Leaving And Staying, Staying And Leaving

As an educator, as a school (and public) librarian, you have goals to accomplish with your students (and young patrons) every day of every week throughout the year.  The most rewarding thing about these plans is that they can change significantly from paper to practice.  Responses given to you by the children necessitate alterations.  They may think, speak and act far differently than you envision.  And that is a thing of beauty.

Their ability to assess a situation and imagine an unexpected outcome is why children are our greatest hope.  Mabel and Sam at Home: One Brave Journey In Three Adventures (Chronicle Books, June 5, 2018) written by Linda Urban with illustrations by Hadley Hooper is a joyful display of words and images.  It is a great day of change for these siblings but they are looking beyond the four walls of their new home.

ON THE HIGH SEAS
At the new house, there were movers and shouting and boxes and blankets.

There were chairs where chairs did not go
and sofas where sofas could not stay.

With all this hustle and bustle happening Mabel and Sam had to locate a protected place.  A box, a big blue rug, a starfish-shaped sponge, a mop and a curtain were all these children needed to set sail.  The Handle With Care ship took them over wild waves, near pirates and through a sea full of creatures.

It was determined after a sister and brother-sort of discussion worry and being scared were best prevented by keeping busy.  During one of his tasks Sam spied an island.  Another verbal exchange had the duo staying aboard rather than going ashore.  In the end, the "inhabitants" of the new land lured the captain and her first mate from their ship with a time-honored trick.

In a new house "before" furniture looked out of place.  The surroundings have shifted.  Mabel decided Sam had to visit the New House Museum.  Familiar objects were given new names.  Familiar objects became artifacts of importance.  Finally Sam discovered an artifact of great value.  It was the only one of its variety remaining.  Now he got to demonstrate its use.

As early evening descends there was a final voyage.  Mabel and Sam blasted into space as astronauts.  Using the covers, red, from her bed as a line Mabel lets Sam explore.

Astronaut Mabel pulled Astronaut Sam back inside the ship.
"Did you see anything out there?" she asked.

"I saw lots of things out there," said Astronaut Sam.
"Out there is where everything is."

The voyagers continued chatting about their destination, Planet Perfecto, being bold and having enough space to think.  It got darker and darker until a light brightened their path.  Parental permission was granted for a landing and special bedtime accommodations.  As sleep took the adventurers to dreamland, they knew tomorrow promised to be another day of discovery.


If Linda Urban were sitting in front of me at this moment, I would reach out and give her a hug.  Whether we are reading her lively narrative or "listening" to a chat between Mabel and Sam, we feel pure happiness bubbling up inside our hearts.  Her descriptions of the move; what is happening outside of the three adventures (On The High Seas, At The Museum and In Space) is nearly poetic, creating a cadence.

When the children are imagining they are somewhere other than their new home every thought is in keeping with their perspective of this particular place.  On the seas terminology such as ahoy, first mate, swab the deck and all ashore are seamlessly part of the story.  At the museum Sam becomes acquainted with proper museum etiquette, the meaning of artifact and the Ancient Chicken of Cleveland.  As astronauts in space they muse about the move by thinking of being bold and the necessity of space.  Of course, their companion in these three adventures, Mr. Woofie, the family dog, is a necessary and important character.  Here is another passage.

Tour Guide Mabel led Sam to the next exhibit.
"Do you know what this is?" asked Mabel.
"My Bunny Wubby," said Sam.
"It is a Mississippi Wishing Rabbit.  They are very rare."
"Oh," said Sam.
"Petting its ears brings seven years' good luck," said Mabel.
"Really?" asked Sam.


When my copy of this book arrived, the first thing I did was smile and laugh when I saw the matching dust jacket and book case.  Just as the children do in their adventures, Hadley Hooper does in her illustrations.  She takes the ordinary, the table, stack of boxes and chair, and forms one into a rocket ship.  The design on the front is wonderful!  Notice how the top of the rocket crosses the "o" in home with the star pointing to the "and".

To the left, on the back, a great deal of white space becomes the canvas for the display of the trickery used by the "inhabitants" to get Captain Mabel and First Mate Sam off the Handle With Care.  Hadley Hooper's color palette here and throughout the book leans toward primary colors.  (She assigns a thematic color to each adventure.)  On the opening endpapers is a deep spring green.  A rich blue covers the closing endpapers.

Rendered in tradition printmaking techniques and finished in Photoshop the images, most spanning two pages, are sheer delight.  The children's expressions and body postures (and Mr. Woofie's too) endear all three of them to readers.  The attention to detail, Mr. Woofie's swimming in the lines of the rug as if they are waves, the blend of reality (the sofa and pillow) with walls of a potential museum with paintings and statues, and the interior of the rocket ship as the duo are blasting through space, is exquisite.

Of the many illustrations (the entire book to be truthful) one of my favorite pictures spans two pages.  From left to right the water parts and swirls of white wave and point to mostly blue on the right.  The text is cleverly placed in the white portions.  Fish swim in the middle of the blue.  As our eyes move to the right a three-masted ship glides off the edge of the page.  Mabel and Sam are shown in three separate places on the right.  In each of them Mabel is acting as captain.  Sam swabs the Handle With Care, fishes and keeps a lookout.


Mabel and Same at Home: One Brave Journey In Three Adventures written by Linda Urban with illustrations by Hadley Hooper is brilliant!  The blend of narrative and art invites us to join Mabel and Sam.  And we want to be there with them.  Children will be asking you to read this one over and over.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Linda Urban and Hadley Hooper and their other work, please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Author Kate Messner chats with Linda Urban about this book on her website.  Hadley also has some art on Tumblr pages.  Hadley Hooper visits Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, the blog of author, reviewer and blogger, Julie Danielson.  Julie also has more artwork from this book in this post. If you want to see the right side of the illustration I note, follow this link to the publisher's blog.

Bridging The Divide With Love

It does not matter how old they are.  You can see it in their posture even before you have a chance to glance at their faces.  They will try to be brave.  They will try to keep their feelings hidden but if one of your students has had a shift in the dynamics of their home life, you will know.

You will carefully and with kindness offer them support.  One of the best things you can do is to give them a book which mirrors their experiences.  Many times a book will hold more weight than anything anyone else can say.  A book holds a kind of authority.  It's a type of magical connection.

 One of the finest titless I have read about a child adjusting to separation (divorce) is Weekends With Max And His Dad (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April 5, 2016) written by Linda Urban with illustrations by Katie Kath.  Even before I finished the first ten pages, the end of chapter one in part one, I hugged this book with my heart (and my hands). It speaks to those in this position.  It speaks to those who are not, helping them to understand.

Weekend 
One
Spies
Chapter
One
When Max's dad came to pick him up on Friday night, he said, "Tomorrow, I will show you my new neighborhood."
"Sorry, Dad," said Max.  "Tomorrow I have spy duty.  You'll have to call me Agent Pepperoni."
"Oh," said Dad.  "Okay."
"But you can be my helper spy," said Max.  "You can be Agent Cheese."
"Not Agent Lightning?  Or Agent Super-Cool Guy?" asked Dad.

Max arrives at his dad's new apartment for the first time since his parent's separation.  Having recently finished reading The Sneaky Book of Spy Skills, he has plans to make this weekend alone with his dad an adventure.  To his father's credit he joins in on the fun with equal measure reading Max's book, donning a disguise along with his son and giving them a secret mission.  Listening, note and picture taking and map making prove beneficial on their unplanned tour of the area shops.  Secret sharing with a third agent, the newest member of the team, will have readers inwardly cheering for this son and this father.

Between superhero and archenemy battles, ukulele playing and a return visit to the local cafe to order the County's Best Bacon and Pineapple Pancakes both Max and his dad discover important pieces of information about each other.  They also make the acquaintance of a wonderful apartment resident and her two basset hounds, Barkis and Peggoty.  Make believe, running, the acquisition of Olle and a super-secret project further cement the caring, wonderful relationship between Max and his dad.

Looking forward to the third weekend visit Max can hardly contain his excitement.  His best buddy, Warren, is coming for a sleepover.  The boys are your proverbial two peas in a pod but Warren does offer comments helping Max to alter his perspectives.  Bonds of friendships and Michigan mammal habitats are built to last with a quest ensuring each is of the highest order.  As the final chapter in the third part comes to a close, two tasks yield satisfying results.  In the mathematics of love two equals one.


With every sentence read in this book my admiration for Linda Urban and her masterful ability to create endearing characters grew.  Through the conversations between her characters, their lively and loving personalities nearly walk off the pages into our space.  Not only do we enjoy the interactions of the primary characters but the secondary characters play a significant role in the ebb and flow of the narrative.  Their presence increases the eloquence in an already wonderful story of a boy and his father.

In my way of thinking Linda Urban, through the people in this book, shows us how to be our best possible selves.  Fashioning a new normal is not an easy task but each individual chooses to place the other person first.  This is what love, unconditional love, is.  Another technique Urban uses is to end each chapter with a promise of things to come or with a sense of achievement or peace of mind. Here are a couple of sample passages.

"Do you like it?" asked Dad.
"It's very blue," said Max.  He didn't want to say what he was really feeling.  What he was feeling was like somebody was sitting on his chest.  Max had liked the Detroit Lions last year, when he was in second grade.  He still liked the Detroit Lions now, but not as much.  And he did not think he liked blue very much at all.  He could not imagine a spy with a blue room and football curtains.
"Are you okay?" asked Dad.
Max did not want to hurt Dad's feelings.  "I'm tired," he said.  He pretended to yawn.

The lady in the pink apron gave Max and Dad each a large wedge of chocolate.  They posed for a picture with Mr. Benetti.  Snap snap snap snap snap snap snap!  went all the cameras in the room.
"So much for being inconspicuous," said Dad.  "I guess there'll be no spying in Italy for us.  Our cover is blown."
Max took another bite of heavenly chocolate.
"It's worth it."


When you open the dust jacket you can see that the circles employed on the front have been used on the back to the left.  The same colors are used, orange, green and a larger, deep golden yellow.  I like the idea of circles, no beginning and no end.  On the back Barkis and Peggoty are exuberantly checking out (sniffing) a pot of flowers.  On the book case in the same shade of pale yellow used on the jacket, etched in gold, a basset hound is posed on its hind legs howling.  A dark chocolate brown extends from the spine into the front and back of the case canvas.

The circles are used by illustrator Katie Kath on the title page and at the beginning of each of the three parts.  Black and white animated, detailed and spirited pictures are seen at nearly every page turn.  They are altered in size and perspective to further define moments in the story.  My favorite ones are when Max and his dad are spies.


Weekends With Max And His Dad written by Linda Urban with illustrations by Katie Kath brings pure joy to readers for its wondrous, lighthearted view of real people.  Everyone wins when you have people around you who look at life as half full, regardless of the circumstances.  This book needs to be read aloud.  It should be in classrooms, libraries and on the shelves in homes.  I do adore it, every single page.

👍🏼 A finished copy of @lindaurbanbooks' Weekends with Max and His Dad: https://t.co/XvBMpQewX8

— John Schu (@MrSchuReads) March 25, 2016

To learn more about Linda Urban and Katie Kath and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  To read an excerpt of the book follow this link to the publisher's website.

No Help Wanted...

Ever since I was first introduced to The Little Red Hen in The Tall Book of Nursery Tales (Harper And Brothers, 1944) with pictures by Feodor Rojankovsky (1956 Caldecott Medal winner for Frog Went A-Courtin'), I've been a collector of different interpretations and variations.  For more traditional tales I've enjoyed The Little Red Hen by Jerry Pinkney and The Little Red Hen: An Old Fable by Heather Forest, illustrations by Susan Gaber.  For stretching the story The Little Red Hen (Makes A Pizza) by Philomen Sturges, illustrations by Amy Walrod, The Red Hen by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley, Cook-A-Doodle-Doo! and The Little Red Pen by sisters Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel have provided plenty of fun and puns.

Getting right to the heart of what is family, Little Red Henry (Candlewick Press, April 28, 2015) written by Linda Urban with illustrations by Madeline Valentine addresses an alternate view of the familiar.  As a first child or the youngest child can verify, doting parents or older siblings can be overwhelming in their attentions.  Sometimes you have to take a stand for the sake of your own sanity.

Ever since time began,

Mama and Papa and Mem and Sven had loved and cuddled and smooched and squeezed their little redheaded Henry.  

Henry didn't have to do a thing for himself.  His frustration level was at an all-time high.  He was getting to be a big boy.  He was no longer a baby.  He wanted to do things for himself like eating his own breakfast.  

After his morning meal the entire crew rushed to the bathroom to help him brush his teeth.  I guess you know Henry was not going to allow that any longer.  He politely declined all their requests.

Things were starting to look up for Henry.  The next thing on his agenda was to play with his next-door-neighbor friend.  Of course, all his attire was stacked and waiting for him.  He picked out a totally new outfit.  Without waiting for any member of his family to confirm plans for a play date, Henry knocked on Gibson's front door.  Those two boys had the best time.

That evening during dinner, Henry didn't spill a single drop of milk when he poured it himself.  His food was consumed completely and perfectly.  His family was definitely distraught.  If they couldn't do things for Henry, what were they supposed to do?

Big boy, not-a-baby Henry asked them a question.  Their responses altered the evening's events to everyone's joy.  In fact Henry discovered it was necessary to yell out another question.  Their answers were what everyone needed. 

The cadence found in the original tale is cleverly re-shaped by wordsmith Linda Urban.  There is still a goal to be reached.  The shift comes when Henry, unlike the hen, does not seek assistance.  It is repeatedly offered though with the words

Let me

by Papa, Mem and Sven after Mama tries to help.  Like the hen, Henry does everything himself.

And he did.

Urban adds the right touch of humor with her wonderful word choices for each family member's thoughts and suggestions.  You will find yourself nodding your head and laughing when you read

...sick of it.

...itty-bitty chair or

elbowing and calling dibs.  

Her use of alliteration adds to the beat and sheer joy found in the repetition.  The technique of using and more than once in a sentence creates a playful, childlike pace.  When reading this aloud, the sentences make music. 

The look of disgust on Henry's face on the matching dust jacket and book case with his Mama and Papa and Mem and Sven getting him ready for a ride in his wagon, smiles on their faces, sets the tone for the entire book.  The eagerness seen in the family's expressions and body language is in direct contrast to Henry hugging his knees.  On the back, to the left, an interior scene is shown.  Henry is brushing his own teeth as the family peeks around the doorway watching.  Four small illustrations on the opening endpapers show Mama, Papa, Mem and Sven taking those items in their hands and placing them on Henry.  He looks more ready for roller derby than a simple ride through the neighborhood.  The closing endpapers in another set of four pictures complete the story.

Graphite drawings by Madeline Valentine were printed on watercolor paper and then painted in gouache for the visuals.  After the two lengthy introductory sentences accompanying the entire family on a walk, when Henry speaks his first frustrated sentence, Valentine alters her perspective and the use of white space to make an impact.  With each page turn, details create comedy.  

When Henry states he can choose his own clothes, Valentine gives readers twelve vignettes of this process guaranteed to create giggles.  As Henry and Gibson are hanging upside down on the monkey bars, the four heads of his family are looking from behind a tree.  Valentine's color palette and layout enhance the glee in watching this family for a day.  

One of my favorite illustrations spans two pages.  Matthew is hiding behind his bedroom door on the right as Papa's, Mem's and Sven's arms extend through the opening offering clothes' choices.  To the left we can see a set of pre-picked clothes folded on his little red chair.  His toy robot and spiky dino-snake are on the floor.

Little Red Henry written by Linda Urban with illustrations by Madeline Valentine will have listeners and readers alike grinning from ear to ear.  A little bit of every family is woven into the words and pictures.  Whether it's shared during a group story time or at bedtime, it's a winner.  

To learn more about Linda Urban and Madeline Valentine and their respective work, please follow the links attached to their names, taking you to their websites.  Linda Urban and Madeline Valentine were part of a trifecta at teacher librarian extraordinaire John Schumacher's Watch. Connect. Read., stand-on-a-table-yelling-I-Love-To-Read educator Colby Sharp's sharpread and at the Nerdy Book Club.  Linda Urban was a guest at The Little Crooked Cottage.  At the end of the PW KidsCast Linda Urban speaks about this title. (Plus you get to hear about her other new book coming soon.)  At the publisher's website an interior image is shown. 

If Only...

If only we could turn back the clock; pick a point in time to revisit.  Those things we did or didn't do could be corrected.  Those things we said or did not say could be remedied.  Sometimes dialing back is not necessary; amends can be made.  Other times it's simply too late.

The loss of a loved one, whether it's expected or sudden, makes us feel not only extremely sad but strangely off-kilter.  All that we knew, the rhythm of our days, is missing.  In The Center of Everything (Harcourt Children's Books) author Linda Urban, opens the door of opportunity to find what has been lost; to have a wish granted in an extraordinarily ordinary way.


In the beginning, there was the donut.

It is Bunning Day, an annual celebration to honor Captain Cornelius Bunning, inventor of the donut hole, according to the story told in Bunning, New Hampshire.  This year Ruby Pepperdine is standing in a square in a circle along the parade route.  This year sixth grader Ruby Pepperdine is the Bunning Day Essay Girl.

As Ruby waits and watches for each portion of the parade to pass, we discover that unlike most of her family and friends, in the three months since her beloved grandmother, Gigi, has died, she can't seem to find the balance her life used to have.  There is a single moment weighing heavily on her mind and in her heart.  An occurrence in Mrs. Tomas's art class brings this into focus causing Ruby to wonder about doing what or talking like you are supposed to.

There is also the wish which could make all well again.  Tradition has it if you throw a quarter with your birth date on it on your birthday through the donut hole (on Captain Cornelius Bunning's statue) before the next Bunning Day has ended, your heart's desire will come true.  As fate would have it, on Ruby's twelfth birthday past, her quarter went through the hole.  So much is riding on what she has wished.

Her parents, an assortment of aunts, uncles and cousins as well as significant townspeople, teachers and schoolmates fill her musings of the past few days and the minutes prior to her reading her essay.  She thinks about what she has done and said.  She worries if her forever friend, Lucy, is still her friend.  She wonders if the new relationship with Nero is over.

Nothing is the same.  Everything is the same. Life circles around more than one center.  It's about listening...really listening.

When Linda Urban writes a book, this book, even if you feel its excellence at the first reading, it gets better when you read it again.  There are passages, single sentences too, that you want to copy on a piece of paper, fold up, place in a pocket and carry with you.  Her characters are so real you want to live in their town sharing the ebb and flow of their days.

Through point of view, alternating chapters between the past and present, the thoughts of Ruby and others with ties to the Bunning Day parade, Ruby's world unfolds before us.  We see our sixth grade selves in Ruby and her two friends told with clarity and humor.  We know and understand her sense of loss; it rings poignantly true.

There are many passages I keep replaying in my mind.  One is the conversation with her parents in the car on the way to the fireworks, The Hole Shebang.  Here are a couple more.

Ruby knows the speck that poked her too. It was the reason she still feels so sad when everyone else has moved on.  She had tried to forget about it, but today it reached out and poked her.
And she wishes there was a way she could reach back.

"You ever read Holes?" Nero asks.
Ruby nods.  "I loved it."
"I didn't read it for a long time. I thought it was going to be about a donut shop.  Once I found out it was about something else, I was mad that I hadn't read it sooner."
"I know," Ruby says. "You get this idea of what something is like, and that gets in the way of finding out what it's really like."
"Exactly." Nero looks straight at Ruby. She gets this feeling he's not just talking about books and that he's going to ask some sort of crazy Nero DeNiro question, and suddenly Ruby understands how all her teachers must feel, torn between curiosity and the fear of losing control of things.


Linda Urban's The Center of Everything, in the course of a single afternoon and evening slowly but with purpose, much like the character Patsy Whelk organizes the order in which parade entries will walk the parade route, reveals how Ruby Pepperdine looses her place and finds it again.  This is a beautiful story about loss, friendship, family and community.  This is a story to savor and share.

Please follow the link embedded in Linda Urban's name to her website.  Here is a portion of the beginning for you to read.

The Center of Everything by Linda Urban - Excerpt by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt