The Stuff of Remembering

We cling to happy (and not so happy) memories of special places, events and people.  We tuck them into the sacred corners of our mind to inspire and educate us, to rekindle passionate pursuits, and to keep the sparks of love and hope ignited.  Collectively these moments comprise the story of our lives.  They are how we connect to each other.

Many of us, at any age, can be forgetful but when you see an elderly person struggle and search for words during a conversation, you realize how disheartening the loss of memory is for them and for those who love them. Elly Swartz, author of  Finding Perfect (Farrar Straus Giroux, October 18, 2016) and Smart Cookie (Scholastic Press, January 30, 2018) has penned another exceptional middle grade novel about a twelve-year-old girl, Maggie, filled with anxiety and a fear of forgetting.  It is an illuminating look at the power of our minds and the importance of family.



1
Baby Girl
Baby Girl is the name written on her birth certificate,
but I think that's a bit sad.  Mom calls her Isabelle.
That feels way too formal for a silky-soft, chubby
day-old baby who smells like powder.  So I name
her Izzie.

Maggie's family is fostering a newborn until the birth parents reach a decision on the fate of their child.  She, her two brothers, Dillon (older) and Charlie (younger) and her parents have been counseled to keep in mind, this little girl is in their care for only the briefest amount of time.  To Maggie, she's already her very own little sister.  On the first morning of Izzie's stay with the family, we are given a glimmer of Maggie's growing problem.

Chapter by chapter we are more fully acquainted with the members of Maggie's family including their Labrador retriever, Batman.  Dillon is laser-focused on his basketball skills.  Young Charlie spouts trivia like he's practicing for a spot on Jeopardy.  Maggie is one of the best trap-shooters on her all-girl squad which happens to be coached by her father.  Maggie has a huge heart, looking out for those who can't protect themselves, like an eastern painted turtle she rescues from the shooting range.  She takes him home, smuggled in her pocket, and names him Bert.

This family is cemented together by love reflected in the actions of grandparents and parents.  A year ago, Nana, the children's grandmother died.  There was one horrible day when she didn't recognize Maggie anymore.  Dinners begin with a round table of declarations of what made members, happy, sad or mad.  Dinners do sometimes include their grandfather who lives near them.  There is a constant exchange of conversation between siblings and adults with the children.  And yet, amid all this, Maggie is in trouble.

Maggie is full of fear.  She is terrified of forgetting like her grandmother.  To alleviate her fear, she saves everything.  Her bedroom closet is stacked with cardboard boxes and under her bed more boxes hold items tied to memories.  Her locker at school is nearly overflowing.  She has been able to keep this need to save a secret until two episodes of uncontrolled anger, first at Charlie and then her mother, draw her parents attention. 

Amid the trips to the psychologist to create and follow through on a plan for Maggie to re-think her fear of forgetting, everyday life happens all around her.  Changes are made on the all-girls trap squad as the state meet approaches.  A new friendship is formed as a former friendship fades.  Anger rears its ugly head again.  A loss through carelessness sends the family in seek-and-find mode for days.  There is heartbreak and hope in abundance.  When Maggie's faced with a dilemma during the state meet, you'll have to remind yourself to breathe but breathe you will because we all are stronger together.


As soon as you begin reading you are reminded of Elly Swartz's innate ability to take us into the mind of her characters.  This narrative in the first-person of Maggie is a deeply personal blend of thoughts, dialogue and notes in a journal.  Through Maggie's words, silent, spoken or written, we meet a girl with a large capacity for compassion.

So in two days, two weeks, or a month, we'll need to return our little bundle to Rita and the agency.
Like a library book.
But I don't want to tell Charlie that.
Because to me, she feels like my baby sister.
Even if it's for just a few days.

Within the initial story Elly Swartz begins to leave careful clues about Maggie's growing fear; her need to keep items as physical ties to memories.  We feel the start of something building, layer by layer.  It increases until to our dismay, and Maggie's dread, it's out of control.  It's hard to watch this unfold in this twelve-year-old girl's life. 

When Nana died last year, I added a tassel from her favorite pomegranate-red scarf.  And since then, I've added five gum wrappers, three bendy straws, sticks from a hike up Ridge Mountain, Wade Pond, and a walk with Charlie, a yellow plastic fork, half a red, white, and blue plate with a picture of fireworks on it, and a butterscotch candy wrapper.  I've also filled the seven boxes in the closet, the three other under my bed, and most of my school locker.
Today, I drop in one teeny-tiny yellow sock.
A little piece of Izzie. 
For me.
To keep. 

The chapters are short but thoughtfully written.  Chapter headings reveal key moments within those pages.  Each one ends with words you want to remember.  Each one begins with the next moment in Maggie's day to day world.  Here is a passage from the end of a chapter and the beginning of the next chapter.

"I got a call from Rita," Mom says.  "The birth parents have selected an adoptive couple, and I need to bring Isabelle back to Rita's office so they can give her to her forever family."
"When?"
"Saturday."
So now I know.
Forever ends tomorrow.

The panic rises from the place that holds my forever good-byes.
To Nana.
And now, Izzie.
I hug this little human who smells like powder, and a tear slips out.  I don't want to let her go. Don't want to be forgotten.

As she did in her two previous books, Elly Swartz places true-to-life characters addressing tough situations in this title.  She provides us with the opportunity to learn with the people residing in her pages.  We laugh with them, and cry with them.  This is how books leave a mark on our hearts.


Whether you read this book, Give and Take written by Elly Swartz in one sitting or a little at a time, individually, with an entire class as a read aloud or with a book group, you will be moved by the story of Maggie, her family and friends.  At the close of the book Elly Swartz includes Maggie's Playlist, A Note on Hoarding in Children from Dr. Kathleen Trainor, Clinical Psychologist, an author's note, and information on hoarding in children, adoption and short-term foster care and eastern painted turtles.  This book needs to find a place on your professional and personal bookshelves. 

To learn more about Elly Swartz and her other work, please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  Elly has a page dedicated to this title on her website.  It includes a curriculum guide and a journaling activity.  Elly Swartz has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can read an excerpt.  The cover is revealed along with a chat at Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher's site, Watch. Connect. Read.

A Letter Tells A Tale

Children enjoy playing with the sounds made by letters and words.  The rhythms made by combinations of the two are like a symphony to them.  If what they are hearing has a melody, they are more likely to remember it. 

When you simply start humming the alphabet song (copyright 1834 by Charles Bradlee), most children with an English language background will easily start to sing the song.  You can see they have a sense of pride in remembering the order of the letters in this alphabet.  Another use of language in which they have fun is alliteration.  B Is for Baby (Candlewick Press, March 12, 2019) written by Atinuke with illustrations by Angela Brooksbank uses a single letter, words beginning with that letter and brings a bonanza of bliss to book lovers.

B is for 
Baby.

This baby is eager to have her mother weave beads into her hair.  A large basket filled with bananas captures her attention.  She crawls inside and eats one for her breakfast.

Her older brother, dancing to tunes heard through his headset attached to a music player, puts the lid on the basket and loads it on the back of his bicycle.  Does he see the baby?  He does not.  He pedals his bike, riding down the less than smooth road.

As they travel toward Baba's home, the baby in the basket with the bananas sees many things along the road starting with the letter "b".  The lid is lost when a curious baboon steals it.  Groups of people on foot and riding in a vehicle wait to cross the bridge over a stream.

Baba's home and the flowers around it use the letter "b" to name them.  Who do you think is more surprised to see the baby inside the basket of bananas?  Baba?  Brother? After a snack, brother and baby sister return home through a bounty of words beginning with the letter "b".


As you read each sentence, B is for  ____, you do so with appreciation for the manner in which author and storyteller Atinuke connects them together.  She takes us through an entire day using only words beginning with a single letter.  We begin at one home, travel down a road, arrive at another home and circle back to the beginning.  It's a brilliant use of a figure of speech.  Supplying punctuation, periods, exclamation points and a question mark, adds to the cadence of the narrative.


How can you look at the front of the matching dust jacket and book case without smiling?  I'm positive I can hear the giggles of a baby.  This adorable child, in her colorful clothes, is downright huggable.  To the left, on the back, her older brother, listening to his music, has grasped her hands and is dancing with her.  The creme canvas showcases the bright, lively hues in the children's clothing.

Shades of red and creme are used in a vibrant pattern on the opening and closing endpapers.  It's an enlarged version of the cloth used in the mother's dress.  With a page turn a double-page illustration spreads across the verso and title pages.  It shows the family's house with the mother holding her baby in the foreground on the right.  The scene, especially with all the people on the porch of the house, reflects a happy home.

Using mixed media on a white background, artist Angela Brooksbank supplies readers with lush images, some double-page pictures and others full-page images.  To supply readers with pacing, several smaller illustrations are also grouped together on a single page.  To give readers a sense of the objects noted, our point of view is close.  For us to appreciate the flora and fauna, Angela Brooksbank gives us a larger perspective, at times at bird's eye view. 

Every picture is fully animated (except for one).  We feel as though we've been invited to join the story.  Readers will pause on many of the pages to further savor the wonderful elements.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for B is for Baboon.  It is a double-page picture.  A single tree trunk extends from the grass on the left with branches arching along the top of both pages.  A troop of baboons are sitting on or hanging from the limbs.  Up close on the left, one baboon is holding the lid for the basket it grabbed as the bicycle passed.  On the right the brother is riding along, listening to his music and smiling, oblivious to his surroundings.  On the back of the bicycle, the baby is looking rather surprised, nestled as she is among the bananas.


B Is for Baby written by Atinuke with illustrations by Angela Brooksbank is a treasure of an alphabet book for its word play and for the revealed story.  For those not familiar with the setting or some of the words, it's a fabulous title to use for expanding vocabulary and knowledge of places unlike your own.  This book is highly recommended for your personal and professional book collections.

To learn more about Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Atinuke has an account on Facebook.  Angela Brooksbank has an account on Instagram.  At the publisher's website you can view an interior image.  At Penguin Random House you can view the endpapers, verso and title pages and the first double-page picture.  Author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson features this book on her site, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

Look Out, There's A New Face In The Family

Nine days ago my life completely changed... for the good but it is exhausting.  It's been a little more than sixteen years since a puppy was a member of my home.  At two months old Mulan, a chocolate Labrador, is full of energy, teething and trying to get the hang of relieving herself outdoors.  Everything chewable is now placed above five feet.  I am on alert 24/7 gauging the amount of time between food, drink and the last time we were outside.  Her schedule has become my schedule until we can get adjusted to one another.

Last night was the first time we slept more than four hours (which was a huge relief considering I slept in my clothes for several nights, not the same clothes, of course).  There was a mini wake-up but soothing words did the trick and the sweet pup went back to dreaming.  The Boss Baby (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, August 31 2010) written and illustrated by Marla Frazee is about a newcomer with a mind of his own.

He has huge demands which take every single second of Mom's and Dad's time.  He becomes the center of attention.  If all his wants are not met, he puts up an enormous fuss.

His meetings are Mom and Dad trying everything under the sun to make their son satisfied.  He does not care one iota about what time of day or night these occur.  Trying to understand him is nearly impossible because his language is gibberish to their adult ears.

One day no matter what he does, his workers fail to perform.  Nothing seems to get their attention until he does something he has never done.  The results are better than expected.  Is there anything better than being in charge?


Given the laws of life and nature, what goes up must come down.  In other words the Boss Baby is blissfully unaware his authority is about to be challenged.  The Bossier Baby, a companion title, (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, November 1, 2016) written and illustrated by Marla Frazee, shows how upsetting a shift can be for a smooth running company...er...family.

From the moment his baby sister arrived,
the Boss Baby had a feeling that change was in the air.

She has a plan and she is sticking to it.  Her first order of business is to put new leadership in place.  She is now in charge...of everything.

She is even more vocal than the Boss Baby which if you recall he set new records in the bossy department.  Mom and Dad don't seem to mind all this noise.  In fact the Boss Baby is saddened by their total delight in the Bossier Baby.  Her on-the-job perks are much better than his.  How come he never had

a full-time social media team?

The Boss Baby is getting angrier by the minute.  To add fuel to his fury, no one seems to care.  His shocking actions go unnoticed.  So he does something he has never done.

Little-miss-in-charge-of-everything makes a discovery.  You will not believe what the Bossier Baby, the Chief Executive Officer, the CEO, does.  It is something she has never done before.  All appears to be running smoothly.  Or is it?


In both these titles Marla Frazee puts a brilliant spin on the arrival of a new baby in a home.  Her narratives equating the youngsters as the heads of a company are hilarious in their exactness.  In both titles an unseen narrator is assessing the situation as an astute observer.

The tone of each book is straightforward never missing a beat with perfect pacing adding to the comedic effect.  Her descriptions of the meetings, the perks and the

out of the box

thinking by both the Boss Baby and the Bossier Baby are exceedingly creative and clever.  The private jet for Boss Baby is a plane-shaped swing and the private limo for the Bossier Baby is a ritzy, cushioned baby buggy.  Here are passages from each book.

He made demands.
Many, many demands.
And he was quite particular.
If things weren't done to his immediate satisfaction,
he had a fit. 

The first thing the new executive did was outline her business plan and restructure the organization...
from the top down.


In both books the opened matching dust jackets and book cases introduce readers to the no nonsense characters by placing them front and center.  To the left, on the back, of each, the main characters are being catered to by the staff, Mom and Dad.  The opening and closing endpapers on the first title are a happy pattern of baby toys in shades of pink, blue and white. In the companion book there is a geometric, retro design of squares and rectangles with Etch A Sketches prominently in view and part of the mix for the endpapers in yellow, grays, red and orange.

On both of the title pages you have to smile at the scene of each baby arriving at their home.  In the first he is sitting in a rather large backseat, consulting his watch with a huge briefcase on his lap. The Bossier Baby arrives in a snazzy car with her small head, a single curl on top peering out the back window.  She is, of course, wearing sunglasses.

Marla Frazee rendered the art in these books using

black Prismacolor pencil and gouache on Strathmore 2-ply cold press paper.  

Her line work and design are unmistakable giving her images texture and loads of animation.  Many of her illustrations span two pages but her perspectives vary expanding the text.  To provide pacing and slowing the narrative, a single page picture is used or a series of smaller vignettes depict the passage of time.  The expressions on the babies' faces and their body postures (on Mom and Dad too) will have you laughing out loud.

One of my favorite illustrations from the first book spans two pages.  Mom and Dad, looking the worse for wear and barely awake, are standing in front of a crib with Boss Baby making demands in the middle of the night.  He is wearing footie pajamas in black with a tie.  His open brief case is next to him in bed.  A Calder style mobile hangs from the ceiling over his crib.  He is holding a long page enumerating his wants and needs.

One of my favorite illustrations from the second book is when the Bossier Baby enters the home for the first time.  She strides in pushing her sunglasses up on her forehead wearing a classic pearl necklace.   She is caring her Etch A Sketch.  Boss Baby is watching, pressed against the wall and looking aghast.  On the right-hand side of the page Mom and Dad are thrilled with her arrival.  A picture of the original trio is on a nearby table beneath a retro sunburst clock.


The Boss Baby and The Bossier Baby written and illustrated by Marla Frazee are sure to ignite bouts of giggles in readers of all ages.  We all know what it's like to have our lives turned topsy-turvy by a "boss".  These bosses are starting at a very early age.  Who knows what the future holds for either of them.  Whatever it is, there is bound to be lots of humor involved.

To learn more about Marla Frazee and her other remarkable works, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  At the publisher's website you can read about the inspiration for the first title. You will enjoy reading The Boss Baby Gets a Starring Role---and Second Billing at Publishers Weekly.  Marla Frazee is a guest at educator and administrator for the Plum Creek Festival, Dylan Teut's blog Mile High Reading.  All The Wonders, Episode 304 by teacher librarian Matthew Winner features Marla Frazee.  Andrea Skyberg hosts a tour of Marla Frazee's studio.




Marla Frazee from Adam Goodwin on Vimeo.