In Every Season There Is . . .

If I had a dime, no, a penny, for every time my dad said actions speak louder than words, Forbes would have me on their billionaires list.  He was a doer of the highest order.  For him, every belief, emotion, and statement, and even those things unsaid, were backed by noticeable efforts. 

When I read In Every Life (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, February 07, 2023) written and illustrated by Marla Frazee for the first time, it was as if my dad was looking over my shoulder.  When I read it a second time, it was as if every illustration was a testament to something I had heard over and over and over until it became a part of me.  It is one thing to read or hear words, but when those words are made visible, their truth is revealed.  This is what Marla Frazee gives to readers with this book.

In every birth,

blessed is the wonder.

This is the first of seven declarative sentences.  Each sentence speaks to a different experience in human life.  Some are more readily seen than others like a smile.  Some happen for a few seconds like coming face to face with an animal in the wild, but are captured forever in our memories.

We read of goals brought to fruition.  We read of mourning eased with solace.  We read of the many forms of love and how deeply those loves can leave a mark on our lives.

Most of all, these words ask us to embrace our lives, enjoying all they bring to us.  They ask us to be grateful for the happiness and for the heartbreak.  These distinct words and what we find in each one makes us fully human.

On the verso, beneath the dedication, Marla Frazee addresses how this book began to form in her mind.  She was attending a church service and listening to

a call-and-response version of a Jewish baby-naming blessing.

This was in 1998.

Her text for this book begins with the same two words.  After the comma are the same three words for each sentence. In my mind, Marla Frazee has sought to redefine those seven words in the beginning of the blessing by reminding readers of an extraordinary or uncommon meaning embedded in each one.  

There have only been a few times in my life when I've been hiking in the forest, strolling down a beach, or sailing on the water and witnessed sunlight shooting rays through the trees or clouds.  It does not last, but seems to have a spirituality attached to it.  When you see this on the front of the open dust jacket, you realize a special moment is being depicted.  This moving glimpse of time featuring three generations is universal in its appeal.  In the colors of the leaves on the trees, Marla Frazee gives us hints of the passing of seasons.  The palette for the title text is just the beginning of the marvelous artwork we find in the interior of this title.  It is varnished and raised to the touch.

On the other side of the spine, on the back, is a small vignette surrounded by white space.  It is one of the images for the words moment and mystery.  It is of a child ready to blow out a single lighted candle on a piece of cake.  Is she thinking of a wish?

On the book case the front and back are covered in a cream canvas.  A wide band of a darker shade of the purple hue used in the title text covers the spine and an inch and a quarter on either side.  The title text on the book case is identical to the dust jacket.  It is varnished but not raised to the touch.

The turquoise blue in the title text covers the opening and closing endpapers.  The title text is enlarged for the title page.  Opposite the verso page is a swirl of pastel shades of the colors in the title text beginning from a central focal point. 

In a style which is uniquely her own, Marla Frazee has from eight to fourteen smaller images grouped on the two pages dedicated to each phrase.  These smaller visuals represent an array of interpretations of the two main words in each blessing.  Through her delicate use of color and intricate fine lines, she draws us into each of these illustrations.  They are a marvelous mix of generations and ethnic backgrounds.

Each of these seven blessings is followed by a dramatic double-page wordless picture.  These wordless scenes further reinforce the final word in each sentence.  All of them are striking and panoramic.  With the exception of the final one, the people and their companions are small in light of the majesty of their surroundings.

One of my many favorite smaller vignettes is of a young woman and a young man seated on a rustic wooden bench with small boulders under the bench.  They have stopped to sip a bottled drink.  They are looking directly into each other's eyes with their heads turned.  To me it's that instant when you know the other person loves you as much as you love them.  You wonder why it has happened at this exact second.

One of my many favorite wordless visuals is the vast seascape for the same blessing.  Spread before readers across these two pages are crests of waves rolling toward a sandy beach under a sky with storm clouds moving away.  Rays of sun are breaking through those clouds.  A few brave sailors are out in their boats in the distance.  Three dolphins are leaping from the water under the sunshine.  An elder and a smaller child, their footprints making a path in the sand, are watching the dolphins.  Seabirds crowd the beach and a few have taken flight.  These two illustrations, like all of them in this book, are completely sensory.

This book, In Every Life written and illustrated by Marla Frazee, is rich and rare.  Its eloquence needs to be savored often and shared widely.  It will certainly promote discussions about what each day holds for all of us.  It might be interesting to pair it with Life by Cynthia Rylant with illustrations by Brendan Wenzel or You Are A Beautiful Beginning by Nina Laden with illustrations by Kelsey Garrity-Riley.  (And for some reason, it prompted me to watch and listen to The New York Times, An Illustrated Talk With Maurice Sendak.)  I highly recommend this title for both your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Marla Frazee and her other work, please access her website by following the link attached to her name.  Marla Frazee has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior images including the open dust jacket.  Marla Frazee talks with Roger Sutton at The Horn Book about this title.  Travis Jonker, host of this chat on The Yarn, School Library Journal, talks with Marla Frazee about this book.  Author Pat Zietlow Miller showcases this book at Picture Book Builders.

Finding Fearlessness

Fear always finds a way to wiggle into our lives.  Most of us have one thing that escapes our bravery.  Some fears seem as though they've been a part of us from the beginning.  Other worries are sneakier.  Seemingly, all of a sudden, what we once did without a thought, we now avoid.

Sometimes those things we dread, old and new, are vanquished.  The answer to dispelling them may be closer than we can know.  Courage Hats (Chronicle Books, March 22, 2022) written by Kate Hoefler with illustrations by Jessixa Bagley follows two individuals as they face fear in their own, but same, unique manner. 

Not everyone loves a train.

That's the world.

Even though trains are not a favorite mode of travel, sometimes you have to ride one to get where you are going.  Mae, a little girl, did not want to ride a train.  Bear, a younger bear, did not want to ride a train.  Mae did not want to go through forests where bears lived.  Bear did not want to go where people resided in the cities.

Mae and Bear decide to make their own courage.  They make hats to wear.  Mae's hat makes her look like a bear.  Bear's hat makes him look like a person.

Bear and Mae find each other on the train.  Bear looks like a grown-up human and Mae looks like a cub.  Each is comfortable with the other one.

They play with Mae's tea set.  They eat Bear's snacks.  Every moment they spend together sharing what they see from the train windows expands their view of the world in the forest and the city.  At their destination, several surprises are revealed.

The simple sentences penned by Kate Hoefler resonate with truth.  The use of identical words in different order supply readers with the similarity between the girl and the bear.  The repetition of phrases uttered by each with small word changes further binds the duo.  Each faces their fear by discovering togetherness eases that worry.  The cadence provided by Kate Hoefler's words is not unlike that of a train moving down the tracks.  Here is a passage.

No matter how you feel about a train,

someone else feels the same way.

You're lucky if that someone has a blanket and snack.

When you open the dust jacket, the design of the sides of the train extends flap edge to flap edge.  The train windows continue on the back, with the only break being the spine.  Bear is not the only animal riding the rails.  To the left of the spine, on the back, a wild boar is reading a book opposite a human male passenger.  A male deer with antlers is seated opposite the writer we see on the front, right side, of the jacket.  Truthfully, Bear and Mae wearing their hats and smiling as they watch the world pass outside the train is pure happiness.

On the book case, the train design is used again.  On the front, right side, we see Bear walking to the left as does Mae seen through another window.  On the back, three bunnies are looking outside as another person writes.  In the final portion of a window, on the left, a bear wearing a hat is resting.

The opening endpapers in purple with white polka-dots is the same pattern on Mae's headband.  On the closing endpapers, in lavender with white polka-dots, we see the same markings as on Bear's blanket.  On the verso and dedication page, we are looking at the top portion of Bear and Mae in their hats along the bottom of the page.

Illustrator Jessixa Bagley used

graphite and watercolor

to render these pictures.  Each page turn presents readers with a double-page or single-page image, edge to edge, or a single-page visual in a circular shape with elements outside the frame.  In several illustrations, Jessixa Bagley alters her perspective giving us a bird-eye view outside and inside the train.  There are also several wordless images, a group of four smaller pictures, a double-page image, and a single-page illustration.  These are wonderful dramatic pauses.

The textures in each illustration are soft and inviting.  The full-color pictures are full of fine lines and delicate details.  Readers are certain to enjoy the variety of expressions on the faces of Mae and Bear.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture.  In the foreground, close to us, are the backs of Bear's and Mae's heads, hands and paws resting on the window sills, as they watch the world outside the train. (They are still wearing their hats.) It is a pastoral landscape with rolling hills in shades of green, golden yellow, and brown.  Birds fly in both directions across a pale blue sky.

We are reminded in this book, Courage Hats written by Kate Hoefler with artwork by Jessixa Bagley, there is usually someone needing the same kind of bravery we are seeking.  The rhythmic words, at times lyrical observations, paired with the wonderful drawings and paintings will find a permanent place in many readers' hearts.  You will want to place a copy of this book in both your personal and professional collections.

Author Kate Hoefler has an account on Instagram.  To learn more about Jessixa Bagley and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Jessixa Bagley has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  This book is highlighted by librarian and writer John Sch on his blog, Watch. Connect. Read.  You will love his conversation with both Kate Hoefler and Jessixa Bagley.  Author, reviewer, and blogger, Julie Danielson features this book on her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Kate Hoefler is interviewed about this book on Max's Boat.  At the publisher's website, you can see more interior images.

At times, overwhelmed, we decide to walk away from a challenge.  It is easier and more favorable than an uncertain outcome.  We believe we are not what is expected of us.  In their collaboration, Mac Barnett & Marla Frazee Present The Great Zapfino (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, April 5, 2022), this duo encourages us to take a leap (literally) of faith in our abilities.

Behold:

THE GREAT

ZAPFINO!  

A ringmaster announces the death-defying deed The Great Zapfino is about to perform.  Climbing a ladder to a platform ten stories in the air, this man will leap and land on a small trampoline.  The audience barely breathes watching Zapfino climb the ladder.

Zapfino, clad in striped clothing and wearing a cape, stands on the edge of the diving board.  He stands there and stands there.  He does not leap.  He climbs back down and runs far and fast from the circus.  He boards a plane and flies to a new seaside city.  There, he takes a job in a tall building as the elevator operator.

Zapfino is good at his job, chatting with people and making friends to and from each floor.  At night, he enjoys in his small room a meal of toast before looking out his window from the top floor.  Day in and day out, he finds himself loving his job and his simple afternoons and evenings.

One late afternoon, he falls asleep before taking the toast out of the toaster.  It catches on fire, filling his room with smoke.  He knows the only way to avoid disaster is through his window.  The fire department has arrived.  Below, the firepeople hold a small trampoline.  We have come full circle.

Behold!

This narrative conceived by Mac Barnett is as stunning as the described and realized feat of Zapfino.  The majority of the text is found in the ringmaster's introduction of this circus performer prior to his 

LEAP for LIFE.

This introduction allows us to see what potential is within Zapfino, waiting to be released.  Two other times the word Zapfino appears alone and then along with the single word which asks us to pause and observe.  Here is a single sentence from the ringmaster's opening.

Zapfino will dodge peril

and brave calamity in an impossible

feat of derring-do!

Beginning on the matching and open dust jacket and book case, the artwork

rendered in black Primacolor pencil on Dura-Lar matte film

for all the images in this title by Marla Frazee is a fantastic feast for our minds and hearts.  The billowing curtain proclaiming The Great Zapfino is pulled aside by a man who is unsure of his greatness.  On the front the text is raised to the touch.  On the back, on a soft white background, is Zapfino walking toward an as-yet-unknown destination.  He is carrying a box that appears to hold a toaster.  In the other hand, he holds a bag of bread.  His cape with the large "Z" floats behind him.

The opening and closing endpapers are a matte black finish.  On the title page, Zapfino stands before the circus tent opening.  Above the opening is the title text and the author and illustrator names.

With every page turn, we find scenes in various perspectives in the signature style of Marla Frazee.  A small Zapfino walks into the enormous tent.  As he climbs higher on the ladder, the trampoline, ringmaster and audience get smaller and smaller.   In the first depiction of him on the end of the diving board, the last sentence is read.  This is the moment of Zapfino's decision.  This is the moment the wordless images of Marla Frazee tell a impressive pictorial story.

For his thinking about whether to leap or not there is a series of six small pictures.  In the last one, the facial expression of Zapfino really does speak volumes.  In each subsequent scene, we seek the figure wearing the striped suit and cape.  When he gets the position at the seaside building, his garb during work hours changes.  

To show his success as an elevator operator, nine small illustrations on a single page portray the interior of the elevator and the array of people Zapfino services.  Exquisite details depict the inside of his room and how his afternoons and evenings unfold.  The next time his work is presented to us, it is a series of twenty interior views of the elevator.  (No wonder he falls asleep without taking the toast out of his toaster.)  The two-page picture of smoke swirling from the window of Zapfino's room as he stands on the ledge outside his top-floor residence with all the tiny people below will take your breath away.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a single-page picture.  We are shown the top five floors of the building at night.  Stars cover the sky on the right.  The last window on the top floor has a light shining in it.  Zapfino, head up, leans out the window, enjoying the night.  He is a man at peace.

Readers of all ages, individuals and groups, will request to read Mac Barnett & Marla Frazee Present The Great Zapfino over and over again.  Each time you read it, the thrill of Zapfino's success will warm you from the top of your head to the tip of your toes.  Readers understand fear disappears when it needs to the most.  I highly recommend you place a copy of this title in your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Mac Barnett and Marla Frazee and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Mac Barnett has an account on Instagram.  Marla Frazee has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Please enjoy this interview of Marla Frazee at KidLit411.  This title is showcased at author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  The interview with Marla Frazee is fabulous as are all the process pictures and artwork.  (WOW!)  This book in a conversation with Barnett and Frazee is featured on NPR Picture This.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior illustrations including the open dust jacket.

Happy New Year 2019---One Little Word

Three hundred sixty-five days have come and gone in what seemed like a heartbeat.  Where did 2018 go?  Did someone speed up the clock?  The sense of not being able to catch up seemed stronger this past year.

Many people have been selecting one little word at the beginning of each calendar year for more than a decade.  The One Little Word project was started in 2006 by Ali Edwards.  For this first post of 2019, still having 2018 books to highlight, I decided to generate a list and assign a single word to each title.  I will include links to the author, illustrator and publisher when able to do so.  I will provide a passage from the book.  May everything that is right and good flourish in this coming year for each of you.

CONFIDENCE

Neck & Neck (Little, Brown and Company, June 5, 2018) written and illustrated by Elise Parsley

"I just

love 

this guy!"

At that, 

Leopold sighed and turned . . .

. . . and gasped

at the

gleaming smile

bobbing beside him.

Book Chat with the Illustrator: Elise Parsley Returns from LB School on Vimeo.



NEIGHBORHOOD

Hey, Wall: A Story Of Art And Community (A Paula Wiseman Book, Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, September 4, 2018) written by Susan Verde with illustrations by John Parra

Hey, Wall!

Guess what?

I'm ready to change all that.







Book trailer premiere with chat at Watch. Connect. Read. with John Schumacher



COMPASSION

I Am Human: A Book of Empathy (Abrams Books for Young Readers, October 2, 2018) written by Susan Verde with illustrations by Peter H. Reynolds  

I have a feeling of wonder.

I am amazed by nature.

I have a playful side.

I find joy in friendships.

I am Human.



PERSPECTIVE

The Wall In The Middle Of The Book (Dial Books for Young Readers, October 2, 2018) written and illustrated by Jon Agee  

Wait a second.  What's going on?!

This is not supposed to happen
on this side of the wall!




Book trailer premiere at 100 Scope Notes with Travis Jonker



CHOICE

Little Brown (Beach Lane Books, October 2, 2018) written and illustrated by Marla Frazee

He knew he could be a dog who would---if given
half a chance---chase balls, run in circles, nap in
the shade, or get muddy.

But Little Brown just watched the others . . .
and got crankier and crankier.  






UNITY

We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands (Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., October 9, 2018) written and illustrated by Rafael Lopez

We've got the rivers and the mountains
in our hands.
We've got the oceans and the seas
in our hands.
We've got you and you've got me
in our hands.
We've got the whole world
in our hands.






EXPLORE

My Heart Is a Compass (Little, Brown and Company, November 6, 2018) written and illustrated by Deborah Marcero

It could have been anything.
Something exotic?
Something magical?
Did it even exist?
Where could she find such a thing?

For that, she needed a map.  Not an atlas or a globe.
To find the secret coordinates, she would
have to draw her own map.  

Watch the delightful book trailer premiere
at A Fuse #8 Production with Betsy Bird



STORY

No Boring Stories! (Viking, Penguin Young Readers, November 6, 2018) written by Julie Falatko with pictures by Charles Santoso

Those are boring stories!
I like books where strange stuff
happens.  But everyone says my
stories are too weird.

I think weird
stories are cool.

Remember the one you
wrote where the main
character was a discarded
shoe who loved to sing?

That sounds hilarious!

GIVE

Found. (Simon & Schuster Book for Young Readers, November 20, 2018) written by Jeff Newman with illustrations by Larry Day

This story is wordless.  It is a powerful statement on loss.  It speaks to giving when it's the hardest possible choice.  It's also about finding pure sweet love.

Together...

Every educator knows more than one person is responsible for ensuring our children develop to their full potential as citizens of the world.  And I know I have said this before but school librarians are in an invaluable position to see all the children in the school for at least three years, usually four or five, sometimes six, depending on the type of school.  This brings a singular understanding of the web woven by the children's personalities and their families.  We get to see the forest and the trees.

Today during a break I headed down to my friend Colby Sharp's classroom to show him a book.  His students are testing so we had a whispered conversation but as I turned to leave, he handed me what I will call one of the best gifts of my day.  I was told I could take it to read overnight.  As soon as I got home and after playing with my wild child, furry friend, I stood at the island counter and read It Takes a Village (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, September 12, 2017) written by Hillary Rodham Clinton with illustrations by Marla Frazee.  There were several times, as I turned the pages, when I stopped and reminded myself to breathe.

Sometimes it takes a child

to make
   a village.

This village includes every single one of us.  Each one of us is valuable and essential to the success of the village.  We all learn each and every day.

It's important for children to understand adults don't always have all the answers.  It's important for adults to understand children have to ask questions.  Children need someone to speak for them.  Sometimes they need an entire group or a nation to speak for them.

Despite how strong a family may seem to us on the outside, there will come a time when they need our assistance.  In this village we have to recognize their need offering support in gestures of compassion.  Taking lessons from the natural world we have to pause and play and rest.

We need to believe...in each other...and...in our children.  It does take a village.  Our children deserve nothing less than the best.


Having read this narrative, the words in this text, several times, I can say with certainty Hillary Rodham Clinton chose each word with great care.  There are only eighteen sentences, phrases or words (with punctuation at the end) in total but each builds to a whole which speaks a profound truth.  Running beneath these words is a warmth and knowledge of children.  It honors their intelligence and acknowledges their needs.  I would like to share a favorite passage as I usually do but I want you to read this book for the first time as I did without benefit of knowing what to expect.


When you unfold the matching dust jacket and book case, the first thing you notice about the front, on the right, is the intricate details, the fine line work, of illustrator Marla Frazee.  You need to take a few minutes to notice all these people at rest and play.  They span a spectrum of ages and nationalities engaged in a variety of activities.  It is indeed a village.  To the left, on the back, is a picture, set on a canvas of white, of Hillary Clinton hugging a child.

(Oh, Marla...the endpapers.  I can't even imagine how long these must have taken you to create.) On the opening and closing endpapers, edge to edge, is an American flag.  Along the upper line of the red stripe (hardiness and valor) are the tiniest outlines of villages, one following the other.  Over some are skylines reflective of the time of day or the current weather.  In the lower right hand corner amid rays of sunlight is a double rainbow peeking through clouds.

The title page includes an image of three children and a dog moving up a winding road toward a bare, lone tree on top of a hill.  Marla begins the story here.  Rendered in pencil and watercolor on Strathmore paper the illustrations vary from single page pictures, to groups of pictures depicting a passage of time and panoramic double-page pictures.  Every element in each picture enhances the idea of a village inclusive of all people and all children.

All the clothing worn by the people, their body postures and facial expressions reveal their personalities even though we never meet them but we do recognize them.  They are people we see when out running errands, attending entertainment events or walking our dog in the neighborhood.  They are us.

One of my favorite sequences of illustrations heightens the meaning of two of my favorite phrases.  There are eleven small visuals spanning two pages.  We see children and adults taking naps, parents taking care of their children, a bumped knee getting attention and a group of children reading.  I'll focus on the five guys and gals reading.  A single blanket in red and black plaid is spread on the ground.  They are sprawled in a row across it.  Over four of them is a blue blanket with blue stars.  One child is using the blue blanket as a cover, another as a cushion and the final three as a tent.


I believe you need to have a copy of It Takes a Village written by Hillary Rodham Clinton with illustrations by Marla Frazee in your professional and personal library collections.  This book is an important, timely and timeless reminder for us.  Everything we do is for the future, for our children.  And they need to know this.  Hillary Rodham Clinton provides an Author's Note at the conclusion.

The link attached to Hillary Rodham Clinton's name will take you to her 2016 site for the presidential campaign because I was unable to find a site dedicated to her as an author.  It is important to note how often during the video she mentions being a champion for children.  This has been a constant during her life.  The link attached to Marla Frazee's name will take you to her website.  There you can learn more about her and her other work.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images from this title as well as download a four page activity guide.  Hillary Rodham Clinton was interviewed at BookExpo 2017.  Marla Frazee was interviewed at Andrea Skyberg's website (lots of art and views of her studio) and at Reading Rockets.  Enjoy the videos.


Marla Frazee from Adam Goodwin on Vimeo.

Look Out, There's A New Face In The Family

Nine days ago my life completely changed... for the good but it is exhausting.  It's been a little more than sixteen years since a puppy was a member of my home.  At two months old Mulan, a chocolate Labrador, is full of energy, teething and trying to get the hang of relieving herself outdoors.  Everything chewable is now placed above five feet.  I am on alert 24/7 gauging the amount of time between food, drink and the last time we were outside.  Her schedule has become my schedule until we can get adjusted to one another.

Last night was the first time we slept more than four hours (which was a huge relief considering I slept in my clothes for several nights, not the same clothes, of course).  There was a mini wake-up but soothing words did the trick and the sweet pup went back to dreaming.  The Boss Baby (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, August 31 2010) written and illustrated by Marla Frazee is about a newcomer with a mind of his own.

He has huge demands which take every single second of Mom's and Dad's time.  He becomes the center of attention.  If all his wants are not met, he puts up an enormous fuss.

His meetings are Mom and Dad trying everything under the sun to make their son satisfied.  He does not care one iota about what time of day or night these occur.  Trying to understand him is nearly impossible because his language is gibberish to their adult ears.

One day no matter what he does, his workers fail to perform.  Nothing seems to get their attention until he does something he has never done.  The results are better than expected.  Is there anything better than being in charge?


Given the laws of life and nature, what goes up must come down.  In other words the Boss Baby is blissfully unaware his authority is about to be challenged.  The Bossier Baby, a companion title, (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, November 1, 2016) written and illustrated by Marla Frazee, shows how upsetting a shift can be for a smooth running company...er...family.

From the moment his baby sister arrived,
the Boss Baby had a feeling that change was in the air.

She has a plan and she is sticking to it.  Her first order of business is to put new leadership in place.  She is now in charge...of everything.

She is even more vocal than the Boss Baby which if you recall he set new records in the bossy department.  Mom and Dad don't seem to mind all this noise.  In fact the Boss Baby is saddened by their total delight in the Bossier Baby.  Her on-the-job perks are much better than his.  How come he never had

a full-time social media team?

The Boss Baby is getting angrier by the minute.  To add fuel to his fury, no one seems to care.  His shocking actions go unnoticed.  So he does something he has never done.

Little-miss-in-charge-of-everything makes a discovery.  You will not believe what the Bossier Baby, the Chief Executive Officer, the CEO, does.  It is something she has never done before.  All appears to be running smoothly.  Or is it?


In both these titles Marla Frazee puts a brilliant spin on the arrival of a new baby in a home.  Her narratives equating the youngsters as the heads of a company are hilarious in their exactness.  In both titles an unseen narrator is assessing the situation as an astute observer.

The tone of each book is straightforward never missing a beat with perfect pacing adding to the comedic effect.  Her descriptions of the meetings, the perks and the

out of the box

thinking by both the Boss Baby and the Bossier Baby are exceedingly creative and clever.  The private jet for Boss Baby is a plane-shaped swing and the private limo for the Bossier Baby is a ritzy, cushioned baby buggy.  Here are passages from each book.

He made demands.
Many, many demands.
And he was quite particular.
If things weren't done to his immediate satisfaction,
he had a fit. 

The first thing the new executive did was outline her business plan and restructure the organization...
from the top down.


In both books the opened matching dust jackets and book cases introduce readers to the no nonsense characters by placing them front and center.  To the left, on the back, of each, the main characters are being catered to by the staff, Mom and Dad.  The opening and closing endpapers on the first title are a happy pattern of baby toys in shades of pink, blue and white. In the companion book there is a geometric, retro design of squares and rectangles with Etch A Sketches prominently in view and part of the mix for the endpapers in yellow, grays, red and orange.

On both of the title pages you have to smile at the scene of each baby arriving at their home.  In the first he is sitting in a rather large backseat, consulting his watch with a huge briefcase on his lap. The Bossier Baby arrives in a snazzy car with her small head, a single curl on top peering out the back window.  She is, of course, wearing sunglasses.

Marla Frazee rendered the art in these books using

black Prismacolor pencil and gouache on Strathmore 2-ply cold press paper.  

Her line work and design are unmistakable giving her images texture and loads of animation.  Many of her illustrations span two pages but her perspectives vary expanding the text.  To provide pacing and slowing the narrative, a single page picture is used or a series of smaller vignettes depict the passage of time.  The expressions on the babies' faces and their body postures (on Mom and Dad too) will have you laughing out loud.

One of my favorite illustrations from the first book spans two pages.  Mom and Dad, looking the worse for wear and barely awake, are standing in front of a crib with Boss Baby making demands in the middle of the night.  He is wearing footie pajamas in black with a tie.  His open brief case is next to him in bed.  A Calder style mobile hangs from the ceiling over his crib.  He is holding a long page enumerating his wants and needs.

One of my favorite illustrations from the second book is when the Bossier Baby enters the home for the first time.  She strides in pushing her sunglasses up on her forehead wearing a classic pearl necklace.   She is caring her Etch A Sketch.  Boss Baby is watching, pressed against the wall and looking aghast.  On the right-hand side of the page Mom and Dad are thrilled with her arrival.  A picture of the original trio is on a nearby table beneath a retro sunburst clock.


The Boss Baby and The Bossier Baby written and illustrated by Marla Frazee are sure to ignite bouts of giggles in readers of all ages.  We all know what it's like to have our lives turned topsy-turvy by a "boss".  These bosses are starting at a very early age.  Who knows what the future holds for either of them.  Whatever it is, there is bound to be lots of humor involved.

To learn more about Marla Frazee and her other remarkable works, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  At the publisher's website you can read about the inspiration for the first title. You will enjoy reading The Boss Baby Gets a Starring Role---and Second Billing at Publishers Weekly.  Marla Frazee is a guest at educator and administrator for the Plum Creek Festival, Dylan Teut's blog Mile High Reading.  All The Wonders, Episode 304 by teacher librarian Matthew Winner features Marla Frazee.  Andrea Skyberg hosts a tour of Marla Frazee's studio.




Marla Frazee from Adam Goodwin on Vimeo.

Giving Sanctuary

Sanctuary

a place where someone or something is protected or given shelter

the protection that is provided by a safe place
Merriam-Webster

I would like to think each of us has a place we can call our sanctuary.  For many it may be home.  For others another structure offers peace and security for the people and shared experiences within its walls.  A beach, a wood, a mountain, a swamp or a meadow offering solitude may be the only refuge for some.  

I would like to think if our sanctuary is lost to us, others might choose to assist us.  In her newest title, The Farmer And The Clown (Beach Lane Books), Marla Frazee, without benefit of words, visualizes a single day of being lost and found for two very different individuals. It is an experience neither of them will forget.

The front and back of the dust jacket and book case left to right feature two interior illustrations from the book.  On the left the clown has run over to the farmer hugging his legs before they walk away together.  These two images initially provide more questions than answers, inviting us to open the book.

Pictured on the title page a rising sun peeking over the horizon, rays shooting up, provides light for the farmer, rake upon his shoulder, as he heads to the hay fields from his small home.  As he bends to his work during the day, a colorful train, a circus train, passes on a nearby track.  Pausing to watch he is startled to notice someone fall from the rear car.

Walking toward the now-seated person, he sees it is a small clown.  After an animated show-and-tell of how he fell off the train, the clown walks with the farmer to his home.  Not quite sure what to do with his new little visitor, the farmer goes about his evening rituals including the clown.

When the farmer washes up before bed and the clown does too, a shift in the farmer's perspective, his mindset, is clearly visible as he sees the child's features minus the painted-clown face.  Throughout the night his new thinking continues.  The daybreak ushers in a changed man.

Forgetting himself, the farmer focuses on the well-being and happiness of his guest.  Chores and unique gifts are shared.  The reappearance of the train interrupts a picnic lunch on a tree-topped hillside.  A pause in the joyful reunion reveals the true outcome of this unexpected encounter.  Goodbye waves and a walk home give readers even more to smile about as the story ends...or does it?


When Julie Danielson, co-author of Wild Things! Acts of Mischief in Children's Literature and blogger at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast featured Marla Frazee and this title in a post on September 28, 2014, I remarked about the essence of emotion we continually find in Frazee's work.  At that time I had only seen an F & G.  To read as often as you desire and hold the "real" book in your hands is a whole new experience.

Rendered in black Prismacolor pencil and gouache in a limited but masterfully selected palette, every line, the play of light and shadow, and intensity of color in these illustrations depicts with heartwarming clarity the difference a day can make in our lives.  It certainly did for the farmer and the clown.  Bleakness becomes uplifting bliss.

Two more important points, to me, in this title are the pacing and the characters.  By altering the size of her visuals, one page to double page to a series of smaller vignettes, some loosely framed, others page edge to page edge, Frazee adeptly unfolds the story to her readers.  She brings our hearts into the heart of the story.

Pairing an older farmer, living alone with his chickens and a cow, surrounded by a flat landscape of fields with the child, the little clown, creates wonderful human connections.  There is the connection of an elder with someone very young; both sometimes dismissed because of their ages.  There is the connection of someone living alone with another who lives with a large group.  There is the connection of being lost and found literally and emotionally.

One of my favorite series of illustrations is two pages of four small pictures of the farmer and the clown before they wave goodbye.  The very young are often more open and uninhibited in expressing their feelings.  The clown running to the farmer, the farmer picking up the child, both of them laughing, and the hug and kiss goodbye are very moving.  The impact of each is heightened by the liberal use of white space.  I know I will never be able to "read" these without my eyes filling with tears.


The Farmer And The Clown is a marvelous picture book by Marla Frazee.  It's about giving and receiving more than expected.  It's about the true meaning of having a place filled with warmth, safety and happiness...home...sanctuary.  This is one title not to be missed; a classic.

For more information about Marla Frazee and her work, please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  Yesterday I read this outstanding interview by Roger Sutton of The Horn Book Magazine, where the two chat about this book.  For additional views of images please visit the publisher's website.  Thanks to educator Colby Sharp for tweeting today about this fantastic interview of Marla Frazee at ZULKEY.  Update 12/11/2014 Marla Frazee talks about her book at TeachingBooks.net.  Update:  I don't know how I missed this interview at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast hosted by author and blogger Julie Danielson with Marla Frazee sharing her process for this book.

God...

Avid readers have piles of books, stacks of books and bookshelves stuffed with books they have read or want to read.  I know I do.  Within those needing to be read are a select group of titles.  They are not the new releases I read as soon as possible.  They are those I set aside in anticipation of greatness.

There are authors' and illustrators' work I treasure.  When two of them collaborate on a book, it's like a phenomenal present.  All books are gifts but these are in a whole separate category.  God got a dog (Beach Lane Books, October 29, 2013) written by Cynthia Rylant, Newbery Medal and Honor winner, with illustrations by two-time Caldecott Honor winner, Marla Frazee is one of these cherished treasures.





God woke up

And He was groggy,
so He got a nice cup of coffee
and went to sit
under an apple tree. ...

So begins the first of sixteen poems, initially appearing in a larger collection titled God Went To Beauty School (HarperCollins).  God decides to participate in the human experience; doing what people do or dream of doing.  God's descriptions for each scenario will make you pause, ponder and sigh in pure pleasure.

He realizes, like many of us, the importance of being near a tree, seeking shelter and comfort in the size and canopy of branches overhead.  He notices the joy resulting from the simplest things.  When you paint someone's nails you get to marvel at the bones in their hands.

Being above or next to water, is not the same as floating across it in a boat.  Testing whether spaghetti is completely cooked leaves a noodle zapped on Jupiter.  A visit to the doctor produces no cure for the little skip in a heartbeat.

Jail, a bathtub, a street, an alley or boardwalk reveals God's anger, shyness and pure elation.  Wouldn't it be great to call up Mother Teresa when you're sick to ask for a visit?  God can and does.  There's a very special little boy God wrote and read a story to as a child.  Who do you think it is?

Taking a break, discovering a place of true Holiness, working at a desk all day or writing more than a couple letters to a celebrity allow us to put ourselves in those situations, seeing God's point of view.  India, elephants and the loss of everything give readers a new understanding of a Plan.  Particularly comforting is the final poem, knowing how at the end of a day, God finds warmth as many of us do.


Even after multiple readings, I go back over and over to savor the words of Cynthia Rylant.  In every poem she captures the essence of the activity bringing an element of reverence to each.  There is a childlike wonder in the observations and yes...a sense of humor too.  I like that the gender of God varies from poem to poem.  Here's the beginning and end of the poem, God wrote a book.

No, not that one.
Everybody thinks She
wrote that one,
but She didn't. ...

... She read it to the boy
at bedtime
because the boy couldn't sleep.
So God read him a book.
The boy grew up.  He became a writer.
Which one?
Not telling. 


More than a year ago this series of tweets appeared on Twitter. (Thanks to Marla Frazee for granting me permission to use them.)  These clearly convey the process used to get an illustration "just right"; to have it enhance and extend the text as well as tell a story all its own.  I had no idea this would be one of the more than sixteen pictures in this book.  I don't know about you but I can hear the sound of the television and the soft flapping of bird wings.  I can feel the warmth of true companionship.

I'm illustrating a Cynthia Rylant text now. I keep pinching myself which is why I messed up earlier tweet. @lindaurbanbooks @barbaraoconnor
— Marla Frazee (@MarlaFrazee) January 5, 2013

Some drawings are harder than others and this one is just killing me. pic.twitter.com/E9b4paWE
— Marla Frazee (@MarlaFrazee) January 6, 2013

This may not ever come together, but after 3 days of fighting the drawing, I'm gonna start painting. pic.twitter.com/TjkL8qrD
— Marla Frazee (@MarlaFrazee) January 6, 2013

Painted all day. Will resume tomorrow. This is why it takes me a year to illustrate a book. pic.twitter.com/nM0SjjG3
— Marla Frazee (@MarlaFrazee) January 8, 2013

Off to get latte. Hoping caffeine helps me figure out my next move on this. pic.twitter.com/ZJDoBpHW
— Marla Frazee (@MarlaFrazee) January 9, 2013

Quittin' time. pic.twitter.com/YpohyS2b
— Marla Frazee (@MarlaFrazee) January 9, 2013

I woke up today knowing that I have to redo that illustration I posted. Happens at least 1x a book. Ugh. Stay tuned 4 round 2.
— Marla Frazee (@MarlaFrazee) January 15, 2013

Re-did the illustration. Not quite sure if it works better than the first one or not. pic.twitter.com/GVUONAfa
— Marla Frazee (@MarlaFrazee) January 20, 2013

Ack. Help me out! Any opinions? A or B? pic.twitter.com/Wzi2mHkQ
— Marla Frazee (@MarlaFrazee) January 20, 2013

The black and gold matching dust jacket and book case is spectacular in its simplicity.  Sprinkled in the upper left-hand corner of the back are a cluster of stars.  The opening and closing endpapers make me think of the vastness of the universe; shades of gray patterned in darker stars.

On the title page is a tiny white mug with a big "smiley" face on it beneath the words.  God is holding this in the first poem.  It appears again on the final page, the dog leaning over to take a sip.  It's details like this that elevate a book to excellence.

Each poem is accompanied by a single page illustration.  Marla Frazee has chosen to have God appear at varying ages and ethnic backgrounds, a child, wearing a yellow life vest, drifting in a swan boat, a middle-aged, apron-wearing, hair-in-a bun woman sitting at a table covered with a red and white checkered tablecloth, a vest and bandanna wearing biker guy angrily shouting in front of a jukebox or a young boy skating along a raised boardwalk.  All her portrayals of God have a faint but definite light around them.

The color palette used, the intricate lines and shading all convey a vivid sense of time and place.  As each poem is read you are drawn into the illustration as a willing observer.  All of the illustrations in this book are my favorites, each speaking to me differently as do the poems.  The one which tugs on my heart, as you can easily guess, is of God spotting the stray dog by the railroad tracks in the pouring rain.


To tell you the truth I was literally stunned after reading this the first time; more than several of the poems and pictures brought tears to my eyes.  God got a dog written by Cynthia Rylant with illustrations by Marla Frazee is, in a word, wondrous.  I love it...every single part...with all my heart.

If you wish to know more about either the author or illustrator please follow the links to their respective websites embedded in their names.  This link to the publisher's website offers readers the chance to read four of the poems.

An Equinox, Food Names, Bus Seven and a Visit to Plimoth

In my way of thinking it's all about perspective.  When my chocolate Labrador had a close encounter with a white-tailed deer, after a moment of stunned silence, she was ready for the chase.  Earnest barking begins if she gets a whiff of one in the neighborhood.  A younger child would probably be awestruck before the squeals of wonder began.  I freely admit a part of me feels the same as the child, even after seeing hundreds of deer, up close or from afar, in my lifetime.  Another part of me, the gardener, thinks about all the tulips I never see bloom after the deer come through munching on all the buds.

For an author to give a reader the perspective of one or all of the characters in their story, to see the world through their eyes, is golden.  Author Sara Pennypacker (with spirited, hilarious illustrations by Caldecott Honor Medalist Marla Frazee) further endears readers to a favorite third grade student in Clementine and the Spring Trip (Disney Hyperion Books, March 2013).  There is never, ever a dull moment in the life of this mostly optimistic, daring and effervescent gal.

Spring is a really big deal here in Boston, let me tell you.  After all that snow and ice, the whole city goes a little crazy when the first warm weather shows up.

Spring for Clementine's best friend, Margaret, means cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning.  The story opens with her scrubbing the duck statues in the Public Gardens at the Make Way for Ducklings sculpture.  For Margaret's brother, Mitchell, it equals baseball and the Red Sox.  It translates into walking through the park for Clementine's pregnant mom, her dad and little brother (who she gives various vegetable names throughout the story).  For Clementine it means remembering the apple seeds she planted last fall near their building.

Excitement for the field trips spring brings hits the students at Clementine's school and in her classroom.  You have an increasingly lively four days during a special week when you add to this mix her teacher's impending fatherhood, fourth grade quiet eating rules, a new student named Olive, the shenanigans of a former student Baxter and the odoriferous Bus Seven.  On the day before the visit to Plimoth Plantation, a teacher request causes creative thinking on Clementine's part along with unease due to unwanted challenges.

On the home front Clementine's mom teeters between her cheery self and crunchy moments.  Outspoken for all the right reasons, her passion is never quiet.  A secret Pentagon project with her dad spiced with his stories of how and when he fell in love with her mom provides balance for our spunky protagonist.

As fate would decree, Clementine's group is assigned to the infamous bus, home of The Cloud. Conversations and actions by this inventive third grader during the field trip will have readers alternately laughing, cheering and admiring her.  Spring may make people a little crazy but Clementine addresses it all with surety, success and by heeding words of wisdom from her dad.


Clearly evident in this title is Sara Pennypacker's ability to create characters readers will want to visit over and over again.  We want to know what they will say and do.  Their perfection as people is that they are not perfect!  What Clementine, her mom, her dad, little brother, Margaret, Mitchell, Olive and the rest of the crew represent are good people being the best they can, when they can.

Even if this is the first title in the series read, you will immediately become part of the story, an enthusiastic participant, due to Pennypacker's style of writing. Her assessment of any given situation through Clementine's dialog or thoughts (or conversations with other characters) will have you gleefully chuckling.  Every single word is carefully chosen, linked to another and to another, until there are a series of sentences creating this memorable book.  Here are a few of many examples I marked with sticky notes. (Upon completion of my reading this title, it definitely had the porcupine look.)

Some workmen were jackhammering up a curbstone, which made my brother so excited he looked like he was being electrocuted.  

My dad came in then, with my brother in his arms.  "There is a rule about eating sounds?" he asked.
"Of course," I said.  And then I explained to my parents everything Margaret had warned me about.
When I was finished, my dad looked up from stirring yogurt into my brother's cereal. "Who made this rule?" he asked.
"Dad.  I already said.  The fourth graders.  First the mean ones, and now all of them."
"Yes, but who are these people? The sound police?"


And that is when I saw something I had never seen in my entire life:  Mrs. Rice was not wearing her principal shoes!  Instead, her feet were strapped into some navy blue puffy things.  I climbed over the back of Olive's seat and hung down to get a better look.  I think the things on her feet were supposed to be sandals, but what they looked like was...car seats!


If the corners of your mouth don't curl up in a smile when looking at the four drawings of Clementine Marla Frazee has on the title, verso and dedication pages, you might want to check for a pulse.  The black and white drawings in various sizes, some full page, illuminate every delightful scenario.  They are placed opposite and among the narrative to generate a seamless flow, a complete whole.  I can't look at the pages of the students' reactions to the discussion of The Cloud or Clementine's plea to her principal prior to the field trip without laughing.


If you are searching for one hundred fifty pages of pure bliss, Clementine and the Spring Trip written by Sara Pennypacker with illustrations by Marla Frazee is the book for you.  I would not hesitate to recommend this for a group read aloud or to an individual reader looking for upbeat realistic fiction.  If they haven't read any of the other titles in the series, I can guarantee this will make them want to do so as quickly as possible.

Please follow the links embedded in the author and illustrator names above to access their websites to read more about them and their work.  There is a study guide for the series at Sara Pennypacker's website.  This link will take you to the publisher's website where you can read the first chapter.

Canine Capers

Experience has taught me a thing or two about dogs which are "set in stone".  Squirrels drive them wild and their instinct, memory if you will, for a routine is uncanny.  My first two, sisters and black Labradors, Soot and Cinder, would begin twirling and barking at the softest whisper of the word squirrel.  Thankfully, the squirrels were always faster.

Even though it's been more than three years since a neighborhood dog died, every single time we pass Shadow's home, Xena waits at the end of the driveway for him to appear so we can walk together as we used to do.  Without fail it's the same number of treats before starting and continuing a task.  Truthfully, I have not really needed to set an alarm clock for more than twelve years.  I have my own furry, four-pawed model.

Marla Frazee, twice the winner of the Caldecott Honor medal (2009 for her book, A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever-Harcourt and 2010 for a title written by Liz Garton Scanlon, All The World-Beach Lane Books) has a new book, Boot & Shoe (Beach Lane Books) released less than two weeks ago.  Rest assured these two fit the pooch portrait to a tee.  They give new meaning to following in one's paw prints.

Boot and Shoe were born into the same litter, and now they live in the same house.

The siblings are nearly inseparable in all their daily endeavors except one prefers the back porch and the other the front porch.  Happy with the view, happy with the resting spot, both are the picture of contentment.  Life would have continued like this for them all the days of their lives except for the appearance of one bushy-tailed, nut loving interloper.

A squirrel moseying up to the house has trouble with a capital "T" on its mind.  Racing from one porch to the other, it tantalizes those two pups to no end, repeatedly, until...what's a dog gonna do?  Of course, they chase that fleet-footed bundle of fur until it saunters away as casually as it arrived.  But boy, those two pals are pooped out.

When Boot and Shoe finally gather their wits they find themselves on the opposite porch.  What ensues is a classic comedy of errors.  Neither can find the other in their respective spots.

Both wait for the other through the afternoon, dinner, and a cold evening but no Shoe for Boot, no Boot for Shoe.  Luck is not in their favor no matter what they try.  Night seems to last forever when you're without your other half.

When the sun comes up both are saddened to still be alone but an early morning ritual beckons both.  There's no joy like a dog's joy.  Ahhhhh...together again.


Using repetitive words and phrases Marla Frazee establishes an inviting rhythm, a conversational tone, to her narrative.  You can't help but get attached to the brothers from the very beginning; following them as they do what dogs do, watching as they are teased by a crafty, crazed squirrel, sympathizing when they're separated and sharing in their discovery of one another again. It's like you've got the inside scoop on the latest happenings at this particular house touched with the precise amount of humor (and a tad bit of sadness).


Taking a cue from the colors and patterns used in the dogs names on the jacket and cover, Frazee has her front and back endpapers pictured on one side as a large golden and red checked pattern and a plain sea green on the other.  Careful readers will notice she carries this same scheme in the chairs upon the porches where Boot and Shoe sit each day.

Using black pencil and gouache most of her illustrations are small studies carefully held in the hands of white space further adding to the charm of this story.  Five of the visuals cover two pages to enhance emotional impact.  Attention to detail had me laughing out loud and sighing in understanding; the chase scene with the squirrel, Boot and Shoe looking in every little corner for the other, sitting in the cold rain waiting and sharing the same blue pillow when sleeping, not to mention seeing the squirrel sitting on the roof's edge, watching the two as they go inside.


I've lost count how many times I've read Boot & Shoe written and illustrated by Marla Frazee.  When an author/illustrator captures the essence of two perfectly paired pooches plus one scampy squirrel hilarity is bound to be present...and it is.  It's easy to love this duo identical in every way except for their paws.  Expect multiple requests for read alouds.

If you follow the link embedded in the title above you can see several more illustrations from the book at the publisher's website.

They, Like Many Things, Are Everywhere-Stars

I have long held the belief that we buzz through life much too quickly missing the details that Mother Nature has laid before us so splendiferously.  With the melody of When You Wish Upon a Star sung by Walt Disney's Jiminy Cricket forever echoing in my mind, I still experience a surge of joy at spotting the first star in the evening casting my wish skyward.  Author Mary Lyn Ray and two time Caldecott Honor Award illustrator Marla Frazee collaboratively convey the magical marvel of stars, not only scattered across the horizon but those found all around us if we only choose to see, in their new title, Stars.

Using spare but profound poetic text Ray offers readers musings on stars' place in our world, their effect and purpose in the design of life; she makes us see that the magic is attainable if we change our perspective. 

A star is how you know it's almost night.
As soon as you see one, there's another, and another.
And the dark that comes doesn't feel so dark.

She wonders about the impossibility of catching them in a basket but the possibility of making one to keep in your pocket like a favorite rock but really not the same.  Stars can be a symbol of safety, honor an achievement or be an object of fantasy.  Always keeping your special star in your pocket, it's okay to give another one away; because on those not so shiny days all you have to do is touch the one you've saved.

Moss, strawberry and pumpkin blossoms, snowflakes and fuzzy dandelions yield their own celestial wonders.  But it is in the darkness of night those pinpoints of light will have one or many gazing upward, amazed at this gift that is there everywhere even when we can not see them.  It is this knowledge that brings a continuity to this book; this is the heart of what Ray shares with readers.

As soon as I saw the endpapers, clouds across the sky in the front and a starry sky in the back,  illustrated by Marla Frazee I knew that a visual treat as only she can deliver awaited.  Using graphite, gouache and gel pens wide expansive skies and intimate individual progressions deepened the spirit of the words.  Liberal use of white space draws readers' eyes to the hand-lettered text by Frazee; hand-lettering adding a very personal touch to the title.

There is a softness to Frazee's illustrations that invite, urge and comfort readers; a universality conveyed in her character's individual gestures and emotions.  Predominantly using an array of hues of blue, gray, green and golden yellow as backgrounds breaths life into those characters.  A small boy walking his dog as the first star of the evening appears, three children gathered around a picnic basket inside a hollow tree lit by lantern's light reading a book, mouths open in laughter children aboard a red sled cascading down a snowy slope or the boy with his dog blowing on a dandelion seeds swirling, billowing outward are some of my favorite images from Stars.

I can just picture this being read to a child cozy in bed, to a group around a crackling fire on a clear summer night or a group of pajama clad students on Pajama Day.   May this endeavor by Mary Lyn Ray and Marla Frazee together for the first time be the beginning of many to come.  I'll wish on a star.

To access the author's and illustrator's websites please follow the links embedded in their names.  For more interior visuals from the book, follow this link to the publisher's website.