Shaping Into Special

Each day our world is shaped by our perspectives.  If we seek the extraordinary in the ordinary, we will find it.  It is not easy, but something to be refined with purpose and persistence over time.  

Never has the genius of a master storyteller been more apparent than in this newest release.  Sun Flower Lion (Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, September 22, 2020) written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes takes the familiar fashioning it into an original memorable tale.  This tale encourages readers to look for stories in their everyday surroundings. 

CHAPTER 

1

This is the sun.

Can you see it?

When the unseen narrator assumes you have seen the sun, they follow with a simple but profound description and comparison.  This leads us to the next two-page chapter.

Here a statement and a question lead to the description of a flower.  At the close of the chapter, the reader is asked to look closer at the flower.  Does it not look like a lion, a small lion?

Introduced to the lion, we watch him enjoy both the flower and the sun. He tires because of his youth, falling asleep.  In his dream, the flower multiplies into something delicious.  Although he consumes everything in his dream, upon waking, he is hungry.  

In the closing two chapters, one a single page and the other three pages, readers are again asked a question and given an answer.  We, through the narrator, shadow the lion as he finds his way home.  Like the smallest beings in many walks of life, the small lion's day and close of day are defined by his youth.

Kevin Henkes has a gift for making us a part of his stories.  Spare language invites readers into the pages of this book.  Here when the unseen narrator seeks our observations, we step into the realm of sun, flower and lion.  Impeccable pacing is present through the pause found between the six short chapters. Here is a passage.

The flower is growing.

It is growing on the hill.

It looks like a little lion.   

Upon opening the dust jacket, we are shown the limited color palette, black, white, and yellow, used throughout the book.  On the front Kevin Henkes presents all three elements of this narrative, the sun, the flower, and the small lion in a scene.  To the left, on the back, they are placed in a wide strip of yellow bordered on the top and bottom by black.  Each of them, left to right are depicted individually and separately.  On both, the front and the back, the scalloped yellow edging is varnished as well as the lion's tail.

On the book case on the yellow canvas, on both the front and the back, is an enlarged view of the lion's head.  A wide-textured black strip covers the spine.  Rows of the sun, flower, and lion's head without the facial features, pattern the opening and closing endpapers on the same pale-yellow background.

Rendered in 

brush and ink 

the illustrations are framed in thin black lines bordered by large expanses of white.  The chapter-heading pages are on the pale yellow with the text in the center on white.  The sizes of the illustrations vary to place emphasis on the pacing.  There is one two-page picture at the end certain to elicit sighs from readers.  It is fascinating how much emotion Kevin Henkes places in his artwork with the angle of a brush stroke.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is at the end of the third chapter.  It is a single-page square image.  Here the little lion is resting on a grassy hill.  He is facing toward the left, eyes closed.  On the downward slope of the hill, the flower is leaning to the right.  Over the little lion on the hilltop and the flower, the sun shines.  All we see of the sun is the lower curve peeking down from the top edge.

This book, Sun Flower Lion written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes, is like holding untold wealth in your hands.  This gem will be read repeatedly, continuing to gently invite readers into the narrative.  It will have readers wondering what other three similar things they can find to form an original new story.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Kevin Henkes and his other work, please take a few moments to visit his website by following the link attached to his name.  This book is featured by author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson on her site, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Interior images are shared.  I hope you enjoy the book trailer.

(Merry Makers is offering a sun flower lion doll.)

In a bright, cheerful ode to our natural world, Round (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, September 29, 2020) written by Jennifer Ward with illustrations by Lisa Congdon asks us to rethink what the word round means to us.  In an Author's Note on the dedication and verso page, we are challenged to identify other examples of round.  The wonder of this book is twofold; we journey into a search for round as a circle and round in its other forms.  

Up round.

Down round.

Nature all around is round.

Recognized round can be temporary.  What coils in a circle, but moves in a wavy line?  At times round holds other shapes of round not quite a circle.  When was the last time you peeked at a robin's nest?

Take a few moments to stop by a pond.  Stationary shapes there are round, as are those brought by action.  At times round is slow.  Sometimes round portrays youth or is tiny markers on a lady.  What kinds of light are round?

Round can be loud or quiet.  Within seconds it can alter its shape like raindrops.  If we stop to examine a round form, we might discover its composition is a multitude of round grouped together.  Objects can move around in a round path.

What tiny round packed together makes a larger round?  When you hear the hoot of an owl what variety of round might you find?  As we travel toward the end of the book, the end of a season, or the end of a day, readers will find themselves calmly marveling at all the round to be found.

Through her verbal representations, author Jennifer Ward reveals her astute skills of observation.  With her rhyming of the first words in each couplet, followed by the word round, we find ourselves turning the pages to continue the musical exploration of her narrative.  Jennifer Ward welcomes willing readers into the fascination to be detected in all seasons of the year wherever we go.  Here are two more couplets.  What are they?

Glowing round.

Growing round.

Dripping round.

Slipping round.

Truthfully, I exclaimed "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness" when opening the dust jacket and peering at the book case underneath.  The color choices on the open dust jacket conjure visions of (mostly) spring and summer bursting forth with breathtaking hues.  Elements on the dust jacket are to be found within the pages of the book.  On the other side of the spine, to the left, on the back, there is some repetition, but many of the items are new.

On the open book case, the canvas is black instead of white.  Here we see round at night, in the autumn, and in the winter.  It's a different world, but alive with forms of round.  There are objects and animals here not shown on the dust jacket, but they, too, are found inside the book.

On the opening and closing endpapers, there are similarities and differences.  On the first set, the drawings are in a rusty orange on white.  The animals here are awake.  On the second set, the lines are a midnight blue on white.  Readers will know it is night by the animals' positions and eyes.  

This artwork by Lisa Congdon rendered

digitally

is a gorgeous depiction of round.  On the verso and title pages, a double-page picture of large blossoms holds the text.  They are in shades of pink, orange, and red.  In the body of the book, page turns disclose double-page visuals with two actions or examples within the picture.  Most of the perspectives bring us close to the featured round.  In many of them an animal focuses on the round.  A fox and squirrel appear in three images each.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is for one of the couplets showcased previously.  It is night.  The canvas is black.  On the left in six small circles of light, fireflies light up their immediate area.  To the right, a crescent moon, close enough to touch, hangs in the sky.

You'll hardly be able to wait to go outside and start finding round after reading this title.  Round written by Jennifer Ward with artwork by Lisa Congdon is fantastic!  For a story time on shapes, nature, seasonal changes, or to promote skills of observation, this title is an excellent choice.  Your personal and professional collections need this book.

To learn more about Jennifer Ward and Lisa Congdon and their other work, please follow the link attached to their name to access their respective websites.  Jennifer Ward has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Lisa Congdon has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.

Discovering Winged Wonders

There are those who look to their calendars to mark the changing seasons.  There are others, careful observers of the natural world, who know Mother Nature shifts from summer to autumn to winter, and then to spring in her own time.  Last week there were from five to seven of them in my backyard in the morning and evening, adults, and speckled youngsters.  Now, it is as if they've vanished.  Have the robins left to migrate south?

Hummingbirds, two or three, gather, and take turns, at my feeder sipping nectar all day.  Goldfinches and chick-a-dees chatter in the surrounding woods as raptors glide overhead.   Birds are active throughout the day, but those visible change from month to month.  How to Find a Bird (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, August 4, 2020) written by Jennifer Ward with illustrations by Diana Sudyka guides readers in spotting a wide range of birds in a variety of settings and habitats. 

There are a lot of ways to find a bird.

That's the wonderful thing about birds.

We will want to become a part of our surroundings, moving quietly and slowly.  We usually think of watching for birds above us because of their ability to fly, but birds find food on and under the ground.  Look there, too.  Birds near the water are often lower than if they are in flight.

Remember the hint about moving slowly?  Many birds make their nests on the ground.  We should be careful.  Sometimes we have to be detectives.  Birds blend in bark, foliage, and branches.  They might be closer than we think.

We can still look to the sky to discover new birds.  Sometimes they fly solo.  Other times they gather in a large group to create a breathtaking display of synchronization.  

They are so fast at times; we wonder if we really saw them.  They may see us before we see them, announcing their presence with a call.  If we feed birds, they will honor us with their constant company.  In closing the narrative, we are reminded of another sense for locating birds.  We will be eager to try it the next time we step out-of-doors.

The easy conversational sentences penned by Jennifer Ward are an open invitation to readers to explore the world of birds.  Each hint is like a clue to unraveling a marvelous mystery.  When we are asked to do something, a readily understood explanation follows.  References are made for us to be as if we are birds in order to find them. Small poetic uses of language supply an easy cadence.  Here is a passage.

Quiet is good too.

So quiet you can hear

your heartbeat.

Shhhhhhh

When you open the matching dust jacket and book case you are greeted with the lovely display of the tree, branches extending from flap edge to flap edge.  The white canvas provides an ideal background for portraying the birds as we would see them naturally.  The vibrant, full-color picture welcomes readers to open the book.

To the left, on the back, of the jacket and case the two children who journey through the book with us, are looking at the main tree, one with binoculars.  They are partially hidden by a large shrub which contains the ISBN.  Above them a Baltimore oriole is peering from its hanging nest at the children.

A fabulous pattern of bird homes, some made by humans, are carefully scattered on a white background.  Pinecones, nuts, leaves, and tiny, berry-covered branches are part of the design.  The use of muted primary colors is highly appealing.  On the title page a large owl is nestled against a tree trunk, seated on a branch.  The tree's branches stretch off the right and top and move across the gutter to the verso and dedication page, also stretching off the top.

These illustrations by Diana Sudyka rendered 

in watercolor, gouache on paper, and finished digitally

are rich in their settings, color choices, and portraits of the birds.  Each bird is labeled in tiny print looking as if hand lettered. Several perspectives are present in many of the images.  Nearly all the illustrations span two pages before shifting to several circular representations and two full-page pictures.  You will find yourself pausing at every page turn to study the details, even as you gasp in admiration at the beautiful two-page panoramas.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is for the text above noted.  It's night.  In the background is a charcoal gray sky replete with stars.  In silhouette just left of the gutter is a large tree with leafy branches spreading left and right across the gutter.  In front of the tree on the left is a grassy mound with a tree stump.  The children are quietly seated there.  In front of the grassy area is darkened water.  On the right, much closer to readers is a large sleeping swan.  Her neck is curved downward, her feathered wings gracefully moving upward and to the left across the gutter.  Nestled in her feathers are three babies, their downy fluff slightly darker than her white wings.

This book, How to Find a Bird written by Jennifer Ward with illustrations by Diana Sudyka, is outstanding in every respect with the text and visuals working to create a stunning whole.  At the close of the book under the heading of 

We can all be bird watchers!

are Tools and Tips, Create a Life List, and Become a Citizen Scientist with lots of information.  Jennifer Ward asks readers to visit her website 

for a list of books about birds and bird watching.

I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Jennifer Ward and Diana Sudyka and their other work, please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Jennifer Ward has accounts on Facebook, and Twitter.  Diana Sudyka has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  Enjoy the video.

Small Beginnings

One of nature's many miracles is seeds.  Some of them are so small when you sow them it's like scattering sugar.  Other's need to be soaked overnight so growth is encouraged and stems will appear sooner. Many members of the gourd family are grouped together to grow in hills.  If you want a potato, plant a potato, making sure there are several "eyes" buried in the dirt.

Unless you are an avid horticulturalist finding a seed without any sort of identification is like discovering a mystery.  What Will Grow? (Bloomsbury Children's Books, February 14, 2017) written by Jennifer Ward with illustrations by Susie Ghahremani gives readers the means to crack the code of what each seed holds inside.  All the answers build toward a pleasant surprise.

ROLY, ROUND.
RAIN-SOAKED
GROUND.

WHAT WILL GROW?

For each of the twelve seeds a poetic description provides clues.  Physical characteristics may be supplied.  How the seed is sown hints at the outcome.  With a glance to the right, the reader can easily see if their guess is correct.

If the seeds are planted in a precise row, a gardener has plans for them.  If a clever woodland creature buries them, something tall and sturdy will stretch to the sky.  If currents of air spread them here, there, and seemingly everywhere, a carpet of yellow is sure to appear in the spring.

A tiny package can contain a much larger, succulent fruit which can vary in size depending on the variety.  Black and white stripes can contain giant bursts of golden yellow swaying on tall stalks.  These floating tufts of white generate food for the majestic monarch.  Without it monarchs cannot survive.

A core tossed alongside a roadway, last year's jack-o-lantern squashed to mush, or a holiday wreath left hanging a bit too long all have the potential to create something beauty and beneficial.  In every season the wonders stored inside seeds work their marvels.  We fortunate humans and other animals reap the rewards.


The melodious words written by Jennifer Ward welcome participation and speculation.  They also ask us to pause, close our eyes and visualize her depictions.   The rhythm supplied by her two lines and rhyming words at the end of each will captivate readers as they attempt to figure out the riddle.  Here is another sample passage.

OVAL, FLAT.
SOON FAT.

WHAT WILL GROW?


The first thing readers will appreciate about this book is the choice of paper for the dust jacket and interior pages.  The matte finish and heavier stock furnish us with a wonderful, tactile experience.  When opening the matching dust jacket and book case the color palette presents a soothing sense and the image, extended to portray hilly expanses, shows more sunflowers in various stages of growth.  The sunflower seeds scattered along the bottom give readers the chance to connect the one with the other.  The rabbit is the first of many animals featured on every two pages.

The opening and closing endpapers are a cool green with a pattern of seeds, each kind grouped together, across the pages.  On the verso and title pages we see a progression of growth, seeds to tall stalk, as a ladybug journeys from place to place, climbing and flying.  Rendered in gouache on wood and hand lettered by Susie Ghahremani these visuals are works of art.

Her two page illustrations, with four gatefolds, hold our gaze from left to right.  We get to see the seeds form the plants in a stunning display almost like slow motion but totally complete at the same time.  All the seasons of the year are presented in full earth-tone shades.  Most of the illustrations bring us close to the seeds, animals and the resulting plants.  We are usually viewing the picture from a perspective other than human.

The attention to detail is utterly lovely.  Susie is careful to present the correct animal in each scene.  Readers will be looking intently for a certain bug after every page turn.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for the pumpkin seeds.  The background hills are now a golden shade.  In the foreground a garden in varying hues of brown serves as a canvas for the scattered seeds, seedlings and slowly growing vines.  On the right the vines have produced blossoms and several pumpkins.  A tiny ladybug crawls on the far left.  On the right a raccoon stands eagerly looking at the pumpkins.  Its hands are brought up in front as if in anticipation of a snack.


You can't read this book only once.  I predict What Will Grow? written by Jennifer Ward with illustrations by Susie Ghahremani will have a well-loved look quickly whether it's on library, classroom or home bookshelves.  Readers will be ready to garden before they have even finished it the first time.  By the third time, they will be leaving the garage or shed with a shovel in hand. At the close of the colorful reveal, each seed in alphabetical order is explained further.  You are told when it's best to sow, the necessary steps and when it will grow.  A simple, perfect textual and visual explanation is offered for the four stages from seed to plant on the following two pages.

To learn more about Jennifer Ward and Susie Ghahremani and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Jennifer is interviewed at Tucson Tales.  Susie is interviewed at websites with a heart.  At the publisher's website there is a twelve-page activity guide for you to download.


Be sure to stop by Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the choices this week by other bloggers participating in the 2017 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Snug As Can Be

The sight of them holds so much promise.  They swoop, glide and soar from place to place looking for materials unique to their practical plan.  It's spring in northern Michigan.  Our state birds have returned building nests in which their distinctive blue eggs will hatch.  This year as mentioned in an earlier post my new planting of ivy was home to a family of robins for many weeks.

 Due to an experience similar to mine, author Jennifer Ward began to investigate about avian architects.  In her most recent title, Mama Built a Little Nest (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division) with illustrations by Steve Jenkins, she offers readers a spirited but informative glimpse at birds and their creative engineering (or not) used in nest building.  Fourteen designs destined to house eggs and their newly hatched inhabitants will increase our appreciation for our feathered friends around the world.

Mama built a little nest
inside a sturdy trunk.
She used her beak to tap-tap-tap
the perfect place to bunk.


As a team woodpecker parents carve a hole in a tree.  A trap used by one insect to snare others is needed to fashion a flexible home for some of our smallest winged wonders.  There are lazy or wily, depending on your point of view, birds that lay their eggs in other birds' nests.  Obviously parenting is not their forte.

Papa's feet fold around a single egg.  Scuffed in sky high stone protection is provided.  A creature of cactus creates not one, not two, but three or more nests hoping to attract a female companion.  Those not used serve an ingenious purpose.

Hanging homes, underground abodes, and floating rafts for one serve their babies well.  Walking along a shore line who can say whether its rocks or eggs.  Oh, they are such clever beings.

Body fluids, body waste and mounds of mud shape residences. Nests larger around than some readers are tall would make the best kind of tree houses.  These special resting places are incredible to behold; essential to survival.


On the left hand side of each two pages dedicated to a single bird, Jennifer Ward has written a four line poem; sometimes a single sentence, sometimes two or three.  The second and fourth lines rhyme calling readers' attention to a special characteristic about a specialized spot for eggs and the young.  Expanding on the original thought she provides more details on the right; intriguing items to further our understanding.


Luminous white is the background for the precise collage illustrations of Steve Jenkins.  Piece by piece, layer by layer, he builds two-page masterpieces.  The skillful layout and design seen on the matching dust jacket and book case are found throughout the book.  Identical opening and closing endpapers are green on green feathers carefully patterned from left to right.

Red feathers on the crests of pileated woodpeckers, slender beaks on hummingbirds, texture on rocky crags, spines and bright flowers on cactus, or eyes looking out, above, down or at you alive with inquiry are a part of each visual.  The perspectives selected by Jenkins draw your eyes into each illustration.  It's as if you are looking through the zoom lens of a camera revealing every intricate aspect.

One of my favorite pictures is toward the end where Steve Jenkins alters his background to match the shift in author Jennifer Ward's words.  Without giving away too much, it, as do her words, exudes warmth and a blend of the natural world with humans.  It makes a wonderful connection.


Mama Built a Little Nest written by Jennifer Ward with illustrations by Steve Jenkins is an outstanding introduction to this topic sure to encourage readers to take notice of the world around them.  The combination of rhythmic poetry, fascinating information and stunning illustrations makes this a must-have title in any collection.  There is an author's note and resources for further learning and exploration at the end.  I would pair this with Look Up!: Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard by Annette LaBlanc Cate and Feathers Not Just For Flying by Melissa Stewart with illustrations by Sarah S. Brannen.

For more information on the additional works of Jennifer Ward and Steve Jenkins please follow the links to their respective websites embedded in their names.  By following this link to the publisher's website you can view pages from the book.  Author and blogger at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, Julie Danielson, offers additional images in a post.


Every week my knowledge base gets broader and deeper through participation in the 2014 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge hosted by Alyson Beecher at Kid Lit Frenzy.  Enjoy the other titles posted by bloggers linked to her web page.