator's note, a timeline with dual columns (Snapshots of Ben Shahn's Life and The Bigger Picture), a selected bibliography including books, personal interviews, site visits, and websites and source notes.  I highly recommend you read this title and place a copy in your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Cynthia Levinson and Evan Turk and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Cynthia Levinson has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.  Evan Turk has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At Evan's website there are interior images in addition to those available at the publisher's website.  Cynthia Levinson and Evan Turk are interviewed at The Horn Book, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal, A Fuse #8 Production about this title.  Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher, interviews Cynthia Levinson for the cover reveal on his site, Watch. Connect. Read.

Preserved Grandeur

The memory of certain beauty, no matter how many decades pass, never leaves.  When you stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon gazing at the vista spread before you, you have to remind yourself to breathe.  An early morning drive through the Great Smoky Mountains feels like you've entered another place in another time, a place when magic is possible.  If you time it right, you'll be looking up more than one hundred feet as Old Faithful, a geyser, erupts in Yellowstone.  Lupines as far as the eye can see, carpet a landscape in Rocky Mountain National Park.  In the silence of a sunrise as the world awaits, the Grand Teton range stands like ancient sentinels, guardians of the world spread before them.

The designation of national parks throughout the United States protects diverse ecosystems.  They provide protected spaces in a variety of geographic locations for more than 300 million visitors each year.  You Are Home: An Ode to the National Parks (Atheneum Books For Young Readers, June 4, 2019) written and illustrated by Evan Turk is a spectacular and intimate journey to twenty-three of the parks.

To the chipmunk in her burrow,
sleeping beneath the leaves to keep warm;

Traveling from the Shenandoah in Virginia, we see giants plow through snow in Yellowstone in winter.  The bison brave weather in all the seasons.  Wildflowers swaying in breezes and pronghorn grazing on grasses are seen in Colorado at the Great Sand Dunes.  All these animals and the flora around them call these places home.

Bobcats, fireflies, and elk roam these locations, their relatives residents for generations.  Whether you come from city streets or sprawling farmlands, this is home.  For people calling this home for the first time and for people calling it home before anyone else, this land is for all to enjoy.

Rock formations like alien architecture, mountaintops like stairways to the stars, trees towering like they belong in a land of giants and coral reefs creating castles for marine life, are only some of the majestic sights to be scene in our national parks.  Wherever you travel, whatever you see, hear, smell, taste or touch, all these things in these preserved regions are home to you and many others.  These national parks are constantly in motion through the activities of the wildlife, the flow of water, the erosion of rocks and soil and the changing views throughout the seasons.

Even with changes something remains the same.  It is a melody sung in every corner of every national park.  You can feel its notes playing in your soul, connecting you to that which surrounds you.  It is a single word with the warmth, serenity and comfort of an embrace.


The poetic phrases penned by Evan Turk are a soothing symphony; taking us on a journey through the best this planet has to offer us.  Each combination of words appeals to our senses as we become acquainted with the flora, fauna and scenic vistas.  Regardless of where we originate, Evan Turk ties us to these national parks, allowing us to call one or all home.  Here is a passage.

to the herds of elk
trumpeting the arrival of fall;

to the forests of twinkling aspen
turned golden by the shortening days:

you are home.

When you open the dust jacket two magnificent scenes are spread before you.  We stand with two others looking over flowers, water, hills and mountains in California before our eyes turn to the left, on the back.  (The three-word title on the front is embossed in gold.)  We are in Virginia with the rolling hills of a valley spread before us.  In the lower right-hand corner, the chipmunk from the first passage watches.  Accolades for three of Evan's other titles appear in a framed rectangle superimposed on this view.  The background for the text is like vellum.  It's partially transparent.

The book case in rich colors of red, purple, orange and green portray a view of a canyon with a river in turquoise like a ribbon winding through the steep walls.  This is more of an abstract depiction but stunning, nonetheless.  On the opening and closing endpapers, we visit first Acadia and then Olympic.  In the first a setting sun radiates golden light on water and a rugged shoreline.  In the second night fashions shadows of tall rocky spires against a star-studded sky.  

For the title page the scene on the back of the dust jacket is extended to the left on another page providing a place for the dedication and publication information.  All the illustrations are rendered in pastel on black paper and most span two pages.   Single page pictures emphasize the pacing of the narrative.  Whether Evan Turk takes you close to a sleeping chipmunk or to watch others walk through the Arches or among soaring birds in the Everglades, each image is heart-stopping gorgeous.  

The color palette, time of day and season of the year are presented with polished skill.  Each visual conveys not only a particular park but the passion of this author and illustrator for his art.  With each page turn you find yourself inwardly gasping at the Earth's elegance before you.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is in Yellowstone (the first National Park).  To the left rolling hills studded with trees are snow-covered.  The air is filled with snow.  A river winds through the landscape along the bottom.  Bison are grazing.  On the right the animals are closer to us and in the foreground, ready to move.  Behind them a darker, snow-covered view moves to the top of the page and to the right.  There is a very real sense of majesty in every element of this picture.

After you've read You Are Home: An Ode to the National Parks written and illustrated by Evan Turk, you'll go back to read it repeatedly but only after you've paused in stunned silence first.  This is a showpiece, a work of art.  At the conclusion of the book, Evan Turk has two pages of notes, including a portion about the art.  It is followed by a map of the National Parks Of The United States with thumbprints of those parks featured in this title on the right. There is one final page titled:

More About The Parks And Animals In This Book.

Make sure you have a copy of this book for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Evan Turk and his other work, please follow the link attached to this name to access his website.  Evan Turk highlights interior images from this title.  He has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Evan writes a guest post on The TeachingBooks.net blog about this book.  The cover reveal is hosted by teacher librarian Matthew Winner.  Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher, premieres the book trailer at Watch. Connect. Read.  Evan Turk is interviewed at The Booking Biz.  This title is highlighted by author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  At the publisher's website you can view interior pictures.

UPDATE:  Evan Turk is interviewed at Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb on June 27, 2019.

This book is so important and lovely, I am happy to give away a copy to one fortunate winner.  Good luck!

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

Can You Hear It?

Early this morning looking up and out the large sliding glass door to the backyard, the sight of two tiny fawns with two adults left me breathless.  The color of their coats against the green is striking this time of year.  The older deer were enjoying the sweet taste of fresh grass tinged with morning dew.  Scampering and eating, oblivious to any possible danger, the little ones were marvelous to watch.


The wild reminds us multiple times each day of their closeness to us.  It is a welcome reminder.  It is a necessary reminder.  We share this planet and there is a place for every living thing on it.  Heartbeat (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, June 12, 2018) written and illustrated by Evan Turk tells us about two voices and a single song.

heart . . .
beat . . .  
One heart beats.

This heart resides inside an adult whale.  Soon it is joined by the gentle cadence of an unborn calf's heart.  After its birth the two swim together with their hearts beating together.  They raise their voices in a single song.

The ocean is theirs until it isn't.  The mother is slain.  Now one heart beats in complete solitude. The calf sings a single song.

The mother (and too many like her) are taken from the seas to be used by humans for light, machines, and weapons in two wars.  Ten times ten decades pass.  A single beating heart bears witness.

Ten times ten decades pass once more.  A single whale with a single heartbeat continues to sing a single song.  There is a child, a human child.  This girl hears.  At last two beating hearts are united creating a chorus to sing one memorable melody.


When Evan Turk writes, we lean in and listen.  He chooses his words well.  His text is spare but charged with emotion. By repeating the words heartbeat, heart, beat and song we become entwined in this story.  When he enumerates the words ocean, song, body, light, machine, war, gun, bomb, mouth, life and year, he brings us deeper into this saga.  Toward the end his use of one over and over leads us with gentle tension building to a hopeful conclusion.  Here are two of those five phrases.

One planet, one song.
One message across the cosmic ocean.


The dust jacket, completely varnished with the text on the front raised and rich in color, reaches out and embraces the reader.  We are caught in the movement of ocean, whales, beating hearts and song from the right, across the spine and to the left.  On the book case the beating heart is enlarged to become the canvas for the title, Heartbeat.  The opening and closing endpapers are a deep soft black.

Beneath Evan Turk's name on the title page, the title is written in chalk or crayon, white on an array of color.  It's as if we are looking at the universe.  Then we turn to the first two words, one on the left and the other on the right, framing the heart.

Rendered in pastel and charcoal on black paper, collage, and tracing paper most of the illustrations span two pages.  We feel an immediate connection which only strengthens picture by picture.  Deep hues of blue color the underwater scenes. The newborn is shown in shades of red beside its mother.  After her death the young whale and older whale are white and black on black.

During the portion of the story in speaking about humans and their use of whales most of the color is absent, signifying a dark time for whales and for us.  With the introduction of the girl, drawn in white and filled with purple, hope returns.  So does the vibrant color palette.

One of my many favorite illustrations is on a single page.  It is of the child on the boat after she hears the whale's song.  It is a close-up of her.  She is surrounded by black with threads of gentle whorls, the notes of the song. Head bowed and eyes closed, both of her hands are placed over her heart which is glowing yellow.  The contrast of purple, black and yellow is gorgeous.


Moving, truthful and timelier than ever Heartbeat written and illustrated by Evan Turk is a call for us to protect and preserve.  It is one book with one story about what millions can do.  This beautiful title belongs on all professional and personal bookshelves.

To learn more about Evan Turk and his other work, please visit his website by following the link attached to his name.  Evan's blog is located here.  To view interior images please visit the publisher's website.  Enjoy the book trailer and an additional video with music and Evan's exquisite illustrations.

Update:  Evan and this title are highlighted at Let's Talk Picture Books by Mel Schuit on June 5, 2018.  There's loads of process art and a peek at his 2019 book, You Are Home: An Ode to the National Parks.

     

He Heeded His Heart

It seems a recurring theme permeates picture book biographies.  It is a theme which serves to inspire anyone who reads or listens to these titles being read to them.  The people being showcased in these books, who have left a lasting mark on human history, pursue their heart's desire.  They never, never, ever give up.  Regardless of advice given, they stay true to their dreams.  They believe in their capabilities.  For this reason our world is better for them having lived their lives as they did.

It does not matter when the creative spark finds a way into their heart.  For some it ignites when they are older.  For others it flickers into existence when they are children.  Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, September 5, 2017) written by Michael Mahin with illustrations by Evan Turk lifts up the life of a musical legend.

McKINLEY
MORGANFIELD 
was never good at doing what he was told.

McKinley lost his mama when he was very young but she and his Grandma Della could not keep that child out of the mud.  For some children it's not enough to be close to the earth, they like to be in it and feel it on their bodies.  It's as if they want Mother Nature's rhythm to be their rhythm.  Grandma Della finally gave him the name Muddy and it stuck.

Muddy loved music; the music sung out loud in church and the blues heard at gatherings.  Grandma Della was not a fan.  She believed music and blues music was a poor way to make a living.  Muddy went ahead and made instruments with whatever he could find.  He played.  She danced.

One night Muddy learned a new sound from blues musician Son House.  He stored it his mind's repertoire.  When he wasn't working in the cotton fields as a sharecropper, he was strumming on his guitar.  Then one day he traded those cotton fields in Mississippi for the city of Chicago, Illinois.

Although the blues melodies were being played already, no one played them like Muddy.  People loved his style.  Two possible records deals did not work in Muddy's favor but Leonard Chess, record producer, wanted to give Muddy a chance.  Muddy did not want to do it Leonard's way so Leonard agreed to do it Muddy's way.  It worked.  It worked in a big way.


You have to admit reading the words of Michael Mahin are like listening to Muddy Waters music; he's really captured the beat of his blues.  Each series of sentences mirrors a rhythmic tune.  His use of descriptive adjectives and verbs is exemplary.  Words in italics read like song lyrics and repeat during the narrative.  Frequently we are reminded Muddy

was never good at doing what he was told.

This phrase ties the verses of Muddy's life together, showing us persistence pays.  Here are two sample passages.

The clack-a-track, steam-blur
of an Illinois Central train
rocketed Muddy and his guitar
into the bustle and buzz
of Chicago's South Side.

Chicago was plugged in,
turned on, and turned up.
And so was its music.
Records with electrified guitar
and jazzy horns were making the blues
jump all over town.


One look at the matching dust jacket and book case will have you dancing.  The lines and color choices by illustrator Evan Turk reach out and wrap around readers.  They literally vibrate.  On the left front we see representations from where Muddy came and then on the right where he resided to make his music.  To the left, on the back, Evan Turk has fashioned a large record with one of Michael Mahin's sentences running around the edge.  The record is placed on a blue (with a hint of purple) background with orange accents.

The opening and closing endpapers are a rich chocolate brown.  The first page holds the word Muddy on black with muted golden zig-zags on the top and bottom.  A page turn takes us to a two-page image for the title.  A large river flows through the Mississippi landscape replete with cotton fields.  A small cabin is tucked in the lower left-hand corner.  The verso and dedication pages show two perspectives of cotton, as if we are about to pick it and away in a field.

You have to marvel at all the two page (and several single-page) illustrations created by Evan Turk.  Each one rendered in

watercolor, oil pastel, china marker, printing ink, and newspaper collage 

is a study in perspective, bringing us very close to certain elements with others farther away, a more distant view.  They are full of the hardship felt by Muddy, the difficulties he worked around and through and the glory of triumph.  Large areas of color within these pictures leave a place for the text.

One of my many favorite illustrations is when Muddy arrives in Chicago.  On the left he stands near a street light with his guitar on this back and a suitcase held in his left hand   In front of him a taxi rushes by on a city street.  Newspaper clipping are blended with colors and shapes to indict the hustle of life in Chicago.  People are walking on the sidewalks, some more in the distance and others, like on the right, a couple, close to the reader.


The first thing you will do after reading Muddy:  The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters written by Michael Mahin with illustrations by Evan Turk is seek out his music.  (I recommend you read it again with a song playing in the background.)  Despite obstacle after obstacle, Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield) succeeded on a grand scale.  Reading this book makes you stop and think about what you want most.  Then it challenges you to make the dreams you hold in your heart a reality.  This book needs to be on every professional and personal bookshelf.

To learn more about Michael Mahin and Evan Turk and their other work, please follow the links embedded in their names to access their websites.  Michael Mahin has a post, On Racism, On Multiculturalism, and My Book Muddy:  The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters you will want to read.  Evan Turk maintains a blog here.  At the publisher's website you can view several interior images.  Both Michael Mahin and Evan Turk join teacher librarian Matthew C. Winner at All The Wonders, Episode 388.  The work of Evan Turk is highlighted by author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson on her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, here and about this book, specifically, here.  Evan is interviewed at Mile High Reading by Dylan Teut, director of Plum Creek Children's Literacy Festival and at Deborah Kalb's website.  Muddy:  The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters has received a Parent's Choice Gold Award and was named one of The New York Times The Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2017.  Please enjoy the book trailer.




Please talk a few moments to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the other titles selected by bloggers this week participating in the 2017 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Power Of The Human Voice

As an educator and storyteller there is one moment in the 1987 film Three Men and a Baby which stands out more than any of the other, albeit, funny incidents.  It focuses on reading aloud and the sound of the human voice.  Do you remember this?



When reading aloud to our children and students, without a doubt the words and images on the page convey more than we can fully understand given the life experiences each listener brings with them but our vocal interpretations have the ability to heighten those words and images.

If this is our belief, let's take it a step further to the cultural artistry of oral storytelling.  There are several versions of a tale regarding the placement of televisions in the homes of an African village.  Upon visiting the village an anthropologist notes the televisions have been removed from the homes and stacked in storage.  When the village elder is asked why his people would give up the opportunity to listen to and view more stories than they have ever heard from a traditional teller, his reply is the storyteller knows us.  The gift of storytelling is a personal connection.  The spoken words are passed from heart to heart, sometimes for generations.


No matter how many times a well-told tale is heard the power does not diminish, it grows.  The Storyteller (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, June 28, 2016) written and illustrated by Evan Turk is such a tale.  On the first reading it envelopes you and does not leave.  With each subsequent reading, your reader's heart expands with its power.

LONG, LONG AGO,
like a pearl around a grain of sand, the fertile Kingdom of Morocco formed near the edge of the great, dry Sahara.

In the beginning water and storytellers were bountiful in this kingdom.  Over time the people took this generosity bestowed upon them for granted.  Water no longer flowed from the fountains and one by one the storytellers faded from their midst.  Out in the great Sahara this was noticed.

A young boy longing for water wandered in the Great Square one day receiving the gift of a brass cup from a water-seller.  This seller had no water but he encouraged the boy, if he found water, to give some to others.  As the boy made his way home, an ancient voiced called out to him.

As requested the boy sat down being told by the elder his thirst would be quenched.  The boy listened as a tale was told of a blind woman, a young girl, plentiful water and a fantastical blue bird.  At the end of the story, the child's brass cup was full of water.  When the boy asked a question, the old man told him to return.  In the desert something grew larger.

For the next two days, the boy returned to the ancient one and heard two more wondrous stories.  In the desert the size of the sandstorm had grown so large it covered the light of the sun.  As the third tale ended, the enormous swirl of dust appeared at the gate of the boy's city.  It assumed the shape and voice of a demanding genie bent on destruction.

Not only had the boy's brass cup been filled with water for three days but his heart was full of those stories.  He approached the evil knowing what must be done.  Day after day, inside his city, another presence grew.  A story within a story...within a story...within a story...within a story...


When you begin reading this narrative by Evan Turk time truly stands still.  The words, the blend of conversation and narrative Turk uses dissolve the world around you until everything is this story and this story alone.  You are drawn to the ancient one as surely as if you are the boy; then you become the other characters in the other stories.  The connection is strong.

Turk employs the rule of three more than once generating a cadence.  He also uses a singular phrase over and over---

that is a story for another day.

Tension and anticipation appear in equal measure when in the Great Square stories unfold as danger builds in the desert.  Here are two sample sentences.

The man's face cracked like dry mud to reveal a toothless grin.  "Sit down, my boy, and your thirst shall be quenched."
The old man's voice rumbled like a spring from deep within the earth, and he began:
Not so long ago there was a terrible drought in the nearby villages.


The matching dust jacket and book case promise great things to readers. With raised arms the teller speaks as a child listens.  Is the shape his voice or is it the bird?  The clouds of the Sahara dust rise around them.  To the left, on the back, text appears within the frame of a Moroccan doorway.  Gold foil creates majestic boundaries.  A collage of textured fabrics supplies a geographic display of Morocco, the surrounding countries, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea on the opening endpapers.  Large indigo brush strokes over textile patterns appear on the closing endpapers.  It is here Evan Turk supplies readers with an informative and passionate Author's Note. 

The illustrations in this title rendered in water-soluble crayon, colored drawing pencils, inks, indigo, sugared green tea, a heat gun and fire all span two pages in breathtaking, exquisitely detailed splendor.  Each image asks us to stop to enjoy the visual story being told as it enhances the text.  I found myself looking for a center in each of them, knowing all the other elements were radiating from this focal point.  When the old man is speaking to the boy, a very specific border, intricate in design, encloses those portions of the picture.

One of my many favorite illustrations has a more limited color palette than the others using shades of blue and brown predominantly.  To the left the young girl who has been sent to speak with the blind woman is gazing at her expectantly.  The old woman with eyes closed, picturing the story as she speaks, has her hands raised near her face.  In front of her is the blue bird.  The patterns on the clothing worn by both are truly lovely.


The Storyteller written and illustrated by Evan Turk is stunning in words and images.  This book casts a spell over readers, a spell which lingers even after the covers are closed.  This is a title to share repeatedly.  I highly recommend it be placed on your personal and professional shelves.

To learn more about Evan Turk and his other work please visit his website and blog by following the links attached to his name.  A website is devoted to this title with a link here.  Be sure to follow the link to a Publishers Weekly highlight on The Storyteller in pictures.  Interior images are available for you to view at the publisher's website.  Evan Turk is a featured guest at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  It's a virtual children's literature feast of information.  The premiere for the book trailer is showcased at Scholastic's Ambassador for School Libraries John Schumacher's blog, Watch. Connect. Read.  Enjoy the video below as Evan Turk talks about a portion of his illustrative process.



UPDATE:  Evan Turk is a guest on the All The Wonders Podcast, Episode 271 with teacher librarian Matthew C. Winner. 

UPDATE:  All The Wonders has an entire page devoted to this title with a range of activities November 14, 2016

What Do You Choose?

Our lives are filled with choices.  If you stop to think about it, when during your day is a choice not being made?  Some decisions are instinctive or involuntary, others arise from external encouragement and many are motivated by something within us.

Growing up, discovering who you are and how to live your life, is no easy task.  Whatever circumstances have placed you where you are, as a child, are usually beyond your control.  Having parents, grandparents or persons on your family tree, famous or infamous, presents promises or problems or both.

One word immediately comes to mind when you think of Mahatma (Mohandas K.) Gandhi, peace.  For his fifth grandson, peace did not come easily to his restless soul.  Grandfather Gandhi (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, March 11, 2014) written by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus with illustrations by Evan Turk with informed elegance gifts an important lesson to readers.

We arrived at Sevagram, Grandfather's service village, dusty and dirty.  

Young Arun feels a deep sense of accomplishment when his Grandfather praises his efforts during their first meeting at Sevagram.  This is quickly replaced with frustration at having to share time spent with his Grandfather with three hundred fifty other persons.  Lying in bed that evening the young man worried about being a Gandhi; measuring up to expectations.

Mornings began in prayer followed by chores and lessons and then games of soccer filled Arun's days for the first week.  He excelled at soccer; lessons not so much.  And he waited and waited for time spent alone with his Grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi.

During the second week his Grandfather came to him, asking him to go for a walk.  Questions are asked; irritations are aired.  When an aide comes to take Grandfather away, even after his wise reply to Arun, the boy feels his disquiet growing.  Each small pebble of annoyance in his day is adding to create a rocky roadblock.

A single act on the soccer field that afternoon incites an emotional explosion.  Arun desperately seeks his Grandfather.  Grandfather Gandhi, leader of many, with compassion and love for his grandson takes an element of nature fashioning it into a guide for living.

Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus begin this book with a letter dated December 17, 1945 from Grandfather Gandhi to his grandson; allowing readers to gain an understanding of the love between the two.  They close with an explanation of their collaborative process.  In between these two important pages we readers gain a glimpse of the greatness of Gandhi's teachings.

With simple but descriptive sentences we gain a real sense of place and time.  Twelve-year-old Arun reveals details of his days that make us feel as if we are a part of his story.  His recollection of the defining day, when Grandfather Gandhi tells the story about anger, is so vivid you feel as if Gandhi is speaking to you now.  Here is a single passage.

Mother ushered Ela and me to bed.  The air was so thick and hot, we slept under the stars to keep cool.  I tossed and turned, wondering what the next day would bring.
Finally I fell asleep, after even the earth seemed to quiet.


Rendered in watercolor, paper collage, cotton fabric, cotton, yarn, gouache, pencil, tea and tin foil the illustrations by Evan Turk are breathtaking, brimming with emotion.  As is my practice I opened the dust jacket and removed it to expose the book case.  Their matching pictures draw the reader into the world of Arun and Mahatma Gandhi; first by asking us to walk with them and on the back a circle, cut in quarters, visualizes the daily tasks at Sevagram.  Navy spinning wheels in various sizes cover the pale golden green opening and closing endpapers.

The initial two pages highlighting the letter has a portion of a spinning wheel on the left, thread extending to the right, cotton held in a hand, with the letter resting above.  Each picture is richly depicted in warm shades of brown, golden yellow, orange, coral, red, pink, and purple with splashes of blue and green against the bright white of clothing.  For most of the pages when Grandfather Gandhi is telling his story to Arun the elements of these visuals are shown in silhouette.  With only a few exceptions the illustrations fill two pages.

One of my favorite visuals shows Arun and Grandfather Gandhi walking along a road toward the morning sun.  A patchwork of patterns delineates the activities along the roadside as people go about their daily tasks.  Like the words of Gandhi peace permeates the pages.


I can think of no book more beautiful or important than Grandfather Gandhi written by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus with illustrations by Evan Turk to introduce readers to this most memorable man.  His message is lovingly portrayed in a marvelous blend of text and pictures. I can already hear the discussions with children after a reading of this title.

Please follow the links embedded in the authors' and illustrator's names to access their websites.  There is a separate website for the book offering numerous resources. Enjoy the videos below.





It is a pleasure to participate in the 2014 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge hosted by Alyson Beecher at Kid Lit Frenzy each week.  With every book my knowledge of the world grows a little bit more.