Their Presence Is A Present

We are never sure what will grab our attention when we look outside our windows.  Will it be the sunrise glistening off ice crystals coating the branches and leaves on nearby trees and the weeds scattered in the fields?  Will it be a raptor soaring on wind currents?  Will it be white-tailed deer grazing on fresh green shoots in the spring?  Once we are out-of-doors our senses alert us to the trill of chickadees, the odor of rain on the rushing breeze, the blur of hummingbird wings as they feed on floral nectar, or rabbit tracks in newly fallen snow.  Each day is a surprise to be savored.

Once you have heard their call, it is unforgettable.  It is unique to them.  Secrets Of The Loon (Minnesota Historical Society Press, March 31, 2020) written by Laura Purdie Salas with photography by Chuck Dayton follows the growth of a newly hatched chick to her first migratory flight.  The blend of descriptive rhyming text with exquisite photographs transports you to the water and the daily journey these birds take.

Below white pines, at water's edge,

in guarded nest of mud and sedge,

squeezed inside an olive egg,

bill meets wing meets folded leg.

During the night under the light of the moon, a new loon is born.  She is frightened falling into the water from the egg, but she floats.  Her parents feed her tiny minnows and crayfish. 

She, along with her brother, avoids lurking predators in the water by riding on the back of her mother.  Soon the duo is too large to ride, so they hide under their father's wings.  When danger glides above the water, the new loon dives, her heavy bones carrying her swiftly where she needs to go.

Moon Loon can now capture her own food.  When two humans venture too close, father displays angry behavior, stirring the water and shouting out.  As summer turns to autumn, the loon child is encouraged to fly, again and again.

Sister and brother are left alone, their parents taking an annual journey.  Then, one day, wings stretch.  Feathers fluff in the wind.  Sister and brother soar.

The highly expressive words of Laura Purdie Salas fashion an intimate depiction of the early months of the life of a loon and of parental responsibilities.  The phrases rhyme with the last word in each.  It is a cadence as smooth as the ever-changing water upon which the loon family resides.  Laura Purdie Salas is not only detailing what can be observed but offering more information.  She gives us the "why."  Here is a passage.

Mother's wild call, its rise and its fall,

warns Moon of the eagle.

Can Moon Loon survive?

Her heavy bones whisper:

Moon Loon, you

can DIVE!

The family portrait shown to readers on the front of the case cover is our first glimpse of the majesty we will witness inside this title.  The silhouetting of the cattails and evergreens is done in some of the interior pictures, also.  The darkness of the evergreens crosses the spine continuing across the back.  This provides a place for text normally displayed on the front and back flaps of a dust jacket.  In the lower, left-hand corner is another image of the four loons.

A pale blue covers the opening and closing endpapers.  On the title page, Moon Loon, is swimming toward us.  Water and cattails surround her.  The photography of Chuck Dayton varies in perspective, giving us more panoramic scenes and then moving in close to Moon Loon and her family.  Some of his visuals span two pages and others are single page pictures.  Sometimes one photograph overlaps another, water or shoreline creating a division that blends beautifully.

One of my many favorite pictures is a single-plus page image.  On the right, the mother is carrying the two smaller loons on her back.  Her gorgeous coloring nearly camouflages the younger loons.  She is looking to the right, but they are looking at us readers.  The blue rippling water extends to the left, bottom, and right of them.  Above them the water becomes a silhouette in blue.  As it crosses the gutter, reed and cattails line the left edge.  White space becomes the place for the text on the left.

Written by Laura Purdie Salas with photography by Chuck Dayton, Secrets Of The Loon is a lovely adventure.  It makes the beauty of these birds a personal experience for all readers.  At the close of the book under the heading, More Loon Secrets, are three pages of more facts.  These are followed by Selected Resources.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.  

To learn more about Laura Purdie Salas and Chuck Dayton and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Laura Purdie Salas has numerous resources for this title on its special page at her website.  Laura Purdie Salas has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter. Chuck Dayton has an account on Instagram.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images. There are interviews and articles about this books at KUMD radio, at author illustrator Jena Benton's site, at poet Matt Forrest Esenwine's site, and the North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.

It only makes an appearance when the right conditions align.  It creates a hush over the world, muffling sights and sounds.  To the touch it is heavy and damp.  Sometimes it is as if you've stepped into an alternate reality.  Feel the Fog (Beach Lane Books, September 15, 2020) written and illustrated by April Pulley Sayre is a poetic and photographic ode to fog, The words and pictures envelope you completely.

Fog rolls in,

damp and pale.

A cloud, ground level,

hugs stone,

and snail.

Depending on its thickness, fog can obscure everything except for that which is right in front of us.  Everything in the distance disappears.  Everything is colored differently; the radiance of the hues is muted.

Reach out with your bare hand.  Lift your face to the fog.  How does it feel?  How do you define its essence?  

Science tells us how fog is made.  Fog can develop when warm air cools.  It can happen on land.  It can happen over water.  It can happen during any season of the year.  You can see air and wind work when fog moves.  They are no longer invisible.

Our movements are different on a foggy day.  We get closer to see.  This is when treasures are revealed.  Sometimes the sun does not shine through the fog.  There are those who will rejoice.  Will you?

A stillness falls over readers when the words of April Pulley Sayre in this book are read.  We are present in the moments of fog.  Her lyrical, rhyming words create a sensory connection for us.  The use of the title twice within the narrative further ties us to the overall text.  Here is another passage, like the book in its entirety, that reads like words to a song.

Thicker than mist,

fog can drift,

fog can flow.

Fog forms above

fields of snow.

Opening the matching dust jacket and book case readers see two separate images on the right, front, and left, back.  On the front we are getting a bird's eye view of fog sweeping through treetops, drifting into valleys and over hilltops.  On the back we are walking through trees, trunks standing at attention, as fog washes their sharp angles and lines.

A dark charcoal gray covers the opening and closing endpapers.  On the title page we are getting an animal's view of autumn weeds spread before us.  Behind the weeds fog nearly blocks out the forest.  Each page turn the photographs by April Pulley Sayre (two by other family members) pair beautifully with her concise, carefully chosen words.

We are treated to double-page naturescapes, single-page and partial-page close-up visuals.  The shift in perspectives allows us to see fog as others, besides humans, might view it.  The text is placed on the photographs.  This technique implies the words are a part of the fog, also.

One of my many favorite photographs is a double-page picture.  It is during winter.  A field, an opening with two evergreens on the right, and a larger row of trees and shrubs behind them make for a multi-dimensional view.  The snow on the ground and the fog appear nearly as one.  You can feel not only the fog, but the quiet.

We read and learn about this weather phenomenon through the words and pictures of April Pulley Sayre in Feel the Fog.  You'll hardly be able to wait for the next foggy day after reading this book.  At the close of the book under the heading of The Clouds That Come to Visit are more facts within nine other sections.  In her acknowledgements April Pulley Sayre thanks a senior meteorologist, Sam Lashley, at the National Weather Service for reviewing the text.  You will certainly want a copy of this book for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about April Pulley Sayre and her other work, please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  April Pulley Sayre has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.

Poetry Month Author Focus

Although observations of everything about our world through poetry is welcome any month of the year, the annual celebration of National Poetry Month in April is when poets, those who enjoy poetry and those who have yet to discover poetry can come together.  The use of various poetic styles is showcased.  The interplay of word choices and cadence penned using those various techniques gives the appearance of pure magic.

One poet whose work I've enjoyed for years is Laura Purdie Salas.  This spring readers are fortunate to have three new books written by Laura Purdie Salas released.  They are from three different publishing houses and illustrated by three different artists.  The first, Snowman - Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations (Charlesbridge. February 5, 2019) is illustrated by Micha Archer.

science + poetry = surprises

As winter gray drains away, spring tiptoes in.  It sprinkles color and motion and sound all around.  Each sunny day, soft breeze, and spring shower changes our world.

Science is why and how a
flower grows.  Poetry is 
looking at that flower and
seeing a firework.  Surprise!

Twenty-three poetic equations divided into early, middle and late spring follow this introductory mathematical expression and lyrical explanation.  Poem by poem we become avid spectators.  We see those creatures who awaken from sleep.  We see snowy formations become watery rivets filling dips in the ground like nature's teacups.  Have you ever seen otters playing along a riverbank?  It's a mud bath party!

Missing raptors, bald eagles, return north diving for their meals in water.  Geese fly in formation as they, too, move north again.  Spring winds snag kites causing them to dip up and down like roller coasters of the sky.  When we see the first bees, we know pollination begins and food grows.  Robins have returned.  When will we see their precious, bright, blue eggs nestled in a nest?

Rains mean rainbows; a sure sign of science in action.  These spring rains are consumed by plants eager to burst forth from their hiding places.  Woodland and meadow explorers and dog walkers know to look (and smell) for mother and baby skunks on patrol for food.  At night, the steady serenade of frogs is certain to bring a smile to those waiting for winter to say good-bye.  For the final equation and poetic response, readers are challenged to pay attention, look for changes and be changed.


Addition, subtraction and multiplication are supplied by Laura Purdie Salas as she takes us from winter's end to summer's beginning.  She explores numerous aspects of the spring season blending literature and science.  We are fascinated as each explanation unfolds.  We enter each landscape willingly, looking at the everyday with a distinctive point of view.  Here is another equation.

nest + robin = jewelry box 
Robins lay dazzling blue eggs
in spring.  Some scientists
believe that the most vivid
blue eggs have the healthiest
chicks inside.  The blue shells
might act like sunscreen,
protecting the chicks from sun
damage before they hatch.


On the open and matching dust jacket and book case, readers can already see the intricate and colorful collage creations of artist Micha Archer.  Children, here and throughout the book, share the stages of spring and diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds.  To the left, on the back, amid a canvas of bright green, is a single rectangular shape featuring a female cardinal among clusters of pink blossoms.  In the lower left corner, a nest of babies with open mouths await her return.

The opening endpapers are a pale blue and the closing endpapers are a lighter vivid green.  For the title page, Micha Archer gives us a view of a pond with a red-winged blackbird perched among cattails.  On the other side of the pond a snowman enjoys his last days.  With each page turn a double page picture extends from left to right but usually depicts two poems, one on the left and the other on the right.  The balance is stunning.  Only once are there two separate single-page pictures.

Using her signature technique explained in detail at the close of the book, Micha Archer gives us panoramic vistas above and below ground, inside a beaver's house, close-up to a bee gathering pollen, and at all times during the day.  She takes us into our world, asking us to share and respect what we see.  Every portion of each image reflects meticulous care.

One of my many, many favorite images spans two pages.  It is late spring, and the sunset has painted the sky in breathtaking beauty.  On the left, on a small hill, a mother skunk leads her babies, all in a row, to search for food.  Along the bottom of that darkened hill is a stunning array of dandelions, in various sizes.  Some are new and others are old.  These dandelions carry across the gutter to spread into an enormous field stretching to the horizon.  Two children romp among the flowers scattering seeds with their movements and breath.

Snowman - Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Micha Archer is highly recommended for your personal and professional collections.  At the end of the book is an author's and illustrator's note.  There is a page dedicated to When Spring Starts and another one for Further Reading.  At the publisher's website is an activity guide you can download.  Using the links embedded in Laura Purdie Salas' and Micha Archer's names, you can access their websites and learn more about their other work.  Micha Archer has interior images from this book on her site.  Laura Purdie Salas has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Micha Archer has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Micha Archer and this title are highlighted at author, reviewer and blogger, Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.


On March 12, 2019 In The Middle Of The Night: Poems from a Wide-Awake House (Wordsong, an imprint of Highlights) written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Angela Matteson was published.  It follows the antics of all the occupants of a household once a child falls sound asleep.  It makes you wonder and laugh at what might be happening when you are dreaming in your own home.

After Hours

Sun and moon have traded places-
Time for games!  Time for races!

We wait,
we wait,
we wait

        all

                  day
for you to sleep so we can play!

Your breathing settles, slow and deep.
Finally! You're fast asleep.

Shhhhhhhh . . .

Anticipation grows and then total abandon rules the house in these twenty-six poems utilizing a variety of techniques.  Stuffed-animals and toys have a talent show.  A marker laments the loss of its top and adventuresome pencils form a paper airplane for transportation.  A baseball cap comes alive looking for a new place to rest.  Gig the dog provides the perfect spot.

An overdue library book scampers through the night, hiding and moving from place to place.  A bottle of perfume provides the spark for an acrostic poem.  Dental floss is on the loose fashioning everything it never gets to be during the day.  A lunch box sneaks up on a pesky enemy capturing it with glee.  Did you know spaghetti does not want to stay in a bowl?  It would much rather become your shoelaces.

Trust me, when I say you'll never look at a fruit roll-up in quite the same way again.  Flip-flops and winter boots chat in a poem for two voices (the first of two).  You might want to make sure you secure your lawn hose better at day's end.  (I never did like seeing it at night on the ground.)  When the sun rises and morning arrives, the child is none the wiser, but we are.


This book is one of those books when you know, despite all the work, this author, Laura Purdie Salas, had fun because that is what these poems are . . .fun.  Words rhyme furnishing readers with a rhythm.  Most of the poems use a first person (object) voice. Here is another poem.

Mixed-Up Mixing Bowl

I tilt and twirl
a blurry swirl
I spin into
a tizzy

I wobble, sway
a bowl ballet-

oopsy!

Now I'm
dizzy


Rendered mostly in the hours after dark, with acrylics, gouache, and a touch of colored pencil on wood board these illustrations by Angela Matteson first seen on the matching dust jacket and book case are ready to zip you into the world of night-life fun.  Look at those pencils zooming in their paper airplane!  The starry expanse begins anew on the back, to the left, providing a place for words from the first poem.

The opening and closing endpapers are a matte-finished light blue.  The toy box shown on the title page hints at the events to come.  Angela Matteson alternates between double-page pictures and single-page illustrations.  Her color palette reflects the time of day; purples and blues.  All the visuals are brimming with animation and loaded with details that are often humorous.

Careful readers will want to compare the bedroom setting in the first poem with the bedroom setting in the final poem.  The origami figures made by the pencils are moving off the page.  The overdue library book moves through three subsequent illustrations.  A bottle of dish soap is aghast at the basketball relaxing in a sink full of ice cubes.  There is a lot to see with each page turn.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is for the poem titled Pencil Plunge.  It spans two pages.  On the left pencils wait in a row across the top step on a staircase.  Six pencils are laughing as they race down the steps, point by point.  On the right, one pencil has a clipboard keeping score, another is sharpening up for another run and two others are assisting a pencil with scotch tape.  This one cracked.


If you want to add hilarity and wonder to a read aloud of poetry with a group or before bedtime one-on-one, In The Middle Of The Night: Poems from a Wide-Awake House written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Angela Matteson is an excellent selection.  You will want a copy for your personal and professional collections.  To learn more about Laura Purdie Salas and Angela Matteson and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Laura has lots of extras for this book on her website (and her other books, too). Laura Purdie Salas has accounts on Instagram and Twitter as noted above.  Angela Matteson has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  To start off the blog tour for this title Dylan Teut, director for the Plum Creek Children's Literacy Festival in Seward, Nebraska, at Mile High Reading, interviewed Laura Purdie Salas.  At a publisher's website you can view the title page and the first page of the contents.


To start off the first week of National Poetry Month, Lion Of The Sky: Haiku For All Seasons (Millbrook Press, April 2, 2019) written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Merce Lopez was made available for all readers.  It presents an entire book using a form of haiku and using these as riddles to be solved.  Laura Purdie Salas calls it riddle-ku.  

Spring

I am a wind bird.
sky skipper, diamond dipper,
DANCING on your string

Did you figure out the answer to this first of twenty-four poems?  In this series of poems Laura Purdie Salas asks us (as she does many times) to look at something with a fresh perspective.  We move through the four seasons exploring elements found during those special months.

April showers do bring May flowers but what else looks like flowers in the rain?  In a following riddle-ku two objects both begin with the letter "b", but one comes before the other in spring.  This secret is delicately described.  And sometimes you walk around it, other times you jump right in the center with a huge splash.  In the hands of Laura Purdie Salas, we

sail leaf boats across me.

Dandelions, mosquitoes, and sandcastles herald a new season and are aptly portrayed in three clever lines of five, seven and five syllables.  The poem using the title of the book creates a memorable and mesmerizing vision.  It leads us with a gasp and a sigh into autumn.

Will you think of your school as waiting, welcoming and wearing something special?  We read of a train no one will ever ride.  We hear familiar noises when someone makes a satisfying jump as a reward.  Now winter is upon us.  Aspects, those of us living in the north are ready to big adieu, speak to readers. Cold permeates each poem.  How do we fly in winter without ever leaving the ground?  Who waits, as we do, dreaming of spring?


Knowing former students' fondness for haiku and puzzles, I know readers will enjoy these truthful, eloquent riddles using three lines written with great insight by Laura Purdie Salas.  These poems ask us to use all our senses, seeking answers in not-so-obvious places.  The subjects described are familiar but lifted to wondrous.  Here is another poem.

fire in our bellies,
we FLICKER-FLASH in twilight-
rich meadow of stars


As colors burst across the matching dust jacket and book case on the front, we realize we are in for a pictorial treat courtesy of illustrator Merce Lopez.  She captures the amazing feeling of being seated during a festival or holiday using fireworks as they spread above us, diminishing our size by their grandeur.  To the left, on the back, she shifts her style to match the exquisite and graceful nature of the object being described in the riddle-ku shown to readers.  It's a different kind of display; one made by Mother Nature.

On the opening and closing endpapers a canvas is shown in a dark teal.  Each intricate illustration is rendered in acrylic on paper and finished digitally.  They are both realistic and have a dream-like quality at the same time; a beautiful blend of truth and mystery.  Sometimes Merce Lopez has a single-page picture for each poem.  Other times a double-page image becomes a background for two poems.

Merce Lopez's use of color, line, light and shadow invites readers into each illustration.  We are easily transported through the subsequent seasons.  Each visual gives readers additional hints as to the answer for the poem.  Sometimes they are more subtle than others.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is for the poem previously noted.  Earth tones of blue, gray, black and brown in soft shades supply a pleasing place for the glowing circles of light.  These tiny circles of light glow around two children standing in a field of tall grasses.  They are close and facing each other.  Their heads are bowed and looking at the light gently held in their hands.


This third book, Lion Of The Sky: Haiku For All Seasons written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Merce Lopez, is another charming and captivating look at our world through the eyes of an outstanding poet and her illustrative collaborator.  Even when you've figured out the answers to these riddle-ku poems, you'll find yourself reading them again and again for the lovely use of language and the impressive images.  Laura explains riddle-ku at the close of the book.  Further reading about haiku, riddle poems and seasons is listed along with an answer key.  To learn more about Laura Purdie Salas and Merce Lopez, a resident of Spain, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Be sure to enjoy all the extra features Laura includes for this title.  As stated previously Laura Purdie Salas has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Merce Lopez has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior pages.  The artwork of Merce Lopez for this book is showcased by Julie Danielson, author, reviewer and blogger, at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

UPDATE:  Enjoy this video by Laura Purdie Salas about the publication of these books.

By The Light Of The...

It happens again in seventeen days.  Every living thing around the world waits in anticipation.  Unlike so many variables in our day to day lives, it's dependable and predictable.  It wields an influence that is undeniable.

Classical music, song lyrics, artwork and photographs all pay tribute to Earth's satellite in its many phases but a full moon casts a spell over our planet.  If You Were the Moon (Millbrook Press, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., March 1, 2017) written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Jaime Kim presents fascinating features about this celestial body.  When it shines its brightest next, you will gaze upon it with increased understanding and respect.

Helloooooooooo up there, Moon!  I'm sooooooo tired.

A big, bright full moon shines in a little girl's window.  She believes the moon does nothing at all and that's exactly what she wants to do.  The Moon replies in fourteen melodic sentences when linked together make a beautiful ode.  Each line leads to an explanation of the importance of the moon and its role in her life.

The moon really is a chip off the old block having been formed when a large meteorite struck Earth billions of years ago.  Its presence keeps Earth steady enough so temperatures don't shift to the extreme.  We never see the dark side of the moon because spin speeds of the moon's axis and orbit are identical.

You'd be filled with craters too if space rocks were constantly hitting your surface.  We see different parts of the moon because of its position in relation to Earth and the sun.  Do you know why the moon casts light?

Our oceans rise and fall on tides dictated by the moon's gravity.  The moon signals a multitude of animals to begin their nocturnal activities.  The only two places in space humans have walked are planet Earth and the moon.  On May 10, 2017, our next full moon, remember to offer thanks for it doing much more than nothing.


Knitting poetic phrases together with facts Laura Purdie Salas has fashioned a nonfiction narrative which evokes the same sensory experience as the moon does upon the world.  It's as if a full moon is lighting the way as we read her words.  She brings the story full circle with the little girl wide awake and soothed to sleep at the end.  Here is one of the phrases with supporting information.

Light a pathway to the sea.

When sea turtle eggs hatch onshore, the hatchlings instinctively scurry toward the brightest light.  That is usually moonlight sparkling on the ocean, calling the tiny turtles to their home in the sea.


The scene depicted on the opened, matching dust jacket and book case is like stepping into the marvelous, magical quiet of a full moon night.  It flawlessly extends over the spine with more grass, shrubs, and tree trucks stretching into the inky blackness with a few stars.  You know the girl and Moon have a special connection.  It looks as though they are about to start a conversation.  The pair of owls completes an excellent design.

The opening and closing endpapers are the same shade of color as the author and illustrator text.  One of the charming interior images is used on the title page.  The illustrations throughout rendered in acrylic paint and digital techniques by Jaime Kim each span two pages; one for each poetic phrase.  The darkness is softened by the light of the moon.

Altered perspectives showcase the narrative and supply pacing.  The facial expression on the moon and Earth heighten the kinship between the two.  Kim's interpretation of the text is wonderful; the moon's orbit extending into hands holding Earth steady, a series of ballerinas spinning on an axis, and throwing sunlight on Earth.  The elements she includes and the emphasis she places on them is outstanding.

One of my favorite of many illustrations is the explanation of the moon's gravity.  Beneath the star studded sky is the vast ocean.  Eyes closed as if in concentration the smiling moon is placed on the right side, filling half of the page.  To the left a whale breaches.  It's easy to imagine the quiet of the night broken by the splash.


No matter how many times you read If You Were the Moon written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Jaime Kim you will feel like it's the first time.  The combination of the poetic phrases and pictures along with the informative text makes the experience of reading this book a sensation for your senses.  A short glossary and suggestions for further reading are included on the last page.  I believe this title should be placed on your professional and personal bookshelves.

To learn more about Laura Purdie Salas and Jaime Kim and their other work please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  At Laura Purdie Salas's website there are resources for teachers for this title.  Laura is interviewed about this title here.  Jaime Kim has Tumblr pages.   You can learn more about Jaime at Painted Words.  Jaime Kim was a guest at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast in 2014.  You can view interior images at the publisher's website.

Solid As A...

Decades after the first lesson, my eyes are still scanning the beaches.  It needs to be the right shape to smoothly fit in the curve formed by my thumb and index finger.  If it's not the correct weight, too heavy or too light, it won't sail over and bounce on the water.  With the precise angle and wrist action, a personal best is always possible.  It's not simply about skipping stones though but the memories attached to the days.

When gathering rocks for an outdoor fireplace, a garden wall or pathway through the yard, conversations are remembered.  After permission is granted, a farmer may be ready to chat.  There is history within rocks, a history of our earth, but there is history surrounding rocks and their use by humans and other animals.  You have to be ready to look, touch and listen.

Few collaborative efforts express genuine appreciation for natural elements more than the books, A Leaf Can Be... and Water Can Be... written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Violeta Dabija.  Their third title, A Rock Can Be... (Millbrook Press, March 1, 2015) is as illuminative and inspirational as its predecessors.

A rock is a rock.

It's sand, pebble, stone.

Each rock tells a story,

a tale all its own.

With an introduction as comforting as a beloved sanctuary, readers are enveloped in this new exploration of earth's foundation.

Eleven two-word pairs portray a particular perspective.  We are guests in a conversation created by two gifted artists, one in words and the other in illustrations.  We are awakened to wonders we might never see or those we fail to notice daily.

Rocks offer challenges to be met or vessels for water.  They preserve the prehistoric past or lead us to a destination.  As a fiery rumble or a silent glow, these stones speak.  Game pieces, building adornment, and warmth maker, their uses are numerous.

Rocks provide shelter, form sandy hills, light the night sky and supply the finishing touch on a living planet.  They make mealtime easier, give sanctuary to sailors and bridge boundaries.  Seen on hands, in village squares, on bookshelves and in farming communities, their purpose is apparent.

Now go and discover
what else it can be!


When these marvelous two-word couplets are formed by the masterful Laura Purdie Salas the passion she feels for her subject is there for us to read.  Not only does she reveal how rocks shape our lives but her descriptions ask us to examine how we select words to express ourselves.  I can imagine her thinking about all the spots and spaces occupied by rocks, then choosing the exact combinations to make it a sensory experience for us.  Here are two of her couplets.

Tall mountain
Park fountain

Volcano flow-er
Night glow-er


Using a blend of traditional and digital media, the luminosity seen in the earlier titles returns in these illustrations rendered by Violeta Dabija. The matching dust jacket and book case take us to the seashore where the cheerful crab and sentinel seagull (on the back) direct us to the title and a poetic question, respectively.  It's interesting to compare the three books together.  The solid color endpapers on one become the main background color for the jacket and case on another.  In this instance the blue from Water Can Be... supplies the opening and closing hues.  The golden yellow from this book is seen on the endpapers of A Leaf Can Be... as well as on its title. A circle of pebbles in blue, golden yellow, brown and white frame the text on this book's title page.  The beach from the jacket and case appears as a double-page spread for the verso and first page; two feet resting on sand and pebbles, a fish fossil in view.

With each image Dabija places all the elements with care making strikingly atmospheric scenes.  You want to climb her mountains, walk through the glen next to an ancient fountain, eavesdrop on students in a museum or search for a perfect pebble.  Page turns give us a glorious window into another world.

Delicate details invite closer inspection; scrolled stone pots holding flowers, dust aglow from sunshine stirred by a butterfly's flight, or lace gracing a wrist.  Picture size, edge to edge, shifts with the poetic phrases from single to double.  The larger visuals are a breathtaking blend of two separate thoughts.

You can nearly hear the waves washing against the rock walled harbor in one of my favorite images.  On the left sailboats silently sit in a protective arc, a lighthouse guarding the entrance.  The buildings in the seaside community spread across the gutter from left to right.  A canal runs through the village center, bridges placed at intervals.  Shades of blue, purple and red with splashes of white supply a true feeling of serenity.


A Rock Can Be... written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Violeta Dabija has you wishing it was a pebble you could pick up and carry in your pocket.  Using our eyes and imaginations first and then using our own senses second, we notice rocks with a brand-new mindset.  This book is a gift from Laura Purdie Salas and Violeta Dabija to us.  Now we need to pass it on to others as often as we can. The concluding five pages showcase informative explanations about each of the two word phrases, a Glossary and a list of five books for Further Reading.  

To discover more about Laura Purdie Salas and Violeta Dabija please follow the links attached to their names.  You will be able to visit Salas's website and an illustrator page devoted to Dabija.  For most of March on a daily basis Laura Purdie Salas has been tweeting about all the things rocks can be.  They are collected on her blog.

If Not For Them...

Living in northern Michigan there are two things you simply can't ignore, trees and water.  One of my favorite hikes is through the woods along the shore of Lake Michigan.  When no one else is around, early in the morning, I've seen white-tailed deer playfully jumping in the water along the beach and a bald eagle soaring above the treetops.  By climbing a series of hills on paths winding among pines, oaks, maples, poplars, beeches and ferns, I can see two different arms of Lake Charlevoix.

It would be easy to take such abundance of both for granted, but I don't.  Reverence would be an apt description of how I feel about trees and water, knowing they could disappear if not protected.  In 2012 a book garnering a Golden Kite Honor Award, Picture Book Text, placement on the International Reading Association Teachers' Choices 2013, Primary Readers, the position of a Minnesota Book Award Finalist 2013, a The John Burroughs Riverby Award for 2012 and listed on the National Council of Teachers of English 2013 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts titled A Leaf Can Be... (Millbrook Press) written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Violeta Dabija spoke (still speaks) to the youngest of readers (which means all of us) about the place of leaves in the natural realm. 

A leaf is a leaf.

It bursts out each spring

when sunny days linger

and orioles sing. 

After these introductory poetic phrases which truly make you feel like singing yourself (go ahead, read them aloud now), you read the title of the book followed by eleven, rhyming, two-word defining sentence finishers; one set per page.  Then the first sentence of the volume is repeated with three new lines moving from spring to fall.  Again two-word, lyrical, rhyming descriptions depict the ever-changing potential of leaves in the lives of many.

Clearly Laura Purdie Salas is a keen observer of the out-of-doors; noticing the multiple purposes of leaves.  Her true gift though lies in her combinations of words.  Not only are they true but absolutely beautiful. Here are two sets of couplets.

Tree topper

Rain stopper

Wind rider

Lake glider

After the narrative concludes, she takes each of her two-word phrases, explaining them in more factual terms. This is not only an invitation for learning but for readers to challenge themselves to think of their own two-word portrayals of leaves.  The final page includes a small glossary as well as a list of four books containing more information.

Fortunately for readers three short weeks ago Laura Purdie Salas and Violeta Dabija released a new collaboration bringing us a second stellar title, Water Can Be... (Millbrook Press).  Having watched the levels of Lake Michigan fall to their lowest in my memory, this ode to the splendor of water in all its forms is timely and timeless.  From drop to downpour, it's never been more eloquently depicted.

Water is water---
it's puddle, pond, sea.
When springtime comes splashing,
the water flows free.

As in the previous title we readers are treated to eleven representations of water in the world.  Each pair's cadence creates a melody not dissimilar to the sounds water can make; almost silent to a roar.  We are magically moved to each location.

Water is a birthplace and residence, a mirror, a source of food and drink, a land shaper, a cycle maker, a disguiser, a temperature changer, a color coordinator and a source of destruction.  Its capabilities, like a leaf, change with the seasons.  We can see its distinctive values in the outer world as well in our homes and workplaces.

When you read the word choices of Laura Purdie Salas, you want to grab a pencil and paper as fast as you can, to start jotting down what you notice about water in the spring, summer, fall and winter.  She makes you realize you need to pay closer attention, to be more appreciative.  Her use of language challenges you to stretch beyond the obvious, renaming what you see, hear, smell, touch or taste.  Here are several twosomes from this title.

Thirst quencher
Kid drencher

Salmon highway
Eagle flyway

Four pages are devoted to clarifying water's role in the double word phrases.  Her sentences are enlightening and entertaining at the same time.  Salas is careful to speak as if in conversation with her readers.  Here is a single sample.

Rainbow jeweler: Did you know that without water, we would have no rainbows? They form when sunshine meets water vapor in the air.  The sunlight hits the water vapor, bends, and travels to your eye.  The light makes different colors depending on how it bends.

A glossary and list of five books ends this title.



Of Violeta Dabija the publisher's website says:

She works in both traditional and digital media and often mixes them to produce delicate and atmospheric illustrations with a traditional feel.

The matching dust jacket and book case on each volume features an altered version of a visual from within the pages.  On the back is a smaller illustration framing or highlighting a question to the reader about a leaf or water.  The endpapers are a solid color, taken from the front of the jacket and case.

The shapes and hues on the title page blend and extend into the verso and first page, softly stunning, so lovely you wish you were standing beneath the tree branches filled with singing birds or next to the rapidly moving stream.  For each set of words, Dabija has created lively, graceful images endearing and expressive, favoring shades of green in the first and of blue in the newest title.  That is not to say she does not use other colors to great effect.

 She adds her unique, skillful brand of marvel and magic on every page.  The final two pages, a single illustration in both books, show men and women creating topiaries from shrubs and trees and a castle, crescent moon, rabbit and dragon from ice.  In A Leaf Can Be... one of my favorite pictures (nest former) is of a flock of white birds gathering leaves to make homes in a single tree.  The combination of greens, blues and browns, tiny white blossoms surrounding the shape of the branch ends, is life affirming, full of peace and hope.  Featuring a cascading stream, white-tipped waves forming, falling down through the spring forest with snow-capped mountains in the distance, Dabija pictures Downhill speeder from Water Can Be...  You can almost hear the racing sound of the water.  This is one of several favorites of mine.


Let us hope that A Leaf Can Be... and Water Can Be... written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Violeta Dabija are the first two of many collaborations.  These books are breathtaking in word and pictures.  Read them for the quiet pleasure they bring.  Read them for the information they provide.  Read them to see a leaf and water in a new light.  Most of all, share them with everyone often!

Please follow the links embedded in the author's and illustrator's names to access their official websites. Laura Purdie Salas has numerous extra features for educators; how the book began (for A Leaf Can Be...), reading guides, videos and activity sheets. Follow this link to the publisher's website for inside views of both books, and a PDF downloadable bookmark for A Leaf Can Be... At this link to Cynthia Leitich Smith's blog, Cynsations, view several videos about Water Can Be...  Here is a link to a Pinterest board Laura Purdie Salas created for Water Can Be...

Do not miss the #SharpSchu Book Club tonight on Twitter which features these two books.  Be sure to check back here later for a link to the archive if you miss the chat.  Watch. Connect. Read. John Schumacher  Sharpread Colby Sharp

Shhhh...It's Their Turn Now

Among all the books published in a given year, some books stand out in their particular area.  They become one of those volumes which should be on every book lover's shelf.  Now, on the last day of National Poetry Month 2013 and on the second day of Screen-Free Week 2013, is the perfect time to highlight a title not previously given focus on this blog.









This title is one of the 2011 Nerdies Book Award winners in the poetry category.  It won the 2012 Cybils Award for Poetry.  Written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Josee Bisaillon, BookSpeak! Poems About Books (Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, October 2011) is a jaunty journey into the realm of What If.



Calling All Readers
I'll tell you a story.
I'll spin you a rhyme.
I'll spill some ideas---
and we'll travel through time. ...

The introductory stanza from the first poem is a call to the heart of all of us; we crave stories.  It goes on to tell us to leave our television sets and computers, taking time to make friends with a book.

Within the covers of this book twenty-one poems allow volumes to have their say.  Not only do the books themselves speak, but the parts of books want to be given equal time too.  Readers are asked to think about books in ways they may not have considered previously.

Can flocks of blackbirds be words of a story?  If a book is not read, what happens to the words inside the covers?  Do characters feel as if they are imprisoned?

There are books holding secrets; a person's life page by page.  There are well-loved books and perfect books never held by sticky fingers.  There are books not yet written which we deeply desire; a sequel can not come fast enough.

The times late at night when you want to finish a book, fighting sleep but loose the battle are pretty tough on the book whose pages become your pillow.  It's understood but nevertheless stated, books abhor...water.  Readers realize books enjoy vacations just as much as the people themselves (maybe even more).

We get the inside scoop, the absolute truth, from the index.  We are told exactly what to do with a dish that is not a dish.  And we discover the real definition of The End.


 Laura Purdie Salas answers questions readers didn't know they had in a clever, conversational tone of voice.  Different poetic styles, rhyming, free verse and acrostic, create a flow that's fun to follow, moving easily from page to page.  Salas knows which words are right, the exact amount of lines necessary, and where breaks should be placed to send an invitation to the reader, encouraging participation in her lighthearted look at the world of books.  One of my favorite poems is The Middle's Lament: A Poem for Three Voices.  The conversation between The Middle, The Beginning and The End is funny with a capital F.


Readers know with a first look at the jacket and cover of this title, they're in for a rare visual adventure.  Rendered using mixed media, Josee Bisaillon's illustrations are fanciful and fascinating.  On the title page an organ grinder's monkey is riding a tricycle pulling a wagon loaded with books, the side featuring the publisher information.  Above in the trail of a bee's flight the author's and illustrator's names wave across the page.  Dedications are signs pulled through the air by planes.

With a color palette as varied as the poems themselves, patterns and textures, objects, animals (real or imagined) and people doing amazing things, readers find themselves in the completely unique world wrought by the capable hands of Bisaillon.  Inkblots become blackbirds, a book unlocked by a special key, opens, casting a light filled with brilliant butterflies, and rain falls on an umbrella with flowers growing on top.  What we can only dream, she places on the pages for all to see.


Whether read silently or better still, aloud, BookSpeak: Poems About Books written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Josee Bisaillon, will leave readers marveling and thinking about the endless possibilities found and because of books.  By following the link embedded in Josee Bisaillon's name to her website, you can see more illustrations from this title.  At Laura Purdie Salas' website (linked to her name) she has a reading guide, activity sheets and several videos of her reading poems from this book.




I think it would be great fun to read Lights Out At The Bookstore, the third to the last poem in the book, either before or after this video, a favorite of mine.