Beware The Tale

When you have a canine companion who needs a minimum of four miles of walking or running every day, you find yourself exploring known and unknown pathways.  You frequently find yourself having to traverse through unexpected brush, fallen trees, and flooded trails.  Sometimes as you come around a bend or reach the top of a hill, you find yourself face to face with a creature who is just as surprised to see you.  Every situation is different.  Each one deserves your best and careful assessment.

In the newest release by brothers Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey, four residents of a southern watery realm find themselves in a dilemma.  Somewhere in the Bayou (Norton Young Readers, an imprint of W. W. Norton and Company, March 1, 2022) brings readers directly into the animals' predicament.  As we read this tale, we have to ask ourselves how we might react in a similar situation.  Would we act like Opossum, Squirrel, Rabbit, or Mouse?  Or would we fashion an entirely different response?

We need a place to cross.

Does anyone

see one?

All I see is plants.

My feet hurt.

The foursome finally find a place to cross.  They discover the presence of a log.  A log is a perfect bridge across water, but this log has a tail snuggly against it.  Rabbit thinks it is

a sneaky tail.

After a brief discussion, Opossum decides the only way to trick a sneaky tail is to quietly walk along the log.  Two loud sounds indicate his idea was not a success.  Where is he?

Now there are three not-so brave animals wondering how to cross on that log with the tail.  Rabbit changes the definition of that tail.  Squirrel decides to show that tail a thing or two.  A loud Squirrel screech echoes in the watery realm.  It is followed by those same two loud sounds.

For the third time Rabbit gives an opinion on the type of tail they are facing.  Rabbit decides to address the tail with a stick.  You guessed it, readers.  Two loud sounds pierce the air in that bayou.  

Mouse asks a question but is met with silence.  Mouse ventures onto the log trying to decide what kind of tail it is.  Mouse makes a decision and acts.  It is followed by those same two loud sounds, but are they for the same reason?  The ensuing conversation will leave readers pondering and probably laughing.  And Mouse . . . is shocked and completely relieved.

Authors Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey certainly can spin a story masterfully.  Told entirely in dialogue, we easily come to understand the personalities of the characters.  Each phrase they utter seems to finish the thoughts of the previous speaker.

After Opossum tries to cross the log and fails, a pattern is established.  This pattern invites reader participation.  The single word sounds will be shouted by readers and listeners as Squirrel and Rabbit try to cross on the log.  

The established cadence shifts with Mouse.  This creates anticipation and tension especially when the single word sounds are read.  That anticipation and tension stays until the very end.  The final sentence supplies us with a huge pause.  Here is a passage.

THAT'S A 

SCARY TAIL!

THAT'S NOT SCARY.

I'LL SHOW YOU SCARY!

BUT---

When you open the dust jacket, you can see the design extends flap edge to flap edge.  To the left of the spine, on the back, the log reaches to the shore.  A long plant sticks out of the water.  On the far left, shrubs and trees frame the scene.  The grass goes to the edge.  On the front, the right side, the cattails, log and water go to the far right.  The color palette of the bayou and each of the characters is introduced in this image.  We are also privy to the expressive eyes of the characters.  It is fabulous how much emotion Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey can show with a round white circle and a black dot.

On the book case, from edge to edge is the same scene from the right flap edge to the middle of the back of the jacket.  It is the log, trees, and some plants.  The tail and four creatures are absent.  Is this before or after the story?

On the opening and closing endpapers is an alligator green hue.  The splendid signature artwork of the brothers begins after the opening endpapers.  So does the narrative.  We briefly pause for the title and verso pages, but the back and tail of Mouse are shown on the far right.

The visuals alternate between double-page pictures, a series of vertical panels, a full-page picture, some horizontal panels and two full-page pictures.  Sometimes elements from one panel are part of another panel.  We are usually very close to the action.  At times we might just see a face or the lower portion of an animal's body with their legs and feet.  This technique of shifting the image sizes and perspectives further draws us into the tale.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture.  It is after Opossum has failed in an attempt to cross on the log with the tail.  On the right side we see the water, the log, a portion of the tail and two cattails.  On the left side on the grassy bank, standing upright are the three remaining animals, Rabbit, Squirrel, and Mouse.  There are bushes and trees behind them.  They are all holding their front paws in front of them.  But, their eyes are hilarious.  Rabbit is looking down at Squirrel.  Squirrel is looking up at Rabbit.  Mouse is looking down at the grass.  Their looks are most definitely wide-eyed as their minds wonder what just happened.

This book, Somewhere in the Bayou written and illustrated by Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey, is engaging and thought-provoking.  It is also laden with tension, possibilities, and humor.  It will surely promote discussions and requests for it to be read again, repeatedly.  You will want to have a copy for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about the Pumphrey brothers and their other work, please access their website by following the link attached to their names.  Jarrett Pumphrey has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Jerome Pumphrey has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior images.

Better Together #1

At an early age humans learn, a helping hand benefits everyone, both the recipient and the giver.  We are never sure where the initial connection will lead. If a leap of faith is taken by extending assistance to another human, plant, animal, or planet, a lasting relationship is often built.  In nature within and without species, this is an observed behavior, contributing to survival.  It supplies all living individuals with the best existence possible. 

For those whose lives have been limited by the pandemic, people delivering mail and packages have been a constant tie to the larger world no longer available.  There have been frequent conversations through windows.  The Lost Package (Roaring Brook Press, March 2, 2021) written by Richard Ho with illustrations by Jessica Lanan allows readers to see how much is gained through discovery and decision.

Like other packages, this one began as an empty box.

The art of packing this particular package was done as a labor of love.  The sender knew the receiver would appreciate and recognize extra details.  This package arrived and left the post office in a series of designated steps.

It was sorted in a labyrinth of moving paths, but on its way to an airport it unintentionally left the truck carrying it.  This box was not bound to a special address any longer.  It was off course from its intended destination.

No one who passed the package gave it any attention.  Now muddy and torn, it was finally noticed.  The extra details, so lovingly added, sent a clear message.

The spotters made a decision.  In the true spirit of the United States Postal Service, they acted. Like many before them, their choice and deeds enriched more than one.

As soon as you read the first two sentences, you are intrigued.  What was in the package? Where was it going?  Who will receive the package?  Who sent the package?  Richard Ho has taken the less is more approach to this story, mastering it beautifully.  His simple, profound prose allows our imaginations to take their own journey as the package follows its own alternate route.  Never mentioning people, but focusing on the package, also leaves room for illustrative interpretation.  Another wonderful technique Richard Ho uses is the repetition of three important words.  When he changes them toward the ending, the impact is greater.  Here is a passage.

Like other packages, it was taken to a building with

wondrous machines.

Machines that zip mail through a maze of moving belts.

Soft, layered elements on the front, right, of the open dust jacket in a full-color palette introduce readers to three important, but never named, characters in this tale of a package gone awry.  On closer inspection you can see how illustrator Jessica Lanan weaves hints of the package's origin and destination in the special details on the brown-paper wrapping. Did you notice how she places the cancelled postal waves through three letters in the title text?  

To the left of the spine, on the back, golden and peach washes supply the canvas.  A loosely framed circular image is placed here.  Within this image our attention is drawn to the USPS truck moving down a city street.  Buildings and other vehicles are a part of the background.

On the book case is the brown-paper wrapping for the package. It is smudged and torn.  Postal insignias and labels are on the back portion on the left.  On the right is a series of stamps, a return address, and a to-be-delivered-to address.  A deep midnight blue covers the opening and closing endpapers.

On the title page, the text is the same as on the front of the dust jacket.  The scene is different.  It is an overview of a large metropolitan city on the east coast of the United States.  A tall identifying landmark reveals the place.

These illustrations rendered

with watercolors

shift in size from page turn to page turn, generating a story within a story.  Readers will pause to make sure to not miss any of the included items; a photograph of both the children in their respective rooms and posters on each other's walls of the place in which their friend resides.  How many will want a bunny lamp like the one in the girl's bedroom?  How many will identify with the boy's passion for fish and sea creatures?

The scenes inside the post office and postal sorting facility are informative and engaging.  Several wordless images speak volumes.  The two-page pictures are lovely as are the cross-country scenes.  

One of my many favorite illustrations is a single-page picture.  It's one of those times in a story where you hold your breath, waiting to see what happens.  A boy, his mother, and their dog are walking down a wet sidewalk in the rain in the city.  The battered box rests against two large objects in the gutter.  The dog is pulling on its leash toward the box.  A pale sky highlights the buildings, streetlamps, a stoplight, and a bus stop sign. Close to us is the sidewalk shiny in the rainstorm.  It draws us toward the three characters. 

In reading The Lost Package written by Richard Ho with illustrations by Jessica Lanan, we come to understand with greater insight the value of a single act.  It magnifies the notion of what-if.  Both the author and illustrator have notes for readers on the final page.  What a truly genuine and touching story this is!  I highly recommend it for your personal and professional bookshelves.

To discover more about both Richard Ho and Jessica Lanan and their other work, please visit their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Richard Ho has accounts on Facebook and Twitter.  Jessica Lanan has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. At Macmillan you can view interior illustrations.  You might be able to watch an archive of the launch here hosted by Books of Wonder.

For those who have spent many an hour on water in a boat, what we see around us is only a small portion of the wonders being in a boat affords us.  There is much to be seen underwater which in turn affects what we see above it.  The brother collaborators who gave us The Old Truck (Norton Young Readers, an imprint of W. W. Norton and Company, January 7, 2020) have a new release.  The Old Boat (Norton Young Readers, an imprint of W. W. Norton and Company, March 2, 2021) written and illustrated by Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey is an ode to our environment, family, and shared experiences using a boat as a focal point.

Off a small island, an old boat rode the tide.

Over time, the old boat moved from the island into deeper and deeper waters.  It supplied the woman and boy what they needed.  It gave them a place to dream dreams.  In that old boat, they saw breathtaking wonders given to them from the water beneath the waves.

Still more time passed.  Now the boy, a man, traveled farther from the small island.  The island was no longer in sight.

The old boat was weary, worn, chilly and most decidedly lost in a raging storm.  All that remained was the turbulent waves and angry sky.  Fortunately, after the storm passed, the man washed ashore on a sandy beach on another small island.

There, the man saw what needed to be done.  He started, little by little, to change the landscape of the beach, moving into deeper and deeper waters.  He inspired others.  The man and the old boat were settled and satisfied, content in their new places.

Readers willingly place themselves in the old boat near the small island.  Through the words of Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey, we ride with the boy and woman during their shared experiences.  Jarrett Pumphrey's and Jerome Pumphrey's use of alliteration in one special sentence is enchanting.  It's like riding the swells of water formed by wind.

This creative duo brings the story full circle through generations by using repeating words and phrases.  We accept the changes as inevitable, but those things which cement connections to each other and to our planet remain the same, but stronger.  We know something in the story is about to shift when we read this sentence.

But the old boat rode farther (page turn)

and farther.  

Opening the dust jacket for this book gives you a glimpse of the lovely hues used in the illustrations.  The signature artwork of the brothers' is as exquisite here as in their first title.  The image on the right, front, is reversed on the left, back, with a continuous flow over the spine.  On the back there are now two clouds in the sky.  The boy's back is to us.  The fish move away and from under the boat traveling to the left edge and corner.  

On the book case is a textured cream color.  A wide border of green, the same shade as on the boat and title text, covers and spreads from the spine.  On the front of the case, near the top, the old boat is embossed on the cream.  It's a tactile, defining moment when readers run their fingers over the old boat.  

On the opening and closing endpapers is a slightly lighter golden color than as shown on the jacket.  When you turn the page after the endpapers at the front and before those at the back, there is a mirror image with some differences in the land and water. On the first, the island shows only flora.  There appear to be fewer fish and underwater flora.  On the second, the island has colorful homes and less flora.  The water is more populated with sea creatures.  This is a visual explanation of the beginning and end of the old boat's story.

Prior to the title page is a fabulous two-page picture.  It introduces us to the woman, the little boy, their small island, the watery wonders near the shore, and the old boat.  On the title page is only the old boat.  With the page turns, we see how the ages of the woman and the boy progress.  They both get older.  Under them in the water, the sea changes too.  Pollution invades closer to shore, spreading out farther and farther as the two age.

The farther they go out into the sea, the more the residents there present themselves to them, until a stunning moment when the woman is very old, and the boy is a young man.  From then on, for several page turns Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey present the man, alone and now older, in the old boat, too far from home to get what he needs.  This is the pictorial introduction to a huge change.  In one of the more dramatic two-page pictures (They are all two-page images.), there are no words, no boat and no man.

Readers will be entranced by the blend of words and illustrations.  Each page turn invites examination.  Subtle and not so subtle differences are noted in every element.

One of my many favorite illustrations is when the boy, a teenager, and the woman, white-haired, are resting in the boat after a successful day of fishing.  He is leaning against the bow and she against the stern.  It is night.  The island is in the distance black and dotted with white houses.  Stars twinkle in the black sky as one streaks from left to right, across the gutter and over their boat on the right.  Beneath several shades of tan water, white jellyfish gather.  The two words on this page are:

and wishes.

There is total contentment and calm in this scene.

If you ever imagine how one person can make a difference, look to The Old Boat written and illustrated by Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey.  Here we see how a woman influenced a boy, and how that boy as a man influenced an entire island.  It's about making this world better for those who dwell here now and in the future.  We can do this . . . together.  You will certainly want a copy of this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey and their work, access their website by following the link attached to their names.  There are three double-page illustrations for this book at their website, including the favorite I above noted.  Jarrett Pumphrey has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Jerome Pumphrey has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  The brothers were featured guests on February 4, 2021 at The Brown Bookshelf.  Author illustrator Don Tate is the author of that post.

A New Definition

At every point in our lives the term old takes on a different meaning.  At twelve years, we are old to a newborn, but to our grandparents we are a youngster.  It seems for great periods of our lives we are not old enough. Then in what seems like seconds, we are too old.

Words synonymous with old can give it different meanings.  It can refer to age, antiquated or established, familiar and solid.  It is this last comparison which appears in the pages of The Old Truck (Norton Young Readers, an imprint of W. W. Norton and Company, January 7, 2020) written and illustrated by brothers Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey.  In this title readers discover old can mean home.

On a small farm, an old truck worked hard.

It worked for hours during the day and through the seasons of many years.  As time passed the truck struggled to keep working.  It needed to pause.  In that pause, there were dreams.

In those dreams the truck became a scientific ship exploring the seas, a plane seeking new heights and a vehicle traversing a unique celestial landscape.  The old truck got older and older.  Life very nearly enveloped it where it sat.

One day the hard work and long hours continued, but there was a new farmer.  This new farmer, like the old truck, struggled to keep working.  She did not pause, but she dreamed.  In those dreams, like the dreams that came before, old became new.  It was, after all, about tenacity and attitude.


There are books you read again and again and again for different reasons.  In the writing of Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey for this book, those multiple readings reveal numerous stories depending on the person holding the book.  Their text, beautiful in its simplicity, is an open invitation.  The repetition of key words is like a soothing refrain tying the generations together.  The following sentence opens numerous possibilities and brings the narrative full circle.

So the old truck rested (page turn)

and dreamed.  


The open dust jacket reveals an extension of the image from left to right.  The portion of the illustration on the left is a reverse of that on the right.  The truck is facing left and the girl on the tailgate has her back to us.  We can see a large full sun between two clouds on the left, also.  It is here on the jacket that the color palette is introduced to readers.  The use of these colors, lighter or darker, brings a calming continuity throughout the book.

On the book case Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey used a heavy paper in cream and golden celery green for the wide spine.  On the front the truck is embossed into the case. Children and children at heart love to run their fingers over texture.  It seems to create a stronger tie between reader and story.

A pale, pale hue of their chosen blue covers the opening and closing endpapers.  The brothers designed more than 250 stamps to make the art for this book.  Each page turn discloses the genius of their design.

For example, on the first single-page picture after the opening endpapers we see a scene of a young corn field, sky with clouds, flowers along the bottom, a pathway and the back of the new barn being built.  On the next double-page image the barn continues, as does the pathway.  The wife, soon to be a mother, is picking flowers as her husband carries lumber toward the front of the barn.  The old truck is sitting in front of their home.  The tree next to the house is a sapling.  The next page turn is the verso and title pages.

As you study and enjoy each illustration you can see elements the brothers have added depending on the time of day, season of the year and age of the little girl.  In this book, the brothers have fashioned a beautiful story of family and a commitment to hard work and ingenuity in their artwork.  For each sentence of their text, their illustrations add layers to the words.  Their wordless visuals are powerful.  All their pictures apart from the first and last ones are double-page illustrations.

One of my many, many favorite images is when the girl, now a young woman, is working late inside the barn.  From left to right we are inside the barn except for the open doorway for about two-thirds of the right side.  The young woman, with her back to us, is wearing blue jeans and a white and red large, polka-dotted blouse.  Her long black hair is braided, tied with a red ribbon and lays along her back.  She is standing in front of a work bench, hard at work on something we cannot see.  Above her, hanging on the wall, are a pitchfork, a coil of rope and a wooden ladder.  A large overhead lamp casts a warm glow.  Outside the barn sits the old truck.  Above it is a dark sky replete with stars and a full moon.  The truck is very old, now, rusty brown with age.  The hood is up.


With every reading of The Old Truck written and illustrated by Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey readers will be enthralled with the harmony found in the words and illustrations.  Underneath the pastoral scenes is a thread of perseverance, a sense of dedication to work and the accomplishments it brings.  And there is love, in its many forms.  You will want to have a copy of this title on your professional and personal bookshelves. 

To learn more about Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their website.  At this website you can see how the work is progressing on the old truck purchased by Jarrett Pumphrey.  Jarrett Pumphrey has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Jerome Pumphrey has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Their visit to author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast is a must read.  There is lots of process art presented.  The brothers are also interviewed at The Horn Book with Roger Sutton and at NPR Special Series Picture This as part of Weekend Edition Sunday.