Correspondence Confusion

Bright and early yesterday morning after a rain shower, a discovery was made.  A soggy letter was found in the middle of the road.   It was returned to its rightful owner after a blurred address was deciphered.  What might have happened if it had not rained and it blew farther away?  Did the owner of the letter find it stashed on their porch?  Are the contents important?

Whether you find a soaked message in the middle of the road or a written note placed in an envelope and left inside your dry mailbox by the postman, there is still today, with all our advanced technology, a bit of magic attached to unexpected correspondence.  There is usually a bit of an internal conversation taking place before the envelope is opened.  Is this good news or not-so-good news?  Will this letter change my day?  The Love Letter (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, October 8, 2019) written by Anika Aldamuy Denise with illustrations by Lucy Ruth Cummins is a charming combination of hopefulness, misunderstanding and truth in words and art.

Hedgehog was late.
He did not like being late.

Hedgehog's mood was the opposite of cheerful at the point when he spied something out of the ordinary on the ground.

It was a letter.

Reading the words, Hedgehog realized it was a love letter.  He believed someone loved him because the salutation read Friend.  He took the letter with him, stashing it inside his backpack.

When Hedgehog arrived in the meadow, his mood was happier than normal.  Everything he did with his friends, Bunny and Squirrel, was downright enjoyable.  He was pleased to walk Bunny home.  After she hugged him in thanks, she found something on the ground.  It was that letter.

Bunny was jubilant.  Hedgehog loved her!  At home Bunny was more helpful than normal.  When her chores were completed before and after dinner, she decided to visit Squirrel, bringing him a bundle of acorns.  Guess what she dropped as she left?  It was that letter.

Squirrel believing Bunny loved him was more carefree than normal.  Nothing was going to change the way he was feeling.  He slept long and hard until he raced to the meadow in the morning.

Each one of them, Hedgehog, Bunny and Squirrel, believed someone loved them.  Two were certain they knew who it was.  There were more than a few surprises at the meadow that day.  Wise words act as a reminder and retie the threads of friendship.


You have to admit when Hedgehog first finds the letter and reads the words, you feel a bit excited for him.  A new normal has popped into Hedgehog's day.  This is how author Anika Aldamuy Denise immediately invites us into the story.  When he voices his thoughts out loud, our heartrate picks up a little bit, too.  This is why we understand the difference in how he relates to his friends during their daily meadow visit.

With the discovery of the letter by the other two characters, we fully comprehend their joy, but we also feel a tension growing.  Who wrote this letter and for whom did they write it? For each of the characters, Anika Aldamuy Denise simply doesn't state they are more cheerful, helpful or carefree.  She gives examples.  This assists in elevating the gentle tension.    An added bit of humor by Anika Aldamuy Denise is the exclamations made by Bunny and Squirrel when they believe they are loved.  Here is a passage.

Down in the rabbit hole, Mama put her straight to work.
Normally Bunny pretended to nap at chore time, but today
she had a love letter and was feeling oddly . . . helpful.


Readers will find the limited color palette, introduced on the open dust jacket, will wrap around them like their favorite cozy clothing.  Throughout the book black, white, brown, yellow, pink and hues of gray create pleasing portraits of the characters and their surroundings.  The design on the jacket and inside the book is stunning.  Careful readers will notice something very special about the framing of the woodland scene with Hedgehog on the front.

To the left, on the back, Bunny, Squirrel and Hedgehog have arrived at the meadow, all believing they are loved.  They are bundled in their winter apparel and boots.  None of them are making eye contact.  The setting is more open expressing the shyness and vulnerability they feel.

On the book case it's night.  The darker sky highlights the falling snow, a row of birch trees from the left edge to the right edge and the ground covered with snow.  A full moon fashions shadows of the trees on the snow as it shines in the upper, left-hand corner.  A trail of tiny footprints moves from the far left to the tiny creature making them on the right.  It is our first hint.

The yellow used on the varnished title text on the front of the jacket covers the opening and closing endpapers.  Before the title page, Lucy Ruth Cummins gives readers another clue on this first page.  A typewriter with paper and envelopes is placed in the lower, right-hand corner.  The size of the chair and a teeny teacup are another hint.  With another page turn, the darker night lit only by the moon and glowing windows in a nearby home provide a place for the verso and dedication and title pages. The trees stand like silent sentinels.  A third clue is seen in the other place with glowing light, the inside of a log. (This same log happens to appear in the first narrative page in the book.)

The images rendered using

Navah Wolfe's old-timey typewriter, gouache, brush marker, colored pencil, and ink wash before finishing the illustrations digitally for this book

by Lucy Ruth Cummins are double-page pictures, smaller illustrations placed on white space, full-page pictures and several smaller images grouped together on a single page.  Every time the letter is read it's a close-up.  Lucy Ruth Cummins's double-page picture of the three friends walking in the snow to the meadow is an outstanding layout.  Her fine lines and delicate details further draw the reader into the story.  The eyes on the characters leave no doubt as to their current mood.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a full-page picture.  Even without the text, you know something in the story is changing.  Several leafless trees stand near two large birches against a pale gray sky.  Brown grass covers the lower half of the page.  It is slighting rounded.  Hedgehog, with his back to readers, is walking away between the two birch trees. Bunny is in the foreground bending down to pick up the dropped letter.  (At this point in a read aloud, listeners will be gasping or crying out.) Her pint sweater, bluish gray backpack and shoes and yellow polka-dot skirt are a pleasing contrast to the meadow.


If there were a huggable category for books, The Love Letter written by Anika Aldamuy Denise with illustrations by Lucy Ruth Cummins, would find a place there.  To believe you are loved is wonderful, to know it, is even better.  This book inspires us to shine love whenever we can, wherever we go.  I highly recommend a copy for your personal and professional book collections.

To read more about Anika Aldamuy Denise and Lucy Ruth Cummins and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Anika Aldamuy Denise has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Lucy Ruth Cummins has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior illustrations.  I was honored to host the cover reveal for this book and was able to ask questions of Anika Aldamuy Denise and Lucy Ruth Cummins.  You can read the full post here.

A Message Meant For You

As you wind through the woodland paths hiking with no particular destination in mind, it suddenly appears like a signal among the forest flora.  The bright white is hard to miss.  You've been told to never touch it when it's attached to a tree but now it's a gift left for you to treasure or use.  Aptly named, the bark of the paper birch is akin to pages in a composition notebook, waiting for words.  It presents possibilities.

This opportunity is like a question, what will you do with what you have?  I Wrote You A Note (Chronicle Books, June 13, 2017) written and illustrated by Lizi Boyd follows the journey of a message sent.  It considers potential based upon perspective.

I wrote you a note.
Did you find it?

No, the note is not found by the intended recipient but Turtle found it.  Did he read it?  No, he did not but he used it as a sail for his log-style raft.  It started to go faster than he was accustomed to going, so he swam away.

Then Duck discovered the note.  Her ducklings were tired.  A dock would be nice.  Spider needed help crossing the stream.  Bird wanted to strengthen her nest.

The note drifted to six more creatures of forest and field.  Each time they found a unique use for it.  Once it was a book.  Another time it was a sun hat.  It was even a napping tent.

Finally the wind found it.  It rose high in the air, moving about on the currents like a gymnast.  When it landed, a request was fulfilled.


Like the note written by her character Lizi Boyd sends an invitation to readers to participate in the narrative as it unfolds.  She creates a welcoming beat with the question

Did you find it?

followed by the three animals who did find it.  When she precedes

found the note

with the name of an animal, we wonder what they will make.  We wonder why they leave their newly designed object.  Here is a sample passage.

Squirrel found the note.
He folded it in half
and made a book.
But squirrels don't 
sit still for very long.

Squirrel dropped 
the book and
scampered up
the tree.


Looking at the opened dust jacket the scene from the front continues on the other side of the spine.  The rows of delicate flowers and grasses provide comfort for five of the animals who find the note.  It's a nice design element to have the girl writing Lizi Boyd's name on the birch bark.  Also by having the girl wear black and white clothing it's a reflection of the black ink on the white birch bark.  The color palette seen on the jacket is continued throughout the book with the addition of other spot colors.

The book case is like a piece of birch bark.  The only thing on it is the title text on the front, to the right.  The opening and closing endpapers are a pattern of grasses like at the top of the dust jacket prior to the sky.  They are done in blues, greens, white and gray.  On the title page the blue bird is carrying the piece of bark with the text on it. Prior to the first page and after the final page, a page is devoted to the replication of birch bark.

With the exception of the first and last pages all of the other pictures span two pages.  Parts of the pattern on the endpapers are woven into each image.  The tiny details supply a form of symmetry which in turn generates calm.  Readers will note a portion of the next animal to find the note is placed on the previous page.  This is a fine example of foreshadowing and suggests that readers make predictions.

Rendered in gouache each brush stroke is placed with painstaking care.  Other animals are added to most of the scenes; a honeybee, a frog, a salamander, a woodpecker, blackbirds, a butterfly, a grasshopper, and a caterpillar.  Each picture is a study of a natural setting.

A favorite picture of mine (of many) is of Duck using the note to make a dock for her tired ducklings.  On the left along the bank of the stream, Turtle from the previous page is moving from behind a rock in the background.  To the right in the background the girl is observing a spider web in the grass.  In front of her the small head of a frog is peeking from behind a rock.  Along the bottom the stream stretches from page edge to page edge.  Duck is swimming on the left with one duckling.  The other two are on the piece of birch bark on the right.


Readers, who enjoy titles which expand their thinking, stretching the "what-if", are going to read I Wrote You A Note written and illustrated by Lizi Boyd again and again.  They will pause at ever page turn to take pleasure in each illustration.  This book would be wonderful to explore letter writing, perspective, how certain animals might view a piece of birch bark and as an exploration of the natural world.  Who will you meet?  You will most definitely want a copy of this title on your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Lizi Boyd and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  If you wish to see an inside spread please visit the publisher's website.  Lizi Boyd is featured at PictureBook Makers.  Several other posts highlight the work of Lizi Boyd during the release of her title, Flashlight.

Conquest Of Words

During the 2015-2016 school year I was fortunate to work with a group of kindergarten students. Visiting them once a week, introducing them to authors, illustrators and the joy of appreciating not only the stories they told but how they accomplished their work was memorable.  As a thank you for our time together they wrote a book for me.  In it are letters of gratitude.

These letters are one of my greatest treasures because in my years of education I have had the opportunity to watch students learning to shape letters and string them together to make words.  When they are able to do this their happiness is huge.  Little Plane Learns to Write (A Neal Porter Books, Roaring Brook Press, June 6, 2017) written and illustrated by Stephen Savage takes readers on a journey of practice makes perfect.

It was time for class at flight school.

Little Plane could hardly wait to begin.  Their flight instructor told them about their new lesson.  They were going to learn to write.

Practicing arcs, dives and loopity-loops was important to their success.  Little Plane zoomed into the air.  Completing arcs was no problem.  The loopity-loops were not so easy.  They made him feel upside down and inside out.

He tried his best the next day but writing about clouds was minus an o.  Of course the flight instructor noticed the omission encouraging him to try again.  Little Plane gave it his best effort but again his next word lacked an o.

As the day darkened into night, Little Plane was deeply discouraged.  The night was partly cloudy.  As the clouds moved across the sky a glowing revelation gave Little Plane an idea.  With great care he flew.  His happiness was huge.


When Stephen Savage writes for our younger readers he speaks directly to their collective hearts and minds.  His sentences are simple and easily understood but still convey emotion.  His careful use of words allows us to connect to his characters.  This story becomes a bit more personal with the inserted dialogue by the flight instructor.  Every single one of us understands the struggle to learn to write and form words.  Every single one of us needed (needs) support.  And it's surprising, as Stephen demonstrates, when that support will appear.


Two dots and two curved lines give readers all they need to know about the mood of Little Plane as he flies over the countryside beneath him.  He has just completed writing the text for the title and could not more thrilled.  His red hue conveys warmth in beautiful contrast to the predominant use of primary colors throughout the book .  To the left, on the back, the canvas shifts to all sky blue.  Within a circle of yellow is a lighter blue.  Little Plane is flying out of the circle, a large grin on his face.

Readers are going to love the opening and closing endpapers.  Little Plane along with the other students have written the upper and lower case letters of the alphabet between the two images.  A through M is on the first and N through Z is on the second.  The background shifts in shades of blue to delineate the passage of time.

Digital techniques created the illustrations which all span two pages.  Stephen's use of line, shadows, light and shapes is ideal for the intended audience.  He alternates smoothly between panoramic and close-up views.  They contribute to the sensory impact.

One of my many favorite pictures is when Little Plane is trying a second time to get his loopity-loops to form.  The lower two-thirds of the page is a cityscape with a bridge in the background on the left.  Over the right side of the city is a large rainbow.  Above this the word is correctly spelled without an o.  Little Plane is flying away glad with what he has accomplished even without the o.  


Little Plane Learns to Write written and illustrated by Stephen Savage is an ode to learning and persistence.  It also shows how students learn differently and at varying rates.  I predict this book is going to be requested repeatedly by readers as a read aloud one-on-one or as a group.  You will want to add this title to your professional and personal collections of Stephen Savage books.  It's a definite winner.  (Can you guess which letter the students who wrote to me struggled with the most?)

To learn more about Stephen Savage and his other work please visit his website by following the link attached to his name.  To view interior images of this book please view them at the publisher's website.  Stephen is interviewed at Where The Board Books Are and BKLYNER.  This book is one of those featured by author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Stephen Savage had the distinct honor to be selected as the Irma Black and Cook Prize ceremony keynote speaker on May 18, 2017.

Seasonal Confection

Summer represents a host of memories and a time to conjure up more.  In our family it meant enjoying time in the gardens, softball games, fishing, boating, bike riding, grilling in the back yard, endless games of hide-and-seek at dusk, campfires and lots of ice cream.  Every single Sunday evening we would travel to a nearby town to get ice cream cones at the Dairy Queen across from the county fairgrounds.  On very special occasions we would make our own.

We had one of those old wooden hand crank makers.  We would put the ingredients inside the metal container, surround is with ice and salt and turn the handle until our arms felt like putty.  When it was finally set to a soft solid, we scooped it out and savored every single swallow.  To this day I've never tasted anything as scrumptious.

Even on chillier days, this season signals the time to try this tasty treat.  Ice Cream Summer (Scholastic Press, May 26, 2015) written and illustrated by Peter Sis is a boy's journey through learning and leisure.  It begins with a letter.

Dear Grandpa,
Thank you for your letter.
So far, it's been a delicious summer.

After receiving a letter from his grandpa promising a special trip, Joe begins to talk about his summer days.  He stays busy with visits to the beach with his family.  He's quick to mention it's not all fun in the sun.

He remembers to read daily.  New words are becoming part of his vocabulary.  His writing skills are growing.  In fact, he is making a book.

Addition, subtraction and story problems are practiced.  His day camp adventures include lessons in cartography and treks to new places.  The set of encyclopedias his grandpa gave him are put to use in exploring world and American history.

There is never a dull moment in this little guy's days.  He's excited about the new adventure he is sharing with his grandpa.  Where are they going you ask?  It's a surprise you'll have to discover for yourself.


With younger readers in mind, Peter Sis uses one or two conversational sentences per page.  Sometimes a sentence will work in tandem with a double-page illustration or will be spread over a page turn between two double-page illustrations.  The words are so carefully chosen you can almost hear the boy speaking to his grandpa.  What makes this title appeal to older readers is the additional explanatory text woven into the illustrations.  It's genuinely clever how the two work together to make a delightful whole.  Here is a sample.

Sometimes I trip over a simple equation.
But if I slow down, I always get it right.

Above in the illustration where the boy and his dog have tripped losing scoops of ice cream, we see

 10-7=?
3-2=?


What draws the reader to this title is the spirited uplifting color palette used throughout.  It's like Sis has captured summer and spread it over the pages.  Joe and his ever-present pooch pal on the front of the dust jacket announce their passion for ice cream.  Multiple flavors are spinning about them as a hint of the events to come.  On the back, to the left, a portion of an interior illustration is shown.  Joe is reading one of the encyclopedias while sitting in a hammock strung between two giant ice cream cones.

Darker shades of the hue used for Cream on the jacket cover the book case like a sunset.  On the front Joe and his dog are carrying ice cream cones piled high with a variety of scoops.  The opening and closing endpapers are the blue used for Ice on the dust jacket.  Rows of ice cream treats cover both in an identical pattern.

The spinning cones from the jacket become a rainbow surrounding the boy and his buddy on the page opposite the title.  Some of the text forms a large ice cream cone.  Every single illustration which follows elevates the boy's sentences using ice cream cones for everything possible.  In the first two-page illustration, Joe's bedroom, cones can be seen in every element.

With a page turn the family is at the beach.  Their umbrella is shaped like an ice cream treat.  Joe is making a sand castle extravaganza with ice cream sundaes.  The legs on a crab are cones.  The stacks on a ship are cones.  An airplane shaped like a cone is pulling a sign reading ice cream.  The narrative says one thing, the images say even more.

At times Sis will give us a panoramic view of Joe's activities.  Other times we zoom in close to see him intently at work.  Peter Sis's eyes on his characters are remarkable.  His details will have readers pausing, determined not to miss a single item.

One of my favorite illustrations is of Joe standing in front of the ice cream stand.  The flavors are listed on a board above the circles representing the tubs of ice cream.  His back is to us as he is trying to decide.  His dog is sitting next to him as the ice cream woman wearing bright yellow sneakers waits. This picture goes with the sentence

I am conquering big words like
tornado and explosion! 

These are part of the flavor names.


Ice Cream Summer written and illustrated by Peter Sis is simply delectable.  It is a delightful example of illustrations enlarging the narrative.  I can see using this for pure fun, to introduce a unit on seasons or a how-to on research.  It provides endless possibilities.  I most certainly guarantee you will be craving ice cream within a few page turns.

To learn more about Peter Sis please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.