Speaking Truth

By studying history, the results can be illuminating, often heartbreaking, and more times than we wish, heinous.  This does not mean we get to set aside the facts that are heartbreaking and heinous.  For ourselves, we need to accept them and use them to be better, to do better, and stand up for better.  This is what history should and needs to teach us.  As educators, we owe our students the truth . . . all of it.

Enslaved people from the continent of Africa were brought to the American colonies in the early 1600s.  President Abraham Lincoln issued the official Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.  The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States abolished slavery.  It was adopted on December 6, 1865 after being ratified by Georgia.  (We know the chains of slavery, all kinds of slavery, still exist today in other forms.  This is one of the reasons you might want to stay informed about the Abolition Amendment.)  In a memorable new title, An American Story (Little, Brown And Company, January 3, 2023) written by Kwame Alexander with art by Dare Coulter, readers are told the truth in powerful, poetic words and striking poignant images.

How do you tell a story

that starts in Africa

and ends in horror?

The narrative continues by telling us of people, men, women, and children, living in Africa.  We learn of their daily activities, a combination of work, play, and storytelling.  All the time we learn of these people in Africa, others are waiting, waiting, waiting to take them away in shackles to be sold in America.  Then, we find ourselves as readers, momentarily, in a contemporary classroom where students make a statement and ask a question. 

As this American story continues, we are told how these men who profited from the sale of human beings placed these stolen people below deck on their ships in spaces too small and too hot.  There were deaths because of these too small and too hot spaces on those ships.  And sometimes, when these people were taken on the decks of those ships, they jumped in shark-filled waters to be free.  There is now more commentary from the present-day classroom students.

We move to the plantations growing cotton and sugar and the too-long days of labor without pay.  We read of children forced into labor who watched the children of the plantation owners free to play, attend school and wear good clothing.  Learning to read and reading for enslaved people was strictly forbidden.  They toiled in the fields and in plantation homes doing numerous and varied tasks day after day without pay.  Yet again, a student hearing this story asks a question.

We read of the resilience, the unbelievable resilience, of these enslaved people.  They refused to lose their humanity.  They refused to forget stories, all stories.  Some escaped.  Some did not.  Some never saw their fathers, mothers, sons, or daughters again.  At this point, the teacher reading this story stops, unable to continue and apologizes to her students.  The children, her students, respond in words filled with the strength they have learned. In the concluding phrases, we are asked about telling and hearing and the final sentence is a potent response.

In that first question, author Kwame Alexander delivers a stunning opening.  Page turn by page turn, his words convey the intimately personal terrors and injustices experienced and endured by enslaved people from Africa. His use of the word waiting three times adds an eerie element of foreboding before the people are stolen.  By inserting the questions and comments from students in a present day classroom and the voice of their teacher throughout this story, the relevance, impact, and essential value of this telling is depicted with veracity.  His final words are unforgettable.  Here is a passage.

A story about mothers

fleeing in the wind

wading in the water

conducting freedom.

About fathers

fighting back

stealing away

chasing liberty.

As soon as you see the open dust jacket with the American flag spanning left to right, back to front, you pause.  You pause not because of the flag but because of the hands holding it.  These are the hands of an enslaved African.  These are hands that have seen hard labor.  The wash over the colors of the flag denotes time, a long time.

Beneath the jacket on the book case, interior images have been placed on either side of the spine.  On the back, left, under a cloud-dotted sky, a row of enslaved people bend; their backs making a row as they work planting seedlings in dirt and water.  The color of their clothing seems to have captured rays from a rising or setting sun.  On the front, right, is a boy picking cotton, a sack slung over his shoulder.  Other slaves work in the background and a horse waits patiently on the right.  The enslaved boy's eyes look right.  He is watching children his own age playing before going to school.  

The opening endpapers feature a star-studded sky at night.  A full moon shines amid a layered circle of clouds.  It is as if the clouds are holding the moon like cupped hands.  On the closing endpapers is a vast sky filled with glowing golden yellow and bright red-orange hues.  In the lower, left-hand corner rests a glowing globe.

The artwork for this book by Dare Coulter is explained at the back of the book like this.

The illustrations in this book are mixed media and were created with a combination of spray paint, acrylic paint, charcoal, graphite, ink, and digital painting on wood panel and watercolor paper, and also using Procreate and Adobe Photoshop.  The sculptures are both ceramic and polymer clay with added materials and were painted with acrylic paint and spray paint.

The illustrations begin on the double-page dedication page and continue on the title page with another two-page picture.  It shows a single home in an African setting surrounded by native flora and other homes glowing with lights at night.  Each piece of artwork, whether its a full-page visual or a double-page image pulses with certainty.

Forthright, emotional, and deeply moving are only a few ways to describe these illustrations.  When the text brings us into a contemporary classroom, Dare Coulter pictures the students and their teacher against a golden background with elements drawn in shaded shades of black.  Her final piece of artwork paired with Kwame Alexander's words will take your breath away.

One of the many moving pieces in this book is with a background of water fading to a paler blue toward the top.  Across the center of the illustrations are the hands and wrists of three people.  Their fists are clenched as a row of shackles hold them together.  Tears fill my eyes when I look, really look, at another picture.  This is a portrayal of the enslaved people jumping off the slave ship toward certain death . . . and freedom.  

This book, An American Story, written by Kwame Alexander with art by Dare Coulter, is an essential title to share often and widely. There is an author note and illustrator note at the end of the book.  I can't think of a single reason why this book should not be in your personal and professional collections, especially as an educator.

To learn more about Kwame Alexander and Dare Coulter and their other work, please access their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Kwame Alexander has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Dare Coulter has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Kwame Alexander is interviewed for the cover reveal by Shelley Diaz at School Library Journal.  Dare Coulter is interviewed with five questions at The Horn Book.  This is an excellent article about her research and artwork.  Here is a conversation at a Barnes & Noble site between these two creators.  There was an event at the Jacksonville Public Library last month about this book with Kwame Alexander and Dare Coulter.  The article talking about this has some interesting insights from them.  The video below is a television interview prior to the event.

A Marvelous Manual

For thousands of years people have been leaving memories of accomplishments, dreams, discoveries, musings, mysteries, everyday occurrences and unusual events on cave walls, bone, clay, bark, metal, stone, papyrus, palm leaves, string, parchment, paper or anything else they deemed as lasting or appropriate in less than ideal circumstances.  To be able to communicate in the absence of face to face opportunities connects us to others, then and now.  To do so languages, an understanding of languages and the writing of languages continues to be vital.

When we combine words and pictures to express an idea, it is intensified; sometimes luminous.  How To Read A Book (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, June 18, 2019) written by Kwame Alexander with art by Melissa Sweet is a superb, original representation of an idea that does indeed radiate and resonate.  It invites, no, it captures our attention and holds us close even after the end.

FIRST, FIND A TREE-A
BLACK TUPELO OR
DAWN REDWOOD WILL DO-
AND PLANT YOURSELF.

The poem continues by advising us that a stoop is fine, too.  After all, this is what Langston Hughes favored.  Once we are snuggled in a perfect place, we take our book, and open it carefully.

It shines like the sun.  It smells like a brand-new day.  It softly tickles us.  Little by little, page turn by page turn, we enjoy what is offered.  Something is building inside us. 

Before we know it, we become one with the book.  We celebrate through the words with every living thing, their portrayal and their story.  We are entertained.  We are informed. 

We are told to savor every magical moment with unbridled exuberance but to do so with intention.  For in using care, we are able to let the words soak into hearts and minds.  The final nine words are a mantra to cherish.


Food is to be relished with all our senses; seeing, hearing smelling, touching and tasting.  When Kwame Alexander likens opening a book to the peeling of a clementine, he is welcoming us into a total sensation.  He continues to reference actions of reading with the consumption of a clementine until we are deeply committed.  With elegance he allows us to appreciate each portion of this encounter in this book and in all other books.  Here is another passage.

NEXT,
DIG YOUR THUMB
AT THE BOTTOM
OF EACH JUICY SECTION
AND 
POP
THE WORDS OUT


The neon pinks and oranges with the lighter greens and blues on the open and matching dust jacket and book case certainly energize readers with anticipation before they look inside.  Melissa Sweet's meticulous and signature collage implores us to proceed.  To the left, on the back, a superhero with HERO on her shirt, flies down from the upper, left-hand corner, her bold, glowing cape flowing behind her.

On the opening and closing endpapers, four shelves stacked with books stretch from left to right.  Pointing fingers and several spirals urge us to keep going.  These spirals appear throughout the book.  The endpapers are done in various shades of fluorescent pink. With a page turn we arrive at the title page.  It is here we are introduced to the first appearance of deer (an explanation follows in the illustrator's note) and an asterisk-like star shape.  A hand is reaching for an orange book.

The next two-page image is a three-dimensional collage composed of fifteen stripes.  Careful readers will see a clue regarding the presence of deer in the illustrations.  The verso page follows with the publication information in the shape and color of a clementine with a stem and leaf.

The illustrations rendered using

watercolor, gouache, mixed media, handmade and vintage papers, found objects, including old book covers, and a paint can lid

are full-page and double-page pictures.  They not only enhance the narrative but extend it in new and exciting directions.  Cut-out letters spell once upon a time.  They are popping out of an orange toaster plugged into a purple outlet.  The toaster happens to be a book. 

Readers will be pleasantly surprised with a horizontal gatefold which again takes the orange book and turns it into another object entirely.  It gives us windows into possibilities.  Following this are smaller pages within pages revealing joyful words and employing a die-cut splendidly.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for a phrase speaking of morning air and butterfly kisses.  This visual extends over two pages.  In the upper, left-hand corner a portion of a neon pink spiral is in place.  Underneath this is a vertical strip of paper of a green forest and rolling hills.  From this, left to right, are what might be parts of old books.  The text is on the left with a neon pink asterisk-shaped star following the period.  Extending from the right and crossing the gutter slightly is a young girl with eyes closed in contentment, her left hand raised.  Butterflies flutter about her and one lands on the text. 


You might want to have a bag of clementines, a bunch of neon markers, all sorts of paper pieces and glue handy after reading this treasure one-on-one or to a group. How To Read A Book, a poetic narrative penned by Kwame Alexander with artwork asking readers to pause by Melissa Sweet, is food for everyone's souls, readers and non-readers.  It's an experience to be shared, repeatedly.  There is an author's note and an illustrator's note at the end.  You'll want to have a copy in your professional and personal collections.  You might enjoy pairing this title with How To Read A Story by Kate Messner with illustrations by Mark Siegel.

To learn more about Kwame Alexander and Melissa Sweet and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Kwame Alexander has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  Melissa Sweet has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  At the publisher's website you can listen to a portion of the book being read by Kwame Alexander.  The cover is revealed at Publishers Weekly with interviews of both creators.  There is an interview of Melissa Sweet by Jennifer Jacobson at Highlights Foundation.

Honoring Wordsmith Heroes

The month of April is coming to a close but the observance of National Poetry Month need not stop.  Let's just think of this month as an introduction to a literary form allowing everyone to express themselves in a variety of writing styles every single day of the year.  If you have a flair for visualizing shapes, pen a concrete poem.  If you wish to focus on the natural world, the five-seven-five syllable haiku is the perfect kind of poem for you.  If you enjoy even more structure, the five line cinquain asking for a single noun, two adjectives, three -ing participles, a four word phrase and closing with a synonym for the first noun is what you should write.  If you like the rhythms of rhyming create a couplet.

Poetry beckons to the universal qualities found in all people.  Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets (Candlewick Press, March 14, 2017) written by Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth with illustrations by Ekua Holmes expresses the admiration held by these three poets and artist for twenty other poets.  They have collaborated to inspire others as they were inspired.

In the first of three parts, Got Style?, poets are featured for creating a signature style.  With recognition and respect the poems written about them underscore their individuality.  Kwame Alexander's How To Write A Poem celebrating Naomi Shihab Nye will have you reaching for the nearest means to record your thoughts.  The same peace we find in Robert Frost's contemplations is echoed in Marjory Wentworth's In Every Season.  Gathered thoughts, separated by pauses, lyrically define poetry in a manner reminiscent of the work of Nikki Giovanni using all lower case letters.  Snapshots by Chris Colderley is a loving tribute.

In Your Shoes, the second section, focuses on poetry written by one author (us?) which reads like it was written by a favorite poet.  Beginning with basketball and continuing the analogy dreams are shared, glory days of youth are remembered and heroes of Harlem are saluted in Walter, Age Ten celebrating Walter Dean Myers by Kwame Alexander.  We travel to the private place in Chile beloved by poet Pablo Neruda in The Music Of The Earth written by Marjory Wentworth.  Calm is found in nature by a man devoted to poetry, politics and his people.  Majestic musings about those who walked before us on Tambourine Mountain pays tribute to Judith Wright.  Chris Colderley asks us in Tambourine Things to hold a found fossil in our hands, listening and watch the shadows fall as the sun sets.

In the final part, Thank You, the three contemporary poets write poems regarding those poets who affected them in a deeply personal manner.

A poem can sometimes be so powerful that it might even feel as though the poet is speaking directly to us, as if we are in the middle of a private conversation.

They showcase Gwendolyn Brooks, Sandra Cisneros, William Carlos Williams, Okot p'Bitek, Chief Dan George, Rumi and Maya Angelou.  These poems do indeed beckon but they wrap themselves around you in the glory of the words.  You cannot help but feel the love as each poet's life story is revealed.


This collection of poems written by Kwame Alexander, Marjory Wentworth and Chris Colderley not only pays homage to twenty poets but introduces readers to the particular voice of these three poets.  After reading several of their poems you sense the similarity in how they approach the poet they are showcasing.  No matter which poem you are reading, whether written by Alexander, Wentworth or Colderley, you will find yourself without conscious thought sighing or gasping as you read the last line.  They are all brilliant.  I will share a portion of a poem written by each one.

From Walter, Age Ten
celebrating Walter Dean Myers

I'd like to soar one day
like Sweetwater Clifton high above the rim---
I wanna trot the globe
grab the world in my hands and
twirl a big ball of hope
from corner to corner.  ...
     Kwame Alexander

In Every Season
celebrating Robert Frost
... I have stopped to shake the dry snow
from the branches and watched the outline

of each bare tree sharpen like stone
and considered that quite often

life is too much like a pathless wood.
Still I have lived so long and traveled so far,

and I have climbed these hills and looked
at the world and descended.
    Marjory Wentworth

Snapshots
celebrating Nikki Giovanni

people forget...poetry is not just words on a page...it is...
a snowflake on your tongue...a tattoo on the inside of your arm...a dashiki and a kaftan...
tripping down the streets of Lincoln Heights...shouting from the hills of Knoxville, Tennessee...
    Chris Colderley


The warmth of the color palette and design radiates from the front of the matching dust jacket and book case.  The figure, arms raised and fingers spread, is moving to an unseen music, the poems we have yet to read.  On the back, to the left, on a golden background with hints again of musical notes, a list of the twenty poets is shown.  The deep purple of the title words is spread across the opening and closing endpapers.  The poets being celebrated are royalty in the world of literature.  Portions of geometric golden suns are displayed on the title page.  This design is used throughout the book as accents and for each of the three parts.

The artistic technique for creating these illustrations, collage on paper, used by Ekua Holmes presents readers with unique portrayals spreading across two pages, framed on a single page, as insets on a single page or edge to edge on a single page.  Vibrant colors are woven into each one.  Various papers give a texture to each visual, inviting readers to touch the pages.  Holmes varies her perspective in keeping with the poems.

With each page turn it's as if you are walking through an art gallery.  Elements in the illustrations reference the poet and the place in which the poem is set.  As soon as you finish, you will flip the pages to see all the pictures again.  They are striking...every single one.

One of my many favorite illustrations is the two-page spread for Snapshots.  Page edge to page edge a cool shade of green (teal?) provides a canvas for large snowflake designs.  Small white dots are blended with them.  Some of the snowflakes are in the foreground, some in the background.  On the left a boy wrapped in winter clothing is leaning back tasting the flakes with his tongue.  Opposite him on the right a girl is doing the same thing.  All we see is her face peeking out of a hooded coat.  Red, a darker shade of green and a golden yellow are chosen for their clothing.


Every bookshelf needs to hold a space for one or more copies of Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets written by Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth with illustrations by Ekua Holmes.  In a word this title is stunning.  Prior to Kwame Alexander's Preface is a Contents.  At the conclusion of the book six pages are dedicated to giving readers more information about the twenty selected poets.  They are also listed by Ancient And Foreign-Language Poets, Nineteenth-Century Poets, Twentieth-Century Poets and Contemporary Poets.  Short biographical paragraphs are included for Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth.

To acquaint you further with Kwame Alexander, Marjory Wentworth and Ekua Holmes please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites. NPR Morning Edition features this title in an interview with Kwame Alexander.  Marjory Wentworth is highlighted at knowitall.org   The Horn Book podcast 2.8 has Ekua Holmes as a guest.  Ekua Holmes visits The Brown Bookshelf for an interview.  At Penguin Random House you can view the first ten pages.  Candlewick Press has created a teacher's guide. Teacher librarian Jennifer Reed wrote a blog post at Reederama about using this title in her school library.
Collage Artist | Ekua Holmes Video from AugustineMonica Films on Vimeo.

Family...All Of Us

Every day a signal is given; a call to action.  You may not be aware but you can and need to adjust your perceptions.  It might be in the song of a black-capped chickadee, the tracks of a white-tailed deer encased in mud or a footfall crackling leaves and twigs in the underbrush.  No matter where humans call home, it is shared by a multitude of beings in the animal kingdom.  We should recognize them, realizing without our help their numbers will continue to diminish.  Every one lost makes this world, our planet, less than it was.

We are connected to all of them as members of a huge collective family.  Animal Ark: Celebrating Our Wild World In Poetry And Pictures (National Geographic, February 14, 2017) photographs by Joel Sartore and words by Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess and Deanna Nikaido is a moving and memorable tribute to our animal companions.  It is a collaborative labor of love.

chorus of creatures
singing our names
see what we can save---together

Through the selected words, like Mother Nature's heartbeat, we are asked to look into the soul of her children through their eyes, in the color of their feathers or how they move.  We are asked to appreciate their homes, fixed or mobile.  We are asked to understand their cleverness in surviving.

Sometimes the noise they make is loud like Asian elephants walking or so quiet as to be nearly silent like an Andrew beach mouse running.  Animals can dance and sing, fly like a superhero or be as still as stone. They can be beautiful and deadly to prey and humans or simply, uniquely beautiful.

Their stunning hues shimmer in the sea or glisten on land sometimes changing for protection.  Wolves howl alone or in a chorus.  Have you heard them?

The animal babies born are a sign of hope and a chance to do what is right.  After they grow we can see their more than one hundred feet or the warning tattoos of red like on the Southern black widow spider or their roar like the critically endangered Malayan tiger.  We need them all.  They all, every single one, need us.


Whether read silently or aloud the words penned by Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess and Deanna Nikaido resonate, speaking directly to our conscience and our sensory impressions.  Each line, each poem, creates a thoughtful link with the featured creature.  The cadence supplied using Japanese haiku focuses our attention on the singular characteristics of each one.  Here is another poem above a row of Ploughshare tortoises.

homes of courage
on humble backs
this is not a race


Throughout this title photographer Joel Sartore uses a crisp white or velvet black background to showcase the animals.  In his own words he states:

In Photo Ark every creature is equal.  I use simple black and white backgrounds, which make all animals appear to be the same size, no matter how large or small they might be in the wild.

Who can resist the facial expression of the brown-throated sloth on the front of the dust jacket with the Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly dotting the i?  To the left, on the back, an equally-happy appearing chimpanzee is shown.  On the book case front a red celestial eye goldfish is looking right at readers while on the back a quokka looks like he is laughing. The opening and closing endpapers share the same shade as the text Ark.

Alternating between black on the first seven pages and white on the next four pages Sartore first showcases a cream-spotted tigerwing butterfly chrysalis and Gulf fritillary butterfly on the title page followed by a two-page gatefold highlighting twenty-nine animals opposite the opening lines of poetry.  When that gatefold is closed we are privy to eight stunning butterflies.  Each animal is given a single page or two showing us their entire body or a significant portion in the remainder of the book.

In the center is a four-page gatefold presenting thirty-three animals group on the two outer pages with a melodious lengthier poem on the inner two pages.  These collages of animal portraits, as are all the pictures, are stunning.  The closing of this gatefold reveals two resting blue waxbills.  To see them in the wild would be unforgettable.

One of my favorite of many photographs is of the waxy monkey frog.  Sartore has captured this frog in mid leap or ready to leap with the right rear leg raised.  You wouldn't know it to look at this picture but they only grow to be two to three inches long.  He brings us close enough to see the spread toes, spots on the belly and intricate details in the eyes.


All the creators desire to have readers notice these animals in a new light, bringing us close to their importance in the grand scheme of life on this planet.  Joel Sartore and Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess and Deanna Nikaido have accomplished this mission in Animal Ark: Celebrating Our Wild World In Poetry And Pictures.  At the close of the title a page is dedicated to A Note From the Photographer and A Note From the Writer.  A small captioned box within this second note speaks about haiku.  A final gatefold names all the animals shown on the dust jacket, book case, flap and interior pages other than those named in previous gatefolds.

To learn more about Joel Sartore, Kwame Alexander, Mary Rand Hess and Deanna Nikaido and their other work please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  At a publisher's website you can view some interior pages.  A page at National Geographic Kids with links and videos is dedicated to the Animal Ark project and this book.  Enjoy Kwame Alexander reading the long poem taken from the center of the book.


Animal Ark: Celebrating our Wild World in Poetry and Pictures from cosproductions on Vimeo.

Just Another Day At The Beach?

A solemn promise has to be made first.  When shopping with certain friends this is a requirement.  A pledge has to be taken to not stop in any book shops.  When you've been known to spend hours wandering around the shelves, especially in the children's and young adult areas, people tend to err on the side of caution.

In a conversation this past week I even remarked given a choice I would rather be reading.  Surf's Up (North South Books, Inc., February 1, 2016) a brand new book by Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander (The Crossover) with illustrations by Daniel Miyares (Float) is about more than a day of fun in the sun.  It's about sharing the jubilation found in reading.

SURF'S
UP, BRO!
Not yet, Dude.

Dude is shocked his friend Bro would rather read than head to the beach for surfing. Bro is completely buried in his current book.  The conclusion has captured his attention.

Eyes glued to the pages, Bro does ride along on Dude's scooter to the sandy shore.  While reading he explains how this book is anything but boring.  An introduction to the characters, the plot and several exclamations get Dude's attention.

With each shout Dude's curiosity grows and his questions keep coming.  He has to know what is happening.  A minor mishap throws the surfing soulmates into the thick of the action.  They are surrounded in story.  The beach has vanished replaced by a raging storm, wild waters and an angry monstrous mammal.

When Bro throws his hands up is celebration at the ending, Dude needs answers but his pal is not talking.  Bro knows some things just have to be experienced in person.  A turnabout continues the fun but that's what books and buddies do best.  Totally stoked, readers!


When you think of frogs, their croaking and leaping immediately come to mind.  Those sounds and sights permeate the personalities of Bro and Dude in the dialogue given to them by Kwame Alexander.  Their sentences are short but they hum with lively surfing lingo and plenty of action.  Here are a couple of sentences.

WOWIE
KAZOWIE!

What happened? 


The colors called to mind when you think of frogs, the beach and surfing pop from the matching dust jacket and book case.  Dude, in the red swimming trunks is ready to roll with the waves but he's taking Bro, even though he's reading, along for the ride.  A glimpse of another central character is gliding along the surface in the background as sea, sand and sky supply a glorious blend of blues and tan.  On the back, to the left, on a canvas of the same bright yellow as the title text, Bro's mind is focused on his book shown in the imagination bubble above his head.  Dude is asking a question about the book.

The opening and closing endpapers are washed in sand and sea with foam along with edge.  The first is empty but the second shows remnants of the story amid strands of seaweed.  The verso and title pages are a lovely two page spread with houses in a small town lining the beach and edged in trees as the sun rises.  A card and pocket seen on books prior to automation holds dates and the friend's names; a reminder of the joy of shared books and reading.

Most of the images rendered by Daniel Miyares extend across two pages bringing the real and imagined adventures right to the reader.   At pivotal points (three times) he asks us to pause with smaller pictures on a single page.  Miyares' close-ups of Bro's and Dude's faces are full of animation as are their body movements.  When they are riding on the scooter to the beach, wearing helmets and dressed in their swimming garb with the surfboard strapped to the back, you can't help but smile.

One of my many favorite illustrations is during the first conversational exchange between the friends.  There are two open windows in Bro's bedroom.  A breeze is blowing the curtains even though blue sky with a few clouds is seen.  Dude is poking his head in the first window, the tip of the surfboard visible.  In front of the second Bro is cozy in his blue chair, legs across one arm, reading his book.  There are hints of the adventure taking place in the book around Bro's room; a small whale on his bed and a model ship hanging from the ceiling.


Written by Kwame Alexander with illustrations by Daniel Miyares Surf's Up is a happy, high-octane ode to the fun to be found in reading and books.  It clearly portrays the transformation that takes place when a reader speaks about a compelling story.  Words are a powerful thing.

To discover more about both Kwame Alexander and Daniel Miyares please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  At the publisher's website are some activities associated with this title.  At the home page to their site if you click on the catalog you can see additional illustrations from this book including the first two double page spreads.  At Scholastic's Ambassador for School Libraries, John Schumacher's blog, Watch. Connect. Read., the book trailer is revealed along with an interview of both Alexander and Miyares.  Kwame Alexander is interviewed on Let's Get Busy, Episode #226.  Daniel Miyares answers questions at Read It Real Good with Alia Jones.  At author, reviewer and blogger, Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast Daniel Miyares is a guest sharing lots of art work, his process and answering pivotal questions. Share in the festive occasion of the cover reveal in the video shown below.