To Be Perfectly Honest

In sporting events athletics, whether individually or as a member of a team, are constantly aiming for the flawless play, run, catch, swing, jump, routine, kick or shot.  They practice and practice and practice until one day the magic happens.  There are others who pursue their passions aiming for perfection; the exemplary musical melody, piece of art, compilation of words, architectural design, brick wall, perennial garden, or the most successful surgery or the most delicious fruit or vegetable ever tasted.  If you love what you are doing, you will continually aim high.

Will perfection be attained?  For some yes, for others the act of trying is a form of the ideal.  A shapely character introduced to readers in Triangle (Candlewick Press, March 14, 2017) returns in a companion title called Square (Candlewick Press, May 8, 2018) written by Mac Barnett with illustrations by Jon Klassen.  Square's friend, Circle, makes a request he is not sure he can honor.

This is Square.

Square has a secret cave with a square entrance in a large mounded rock.  Square's daily task is to take a square rock, a block, from down in the depths of his cave.  He pushes it with great effort up a hill.

At the top of the hill, he adds it to a stack of other blocks.  This is simply what he does.  As he is pushing a block up the hill one day, his friend Circle, glides up to him.  She believes him to be a great sculptor.  Square does not know what a sculptor is.

Circle is so excited by the shape of the block being identical to the shape of Square, she requests he make one of her.  He tries to tell her he is not as creative as she thinks he is but she has left.  This is a true dilemma for Square.

With hammer and chisel in his hands, Square begins his task but nothing works.  Soon he is in the middle of a disaster.  He is exhausted from his efforts, falls asleep and does not wake up until morning.  He realizes he is wet.

As Square stands wondering what he is going to do, Circle arrives.  She asks a question and Square replies.  She does not deter from her original assessment of Square.  She declares him a genius as she happily goes about her day.


Your enjoyment of this story does not diminish with repeatedly readings.  You find yourself smiling each and every time.  Mac Barnett gives us simple sentences but a subtle undercurrent of humor runs through the excellent blend of narrative and dialogue.  The contrast between what Circle assumes is true about Square and his conversations with her elevate the laughter factor.  He is honest enough in his thoughts to be worried about Circle's opinion.  Here is a portion of a passage.

He was surrounded by rubble.
"Whatever is the opposite of perfect,
that is what this is!  I must stay up
all night and figure this out!


A cream, matte-finished nine by nine inch cover displays Square on the front, wide-eyed, waiting and wondering.  There is something about his eyes which will have you, too, waiting and wondering.  Your anticipation is growing already.  To the left, on the back, Square's back is to readers.  His back is used as a place for four sentences giving us a hint of what we may encounter inside the book.

The opening and closing endpapers are a pale, mint green.  On the title page a tiny version of Square is placed between two clusters of rocks with delicate leaved-branches among them.  His eyes are looking to the right, inviting us to turn the page.  To the left on the verso page, all the text is placed within a square-shape.

The illustrations by Jon Klassen rendered digitally and with watercolor and graphite convey much with the placement of the elements.  (The use of the cream-colored space is outstanding in supplying pacing.)  Some are single page pictures, others cross the gutter and some extend over two pages.  We never see legs on Circle, she floats in and out of scenes.  We rarely see arms on Square and the only time we see an arm on Circle is when she and Square are giving a one-handed wave to us at the end on the dedication page.  The information about Mac and Jon which would normally appear on the closing flap is shown beneath the duo.  You will laugh when you read it.

One of my many favorite illustrations is on a single page.  Square has hammered and chiseled and chiseled and hammered a block until he is surrounded by bits and pieces of it.  What the text does not tell us is when he started this project, it also started to rain.  Now he is standing in a downpour.  A twig with two leaves is stuck to the top of his head.  His eyes are wide open but the dots are much smaller.  His hands, one holding a chisel and the other holding a hammer, are lifted in despair.  The bits and pieces of the block have formed a barrier which is holding water.


I can't imagine a professional or personal collection without a copy of Square written by Mac Barnett with illustrations by Jon Klassen.  This commentary on perfection and the joyful accident of reaching a goal is brilliant.  It shows us beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.

To learn more about Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen and their other work, please access their sites by following the links attached to their names.  At Penguin Random House and Candlewick Press you can view interior images.  Candlewick Press has posted a short Teacher Tip Card. Please take a few moments to read the Publishers Weekly The Shape of Things to Come from Award-Winning Picture Book Team and an interview with Mac and Jon at Art Of The Picture Book.  Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen are interviewed on NPR Books about this title.  Enjoy the video.

Shapely Shenanigans

Nearly every culture has a trickster as a character in their traditional tales.  Anansi, a spider, is found in West African folklore.  It is believed he tricked the Sky God into giving up the box which held all stories. Originating from China the Monkey King is known to be superhero as well as one able to create considerable chaos.  Brer Rabbit is a well-known figure in African American stories besting through cunning those larger and stronger than he is.  Several Native American tribes share stories with Coyote as the trickster.  In the Northwest section of the United States Raven is strong and through his cleverness brings about change; sometimes for the good of people according to narratives in the Native American culture.

There are two fresh faces to be added to the chronicles of fictional mischief makers.  Triangle (Candlewick Press, March 14, 2017) written by Mac Barnett with illustrations by Jon Klassen will have you looking warily at basic shapes.  Who knew they were such rascals?  (Where were they when I was struggling in geometry?)

This is Triangle.

Triangle is a no-frills character with a wide-eyed expression and two legs to give him mobility.  As you might expect his home is in the shape of a triangle.  His door, a triangle, allows him ease when coming and going from his abode.

He is on a mission today.  He is on his way to Square's home.

He was going to play a sneaky trick on Square.

He treks through varying sizes of triangles, through a place with odd, rounded shapes and into the land of squares, large squares, middle-sized squares and little squares.  It is a mirror version of the realm of triangles.  He finally arrives at Square's square house.

Square, like most of us, has a fear.  He does not like snakes.  Triangle knows this, so he pretends to be a snake outside of Square's doorway (which is in the shape of a square).  Triangle's hissing is causing Square to panic and shout.  Triangle can't contain his laughter any longer.

When Square realizes Triangle has played a prank, he gives chase.  They sprint right by all those squares.  They rush by all those odd, rounded shapes.  They zoom past the triangles until Triangle escapes into his house.  What happens next leaves readers with a point to ponder after they try to stop laughing.


The simplicity of Mac Barnett's text in this story is what heightens the comedic effect.  The repetition of the words triangle and square help the suspense to grow.  You know something is going to happen; something big and hilarious.  The beauty of it, at least for this reader, is it's a completely marvelous surprise.  Here are two sentences.

He walked past shapes that weren't triangles anymore.
They were shapes with no names.


When you first hold a copy of Triangle in your hands you know you are about to experience something exceptional.  There is no dust jacket.  The book case is thick like a board book and has a smaller trim size, perfect for the intended audience. To the left, on the back of the case, is Triangle's back with words designed to make readers eager to open the book and start reading.  The opening and closing endpapers are a pale, mint green.

On the first creamy white page a little version of Triangle is giving readers a one-handed wave.  The publication information is in the shape of a triangle on the verso page.  Beneath the text on the title page, Triangle is on the move.

Jon Klassen rendered these images digitally and with watercolor and graphite.  The generous use of white space allows for the pictures to produce utterly perfect pacing.  Klassen shifts his perspective to heighten our anticipation in addition to giving us an idea of the size of the setting in which the two friends live.  Klassen's eyes on his characters tell whole stories.  Every time I see the single picture hanging on the wall of Triangle's and Square's houses, I burst out laughing.

Two of my favorite of many pictures are without words.  It's right after Square discovers Triangle has played a sneaky trick on him.  On the right Square's scene is the same as the previous page.  His eyes are looking left as he stands outside of his home.  On the left Triangle's page is nearly the same as the previous page but he is to the left of the small flowers.  He is edging off the page.  He is ready to run.


The more you read this book the more you will laugh.  I have lost count of how many times I've read Triangle written by Mac Barnett with illustrations by Jon Klassen.  The blend of pictures and words supplies over-the-top humor.  You will also be thinking non-stop trying to determine the answer to the final question.

To learn more about Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen and their other work please follow the links attached to their names to access their main online presence. Several publishers' websites have interior images for you to view.  They are here, here and here.  At the Candlewick Press site you will find several extra items to use; an article with the creators discussing the title and an activity kit.

Heading Toward...

Hats keep us warm by trapping our body heat.  They can also protect our faces from sun and wind.  Hats can make a fashion statement. They can proclaim our loyalty to a particular sport team or cause in which we believe.  They can be a reminder of a momentous event bearing the autograph of a person we admire.

In Jon Klassen's two previous titles, I Want My Hat Back (Candlewick Press, September 27, 2011) (Theodore Seuss Geisel Award Honor winner) and This Is Not My Hat (Candlewick Press, October 9, 2012) (Caldecott Medal winner) the discovery of hats brings out the wild and least favorable characteristics of four members of the critter kingdom.  This year We Found A Hat (Candlewick Press, October 11, 2016) closes out the trilogy with classic Jon Klassen twists.  His writing and illustrations demand we are engaged and thinking.

PART ONE
Finding 
the 
Hat

We found a hat.
We found it together.

Two turtles have indeed found a hat.  They are both complimentary about how the hat looks on each other. The dilemma of one hat and two turtles is a tricky equation with no set answer.

One of the turtles suggests they leave it where they found it.  His companion agrees...reluctantly.  In part two they are enjoying watching the sunset from a rocky perch. This they are doing together in quiet companionship.  They are both thinking about something different; one is focusing on the beauty in the sky, the other says he is thinking about nothing but we readers know better.

As the two terrapins chat and settle in for the night, one keeps asking the other about his state of being asleep.  His pal replies he is fully asleep and dreaming.  Why does the one turtle want to know if the other is asleep?  What dreams fill the mind of the second turtle?  This third part with its marvelous conclusion will have you wondering about kindness, cleverness and truth.


One of the first things readers can appreciate about this narrative is the dividing of it into three parts.  None of us approaches a problem and solves it in one single moment unless it is sheer survival.  We contemplate.  We deliberate. We wait, listen and evaluate.  Jon Klassen's simple sentences are succinct and powerful.  They read well for readers of all ages.  Here are two of his sentences.

But there is only one hat.
And there are two of us.


Readers of Jon Klassen's hat titles are familiar with his limited color palette drawing our attention specifically to his characters.  The two turtles on the front looking at the hat is a definite departure.  To the left, on the back is the hat near desert grass.  On the opening and closing endpapers is a black background studded with white dots; a starry night sky.  On the title page more desert flora frames a single rock placed beneath the text.

Rendered digitally with powdered graphite the images vary in size from single to double page.  Each part heading has a cactus on the right and the hat on the left, alone in the desert.  The text is always placed on white on a single page or along the top of multiple pages.

The two turtles are distinguished by the markings on their shells; a square-shaped design on the one and a series of arrow lines pointing to the middle of the shell on the other.  It's wonderful how much emotion Klassen can convey with the eyes on his turtles, the direction they look and whether they are awake or asleep.  There is subtle humor in the situations he creates when they are trying on the hats or when one is thinking about something he does not want the other one to know.

One of my favorite illustrations is in the early evening.  The turtles are on a rock overlooking the area where the hat rests.  Their heads are facing in the same direction.  All you see is their shells, heads and eyes.  The one is sleepier than the other.  In this picture readers can appreciate how Klassen changes his backgrounds to differentiate between day, sunset and night.


We Found A Hat written and illustrated by Jon Klassen is a stellar conclusion to this series.  I literally stood in the middle of the children's section in a book store hugging it after I read it the first time. Even after multiple readings I still have the urge to give it a hug.

To learn more about Jon Klassen and his work, visit his Tumblr site.  Publishers Weekly has a post about this final book.  The cover reveal and an interview can be viewed at The Guardian.  There is a video and article about Jon Klassen's work at The Sydney Morning Herald.  At the publisher's website there is an activity kit, drawing sheets, and teacher's guide.  Jon Klassen was a guest on All The Wonders, Episode 296 hosted by teacher librarian Matthew Winner. Jon Klassen talks about all three books at PICTUREBOOK MAKERS.  Enjoy the book trailer.

Inseparable

Upon finishing a book impacting you profoundly, more times than not, you feel an urgent need to talk with someone else who has read the book.  At the very least you have to express your feelings as soon as possible.  Seventeen days ago I finished the new novel Pax (Balzar + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, February 2, 2016) written by Sara Pennypacker with cover and interior illustrations by Caldecott Medalist, Jon Klassen.  Overcome with the effects of this book, I sent out this tweet.

I just finished Pax by @sarapennypacker @burstofbeaden At the moment I have no words...except for wow...and tears pic.twitter.com/1OoCk4Dm6Q

— Margie Myers-Culver (@Loveofxena) February 12, 2016

Thoughts, questions and emotions swirled around in my head.  I reached out to an author friend, Victoria J. Coe ( Fenway and Hattie G. P. Putnam's Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House, February 9, 2016) in the form of email conversations.  She gave me invaluable insights from an author's perspective.

It became abundantly clear a reread of the book was absolutely necessary.  Yesterday I read Pax again, marking specific portions of text and taking written notes for each chapter.  Without hesitation it can be said this book will remain in your mind and heart always for reasons each reader brings with them before they read a single word.

The fox felt the car slow before the boy did, as he felt everything first.  Through the pads of his paws, along his spine, in the sensitive whiskers at his wrists.  

These are the first two sentences of many filling the two hundred seventy-six pages following a singular journey taken by the fox, Pax, and his boy, Peter. Beginning with Pax and concluding with Peter we mark the days through their voices in alternating chapters.  When the car finally stops, their lives, as they both understand them, will change.  So will they.

Five years ago shortly after his mother died in an automobile accident Peter found the fox kit, orphaned and alone; barely alive among his deceased siblings.  Now at twelve years old Peter has been ordered by his father to abandon the fox in the wild.  Peter has to go live with his grandfather.  War is coming to their portion of the country and his father has enlisted.

Peter gets Pax to leave them by playing a game of fetch with a toy soldier.  In this game, Pax gets the soldier and waits for Peter to come to him.  This time Pax waits and Peter does not come.  Pax hears the doors slam shut and the car speed away.

Realizing deep in his being the mistake he made in leaving Pax, Peter does not spend the first night sleeping at his grandfather's home.  He is determined to cross the three hundred miles back to the place where Pax was left.  After filling his backpack with essential items he leaves that night.

Amidst the preparations for war, evacuations and the growing number of troops in encampments, Peter travels toward Pax as the fox waits for his return.  Neither of them is prepared for the events they will endure and the people and the animals they will encounter.  They will each do what needs to be done to survive, knowing they must be together.

Readers are introduced to Vola, a war veteran with a prosthetic leg, living alone in the country.  Through an accident she and Peter establish a bond which heals and helps them both physically and emotionally.  A young vixen, Bristle, her younger brother, Runt and an older fox, Gray, develop a relationship which initially seems unlikely given their histories.

The sense of urgency felt in the first chapter never leaves as the pace continues to quicken and the suspense grows chapter by chapter.  Days of separation between the fox and his boy turn into one week and then two.  Exquisitely woven into their stories are themes of generational parental anger, grief, the definition of family, the art of comprise, forgiveness, what is done for the sake of love and the effects of war (before, during and after) on everyone and everything.  The conclusion will stun you.  You will continue to have questions.  You will come to understand you have read perfection.


For anyone, at any age, who has felt the unbreakable tie with an animal, the first chapter written by Sara Pennypacker will, I believe, cause them to pause.  It will grip you and hold fast.  Then you will take huge gulps of the story at a time compelled by defining episodes from the past blended into the present narrative.

Pennypacker's writing is explicit and elegant.  Our minds are held to the exact place, time, emotions and movements of the characters.  Portrayals of Pax's days are true to life, supported by research and the counsel of a biologist and wildlife tracker specializing in the red fox.  The conversations between Peter and his grandfather, father and Vola are realistically heartrending and heartwarming.  Personally after reading the thoughts of Pax and Peter I found myself cheering for them, wanting to embrace them for their courage and loyalty.  Here are some sample passages.

When his paws were cleaned, he curled them up under his chest to wait.  The morning air pulsed with the noises of spring.  The long night before, they had alarmed Pax.  The blackness had quivered with the rustle of night prowlers, and even the sounds of the trees themselves---leaves unfurling, sap coursing up new wood, the tiny cracklings of expanding bark---had startled him over and over as he waited for Peter to return.

Pax had been born with the same instinct as well, but distrust is no match for kindness administered consistently and unmeasured, especially in creatures new to the world.

"I have more than everything I need." Vola sat. "I have peace here.
"Because it's so quiet?"
"No.  Because I am exactly where I should be, doing exactly what I should be doing.  That is peace.  Eat."

At that, Peter felt suddenly exhausted, as if he'd been holding himself rigid for years.  He had been on his own for so long.
Vola studied him.  "Oneness is always growing in the world, boy.  Two but not two.  It's always there, connecting its roots, humming.  I can't be a part of it---that's the price I pay for taking myself away.  But you can be.  You can vibrate with its heartbeat.  You may be on your own.  But you won't be alone.


The richness of the limited color palette selected by artist Jon Klassen for the dust jacket is earthy and warm like the smell of fur kissed by the sun. (I am seriously thinking of buying another copy just so I can frame the entire image revealed when opening the jacket.)  Underneath the book case is a deep forest green with embossed grasses, flowers, Peter and Pax.  The boy is running from the back, left, to the fox on the front that is leaping to him.  Only Pax and the text are filled with copper-colored foil.  

Within the body of the book Klassen has meticulously placed eloquent black and white images; some single pages, others smaller insets and two spanning double pages.  These illustrations illuminate particular and integral portions of the story.  Each of the chapter numbers is placed inside either a small black picture of the head of Pax or Peter.  One of my favorite illustrations is of Pax and Runt curled together in sleep.  There is another I love but...


Pax written by Sara Pennypacker with illustrations by Jon Klassen is one of those novels you read that will leave a mark on your memory.  Years later you will not forget how you felt when you finished it, even if you don't recall all the details.  You will remember that this book made you think, ask questions and deeply care for the characters.  And...you will read it more than once.

If you desire to learn more about Sara Pennypacker and Jon Klassen please follow the links attached to their names to access their website (Tumblr) pages.  At the publisher's website you can read an excerpt from the book.  A website dedicated to the book has been created.  Here is a link to a discussion guide perfect for group readings or individuals who wish to expand their thinking.  There have been numerous interviews with Sara Pennypacker about Pax; Publishers Weekly Cover Reveal: Pax, Publishers Weekly Pennypacker Supports New Novel at Fall Regionals,  NPR All Things Considered  Left To Fend For Himself, 'Pax' The Fox Must Find His Human Friend, and School Library Journal War Through a Child's---and a Fox's---Eyes:  Sara Pennypacker on Her New Novel, Pax|Under the Covers.  

UPDATE:  Jon Klassen stopped at Brightly: Portraying Pax in Pencil: A Q & A with Illustrator Jon Klassento talk about creating the artwork for Pax.

How Deep Will You Go?

Place a child in a sandbox or a patch of dirt.  Give them a pail and a shovel.  I can guarantee they will be content for hours.  I'm pretty confident I was.  Over the years with gardeners for parents, my play advanced to the more cultivated pursuits of landscaping but nevertheless digging in the dirt is still a desired pastime.  Fourteen years ago I met my match, discovering a true champion in the art of hole-making, my chocolate Labrador retriever Xena.

 She can't be near a beach and water (or any stones and nearby dirt for that matter) without doing two things, diving for or grabbing rocks and creating enormous holes in the sand.  When she digs both front paws are used simultaneously in sync until the space is so big, not only will the rock be buried but she disappears from view.  (Those boys at Camp Green Lake (Holes by Louis Sachar) certainly could have used her skills.)

In the most recent collaboration between author Mac Barnett and illustrator Jon Klassen (Extra Yarn, Balzar + Bray, January, 2012, Caldecott Honor and Boston Globe-Horn Book Award) we have all the required elements for a first-class adventure, two boys, two shovels, a dog and dirt.  Sam & Dave Dig A Hole (Candlewick Press, October 14, 2014) is a story you simply can't read only once.  It's a true head-shaker and a major rule-breaker.

On Monday Sam and Dave dug a hole.

Digging a hole, in and of itself, is only as important as the reason why the digging is being done.  According to Dave, in reply to Sam's question of when they will stop, they are going to dig until they find

something spectacular.

As they dig first waist deep, then twice as tall as their heights, their dog goes along with them.

He knows, like we do, they have already passed by a gem of extremely large proportions.  It's to the reader's right of the current hole.  Not having found anything, Sam and Dave keep on shoveling creating a tunnel deeper and deeper. With a page turn we get excited.

They are on a direct path toward a colossal discovery.  Within inches of this amazing find, they decide to take a break.  Instead of focusing on their dog's nose pointing downward, they savor a snack of chocolate milk and animal cookies.  As they are resting Dave proposes digging to the right.  Sam readily agrees.

Again they pause, not noticing the efforts of their puppy pal behind them.  Dave has a further proposition.  Sam's not too sure, but they decide to split up going in opposite directions.  It's obvious they should have stayed the course.

Eventually meeting at the previous level, they decide to follow their original plan, going down, farther and farther.  If they had x-ray vision perhaps they would not have made this choice.  The word gargantuan comes to mind.

The last of their provisions have been shared.  These two explorers are filthy and tired but they keep digging until they can dig no more.  As they fall sound asleep, their canine companion keeps digging having smelled true doggy treasure, a bone.  His efforts succeed in more ways than one where their attempts failed.  Is this the

something spectacular?


Combining the barest of narration with conversation between Sam and Dave readers are taken on a journey of astonishing surprises.  The story line of Mac Barnett is the most marvelous of maps leading readers to make their own conclusions.  The

something spectacular

is never defined.

We are not sure of the relationship between Sam and Dave except they share a grandfather.  Dave may be the one to pose changes but Sam supports him.  They are definitely a team comfortable with one another.  Here is a sample passage.

But they did not find anything spectacular.
"Maybe we should go back to digging
straight down," said Dave.
page turn
"Yes," said Sam.
"That is a good idea."



The matching dust jacket and book case are nearly identical images.  On the back in place of the text, Sam, Dave and the dog, we have only the ISBN at the bottom of the hole.  The endpapers pick up the color found in the fruit on the single tree in the yard at the beginning and ending of the story.   The title page image starts the narrative visually as Sam, Dave and the dog walk away from a house toward the tree.  The final page with text (but not the conclusion of the story by any means) is a reverse image in that Sam and Dave are much dirtier, still carrying their shovels, but they are walking toward a house.

The creamy background on a heavier matte-finished paper supplies the needed texture for Jon Klassen's pictures rendered digitally and with colored pencils.  For the most part an illustration appears on a single page with the supporting text on the opposite page.  It's the eyes on his characters, especially the dog, which add an extra layer to the narrative.  No detail is missed; most markedly as to the enigma at the end, even extending it to the jacket flaps.

By having the dog be the silent member of the team (Dave acknowledges him in an earlier illustration with a hand gesture), we can also count him as a partner with us.  He knows because of his nose what we are able to see with the cut-away nature of Klassen's visuals.  His body movements and glances toward the monetary hidden riches, the boys and us, supply a huge dose of humor.

One of my favorite illustrations is when the two boys get dirtier, more tired and hungry and their surroundings are getting darker.  The dog already senses the bone deep below them.  We can see it too.  This bone and the dog's pursuit of his something spectacular change everything.


As I have read Sam & Dave Dig A Hole written by Mac Barnett with illustrations by Jon Klassen, over and over and over, one thought persists.  They must have had a great time creating this book.  The results of the dog's persistence will have readers thinking and guessing for decades.  I am glad this title found a place on our Mock Caldecott list.

To gather more information about either Mac Barnett or Jon Klassen please visit their websites (or Tumblr) by following the links embedded in their names.  Here is a link to a Calling Caldecott post by Martha Parravano.  Be sure to read Cynsations Author & Illustrator Chat & Giveaway: Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen on Sam and Dave Dig A Hole.  After you've read this title you should probably stop by teacher librarian and blogger Travis Jonker's blog 100 Scope Notes to read 6 Theories on the Ending of Sam & Dave Dig a Hole.  John Schumacher, teacher librarian and blogger at Watch. Connect. Read. recently hosted a visit by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen at his school library.  His author illustrator days are the stuff of legend.

Cherished Creatures

Within a heartbeat they can tell you.  Not only do they have an answer but they want to know what yours is.  No matter how many books the library may have or resources you provide, it's simply never enough.  Truthfully over the years I have learned more than I ever knew I wanted to know about a large variety of animals because of students' quests to discover everything about their favorite animal, domestic and wild.

The extent of their interest is not limited to facts either; each having an uncanny ability in their individual style to recreate their animal visually.  How exciting for all of us that Eric Carle and thirteen other illustrators decide to share their choices.  What's Your Favorite Animal? (Henry Holt and Company, January 2014) not only answers the question but entertains with text and pictures by each.

I have always liked all animals.  

So begins the story Eric Carle tells of his cat who liked to chase and fetch a string bean until she decided it was better off tucked away from view.  A ladder would definitely be needed to see eye to eye with Tom Lichtenheld's animal friend after a trip to Africa or the zoo.  You will be hard pressed not to gasp and utter yikes after seeing the smile on Mo Willems' crawling critter's face.

A Christmas tradition with a happy ending, especially for the main course, is a tale with timeless appeal as revealed by Peter Sis.  Giving us a whole new perspective on one of nature's slowest movers, Chris Raschka reminds us patience has great rewards.  Nick Bruel's Bad Kitty is up to his typical tricks.  Could it be because of a favorite animal choice?

Let's see now.  Who could possibly like a high-jumping bunny, these-pillows-are-my-spot dog, or a boastful elephant?  It might be Rosemary Wells, Lane Smith, Jon Klassen, Susan Jeffers, or Peter McCarty?  Or perhaps one of them has voiced their love of a duck (without a hat) or a herd of wild white horses?

A memory of cows coming to life at night, a kinship felt with penguins and a colorful connection to leopards fill the pages by Lucy Cousins, Steven Kellogg and Erin Stead. (No, I did not put them in order.) Just when you think you might suffer from happiness overload due to the wonderful words and colorful pictures on these pages, the final two host childhood pictures of each artist with a short biographical sketch.  Who could ask for anything more?


An amusing incident, a whimsical poem, a message of hope, personal reflections from now and then, and tales full of hilarity reach out, pulling readers into the realms of these fourteen individuals who, fortunately for us, populate the children's literature community.  All the wit and wonder we love about their work is condensed into these two page spreads; how they choose to speak about their favorite animal is a direct reflection of them as authors and illustrators.  You will find yourself alternating between a slow smile, a giggle, a guffaw, a sigh, and nod of understanding more than once. These fourteen people say much with few words.


Eric Carle's notable cut-paper collage decorates the front dust jacket with a list of the contributors and their animals on the back.  Upon removing the jacket readers see all fourteen creatures spread across both sides of the cover with the artists' signatures next to their work.  The pristine white background makes all the elements pop off the pages.  Sunny golden opening and closing endpapers brushed in paint announce the total joy to be found in this book.

Even without their name as part of the text or a signature within the illustration, each visual clearly identifies the creator; vividly displaying their unique styles and mediums.  The deft paper cuts for a cat's fur, the fluffy cloud cleverly becoming a beehive hairdo for the ruby-lipped giraffe, the loose swirls of orange, amber and blue making a home for a snail, small delicate lines and softened brush strokes bringing the essence of penguins to the page or cow paintings papering a wall as a boy dreams one into life, not only feature an animal but the considerable talents each illustrator brings to this book and everything they do.  Every single one is a masterpiece.


This variety in selected animals, narratives and illustrators is exactly what makes What's Your Favorite Animal? by Eric Carle and Friends a true treasure that everyone should read and own.  It's like holding an art gallery in your hands.  The end flap states:

All royalties from this book will be donated to The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art which was founded by Eric and Barbara Carl in 2002.  

Links to each of the contributors' websites (when possible) have been placed in their names above.  Follow this link to the publisher's website for a peek inside this title.  Enjoy the videos collected by some of the artists.  If you have other videos you would like me to include feel free to leave a link in the comments below. 

Earth's Heart Beats In Her Trees

Fortunate are those of us who, if they so choose, can walk among the trees.  When I walk along the Lake Michigan shoreline skirted by trees or up the winding paths among the hills densely forested, all sights and sounds of the busy world are gone.  It's as if time holds its breath; the trees watch in silence lending me their knowledge of decades past and the peace of endurance.

From 2004 through 2006 The United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress was Ted Kooser.  Mr. Kooser, the recipient of numerous awards, was given the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for his title, Delight and Shadows (Cooper Canyon Press, 2004).  One would not be amiss in speaking his name closely followed by the words national treasure. 

Early this spring Candlewick Press released a picture book written by Ted Kooser illustrated with the signature artwork of Jon Klassen.  House Held Up By Trees chronicles the lives of a family, their home and the nearby woods.  Two worlds, the one formed by the hand of man, the other by nature, exist side by side.

When it was new, the house stood alone on a bare square of earth.  There was a newly planted lawn around it, but not a single tree to give shade in summer or to rattle its bare twigs in the winter cold.

Like so many tracts of land, this had been cleared of trees to make way for a different kind of life.  The dwelling was home to a man, his son and daughter.  On either side of their lot the woods, abundant with growth in all stages and populated with animals was a realm of discovery and delight for the two children.

As the years passed the ever vigilant father would make sure his lawn was picture perfect, careful to not allow the growth of any tree seeds carried there by the winds.  The boy and girl grew into a young man and woman leaving their elder father to pursue their own lives.  In time he came to the realization that living alone and caring for the home and its picture perfect lawn was more than he cared to do.

Without his persistent plucking, tufts of grass grew around the For Sale sign stationed along the road, seeds landed and sprouted into tiny trees.  With no one willing to purchase the home, it fell into disrepair as years passed.  Saplings had found fertile ground along the sides of the house growing larger with every spin of the earth. 

Soon what man had made began to crumble but not fall; the arms formed by nature holding it upright.  The house held in the leafy embrace was no longer bound to its cement roots.  As the trees grew stretching skyward, the house with the bare square of earth, the home of the father, his son and daughter, rose into the air.

Through his choice of words, an economy of language, Ted Kooser brings to this story of trees, a house, a man, a boy and a girl, the same sense of quiet one feels when walking through a forest.  As the narrative unfolds, through his more detailed descriptions of the woods surrounding the home, Kooser fills readers with a sense of anticipation, a quiet waiting.  His honest look at the passage of time is not without a tinge of sadness as the people age and the home decays but the continued cycle of flowers, seeds and trees is as uplifting as his conclusion.

Illustrations formed digitally and in gouache beautifully capture the soul of the story.  The cover, a variation in color and focus of one of the final two-page spreads, is like a question needing to be answered.  Endpapers in pale, cool green show small winged seeds floating along on an imagined wind.

Muted greens, browns, spots of rusty red or a sky awash in tints of the palest blue or sunset rose are Jon Klassen's choices for this story.  Details create a feeling of nostalgia and loneliness; the house's front door windows, the push lawn mower, a glimpse of the table inside a window set for one or the man seated alone outside watching the sun on the horizon.  All the visuals are two-page spreads with added interest in the angle or perspective.  Most of the time the reader is an observer but at other times its as if the floating seeds are watching the activities around the home below.

House Held Up By Trees (Candlewick Press) written in prose that reads like poetry by Ted Kooser with illustrations by Jon Klassen is a gentle journey into the measurement of time through the ticking clock of nature; absolutely perfect in every way.

I believe this book would make for meaningful discussions.  Why was the man always maintaining his lawn instead of exploring with his children? Where is the children's mother?  How do readers feel about the choice of the man to build his home there?  I really like a book, such as this title, that makes me think beyond the story.  Why is it that illustrator Jon Klassen chose certain details for his pictures?

There Is Something Extraordinary Going On

yarn 
1 a:  a continuous often plied strand composed of either natural or man-made fibers or filaments and used in weaving and knitting to form cloth

2 a:  a narrative of adventures; especially:  a tall tale
                                                                             Merriam-Webster

I can't really remember when I started to knit but by the time I finished high school through college, I could knit two, purl two with the best of them.  That is not to say though, in the beginning, a sweater might have fit Fat Albert better than a child relative for which it was intended.  Eventually my artistic feats knew no limits; fancy ski hats, cabled scarves, patterned sweaters, comfy slippers and even numbered wood covers for golf clubs.

As any artisan knows with each completed project the inevitable leftovers of varying lengths, colors and textures begins to grow.  In Extra Yarn (Balzar + Bray) by Mac Barnett (Oh No!:  Or How My Science Project Destroyed The World) illustrated by Dan Santat, Oh No!: Not Again!:  (Or How I Built a Time Machine to Save History)(Or at Least My History Grade) illustrated by Dan Santat, Mustache! illustrated by Kevin Cornell, and Chloe and the Lion illustrated by Adam Rex) illustrated by Jon Klassen (The Watch That Ends The Night:  Voice from the Titanic by Allan Wolf, The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood and I Want My Hat Back), a cache is discovered, or perhaps left to be discovered by a very special girl.  Her accomplishments, what she chooses to do, are legendary; the stuff of the best kind of folktale.

On a cold afternoon, in a cold little town, where everywhere you looked was either white of snow or the black of soot from chimneys, Annabelle found a box filled with yarn of every color.

Annabelle goes right home and knits herself a sweater.  With the remnants her dog, Mars, is soon sporting a stylish matching sweater of his own.  There is still more yarn.

A neighborhood boy poking fun at Annabelle and Mars is quickly clothed in a new sweater as is his dog.  Believe it or not, there is more yarn.  And so it goes.

Annabelle's needles are busy making sweaters for her classmates, a cranky pessimistic teacher, her mom and dad, Mr. and Mrs. Pendleton, Dr. Palmer and little Louis.  Within no time at all everyone is wearing a creation by Annabelle except for Mr. Crabtree who never wears a sweater.  She makes him a hat.  Guess what?  The yarn has still not been depleted.

Dog, cats and other animals (like a familiar bear and rabbit) and birds, too, get knitted garments.  With a seemingly endless supply objects not normally clothed in yarn like mailboxes and houses are covered in an array of colors.  Her town is hardly recognizable. 

Annabelle's fame spreads and catches the attention of a clothes horse archduke.  Despite his phenomenal monetary offers, Annabelle will not part with her box.  In the timeless tradition of bullies,  the archduke hires three robbers to steal the box in the dead of night.  Box in hand over the snow to the docks,  the archduke sets sail across the sea for his castle.

Cozily settled in his room what he finds in the box is unexpected to him but makes perfect sense to readers.  Angrily tossing it out the window it lands on an ice floe drifting back to where it belongs.  Magic in the right hands can transform everything for the greater good of all.

Impeccable pacing, spot-on dialogue and a storyline that flows as naturally as sunrise and sunset are skills employed adeptly by Mac Burnett.  Annabelle's indomitable spirit, her perseverance, will have readers silently cheering.  Her goodness played against the lack of goodness by the archduke is flawless.

In an interview at Julie's Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, Seven Questions Over Breakfast with Jon Klassen he remarks that his usual medium for his illustrations is either inks, gouache or acrylics but he assembles and alters them digitally afterward.  The knitting that colorfully covers everything in Annabelle's world looks like the real deal; vibrant natural colors that change texture and hue seamlessly.  There is a lightness, an uplifting quality, to these pictures letting readers know this is no ordinary story by any means.  The detail where some characters' sweaters are joined by a single strand adds to the impression that not only is this yarn without end; there is a connectedness throughout the tale.  Expressions and posture of the animals are...well, I love them.

Author Mac Barnett and illustrator Jon Klassen have created a "yarn" in the grandest tradition, Extra Yarn, a timeless classic, beautifully rendered in words and visuals.

By following this link to HarperCollins readers can view portions of this title; truly a feast for our eyes and minds.