From Many, One

The fascinating fact about picture book biographies about the same person is each new one makes the person more whole for readers.  Each author and each illustrator approach the subject from a different perspective, even if similar information is included.  Some picture book biographies focus on the person's entire life, from birth to death, focusing on their choice of accomplishments.  Other picture book biographies feature either their childhood, or adulthood.  Particular milestones reached by the individual, even a single event, are covered by other titles.

In a new title about Benjamin Franklin, we learn of a collective variety of incidents, contributing to a lifetime of remarkable achievements.  In A Ben Of All Trades: The Most Inventive Boyhood of Benjamin Franklin (Candlewick Press, March 17, 2020) written by Michael J. Rosen with illustrations by Matt Tavares, we become acquainted with a young man who had an intense focus.  His repeated attempts to prove a point, enhanced his future more than he could have imagined.

WHAT DID Benjamin Franklin love about books?  Each one was nothing like the other.

What did Benjamin Franklin not love about making candles?

Working in his father's candle making shop, Benjamin deplored the exactness of the trade.  Everything was always the same.  What Benjamin desired was to be a sailor.  His father would not agree to this.

He needed to find a trade for his son, this son preoccupied with swimming, reading and too much thinking.  His latest book fascination was a title from his library, The Art of Swimming. Josiah, though impressed with Benjamin's latest invention, paddles for his hands to make him swim faster, knew he must find something to peak his son's interest soon.

After several days working at a joinery, Benjamin and his father, on their walk home spoke.  Benjamin longed to go to sea.  Josiah, as expected, said no.  Even when Benjamin demonstrated a new swimming technique in the river, his father did not relent.  Two different and new apprenticeships did not appeal to Benjamin.  He was good at both, as he was with whatever he did, but he was bored.  Even after another swimming presentation, Josiah stood silent and firm in his resolve to forbid Benjamin to go to sea.

One day, using the acquired skills from his job training, Benjamin made an extraordinary kite.  With his sister, Lydia, and his friend, John Collins, they went to Mill Pond.  Suddenly an idea struck Benjamin.  It worked splendidly.  Eagerly, he, Lydia and John walked to his father's shop.  Even after an explanation, his father did not approve.

Benjamin was sent to work with his brother, James, who owned a print shop.  Benjamin was there for nine years.  In those years, this youth took what he knew and what he learned and melded them with the best parts of his personality.  Benjamin Franklin died more than 230 years ago, but his talents and his deeds remain.


With his first four sentences, author Michael J. Rosen presents readers with the essence of Benjamin Franklin's personality as well as how his narrative of this time in Benjamin's days will unfold in this book.  By moving back and forth between Benjamin's perfecting of his inventions and his swimming techniques and his father's attempts at finding him a trade, we feel the tension between a young man wanting something with every fiber of his being and a parent who will not allow it.  It becomes apparent, when reading the facts and dialogue as depicted by Michael J. Rosen, that even within the restrictions of this historical period, young Benjamin Franklin's mind was allowed to flourish, regardless of not pursuing the career of his dreams.

In his Notes About Young Franklin and About Creating This Book, Michael J. Rosen addresses what he did and did not include in this book.  This reinforces what readers discover.  Although Benjamin Franklin lived centuries ago, young people today can connect to a boy who took the best of every situation and used it to strengthen his gifts.  Here is a passage.

The two walked without speaking until they
approached the river.  "Father, I've learned the
Leap of the Goat.  It's the feat that shows true
mastery of the swimming arts."
"If you must demonstrate, then you must . . . "
Benjamin raced toward the water.  Floating on
his back, chest inflated, he thrashed his arms
against the sun-bright ripples until his feet
fluttered inches above the river.
Josiah applauded.
Benjamin dressed.
The two walked home in silence. 


In a breathtaking composition, beginning on the front of the open and matching dust jacket and book case, we see young Benjamin Franklin standing on a dock post looking out at the harbor in Boston.  Behind him are buildings and people portraying the architecture, clothing, and transportation of this period.  The scene extends beautifully on the other side of the spine.  A ship flying the British flag spans from the left to the right of this portion of the painting.  The use of light and shadow here is visible throughout the book.  You can feel the salty air on the breeze and hear the cries of sea birds in the distance.  The sound of the horses and wagon and voices of the people fade because you, as Ben Franklin, are looking out toward the sea and your future.

The rich velvety black of the title text is used on the opening and closing endpapers.  On the first page is a quote from Poor Richard's Almanack, 1750.  As referenced in the quote artist Matt Tavares has placed a sundial on a short square pillar among grass and foliage.  With another page turn we are standing behind Benjamin Franklin as he looks out at the harbor.  This view of multiple ships in the water against a golden sky awash is wisps of clouds is stunning.  The yearning of this boy is our yearning.

Rendered in pencil and painted digitally, these illustrations by Matt Tavares transport us to Benjamin Franklin's world as a youth.  When the focus is on Benjamin and his father, the image spans across one page and half of another page.  This creates a wide column for text which Matt Tavares frames in period lines.  He also places a smaller visual (or visuals) beneath or within the text symbolizing an item mentioned in the narrative.

When Benjamin is trying one of his inventions, the illustration is a double-page picture, edge to edge. The one exception to this pictorial rhythm is when Josiah tells Benjamin he is to become a journeyman in his brother's print shop.  It is a dramatic moment.  Another technique of Matt Tavares creating an interpretive cadence is how he shifts a visual's viewpoint.  We are brought close to Benjamin at times and then we are given a more panoramic view.  Sometimes there is a blend of the two.  One thing which is portrayed is the affection Benjamin has for his sibling, friend, and his father and how that affection is returned.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is when Benjamin is experimenting with his kite.  This double-page picture shows the bank of Mill Pond with homes beyond it and the masts of ships rising in the harbor.  Shadows of tree branches play on the roofs from the sunlight.  Lydia and John are running along the path.  This scene is the upper one-third of the image.  The other two-thirds show ripples of water, left to right, as Benjamin is being dragged on his back by the kite.  Above the water on the right side is his smiling face, eyes alight with joy.  His arms are stretched out and up as he grasps the stick with the kite rope wound on it.


This point of view, this portion of this memorable man's life, will resonate with and inspire readers.  A Ben Of All Trades: The Most Inventive Boyhood of Benjamin Franklin written by Michael J. Rosen with illustrations by Matt Tavares is a marvelous title.  You could pair it with Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by Robert Byrd, Ben Franklin's Big Splash: The Mostly True Story of His First Invention by Barb Rosenstock with illustrations by S. D. Schindler and Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France by Mara Rockliff with illustrations by Iacopo Bruno.  In this title in addition to the previously mentioned author notes, there is a note From the Illustrator, and a Bibliography.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional libraries.

To learn more about Michael J. Rosen and Matt Tavares and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Michael J. Rose has accounts on Facebook, and Twitter.  Matt Tavares has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view an interior image.  At Penguin Random House you can view other interior visuals.  Matt Tavares chats on the A Bookish Home Podcast with Laura Szaro Kopinski.


Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher, to view the other titles selected this week by other participants in the 2020 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Searching For Sound

There are those clever and inventive few who can take apart any kind of gadget and put it back together with no extra parts.  They are also able to take bits and pieces from a collection of devices no longer working and make something else entirely new.  The most wondrous thing of all is this innovative contraption works like a dream; doing exactly what they designed it to do.

When individuals like this have the added gift for making melodious sounds, something special is added to the world.  Guitar Genius: How Les Paul Engineered The Solid-Body Electric Guitar And Rocked The World (Chronicle Books, April 9, 2019) written by Kim Tomsic with illustrations by Brett Helquist recounts the life of a man who genuinely enhanced the field of music, specifically guitar music.  At an early age his talent for making something out of nothing was apparent.

In a three-story schoolhouse near the Fox River in Waukesha, Wisconsin, children scrambled into the music room.

One student in particular, Les, loved making sounds on all the instruments even though he couldn't read a line of music.  One day after school, his music teacher, pinned a note for his mother on his shirt.  His mother ripped it up, telling Lester he could do anything he believed he could do.  (The teacher said he would never be musical.)

First Lester built his own crystal set when he saw the one built by a neighborhood friend.  Then he saved money from his paper route and bought his first guitar.  He learned to play through practicing and practicing and practicing.  He was so good; he was invited to play on a radio show.  His next invention was to build a recording lathe.  By listening to his recordings, he could make necessary improvements.

Every time Lester wanted his music to be better, he built something to make this happen.  Using a hanger he crafted a gizmo so he could play both sides of his harmonica while playing his guitar.  He figured out how to make sure those in the back of a crowd could hear him as well as those in the front.  His next innovation would be one of his best.

At seventeen he started road travel as Rhubarb Red.  By the time he was in his early twenties he formed a band called the Les Paul Trio.  By twenty-four he performed at the White House for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  It was now time to put into action an idea he's tossed and turned around in his mind for a lot of years.

With the help of a night watchman at the Epiphone guitar factory Les Paul built his dream.  He had to make modifications, but it was the sound he wanted.  So did his audiences.  This man never stopped crafting those things which made music better.  (Even in the year of his death (2009) at the age of ninety-four, he still received an honor; one of many during his lifetime.)


The meticulous research this author, Kim Tomsic, did is evident in the personal elements included in the narrative.  Her word choices are a reflection of sounds and rhythms.  Dialogue is placed within the body of the book; making us feel as though we are walking side-by-side with Les Paul.  Kim Tomsic also uses terms common to the historic period by having Les Paul say hot dog when he is thrilled with an accomplishment.  Here are two passages.

He scrutinized the family's newfangled gizmos, tinkering in his mother's living room and his father's garage.  And then he took everything apart---things like the phonograph, the player piano, the telephone, and the radio.
"Ma," his big brother hollered.  "The kid's at it again!"
"Leave him alone, Ralph," his mother said.  "He's just trying to learn." 

It worked!  Harmonica sounds floated from one radio speaker---bazzooie-buzzlebahhh.  Guitar strumming amplified from the other radio speaker---strum-twang, strum twaaaaang. EVERYONE could hear.  It was a smashing success!  Almost.  The problem was it wasn't just strings vibrating---the hollow space in the middle of the guitar vibrated, too, making the speaker echo and screeeeeeeeeech.


One of the first things you notice about the open and matching dust jacket and book case is the color palette.  It has a kind of retro aspect to it.  Every element complements another element.  I like the word stereo along the top framed by arrows as if this is a record album.  Arrows frame the word Guitar Genius on the spine, too.  Notice on the front how the pieces of the guitar are separated.  Artist Brett Helquist does this frequently within the book, clearly showing us how Les Paul put his inventions together.  (Sometimes the parts are labeled.)

To the left, on the back, the same teal covers the canvas.  Within yellow circles we see Les Paul at work on one of his creations.  Certain items in the images break the borders.  The yellow on the jacket and case is used for the opening and closing endpapers.

Rendered in oil paint on watercolor paper the illustrations span full pages, double pages and sometimes are smaller and circular on white space.  The technique Brett Helquist uses for the guitar sounds is a series of circles set in other colored circles.  For the music from Les Paul's harmonica lovely-hued waves are presented.

The facial features on the people are signature Brett Helquist work with distinguishing eyes, noses and mouths.  They are lively.  Readers will enjoy observing the clothing, architecture, inside and outside, in keeping with the historic settings.

One of my many favorite illustrations is on a single page.  Les Paul has just figured out how he can play both sides of his harmonica and his guitar at the same time.  He is wearing the device for his harmonica.  The harmonica rests in his mouth.  He is strumming his guitar with one hand as he moves the other on the frets.  His eyes are closed in concentration and pure bliss.  Beautiful circles and waves of color burst forth from the guitar and harmonica.


Guitar Genius: How Les Paul Engineered The Solid-Body Electric Guitar And Rocked The World written by Kim Tomsic with illustrations by Brett Helquist is informative, entertaining and will have you wishing you played guitar.  This man's achievements truly did rock the world of music.  Kim Tomsic has a three-page author's note at the end along with a list of works cited.  You will want to have this in your professional and personal collections especially for those with an appreciation for music and who love all aspects of music. 

To learn more about Kim Tomsic and Brett Helquist and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Kim Tomsic has accounts on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Brett Helquist has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Here is a link to The Les Paul Foundation and their take on this title.


Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to enjoy the titles selected this week by others participating in the 2019 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Wet, Wild And Wonderful

Water fights with my dad were epic. They all started innocently enough with squirt guns; someone getting a tad bit wet when they least expected it.  Then the strategy started as the game escalated.   The squirt guns were abandoned.  There were only two outside faucets which needed to be accessed for the filling of pails or buckets.  After that round of water wildness, when we were all nearly drenched, my dad would wait for one of us to round the house and then everything went crazy when he started using the hose.

In 1990 the first Super Soaker was sold.  Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions (Charlesbridge, May 3, 2016) written by Chris Barton with illustrations by Don Tate is an uplifting story of stick-to-itiveness and ingenuity.  My dad would have loved this toy and those epic water fights would have been magnificent. 

Every day brought a challenge for young Lonnie Johnson---the challenge of finding space for his stuff.

Lonnie Johnson was a thinker, an inventor and a doer which is hard to be in a small home with five other siblings.  He could take discarded bits and pieces and create a whole new something.  He had a passion for building just about anything but rockets were a favorite.  His father and mother supported him in any endeavor, even when his rocket fuel making burst into flames in their kitchen.

This boy dreamt of being an engineer.  Even though a test said this would not be a good career choice, Lonnie did not give up on his goal.  He worked for years to build a robot which might take a prize in a science fair.  Guess what a robot named Linex accomplished for Lonnie and his team in 1968?

At Tuskegee University Lonnie's gifts were noticed and his extra work earned him an engineering degree.  It was Lonnie Johnson who devised a system to keep the Galileo, the unmanned craft sent to study Jupiter, working at full capacity even if it lost power.  One day when Lonnie was exploring another way to keep the cooling portion of refrigerators and air conditioners working without the use of R-12, he made a surprising and rather fun discovery.  Right in his own bathroom, he felt and saw the first whoosh of air and water.

With his wonderful mind he fashioned a first, weird-looking but highly efficient water pistol.  When he tried it out at a picnic people couldn't believe how super it was.  It took years and years of highs and lows and never-let-go of your dream moments but Lonnie Johnson finally found a company, Larami, who agreed to make his toy.  (In the second year on the market 20 million Super Soakers were sold.)  From his success and the monetary results Lonnie Johnson built his best workshop yet. He's still dreaming.  He's still inventing.  He's still making a difference. 

Every time you read the story of Lonnie Johnson's life as told by Chris Barton you can feel your creative embers burst into flame.  You can't help but sense excitement in knowing how hard work, persistence and believing in yourself overcame challenges which might have defeated other individuals. Barton focuses on those moments in Johnson's life which will connect with his intended audience.

He presents Johnson's story in an easy relaxed style.  Descriptions of the specific parts Lonnie used to make his robot are sure to generate thinking; inspire "I wonder" and "what-if".  His repetition of just keep on flowing supplies a consistency and cadence. Here are two connecting sample passages.

Lonnie sometimes studied right in the middle of his own parties.  The extra studying paid off.  He became an engineer after graduation, and that took him beyond Alabama---way beyond.

When NASA was sending an orbiter and probe called Galileo to Jupiter, the space agency needed to ensure a constant supply of power to the orbiter's computer memory. The engineer who had to figure out how to do it was Lonnie.  

Rendered digitally using Manga Studio all the illustrations by Don Tate, beginning on his matching dust jacket and book case, are full of life, giving readers a true sense of a time period and the personality of Lonnie Johnson.  It's a brilliant layout on the front with the stream of air and water dividing a younger Johnson from the man who made the Super Soaker.  You can't help but smile at this genius of this boy and this man. On the back, to the left, an interior image shows the younger Johnson in full concentration working on one of his inventions.  On the opening and closing endpapers Tate has drawn representations of Lonnie's inventions (five different ones on each endpaper) labeled and numbered as blueprints. 

The verso and first pages hold the first two-page illustration of Lonnie's neighborhood with him leaning out a window in his home, demonstrating the lack of space for all his inventions.  Tate alternates his image sizes to generate a pleasing flow with the narrative.  His perspectives shift also to place emphasis on a particular potion of the story.  The clothing styles, architecture and items in each scene are in keeping with an era.  In a brilliant design moment Tate fashions a gatefold turning one word into another actually uttered at a demonstration.

One of my favorite illustrations (of many) is when Lonnie Johnson is working on his cooling project trying out a theory in his home bathroom. When the air and water whoosh across the room causing the curtains to billow, the look on his face is priceless.  It's one of those happy "yikes" moments leading to the next invention.  The sink with the separate faucets, clawed tub, toilet, waste basket, pull cord lamp for light, toothbrush holder on the wall and the rugs give a realistic vision to readers.   

Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions written by Chris Barton with illustrations by Don Tate is a stellar biographical picture book.  Regardless of their age readers will appreciate this man's success and admire his attitude.  Knowing Lonnie Johnson continues to pursue his passions to this day makes this book all the more powerful.  

To learn more about Chris Barton and Don Tate please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Both Barton and Tate maintain blogs which you can access from their websites. These blogs contain posts about this book.  You can view my favorite illustration at the publisher's website.  Chris Barton chats about this book at Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher's blog, Watch. Connect. Read.  Don Tate speaks about this title at the Highlights Foundation website.  You might enjoy reading these two articles about Lonnie Johnson at BBC News Magazine and Mental_Floss.

@Everywoman98 I begin with thumbnail sketches. And I go through many more thumbnails before I get to the sketching..#SharpSchu pic.twitter.com/vTHMH4srXE

— Don Tate (@Devas_T) December 16, 2016

Make sure you visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to enjoy the titles selected by the other bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Up And Around And Then Back Down

It can be seen for miles and miles in the distance, a beacon against the horizon announcing a spectacular experience in the offing.  During the day or night this spinning marvel is the next best thing to flying; giving passengers a bird's eye view of the surrounding landscape.  Your heart may be in your stomach but the visual feast is well worth the ride.

What thinker conceived this masterpiece of engineering excellence?  Mr. Ferris and His Wheel (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) written by Kathryn Gibbs Davis with illustrations by Gilbert Ford introduces readers to George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. and his spectacular invention.  It's a story filled with monumental moments.

It was only ten months until the next World's Fair.  But everyone was still talking about the star attraction of the last World's Fair.

Certainly an American could create a showpiece for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair which would surpass the wonder of the Eiffel Tower erected in Paris, France.  George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. saw the national contest as a chance to present an idea he had been carrying around in his mind since childhood.  His structure would be more distinctive.  His structure would move.

At first his plans were dismissed as unrealistic but George knew his wheel would work.  He would use a new metal for its construction, steel.  Not only did the fair judges wait until there was only four months until the opening date before giving permission but they refused to provide any financial assistance to Mr. Ferris.  He was not deterred but determined.

A brutal winter, frozen ground and quicksand made laying the foundation particularly tricky.  Between two steel towers a forged axle was placed, breaking a record for its size and length.  With the fair date looming in the near future, the teams worked nearly nonstop piecing together more than 100,000 parts.  Eight weeks before the fair opened it was almost completed but once the cars were attached would it function?

The elegance and size of the cars, even by today's standards, were mind-boggling.  It must have been breathtaking for George, his wife and their honored guests as they sat in #1 rising up and up.  For fifty cents customers could circle twice around taking a twenty-minute trip.  George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. built his dream at the age of thirty-four.  One hundred twenty-one years later people still feel the thrill when reaching the top of his daring design.


Notice how author Kathryn Gibbs Davis begins by building a feeling of anticipation; like the start of world-class race.  Her narrative gains strength page after page as she describes with details, supported by research, of George's planning with his assistant, William Gronau, of his presentation to the judges, of his pursuit of funding and of his tireless work with his crews to complete the Ferris wheel.  As an extension of facts presented in the main story, Davis supplies two to three sentence paragraphs, in smaller font off to the side, focusing on specifics.  Here is an example.

Two thousand tons of steel began to turn around as the soft clanking of a large chain drove the mighty machine.

Two steam engines (an extra one in case one broke) made the wheel turn.  George had hidden them under the wooden platform where riders boarded.


Unfolded, the dust jacket (and matching book case) illustration spreads in all its nighttime splendor flap edge to flap edge.  The palette of blue, purple and golden yellow shades remains prominent throughout the entire book with accents of rose and green.  With little stretch of your imagination you get a real sense of viewing this scene from a building in Chicago.  If the window were open the newly invented light bulbs, numbering 3,000, would be sparkling in the dusk as sounds from the fair drifted inside your room.

Most of the images created by digital mixed media with ink and watercolor by Gilbert Ford span two pages.  Prior to the title illustration, readers are treated to a single visual of a boy fishing in a pond next to a mill with its wheel gently turning surrounded by a forest.  Tucked into the pond is a quote from the American architect and construction chief of the 1893 World's Fair, Daniel H. Burnham.

The buildings, clothing, daily activities and room interiors carefully reflect the appropriate time period in all of Ford's artwork for this title.  Each scene, with or without people, is alive, animated.  One of my favorite pictures is a panoramic view of the park as the sun is setting.  The lights are beginning to shine in the darkening buildings and on the Ferris wheel.  Leaves on the trees are turning golden and red.  Birds in flight are silhouetted against a rosy red sky with a few stars starting to shine.  You can feel a chill in the air.


The thing about really good nonfiction is it makes you notice everything differently.  After reading Mr. Ferris and His Wheel written by Kathryn Gibbs Davis with illustrations by Gilbert Ford readers will never look at a Ferris wheel the same way again.  They will remember its construction in the context of a World's Fair, which they may not have even known about previously.  They will remember the passion and persistence of Ferris, silently respecting his achievements.  Maybe they will want to know, as I did, how he lived the remainder of his life.  At the close of this title, quote sources, a selected bibliography and websites are listed.

For further information about Kathryn Gibbs Davis and Gilbert Ford please follow the links embedded in their names, taking you to their official websites.  Gilbert Ford has an excellent post on his blog about the process for creating his artwork.

Here is a little extra fun and a tribute to George Ferris courtesy of Google.





Each week dedicating a post to nonfiction has been one of the most rewarding aspects of this year.  I am truly thankful to Alyson Beecher host of Kid Lit Frenzy for her 2014 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.  Stop by her site to read the recommended nonfiction selections by other bloggers.