A Snow-tastic Spell

Earlier this week, a wild rain and windstorm raged through our entire state.  Along the Great Lakes in northern Michigan waves rose and trees bent from these forces.  This event heralded the arrival of much colder conditions.  Clouds spit snow earlier this morning.

Winter is nature's seasonal pause.  Now is the time to enjoy this yearly rest. Ten Ways To Hear Snow (KOKILA, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, October 13, 2020) written by Cathy Camper with illustrations by Kenard Pak follows a little girl as she walks to her grandmother's house after a nightly blizzard.  It is a sensory sensation.

When Lina woke up, everything was quiet.

Everything was coated in snow.  There were no sounds of vehicles on the move.  Despite the weather, today was the day she and her grandmother were making warak enab with grape leaves.  Dressed snuggly, her parents allowed her to go.

As she stood outside Lina wondered if this was how Sitti, her grandmother, sensed the world.  Were the sounds she heard gentler?  Were they sharper?

As she traveled to Sitti's home specific sounds were noted by Lina.  The music of a shovel on a sidewalk, of the bite of the bottoms of her boots in the snow, and of snow swept off car roofs and windshields were the first few she heard.  Activities of children made new sounds.  Lina listened to cross-country skiers and snowman makers.

Lina finally arrived at her grandmother's building.  She had heard eight snow sounds.  After greeting her grandmother, they cooked together, step by careful step.  They imagined what the rolled, grape leaf bundles might be other than food.  Eating their meal, Lina talked with Sitti about the blizzard.  She was surprised at an answer her grandmother gave to a question.  Then, side by side and outside wrapped in warmth and love, they heard the final sound of snow.  

Like Lina gathering sounds of snow, author Cathy Camper, piece by piece, creates a tapestry for readers of the world after a blizzard and of familial affection.  Her concise sentences, some with dialogue, are a realistic reflection of Lina, her parents and her Sitti.  Each sound Lina hears is accurately depicted with her meticulous use of language.  There is a soothing rhythm supplied by the introduction of the sound and Lina's response.  Here is a passage.

Lina cut across the park.

Scritch, scratch, scritch, scratch.

Another snow sound?

Lina saw long, skinny tracks by her boots.  Ahead of her,

people were skiing.  Their skis made the fifth way to hear snow.

The silvery, white-coated world is eloquently portrayed, first to readers, on the open and matching dust jacket and book case.  On the dust jacket it extends flap edge to flap edge.  The frosty clarity is so real you can imagine yourself standing with Lina and Sitti.  They are shown on the front of the jacket and case as they appear together on the closing page.  On the back the community buildings and trees with branches reaching out and up like arms, continue.  Text nestled between boughs in the snow-filled sky read:

WHEN THE WORLD GROWS QUIET,

WE LEARN TO LISTEN.

A sage green color covers the opening and closing endpapers.  A darker green, complementary to the endpapers, is used to form a snowflake made of grape leaves on the title page.  This single, enlarged snowflake is placed beneath the text.

Rendered digitally Kenard Pak's artwork, on single and double pages, is delicate and intricate.  His details draw readers deeper into the story.  With care he uses darker colors on his characters and certain elements in each setting.  Other items are lighter and etched.

His perspectives, a scene viewed through an upstairs window with curtains acting as framing, a panoramic view of Lina's street, and a bird's eye view of her walking in the snow afford readers a genuine experience.  When Lina enters Sitti's home we are shown a view of the outside of her apartment and one inside with Lina in four different places.  For the making of warak enab, he provides us with a page showing the four stages of filling and folding the grape leaves.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is when Lina is walking, listening, and hearing her boot soles on the snow.  The crisp white background in broken by blue-shadowed footprints leading to Lina walking off the right side of this single-page picture.  Text appears above and below the footprints and Lina.  Of Lina, we see her hat, scarf, coat, legs, and boots from above.  A small portion of the bag with the grape leaves in her right hand is there.  This is a marvelous view.

Besides being an enchanting encounter within a wintry realm, Ten Ways To Hear Snow written by Cathy Camper with illustrations by Kenard Pak asks readers to take a respite in their normal, daily lives.  It challenges them to seek other sounds present in snow.  This title is pure perfection for a winter-themed storytime or perhaps one revolving around being more present in the moments of movements between awakening and sleep.  I highly recommend this book for your personal and professional collections.

By following the link attached to Cathy Camper's and Kenard Pak's names, you can access their websites to learn more about them and their other work.  Cathy Camper has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Kenard Pak has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view the title page.

The silence in the mornings as the sun rises is complete.  Many of our feathered friends have flown to more southern regions for winter.  Others that remain have distinctive times of the day when they make appearances.  Fortunate are those who see a flash of red, reminding us of the presence of cardinals.  Sometimes when the sun shines brightly, chick-a-dees will gather in the trees, singing.  Blue jays squawk and swoop, sometimes alone or in a pair.  At dark, the hooting of an owl signals their nightly rituals.  Snow Birds (Abrams Books for Young Readers, November 3, 2020) written by Kirsten Hall with pictures by Jenni Desmond is a poetic, pictorial ode to those birds who remain in winter or thrive in colder climates.  Eighteen poems about seventeen birds will have you seeking their presence every time you step outside.

Blue Jay

Look! In the tree! A blue jay feeder.

Carved with care from fine red cedar.

Hung with love, set facing east,

a call to all:  It's a peanut feast! . . .

A Carolina wren seeks a home.  Where will they find a cozy place to rest?  Snow buntings flock and fly painting a pattern in the sky.  In formation snow geese weather the snow, finding a place to sleep.

Black rosy-finches call and look for food before they head for shelter.  An Atlantic puffin dives, beak open, and feeds on fish.  A hawk sits statue still as a swarm of Bohemian waxwings tantalize it.  

Under the snow a hollowed house is filled with the feathered body of a ruffed grouse.  Do you hear them call?  A snowy owl hoots for all listening to hear.  

Many days their distinctive songs echo across the landscape.  If you are lucky, they will land near you, these black-capped chickadees.  Grateful American tree sparrows gather to feed on seed.  What is that drum-like beat?  It's a downy woodpecker finding a meal, making a hole for a nest, and hoping for a mate.  Winter is nearly over.  Spring is easing back.  There is a brief glimpse of red.  Northern cardinals welcome this change with their tunes.  And the blue jays find joy in a new nest.

With a passion for her subject, author Kirsten Hall writes her verses showcasing the characteristics and habits of each bird.  She highlights those specifics which separate them from other birds within the context of all of them surviving in harsher conditions.  She uses rhyming masterfully, blending the bird calls into her narrative.  Her words sing off the pages.  Here is an entire poem.

Snow Goose

Snowflakes whirling,

snow-flocks swirling,

streaks of white

twirl through

the night.  Then

lower,

slower,

home,

a good night. 

(This poem is presented with the words, across two pages, forming a v above and below a flock flying in formation.)

From a single goose we hear:

KREEY-A!!!!!

Ki-ki-ki-ki! Ki-ki-ki-ki!

Ki-ki-ki-ki! Ki-ki-ki-ki!

Luminescent illustrations by Jenni Desmond are presented on the open dust jacket, front and back.  The northern cardinals on the front form a striking contrast to the snowy setting in cool colors.  Held to the light, snowflakes shimmer as the jacket is moved back and forth.  To the left, on the back, a snowy owl sits on top of a nearly white dune.  Above it a dark sky presents a perfect canvas for the crescent moon.  On the black sky words read:

"A soulful, vivid look at the

hidden world at winter birds."

---New York City Audubon

On the book case the snow geese are featured in their V-shaped arrangement, one bird flying from the upper, left-hand corner to the front bird flying off the center, right-hand side.  The lower side of the v has the final two birds close to the spine. The birds' wings, some up and some down, and some back, indicate their beautiful movement.  They are presented on a gray streaked canvas with snow falling.  This picture is eloquent enough to have you believing you can hear them.

On the opening and closing endpapers is a stark winter landscape.  A thin ribbon of blue is spread across the top.  Beneath this is snow.  Along the bottom is a trail of bird tracks.  On the closing endpapers one element is added.  The bird who made the tracks.

On the title page all seventeen birds are shown around and among the text.  Each double-page picture rendered by Jenni Desmond using

watercolor, acrylic, pencil crayons, ink, drypoint printmaking, and Photoshop

displays a knowledge of setting, habitats, and the birds.  

The details are breathtaking.  The placement of text within the images reveals a superb sense of design. 

Sometimes we are close to the birds when they are feeding among branches.  Other times they are placed in a larger world.  A large snowy vista spans two pages with a dark gray sky, a line of trees, branches bare, and a single bird feeder standing in the snow in the foreground on the right.  A flock of American tree sparrows gladly gather.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is for the black-capped chick-a-dee.  For this two-page image the canvas is black.  The poem is on the right side, text in white.  On the left enveloped by the black, as if cupped in hands, is a single small chick-a-dee.  This is a stunning depiction.

For a unit on winter, birds, or broadening your knowledge of our natural world, Snow Birds written by Kirsten Hall with artwork by Jenni Desmond is an excellent choice.  At the close of the book are seventeen additional paragraphs, one for each bird.  Kirsten Hall includes an author's note in the form of a letter to readers.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Jenni Desmond and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Kirsten Hall has an account on Twitter.  Jenni Desmond has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.

Furry Friends Find Fun And Family

They are the ultimate companions.  Their distinctive personalities provide us with constant comfort and laughter.  Truthfully, without them our worlds would be incomplete.  They make us wholly human.

For this reason, let us look at three publications in the last five months with feline or canine characters.  In the first title, Joy (Candlewick Press, June 6, 2020) written by Yasmeen Ismail with illustrations by Jenni Desmond, a kitten shows us how to release merriment with total abandon.  You'll be ready to join this frisky feline in mere seconds.

Oh, boy! Oh, boy!

My favorite toy.

I feel joy!

A red ball of yarn caught in the paws of this mischief maker fashions a red tangled trail, until another object gets the scamp's attention.  A blue ball bounces across a room, over its other animal occupants, with the kitten close to it.  Momentarily pausing for an affectionate cuddle with a cat parent, the kitten, along with the ball, is off and running into a nearby lamp.

Kitten and ball go, go, go, until stopped by colliding into the large resident dog.  Several unplanned moves later, some due to the rambunctious dog, finds the youngster outside.  Down, down, down the steps of the porch, the little furry one boings and bounces.

This does not feel good.  This hurts.  The kitten wants its mom or dad.  In a quick minute, a parent is there, offering the necessary care.  Back inside they go, to curl up together in their bed.  Wait!  Oh, no . . . off the kitten goes.

Whether read silently or aloud the words by author Yasmeen Ismail will send your soul dancing with their rhyming, alliteration, and onomatopoeia.  Each carefully chosen word mirrors the antics of the kitten and her current favorite toy.  In addition to the tale of happiness the sentences tell, readers will be reassured by the gestures and care given by the parent to the kitten.  Here is a passage.

Shake,

rattle,

and

ROLL,

this happy soul! 

When you open the matching dust jacket and book case, you are introduced to the story's characters, and the use of full color on white which is prevalent throughout the book.  The kitten, beginning her dance of glee on the front is varnished along with the yarn and title text.  To the left, on the back, the adult cat holds the kitten close in their red, green, and blue plaid bed.  A single curled string of red yarn is on the floor to the left of and behind the bed. 

On the opening and closing endpapers done in the bright red shown on the jacket and case is a tangle of white yarn strung across both pages and coming to rest as a white ball of yarn in the lower, right-hand corner.  On the dedication, verso, and title pages we see a sleeping adult in the bed on the left.  Bouncing dashes indicate the jumping of the kitten that has left the bed to begin the chase with the red ball of yarn.

Illustrator Jenni Desmond using

mixed media

depicts all the elation this kitten feels and displays.  Her images span two pages, portions of single pages, or are grouped together on a single page to portray movement and passage of time.  Cleverly placed dashes indicate the movement of the kitten and its current favorite toy.  At times, the words follow the same path as the dashes.  The facial expressions on the animal characters, especially the kitten, convey their every mood.  The perspective is usually one of observer in the room, but several times to place dramatic emphasis on a point in the narrative, we move close to the kitten.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture.  Across the bottom on a canvas of crisp white the lamp has fallen and is bent from left to right with the shade resting in the lower, right-hand corner.  Above the lamp in a series of loop-de-loops made by the dashes, the words on top, the kitten and blue ball travel.  Above the lamp and shade on the right, the kitten mid flip, is grinning in absolute satisfaction.

If you want to make your heart happy, experiencing the energy of that happiness, then this book is for you.  Joy by Yasmeen Ismail with illustrations by Jenni Desmond is a read aloud delight on every page.  I highly recommend this title for a storytime focusing on pets, playfulness, and to present how word play can create a mood or a moment.  You'll want to add this book to your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Yasmeen Ismail and Jenni Desmond and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Yasmeen Ismail has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Jenni Desmond has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view an interior image.  At Penguin Random House you can view other portions of the book.

It's not often a dog is categorized as a foodie.  Oh, we know how amazing it is that they can distinguish between the fruit, vegetable, and cheese drawer in the refrigerator.  When the cheese drawer is opened, they appear next to you, seated and ready for a treat, with the speed of light.  Their ability to distinguish one from the other is the stuff of legend.  They do love certain foods over other delicious delights.

In her debut picture book as author and illustrator Alexandra Thompson explores food, and the delectable life of a French Bulldog.  In A Family For Louie (Putnam, G. P. Putnam's Sons, June 6, 2020), we follow this canine foodie whose life is almost perfect, except for one thing.  He knows magical moments are better when shared.

Louie considered himself a

dog of very fine tastes.

He knew every chef in town.

He enjoyed the best restaurants and their finest fare for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  He never missed dessert.  In a park fountain he bathed before retiring in the evening with a book and a cup of hot cocoa.  As far as Louie was concerned this life of his was as heavenly as a gourmet meal.

Louie did notice other dogs sharing their days with humans.  Louie decided it might be nice to have a family.  What he did not expect was how hard it was to find a family.  One had terrible food choices, and another one had . . . horror of horrors . . . a cat!

As the sun dropped beneath the horizon, Louie's spirits dropped too.  Maybe there was no family for him.  Louie wandered from the park to the town.  What was this?  A new bakery?

Outside the bakery was a little girl Louie did not recognize.  She was friendly.  Louie was uncharacteristically shy.  It seemed that a cupcake could win the heart of a very particular French Bulldog.

When the story begins author Alexandra Thompson paints an endearing picture of Louie with her words.  We immediately identify with the life he has made for himself.  This seemly perfect life is an ideal segue into what Louie needs most.  Humor plays an important part in his attempts to find a family leading us into a gentle, welcome resolution.  Here is a passage.

The next day, Louie saw

a family having a picnic

at the beach.

He thought he might ask to join them,

but when Louie approached . . .

they were eating Jell-O salad

and sardine sandwiches!

These digitally designed illustrations by illustrator Alexandra Thompson convey with detailed charm Louie, his love of food, and his search for a fuller life.  In looking at the open dust jacket readers get a glimpse on the front, right, and back, left, of what that life can be for Louie.  On the front he is looking into the new bakery window with the little girl and her mother as silhouettes.  The title appears as though it is the name of the bakery.  The framing on the window is framing his new beginning.  

To the left, on the back, is a circular, decorative frame around a picture of Louie and the little girl.  They are both holding cupcakes with the cherry on top already consumed.  There is sheer contentment on their faces.  The words above them read:

Life is sweeter

when shared with friends.

The book case is a double page image of a country scene.  The background is a pale blue sky with pink light and clouds.  To the right of the spine on a hillside with meadow flowers, Louie, the little girl, and her mother are seated beneath a tree having a picnic. 

The opening and closing endpapers tell a tale too.  They represent Louie's life before and after he meets his new family.  It's a scene in the city featuring a single arched window in a wall with lanterns on either side.  

Each visual is either a double-page picture, a group of smaller images, or a single-page illustration.  Due to the technique employed by Alexandra Thompson, your eyes are immediately drawn to Louie in each one.  His distinctive facial expressions and body postures depict his every mood.  You'll find yourself falling in love with this little dog.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a full-page picture.  It's nighttime in the town.  In the background stars glow in the sky as lights shine in building windows.  Two trees on the left side of the park stand in dark dusky purple silhouette.  On the right side is a large tree with roots extending across the entire page.  Beneath those roots Louie has carved out a space for himself.  We see it in a cutaway.  The sight of him reading, snuggled in a blanket with his cup of hot cocoa, is precious.

Readers will become attached to the character in this story who is looking for a family.  A Family For Louie written and illustrated by Alexandra Thompson is about finding the most valuable piece missing from the puzzle that is your life.  I know this book will be a favorite for storytimes.  Give your listeners their favorite stuffed toy dog to hold when you share this book with them.  You'll want to add this to your professional and personal collections and gift it to dog lovers you know.

To learn more about Alexandra Thompson and her other work, follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  She has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.  Alexandra Thompson is a guest at author Katelyn Aronson's site.  At the publisher's website you can view the opening endpapers.  I believe you'll enjoy the reading of this book by its creator.

Sometimes our furry friends' personalities take zeal to an over-the-top level.  They see the world around them in an entirely different light than those with whom they share it.  It is this contrast which generates roll-on-the-floor hilarity.

There is a new cat in town who fits this description with excellence.  No Fuzzball! (Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., August 4, 2020) written and illustrated by Isabella Kung is a debut release certain to leave a lasting impression long after the final word is read.  Get ready readers for a riotous read on the wild side.

Hello, I am

NOFuzzball.

Perhaps you have never heard a name like this before,

but that is because you have not met

a queen like me.

This cat believes she is a queen because her humans, her subjects, scream at her, calling her name throughout the house.  She is certain they honor her every request when they are really going about their day. When she sees a packed suitcase, she is certain it is a present for her.

Her family is not happy she decides it is a new bed.  Tending to her ruffled fur after being lifted out of the suitcase, she is unaware they have left the house.  She is shocked at this discovery.  How could this happen?!

She muses about their possible reasons for leaving.  She is thrilled they took the dog, 

that disgusting slobbering mess.

Now she can nap in peace.

She is surprised to find them still absent after her nap, so she starts to roam around the house, worrying about possible scenarios in which they are hurt or kidnapped. In order to dispel these fears, she is determined to be a different kind of ruler.  She does her queenliest best as a cat of cats to spruce up the house.  Will they love what she has done to the place (palace)?  What do you think?

Told in the words of her queenship, humor is replete on every page. The authenticity of No Fuzzball's remarks, her point of view, is purr-fect.  As you read this story, it is hard not to think of author Isabella Kung as a cat whisperer.  Here is a passage.

A queen cannot tolerate such disrespect!

I demand a formal apology . . .

Wait, they left?

How dare they

forget their place?!

What has gotten into them?

There is no doubt in your mind when looking at the open book case, this cat is a bundle of energy, somewhat out of control to her humans, but having the time of her life.  She is a maker of messes.  A destroyer of calm.  And she will always cause you to giggle and grin.  The yellow ribbons on the right, front, cross over the spine to wind around, framing a collection of cat toys on the left, back.  In the center are sentences from the start of the narrative.  In a stroke of genius, a smaller No Fuzzball is casually leaning on the ISBN.

On the opening and closing endpapers readers are treated to the many moods of No Fuzzball.  The 15 images on the first set of endpapers are placed on a white canvas with red as an accent color.  The second set of 15 visuals with blue as the extra hue are also on a white background.  Here is also information about Isabella Kung.

On the verso and title pages it appears as though torn lavender paper reveals orange paper under it.  On the title page No Fuzzball is ripping the paper to reveal the No in the title.  She is at her catastrophic best.

These illustrations by illustrator Isabella Kung span two pages, single pages, or several smaller visuals are grouped on a single page.  No Fuzzball's fur is textured to the point you feel as though you might want to touch it, but you won't because this is No Fuzzball.  Shades of purple and red lend themselves to special marked moments.  It's the looks on the face of No Fuzzball and her subjects which will have you bursting into laughter.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture.  It's when No Fuzzball is taking a nap.  Four lighted shapes of the sun shining through a window move from left to right, two on either side of the gutter.  These shapes are outlined in a golden orange color.  They are placed on a wooden floor in a muted purple.  No Fuzzball moves around in different positions which are typical but also comedic.

If you are looking for loads of fun and funny, No Fuzzball written and illustrated by Isabella Kung, her debut release, is a claw-some selection.  The constant comparison between the cat's beliefs and reality provide readers with a true page-turner.  You'll be asked to read it repeatedly.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Isabella Kung, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Isabella Kung has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Isabella Kung is a guest on Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, The Soaring '20s and at Jena Benton Writer & Illustrator.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  Isabella Kung was part of a Scholastic Book Fair Book Joy Live event hosted by Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher.  Please take a few moments to enjoy these two videos.

In Motion

Most mornings now a chorus of chick-a-dee-dee-dee greets us as we walk.  Groups of these feathered friends gather in the trees and shrubs, quickly moving from place to place, sometimes stopping a foot or so from us if we are still.  Occasionally blue jays will send out a squawk.  Most other birds have left for warmer climates.  New animals ventured through the yard last night, evidenced by their tracks in the snow.  A large deer strolled along the perimeter.  From the woods paw prints formed a path down the driveway; a type of cat or small canine. Animals are always on the move.

Many marvelous creatures travel more than a few miles during any given day.  They make astonishing annual treks.  Migration: Incredible Animal Journeys (Bloomsbury Children's Books, August 6, 2019) written by Mike Unwin with illustrations by Jenni Desmond chronicles these trips taken in order to survive and for the continuation of their species.




ANIMALS ON THE MOVE
Imagine being a baby swallow in Europe in the autumn.  Just a few weeks ago you left your nest for the first time.  Now, before you are even two months old, you have to fly thousands of miles---all the way to Africa.

In this introduction we learn about the necessity of migratory practices for animals.  These seasonal excursions are not without dangers from predators, geographical physical features and weather as hundreds and thousands of miles are covered.  Page turn by page turn we read and view the paths followed by twenty different groups of Earth's occupants.

A ten-year-old humpback whale, finally an adult, can swim more than fifteen thousand miles per year.  No other animal tops that mileage by swimming.  They move in a line, one behind the other, every year to the inland of Antarctic to breed.  They are the largest penguins in the world.  Another animal moves from the water's edge, inland and south for winter.  Tens of thousands of caribou move as a unit.  Did you know the Arctic tern flies from the North Pole to the South Pole in order to fish for twenty-four hours per day in each summer season?

To see the migration of the monarch butterflies would indeed be like stepping into a fantasy.  Millions move from the north in Canada and North America to Mexico BUT it takes four generations to complete the round trip. (The explanation of the stages is fascinating.)  For years conservationists flew in ultralight aircraft with young whooping cranes to show them the route to migrate in the winter.  It looks like an immense smudge on the water but it's the annual journey in May of millions of pilchards moving north from the southern tip of Africa.

Can you imagine flying and flying and flying over water and not resting on land?  Such is the life of the wandering albatross who searches for food for years before returning to its island birthplace.  On Christmas Island, millions of Christmas Island red crabs carpet the roadways in November as they head to the sea to breed. There is only one bird which travels over the Himalayan mountains.  These bar-headed geese are physically equipped with a unique circulation system.  (This is amazing!)

Great white sharks swim for food across the Indian Ocean six thousand miles.  African elephants walk and walk for water.  Salmon go against a raging current to lay eggs before they die.  The next time you hold a yard stick; imagine it as the wingspan of the straw-colored fruit bat in Africa.  It and millions of others fly for fruit in November.  Like many of other animals named in these pages the final animal usually returns to the place where it was born to lay its eggs and continue the specie, the green sea turtle.  What a sight this must be to see!


Renowned wildlife author Mike Unwin presents captivating factual accounts; taking readers under the sea, through the air and across landscapes.  In conversational paragraphs he acts as an instructor and a guide.  He creates scenarios where we can imagine ourselves next to each animal as they move.  In addition to his lengthier paragraphs several sentences as captions to the illustrations further inform readers.  Here is a passage; two paragraphs of six.

The dancers are a male and a female.  They have nested together for several years, and this dance helps keep them close.  Other cranes are dancing too.  Each pair knows that it's time to build a nest and start to raise a family.  But first they must return to their breeding grounds in the north.

At nearly 5 feet tall, whooping cranes are the tallest birds in North America.  They are also one of the rarest---in 1941 there were only twenty-three left, including two in zoos.  Conservationists have worked hard to protect them and today there are around 400 in the wild.


Readers will be enthralled with the illustrations by Jenni Desmond beginning on the open and matching dust jacket and book case.  Her portrait of migrating hummingbirds from flap edge to flap edge is a beautiful blend of background floral elements and a radiate depiction of the tiny birds magnified for readers.  The prominent use of green, red and white is striking.  You want to take wing and fly with them. 

The matching opening and closing endpapers showcase the forest in Mexico as the first few monarch butterflies (three) arrive.  A snowy chilly scene, a two-page image features a single bar-headed goose flying over the Himalayan mountains.  This same scene without a goose provides a space at the end for the publication information and dedications on the left and a barren view on the right.  It gives a very real feeling as to the conditions these birds must endure.

For the contents, introduction and each animal, illustrator Jenni Desmond used

watercolor, acrylic, ink, pencil, and pencil crayon

to create her double-page pictures.  They are eloquent representations in varying points of view.  We are next to the humpback whale and her calf.  We stand near the front of a long line of Emperor penguins stretching back as far as we can see over the vast icy terrain.  We are among the trees in Mexico as thousands and thousands of monarch butterflies move about us.  We see dozens and dozens of globe skimmer dragonflies land on and near two pairs of flip-flops on a sandy beach.  Every delicate detail brings these animals to us as we hold this book in our hands. 

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is for the spread titled

CARIBOU CROSSING.

The text is in four short columns, two to a page at the top.  Beneath the text is a snow-topped mountain range.  A line of evergreens stretches under the range from page edge to page edge.  In front of this is a large body of water, the lower bottom half.  Three separate lines of caribou can be seen.  One is in the far distance, another to the right of the gutter moving to and on the shore and a third is close to readers, caribou swimming and climbing the grassy slope.  Here we can see the foam on the waves as the caribou splash.  Their images are mirrored in the water.  It's easy to place yourself there, watching and listening to the thunderous noises.


You can't help but be inspired by Migration: Incredible Animal Journeys written by Mike Unwin with illustrations by Jenni Desmond.  Informative text elevated by gorgeous illustrations will promote discussions and further research.  At the close of the book are two pages of a world map with two other discussions, Did You Know? and Making A Safer World For Migrants plus a list of the animals by number with corresponding numbers on the map with respect to their routes.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.  This title is one of Publishers Weekly's Best Children's Books of 2019.

If you wish to discover more about Mike Unwin and Jenni Desmond, please follow the links attached to their names to access websites giving you additional details about them and their other work.  Mike Unwin maintains an account on Instagram.  Jenni Desmond has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  You might enjoy visiting Jenni Desmond's blog. Jenni Desmond was recently interviewed at Let's Talk Picture Books.  You'll appreciate the artwork and process images.  At the publisher's website is a teacher's guide for this title.  The UK title looks like this.



To view the titles selected this week by other participants in the 2019 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge, please visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher.

Land Mammal Magnificance

When a planet is in peril, so are its inhabitants.  Humans and other living plants and animals have been and are facing challenges never experienced in previous generations. Even with their marvelous methods of adapting to survive, humans' companions, plants and animals, need us to make choices in their favor every single day.

A little more than two years ago the Great Elephant Census was completed and released.  It indicated the population of African elephants except for forest elephants, which are too difficult to count from the air, has diminished 30% in seven years.  According to a National Geographic post regarding the census about 27,000 elephants are killed every year, mainly from poaching. (If you want to make a comparison, look up the population of your community.  My community would be entirely eliminated five times in one year.)  It is believed the numbers for the Asian elephant population are even worse.

Author illustrator Jenni Desmond awakened and enhanced our awareness in her titles The Blue Whale and The Polar Bear.  In her newest title, The Elephant (Enchanted Lion Books, September 25, 2018) she again draws our attention to one of the largest animals on planet Earth.  Unless we are residents of those places where elephants reside in Africa and Asia, we will never see them in their natural habitat.  Jenni Desmond brings us to where they roam through her informative words and striking illustrations.

Once upon a time, a child took a book from the shelf and started to read.

The book he is reading is the one we are holding in our hands.  Already he knows they are the largest land mammals with extraordinary intelligence and remarkable memories.  Their minds allow them to find food and in the same spots from year to year.

African elephants and Asian elephants have similarities and differences.  Did you know their ears are shaped like the continents upon which they reside?  The trunks on African elephants are two-fingered as opposed to the single-fingered trunks on Asian elephants.  The tusks on African elephants grow and grow; the longer the tusks, the older the elephants.  Not all Asian elephants have tusks.

It's astounding to realize why a walking elephant appears to glide.  The bone structure causes them to walk on their toes.  Elephants' ears contribute to their exceptional hearing and work as cooling agents.  Their immense trunks not only complete monumental tasks but can pick up a tiny piece of fruit.

Elephants have a matriarchal society.  Males either lead a solitary life or live with other males.  Mother elephants are pregnant for twenty-two months.  For up to five years, a baby elephant will stick to its mother like proverbial glue.

Along with their massive size, elephants have a massive appetite which in turn generates huge piles of dung (300 pounds) per day.  They are known to travel great distances to find an abundance of water.  It quenches their thirst, keeps them cool and is a perfect place to play.

Elephants are a "keystone species," which means that their existence is uniquely important to other plants and animals. 

Elephants' treatment of those elephants who have died is reverent.  Their sleeping practices are unbelievable.  They deserve our respect and protection. . . now and always.


Jenni Desmond calls to readers with her first sentence.  We listen and lean in to hear the story she tells.  We follow the boy reading the book, along with us, as he steps into the world of elephants.  Facts are flawlessly integrated into the narrative.

We move from generalities to place of residence, physical characteristics and comparisons and lifestyle.  Jenni Desmond builds layer upon layer of information supplying us with a complete vision of these fascinating beings.  Here are two passages.

An African savanna elephant male, or bull, can reach 13 feet tall
and 24 feet long, and can weigh up to seven tons.  That's about the
weight of four large cars.  The females, or cows, are half that size.

Even baby elephants are big.  At birth, an African savanna elephant
calf can be 260 pounds, the weight of a speedy motor scooter.


The stunning enormity and beauty of the African savanna elephant is depicted with such clarity on the opened and matching dust jacket and book case, readers will find it hard not to gasp.  The stark landscape is pure perfection for displaying this elephant and his child companion, our guide in the reading of this book.  The setting continues over the spine to the left.  On the back elephant footprints lead from the edge of the gray (nearly centered) increasing in size until they move off the image in the lower, left-hand corner.

On the opening and closing endpapers very pale sky meets a very pale earth running along the lower fifth of the pages.  A tiny line of elephants ranging in age and size move along the right side on the front and along the left side on the back; as if they are constantly moving.  They also change positions on the closing endpapers apart from the matriarch, who always leads.

On the title page under the text the boy is marching and carrying a red teapot, cups, the book and his four stuffed-animal pals, an elephant, a polar bear, a whale and a tiger.  A single cup lays on the floor behind him.  With a page turn, he is cozily reading on a rug patterned in elephants.  His toys are seated on a small nearby bench with cups and treats in front of each of them.  The polar bear and whale have on hats.  The elephant has on glasses and the tiger is wearing a necklace.  To the left a fire burns in a fireplace shaped like an elephant's foot.  Readers will enjoy looking at the titles on the books on the shelf.  And what's that waving in the window?  Is it two elephant trunks?  This first illustration is one of my many favorite pictures.

With each succeeding page turn we step farther into the realm of elephants, viewing vast scenes dominated by their presence.  Maps indicate where they live.  Diagrams point out their physical traits. 

In the comparison with their height and weight four cars are stacked in front of a full-grown elephant.  The occupants of all four of them are a combination of animals and humans.  The boy rides his scooter into the next scene.  He tiptoes home into the kitchen to get a snack.  Photographs on the wall showcased by his flashlight explain the text.  The final photograph appears on the next page.

Jenni Desmond has a gift of connecting each illustration to the next.  Rendered in watercolor, acrylic, pencil, crayons and drypoint these visuals complement and extend the text bringing us close to a scene and then asking us to step back to get a larger picture or the reverse.  We are completely engaged and captivated.

When she closes with a nighttime illustration, the boy is hugging the trunk of one of the elephants.  In the distance a light is on in his home, which is above ground and shaped like an elephant.  In the final scene she zooms in and we sigh at the sight, like the darkness surrounding the savanna.


Recipient of four starred reviews and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2018 The Elephant written and illustrated by Jenni Desmond is a superb work of narrative nonfiction.  Pair this with Katherine Roy's How To Be An Elephant: Growing Up in the African Wild and you will have two quintessential titles on these amazing creatures.  I highly recommend this book for both your personal and professional book collections.

To discover more about Jenni Desmond and her work please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  Jenni has a blog here.  She has accounts on Twitter and Instagram.  At the publisher's website you can view interior illustrations. 


Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the titles selected this week by participants in the 2018 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Arctic Survivor

On December 14, 2015 an article was posted at the National Geographic website.  This article, Extreme Research Shows How Arctic Ice Is Dwindling, written by Andy Isaacson explains the journey of the research ship, Lance.

On the Lance's five-month mission its rotating crew of international scientists would investigate the causes and effects of ice loss by monitoring the ice across its entire seasonal life cycle---from the time when it formed in winter until it melted in summer.

One quote in this informative and interesting essay by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) oceanographer James Overland reads:

The Arctic really is the canary showing that climate change is real.

For species which make their home here and rely on the climate not to change to survive, this is a frightening fact.  The largest living land carnivore is in a precarious position.  The Polar Bear (Enchanted Lion Books, November 15, 2016) written and illustrated by Jenni Desmond (The Blue Whale) serves to enlighten readers about this majestic creature.

Once upon a time, a child took a book from the shelf and started to read...

As she begins to read she learns about the other name for the polar bear, a name given to them for their lives spent on the ice of the Arctic Ocean.  As remarkable as it seems, they thrive in the bitter temperatures, equipped with two layers of fur, thick skin and a layer of fat.  Did you know their necks are longer to help them swim with their heads out of the water?

Their huge paws, sometimes thirteen inches long, act as snowshoes, paddles when swimming and shovels when digging.  The bottoms of their feet are especially equipped to help them walk on ice.  Did you know the skin of polar bears is actually black?

Polar bear eyes and ears are quite like our own, except for a protective layer on their eyes which blocks the sunlight and helps them see underwater.  Their sense of smell, though, is phenomenal.   They can sense seals, their main source of food, miles away.  They can sniff out mates and locate their cubs.

The age of a polar bear can be found by counting the rings on one of their forty-two teeth.  (I might prefer to let that remain a mystery unless a tooth is found without being attached to the bear.)  Their eating habits rely on their food source.  Could you eat a meal every eleven days?  Or go without eating for three months?  As clever as they are at hunting, seals are much faster; more get away than are eaten by polar bears.

A home habitat for a polar bear can cover hundreds of miles of ice and ice floes.  After mating in the spring, the male will leave.  The female will only become pregnant in the fall if she has enough fat.  For three years cubs will stay with their mother learning how to survive.  Like humans at the end of the day or when exhausted, polar bears enjoy a good sleep.  It's all about survival.


By using a young girl wearing a red crown, dressed in cozy clothing and boots and reading this book, Jenni Desmond provides an inviting opening to this nonfiction narrative.  The child begins by reading the book in her home and then becomes part of the Arctic landscape as she continues to read.  In turn this brings us full circle on the final page, tying the actions of the polar bear to those of the girl.  In this way it's as if we are reading the same words at the same time as the girl.

Desmond breaks down the facts about the polar bear inserting them into conversational paragraphs; life on the ice, habitat and temperature, individual physical characteristics, socialization, hunting and eating, territory, swimming, mating, birth and life of the cubs and sleep.  Her research is evident providing her with captivating facts which she shares.  Here are two portions of a passage.

Polar bears have three ways of hunting.  The most common is waiting by a hole or at the edge of the ice for a seal to surface.  Then the bear will grab the seal with its teeth and pull it onto the ice.

Another is sneaking up on a seal that is already on the ice and then running at full speed to catch it.  A polar bear can run faster than the fastest human but only for a few seconds.


At her website Jenni Desmond states:

I work by hand using mixed media, and finish the artwork digitally.

On her matching dust jacket and book case, she places the subject of the book front and center, as if we are locked in a gaze with the polar bear.  Behind the bear and to the left, on the back, a barren Arctic panoramic view is broken by the flight of five geese.

The opening and closing endpapers are nearly identical.  The top half is the rolling hills of snow and the sun shining in an Arctic hazy sky.  The bottom half is the icy blue of the Arctic Ocean.  The polar bear is swimming to the right.  The little girl is kayaking, a tiny element in this grand scheme.  She does switch direction in the two.

The title page shows the girl removing this book from a shelf with other northern life and nature titles including Desmond's own The Blue Whale.  The heavier matte-finished paper gives realistic texture to the images.  The first picture gives us a view beyond the bookshelf of the girl stretched on a bed covered in cozy blankets.  Next to it is a low table with colored pencils, a sketch pad, a tea pot and a bowl of colored balls.  Her stuffed toys, eight animals, are reading along with her.

All of the illustrations span two pages.  Their scope and perspective impressively vary from the polar bear much smaller walking through a blizzard, showing him on an ice floe between glaciers, shaking off water and splashing the girl to an extreme close-up of his nose working to locate food, a mate, cubs or danger.  In one of many wonderful sequences we are given a bird's eye view of the bear swimming between ice floes with the girl leaning over to watch.  They are placed in the far right-hand corner.  With a page turn we are close to both of them, watching how the bear's body moves under water.

One of my many favorite illustrations is of the girl sitting on one side of a crevice and the polar bear on the other side.  The crevice is shown like a peak of a mountain stretching downward into the deep Arctic waters.  The polar bear can smell the seal swimming to the surface. The girl is holding a fishing pole over the water.  On either side of the hole is a large expanse of snow.


The Polar Bear written and illustrated by Jenni Desmond is a stunning piece of nonfiction.  In an Author's Note prior to the title page she speaks about the need to protect the polar bear and their habitat.  Their habitat protects our planet.  This title appears on The New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2016.

To learn more about Jenni Desmond and her other work please follow the links attached to her name to access her website and blog.  Jenni maintains a Twitter and an Instagram account.  Jenni Desmond was the recipient of a 2016 Sendak Fellowship.

You can find more information about polar bears at ARKIVE.  For more information about the Arctic and climate change go to the World Wildlife Foundation site and another page here.

Please visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to see the other titles selected by bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Respect And Protect

The earth is filled with a vast amount of life and places most of us will never see.  If you stop to think about it, it's astonishing to consider how well plants, animals and habitats have adapted over the course of enormous amounts of time.  It's also important to note some have fared far better than others.  All you have to do is visit ARKive to understand the plight of many species.

Increasing our understanding and knowledge of creatures elevates our respect.  We protect what we respect.  The Blue Whale (Enchanted Lion Books, May 26, 2015) written and illustrated by Jenni Desmond is a gift for readers who love our oceans and the life residing there.

Once upon a time, a child took a book 
from a shelf and started to read.

This book in the hands of the child is the same book you hold in yours.  First the child reads of the size of the blue whale in relationship to other animals on our planet.  It is compared in length to things the child knows, modes of transportation on land and sea stretched out in a line.  The size of the whale's heart and the comparison is astounding.

Named for their skin color under water, each whale can be identified by their markings and dorsal fin.  Did you know diatoms attach themselves to the whale's underbelly causing it to change color?  Have you ever seen a pile of hippopotamuses?  You will be surprised to know how many stacked together equal the weight of a blue whale.  Only sea water can support something with the mass of a blue whale.

Of the five senses, sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch, it's unusual to discover which two are exceptional for a blue whale.  I'll bet you can name one but not the other.  The mouth of the whale and the contents are equally impressive; the number of baleen plates, the weight of the tongue and how many people can fit inside the mouth.  Wow!  The amount of krill eaten and how it is eaten is mind-blowing as is the small amount which can be swallowed.  The color of the consumed krill is the color of the whale's poo.

It's a good thing we don't have to buy the gallons of milk a baby blue whale drinks in a day.  This helps the calf to gain as much as nine pounds in an hour.  With lifespans near the same as ours scientists have used more than one method to figure out their age.

Breathing is done above the surface through two blowholes but they and their relatives get the prize for holding their breath the longest under water.  The flukes on their tails and fins help them to move with ease under and above the oceans.  The sounds created and heard by blue whales are essential to staying connected with one another and finding their way from place to place.

Their habitat is the oceans of the world.  As they cruise the waters they cannot afford to fall sound asleep but take quick snoozes to avoid drowning.  To see such beauty...


The technique of having us read the same thing as the child brings us into the narrative immediately.  Jenni Desmond shares a wealth of information but the comparisons to everyday things she uses are easily understood by the intended audience.   One topic flows into another with excellence.  Vocabulary new to readers will promote wonderful discussions and exploration. Here is a sample passage.

To eat, the blue whale takes a giant gulp of seawater and krill.  It takes so much water into its mouth that the ventral pleats below its jaw and belly expand, like a huge accordion.
When the blue whale is ready to swallow, it pushes all of the seawater back out of its mouth with its tongue through its bristly baleen plates.


The image you see at the beginning of this post is the opened matching dust jacket and book case.  It introduces us to the blue whale as well as the child.  Wearing a crown of red throughout the book we can see he is observing the whale in real time at this point.  The opening and closing endpapers are a much deeper shade of blue with two faded outlines of whales swimming.  The small boat is moving along nearby the two. On a background of white beneath the title text, the boy is reading this book while sitting on his bed.

Rendered first by hand and scanned into her computer for refining, Jenni Desmond made nineteen beautiful double-page pictures.  Not only does she shift her perspective (the boy skipping down the stairs from his bedroom to grab a snack and an extreme close-up of the blue whale eye) she moves the child from his home to the ocean and back again and then back to the ocean. It's more than reading a book about whales, we get to experience it.

Extreme care is given to details.  During a particular discussion about an item we might see those things mentioned as framed pictures on a wall.  The people inside the whale's mouth represent people everywhere.  The boys standing on each other's shoulders to measure the height of the whale's air are seen again after a page turn in miniature as the viewpoint is more panoramic.

One of my favorite illustrations is of the boy skipping down the stairs.  He is exhibiting the exact amount of happiness you will already feel reading this book.  Along the stairwell are four (a fifth is a partial) framed pictures, a blue whale, a close-up of their skin, diatoms and hand prints.  The boy is carrying the book and clearly animated.


Guaranteed to produce exclamations from readers at the range of information and the manner in which it is presented, The Blue Whale written and illustrated by Jenni Desmond is simply superb nonfiction.  The magnificence of this creature is marvelous to behold within these pages.  Readers like the child will be dreaming of a close encounter with a blue whale.  There is an Author's Note at the beginning and thanks is given to a named whale expert

for her expertise on blue whales and her passionate and exacting commitment to this book.

I would pair this with Trapped!:  A Whale's Rescue and Whale Trails:  Before And Now.

To learn more about author illustrator Jenni Desmond please follow the links attached to her name to access her website and her blog.  At her website you can view more images from this book.  Jenni Desmond is interviewed at This Picture Book Life and Magpie That.  Both sites display illustrations.  For more information about the blue whale you can try the National Geographic or The Marine Mammal Center websites.



Please visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to see the other titles featured this week by bloggers participating in the 2015 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.