Defining Welcome

In my adult life, I have bought and sold ten houses.  Last June I moved into the eleventh house.  In most of those homes, there was a small piece of paper on display I read everyday with these words:

The beauty of the house is order,

the blessing of the house is contentment,

the glory of the house is hospitality.

I am currently struggling with the first line as organizing my considerable book collection is time consuming, but this eleventh house is slowly becoming a home filled with a happy, tail-wagging canine and her human who both enjoy visitors.

Each individual holds their own meaning of home in their mind and heart.  In The Mouse Who Carried A House On His Back (Candlewick Press, August 30, 2022) written by Jonathan Stutzman with illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault readers come to understand some of those definitions.  They also realize how houses become homes within the context of welcoming.

Vincent was a mouse with boots on his feet,

a hat on his head, and a house on his back.

He had traveled many miles and lived many places,

but today Vincent would live here,

because he knew it was where he needed to be.

Vincent stopped on a grassy hill.  The sky stretched as far as his eyes could see. He removed his boots, hat, and his house.

A weary and grumpy frog soon hopped toward Vincent.  Vincent offered his house as a place to rest.  The frog laughed.  Obviously, the house was too small, but peering inside it was definitely bigger than it looked.

As the day progressed Vincent was visited by a hungry cat, a rain-and-wind tossed family of hedgehogs, and a bunch of other animal residents of the forest.  Each time, the mouse would offer his house as a sanctuary.  Each time the animals believed the house was too small to accommodate them, but they were wrong.  The house grew and grew and grew.

As all the gathered beings were about to enjoy a feast in the soothing sanctuary of Vincent's house, there was a knock at the door.  It was now dark outside.  Standing at the door was a bear, a bear who was hungry and lost.  Vincent was his usual cheerful, inviting self.  The other animals were not.  Their voices rose in protest.  Vincent knew where he was needed and no one was going to change what he believed to be true.

With every reading the musicality of this story, in a blend of dialogue and narrative, by Jonathan Stutzman grows more evident. We are initially introduced to the main protagonist and his house.  Each time an animal appears we are reminded of this mouse's characteristics and the characteristics of his house.  Carefully chosen words clearly indicate the condition of each animal upon their arrival.  This is paired with a perfect suggestion by Vincent as to what his house offers.  There is a repetition of key phrases.  Jonathan Stutzman brings us full circle with his closing sentences.  Here is a passage.

Clouds billowed in the west, and in blew a family of hedgehogs---one by

one by one by one by one by one by one---each wet and tousled by a

mighty storm.

"Terrible weather in the valley," squeaked the youngest.

"Come in, come in!" said Vincent with a smile.  "I have warm blankets

and beds and a crackling fire."  . . .

The artwork on the open book case is a single vibrant image.  Vincent, moving to the right, has passed through a mass of stunning blooms covering the left, back, and continuing to the right of the spine on the front.  The house he is carrying on his back is the first of many cut-outs throughout the book.  What we see is a hint of the gorgeous opening and closing endpapers.  The array of blooms on these endpapers is stunning.

On the back of book case is text that would normally appear on the front and back flaps of a dust jacket.  At the top is a short description of Vincent and his house.  Toward the bottom we read about Jonathan Stutzman and Isabelle Arsenault. 

The floral display continues on the two-page illustration for the title page.  Here Vincent, on the right, has placed his house down for a moment.  Almost all the double-page pictures contain a cut-out of Vincent's house with sizes that shift.

These visuals by Isabelle Arsenault

were created with gouache, ink, and cut paper.

Her characters are highly animated with facial expressions indicating their particular moods.  Readers will be fascinated by their clothing.  Each time we look inside Vincent's home, there are added elements to make the interior more pleasing.  You find yourself looking in anticipation each time a page is turned.  Once inside the animals are relaxed and happier.  Readers will gasp at the four-page gatefold.  Be sure to look in the windows.

One of my many favorite images is when the cat and frog are already inside Vincent's house.  On the left, through the cut-out house, one of the hedgehogs is gazing inside.  There are now four hanging lamps with unique shades.  You can see the cat and frog's shoes, removed, as well as Vincent's boots.  The table is longer with more chairs and place settings.  The frog and cat are seated there enjoying a cup of tea.  There is now a brick fireplace with plates along the mantle.  A roaring fire there spreads warmth.  Two beds are in front of the fireplace.  Other beds can be seen on the left.  Spare blankets are stacked on a stool.  There are several rugs on the floor.

The first time I read The Mouse Who Carried A House On His Back written by Jonathan Stutzman with illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault, I felt as though I had been presented with something rich and rare.  We are enchanted from beginning to end by Vincent and his uplifting spirit and kindness.  In his eyes, all are equal.  Hopefully as the animals leave his home, his generous spirit will go with them and us.  You can't help but wonder how Vincent knows where he needs to be.  This book is sure to generate discussions.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Jonathan Stutzman and Isabelle Arsenault and their other work, please visit their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Jonathan Stutzman has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Isabelle Arsenault has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  At the publisher's website, you can view an interior illustration.  At Penguin Random House, you can see additional interior pictures.

Considering Questions

Curious children question . . . everything.  This is the very act which makes them so amazing. Being near their inquiry is invigorating.  It's wonderful to see curious children continue to be curious teens, curious young adults and curious adults.  I can still recall, as I have mentioned previously, sitting in church thirty years ago, listening to the first female minister in any church I attended utter the words, "When you're through learning, you're through."

There will never come a time when our fascinating minds are filled to capacity; there is simply too much wonder in the world.  Two publications in the final third of the year address this compelling need to know; this lively speculation about all sorts of things.  Just Because (Candlewick Press, September 10, 2019) written by Mac Barnett with illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault follows a bedtime conversation between a child and their father.

Why is the ocean blue?

Surprisingly enough, the father elaborates with story instead of science.  According to him, the fish play guitars and sing sad songs once the child is asleep.  They then sob tears of blue.

Now accelerating the inquiries, the child asks about rain.  The father replies with a mixture of fact and fantasy.  His explanation as to why leaves change color makes perfect sense if you forget about the dryness of leaves and trees in general.  He attaches the next answer to the previous answer with astute cleverness.

When the child asks about the disappearance of dinosaurs and goes on to ask about black holes, her father gives two of my favorite interpretations tying them together.  When a barrage of questions fills the bedtime conversation, the father has a kindly request.  This, as you might expect, prompts another query.  With the special gift fathers are known to have, his response is loving, wise and truthful.


In the manner storytellers have of inviting listeners into their tale, Mac Barnett starts with one of the classic questions children are known to ask.  With the father's reply to this first question and the subsequent ones, he gives readers a gift every single time, the gift of thinking outside what is expected or accepted.  The cadence we have come to appreciate and respect in picture books of excellence is supplied when the answers to questions one and two, three and four and five and six become splendid pairs.  Here is a part of one of Mac Barnett's father's answers.

Millions of years ago,
thousands of asteroids
fell on the earth.

But the dinosaurs
had planned for this.
They fastened themselves . . .


In looking at the open dust jacket you initially notice a blend of geometric with whimsical.  This look is a pictorial representation of the verbal approach taken by the father in answering his child's questions.  The dots on the child's bedding are enlarged to hold text.  The text is placed within circles throughout the book.  The colors shown in the artwork above the text are depicted in question and answer sets.

To the left, on the back, the first question, is placed in a large circle.  Three smaller circles hold leaves, a seashell and an automobile.  In a fourth circle, white, is the ISBN.  The book case is a stunning contrast to the jacket.  On matte-finished paper is a light cream shade.  A pattern is fashioned from leaves and flowers found on land and below in the sea, and there are sea creatures.  Lavender, hues of blue and green, purple and a reddish orange are given to these elements.  It's a depiction of all the wonder waiting to be found.

On the black opening and closing endpapers are dots of various colors and sizes.  Isabelle Arsenault rendered these illustrations

in gouache, pencil, and watercolor and assembled digitally.

On the title page is the nightstand in the child's room with their jar of marbles and some of them scattered on the floor.  A two-page picture is devoted to the first question with the text in a large circle on the left and a picture of the child in her bed in her room with her father standing in the doorway on the right.  The colors are shades of black, gray, white, cream and blue for the circle.  For the answer we are taken under the sea, with a brighter focus in the play of light and shadow.  The blue is featured.  The father's answer is in white circles.

For each question and answer the father, child and the child's dog change their position and expressions.  Readers need to carefully watch.  Whatever color appears in the circle will become prevalent in the following image. For the illustration after the two pages depicting multiple questions in multiple circles, we see a larger perspective of the child's room.  Many of the items in the room are incorporated in the questions and answers.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for the answer as to why birds fly south in the winter.  For the background on the right showcasing two flying swallows, each carrying leaves in their beaks, Isabelle Arsenault selects a pale mint green.  On the left is a collage of greenery, leaves and stems in all shapes and sizes in shades of black and gray with the same pale mint green.  It's a breathtaking array.  Tucked among this collection is a small insect with two arms raised in praise.

Just Because written by Mac Barnett with art by Isabelle Arsenault is a conversational masterpiece.  It allows us to see inside the bond between a loving parent and an inquisitive child.  This book was recently selected at one of The 2019 New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children's Books.  I can't imagine a professional or personal collection without this title on the shelves.

To learn more about Mac Barnett and Isabelle Arsenault and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Mac Barnett has an account on Instagram.  Isabelle Arsenault has accounts on Facebook and Instagram. At the publisher's website and at Penguin Random House you can view interior images.  At Art Of The Picture Book both Mac Barnett and Isabelle Arsenault are interviewed about this title.  At author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast this book and the artwork of Isabelle Arsenault are highlighted.  Enjoy the book trailer.





If you could take a few moments thinking extraordinary things about what we accept as true, you might find yourself reflecting as the children in this second title do.  I Wonder (Random House, October 1, 2019) with words by K. A. Holt and pictures by Kenard Pak is an exploration of the art and craft of questioning.  It's like having a list of inquiries you could spend a lifetime searching for answers.  Speculation has rarely been this . . . wonderful.

What if the sun is really a kite?

This first of a combination of twenty-six wondering and questioning phrases is the spark that ignites a fire of possibilities.  It also generates another series of questions.  If the sun is a kite, what are the planets?  Are they kites, too?  If they are all kites, who is holding the string? 

Children from all ethnic backgrounds ponder.  Our next focus is on food.  How does it feel to be consumed?  When you think of water bottles, how big can you go?  What realm could be found inside a bottle?

We are asked to wonder if inanimate objects get tired, lonely or sad?  Insects find a place in these musings. 

Does a grasshopper take hopping lessons?

If you believe in unicorns, it stands to reason you need to know where they are now.

Clocks and a question of time makes sense, but belly buttons and galaxies are a completely new pair.  Thoughts turn to how a form of air is created.  Have you ever studied your shadow and its expressions?  As one child of many is tucked into bed, one final thought is offered.  For this one, and this one alone, there is a reply.  And it is the truth!

In reading over this collection of contemplations, you become aware it might be difficult to definitively reply to most of them.  K. A. Holt inspires us to go beyond what is known and to brainstorm the potential for stories.  Each one of these twenty-six is the ticket to a new adventure.  Here are two more for you to celebrate and pour into your imagination.

Do bubbles tickle everything they touch?

I wonder if books read us, too.


One look at the open dust jacket and you know this book is no ordinary book.  Oh . . . no.  This book showcasing a whale carrying a house with a unicorn coming from the back with fish swimming nearby and a blue car floating along with a kite flying is the stuff of fantastic.  The subtle, muted shades of the main image stand in sharp contrast to the sun and the bright colors of the title text.  This initial image urges you in the best possible way to open this book. 

To the left, on the back, five colorful kites fly upward from the darker shades of green along the bottom.  A lone smaller kite of blue stretches from the center edge on the left.  These kites frame the words in a pastel setting.  The words read:

What do you wonder about
when you look at the world?

On the book case of pristine white three children from diverse backgrounds run beneath the title text.  On the back, to the left, a home in pencil with gray shading above it is beneath a full moon and a cluster of stars.  On the opening and closing endpapers is a repeating pattern of a tiny red car, a teddy bear, a sun, a kite, a ladybug, a faint blue planet and a bubble.  The title page is like a dream.  The text is in lower case, partially in pencil and partially erased from a pencil rubbing.  The pastoral scene beneath it is very faint, mystical.

On the jacket flap it states Kenard Pak

uses watercolor, pencil, collage, ink, and digital media

to create his art.  For this book he alternates between double-page pictures and full-page pictures.  Each one is a unique perspective.  We are outside looking inside, looking upward, up-close, from a bird's point of view or shown a combination of two on a single illustration.  By looking at the light and sky in the images, it appears as if Kenard Pak is taking us from sunrise to bedtime except for the final picture. 

He begins and ends with a form of the sun bringing his visuals full circle.  Careful readers will see items in one picture appear again.  Readers will also want to see if the same children are shown in more than one image.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for the words

I wonder if books read us, too.

The floor and walls of the room are etched and lighter as is the staircase in the background, mostly in shadow.  In the center and filling more than half the space is a light tan rug.  Seated on the rug in her pajamas is a little girl.  With her a dog is calmly sitting and a kitten is seated next to her.  In front of this trio is an open book with the words

STORY TIME

on the front.  A talking yellow bird separates the two words.  Is the book reading the little girl and her furry friends?


Lighthearted, soulful and compassionate, I Wonder written by K. A. Holt with illustrations by Kenard Pak is a reflective selection of why we love what children think and have to say.  They are the reason as adults we strive to make the world better for them; so they can continue to wonder.  I highly recommend this title for your collections, professional and personal.

To discover more about K. A. Holt and Kenard Pak and their other work, please access their websites by following the links attached to their names.  K. A. Holt has an account on Twitter.  Kenard Pak has accounts on Instagram and Twitter. At the publisher's website you can view interior illustrations.  At author Cynthia Leitich Smith's website, Cynsations,  K. A. Holt is interviewed.

Listen For The Hum. Listen For The Buzz.

It's still early here in northern Michigan.  A frost advisory was issued for Sunday night into Monday morning.  The hyacinths have come and gone but the daffodils and tulips are still blooming.  Many of the fruit trees are blossoming but the buds on the lilacs are still tiny and closed.  Some of the peonies have large rounded globes waiting for more water and heat before opening.

Still missing is the steady, singular hum of honeybees moving from flower to flower.  Seeing them is becoming far more exciting than sighting the first birds.  Seeing them means much to life on our planet.  The Honeybee (Atheneum Books For Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, May 8, 2018) written by Kirsten Hall with illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault enlightens us as to the daily valuable work of these busy insects.

A field..
A tree.
Climb it and see . . .

Fields of flowers stretch to the horizon.  In the stillness of watching, a soft sound floats on the air.  It's getting closer and louder.  It's like hearing one of the Earth's heartbeats.  It's a honeybee!

Its four wings, two in the front and two in the back, are creating a welcome song.  It searches in circles and loops.  It finally succumbs to the lure of the ultimate flower.  A flower filled with the sweetness of nectar.  First a sip, then the gathering begins.

The pollen hanging like tiny golden baskets from the bee are carried back to the hive.  A conversation and a dance take place with information exchanged.  The pollen, laden with nectar, is chewed and chewed and chewed until it's thick and gooey.

This thick and gooey goo is stuffed into the honeycomb cells.  Four wings on multiple bees flutter like fans to cool and dry those stuffed honeycomb cells.  At last the bees have HONEY!

Spring and summer sun pass and autumn coolness arrives.  A queen beckons to her workers.  Winter descends and residents of the hive rest.  They rest and move to protect the queen, sure in the knowledge when spring comes, their task begins anew.


The words of Kirsten Hall are as if she is holding out her hand, asking us to take a walk with her.  It's a whispered conversation inviting our participation.  Their melodious rhythm and gentle rhyming bring us with admiration into the world of the honeybee.  Here is a passage.

This is the flower the bee has chosen.
This is the flower the pollen grows in.
This is the flower, its color so bright,
its sweet blooming scent calls the fee from its flight.


Rendered using ink, gouache, pencil, and colored pencil by Isabelle Arsenault the illustrations throughout but beginning on the opened dust jacket will delight and invite.  Various hues of golden yellow are prevalent.  The shades of blue, green, red and pink create a harmonious blend.  The honeybee winging its way across the top looks as if he is asking us to follow.  To the left, on the back, the same worker in a field of soft golden yellow is pushing a huge globe of goo toward a honeycomb.  A look of accomplishment is evident in its facial features.  Spot varnish is used on both the front and the back of the jacket.  The honeybee feels fuzzy when touched.

The opened book case covered in deep orange, golden yellow shows the dotted, looping path of the honeybee from left across the spine to the right.  In the upper, right-hand corner it looks at us, smiling.  The opening and closing endpapers are done in a pattern of large black and yellow bands, like a honeybee's body.

Beneath the text on the title page the field of flowers extends from left to right in softer tones.  Isabelle shifts from images spanning two pages to single pages and then to a cluster of four smaller pictures.  She replicates and enhances the movement of the narrative with her illustrations.

We are among the flowers zooming in and out of plants.  We sit among the petals sipping nectar and collecting pollen.  Then we buzz into the darkness of the hive, completing the task and making the honey.  As the seasons shift we enjoy every change with the honeybee.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is inside the hive.  The background is a shadowed black.  It is a single page visual.  Two honeybees are speaking to "our" honeybee.   Larger than life they are asking questions and looking at us.  Every detail is delicate and delightful.  It looks as though they are wearing high white collars tied with a bow.  One of the honeybees is carrying a blue flower and the other is leaning toward the newly arrived, pollen-laden honeybee.


Marvelous to read for the lovely words and illustrations The Honeybee written by Kirsten Hall with illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault is also a loving tribute to these necessary and amazing creatures.  A final page is a letter Kirsten Hall has written to readers listing the attributes of honeybees and how we can help them.  I am already planning on using this book with fiction and nonfiction titles referencing honeybees and bees.  Some titles I will use are Bee & Me, Honey, Please Please the Bees, Bear and Bee, and The Case of the Vanishing Honeybee.  I highly recommend The Honeybee for your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Kirsten Hall and Isabelle Arsenault please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Isabelle has an account on Instagram.  At the publisher's website you can view interior pages.  School Library Journal includes this title with other books in a post The Buzz on Bees | The Hive, The Honey, The Hope.  Four years ago Kirsten Hall was interviewed on As The Eraser Burns.

Pretend With A Purpose

Some people reside in the same house for their entire lives; a residence passed from generation to generation.  Others move from place to place throughout any given year where their presence is essential to the productivity of seasonal crops.  The act of leaving one home to go to another takes a physical and emotional toll on all the members of a family.

A good friend said in conversation people feel most at home when they find connectedness and purpose.  At a particular location over time friendships are forged but the original justification for being there can suddenly be absent.  In the reverse a calling can be fulfilled but we can still feel adrift with no people to share in our joy.  For children this is amplified in ways adults sometimes fail to completely understand.  Colette's Lost Pet (Random House, May 23, 2017) written and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault reveals the heart of a child who is settling into her new neighborhood.

No, Colette!
For the last time, NO PET!
Now go explore your new
neighborhood.

If you think these two statements are upsetting to Colette you would be correct.  She is angry to the point of kicking a packing box so hard it flies over the fence into the neighbor's yard.  There she meets Albert and Tom.  When they ask her what she is doing, she fumbles for words.  She finally states she is looking for her lost pet...a parakeet.

The brothers suggest they seek out Lily who has binoculars.  When Lily asks for a physical description of the bird, Colette again hesitates but eventually she says blue

with a bit of yellow on its neck.

By her observations, Lily is a watcher of our feathered friends.  She proposes they go to Scott's home where he keeps a bird feeder.  The group has grown to four.

Scott has not seen Colette's missing pet but he is curious as to its name.  The neighborhood newcomer searches her mind revealing the name to be Marie-Antoinette.  As each piece of the pet puzzle is disclosed by Colette, the gals and guys offer another's child name that can help in their search.

The qualities and exploits of Marie-Antoinette become more and more particular until they become nearly legendary.  The children are spellbound by Colette's words until a loud voice makes a proclamation which she cannot ignore.  As Colette turns to respond, her new friends each say something which leaves no doubt in readers' minds as to the power of story.


There is not a child (or an adult) who will not be able to identify with the storyline created by Isabelle Arsenault.  Told entirely in dialogue the feelings of Colette are realistically portrayed as is the kindness of the neighborhood children with their recommendations.  With each visit to the different girls and boys, the new descriptions are added to the previous ones.  This encourages audience participation.  It's a powerful technique to bring the story back to the beginning stronger for the variety of the children and their offered "gifts" to Colette.  Here is a sample conversation.

Hey, Maya!

Have you see Colette's lost pet?
It's a parakeet.  It's blue with a bit of yellow on its neck, and its
name is Marie-Antoinette.

What does it sound like?

Um, well...uh...
Like Prrrrrr
Prrrr PrrrrrruiiiiiiiT!
And it speaks a
little bit, too.
But only in French.
Bien sur!


The limited color palette seen on the opened dust jacket is used wonderfully throughout the entire title.  Isabelle Arsenault's lines, brush strokes and use of light and shadow work well with these hues.  To the left, on the back of the jacket, is the kicked cardboard box, now upright with the parakeet peeking around a corner.  The same yellow is used as a canvas for the book case.  On the front is Colette, looking happy.  On the back is the parakeet, beak open in song or perhaps speaking French.

On the opening and closing endpapers in shades of gray and black is a map of Clark Alley in Mile End, backyards lined up on both sides.  Colette's backyard is colored in yellow.  Careful readers will notice the slight differences between the two.

Rendered in pencils, watercolor, and ink with digital coloration in Photoshop, 

the illustrations are a blend of single pages and a group of images on a single page, some framed like a graphic novel.  As the story moves toward the conclusion readers will notice the use of blue is increased.  Isabelle Arsenault has a distinctive style in the delicate details she supplies in her characters and her depiction of grasses, flowers and trees.

One of my many favorite pictures is on a half-page.  It's our first view of Maya in her backyard.  Along the back is a fence.  In front of this and around the fountain are many different kinds of potted plants.  In the center of the fountain is a large open-mouthed fish spouting water.  Eyes closed Maya is holding a large seashell, listening.  Splashes of yellow are seen in two of the flowers and the watering can.  A bit of blue is used also.


I can hardly wait to read Colette's Lost Pet written and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault aloud to students.  This is not only for those children who have or are in the process of moving but to help others to understand how far kindness and imagination can go in making friends.  I would pair it with these marvelous titles about moving, The Quiet Place, Bad Bye, Good Bye, Yard Sale, Lenny & Lucy and That Neighbor Kid.

To discover more about Isabelle Arsenault and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  If you follow this link to the publisher's website, you can view interior images.  There are more interior illustrations at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's site, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Isabelle Arsenault is on Instagram .  Isabelle Arsenault is this year's Canadian, International Board on Books for Young People, nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. 

Hands. Heart. Art.

In ancient Greek mythology there is a story about a competition between the goddess, Athena, and a mortal woman, Arachne.  Arachne believed her weaving so fine; she made declarations which angered the goddess.  At the conclusion of the contest, Athena could see the weaving of the mortal woman was better than her tapestry but the subject matter infuriated her.  The next series of events resulted in Arachne being changed into a spider so she could weave as often as she wished for the rest of her life.

It's an art form dating back thousands of years even before the fateful contest between the goddess and mortal.  Weaving is found in cultures throughout the world; a time-consuming process, the amount of hours determined by the talent of the weaver and the intricacies found in the final fabric.  Cloth Lullaby: The Woven Life Of Louise Bourgeois (Abrams Books for Young Readers, March 1, 2016) written by Amy Novesky with pictures by Isabelle Arsenault is a beautiful portrait of a larger-than-life creative force.

Louise was raised by a river.

Her family had a large home next to the waters, using them to grow large floral and vegetable gardens.  Often Louise and her sister or brother would spend hours, even after dark, in a tent in those gardens.  The river assisted in the family's business of repairing ancient tapestries.  The wool responded to the properties of the elements in the water.

Louise's mother, her Maman, was a gifted weaver, the talent passed from generation to generation.  By the time she was twelve Louise could assist in the mending of the cloths.  At her mother's side she learned about the terms and tools of weaving as well as the ingredients used to create certain dyes.

Her father was in and out of her life, a man unlike her mother, her best friend.  When she was old enough Louise left to study in Paris.  Her focus of study was originally on mathematics but the death of her mother changed everything for Louise.  The young woman turned to art even making a gigantic spider

of bronze, steel, and marble she named Maman.

Louise worked in all kinds of mediums expressing her view of the world through art but in her later years she turned to textiles.  All the bits and pieces of her life were remade in threads and cloth.  She, like her mother, fashioned wondrous visions.


The words written by Amy Novesky do indeed read like a lullaby.  Carefully chosen they make reference to the aspects of a river, weaving, webs and spiders, intertwined throughout her narrative.  Each portion is like a poetic interlude.  Here is a sample passage.

She loved to work in the warm sun, her needle rising and falling beside the lilting river, perfect, delicate spiderwebs glinting with caught drops of water above her.  


The opened book case acquaints readers with the color palette adopted by Isabelle Arsenault, the warm reds, bright blue and shades of cream.  To the left, on the back, the text and images normally found on the front and back flaps of a dust jacket are displayed.  The opening and closing endpapers are a swirl of brush strokes in blues varying in intensity.

Rendered in ink, pencil, pastel, watercolor, and Photoshop the illustrations are a celebration and enhancement of the work of Louise Bourgeois and the words of Amy Novesky.  The heavier matte-finished paper adds to the tactile experience for readers.  Arsenault's images spanning two pages are marvelous, crossing the gutter like the flowing river or the woven threads of a cloth.  Her single page pictures come at defining moments in Louise's life asking us stop a bit and think.

The delicate lines, soft colors, design and layout are exquisite, a visual splendor.  When portraying Louise and the people in her life, Arsenault infuses them with animation depicting an unmistakable emotion.  The love Louise's mother has for her weaving and the love Louise has for mother are clearly evident in one particular picture.

One of my favorite illustrations is across two pages.  On the right are ornate floral patterns in red and blue beneath the text.  Under them are woven strands of red and blue, some more completed than others.  The most finished of the three crosses the gutter to the right becoming a piece worked on by Louise's mother.  She is seated in a chair near the river on a sunny day, the sun depicted like striped rays on the underside of an umbrella.  Her head is bent to the work in her lap, fingers sewing with a needle and thread.

Cloth Lullaby: The Woven Life Of Louise Bourgeois written by Amy Novesky with pictures by Isabelle Arsenault is an eloquent story in text and images, a reflection of the artist they represent.  Works of nonfiction such as this book inspire and welcome readers to follow their expressive pursuits.  This beautiful book should find a place in your personal and professional collections.  An author's note with two realistic photographs concludes the book along with a list of quotes and sources. 

To learn more about Amy Novesky and Isabelle Arsenault please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Additional interior images can be viewed at the publisher's website and at an article in the Children's books section of The Guardian.  TeachingBooks.net has pronunciations of Amy Novesky's name and Isabelle Arsenault's name.


I am posting my selection for the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge a day early due to a prior commitment but be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher on Wednesday April 27, 2016 to view the other selections by bloggers.

A Winter Lullaby

Over the years, winter has become my favorite season of the year.  There is nothing I enjoy more than hiking through the snow with Xena on a calm night. The air is so clear; the stars seem to hang from the heavens like crystals on a celestial chandler.  As we pause in the stillness, there is no sound other than our breathing.

When the final page is read and the cover slowly closed, there are books which cause the same stillness to surround a reader.  Unlike the perfect frosty evening, with each reading the same feeling can return any day all year long.  Once Upon A Northern Night (Groundwood Books, House of Anansi Press, July 30, 2013) written by Jean E. Pendziwol with pictures by Isabelle Arsenault is an exquisite portrayal of nature's nocturnal harmony.  It's a song of love to life.

Once upon a northern night

while you lay sleeping,

wrapped in a downy blanket,

I painted you a picture.

An unseen narrator takes the canvas of the night adding elements one by one beginning with a single snowflake as singular as the child tucked in the warm bed.  Moments later others join the first until the outside view is transformed. Pine boughs hold a powdery treat ready to be released.

Crisp apples still hanging from trees supply a doe and her fawn with a late night snack as a large owl silently glides by, feathers leaving patterns on the snowy top layer.  Snowshoe hares dance steps known only to them as a fox longingly watches.  No invitation is extended for him to join their party.

Fallen seeds from the bird feeder lure a mouse into brave acts to get a taste. Clouds pass to reveal a sky scattered with stars as the pulsing of northern lights adds colored hues.  Frosty designs decorate a window as the moon bends to earth.  A child wakes.  

Lilting lyrics lull the reader into a world of wonder.  Out of the poetry written by Jean E. Pendziwol, a deep affection for the child and a profound admiration for the natural world are elegantly conveyed.  Her distinctive descriptions depict a vivid sense of place; the crunch of apples eaten by the deer, the shift in the air as the owl passes, the soft snort heard as the hares scamper for cover or air so cold you can almost hold it in your hands.  Here is an example.

...that gathered into puffs of creamy white,
settling like balls of cotton,
waiting.


A cool, subdued color palette in white, cream, blue, gray and black with splashes of green, yellow, brown and red creates a peaceful, pastoral venue for this gift to the child.  Isabelle Arsenault rendered these illustrations using pencil, gouache, watercolor and ink, combining them digitally.  The matching jacket and cover unfold, displaying a picture which is at the same time a panoramic snowy landscape and a blanket covering a sleeping child.  Charcoal opening and closing endpapers are covered in small bunches of grasses and flowers colored in silver.

Fine lines, softened physical attributes and the use of shading and light accentuate the elements in every picture.  There is texture on every page, asking to be touched.  Some of the visuals are a single page opposite a page displaying only the text.  Others are two pages wrapping around the words.  As you would expect, white space features heavily in the design.  My favorite illustration is of the child's home done in shades of blue, trees on each side with a wide border of frosty swirls at the bottom.


There are those very special books which become part of the nightly reading ritual.  Once Upon A Northern Night written by Jean E. Pendziwol with pictures by Isabelle Arsenault is one of those books.  Whether used at bedtime, in a study of winter, or to demonstrate the power of poetry, the combination of text and illustrations is pure magic.  I love this book more every time I read it.

Please follow the links embedded in the author's and illustrator's names to learn more about them and their work.  Additional pages can be viewed at Isabelle Arsenault's website.