Spoken Too Soon

Sometimes when a declaration is emphatically stated not once but repeatedly, you begin to wonder about its truth.  Perhaps it's all about perspective rather than veracity.  You realize an exploration of facts is necessary before you can agree.

Other times a statement will catch you by surprise.  It seems completely out of place in the context it is made.  There Are No Bears in This Bakery (Alfred A. Knopf, January 8, 2019) written and illustrated by Julia Sarcone-Roach is one of those assertions.  When you read the title without looking at the accompanying image, you immediately think:

"Why would anyone make that remark?"
"How would a bear get in a bakery?"
"I certainly hope there's no bear in a bakery!"

After looking at the dust jacket image, you find yourself making one more comment.

"Is that a bear in that bakery?"

Then you can hardly wait to start the story.

Each night, the moon rises,
the bread rises, and I rise.
The air cools, and the sounds
get interesting.

Now is the time for a whole new breed of cat to meander.  When others sleep this cat, Muffin, is on the job.  Muffin knows the sounds of mice, raccoons and bats but tonight there is a new noise.  It is not made by the usual culprits, mice, raccoons or bats.

Peering into and walking through the slightly open window in the back of the bakery, the cat makes a startling discovery.  A small bear is in the bakery.  This small bear is hungry.  Its stomach is grumbling.

When you have a hungry bear in a bakery there is only one thing to do.  Muffin leads the way to contented consumption.  And then there's a newer noise.  It's a sound that stops hearts from beating.  Out of the darkness comes eyes locked on Muffin. 

The cat can't move.  The cat is completely enveloped in fur.  Finally, the sunrise begins casting light inside the Little Bear Bakery.  Three beings move, the night shift ends, but the morning shift is in for a shock.


Even before the narrative begins or before the title page appears, Muffin begins to talk.  Julia Sarcone-Roach's approach to use the first purr-son point of view focuses our attention precisely where it should be.  We need to see everything as if we are a cat.

This cat gives us very descriptive perspectives like the detective it is.  It is in these very accounts the humor is ever present.    Julia Sarcone-Roach uses similes beautifully.  Here are two passages.

The air was cool and 
wet like a dog's nose.

Actually, it was the smallest bear I'd ever seen.
I was surprised.
The bear was surprised.
My tail was surprised.


If you can look at the open dust jacket without laughing, you need to check for a pulse.  The contrast, between what the cat is stating (the title) and the bear gobbling up a donut behind it, is a stellar comedic moment.  Look at the eyes on the cat.  Look at the eyes on the bear. 

To the left, on the back, Muffin is cozily curled on a bookshelf.  To the left are four books with titles reading like Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys with a cat-like twist.  Muffin, much smaller, is on the spines.  One of the titles is

The Mystery of How Everything Got on the Floor.

The same darkened full color palette is used in both scenes on the dust jacket, reflective of Muffin being a part of the night shift.

The book case is another contrast.  Across the back and front is a shiny shade of white.  Down the middle and crossed is a red and white striped piece of string, tied in a bow on the right (front).  Under the bow, are rows of baked goods, donuts, cinnamon twists, cupcake, and cookies.  A seal is in the exact center.  It reads Little Bear Bakery under the logo of two bears, one large and one small, facing each other.

If ever endpapers tell a story all their own, these endpapers, opening and closing, do.  On both are shelves inside a glass-fronted bakery case.  They are most definitely before and after depictions.  And a tiny mouse has something to say on the later.

Prior to the title page we are given a golden sunset shot of the town, a panoramic view as Muffin introduces herself and her job.  On the second double-page picture, the title page, Muffin is shown closer to the bakery and in three separate positions.  It is getting darker outside.

For each of the two-page images, rendered in

acrylic paint, cut paper, and marker

by Julia Sarcone-Roach movement by Muffin is shown from place to place.  Her brush strokes create a realistic nightscape lightened only by the crescent moon's glow and reflections plus the street lights.  Humor escalates in the antics of the baby bear inside the bakery; wearing a glass cake cover like a space helmet.

If there is any doubt as to the mood of any of the characters, readers need only view their eyes.  Another thing Julia Sarcone-Roach does to excellent effect is place a shining outline around her characters at significant moments.  (Readers will undoubtedly burst into laughter at the final wordless illustration for the dedication and verso pages at the end.)

One of my many, many favorite pictures is when Muffin first sees the small bear.  On the left the cat is leaping straight up into the air with fur standing on end and wearing a stunned expression.  Muffin is placed in the enlarged shadow of the bear.  That shadow is surrounded by light.  On the right sits the bear, wide-eyed and with paws touching each other in front of its body.  A large grrrrrrrr and grrrr extends from either side.  In the upper right-hand corner is a portion of the bakery case.  This is a second frozen in time.


One look at this book, There Are No Bears in This Bakery written and illustrated by Julia Sarcone-Roach, and you can already hear the laughter of readers.  They will be begging you to read it again at story times, bedtimes, any time and every day.  I highly recommend you run to your nearest book shop to get a copy to place on your personal and professional book shelves. 

To learn more about Julia Sarcone-Roach and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  She has several images from this book you can enjoy.  At the publisher's website you can view other illustrations from the book.  Julia Sarcone-Roach maintains an account on Instagram.  She is interviewed at Bookroo.

What's A Dog To Do?

By their very nature our canine companions are pack animals.  When they become a part of our families they instinctively long to be participatory members.  They want to have a job to do.  When their task is completed to the best of their ability, they wish to enjoy all the benefits of being a part of Team Dog and Human.

There can be one or usually several duties at which they excel.  Excellent Ed (Alfred A. Knopf, May 17, 2016) written by Stacy McAnulty with illustrations by Julia Sarcone-Roach is a pooch with a problem.  He's not quite sure how he fits in with the Ellis family.

All the Ellis children were excellent at something.
Except Ed.

The excellent Ellis guys and gals were able to eat at the table, ride in the van, sit on the couch and use the indoor bathroom. The five children had gifts; soccer player, math masters, ballet dancer and cupcake maker.  While Ed did his best to match their superior skills, his results were not quite the same.  Does cupcake taster count?

Ed's canine mind is whirling with ideas.  He wants to be able to eat at the table, ride in the van, sit on the couch and use the indoor bathroom.  A checklist is forming in his head.  His first possible superior skill could be breaking stuff.  That backfires when Elaine rushes into the family home with an announcement of breaking a soccer record for the season.

Two more times, Ed is sure he has discovered what he does best but the Ellis children are better as he assess their news.  It looks as though he won't be allowed a seat in the van or the cozy comfort of the couch.  At this point, Ed is feeling a little dejected.

When Ed being Ed shines in several situations, his doggy logic begins to understand why there are better places for him to be than at the table, in the van or on the couch.  With each event Ed can feel his excellence growing and his place in the family assured.  But...


Readers can readily see why Stacy McAnulty has dogs at the top of her Things I Love list on her website.  Her affection and understanding is apparent in the narrative.  When Ed is comparing his abilities to their excellence the humor begins to unfold.

Edith was an excellent soccer player.
Ed preferred to carry the ball in his mouth.

She establishes an enticing storytelling rhythm with Ed wanting to be excellent, thinking of what his excellence is and then discovering he is not quite as excellent as one of the Ellis children.  It is during these portions of the story readers are privy to wordplay through double meanings.

By having the tale told by a narrator and Ed's point of view in combination with dialogue from the Ellis family members, we are completely immersed in every moment.  Here is another sample passage.

Just then, Ernie dropped half of his peanut butter
sandwich.  Ed gobbled it up.
"Wow, Ed! You are excellent at cleaning the floor," Ernie said.
Yes, I am an excellent floor cleaner.
Maybe that's why I don't eat at the table?


My enthusiasm for the illustrations in this title begins on the matching dust jacket and book case.  The golden glow seen on the front and back of each is carried throughout the book.  There is nothing more endearing than seeing a dog on their back, eyes wide, mouth open and tail thumping in sheer happiness.  This is the essence of dog.  On the back, to the left, the Ellis family is pictured all looking down at Ed as Emily hugs him.  Ed's eyes are closed in contentment.

The brilliance of the artwork rendered in acrylic paint, watercolor, crayon and grease pencil created by Julia Sarcone-Roach continues on the opening and closing endpapers.  In the first set the Ellis family has placed a red and white, striped sweater on Ed.  In three rows, left to right, twelve small pictures altogether, we see Ed trying to get that sweater off.  His body contortions are hilarious.  This continues across the two title pages and the page opposite the first page of the story.  Ed sits triumphant and sans sweater at the beginning.  The closing endpapers feature Ed in totally canine bliss in ten different positions.  The golden yellow hues with green are predominant.

To enhance the pacing of the text Sarcone-Roach alters her image sizes.  We see a group of eight across four pages followed by several single page pictures.  As Ed discovers his excellence the perspective changes bringing us closer to the characters.

Throughout the narrative the expressions on all the Ellis family faces are full of warmth and sincere kindness.  Ed's looks as depicted by Sarcone-Roach are eager, full of fun and guaranteed to have you burst out laughing.  She captures the looks, tail wags, perky ears, woebegone body postures and true delight perfectly.

One of my two favorite illustrations is of Ed leaning over the arm of the couch watching the Ellis children seated together.  They are reading a book spread across their laps.  One of the children is holding a bowl of popcorn.  His tail is thumping in anticipation of enjoying their company and also that popcorn.  The second image I really like (there are more actually) is when Emily and Elmer walk through the door.  Ed's body is stretched toward Elmer, giving him a doggy kiss.  Both children are hugging Ed.  In each of these pictures Sarcone-Roach through her skills conveys the mood of the moment masterfully.


Dog lovers' hearts are going to fill with love every time they read Excellent Ed written by Stacy McAnulty with illustrations by Julia Sarcone-Roach.  Other readers and listeners are going to ask it to be read over and over again too because it's superb storytelling in words and images.  It's about the excellence of being exactly who you are.  This book deserves and receives four paws way up!

To learn more about Stacy McAnulty and Julia Sarcone-Roach along with their other work please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  By following this link to the publisher's website you can view interior illustrations from the book.  Scholastic's Ambassador for School Libraries, John Schumacher, chats with author Stacy McAnulty at his blog, Watch. Connect. Read.

It Wasn't Me

When you are the oldest child in the family, blame for seemingly everything lands squarely on your shoulders.  It's obvious you can't point the finger at a younger sibling when the mishap in question involves writing or reading and they can't do either yet.  (In one of my not-the-sharpest-tack-in-the-box moments, I tried this very thing.) When it comes to the disappearance of all the chocolate chips from the package it's an entirely different story.  Anyone can accomplish this feat, even if they are too short to reach the cupboard.

As I have mentioned before if it gets to the point when no one is willing to take responsibility, the "ghost" is blamed. The Bear Ate Your Sandwich (Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, January 6, 2015) written and illustrated by Julia Sarcone-Roach is about a bear's apparent quest for an irresistible meal.  Anyone who has watched Yogi Bear running, jumping and swinging his way around Jellystone Park knows bears simply can't help themselves when it comes to lunch boxes and picnic baskets.  Right?

By now I think you know what happened to your sandwich.  But you may not know how it happened.  So let me tell you

This unseen narrator confidently relates how a bear gets a whiff of something delicious as he steps outside his den.  A bed of a pickup truck is loaded with boxes of plump berries.  He climbs inside, eats every last one and dozes off to sleep full and happy.

When he awakens the sounds of the forest have been replaced with a distinctive grumbling vibration.  Trees are no longer visible but tall rock-like structures appear on all sides.  When the grumbling vibration is silenced, he sets off to explore this amazing place.

It is definitely different but he is blissfully replicating some of his same activities.  The smells are out of this world, leading him to another open place filled with fun.  This is when, according to the narrator, the bear notices the sandwich, unattended.  It's like it is asking him to eat it; which he does without a second thought.

As the last bite is being swallowed, he hears unmistakable sounds of witnesses to his deed.  He skedaddles as fast as he can to the closest, tallest tree; searching and sighting his woodland home.  Another journey using another mode of transportation brings him back to the sights and sounds he knows so well.  But dear readers, as you may have guessed, this is not the end of the story.  There is more.  It might involve a piece of lettuce.


Like squirrels scampering along a trail of nuts, we readers follow the words written by Julia Sarcone-Roach.  Her nearly poetic descriptions of the bear, his ride in the back of the truck, his ventures in the city and the nearby park, his theft of the sandwich and subsequent return to his den are so meticulously conceived we are hard-pressed to contain our astonishment (and laughter) at the conclusion.  She surrounds us with the story rather than the truth.  Here is a sample passage.

He was being quickly swept
along like a leaf in a great river.
The forest disappeared in the 
distance and high cliffs rose up
around him.


As I am awaiting the arrival of my book and currently working with an F & G, the illustrations rendered in acrylic paints and pencil by Julia Sarcone-Roach are rich and luminous beginning with the dust jacket.  From the front with the bear eyeing the sandwich with obvious interest, we move to the left with a shift in perspective.  Sarcone-Rich has zoomed in on the sandwich in the lunch box placing a shadow of the bear squarely in the center with the word

Sandwich?

Eighteen squares on the opening and closing endpapers feature seventeen different kinds of sandwiches.  Initially we see them in all their uneaten glory; only to see mere crumbs at the end.  Revealing noses in the eighteenth place divulge the secret.  The pictorial story begins on the double-page picture for the title page; a bear is curled in his den framed by leaves.

A vivid color palette of golden yellows, spring and forest greens, turquoise, red, orange and rustic browns create sensory images.  Even though not all the illustrations span across the gutter edge to edge, our eyes flow easily from image to image even if they are single pages or smaller pictures grouped together.  From fluid brush strokes to tiny details Sarcone-Roach defines every single scene telling us more than the text states.

For the words

This forest had many great climbing spots.

we see Bear going up the side of a building, perched on the edge of a fire escape, moving paw over paw hanging upside down on a clothes line between buildings, climbing a roof and squeezing through the O opening in the word HOTEL on a sign.  His body positions, stretching by his den, in the city alleys, on the playground and when he sees the sandwich, will have you grinning not to mention his facial expressions.  Two of my favorite visuals are the panoramic view as the truck moves from the forest across the bridge into the city with bear sitting up in the back of the truck looking around and of him returning home, touching his paw to the water.  They are two varied viewpoints both having emotional impact.

 The Bear Ate Your Sandwich written and illustrated by Julia Sarcone-Roach is a spirited blend of text and pictures.  The twist, the final reveal, will have readers and listeners gasping first, and then giggling.  I think it's time to start my Mock Caldecott list for 2016.

To learn more about Julia Sarcone-Roach, her artwork and her other titles please follow the link embedded in her name to access her website.  This link takes you to the publisher's website where you can get a peek at some of the interior pages.  If you want to see lots of behind the scenes and process images for this book head on over to author and blogger Julie Danielson's site Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.