Bright Light, Night Light

As those of us sharing our lives with canine companions often say, one of the many benefits is being outdoors to witness some extraordinary phenomenon.  Very early on a November morning this past year, my furry friend and I were coming to a point in our walk where there is a break in a hedge along the shore of a large lake.  This break allows you to see the lake, the north and east shore and the horizon.  There was a front clouding and hanging in the northeastern sky.

Suddenly, a large fiery ball, with a hint of green color, with an equally fiery tail broke from under that front and dropped into the lake.  It had to have been a falling star, but that close to the horizon it looked huge.  To say I was stunned is an understatement.  Not for the first and certainly not for the last time, I wish we could take pictures with our eyes.

In those moments when we remember to look up, especially at night, the sky holds infinite wonders.  In 1900 a girl guided by her curiosity was born.  We learn of her accomplishments in The Fire of Stars: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made Of (Chronicle Books, February 07, 2023) written by Kirsten W. Larson with illustrations by Katherine Roy.  When you read the words in this narrative and gaze at the artwork, it is as if the magic of a star-studded sky has come to earth and you are holding it in your hands.

Cecilia kicks and cries.

Until her mother

sets her down

so Cecilia can feel with her own tiny toes

the cold and crackly snow,

which isn't soft and warm like she expected.

As she grows up, Cecilia is often found outdoors exploring nearby gardens and their inhabitants.  One day, she discovers how orchards lure bees into carrying pollen from place to place.  This fascination with finding the truth makes her feel truly alive.

Unfortunately, the family leaves the country for the city of London so Cecilia's brother can attend a more appropriate school.  The school Cecilia has to attend is more like a prison than what she desires.  She finds solace in a chemistry lab at the school (not meant for her) and science books at home.  She has found her niche.

A Miss Dalglish, a teacher of science, comes to her school and the two become friends.  Before she becomes too sick to teach, she gives Cecilia a book about astronomy.  Still encouraged through correspondence by her teacher's support, Cecilia receives a scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge.  After hearing a renowned astronomer speak, she changes her field of studies.

Science degree in hand, Cecilia leaves for the United States.  At Harvard her heart's and mind's desire is to discover the composition of stars.  Her observations and calculations are still not giving her answers and she is required to submit her research results to the Observatory director.  Then, like the day she discovered snow was not soft and warm, Cecilia has an explanation.  She is twenty-five years old! 

Readers will immediately connect with Cecilia through the descriptive writing of Kirsten W. Larson. Her inclusion of specific events gives us a very personal perspective of Cecilia.  Her word choices in the chronological portrayals are such that we feel layer by layer a tension growing.  We find ourselves wanting this girl to succeed despite obstacles.  When she does triumph, we can share in her

lightning bolt of discovery.

At the same time Cecilia's life is unfolding, a parallel story in space begins, the formation of a star.  This is told to the left of the main narrative in a column fashioned by text and artwork about Cecilia.  This is sheer genius.  Here is a passage about the star and a companion one about Cecilia. 

But it doesn't disappear.  Heat builds up deep inside.

Pressure growing.  Never slowing until---

Cecilia hears a talk by astronomer Arthur Eddington.  His work is an incandescent

combination of astronomy and physics, a brand-new field to study---astrophysics!

Cecilia feels the jolt, that lighting bolt again.

And her brain buzzes with the possibility of new things just waiting to be discovered.

From memory, she scribbles down every word Eddington said.

Then she switches her studies to physics.

Rendered in pencil and walnut ink with added digital color by artist Katherine Roy, the illustrations in this book are in a word---radiant.  On the open dust jacket we see a younger, curious Cecilia enjoying an evening under the stars.  She is already dreaming of discovering the secrets they hold inside.  On the other side of the spine, to the left, the tree's leafy boughs stretch to the center of the back of the jacket.  Surrounding them is a continuation of the bountiful display of stars in the night sky.  The main text title is embossed in copper foil.

Across the book case, we shift to the formation of a star.  It is a glorious portrait of the sudden jolt necessary for a star to begin.  It is as if we are in space witnessing this.

The opening and closing endpapers are covered in two different views of space filled with stars.  It is like being within the Milky Way.  This presentation of stars is spread across the next two pages, the verso and title pages.  On the left, an older Cecilia stands on an observation deck staring into the sky.

The placement of Cecilia's life in images of various sizes and sometimes two to a double-page are usually framed by the story of the star's formation.  This gives the very real impression of the two growths happening at the same time.  Once her conclusions are happily reached, there is a series of double-page pictures of Cecilia, Harvard's observatory, an immense bird's eye view of the city, and then of the United States from space.

Each of the settings in Cecilia's life are realistically shown.  Colors and fine details mirror her status and emotions.  Wherever she is, regardless of the perspective, our eyes are drawn to Cecilia.  We are usually very close to her.

One of my many favorite illustrations is when Cecilia has her first 

lightning bolt of discovery.

This image fills the right side of two pages and crosses the gutter.  It looks as though it has been placed on the starry expanse of space which has had

a sudden jolt.

Cecilia is kneeling in the garden observing an orchid attracting a bee.  Her eyes are open in excited wonder.  Much smaller and in the lower, right-hand corner large boxes and crates are being loaded into a horse-drawn moving van.  The colors in this area are in sharp contrast to the beauty in the garden. 

Author Kirsten W. Larson and illustrator Katherine Roy have created a truly impressive nonfiction picture book biography in The Fire of Stars: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made Of.  The words and images will have you pausing at every page turn.  At the close of the book is a page dedicated to more information about Cecilia Payne.  Following this are three pages explaining how a star is born. There are two pages for a timeline and two more for a bibliography.   You will want to add a copy of this outstanding title to your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Kirsten W. Larson and Katherine Roy and their other work, please access their websites by following the link attached to their names.  There are some extras for you to enjoy regarding this title on Katherine Roy's website.  Kirsten W. Larson has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube.  Katherine Roy has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  This book is showcased with interviews at School Library Journal, A Fuse #8 Production, Jena Benton Writer & Illustrator Simply 7 and at Good Reads With Ronna.

To Be Of Courage

When you think of the word brave, other synonymous meanings come to mind like courageous, heroic, bold or fearless.  If you were to ask a group of children what brave means to them, I wonder what they would say.  Would they be able to think of an individual who has exhibited the condition of being fearless?  Most of them would not think of the combined efforts of an engineer and an explorer as being particularly heroic.

Perhaps they have never heard of two bold souls who saw life in the darkest part of the sea before any others.  Otis And Will Discover The Deep: The Record-Setting Dive Of The Bathysphere (Little, Brown And Company, June 5, 2018) written by Barb Rosenstock with illustrations by Katherine Roy features two men who dared to defy the watery depths.  Their determination changed the course of our understanding of the oceans.

Otis Barton discovered the ocean early.

He splashed in the Atlantic on summer vacations, sailed Vineyard Sound.

Will Beebe discovered the ocean later.

First, he hiked northern forests on summer vacations.  He tracked woodland animals, studied snakes in his bedroom, and raised an orphaned owl.

Otis wanted to dive deeper than the sand sharks he watched.  He tried to use a garden hose to breathe.  He tried a washtub over his head to hold air.  His final invention (with the help of friends) worked!

Will was older when he first discovered the beauty of sea life on a reef near the Galapagos Islands.  This was his beginning of wanting to know what was farther below in the oceans.  Will started planning and creating a diving tank.  Otis saw the plans and knew Will needed his help but it was months before Will would agree to meet him.

Once Will saw Otis's ideas he believed a like-minded person was standing before him.  They both wanted the same thing, to go as deep as possible.  The Bathysphere was becoming a reality.  There was detail after detail which needed to be considered, being safely lifted off the deck, oxygen levels, seals and the overall design.

The 5,000-pound unit was only four and a half feet in diameter.  It was a tight squeeze for two men measuring six feet tall.  The hatch weighed 400 pounds!  Can you imagine this?!

On the day of the launch they dropped 100 feet, 200 feet, 300 feet and 400 feet.  It was getting colder and darker.  A momentary fright was resolved.  They kept going.  On this date, June 6, 1930, they reached 803 feet.  These two bold souls made unprecedented scientific history.


By supplying us with specific moments in the early years of both men's lives, Barb Rosenstock gives us an idea of the passion which fueled their desires.  She uses repeating phrases to link them together then and again when they finally meet, dive and reach their destination. Her descriptions of the physical Bathysphere start to intensify the suspense of the dive.  She builds on this with particular pieces of information.  By telling us what happens at each one hundred foot drop, the tension builds.  Her repeated use of the word stop and the phrase breathe in and breathe out helps us to experience what Otis and Will might have felt.  Here is a passage.

700 feet. Stop.
The dark ocean glowed!  Their eyes played tricks
in the mysterious inky gleam.  Will tried to read---
print disappeared on the page.  Otis examined
color charts---saw only black and white.

Creak.
Skreak.
Creak.


When you open the dust jacket of this book it's as if you are

down,
down
into 
the deep.

The dark blue hues speckled with dots of light extend over the spine and to the ends of each flap.  The light shining from the Bathysphere continues to the lower, right-hand corner of the flap.  Sea creatures are evident on the front flap, the front and the back.  The style used for the fonts and framing of Otis, Will, Barbara and Katherine replicates the edges of the windows and the hatch on the Bathysphere.

To the left, on the back, outlines of details found on the blueprints for the vessel are lightly etched in white drifting around an interior view of Otis and Will inside the Bathysphere.  The book case canvas is darker blue hues with spots of light.  The only additional element is on the front.  It's the Bathysphere suspended with the cables, looking small in the largeness of the ocean.

On the opening and closing endpapers, each set different, illustrator Katherine Roy showcases animal life found at different depths.  They are placed on a background of watercolor washes looking like sand. The twenty animals are labeled.

Exquisitely rendered using pencil, watercolor, gouache, and ink the illustrations draw you back in time into this narrative.  Extensive research brings authenticity to every image.  Perspective, the shifts in picture sizes and their placement on one or two pages (and a breathtaking four page gatefold) elevate and extend the text to the point where the visual story wraps around us.  We are jumping off a dock into the ocean. We are climbing a tree to observe birds.  We are crammed inside a vessel diving hundreds of feet below the surface wondering if we will live through this day but also exhilarated by the sights we see.

One of my many favorite pictures is when we are inside the Bathysphere with Otis and Will prior to the drop.  Neither of them is looking at us. They are focused to the left and right of the gutter.  Otis is ensuring the telephone headset is operative and checking the oxygen levels.  Will makes certain he can see at all angles through the window.  He wants to record everything he sees.  There is intensity and tension in this moment. It is perfectly depicted.


Readers will savor every word and image of Otis And Will Discover The Deep: The Record-Setting Dive Of The Bathysphere written by Barb Rosenstock with illustrations by Katherine Roy.  It's an adventure filled with mystery, anxiety and excitement and it's true!  At the close of the book there are an informative author's note, an illustrator's note, and a note from Constance Carter, Former Head, Science Reference, Library of Congress who was mentored by William Beebe.  Sources are listed, too.  As a read aloud this book is fantastic.  I highly recommend it for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Barb Rosenstock and Katherine Roy and their other work, please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names. Barb Rosenstock includes a five page educator's guide.  Katherine Roy has a link to her blog. Both Barb and Katherine maintain accounts on Twitter. Please enjoy this video with Barb and Katherine unboxing their book.  It's highly informative and fun.

 

UPDATE:  Barbara talks with Katherine at Picture Book Builders, A Deep Conversation with Illustrator and Author Katherine Roy.


Please take a few moments to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the other titles chosen by participants in the 2018 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge this week.

Majestic, Mighty Giants

They are the world's largest land mammal.  This is an amazing thought to ponder.  There is nothing bigger on this entire planet than they are.  The females live in herds and the males tend to remain alone.  Their lives can span up to seventy years.  Social bonding is nearly or as strong as it can be in humans.  Not surprisingly humans, even though their weight and height are considerably more than the average man, are their greatest threat.

We have continually encroached on their land diminishing their habitat size as we expand ours for living and resources.  Poachers still slaughter them in alarming numbers for their ivory.  African elephants are now listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (ICUN).  At the beginning of the 20th century there were millions and millions and millions of them.  They now number less than five hundred thousand.  The more we know, the more we can do to protect these giants.  In a dazzling array of art and words Katherine Roy gives us How To Be An Elephant: Growing Up in the African Wild (David Macaulay Studio, Roaring Brook Press, September 19, 2017).

WITH FLAPPING EARS and whiffling trunks, the herd quickly spreads the news.  After 22 months of growing, a new baby is on her way.

In eleven divisions, short chapters, many of them beginning with a page turn, readers are acquainted with this infant.  As she learns we learn how she will grow to become an adult member of the herd.  Of first and utmost importance is her family.

Matriarchal in nature, the members stay together forever.  Their combined knowledge will lead and guide the baby girl for the rest of her life.  They will help her balance on specially equipped feet geared for silence and speed.

Her nose, trunk, balances out her poor eye sight; food and water, family and friends and danger can be detected with a sniff of a whiff.  Her nose, having more than 100,000 muscles, functions as a tool most fabulous.  Did you know an adult elephant sucks up water in their trunk and then pours it into their mouth?  They consume up to forty gallons a day.

Both as a baby, and then as an adult, elephants have an expansive repertoire of sounds; each one used for a specific purpose.  As herbivores elephants are crunching and munching for most of their waking hours but babies have it a bit easier.  They are little recyclers.  (You'll have to read the book to find out more about this homemade baby food.)  Using ears better than air conditioning, taking mud baths, engaging in playful games to get rid of less than dangerous foes, and rumbling in the air and the ground are more lessons to learn.

The value of African elephants to the land on which they reside is intriguing and essential; a highly evolved relationship of give and take.  Their necessity for space is not only important to them but to other animals sharing the land with them.  We must adapt.  We must understand.  We have to learn.


Katherine Roy has taken her extensive research and personal experiences in Africa to write a completely riveting conversation about the lives of African elephants.  She informs us to the extent our admiration for these creatures grows as she presents particular fascinating facts.  Each chapter flows flawlessly into the next as one lesson builds on the other whether speaking about physical characteristics or behaviors.  The way Katherine Roy writes is like being a student in the best science class you ever attended.  Here is a sample passage.

REMEMBER THE LOUD, low-frequency calls that an elephant makes with her high-powered voice?  These rumbles fall below the range of human hearing and can travel much farther than higher-frequency sounds---up to 2 miles during the day and over 6 miles at night, when the air is cool.  Other elephants within range can hear the rubles as either sound waves in the air or vibrations in the ground, which they're able to detect with the tips of their trunks and the cushioned soles of their feet.


The majestic display of the African elephant mother with the baby across the matching, opened dust jacket and book case with some of the remaining herd in the background is not only breathtaking because of the subject matter but because of the masterful use of perspective.  The lines, light and shadow, color palette, and details all work to bring readers into the circumstances of what it is to be an African elephant.  On the opening endpapers it is before dawn.  Members of the herd are gathering for the birth.  On the closing endpapers we see Katherine and her guide observing from their vehicle a herd of elephants crossing a river in a line, the baby among them.

Each illustration rendered by Katherine usually spans two pages.  For those single page pictures, a smaller image or an explanatory diagram is placed on the opposite page.  These are carefully labeled to assist readers in terms they can understand.

As noticed earlier the point of view seen in these images literally bring you into the activities of the herd.  We gather when they gather, we watch in awe as many trunks reach out to touch a newborn, we quench our thirst either by kneeling and gulping or sucking water into our trunks and releasing it into our mouths, and we shelter in the heat beneath our mom with our ears flapping.  Every aspect of life is portrayed with realism and a heartfelt respect and affection is seen in every illustration.

One of my many favorite pictures spreads, without words, across two pages.  There is a golden glow to the entire scene indicting the time of day.  The entire herd is enjoying the benefits of mixing water and dirt in a water hole or along a river.  Adults are standing on the perimeter, some are lying on the bank, and the youngest, the baby, is splashing in total delight.  This visual articulates the social bonds and playful nature of African elephants.


How To Be An Elephant: Growing Up in the African Wild written and illustrated by Katherine Roy is not a book you can only read once.  You will read it repeatedly gaining insights and information.  A lengthy note from the author, selected sources, scientific articles, books, films, and websites are included at the close of this title.  Readers can further understand the extent of Katherine Roy's work by reading her acknowledgements.  This book is a must-have for all professional and personal bookshelves.

To learn more about Katherine Roy and her other work please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Here is a link to Katherine Roy's June Newsletter.  Katherine Roy talks about this book at School Library Journal.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  Author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson features this title at Kirkus and her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.








Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to enjoy the titles selected by other bloggers participating in the 2017 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.