With mothers, the best approach is to expect the unexpected, especially concerning their offspring. Mothers are a study in contrasts. They may be calm one minute as nurturers and fierce in the next moment as protectors. They may choose to ignore you or chase you depending on the threat you pose. They know when to keep their children close and when to set them free.
They are master pretenders, architects, providers, healers, and transporters. Authors Heather Lang and Jamie Harper have collaborated to provide readers with the inside scoop on marvelous mothers in Supermoms!: Animal Heroes (Candlewick Press, March 7, 2023) with artwork by Jamie Harper. These creatures perform remarkable feats to supply the best possible life for their children for as long as necessary.
Supermoms are everywhere.
Regardless of their species, size, shape or color, mothers are on the job all day and all night. You'll be surprised at the design ingenuity groundhog moms employ in housing their young. An underground bathroom?
Did you know emperor penguin females leave for up to two months to get food for their chicks? Some mothers like the bearded capuchin monkey even feed other monkey babies that are orphaned. There's nothing quite as strange or amazing as how moms transport their littles. Baby alligators hitch a ride inside their mother's mouths to the water.
Some mothers move their charges repeatedly to keep them safe. There is no use giving a predator a head's up by staying in the same place. Other moms along with female family members can build a wall of bodies around a calf to protect them.
BUMS
TOGETHER,
LADIES!
Have you ever seen a bird pretend to have a broken wing to keep enemies away from a nest?
Animal mothers know every day is an opportunity to teach their children to survive and flourish. Sea sponges are placed on the end of bottlenose dolphins so they can get food from the bottom of the ocean floor without injuring themselves. You will never guess how many years an orangutan mom teaches their children to get food, select items to use as tools, and to make their beds in the tops of trees. Supermoms all around the world are everything the word implies.
Authors Jamie Harper and Heather Langfilled this title with facts and fun. For each of five supermom specialties, they highlighted at least three animals for a total of eighteen creatures featured. The fun is added in all the commentary by the youngsters and their mothers shown in speech bubbles. For example, a red-knobbed hornbill mother uses mud and poop to stuff the entrance to the nest to protect her eggs and chicks. This is what we read in the commentary.
P. U.!
Some fresh air
would be nice.
Or a fan.
Using traditional and digital collage Jamie Harper begins to entertain, engage, and educate readers on the open and matching dust jacket and book case. Not only do we see the giraffe mom doing what she does best to protect her young, (They really do kick.) but other animals are supplying us with alliterative comments as well as the younger giraffe. These full-color illustrations here, placed in panels, are a preview of the artwork throughout the book. A variety of sizes of panels is used. On the jacket, the panels are varnished.
To the left of the spine, on the back, using the same polka-dotted green canvas, we read the words in yellow,
MEET THE SHINING STARS
OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.
Above the words are three animal moms bursting forth from a cloud of orange and a yellow and blue-dotted star. Their facial looks are determined, and their stances are definitely heroic.
The opening endpapers are two tones of a gold-dotted pattern with darker and larger golden spaces. On the closing endpapers is a green background with white dots and darker and larger green spaces. These could easily be the replication of skins of animals. On a crisp white background, three animal children are commenting about an animal flying over their heads. This is the two pages for the title page information.
With a page turn, a two-page image greets readers. Here all eighteen of the moms are spread across yellow rays shooting across both pages. It is as if we are reading a superhero comic. This is followed by a series of illustrations ranging in sizes from two pages to two smaller panels on a page and to a full-page visual. Sometimes there are three panels to a page. The collection and combination of panels may be squares and/or rectangles, vertically or horizontally placed.
All the animals are lively, portrayed with typical characteristics and others are exaggerated to enhance their remarks. These creatures are placed in appropriate environments. At times we are given a more wide-angle view of their lives and other times, we are brought closer to them.
One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page picture. On a ruddy background, from a slightly bird's-eye view, across most of the two pages, nine large female elephants have formed a tight circle around a baby elephant. They are facing outward, trunks raised. In the left-hand, lower corner a female lioness is rethinking her objective. One of two birds on the back of one of the elephants says,
Poor guy . . .
The young elephant with huge, open eyes says,
Is this really necessary?
When laughter and fun are attached to learning, that learning tends to be remembered. Supermoms!: Animal Heroes written by Heather Lang and Jamie Harper with illustrations by Jamie Harper does both superbly. At the close of the book, two pages are dedicated to providing further information about the superpowers of each of the eighteen animals. These extra facts are certain to promote more study. On another page are lists of children's books, online resources, audiovisual resources, authors' websites, and acknowledgements.
To learn more about Heather Lang and Jamie Harper and their other work, please access their websites by following the link attached to their names. There are a lot of extra resources for this title at Heather Lang's website. Heather Lang has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Jamie Harper has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. At Penguin Random House, you can view interior images.
We need to constantly consider the purpose of trees. To not do so is a costly mistake. In an article, How Trees Make a Difference, at the website for the National Wildlife Federation, we read, in a list of ten, how trees can better the air quality and create habitats for plants and animals. This is understandable. It has also been documented they are good for the economy, not because of how they can be used, but because homes and property with trees around them are more valuable than those without trees.
During Women's History Month, let us take a few moments to highlight new book releases focusing on women who have dedicated their lives to understanding and protecting trees and their forests. Both women were the first in their particular field in their accomplishments. In light of relentless challenges, their deeds are remarkable.
In The Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets In The Rainforest (Calkins Creek, an imprint of Boyd Mills & Kane, February 9, 2021) written by Heather Lang with illustrations by Jana Christy, we discover, as did Margaret Lowman, the reward of immersing oneself in that which is loved. Determination and dedication fueled by one's passion are key ingredients to success. Inventiveness in solving mysteries is supremely satisfying.
Meg loved how leaves
burst into the world
and unfurled.
She admired their different shapes,
colors, and textures.
For twenty years, Meg learned everything she could about trees. As a quiet girl, being with trees was a refuge for her. In college, despite not being allowed in one class because she was a woman, she persisted. In Australia, in graduate school, she wanted to study rainforests, not from the ground, but in the treetops. Now it was time to "be" a tree.
Meg sewed a harness and designed a simple but demanding rope system to pull herself up into the canopy. She was in a new frontier with new animals and marvelous leaves of all shapes and sizes. Although, people discouraged her from these endeavors, Meg climbed and climbed and climbed. She made discoveries about a variety of different trees.
Meg took copious notes and made diagrams. She did this day after day, without human companionship or colleagues. She discovered how active insects are at night in consuming leaves. She discovered how valuable each tree is to other animals and to the forest itself. The one thing Meg could not do was climb at night. It was simply too dangerous.
Not to be deterred Meg and a friend, Peter O'Reilly designed the world's first canopy walkway. It was built in
his Rainforest Retreat in Queensland, Australia.
Meg continued to assist in the construction of other canopy walkways in other parts of the world. She even stood in a raft placed on top of a canopy of trees in Cameroon, Africa! You would think with all these major triumphs for the good of trees, Meg might be ready to rest. She was not. She toured through countries in Africa, teaching them how to care for their rainforests. Through her they understood, trees are life.
Even after several readings, the deeds of this woman fascinate and inspire as presented by author Heather Lang. Her factual but lyrical language and intentional word choices compel us to keep reading. We want to know what Margaret Lowman does next. Within the narrative and in support of it are quotations by Margaret Lowman. To further educate us about rainforests, their inhabitants, and Meg, large leaves with additional text are strategically placed on numerous pages. Here is a passage, a quotation from Margaret Lowman and information from one of the leaves.
At last, splashed with flowers and sunlight---
the canopy!
The treetops swayed
back and forth.
Flies whizzed. Lizards lingered.
A black weevil sucked leaf juices.
Sweat bees landed on her arm
for a lick of salt.
And the jungle's music danced all around her.
"FROM THEN ON, I NEVER LOOKED BACK . . . OR DOWN!"
Insects eat leaves by chewing them,
piercing and sucking from the leaf, or
tunneling in and eating the inside
of the leaf.
On the open and matching dust jacket and book case, we get on the right, front, a first-hand glance at what it was like for Margaret Lowman, Meg, when she climbed into the treetops and studied what she found there. Birds, insects, and reptiles were her companions. The shades of green cast a glow of warmth and humidity. Do you see the large pale leaf highlighting the title text? To the left, on the back, are endorsements for this title from Jane Goodall and Edward O. Wilson.
On the opening and closing endpapers is a bright orange like that seen in the snake and birds on the front of the book. A graceful gathering of leaves and flowers frame the text on the title page continuing as a branch along the top of the verso. Each image rendered digitally by Jana Christyspans two pages.
Within those two pages she sometimes depicts more than one scenario. In these settings we might see Meg outside gathering leaves and then inside pressing and preserving them in a notebook. We find Meg in a college classroom and exploring the rainforest. In one double-page picture, there are four vertical panels showing Meg's attempts to get her harness and rope operative.
The perspectives shift to complement the narrative. We are dangling with Meg as she gets used to the harness and rope. We are close to her as she takes notes in the treetops, a vividly colored bird taking flight near her. At night we are next to all the insects feasting on leaves. Jana Christy also includes sketches within these visuals.
One of my many favorite illustrations shows Meg as a little girl. Through the center, branching out from the gutter is a sketch of a treehouse with Meg leaning over a railing. As the branches stretch to the right and left large colorful leaves border the top and drift down the sides. There is a sketch of Meg's home on the left. At the bottom she is kneeling in the grass collecting flowers and leaves. On the right side, Meg is seated at a table placing her specimens in a book. She is surrounded by leaves, branches, and other gathered treasures in jars. Several other objects hang on the wall near her. You can tell from Meg's facial expressions, she is contented.
You are amazed and filled with respect for this woman's great strides in her beloved work during and after reading The Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets In The Rainforest written by Heather Lang with illustrations by Jana Christy. At the close of the book is an Author's Note giving us more information and speaking about when Heather Lang met and spent time with Margaret Lowman. Following this is a vertical two-page picture explaining the layers of life in an Amazon rainforest. There are many labels, but you are asked to find other elements. On the final page are a bibliography of books, videos, websites, source notes, acknowledgements and picture credits. I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.
To learn more about Heather Lang and Jana Christy and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites. Heather Lang has active accounts on Facebook and Twitter. You can see more of Jana Christy's artwork on her agency website. This title was featured at Celebrate Picture Books. The book trailer was premiered along with an interview at Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries John Schumacher's Watch. Connect. Read.AtPenguin Random House, you can view the title and verso pages.
There are other ways of approaching what we love and doing our best to preserve it. One girl grew up knowing the forests around California's Siskiyou Mountains. Nothing found in those forests frightened her as much as fire. She wanted to do everything she could to protect those forests and their inhabitants. Headstrong Hallie!: The Story of Hallie Morse Daggett, the First Female "Fire Guard" (Sleeping Bear Press, February 15, 2021) written by Aimee Bissonette with illustrations by David Hohn chronicles the life of this girl and woman and the impressive steps she took to make her dream a reality.
Hallie leapt from her bed and raced to the
window, pulling back the curtains. A bright
orange glow filled the sky.
Flames licked the tops of far-off trees. Hallie's
house was safe for now, but the winds could
shift at any moment. Even if her home was
safe, the forest was in danger---the trees, the
animals, her neighbors.
As a young girl, Hallie roamed through the woods with her sister Leslie and her brother Ben. She knew birds by their calls, hunted, and fished. She knew first-hand of the dangers of fire. She and her sister would assist firefighters, doing what they could to help when fires broke out near their home.
When Hallie and Leslie were older, they attended a boarding school in San Francisco. Living in the city was the farthest thing from Hallie's mind. Finally, with school finished, Hallie started a letter writing campaign to the United States Forest Service. They said no again and again, even after the devastating Great Fire of 1910 when she pleaded with them.
In 1913, right before the start of fire season, Hallie got the job as the fire lookout at the Eddy Gulch Lookout Station in northern California. No one believed Hallie would last during the wild electrical storms on the top of the mountain or survive the loneliness of days without seeing another human being. She did! She lived in a cozy cabin at the peak. To the west she could see the Pacific Ocean.
Tiny creatures joined her in her new home. Tracks of larger forest dwellers assured she always carried her gun. Daily routines consisted of replenishing water and wood and vigilance in seeking out smoke or flames, day or night. Each week her sister made the three hour climb on horseback to bring Hallie news and supplies.
During fire season, early spring to late autumn, when snow was still on the ground and as soon as snow fell, Hallie was at Eddy Gulch Lookout Station for fourteen more years after her first successful assignment in 1913. Eventually the United States Forest Service built a new station replacing the log cabin. Hallie left soon after, the new building not to her liking. A heart's desire completed.
Readers can easily step into Hallie's world through the writing of author Aimee Bissonette. Explanations of her attachment to the forest of her youth help us connect to her sense of exploration and discovery. Hallie's determination to face her fear of fire in the forests by fighting against it is felt through the descriptions of her tenacity in writing letters. She would not take no for an answer. The inclusion of daily tasks in her job at the Eddy Gulch Lookout Station gives us personal details. She is as real to us as our friends and neighbors. Here is a passage.
At night, she watched for the red glare of fire, which she described as
"red stars in the blue-black background of moonless nights." Three
times a day Hallie telephoned Ranger McCarthy from the pole-
mounted telephone outside her cabin---more often if she spotted
smoke or flame.
In her first season on the job, Hallie spotted forty fires. Because
of her quick reporting, fewer than five acres of forest burned.
Sometimes you look at an open and matching dust jacket and book case and think a single word---WOW. Without reading a word of the narrative, you know Hallie is one fierce female. Her facial features portray deep concentration and dedication. The decision to place the reflection of the forest in her binocular lenses is genius. The color palette is outstanding with the blend of blue, green, and yellow hues. Her right arm extends over the spine to the back. Here a hill rises to the peak. Trees are scattered near the cabin, behind and in front of it. The path to the cabin winds around the hill.
On the opening and closing endpapers is a relief map with the Pacific Ocean on the far left. In the right corner is the state line with Oregon above it. Mountains and trees are scattered on the area. Labels are shown for Klamath National Forest, Mt Linn, Lassen Peak, Mt Shasta, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
A stunning double-page picture spreads left to right from the dedication and publication information page to the title page. It is the dead of night. Hallie's childhood home, lights aglow, sits among the forest on the right. Off to the far left, a forest fire blazes, sparks flying on the night breeze.
Most of the illustrations by David Hohnspan two pages. The single-page pictures generate pacing between important portions of Hallie's life choices. The representations of Hallie's face and her body postures give us a sense of intense focus and of always moving forward.
In the shift of perspectives, we can see David Hohn's attention to detail. The clothing, methods of transportation, and architecture are all in keeping with the historical period. His vast landscapes mirror the starkness and breathtaking beauty of the wilderness. Animals native to the area are always a part of the setting.
One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page picture. It shows Hallie's arrival at the lookout in the early spring on the left and her leaving in the late autumn on the right. Just left of the gutter and at the top, the cabin is the focal point. The telephone on the pole is out in front as is the flag waving in a brisk breeze. When she arrives in the early spring, David Hohn shows snowy hills and mountain peaks with the snow still covering part of the ground as early flowers poke through new grass. She has a walking stick in her hand to assist her in the climb. When she leaves, you can tell she does so with a bit of heartbreak. We see more of her horse in this portion of the picture, waiting in the golden grass as she looks at the cabin. The horse is packed with her possessions. Two snowshoes are visible. David Hohn includes a dog with Hallie. In some photographs of her, a dog is by her side.
More than 100 years ago, this woman due to sheer grit took a stand and paved the way for others to follow. Headstrong Hallie!: The Story of Hallie Morse Daggett, the First Female "Fire Guard" written by Aimee Bissonette with illustrations by David Hohn will have you standing up and cheering. The captivating text and lovely images complement each other. At the close of the book on two pages is an author's note and three black and white photographs. You'll want to have a copy of this book in both your professional and personal collections.
To discover more about Aimee Bissonette and David Hohn and their other work, visit their websites by following the link attached to their names. Aimee Bissonette has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. David Hohn has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Aimee Bissonette is interviewed and this book is featured at writer and illustrator Jena Benton's website.
A book was published in February of 1974 with one of the most haunting scenes I had (or have) every read. Serious consideration was given to not completing the story given the fear those descriptive moments created. As I recall the passage it spoke to those horrific, unforeseen minutes of fear which can happen, when something comes out of the dark to change our lives permanently.
Even knowing what was coursing through the water toward the nighttime swimmer, I was one of hundreds of viewers screaming and lifting my feet from the floor, as we watched Steven Spielberg's movie interpretation of Peter Benchley's Jaws in the summer of 1975. You don't forget that kind of terror. In her Author's Note Heather Lang talks about her fear of sharks sparked by the movie as a child but also how it drove her to learn as much as possible about a trailblazing woman. Swimming With Sharks: The Daring Discoveries of Eugenie Clark (Albert Whitman & Company, December 1, 2016) illustrated by Jordi Solano is one of those stunning picture book biographies highlighting an incredibly brave human being determined to disprove the status quo.
Little Genie stood on the railing and pressed her face against the mysterious glass tank.
While others feared what she watched, she found these fish fascinating. She dreamt of being in the water with them. She wanted to swim with sharks!
On Saturday mornings she returned to the aquarium in New York City, chatting with people who came to the tank and educating them about sharks. To support her passion her mother saved money to get her a fish tank of her own. This girl read, studied and asked questions about sharks. She was determined to become a fish scientist. Today this might not seem like an impossible dream but in the 1930s it was unheard of for a woman to follow this career path.
In college she took every class she could to work her way toward her goal, graduating with a degree in zoology. Fortunately a famous someone recognized her merits. Genie was a research assistant in California for an ichthyologist! She lived in the water acquainting herself with every aspect of life under the surface of the ocean.
When she was twenty-seven years old and conducting a study for the US Navy, her dream came true. Underwater collecting fish, a huge shark swam up behind her! As still as stone Genie watched it dive deep and away.
She built a laboratory in Florida complete with a shark pen devoting herself to learning as much as she could about these often misunderstood fish. Specific interactions would prove such things as sharks are clever, some are gentle and sharks are sophisticated. Eugenie Clark spent a lifetime (actually diving when in her nineties) devoted to sharks and their preservation along with all marine life.
When you read about a woman like Eugenie Clark brought to life by the writing of Heather Lang you are astonished at her accomplishments, one giant step at a time. Research and a visit with Eugenie Clark prior to her death in 2015 allow her to give us up-close-and-personal information about this remarkable pioneer in her field. Her depictions of these incidents are vivid enough to bring us into the place and time. The technique of including pieces of notebook paper with shark notes on them as part of the images brings us closer to her scientific revelations. Here is a passage.
The ocean became her classroom! Genie collected fish and studied them. She took water samples. She dissected a swell shark to investigate how and why it puffs up. Wearing a face mask, Genie explored the underwater world for the first time. Its beauty mesmerized her. Genie couldn't wait to dive deeper, stay under water longer, and maybe even see some sharks.
Painted digitally after hand-drawn images are scanned into his computer Jordi Solano supplies readers with a world so real we expect the sharks to swim right off the pages. The illustration on the matching dust jacket and book case on the front, the right, is extended over the spine giving us an expanded view of the aquarium tank and a fourth shark. Even though Genie is on the outside looking in at the sharks, this initial picture seems to predict her astounding future with these creatures.
The opening and closing endpapers done in two hues of blue feature the outlines of many different types of sharks. Beneath the text on the title page a loose circle surrounds Genie with her hands pressed against the glass at the shark tank. Most of the images span two pages. Solano's use of shading and shadow and his shifts in perspective give each illustration a deep sense of atmosphere and emotion.
For the first two page image we again see Genie, face against the glass at the aquarium, but this time we are closer to her and seeing her as if we are in the tank; it's a shark's eye view. When Genie dives it's as if we are there with her. All the shimmering shades of the ocean depths are shown. Each picture is a study of Genie and her love of sharks.
One of my many favorite pictures is after Genie's mother buys her a fish tank. On a single page, taking up nearly the entire area, is the tank filled with plants and tiny fish. Behind them is the face of Genie, eyes wide open and watching everything in motion. Solano has her hair on the outside blend with the plants on the inside. The play of dark and light is wonderful.
After reading a title like Swimming With Sharks: The Daring Discoveries of Eugenie Clark written by Heather Lang with illustrations by Jordi Solano you find yourself first thankful for this woman and second hoping this story will inspire other women to pursue their heart's desire no matter what road blocks attempt to dissuade them. Eugenie Clark fought against norms and prejudice and won herself a place as a highly respected scientist. This is an excellent picture book biography! There is, as mentioned above, an Author's Note, a More about Sharks page and a list of Selected Sources.
To learn more about Heather Lang and Jordi Solano please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names. Heather Lang has a multitude of resources about Eugenie Clark and sharks on the page for this title. There is a six page teacher's guide. At the publisher's website you can get a peek inside the book including one of my favorite illustrations. At the publisher's blog illustrator Jordi Solano talks about his process for this title. This is his first picture book. Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher, showcases the book trailer premiere with commentary by Heather Lang on his blog, Watch. Connect. Read.Heather Lang is a guest writer at the Nerdy Book Club speaking about research for nonfiction and fiction children's literature titles. This title has been nominated at the Amelia Bloomer Project.
As this year is nearly at a close please be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to see the other titles selected this week by those participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.
