Giants In Size And Heart

On our planet, there is no larger land mammal.  It is said their ears are shaped like the continent on which they reside.  With their many-muscled (tens of thousands) trunks, they can lift hundreds of pounds.  Their leader is usually the oldest female; generations of knowledge passed from elder to elder in herds together for lifetimes.  Their ability to communicate with miles separating them is astounding.  Elephants, African elephants, are remarkable individuals.

One of their single greatest foes is humans.  One of their fiercest protectors is other humans.  The Elephants Come Home: A True Story of Seven Elephants, Two People, and One Extraordinary Friendship (Chronicle Books, May 18, 2021) written by Kim Tomsic with illustrations by Hadley Hooper is a tale of the interconnectedness of all living beings on our planet.  It spotlights remembered kindness and deep affection.

This is Lawrence.

He loves animals.

This is Francoise.

She loves Lawrence.

This is Max.

Together the trio live at Thula Thula.  There they have 

a farmhouse, a garden, a swimming pool, and 11,000 acres of African bush, savanna, and forest.

The fenced-in area creates a refuge to an assortment of African animals. Hunting is strictly forbidden providing a peaceful existence for the inhabitants.  Lawrence, Francoise, and Max dwell in consideration for all species residing there.

One day, a telephone call changes and challenges the way of life for Lawrence, Francoise, and Max.  A woman asks Lawrence to house seven unhappy elephants at Thula Thula.  If they cannot find sanctuary there, they will be shot.  Lawrence loves animals.  He replies in the affirmative.  A boma with fencing is fashioned for them until they get acclimated.

After their arrival by trailer to Thula Thula, some observers believe the elephants are trouble.  Lawrence believes they are nervous.  That first night, they destroy the fencing and escape.  Again, others believe they are trouble, even after they head to their new home.  Lawrence disagrees.  He promises their leader, Nana, he will stay with them day and night until they feel comfortable.  And he does.  He sings to them.  He tells them stories.  The elephants shift their sadness into happiness.

Surprisingly enough, Nana reaches through the fence one day and touches Lawrence's stomach with her trunk.  A bond is forged.  The elephants are released into the whole of Thula Thula, and Lawrence and Max go back to the farmhouse.  The seven visit the farmhouse, the garden, the swimming pool, and astonishingly enough greet Lawrence when he returns home from trips.  How do they know?

Years pass.  The rhythms at Thula Thula are wonderfully similar.  The elephants tend to now roam on the far edges of Thula Thula.  Some years they visit.  One day an overwhelming sadness descends on Francoise and Max.  Lawrence is gone forever.  The elephants know.  Their response to this knowing is an expression of great love.  

As you read the words written by Kim Tomsic, your world fades away.  You are in Africa.  You are at Thula Thula with Lawrence, Francoise, Max and the elephants.

With introductory, explanatory sentences we meet the people and animals living at Thula Thula.  This cadence established with specific words is repeated after the central portion of the story, the arrival of the elephants and their deepening relationship with Lawrence, Francoise, and Max.  This "bookending" gives readers a true sense of the elephants' acceptance of Thula Thula as their home. It also serves to widen the definition of home as not only a place but as people.  Readers are drawn more completely into the narrative by distinct details and dialogue.  Here is a passage.

Soon the elephants' cranky

behavior changes to

ear flopping, head

waggling, and trumpeting.

"What does it mean?"

Francoise asks.

"They're HAPPY," Lawrence says.

The scene on the open and matching dust jacket and book case, not only allows us to meet Lawrence and the elephants, but we are given a preview of the marvelous artwork and color palette used throughout this book.  In many of the illustrations, the hues of red and orange indicate the African habitats and climate.  On the front Lawrence is walking and chatting with Nana.  Across and left of the spine the landscape continues.  The additional six elephants are featured walking behind and along with Lawrence and Nana.

In lush shades of orange and red with details etched in black, the opening and closing endpapers present two different scenes along a river.  The trees and birds on the shore are reflected in the water like a watercolor wash.  In both sets of endpapers, another single bird appears in the water.  

These illustrations by Hadley Hooper were rendered 

using watercolor, ink, printmaking, and then finished in Photoshop.

There are dramatic double-page pictures, panoramic and bird's eye points of view, full-page images bringing us closer to the activities, horizontal panels of three on two pages, mixed panel sizes to depict things happening at the same time, and a group of three on one page to portray multiple circumstances.  Readers will pause at every page turn to enjoy all the details.  

Color choices throughout this book denote time of day and emotional moods of the story.  The dark greens and black inside the trailer with the elephants convey their curiosity and unease.  The gray, brown, black, and white used in the scene where the elephants break out of the boma fence at night is full of outrage and freedom.  More of the red and orange warmth comes into the pictures along with natural tones as the elephants decide Thula Thula is home.

One of my many, many favorite pictures is a single-page image.  It is for the words above noted.  It is a single setting but divided by what Lawrence is doing on the top half and what the elephants are doing on the bottom half.  It is night.  A crescent moon hangs in the upper right-hand corner above a tree-filled landscape.  A night bird sits on a branch on the left-side.  Under the light of a lantern, seated on a rock, Lawrence reads aloud from a book.  The elephants rest in a group, a few raise their trunks in happiness, and others snack.

As the words and artwork are given to readers, page by page, each one finds themselves entirely absorbed by this tale of wondrous creatures.  The Elephants Come Home: A True Story of Seven Elephants, Two People, and One Extraordinary Friendship written by Kim Tomsic with illustrations by Hadley Hooper will find a permanent place in your hearts.  You can pair this title with Elephants Walk Together, How To Be An Elephant, The Elephant, If Elephants Disappeared and She Leads: The Elephant Matriarch for a fantastic story time or themed unit.  I highly recommend this book for your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Kim Tomsic and Hadley Hooper and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  There are interior images from this book at Hadley Hooper's site.  Kim Tomsic has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Hadley Hooper has accounts on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Here is the link to the publisher's website.

Leaving And Staying, Staying And Leaving

As an educator, as a school (and public) librarian, you have goals to accomplish with your students (and young patrons) every day of every week throughout the year.  The most rewarding thing about these plans is that they can change significantly from paper to practice.  Responses given to you by the children necessitate alterations.  They may think, speak and act far differently than you envision.  And that is a thing of beauty.

Their ability to assess a situation and imagine an unexpected outcome is why children are our greatest hope.  Mabel and Sam at Home: One Brave Journey In Three Adventures (Chronicle Books, June 5, 2018) written by Linda Urban with illustrations by Hadley Hooper is a joyful display of words and images.  It is a great day of change for these siblings but they are looking beyond the four walls of their new home.

ON THE HIGH SEAS
At the new house, there were movers and shouting and boxes and blankets.

There were chairs where chairs did not go
and sofas where sofas could not stay.

With all this hustle and bustle happening Mabel and Sam had to locate a protected place.  A box, a big blue rug, a starfish-shaped sponge, a mop and a curtain were all these children needed to set sail.  The Handle With Care ship took them over wild waves, near pirates and through a sea full of creatures.

It was determined after a sister and brother-sort of discussion worry and being scared were best prevented by keeping busy.  During one of his tasks Sam spied an island.  Another verbal exchange had the duo staying aboard rather than going ashore.  In the end, the "inhabitants" of the new land lured the captain and her first mate from their ship with a time-honored trick.

In a new house "before" furniture looked out of place.  The surroundings have shifted.  Mabel decided Sam had to visit the New House Museum.  Familiar objects were given new names.  Familiar objects became artifacts of importance.  Finally Sam discovered an artifact of great value.  It was the only one of its variety remaining.  Now he got to demonstrate its use.

As early evening descends there was a final voyage.  Mabel and Sam blasted into space as astronauts.  Using the covers, red, from her bed as a line Mabel lets Sam explore.

Astronaut Mabel pulled Astronaut Sam back inside the ship.
"Did you see anything out there?" she asked.

"I saw lots of things out there," said Astronaut Sam.
"Out there is where everything is."

The voyagers continued chatting about their destination, Planet Perfecto, being bold and having enough space to think.  It got darker and darker until a light brightened their path.  Parental permission was granted for a landing and special bedtime accommodations.  As sleep took the adventurers to dreamland, they knew tomorrow promised to be another day of discovery.


If Linda Urban were sitting in front of me at this moment, I would reach out and give her a hug.  Whether we are reading her lively narrative or "listening" to a chat between Mabel and Sam, we feel pure happiness bubbling up inside our hearts.  Her descriptions of the move; what is happening outside of the three adventures (On The High Seas, At The Museum and In Space) is nearly poetic, creating a cadence.

When the children are imagining they are somewhere other than their new home every thought is in keeping with their perspective of this particular place.  On the seas terminology such as ahoy, first mate, swab the deck and all ashore are seamlessly part of the story.  At the museum Sam becomes acquainted with proper museum etiquette, the meaning of artifact and the Ancient Chicken of Cleveland.  As astronauts in space they muse about the move by thinking of being bold and the necessity of space.  Of course, their companion in these three adventures, Mr. Woofie, the family dog, is a necessary and important character.  Here is another passage.

Tour Guide Mabel led Sam to the next exhibit.
"Do you know what this is?" asked Mabel.
"My Bunny Wubby," said Sam.
"It is a Mississippi Wishing Rabbit.  They are very rare."
"Oh," said Sam.
"Petting its ears brings seven years' good luck," said Mabel.
"Really?" asked Sam.


When my copy of this book arrived, the first thing I did was smile and laugh when I saw the matching dust jacket and book case.  Just as the children do in their adventures, Hadley Hooper does in her illustrations.  She takes the ordinary, the table, stack of boxes and chair, and forms one into a rocket ship.  The design on the front is wonderful!  Notice how the top of the rocket crosses the "o" in home with the star pointing to the "and".

To the left, on the back, a great deal of white space becomes the canvas for the display of the trickery used by the "inhabitants" to get Captain Mabel and First Mate Sam off the Handle With Care.  Hadley Hooper's color palette here and throughout the book leans toward primary colors.  (She assigns a thematic color to each adventure.)  On the opening endpapers is a deep spring green.  A rich blue covers the closing endpapers.

Rendered in tradition printmaking techniques and finished in Photoshop the images, most spanning two pages, are sheer delight.  The children's expressions and body postures (and Mr. Woofie's too) endear all three of them to readers.  The attention to detail, Mr. Woofie's swimming in the lines of the rug as if they are waves, the blend of reality (the sofa and pillow) with walls of a potential museum with paintings and statues, and the interior of the rocket ship as the duo are blasting through space, is exquisite.

Of the many illustrations (the entire book to be truthful) one of my favorite pictures spans two pages.  From left to right the water parts and swirls of white wave and point to mostly blue on the right.  The text is cleverly placed in the white portions.  Fish swim in the middle of the blue.  As our eyes move to the right a three-masted ship glides off the edge of the page.  Mabel and Sam are shown in three separate places on the right.  In each of them Mabel is acting as captain.  Sam swabs the Handle With Care, fishes and keeps a lookout.


Mabel and Same at Home: One Brave Journey In Three Adventures written by Linda Urban with illustrations by Hadley Hooper is brilliant!  The blend of narrative and art invites us to join Mabel and Sam.  And we want to be there with them.  Children will be asking you to read this one over and over.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Linda Urban and Hadley Hooper and their other work, please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Author Kate Messner chats with Linda Urban about this book on her website.  Hadley also has some art on Tumblr pages.  Hadley Hooper visits Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, the blog of author, reviewer and blogger, Julie Danielson.  Julie also has more artwork from this book in this post. If you want to see the right side of the illustration I note, follow this link to the publisher's blog.

Defined By Childhood

There is no denying the influence of our natural world, the place in which we live and our family during our childhood; ultimately determining the way we live our entire lives.  We can select consciously or unconsciously to emulate those sensory perceptions we experience.  Decisions in opposition to those impressions can also direct the course we take.

Beginning her author's note Patricia MacLachlan says:

Why do painters paint what they do?  Do they paint what they see or what they remember?  The great painter Henri Matisse's life story may have some answers.

In her newest picture book, The Iridescence of Birds:  A Book About Henri Matisse (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press), MacLachlan traces the paths followed as a child and as an adult by this accomplished artist.  Hadley Hooper, illustrator of Here Come the Girl Scouts!, pictures the text

using a combination of relief printmaking and digital techniques.


If you were a boy named Henri Matisse who lived
in a dreary town in northern France where the skies were gray   ...

Let's pause for a minute.  What would YOU do?  Have you figured it out?  Henri, as a young boy, chose to wish for color and the warmth of the sun.

His mother painted plates full of bright hues which were hung on the walls in their home.  She brought the outside inside decorating them with flora and fauna from their surroundings.  Henri helped her by blending basic shades of paint to create other colors.

After a trip to the market, buying fruits and flowers, it was Henri who placed them around their home.  Their town, a mill town, had people who wove vibrant bolts of silk in an array of patterns.  Perhaps to bring more warmth into their home, his mother would hang red rugs on the walls and place them on the dirt floor of their parlor.  Henri noticed the same red on the feet of his pigeons.  He marveled at the shifting shades reflected on their feathers.

In the final nine pages we are offered a comparison.  We are given gifts.  We see his youth mirrored in his lifetime works which have and will continue to stand the test of time.


Clearly Patricia MacLachlan is familiar with the life and art of Henri Matisse as evidenced by her narrative.  Its integrity, a single thought, runs through the pages like a meadow brook, quiet, clear and with purpose.  Her mastery exemplified, she writes a string of poetic ifs, important elements in Henri's life, leading readers to the singular outcomes.  It's so beautiful I keep reading it over and over.


Upon opening the dust jacket we see a single illustration conceived by Hadley Hooper.  On the front, through an open doorway boy Henri is watching his pigeons outside in the yard.  On the left, the back, a grown-up Henri is seated in a chair sketching outside another open doorway.  It's a lovely picture capturing the focus of the writing.  The red pigeon legs, the red chair in which Henri is seated and the red box for the title mirror those splashes of color from Henri's life.  On the title page, a pale dusty green background highlights the fonts and Henri walking with three pigeons following behind him.

All of the visuals extend across two pages in splendid, textured varied perspectives.  Easy but explicit lines define all the parts of each illustration.  We see Henri walking through the darkened streets of his town, hanging plates as his mother paints, taking delight in mixing the paints, arranging fruits and flowers, watching the fabric weavers and tending and watching his pigeons.  When the text shifts to the masterpieces created by the older Henri, Hooper places the young Henri in each of those pictures watching.

One of my many favorite illustrations is of Henri feeding his pigeons.  Shades of blue and green with some red dominate this picture.  A smiling Henri is holding a dish to one of three pigeons on the roof of the dovecote, as two others inside look at him.  Noticeable in this visual, in all of them, is the cheerfulness of Henri.  Each is as uplifting as the narrative.


The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse written by Patricia MacLachlan with pictures by Hadley Hooper is a breathtaking look at the artist's life.  In words and illustrations with impeccable pacing, readers come to understand the value each aspect of our childhood plays in shaping us as adults.  This is a tribute to the artistic brilliance of Henri Matisse who lived his art and then shared it with the world. An author's note, an illustrator's note and a selected bibliography are included.

For more information about Hadley Hooper and her work please follow the link embedded in her name taking you to her website.  Eight images from the book are available for your viewing at the publisher's website.  This title is set to be released on October 14, 2014.  Don't miss it! UPDATE: Check out this interview of Hadley Hooper at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast hosted by Julie Danielson on September 30, 2014.

This review/recommendation is based upon an Advance Reader's Edition which I received from my favorite independent book store, McLean & Eakin Booksellers in Petoskey, Michigan.

Please spend some time at Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by Alyson Beecher to see what other outstanding nonfiction titles have been listed by bloggers participating in the 2014 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Her Legacy Lives On

This week boxes of Girl Scout cookies were delivered to my library media center by my students.  I can not remember a time when I have not either been selling or buying Girl Scout cookies.  When I was growing up it was not a question of whether you would join Girl Scouts but when; we were all in scouting.

My troop leaders, Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Archer, were dynamos.  Growing up in the 1960s there was a plethora of things girls were expected to know but our leaders took us above and beyond those skills; putting us out in the woods to survive armed with knowledge.    I credit these two fine women and Girl Scouting with my ability to be resilient in the face of insurmountable odds.  In a word...gumption.

Here Come the Girl Scouts!: The Amazing All-true Story of Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low and Her Great Adventure (Scholastic Press) by Shana Corey, illustrated by Hadley Hooper, is more than a picture book biography. Illuminating the life of a woman responsible for directing the course of girl's and young women's visions, hopes, for decades, it offers readers insights into the power of one. 

One of my personal favorite quotes by Thomas Carlyle is:

Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities:  It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak. 

Whether she knew it or not, Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low lived this quote.

Coming from a family known for forging new ground, Daisy longed for the thrill of going her own way unlike the other prim and proper girls of her day.  Even though an ear infection caused hearing loss Daisy moved forward in her world travels as a young woman.  There came a time though when adventure had served its purpose, Daisy wanted to make a difference.

Hearing of Girl Guides in England, Daisy passionately desired to bring something similar home to America.  On March 12, 1912 the first meeting of the Girl Scouts was held in Savannah, Georgia; beginning Daisy's greatest adventure of all.  Giving not only time but designing uniforms, providing a meeting place, land for a basketball court, and a canoe for boating, Daisy wished for Girl Scouts to come from all walks of life without the restrictions of money, upbringing, ethnic or racial barriers.  No detail was to small or large for her attention; the ten Girl Scout laws, a handbook and a series of badges to earn.

Girl Scouts were seen all over Savannah participating in a variety of activities; some viewed them with disdain, others applauded their efforts.  For the first time new avenues were open to girls; holding their heads up high, enjoying the out-of-doors, feeling a sense of camaraderie, because of Daisy they began to believe that anything was possible for them.  Speaking across the country Daisy inspired others to begin troops in their communities, though her heart continued to remain with the girls in Savannah.

While the genre of biography is not the first place I look for reading material, I can say, in all honesty, that I have read this title repeatedly.  I am drawn to the single short concise sentences, the groupings of single sentences to make a point, a short paragraph or several paragraphs carefully written to present the true character of Juliette Gordon Low, Daisy.  Two techniques employed stand out:  within a sentence or paragraph an individual word or words will be sized larger and bolder to emphasize a thought or comment on Daisy or the historical time period and cleverly tucked in the illustrations are quotes from Low aiding in readers' understanding of her belief system; bringing readers into her world, the world she imagined for the Girl Scouts.  There is an effervescent quality to Corey's narrative matching that of her subject.

To make yourself strong and healthy it is necessary to begin with your inside.

Whatever you take up, do it with all your might.

Hadley Hooper's charming, forthright illustrations done in paint, ink and printmaking techniques, then scanned and arranged in Photoshop, could not have found a better venue than this title.  Her debut picture book displays hues in sync with Low's adventurous life, championing the cause of scouting, exploring and appreciating our natural world; greens, blues, golds, rusts and browns.  Nearly all the visuals, two page spreads, are brimming with vitality. 

From the first page picturing a young girl in a period dress, hand on her hip, holding a fishing pole in front of a tree house to the final two pages depicting framed portraits of notable women, all former Girl Scouts, Lucille Ball, Gloria Steinem, Hillary Clinton, with one empty, captioned with a single word, YOU, readers relive, visually, the journey taken by Daisy.  Whenever appropriate Hooper places those flowers, in all sizes, whose name Juliette Gordon Low bore; even the earrings she wears on the front cover. But my favorite by far is the cover hat illustration repeated in the center of the book with one of Low's quotes replacing the author's and illustrator's names across the hat band; a truly memorable illustration more than worthy of framing.

At the end of the book are three pages of extensive additional information and resource notes.  By following the link above to Hadley Hooper's website readers can click on Links and visit her Tumblr pages to see more of the book's illustrations. Selecting Extras on Shana Corey's website provides just that; more information about scouting and how to celebrate the 100th anniversary this year.

Here Come the Girl Scouts!:  The Amazing All-true Story of Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low and Her Great Adventure by Shana Corey, illustrated by Hadley Hooper, is an awe-inspiring title showcasing the accomplishments of a single woman; one of the best in 2012. 

I can't believe I still have this
 but it represents a great deal of work.

This is a continuation from the front.
  Thank you Juliette Gordon Low.