Finding Fearlessness

Fear always finds a way to wiggle into our lives.  Most of us have one thing that escapes our bravery.  Some fears seem as though they've been a part of us from the beginning.  Other worries are sneakier.  Seemingly, all of a sudden, what we once did without a thought, we now avoid.

Sometimes those things we dread, old and new, are vanquished.  The answer to dispelling them may be closer than we can know.  Courage Hats (Chronicle Books, March 22, 2022) written by Kate Hoefler with illustrations by Jessixa Bagley follows two individuals as they face fear in their own, but same, unique manner. 

Not everyone loves a train.

That's the world.

Even though trains are not a favorite mode of travel, sometimes you have to ride one to get where you are going.  Mae, a little girl, did not want to ride a train.  Bear, a younger bear, did not want to ride a train.  Mae did not want to go through forests where bears lived.  Bear did not want to go where people resided in the cities.

Mae and Bear decide to make their own courage.  They make hats to wear.  Mae's hat makes her look like a bear.  Bear's hat makes him look like a person.

Bear and Mae find each other on the train.  Bear looks like a grown-up human and Mae looks like a cub.  Each is comfortable with the other one.

They play with Mae's tea set.  They eat Bear's snacks.  Every moment they spend together sharing what they see from the train windows expands their view of the world in the forest and the city.  At their destination, several surprises are revealed.

The simple sentences penned by Kate Hoefler resonate with truth.  The use of identical words in different order supply readers with the similarity between the girl and the bear.  The repetition of phrases uttered by each with small word changes further binds the duo.  Each faces their fear by discovering togetherness eases that worry.  The cadence provided by Kate Hoefler's words is not unlike that of a train moving down the tracks.  Here is a passage.

No matter how you feel about a train,

someone else feels the same way.

You're lucky if that someone has a blanket and snack.

When you open the dust jacket, the design of the sides of the train extends flap edge to flap edge.  The train windows continue on the back, with the only break being the spine.  Bear is not the only animal riding the rails.  To the left of the spine, on the back, a wild boar is reading a book opposite a human male passenger.  A male deer with antlers is seated opposite the writer we see on the front, right side, of the jacket.  Truthfully, Bear and Mae wearing their hats and smiling as they watch the world pass outside the train is pure happiness.

On the book case, the train design is used again.  On the front, right side, we see Bear walking to the left as does Mae seen through another window.  On the back, three bunnies are looking outside as another person writes.  In the final portion of a window, on the left, a bear wearing a hat is resting.

The opening endpapers in purple with white polka-dots is the same pattern on Mae's headband.  On the closing endpapers, in lavender with white polka-dots, we see the same markings as on Bear's blanket.  On the verso and dedication page, we are looking at the top portion of Bear and Mae in their hats along the bottom of the page.

Illustrator Jessixa Bagley used

graphite and watercolor

to render these pictures.  Each page turn presents readers with a double-page or single-page image, edge to edge, or a single-page visual in a circular shape with elements outside the frame.  In several illustrations, Jessixa Bagley alters her perspective giving us a bird-eye view outside and inside the train.  There are also several wordless images, a group of four smaller pictures, a double-page image, and a single-page illustration.  These are wonderful dramatic pauses.

The textures in each illustration are soft and inviting.  The full-color pictures are full of fine lines and delicate details.  Readers are certain to enjoy the variety of expressions on the faces of Mae and Bear.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture.  In the foreground, close to us, are the backs of Bear's and Mae's heads, hands and paws resting on the window sills, as they watch the world outside the train. (They are still wearing their hats.) It is a pastoral landscape with rolling hills in shades of green, golden yellow, and brown.  Birds fly in both directions across a pale blue sky.

We are reminded in this book, Courage Hats written by Kate Hoefler with artwork by Jessixa Bagley, there is usually someone needing the same kind of bravery we are seeking.  The rhythmic words, at times lyrical observations, paired with the wonderful drawings and paintings will find a permanent place in many readers' hearts.  You will want to place a copy of this book in both your personal and professional collections.

Author Kate Hoefler has an account on Instagram.  To learn more about Jessixa Bagley and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Jessixa Bagley has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  This book is highlighted by librarian and writer John Sch on his blog, Watch. Connect. Read.  You will love his conversation with both Kate Hoefler and Jessixa Bagley.  Author, reviewer, and blogger, Julie Danielson features this book on her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Kate Hoefler is interviewed about this book on Max's Boat.  At the publisher's website, you can see more interior images.

At times, overwhelmed, we decide to walk away from a challenge.  It is easier and more favorable than an uncertain outcome.  We believe we are not what is expected of us.  In their collaboration, Mac Barnett & Marla Frazee Present The Great Zapfino (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, April 5, 2022), this duo encourages us to take a leap (literally) of faith in our abilities.

Behold:

THE GREAT

ZAPFINO!  

A ringmaster announces the death-defying deed The Great Zapfino is about to perform.  Climbing a ladder to a platform ten stories in the air, this man will leap and land on a small trampoline.  The audience barely breathes watching Zapfino climb the ladder.

Zapfino, clad in striped clothing and wearing a cape, stands on the edge of the diving board.  He stands there and stands there.  He does not leap.  He climbs back down and runs far and fast from the circus.  He boards a plane and flies to a new seaside city.  There, he takes a job in a tall building as the elevator operator.

Zapfino is good at his job, chatting with people and making friends to and from each floor.  At night, he enjoys in his small room a meal of toast before looking out his window from the top floor.  Day in and day out, he finds himself loving his job and his simple afternoons and evenings.

One late afternoon, he falls asleep before taking the toast out of the toaster.  It catches on fire, filling his room with smoke.  He knows the only way to avoid disaster is through his window.  The fire department has arrived.  Below, the firepeople hold a small trampoline.  We have come full circle.

Behold!

This narrative conceived by Mac Barnett is as stunning as the described and realized feat of Zapfino.  The majority of the text is found in the ringmaster's introduction of this circus performer prior to his 

LEAP for LIFE.

This introduction allows us to see what potential is within Zapfino, waiting to be released.  Two other times the word Zapfino appears alone and then along with the single word which asks us to pause and observe.  Here is a single sentence from the ringmaster's opening.

Zapfino will dodge peril

and brave calamity in an impossible

feat of derring-do!

Beginning on the matching and open dust jacket and book case, the artwork

rendered in black Primacolor pencil on Dura-Lar matte film

for all the images in this title by Marla Frazee is a fantastic feast for our minds and hearts.  The billowing curtain proclaiming The Great Zapfino is pulled aside by a man who is unsure of his greatness.  On the front the text is raised to the touch.  On the back, on a soft white background, is Zapfino walking toward an as-yet-unknown destination.  He is carrying a box that appears to hold a toaster.  In the other hand, he holds a bag of bread.  His cape with the large "Z" floats behind him.

The opening and closing endpapers are a matte black finish.  On the title page, Zapfino stands before the circus tent opening.  Above the opening is the title text and the author and illustrator names.

With every page turn, we find scenes in various perspectives in the signature style of Marla Frazee.  A small Zapfino walks into the enormous tent.  As he climbs higher on the ladder, the trampoline, ringmaster and audience get smaller and smaller.   In the first depiction of him on the end of the diving board, the last sentence is read.  This is the moment of Zapfino's decision.  This is the moment the wordless images of Marla Frazee tell a impressive pictorial story.

For his thinking about whether to leap or not there is a series of six small pictures.  In the last one, the facial expression of Zapfino really does speak volumes.  In each subsequent scene, we seek the figure wearing the striped suit and cape.  When he gets the position at the seaside building, his garb during work hours changes.  

To show his success as an elevator operator, nine small illustrations on a single page portray the interior of the elevator and the array of people Zapfino services.  Exquisite details depict the inside of his room and how his afternoons and evenings unfold.  The next time his work is presented to us, it is a series of twenty interior views of the elevator.  (No wonder he falls asleep without taking the toast out of his toaster.)  The two-page picture of smoke swirling from the window of Zapfino's room as he stands on the ledge outside his top-floor residence with all the tiny people below will take your breath away.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a single-page picture.  We are shown the top five floors of the building at night.  Stars cover the sky on the right.  The last window on the top floor has a light shining in it.  Zapfino, head up, leans out the window, enjoying the night.  He is a man at peace.

Readers of all ages, individuals and groups, will request to read Mac Barnett & Marla Frazee Present The Great Zapfino over and over again.  Each time you read it, the thrill of Zapfino's success will warm you from the top of your head to the tip of your toes.  Readers understand fear disappears when it needs to the most.  I highly recommend you place a copy of this title in your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Mac Barnett and Marla Frazee and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Mac Barnett has an account on Instagram.  Marla Frazee has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Please enjoy this interview of Marla Frazee at KidLit411.  This title is showcased at author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  The interview with Marla Frazee is fabulous as are all the process pictures and artwork.  (WOW!)  This book in a conversation with Barnett and Frazee is featured on NPR Picture This.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior illustrations including the open dust jacket.

Perfecting A Talent

Each one of us has one gift or more.  In our lifetimes, we will determine whether to embrace or set aside these gifts.  We will decide to use them to benefit a few or many.  Ultimately, the choice is entirely our own.

As a child, opportunities seem plentiful.  We look around noticing what others do and wonder what is best for us.  It's selecting one thing and then achieving it which can be a challenge. In the newest collaboration by author Atinuke and illustrator Angela Brooksbank (Baby Goes to Market and B Is for Baby) Catch That Chicken! (Candlewick Press, July 7, 2020) introduces readers to a little girl with the gifts of speed, agility, and courage.  These traits make her the best chicken catcher in her village. 

This is Lami.
Lami loves chickens.
Luckily, Lami lives
in a compound . . .

with lots and lots of chickens.

As Lami races through her village after a particularly fast bird, friends, siblings, and adult family members call to her.

"Catch that chicken!"

Using all the right moves, Lami is soon holding that hen in her arms.  No one can surpass the skills of Lami.

Her sister Sadia is a whiz at spelling, but not as fast as Lami is catching chickens.  No one can braid hair as quickly as Lami's friend Fatima, but Lami is quicker at catching chickens.  Lami's brother, Bilal works with bulls.  This takes bravery, but Lami has more courage.

Running with her usual speed, one morning Lami bolts through a pen for the livestock.  Everywhere she goes in her village, everyone shouts at her to

"SLOW DOWN!"

Lami is so focused on getting that chicken, she chases it up a gigantic baobab tree.  Everyone is still calling for her to slow down.  She does not listen.  YIKES!  Lami falls from the baobab tree.

Her sprained ankle swells, and she cries in pain.  How will she catch chickens now?  Nana Nadia comes, sits next to her, and offers her some wisdom.  Lami takes Nana Nadia's words and rolls them around in her mind.  She knows what she must do. She does it because her reputation is consistent and constant, unwavering.


In one of the best storytelling traditions, the words penned by Atinuke invite reader participation.  Her simple, declarative sentences blend perfectly with the exclamations of people residing in the village with Lami.  Repetition of words creates a catchy cadence.  Alliteration is used to great effect.  Comparisons in a sequence of three lead readers to the fateful day when Lami learns of another gift she possesses.  Here is a passage.

Lami leans!
Lami lunges!
Lami leaps!


You simply cannot look at the matching dust jacket and book case front (on the right of the opened jacket and case) without smiling.  Lami and the chicken she is embracing are colorful and endearing.  You expect them to begin moving at any moment.  The cream canvas is ideal for accentuating Lami and the hen.  Lami, the chicken and the title text are varnished.  To the left, on the back, text from the interior of the book is placed above three other chickens casually standing in the village.  They are in different postures.  The spine is decorated with a spring green and yellow pattern.

On the opening and closing endpapers two shades of spring green and brushes of white supply readers with a folk pattern found in the fabric of clothing.  The title, dedication and verso pages are one and the same with Lami already running after that chicken.  The background here and throughout the book is white.  The vibrant hues reach out and wrap around readers.

Each of the illustrations rendered in mixed media by Angela Brooksbank portray the liveliness of Lami and her gifts.  The image sizes range from double-page pictures, to a group of smaller visuals on a single page and to full-page pictures.  White space acts as an additional element, framing all the bright elements within each image.  For two pages to heighten the drama unfolding, Angela Brooksbank places three horizontal panels on each page.  Three of them are wordless.  She employs this same technique on another single page.  The point of view in her illustrations shifts to heighten the rhythm of the narrative, moving from close-up to the characters and then to a more panoramic outlook.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is the first double-page picture as the story starts.  We are close to Lami and the chickens.  Five chickens cover, left to right, the lower half of the image.  On the right Lami squats. Her left hand is resting on her left knee.  Her right hand is outstretched as if in greeting.  Her lips are parted as she speaks.  In this moment we know Lami does indeed love chickens.  They must love her, too, because they look as if they are listening, even as two lower their heads seeking food.


If you are looking for a joyful story with a clever protagonist, this book, Catch That Chicken! written by Atinuke with illustrations by Angela Brooksbank is the perfect choice.  Readers will readily join in repeating the phrases.  This would be a great selection for readers' theater.  I know you'll want a copy for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Atinuke, follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Atinuke has an account on Facebook.  Angela Brooksbank has an account on Instagram.   At the publisher's website you can view an interior illustration.  At Penguin Random House you can view other interior illustrations.

All In A Week

For those who've grown up in a small town, you know what life there can mean to you.  There will be moments when you long to leave, yearning for more of anything.  Even if you do go to make a life elsewhere in a larger community, there will come a time when you recall all the benefits of living in a quieter place where everyone knows who you are and, for the most part, is friendly and willing to lend a helping hand.

For neighbors, adults and children alike, to be able to walk their city streets feeling safe and secure is a wonderful accomplishment.  To leave the comfort of their home and stroll to the local grocery store, bakery, hardware shop, drug store, post office, bank, school, public library, flower shop, park or even a doctor or dentist is not something many are still able to do.  It seems today our communities are spread across larger distances.

If you are willing, let's step back in time and revisit a town called Bloomville.  We first traveled there in the marvelous book called Lucy (Candlewick Press, August 2, 2016) written and illustrated by Randy Cecil.  In a companion title, Douglas (Candlewick Press, September 10, 2019) written and illustrated by Randy Cecil, our attention is focused on a charming, silver screen loving girl and her new acquaintance, a mouse. Join me as we begin with the first of four acts.

ACT I
1
On a Saturday afternoon in Bloomville,
Iris Espinosa put on her sister's blue sweater
and stepped out the front door.
A familiar buttery scent wafted through the air.

Popcorn.

As Iris, wearing her sister's clothing, heads toward the movie theater, she passes a huge feline with an odd number of toes on each paw, six toes to be exact.  She also passes Everett Dunn, stuck on the stoop to his home.  He has a knack for bringing home unwanted pets, so his mother has issued a restriction.  He can't go any farther than the stoop.

Today at the local theater, the Majestic Cinema, a film called Robin Hood is playing.  (It starred Douglas Fairbanks.  It was released in 1922 to great acclaim, even though it was in black and white and was a silent film.)  Like every time Iris goes to the movies, she sits in her same seat only on this day, slightly behind her, is a mouse, who also enjoys movies.  This mouse also loves all the popcorn dropped by the Woman with the Large Hat.  Over-consumption finds the mouse settling in the pocket of a blue sweater worn by a girl who smiles at her.

When the tiny stowaway awakens, she is amazed at the sights of the outside world and terrified of the monster with the six toes on each paw who follows them all the way to Iris's house.  Iris is thrilled to discover the mouse in her pocket and promptly names her Douglas after one of her favorite actors.  The plot, as they say, thickens when Iris's sister, Adriana, takes her sweater, where Douglas is hidden, and leaves to meet her boyfriend's mother. Let's pause here at the beginning of chapter five of eight chapters in act one.

We have met most of the characters, but not all, who will play a part in one harrowing moment after another for Douglas.  True to her namesake, her remarkable skills of swinging, leaping, climbing and masterful agility assist her in barely escaping time and again with her life.  It is during one of her most frightening getaways, someone wonderful is discovered.  Make no mistake, readers, this book's conclusion promises there is always another story to be told.


Readers are certain to be astounded by how Randy Cecil ties all the character threads and plot twists together to supply them with nonstop action.  It's a continuous series of knowing something is about to happen, watching it unfold, open-mouthed, and breathing a sigh of relief when Douglas is unharmed.  The connections between seemingly unrelated incidents are nothing short of miraculous.  (If you think about it, life is a lot like this, if we stand back and look at the larger picture as an observer rather than a participant.)

There is no dialogue in the narrative, but we are very aware as to what each character is thinking during each incident.  Randy Cecil brings us into the story with thoughtful descriptions and meticulous pacing.  Here are two passages.  (I will verify their accuracy once my finished copy arrives.)

This is going so well, thought Adriana as they all sat down
for a cup of tea in the living room.  And then she sneezed.

She reached her hand into her sweater pocket,
hoping to find a handkerchief.
Instead she felt something furry.  And whiskery.

It wriggled in her hand.


Exhausted, Douglas collapsed in a tiny heap on the rooftop.
As her racing heart slowly quieted and her shaking legs slowly stilled,
night began to fall, and the first real stars Douglas had ever seen
appeared in the sky.

She watched as they twinkled, so beautiful yet so impossibly far away.


Poised on the edge of the roof like a superhero examining the world, we are introduced to Douglas.  (I'm working with an ARC generously supplied by the publisher.) Even though Douglas is tiny, she is able to appreciate the world as a larger whole, not confining herself to her immediate surroundings of the cinema.  No matter where she finds herself, she adapts to every challenge.  On the title page, she is standing on top of a barber's pole.  The introduction of each act gives readers a broader view of a portion of Bloomville's streets and the buildings lining them.

All the interior illustrations, rendered in oil, appear in the same shades of white, gray and black as seen on the front of the cover.  They are placed in loose circles on single pages.  These draw our center of attention to all the details Randy Cecil includes in his artwork.  Sometimes he asks us to step back to see more of a scene and then he shifts to show us a close-up of Douglas.  It's like we are watching our own private movie.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is when Douglas, yet unnamed, is in the movie theater.  Mrs. Pennington, the Woman with the Large Hat, is dropping as many popped kernels of corn on the floor as she is eating.  We move in close to the theater seats.  All we see of Mrs. Pennington are her legs, lower and middle portion of her body, and one arm holding the box of popcorn. Douglas, on the floor next to her, is leaping, mouth wide open, and ready to grab her next kernel of popcorn.


Whether you read this one-on-one, as a read aloud to a large group or silently to yourself, Douglas written and illustrated by Randy Cecil is simply splendid.  It's about friendship, being your best self, and how individual stories are connected to the larger story of us.  I highly recommend this for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Randy Cecil and his other work, please follow the link to his website attached to his name.  There is an interior illustration available through the publisher's website. At Candlewick Press you can also read most of the first three chapters, act one.
  

You Belong

As an educator, as a teacher librarian, all the children in any given school in any given year enter your classroom, the school library.  They arrive from an assortment of families, economic conditions, ethnic and racial backgrounds with a range of personalities and potential.  They are all beautiful, important and of immeasurable value.

Depending on the community in which they live, some of them for reasons of physical characteristics, language, clothing, cultural or religious practices feel as though they don't belong.  They are asked questions they are unable to answer to the satisfaction of other children or adults.  Where Are You From? (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, June 4, 2019) written by Yamile Saied Mendez with illustrations by Jaime Kim gives readers the best and only responses of true worth.

Where are you from?
they ask.

A little girl is questioned by her classmates.  Adults want to know if her parents are from here or from there.  When her reply prompts them to continue to question her, she is confused. She decides to ask her grandfather, her Abuelo,

because he knows everything.

Walking together with his granddaughter, Abuelo stops for a moment to think. He tells her she comes from the Pampas, the gaucho and the brown river.  He further describes the meaning and value of each geographical feature and person.  He continues this journey by taking her to mountain peaks and oceans painting pictures with his words of the flora and fauna dwelling there.

She also is a part of wild unexpected weather found in this portion of the world as well as the calmer ebb and flow of sunshine and rain.  Each sentence from Abuelo to his beloved little girl speaks of the land and the people and the histories attached to both.  The child, like those who questioned her, wants more.  She needs a specific place.

His response is certain to cause gasps in all readers.  Without a doubt, his granddaughter stops for a moment as joy and warmth fill her soul.  As Abuelo takes her home and holds her close, he speaks of universal, timeless beliefs which will resonate with all of us.


There is not a child (or an adult) who reads the words written by Yamile Saied Mendez that will not feel a connection.  The desire to know who came before us in our families is strong but even more urgent when others press us for answers other than those we know.  Abuelo's descriptions are lyrical and simply lovely; almost like a lullaby.  Through his words we walk through all aspects of a land, its inhabitants and the history of its people.  Each of these portrayals, like layers, are designed to lead us back to the girl's original question.  This makes Abuelo's final words more potent.  Here is a passage.

You're from mountains so high
they tickle Senor Cielo's belly,

where the condor roosts his family
and the jaguar prowls the night.


In a word the image seen on the open and matching dust jacket and book case is bliss.  You can see the shared pleasure in each other's company on both faces.  The path through the field with birds against the afternoon sky contributes to the golden emotional glow.  The field stretches over the spine to the far-left edge.  There are color variations in the grass as if a gentle breeze is blowing.  Even more birds in the same flock are shown flying.  On the jacket the title text, the child and her grandfather are varnished.

On the opening and closing endpapers a vista of mountains and an ocean spreads edge to edge.  In the first a palette of green shades and yellow depicts the start of a day with the large sun rising between peaks and glistening on the water.  Birds are flying from both directions.  On the final endpapers hues of purple color the sky, mountains and water.  A darker golden yellow and orange paint the setting sun.  Birds are again flying from both directions.  Both scenes present serenity.

The pictures rendered in watercolor and digital techniques to create the digital illustrations by Jaime Kim are brimming with animation.  The sizes move from full-page pictures to double-page pictures when the little girl is chatting with Abuelo.  With each page turn you can sense the mood and emotions intensifying by Jaime Kim's use of color.

To enrich the warmth of the narrative Jaime Kim alters her points of view.  Sometimes the pair are viewed close-up or as part of a larger landscape.  Their attire might change depending on the sentences.  They are seen riding horses and wearing appropriate attire when gaucho is mentioned.  Sometimes the reader is given more of a bird's eye view of a scene as in the plaza with reference to Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo.  Readers will finally notice the sky changing color as dusk descends on the pair.  This enhances the final sentences and the final image.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  It is night.  A few golden stars sparkle in the deep blue and purple sky.  This spreads as a canvas on the two pages.  Along the bottom of the page, outlined in those blue and purple colors, are grasses from the field enlarged as if we are peering through them lying on our stomachs.  On the right behind some of the grass the grandfather and his granddaughter sit.  Their backs are to us.  They are looking up.  One of Abuelo's arms is around the little girl; the other is pointing at the North Star.  Simply precious.


Lovingly written by Yamile Saied Mendez and lovingly illustrated by Jaime Kim, this book, Where Are You From?, tells readers all they need to know about their origins.  At the close of this title, readers will realize the human heart is a landscape large enough to include everyone.  I highly recommend this book for your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Yamile Saied Mendez and Jaime Kim and their other work, please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Yamile Saied Mendez has an account on Twitter.  Jaime Kim has an account on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images from the beginning of the book.  There is also a printable activity, a family tree to complete.  Here is a link to a letter written by Yamile Saied Mendez about this book.

Fixing 'N Friendship

It hangs on the wall above my work space.  It holds a hammer he made.  All the tools are engraved with his initials, CSM.  It's not just a toolbelt holding those few implements of his I still have, it's a cache for memories. It holds his voice telling me how to hold a nail and swing that hammer.  It reminds me how to use the proper motion when using a saw.  It asks me to look at a problem, figuring out the best way to make something, anything, work.

Yesterday as I was busy decorating my home with strings of orange lights for Halloween, I paused to put my pumpkin stakes along the walkway.  The previous owners used river rock extensively in the landscaping.  Using a hole punch Dad gave me, I was able to pierce through the stone and webbing to make a spot for those stakes.  As I finished, holding the punch, I knew Dad was there next to me and grinning.

In his dedication for his newest title, Little Robot (First Second, September 1, 2015), Ben Hatke writes

For my DAD,
who showed me
how COOL it is to
MAKE THINGS

Being able to envision an end product or goal, to figure out a way to make it work with the materials at hand and feel satisfaction and success is a gift.  It's rarely easy but as Ben's new protagonist shows us, the rewards are invaluable.

A crescent moon hangs in the sky above a highway bridge as vehicles cross.  One, a truck, hits some rocks on the road dislodging a box from the back.  It plunges into the river, drifting into the countryside.

In the morning a young girl sneaks out the window of her trailer home scampering away as others ride the bus to school.  She wanders and explores in a neighbor's yard and near a junkyard by the water.  The floating box grabs her attention.  She gets it on the sand, opens the box and surprises herself with the contents.

With some shimmying and shaking a little robot forms.  It's wobbly just like a newborn child.  With a bit of help from the human, it quickly learns to walk without falling.  Meanwhile...

At the robot factory, the missing box is duly noted.  An eight-legged, one-eyed, menacing spider- type machine is sent out to locate the absent robot.  As it searches, Little Robot with the guidance of his new friend discovers the finer points of cats, flowers, pond life and the fine art of skipping stones.  With the setting of the sun on the second day of their new companionship, it's easy to see these two are inseparable.

With all new relationships there are challenges.  These two must spend their nights without each other. Sometimes best efforts fall short.  Sometimes best efforts succeed grandly.  One is human, the other is a robot.  Something evil wants one of them.  Ingenuity, determination, and a need to find puffballs are qualities in a friend I would enjoy for life.


Robot-speak and short conversational sentences, more like thinking aloud, are the sole narration.  Ben Hatke's images, based on each reader's perceptions and past experiences, convey volumes.  It's as if he is telling us a story filled with text, once upon a time and the end.

On the matching dust jacket and book case Ben Hatke introduces us to the human child, Little Robot, a junkyard cat and the nefarious machine.  The girl wears her white nightshirt and carries her toolbelt like the hero she is.  Little Robot brings out the best in her.  We can readily see the color palette, the fine line work, and shading used throughout the book.  To the left, on the back, on the extended hillside stand four other little robots ready for action.  The gear pattern in the title text is used on the spine also.

On the opening and closing endpapers two-tone light blue gears provide a background for a pale yellow dancing Little Robot and his human girl child.  On the formal title page a darker shade of the same blue showcases Little Robot and the girl kneeling and looking at a flower with the text in yellow.  This leads beautifully into the first two-page image.

Hatke takes us from illustration to illustration flawlessly.  He might put a smaller picture within a larger one.  Panels may be grouped in four with a larger one underneath horizontally or two might be side by side vertically.  Most of the panels are framed in a loose white border.  Gorgeous visuals close out each chapter.

Changing perspective, bringing us close to the characters' faces, involves us intimately in the emotional moments of the story.  Hatke may use a series of panels grouped by six to depict a few seconds in time.  He desires us to be with the characters.  And we are.

I have many favorite illustrations but the two pages where the girl is showing Little Robot how to skip stones on the river is delightful.  She eagerly demonstrates with one skip and a plunk.  With a couple of clicks and a blip Little Robot performs like an Olympic champion.  The look on the girl's face as she watches and then glances at Little Robot is sure to bring on a smile.  Then in a heartbeat she's ready to play a new game.


Little Robot conceived, written and illustrated by Ben Hatke is a tribute to the strength of true friendship.  He salutes creativity.  He salutes girl power.  These are the kind of characters for whom you want to cheer.  I highly recommend this book for your personal and classroom shelves.  Thank you Ben for this book.

To learn more about Ben Hatke and his other work please follow the links attached to his names to access his website and Tumblr.  You can view eight interior images at the publisher's website.  Ben was interviewed about this title (plus there are more illustrations) at Entertainment Weekly, Tor.com, Comic Book Resources, The Beat Comics Culture and BookPage.

On October 29, 2015 Little Robot is one of the titles selected by John Schumacher, Scholastic Ambassador for School Libraries and Colby Sharp, 3rd grade teacher and co-founder of Nerdy Book Club for the #SharpSchu Book Club on Twitter.