Loud Drew A Crowd

Parents are not perfect.  They are as flawed as the rest of us humans.  They, for the most part, try their level best to raise an individual or individuals who will reflect the best parts of each of them.  Their aim is to nudge their youngsters to realize their full potential, and, hopefully, make the world better for themselves and everyone in it. 

What is probably most startling and wondrous to parents is when their objective is reached.  Even more surprising is when it happens in an unexpected way.  Pokko And The Drum (A Paula Wiseman Book, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, October 1, 2019) written and illustrated by Matthew Forsythe follows the rise to forest fame of a young frog. 
 
The biggest mistake Pokko's parents
ever made was giving her a drum.

What readers quickly realize is, this was not their first mistake in gift giving to Pokko.  It should have dawned on them that the jumbo slingshot and large balloon would have less than stellar results. Immediately the quiet cuisine-creator father and literary-lover mother knew the drum was too loud for them to think or have a conversation.  Pokko played . . .constantly.

Pokko's father gently suggested one morning that she play it outside being as quiet as possible because they were quiet frogs who preferred to remain living unnoticed.  Pokko thought this was a good idea.  She left their home inside a mushroom.

The forest was beautiful and a bit too silent.  Pokko started to lightly beat her drum to dispel the hush around her.  Before she knew what was happening a banjo-playing raccoon joined her.  A rabbit was next, tooting out tunes on a trumpet.

A wolf joined the line of musicians without an instrument and guess what happened to the rabbit?  This made Pokko stop playing her drum.  She warned the wolf who seemed repentant.  Before long the number of animals playing instruments grew as did the number of animals who simply enjoyed the music.  Pokko kept playing her drum leading the crowd.

Back at the mushroom abode of Pokko and her parents, a carefully prepared dinner was about to go uneaten.  Two unassuming adult frogs were about to have their lives changed.  Pokko kept playing her drum.


With his opening sentence Matthew Forsythe has our undivided attention.  With his second sentence, we are not leaving this book until every single syllable is read.  Matthew's pacing in the narrative is pure perfection.  He leaves space for readers' reactions and the humor to bubble to the surface.

The inclusion of dialogue between the parents and Pokko and the wolf enhances the comedy but also leaves room for speculation.  What is there about Pokko that fosters respect?  Here are three sentences on three separate pages.  Do you see what those words are doing?  Do you feel something shifting?

It had just rained, and the forest
was sparkling like an emerald.

And it was quiet.

Too quiet.


The front, the right side of the opened dust jacket and book case are identical.  It is here that Matthew Forsythe introduces the color palette used throughout his book.  The hues are soft and subtle, but their power lies in the patterns and textures.  We want to know who this Pokko is.  We want to know about the drum.

To the left, on the back of the dust jacket, is a series of six smaller images, three to a row.  Three feature flora from the forest.  Another one shows the frogs' mushroom home.  The final two are of Pokko's father and mother doing what they love best.  The caption reads:

A story about art.  And persistence.
And a family of frogs that lives in a mushroom.

On the back of the book case is an image from the interior of Pokko's father helping her get on her coat.  The drum and drumsticks are next to them.  One other item of note is the ISBN.  The barcode in black is the design for the side of a drum in white with yellow drumsticks.

The opening and closing endpapers are a pattern of mushrooms, leaves and berries, lichen, stems, leaves and flowers and tiny homes in mushrooms and one large tree branch.  It's a glimpse into the realm of possibilities.  These elements are placed on a white-cream colored paper, heavier and used throughout the book.

Matthew Forsythe uses full-page pictures, and double-page pictures to extend his narrative and increase its emotional impact.  Some of his visuals cross the gutter, creating a column for text.  Or the area for text crosses the gutter and leaves a column for an image.  As he does in his text, he leaves room for speculation and interpretation in his art.  These illustrations are

rendered in watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil.


His perspectives are altered for maximum effect.  His close-ups have a huge impact.  Readers will want to reread this book repeatedly looking for portions of the book leaning more heavily on yellows and reds.  What, if any, is the importance of this change?

One of my many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  It is when Pokko is first walking through the woods.  A long horizontal column at the bottom provides a space for text on the right.  There are several plants using the same white-cream color to balance the design.  The world of the woods surrounds Pokko but we must remember we are seeing it at a different level than we do as humans.  There is a hint of events to come hidden on the left behind a tree.  The look on Pokko's face reflects her emotional state at being in this forest, this very quiet forest.  She carries her drum with both hands in front of her.  Her drumsticks are tucked in a pocket at her back.


This is one of those books you'll always remember reading for the first time.  Pokko And The Drum written and illustrated by Matthew Forsythe leaves an impression on your mind and your heart.  I am looking forward to sharing it with readers.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections. Today Publishers Weekly announced their Best Books 2019.  This title is on the list.

Please access Matthew Forsythe's website by following the link attached to his name to learn more about his other work.  Matthew Forsythe maintains accounts on Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter.  At author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's site, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, she highlights Matthew Forsythe and this book.  At the publisher's website you can view multiple interior images.

Sharing A Melody, Sharing A Memory

When you think of music, you associate specific emotional responses with certain melodies and lyrics.  Did you know 1972 was the first time the word playlist was used?  Now there are playlists for any number of things.  We have songs, lists of songs, which inspire us and bind us together as a nation, a community or best friends.  

In The Bear and the Piano readers met an extraordinary animal and the music he learned to create on a discovered instrument.  A companion title, The Bear, the Piano, the Dog, and the Fiddle (Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, March 5, 2019) written and illustrated by David Litchfield takes us down a path on another harmonious journey.  We are reminded there is more than one direction available to realize our deepest desire.

Hector and Hugo were best friends.  Hector was a fiddle player, and Hugo was one of his biggest fans.

Over the years the man and the dog were inseparable regardless of their fortune.  Now, though, it seemed as if no one, except for Hugo, wanted to listen to Hector.  Hector was so discouraged he quit playing the fiddle.  He was letting his dream of playing in a concert hall fade.

Nothing interested the elder man.  Day after day he engaged in sedentary activities.  Hugo, on the other paw, resurrected the fiddle and practiced and played and practiced and played.  One night Hector followed a sound and found Hugo entertaining a crowd from the roof of their apartment building.  Hugo was magnificent! (Hector was a tad bit jealous.)

Knowing how much Hugo loved making music on that fiddle, Hector shared his expertise with his friend.  As you can imagine crowds now gathered in the streets, day after day to hear Hugo.  This attracted the attention of one very special piano-playing bear.  Bear wanted Hugo to be a member of his animal band of musicians.

Hugo was very excited at this prospect.  At first, reluctantly, so was Hector but then he was mean to his friend as he left to go on tour.  Around the world Hugo, the star of the show, went with Bear's Big Band. Everyone could watch them on television or on their computers . . . even Hector.  When Bear's Big Band arrived back at Hector's city, choices were made.  On a remarkable evening bravery, disbelief, compassion and the sound of two fiddles represented the strength of friendship.


As readers we are very clear as to the relationship between Hector and Hugo early in the story.  David Litchfield gives us through his words the power of playing the fiddle on both the man and the dog.  We understand how a career of achievements is still short of a goal.  We understand the deep need to begin making a dream come true.

Through a careful blend of narrative, woofs and body movements, and dialogue we know exactly what Hector and Hugo are thinking. This knowledge brings us deeper into their story.  Here are several passages.

As Hugo looked up at Hector, his tail wagging,
Hector's tummy started to hurt again.  He was jealous.
"I guess you should go," he said, trying to smile.
"It's the opportunity of a lifetime."

Hugo's tail wagged
even more as he packed
to go away with Bear's
Big Band, making 
sure the fiddle was
safely stowed.

But Hector began to have second thoughts.
"Don't go and join that silly group, Hugo,"
he said.  "We don't need them."


The elegant, flowing blue curtain framing the dog and the fiddle with Bear playing the piano hints of events to come.  The radiant cityscape in the background gives us a stronger sense of place and time. (Note the crumpled flyer at the bottom of the piano.) To the left, on the back, the blue of the curtain moves over the spine to the far edge.  In the center of this blue canvas is a circular image.  Bear is seated at another piano looking out at the crowd.  Dog is standing on top of this grand piano, bow and fiddle lifted in either paw.  He too is looking out at the audience (readers).

On the book case, on the front, the blue curtain is removed.  As our eyes move left on the open case the buildings cast in a glowing light stand tall.  The flyer is easier to read as it lays on the ground.  In the distance, ever so faintly, we can see members of Bear's Big Band.

On the opening and closing endpapers our view is of the rooftop of Hector's and Hugo's apartment with other rooftops nearby.  A somewhat darker color palette with more prominent shades of red in the cityscape is stretched behind the rooftops. No one is visible on the opening endpaper.  On the closing endpaper it is night.  Everything is cloaked in hues of blue.  Hector and Hugo are playing a fiddle duet on their rooftop.  A light, directed at them, comes from the top left to their nearly center right position.

Rendered in mixed media the illustrations, varying in size from double-page, to full-page to partial page, are highly animated.  It's as if we expect everyone and everything to come to life in an instant.  At one point David Litchfield groups three smaller images on a single page to accentuate pacing and the passage of time.  Hugo is seen honing his fiddle-playing skills in several different seasons.  This same technique of three on one page is used again to supply suspense.  The intricate details in each picture ask readers to pause.  The expressions on the characters' faces ask readers to feel.

One of my many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  In the background are buildings along a city street.  In the foreground on the left and somewhat on the right is a crowd of peoples' faces, from all backgrounds, watching Hector and Hugo.  On the right Hector is instructing and conducting Hugo.  The dog is standing on a small, green, three-legged stool.  One foot is raised as he waits to move the bow over the strings.  The use of light and shadow here (and throughout the book) is marvelous.


It's not hard to imagine hearing the strains of a fiddle playing and the notes from a piano ringing when you read The Bear, the Piano, the Dog, and the Fiddle written and illustrated by David Litchfield.  The threads of friendship and music are distinct and compelling. As a stand-alone title it's wonderful.  As a companion to The Bear and the Piano, it's simply splendid.  You will want a copy in your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about David Litchfield and his other work, please follow the links attached to his names to access his sites.  You will enjoy the interior images from this book at his website.  David Litchfield has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  David is interviewed at The Children's Writer's Guild.

Feeling Those Groovy Vibrations

At times (or maybe all the time) people prefer to write in silence. For others the subject matter demands the playing and listening of a particular type of music or a collection of songs.  Perhaps these melodies awaken, inspire or enhance our imaginations and inventiveness.

Words given to us or words which enter our minds connect to our past experiences and the tunes bound to those moments.  It's as if there is a beat running through our blood waiting to be beckoned.  Rock 'N' Roll Soul (Abrams Books For Young Readers, May 15, 2018) written by Susan Verde (I Am Peace: A Book of Mindfulness Abrams Books for Young Readers, September 26, 2017) with illustrations by Matthew Cordell (The Only Fish In The Sea A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, August 15, 2017 and Caldecott Medal title Wolf In The Snow Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan, January 3, 2017) introduces readers to a character who feels and finds a rhythm everywhere she goes.

I may not own a drum kit

or an electric guitar.

I might not have a keyboard

or a mic like a rock 'n' roll star.

This bundle of musical energy is always moving.  She is ready, willing and more than able to participate in the school talent show and she declares:

I've got a

Rock 'n' Roll

SOUL!

As she makes her way home at the end of the day, items discovered along the way become instruments to play.

When she walks through the door, a one-string guitar and a bowl and wooden spoon help her invent a tune.  Even the rain drops on the roof pulse with a special pitter-patter.  Which form of this tuneful art finds a special place in this gal's heart?

Her nighttime dreams are brimming with hip-hop, classical, blues and jazz crooning to her moods.  She can be as wild and loud as a rocker or as calm and quiet as a folk musician.  Every combination of notes vibrates within her.

Early morning tasks set the stage for the show.  Out the door she dances.  Walking down the hall to the auditorium she goes.  What will she do?  Only she knows because this girl has a . . .   

It's guaranteed you'll be dancing, singing, clapping or toe-tapping by the time you finish reading this rhyming poetic tale penned by Susan Verde.  Each couplet creates a cadence building toward a crescendo as the girl takes the stage.  (Using her as the narrator provides a more intimate atmosphere for all of us.) She is confident.  She is creative.  She knows exactly what to do and Susan Verde wants each reader to know, too.  Here are another two lines.

Keep it down?  Keep it quiet?
Oh, I can keep it soft . . .
but the music in my world NEVER shuts off.


Upon removing the dust jacket from the book and unfolding it, you can't stop yourself from smiling.  The exuberance of the girl portrayed on the front lets us know she is ready to, no; she is leaping into song and dance.  (The text and the girl are varnished.)  The use of primary colors (plus green) adds a special spark to the musical depictions.  To the left, on the back, one of the interior images is used.  The girl, left leg lifted and arms raised over her head, looks like a ballerina ready to twirl.  With eyes closed she is moving to the music heard through her headset.  A group of students are enjoying her performance.  The placement of the ISBN is pure perfection.

The book case is nearly identical to a different interior image.  More hues of red in the curtains are used for added warmth.  In front of a cheering student body the girl is bowing on the stage.  Eyes closed and smiling, her arms are outstretched.

The opening and closing endpapers are a shade of green seen in the title text.  Rendered in pen and ink and watercolor throughout, Matthew Cordell begins his illustrative story with the first page turn.  The girl is calmly strolling along listening to her music.  The notes in red, blue and yellow pour forth like a path around and in front of her.  Another two pages have the notes increasing as she is shown in six different poses grooving to the tunes.  Across the verso and title pages the trail of notes continues as she quietly walks beneath the title text.

Loosely framed in wide borders of white space Matthew Cordell uses single page, smaller images grouped together on a single page and bold, vibrant double-page pictures to present another layer of the narrative.  There is a lively quality to the students and the school in general.  On one of the walls is a large READ sign above the lockers.  On the inside of the main doors the words SCHOOL IS COOL are written.

Matthew adds sound effects to his illustrations as the girl makes her way through the day and evening and the next morning.  Several times he shifts the point of view bringing us close to her.  When she is dreaming about the various musical genres, black, white and gray are used except for her within the scene.  She is in full color as an orchestra conductor, blues singer alone on a stage within a spotlight, saxophone player strolling down a street with a band or as a folk singer.  Every single time you read this you will notice more of the intricate details included in each visual.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is when the girl is walking home from school.  On a single page Matthew has placed skyscrapers in the background on a sunny day.  We are close to the girl with her face in the foreground.  She is looking at us.  Her closed fist is moving quickly from left to right across her lower face.  Inside she holds pebbles making a Chikk-a, Chikk-a, Chikk-a sound.  We can't see her mouth but from her eyes we realize she must be smiling.


All readers will want to do after reading Rock 'N' Roll Soul written by Susan Verde with illustrations by Matthew Cordell is to read it again and again and then they will want to sing or dance or sing and dance.  Exhilaration radiates from the pages.  This book shouts out about being who you want to be.  This title would be wonderful to use in those numerous libraries participating in the Collaborative Summer Library Program 2018 whose theme is Libraries Rock!  You'll want to have a copy of this book on your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Susan Verde and Matthew Cordell and their other work, please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  You can get to Susan's blog through a link at her website.  Matthew's blog link is attached to his name.  Both Susan and Matthew have accounts on Twitter.  The book trailer premiered on (Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries) John Schumacher's blog, Watch. Connect. Read.  You'll enjoy the interview questions and answers.  Susan is featured on Behind the Book.  I also had the distinct privilege to interview Susan in another post here.  Matthew is showcased on The Author Village and 24 Carrot Writing.  Enjoy the KitLit TV videos.