A Reconciliation

When remembering the United States and World War II most people think of the battles and the losses in the European, the Mediterranean, African and Middle East and Pacific theaters.  Rarely does a group of islands off the southern coast of Alaska become a part of the discussion.  There were Japanese and American forces located in several places in the Aleutian Islands.  (One of the many American soldiers stationed there for more than a year was my dad.)  It was a strategy to place troops there to prevent an invasion from this sector.  After the events at Pearl Harbor on Hawaii on December 7, 1941 this was a concern for both countries.

One of the little-known stories originating from this and other areas north and west of the United States takes place in Oregon.  Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot's World War II Story (Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, October 9, 2018) written by Marc Tyler Nobleman with illustrations by Melissa Iwai chronicles specific events in 1942.  Decades later the tale continued.

Prologue
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, an American Naval Base on Hawaii.  The surprise attack killed thousands of soldiers and brought America into World War II.

On September 9, 1942, a Japanese pilot, Nobuo Fujita and his navigator boarded an airplane on the deck of a submarine.  Soon they would be propelled into the air toward Oregon.  Nobuo carried a 400-year-old samurai sword for luck.  Bombs were placed under the wings of the plane.  The plan was to ignite the woods causing an enormous fire.

The bombs were dropped but the outcome was not as planned.  Brookings' (Oregon) residents were not overly concerned.  Neither was the American military.  Nobuo Fujita did it again . . . at night.

The Japanese believed both missions were a success.  The Americans never said a word about the second bombing.  Nobuo Fujita finally returned home and started a business, never speaking of either flight.  No one said anything until 1962.

In this year the Brookings' Jaycees needed to increase tourism in their town.  They decided to invite Nobuo Fujita to their annual Memorial Day celebration. Did this proposal cause controversy?  Yes.  Did it find support in high places?  Yes.  Nobuo Fujita accepted their invitation and he brought his 400-year-old sword.  The visit was an overwhelming success.  A promise was made when Nobuo and his wife left Oregon for Japan.

That promise was fulfilled.  For the more than thirty years people, Japanese and Americans, made a choice, forgiveness.  This is a remarkable story . . . a story to be remembered, forever.


Every detail of this narrative from 1942 to 1998 is carefully written by Marc Tyler Nobleman.  Specific facts and dialogue are included suggesting painstaking research.  This information makes the story of Nobuo Fujita exceedingly personal for readers.  As each page is turned it's like stepping back in time and shadowing this man.  Here are two passages.

Only that time, for greater stealth, he went by night.
To protect coastal communities from becoming easy
targets, the US military routinely ordered blackouts
during the war.  But the lighthouse at Cape Blanco
remained lit, and guided to shore by its beam,
Nobuo headed to a wooded area north of Brookings
and dropped two more bombs on Oregon.

On his return, Nobuo could not locate the
sub.  Nearly out of fuel, he resigned himself
to dying with honor by winging back and
crashing into the lighthouse.  "The mission
comes first, the sub next," he said to his
navigator. "We come last."


Upon opening the matching dust jacket and book case, readers are given a view from 1942 on the right (front) and 1992 on the left (back).  As Nobuo Fujita and his navigator are leaving the Oregon woods behind, we get a glimpse of the smoke in the forest in the upper left-hand corner.  It is a bird's eye view.  On the back, a smaller image surrounded in the dark green of the woodlands is a close-up of two hands cupped around a redwood sapling.  This illustration is framed in ribbons with informative text. 

The opening and closing endpapers are a dark olive green.  Nobuo's plane is soaring across the title page.  Smaller planes move from the verso to the first page over torn and burning newspaper headlines along the bottom after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and Tokyo in the Doolittle Raid. 

Rendered in watercolor and mixed media the pictures span double pages, full pages and, to accentuate pacing, smaller insets are placed on a single page.  Artist Melissa Iwai's depiction of each scene maintains historical accuracy in clothing, the aircraft, the submarine, and the setting of Brookings and Nobuo's home in Tokyo.  Emotion is conveyed in the body postures, facial expressions, perspective and in her color selections.

One of my many favorite illustrations is when Nobuo is flying at night to Oregon for the second drop of the bombs.  The perspective is as if we are seated with Nobuo.  We can see the airplane instruments, Nobuo and his sword behind him strapped to his seat.  Down in front is the jut of land with the lighthouse, its beams cutting into the night with light.  You can almost hear the sound of the engine and feel the tension in the cockpit.


This book, Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot's World War II Story written by Marc Tyler Nobleman with illustrations by Melissa Iwai, is a valued part of World War II history and its lasting effects.  It showcases the huge capacity of people when given the opportunity to be their best.  You will be moved by this title.  You will not forget this story.  An author's note and selected sources are included on the final page.  I highly recommend this for your personal and professional book collections.

To learn more about Marc Tyler Nobleman and Melissa Iwai and their other work, please visit their respective websites by following the links attached to their names.  Both Marc and Melissa have accounts on Twitter.  They also have accounts on Instagram here and here.  The cover is revealed at A Fuse #8 Production by Elizabeth Bird.  You will enjoy reading this article in the Curry Coastal Pilot about Melissa's visit to Brookings to do research for her artwork.


Be sure to take a few moments to view the selections of other participants in the 2018 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge at Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher.

Of Legends And Laughter

Have you ever heard of

a study and search for animals and especially legendary animals usually in order to evaluate the possibility of their existence (Merriam-Webster)?

This is called cryptozoology.  The creatures being searched for and studied are named cryptids.  Over the course of sometimes more than one thousand years people have claimed to have seen them but no one has yet to provide undisputed scientific evidence of their reality.

One of these mysterious living things has reportedly been sighted on more than one occasion since the mid-nineteen nineties.  A recent publication, The Chupacabra Ate The Candelabra (Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, March 7, 2017) written by Marc Tyler Nobleman with illustrations by Ana Aranda, dispels with great hilarity any previous beliefs about this being.  It all begins with goats.

As the sun set, the goats met.

Three goats, going by the names Jayna, Bumsie and Pep, are gathered outside to enjoy a picnic.  Jayna informs the other two tonight is apt to be the night when the chupacabra comes to dinner not as a guest but to eat them as entrees.  Bumsie is shaking in her hooves at this news.  Pep views it as completely rude and lacking in dietary variety.

Jayna proposes they make the first move, locating the villain.  To light their way in the night he reveals a candelabra.  Single file they cautiously proceed across the landscape.  Suddenly a voice interrupts their quiet conversation.

It's the chupacabra!  Within seconds they are plunged into darkness.  The candelabra has been consumed by the chupacabra.

They are momentarily puzzled by his culinary choice but he informs them candelabras are his

third-favorite thing.  

And he wants more.  Promising to bring him another one, they hurry back to their abode.  As the sun rises with them looking high and low for another candelabra, the chupacabra makes an appearance.

Yikes!  He followed them home?! Before they can even comprehend this turn of events, several other requests have them in a total tizzy.  The trio's suggestions are unwelcome.  There is only one thing and one thing alone which will appease this glutton's appetite.  Gulp!


Readers are undoubtedly wondering if Marc Tyler Nobleman had as much fun writing this story as they do reading it.  The conversations between his characters are full of comedy clearly portraying their personalities.  Using rhyming and alliteration his narrative literally dances off the pages.  Here is a sample passage.

"Come on goats!" Jayna said.  "I say we find the chupacabra before he finds us!  I say we scare him off before he eats us!  Who's with me?"
Nobody answered.
"I said, who's with me?"
"Silly," Bumsie said.  "Everyone is right here."
"I mean who's going with me."
"I would...," Pep said, "but it's too dark."
"Not with this," Jayna said, whipping out a candelabra.


The bright, cheerful color palette on the black canvas displayed on the front and back of the dust jacket is an open invitation to the playful narrative within the pages.  The chupacabra is looking very excited in anticipation of a hearty meal of goat.  The goats, hidden among the grass and flowers, are looking none too happy.  To the left, on the back, the four characters are framed in the same delicate floral ovals holding candelabras (except for you know who) with their names beneath their portraits.  The chupacabra happens to be wearing a bib and holding eating utensils. The text reads:

Three goats out on a daring mission.
One chupacabra out on an empty stomach.
Zero chance of their encounter going smoothly.


The book case background is a blend of sunny yellows and orange.  On the right is a gorgeous candelabra in hues of blue with delicate details.  To the left is the hungry chupacabra ready to gobble it up.  The opening and closing endpapers are a dark teal with a pattern of the chupacabra, in purple, engaged in numerous activities like watering his plants, playing soccer, riding his bike, painting and trying to break a pinata.  Wonderful stylized flowers fill in the spaces.

Rendered in watercolor, inks, gouache, and cochineal with spices and orange on watercolor paper by Ana Aranda most of the illustrations span two pages.  For pacing and emphasis Ana may shift to single pages or several small pictures on one page.  These are loosely framed with elements breaking out of the border.

Readers are going to enjoy stopping and looking at all the tiny elements in Ana's visuals; items hanging in the windows of the chupacabra's home, Spanish and English words on a sign, the smiling sun and crescent moon, the attire worn by the characters, and the cross-section of the goats' residence.  Are those mice in the roof peaks?  They are going to chuckle at the item on the chupacabra's bib.

One of my favorite of several illustrations is when the chupacabra first jumps out at the goats.  It's on a single page.  The background in a wash of reds with the chupacabra a startling black silhouette.  Jayna and Pep are open-mouth and staring.  Bumsie has fainted in fright.  The Welcome mat has flown into the air with a bite missing courtesy of Bumsie.


Read The Chupacabra Ate The Candelabra written by Marc Tyler Nobleman with illustrations by Ana Aranda silently, aloud to your dog (Mulan loved it.) and to anyone who will listen and trust me, they will listen.  This story is brimming with humor, snappy dialogue and wonderful surprises.  You are going to want to add it to your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Marc Tyler Nobleman and Ana Aranda please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Ana Aranda also maintains a blog.  At the publisher's website you can get a peek at the title page.  The cover reveal is found at Latinxs in Kit Lit.  You can enjoy more interior images at Forces of Geek including one of my favorite pictures.

Secrets...

More than twenty years ago my nephew decided he wanted to collect comic books along with the cards.  I was his willing co-conspirator in this endeavor, not having been able to do this when I was his age.  We haunted comic and card shops, saving all our spare money to spend on the next, or elusive, issue or card needed to complete a set.  It was one of the best times of my life lasting for more than a decade.  My favorite titles were those featuring Batman, fueled by the 1989 film directed by Tim Burton with Michael Keaton in the starring role.

Without a doubt all the mythology books I read growing up contributed to my love of superheroes.  But the thing I found, and still find, intriguing about Batman is he has no superpowers.  He is a regular but extraordinary person able to accomplish amazing things. In that respect he is much like his co-creator, Bill Finger.  Without reading Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman (Charlesbridge Publishing, July 2012) written by Marc Tyler Nobleman with graphics by Ty Templeton I would not know this to be true.

After Milton Finger graduated from high school he invented his first secret identity.

At that time, 1933, if you were thought to be Jewish, you might not get a job, so Milton became Bill.  Bill dreamed of becoming a writer.  His parents wanted him to pursue a career in medicine.  Selling shoes was where he started; the year was 1939.

Around this time, Bill met a cartoonist, Bob Kane.  After hearing Bill's story ideas Bob knew this young man's talents were, yes, extraordinary.  Initially they collaborated on some minor stories.  Superman had become a huge hit and an editor wanted another superhero from Bob Kane.  And Bob Kane knew just the man to make this come true.

Bill Finger created the costume, the lack of superpowers, and in time, foes and the backstory; many of the details we have come to know about Batman.  Between the editor and Kane and Finger a deal was made but Vin Sullivan did not know about Bill Finger being the writer nor did anyone else.  Steady work was scarce after the Great Depression, so Bill agreed to this secret. 

Some secrets cannot be kept; other editors eventually discovered Bill was doing the writing.  They gave him his assignments now.  But the readers still did not know until 1964 when an editor, Julius Schwartz leaked it to the outside.

From there a particular fan, Jerry Bails, did his own sleuthing not only revealing Bill Finger as the writer but also as the co-creator.  In 1974 when Bill Finger died he did so without any official recognition as co-creator.  Jerry Robinson, one of the earliest artists working on Batman, championed for what today is known as the Bill Finger Awards for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.

Bill's personal writing techniques, a gimmick book, attaching pictures to his scripts for the illustrators and having his son, Fred, read over scripts are only a few of the insider glimpses Marc Tyler Nobleman includes in this enlightening biography.  His pursuit of the truth, unfolded for readers like a detective story, piece by piece, urges readers to turn the pages as quickly as possible, then go back and read it all over again, much slower marveling how this story came into being.  Nobleman's informative writing contains exactly the kind of specifics to completely involve the reader in this man's life story.  He uses specific words having reader appeal:  wowed, hightailed it, scrawled, or saddle a superhero.  He notes at the book's end:

The wordplay with bill, finger, and bat in this book is a homage:  Bill was known to use puns in his Batman stories.  

An example of the wordplay is:

As for who was the man for the job, he put his Finger on it right away.

The use of the silhouette of Batman's outline on the cover, continues on the endpapers done in black with gray, white and yellow for text; mainly notable quotes.  In the style of comics Ty Templeton varies his illustrations in size, including panels of different shapes and sizes within his pages framed in black.  The narrative, black text on white, is framed in black too, amid the full color visuals.

 Inked, then colored in Photoshop, the careful, detailed illustrations by Templeton evoke a true sense of the time period and the people involved in Bill Finger's life; signs on buildings, architecture, interior design, clothing, the comics and comic characters.  Emotion and motion are easily understood.  While I have several favorite layouts, the final two pages top the list, Batman spread across both, Bill Finger, head and shoulders prominently displayed in front.  

Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman by Marc Tyler Nobleman with illustrations by Ty Templeton is the kind of picture book biography so engrossing it will have readers humming the theme song to Batman expecting to see the signal light in front of them at any minute.  A six page author's note documents the process used by Nobleman to track down the truth presented in this title.  It is followed by more notes and a selected bibliography with an invitation to visit the publisher's website (linked here) for a more complete listing.  This site also includes a guide for educators.

A link to Marc Tyler Nobleman's website is embedded above in this name.  He also wrote a guest post at John Schumacher's, blog Watch. Connect. Read. as well as the Nerdy Book Club.  Follow this link to Nobleman's interview at NPR's All Things Considered---Batman's Biggest Secret (No, It's Not Bruce Wayne)

This is the book trailer.

This is a video of Marc Tyler Nobleman's TED talk.