Where To Start? Look In Your Heart.

There are days so exquisite, your soul feels like it might burst with happiness.  The air is diamond sharp. Even though the temperature is in the mid-fifties; you have your windows open to savor the clarity of the gentle breeze.  Small clouds, tiny puffs, roam across a startling blue expanse of sky.  The sun, at a different angle now, calls forth in warmth the blossoms on autumn flowers. 

Today is one of those days.  You wish, not for the first time, you could bottle it up to enjoy at a future date.   With gratitude, there are books, mirroring these magical days, for us to hold in our hands and read whenever we desire.  One such book is You Are A Beautiful Beginning (Roaring Brook Press, August 25, 2020) written by Nina Laden with illustrations by Kelsey Garrity-Riley.  In this marvelous, mindful guide to life, profound perspectives lead the way to truth and wonder.  

It is not the number of pages.

It is the story in the book.

For many of us it is not the distance we walk from one point to another, but the first move we make.  Do we focus on all the subsequent steps, or look at the world around us?  Lifting our voices in song, whether there are words, or not, is an uplifting style of music all our own.  

Sometimes we try hard for perfection without realizing the special skill behind every attempt.  One good friend, the one who is there despite all obstacles, is more valuable than numerous acquaintances.  It is good to remember not how many things we have, but how many things we are willing to give to others.

Do we try to outshine others?  Do we pride ourselves on being a contributing member of a group?  Do we construct roadblocks?  Do we make new paths?

In each of these comparative thoughts, fourteen altogether, we are asked to assess our thinking.  We are shown how to see the world through the eyes of "we" instead of "me."  We walk side-by-side with words and images toward being exactly who we are, a child of the universe, a spectacular piece in the fantastic whole.

Each of the pair of sentences penned by Nina Laden are a thoughtful study of personal growth.  The final word in the second and fourth statements in two pairs rhyme.  This cadence of rhyming and repetitive words is a gentle invitation for reader participation.  It's as if Nina Laden has held out her hand to readers, willing to walk with us as we converse and ponder the paths we choose.  Here is another passage.

It is not being afraid of darkness.

It is looking for places that glow.

The three children shown walking across the log bridge, on the front of the open and matching dust jacket and book case, meet each other one by one as their days begin and they start to explore their outside world.  The animated elements from nature and the tiny fantastical beings join them as their adventure grows, image by image.  To the left, on the back, is a pastoral scene, looking down a hill toward the tiny community where the children reside.  The final four sentences from the book are placed in the center of the picture.

A plaid pattern of diamonds in two tones of lighter rust cover the opening and closing endpapers.  Wildflowers, mushrooms, small grassy mounds, a beetle, and a snail are items included in the visual framing the lower portion of the text on the title page.  Prior to the book's closing endpapers is a charming two-page picture of the initial girl, asleep in her bed, on the left, holding the book she was first reading.  From the book is a flowing stream of experienced and possible adventures and dreams, stretching from the left to the right edge.  Under the right portion of the stream is the dedication and publication information.

The illustrations rendered by Kelsey Garrity-Riley using

gouache, ink, and colored pencils, with a little bit of digital editing

alternate between large oval images, double-page pictures, and single-page visuals, edge to edge.  With her artwork, Kelsey Garrity-Riley forms a companion story, taking the words of Nina Laden and applying them to the unfolding pictorial tale.  To see this happening as you read the words is quite enchanting.

Readers will stop at each page turn to study all the intricate details.  They will be thrilled to see a beetle wearing a bowler hat, and carrying a curved cane watching the first little girl leave her home.  They will gasp in wonder at the dandelion fluff turned into ballerinas floating on the wind.  They will exclaim at the fairy folk who emerge from their homes to help the children.  They will sigh as the day progresses into evening and everyone is together sheltered by the efforts of their day.  

One of my many, many favorite pictures is for the words

It is singing a song in your heart.

This full-page illustration is a close-up view of a collage of yellow flowers open and budding on a backdrop of leaves in green and blue hues.  Two brown-shaded birds fly into the scene, one from the lower, right-hand corner, and the other down from the top, left-hand side.  In the center of the page in the center of an open yellow flower is the boy we see on the jacket and cover.  His eyes are closed, and his arms are spread wide, ready for an embrace.  His face is raised, and his mouth is open in song.  Three beetles are near him playing instruments.  This is pure bliss.

This book, You Are A Beautiful Beginning written by Nina Laden with illustrations by Kelsey Garrity-Riley, is one to keep close to you.  Each pair of phrases welcomes us to think how we will approach moments in our days and the directions we wish our lives to follow.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To discover more about Nina Laden and Kelsey Garrity-Riley and their other work, please visit their respective websites by following the link attached to their names.  Nina Laden has accounts on Facebook, and Instagram.  Kelsey Garrity-Riley has an account on Instagram.  (You can see pictures from this book there.)  At the publisher's website you can view multiple interior images.

Namely . . .

At our births we are given names for reasons our parents may or may not reveal.  We are named in honor of family members, friends, events, and all kinds of favorite things.  As we progress through our lives an assortment of nicknames follows us.  These, too, represent a wide range of reasons.  They might reference a physical characteristic, a personality trait or something we've done or are about to do. 

Sometimes these names and nicknames astonishingly fit us perfectly.  Other times, they definitely do not.  We have a choice how we will respond to our names and nicknames.  I'm A Baked Potato! (Chronicle Books, May 7, 2019) written by Elise Primavera with art by Juana Medina is about a dog adopted by a lady who has a taste for a very specific kind of food. 

There was a lady who love baked potatoes.
She ate one every day.

Concerned she might not have a potato in stock for baking, she had her own garden of potatoes in her backyard.  Dogs were also loved by this lady.  She brought one home with her.  Holding this dog in her arms, she realized this dog had all the characteristics of . . . a baked potato.  He was her very own special baked potato. 

He was called this multiple times during the day.  This lady and her dog were inseparable, sharing meals and her snuggly bed.  The lady knew she loved this dog more than she loved baked potatoes.

One day the lady left the house.  The dog left, too.  He looked and looked for her.  As he wandered through the community he came to a small house.  A grumpy big dog lived there.  When the lady's dog told him he was a baked potato, the cranky canine said he looked more like a groundhog. 

As he continued to search, it started to rain.  He needed to find his lady.  Two more animals met the dog.  The first was deceptive and hungry.  Apparently, the little dog was a bunny rabbit.  The second arrived in the nick of time offering explanations and wisdom.

Using one of his best assets, the little dog left the happier home, and ran through the rain past the first two houses.  He followed his nose and his heart, listening until he heard two familiar words.  Knowing who you are makes home a sanctuary to be savored.


Author Elise Primavera conversationally begins this story chatting about a woman with a love for baked potatoes and dogs but the humor is revealed when the woman equates her new pooch pal with her favorite food.  Elise Primavera fashions a rhythm by describing the three traits the dog has in common with baked potatoes, the three times during the day she calls him Baked Potato and how attached the two are to one another.  This cadence continues throughout the story. 

To accentuate pacing and provide readers with a more personal experience a combination of narrative and dialogue is used.  Descriptive verbs place emphasis on personalities and emotions of the characters.  Here is a passage.

The sky became dark.  The air became cold.
The dog became worried.

It began to rain.

The dog thought of how it felt to be held in the lady's arms.
He thought of how right now they'd be sharing a meal together by the fire.
He thought of the bed where she let him sleep under the covers.

"The lady!" he called.  "Where are you?"


On the open and matching dust jacket and book case the little dog's expression combined with the book's title will have readers speculating about the tale and eager to begin reading the book.  They will probably be laughing, too.  The blend of brush strokes and bold lines on Baked Potato ask you to reach out and hug him.  Placing him on a creamy canvas with red font is an excellent design decision.  The title text is varnished.  If the light catches the dust jacket you can see an addition.  A pattern of tiny varnished baked potatoes on plates is a part of the background.  Genius.

To the left, on the back, in the center is a smaller image of the fireplace in the lady's home.  The little dog is curled in contentment in front of the fire.  The opening and closing endpapers are eight rows, red on red, of elements to be found in other homes.  All kinds of dogs are mixed in with these items.  It will have readers wondering about those pets and their people.

The illustrations by Juana Medina rendered digitally using Procreate are brimming with details and textures.  The lady has a baked potato weathervane on the roof of her home, baked potatoes are on the fabric of her bedspread and the inside of each house has family photographs readers will find interesting. The artwork is full-page pictures, a group of smaller visuals on a single page and two-page images.  At the end of the book the dedication and publication information pages appear like a framed photograph.  The animals Baked Potato encounters are featured along with him in a setting with several trees and potato plants.  Will readers notice the other teeny tiny visitor that also appeared in the first image?

One of my many favorite illustrations is when the lady first brings the dog home.  It is on a single page.  The lady is cuddling the dog in her arms and looking at him as she notices how much he resembles her favorite food.  The look on the dog's face is serene but also a little bit curious. 


As soon as you show this book to listeners and readers, the smiles, giggles and grins will begin.  I'm A Baked Potato! written by Elise Primavera with art by Juana Medina is a humorous look at names, nicknames and home and how their definitions shift.  Readers will fall in love with this dog and his lady.  You will want to have this in your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Elise Primavera and Juana Medina and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Elise Primavera has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  Juana Medina has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.