Lost And Found, It Goes Around

There will be times, more often than not, when in a given situation individuals will be expected to act in a specific manner.  Action may be taken as expected but sometimes the best choice, the right choice, is unforeseen.  It is surprising to all those involved.

Even in the world of animals there are cases of unlikely alliances, some lasting a lifetime.  Pup and Bear (Schwartz & Wade Books, October 3, 2017) written by Kate Banks with illustrations by Naoko Stoop is a tender story of maternal instincts determining choice.  In the harsh world of the Arctic it can be the difference between life and death.

WHOOSH!
When the great gray owl swooped down,
screeching whoo-whoo,
the Arctic wolves knew that the Big Freeze
was on its way.

Shelter was sought in order to survive the bitter cold, raging winds and snowy drifts.  With the passage of time, the beginning of a new season caused the ice to melt and break apart.  A wolf pup was adrift on a piece of ice, separated from the pack.

After sliding into the water, swimming and swimming, he reached land, exhausted.  Curled up in a ball, he slept.  He was awakened by a polar bear.  She was not the mother he wanted but the polar bear told him to have faith, taking him to her den.  Her promise of food and warmth assured him.

For them it was not all food gathering and snuggling in the den but play and discipline too.  The pup grew into an adult, no longer needing the polar bear.  Another winter came in the Arctic wilderness.  The wolf had his own pack now, no longer alone.  One bitter day this wolf discovered a polar bear cub, alone without a mother.

This was not the mother the polar bear cub wanted but the wolf told the baby to have faith.  Once again a promise of food and warmth was given.  A life for a life . . . was repaid.


As you read the words penned by Kate Banks you become deeply attached to the events unfolding in this story.  The severe climate in the Arctic vividly described and the loss of mothers for the wolf cub and polar bear cub are dangerous situations in which readers will feel an immediate compassion. Kate Banks repeats key phrases and dialogue creating a storytelling rhythm linking the two children and their adopted protectors together.  This is the beauty of this tale; the universe, Mother Nature, supplying a balance.  Here are several passages.

The pup was shy and frightened.
"Aren't you going to eat me?" he asked.
"Polar bears eat wolves."

"Not this one," said the polar bear, shaking her head.
"Climb on my back, and I will take you to my den."


When you look at the front, right, of the unfolded, matching dust jacket and book case, the gentleness of the polar bear female wrapping her body protectively about the wolf cub envelopes you.  The simplicity of this scene is intrinsically powerful. The sky and wintry landscape continues over the spine to the back on the left.  These words are in the sky:

"I am not your mother," said the polar bear,
"but I can cuddle you and keep you safe."

The scene spans to the edges of both flaps.

On the opening endpapers heads lifted and howling to the snowy sky is a pack of five Arctic wolves.  The predominant color is green.  A family of polar bears on a blue and snowy background strides into the snow on the closing endpapers.  The verso and title pages are a soft black.  Blue and white evergreen trees span from side to side.  The text is in white.  This is a stunning presentation.

Naoko Stoop rendered these breathtaking visuals using acrylic paint, ink, pencils, and pastels on plywood, and digitally finished them.  Each page turn reveals a double-page picture, a grouping of smaller illustrations or single-page images.  They enhance the poetic pacing.  Emotions are conveyed in the perspectives employed.

One of my many favorite illustrations is on a single page.  A large frame of white with a blue wash fashions a loose oval border around a small picture.  A blue-green sky blends into a tan and white ground.  Upon this walks the great mother polar bear leaning down to the small gray wolf cub.  It is the ultimate visual of maternal affection.


Author Kate Banks and illustrator Naoko Stoop have given children's literature a luminous look at how creatures protect one another when given the opportunity in the right conditions.  Pup and Bear is memorable and moving.  I highly recommend this title for all collections, professional and personal.

To learn more about Kate Banks and Naoko Stoop and their other work, please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  They both maintain blogs in addition to their websites.  Their Twitter accounts are here and here.  To view interior pages in this title visit the publisher's website.

Little Girl...Big Dreams, Big Adventures

If you time it right on a full moon night, sitting on the horizon, it looks close enough to touch.  At the darkest hour, when the air is clear, high in the sky overhead, with little stretch of your imagination, you believe it to be closer than it is.  These are the times when visiting the moon for polite conversation seems possible.

In her debut picture book, Red Knit Cap Girl (Megan Tingley Books, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company, June 2012), author illustrator Naoko Stoop introduced readers to one small girl wearing her signature articles of clothing, who takes the time to nurture her curiosity.  This small child has a deep appreciation for the natural world.  This small child dreams big.

In the forest, there is time to wonder about everything. Red Knit Cap Girl wonders about flowers, butterflies, leaves, and clouds.

What Red Knit Cap Girl wants more than anything else is to talk with the Moon.  To get close enough she goes out on a tall branch and has her friend White Bunny lean out over a reflection on the pond.  These don't work, of course, so she asks another friend, Hedgehog how he thinks she can reach the Moon.

His suggestion of seeking advice from Owl, has her approaching his old oak tree in the darker parts of the forest.  He tells her the Moon is much too far away...

"...but if you want, she will bend down to listen to you."

Now Red Knit Cap Girl must do something to get the Moon's attention.  She gathers her friends Bear, Squirrel, Hedgehog, White Bunny and two little white birds, to plan a festive welcome for the Moon that evening.  Each has suggestions and offers of help.

Perhaps small glows of light will let the Moon know Red Knit Cap Girl is waiting for her.  Paper lanterns are made and hung; the merrymaking begins but is greeted only with silence.  In fact, the Moon seems to be absent from the night sky this evening.  Owl and Nature herself provide the answer to making a big dream come true.


Simple delightful sentences surround readers with warmth taking them into the story of Red Knit Cap Girl and her forest friends.  A mixture of narration and conversation tell the tale.  A gentle childlike cadence, perfected by Naoko Stoop using the structure of threes, summons readers to continue.  Here is a single passage.

"The Moon might like decorations," says Hedgehog.
"I can hang them because I am tall," says Bear.
"I can help because I am nimble," says Squirrel.


Readers immediately notice the unique background on the jacket and cover of this title.  Naoko Stoop uses acrylic, ink and pencil on plywood to render her illustrations. If you open the jacket two separate illustrations, the front highlighting Red Knit Cap Girl and White Bunny in a circle of light, the back with the two friends sitting on a branch looking at a large moon, are designed in pleasing symmetry.  The cover, different, has a much stronger wood background depicting each of the characters at play.

Blue shaded, swirled marble-like endpapers, are dotted with varying round white spots...moonbeams?  The pictures move from double page spreads, edge to edge, to single edge to edge pages and to other single pages with large plywood background frames, elements slipping past the edges to depict movement. Colored hues of the backdrop suggest times of day surrounding the delicate-featured characters.  Stoop shows the passage of time with the ever-increasing size of the Moon's shape.  One of my favorite illustrations is a single page.  Red Knit Cap Girl is seated on a branch with Bear, Hedgehog, White Bunny, Squirrel and the two birds, with a single lantern hanging below, glowing, as they long hopefully for the Moon.


I couldn't have been happier to realize this month brought the release of another title by Naoko Stoop, Red Knit Cap Girl To The Rescue (Megan Tingley Books, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company).  If your view of life is optimistic, chances are you will seize opportunities when others might not.  You will see no danger to yourself in assisting another in trouble.

It's a windy day in the forest.  Red Knit Cap Girl and her friends are playing together. 

As Bear, Hedgehog, Squirrel and White Bunny fashion telescopes, hats and kites from paper, Red Knit Cap Girl spies something clearly in distress out on the open water.  A small polar bear cub is floating on a chunk of ice, having strayed from its home and mother.  Without giving it a second thought, Red Cap Girl makes a large paper airplane glider which she and White Bunny use to bring the wayward stranger to shore.

When the Moon rises in the evening, Red Knit Cap Girl chats with her about finding Polar Bear Cub's family.  As the new day begins, it finds her and her friends busily building a boat to sail across the ocean.  Following the Moon's light, hanging on tight during a turbulent storm and under the guidance of a pair of Orcas, the trio, Red Knit Cap Girl, White Bunny and Polar Bear Cub, journey to the cold north.

New wonders flicker in colored hues across a night sky.  A shoreline stops the boat's passage as all gaze at a world filled with ice and snow.  Is this where Polar Bear Cub will find his family?


It is the innocence, kindness and wondering of Red Knit Cap Girl which shines through in her dialogue with her friends in this story.  The response by them to the goodness she embodies is seen in the narrative.  The bond between readers and this book is strengthened by having each of the characters, the Moon, Owl, Hedgehog, Squirrel, Bear and White Bunny (plus the two little white birds) from the previous title reappear.  Here is an example.

They sail north in search of Polar Bear Cub's home.
"I hope it's not too far away..." says Red Knit Cap Girl.
"Follow the light of the Moon," calls Owl.


On the front and back jacket there is a balanced lightness; the blue sky over the pale shades of golden tan (the plywood) is reversed on the back as Polar Bear floats forlornly in the sea.  It's interesting to note the letters in the title are breezing along with Red Knit Cap Girl and White Bunny as they fly to the rescue.  All the characters are enjoying their paper toys on the cover as leaves float by them.  A variegated mixture of greens with tiny white dots above, color the opening and closing endpapers.

The attractive blend in illustrative sizes seen in the first book is repeated in this title with blues, greens and golds being the more predominant colors. When Red Knit Cap Girl first sees Polar Bear Cub, it is through the circle of her paper telescope.  That same size circle is used to frame several more single page pictures rather than the wide plywood frames used in the previous title.  One of my favorite illustrations is the two pages depicting the storm at sea; stylized pointed waves reaching toward jagged lightning bolts as White Bunny, Polar Bear Cub and Red Knit Cap Girl hold on tight squeezing their eyes closed.  Stoop even gives Polar Bear Cub a paper rain poncho to wear.


Red Knit Cap Girl and Red Knit Cap Girl To The Rescue written and illustrated by Naoko Stoop will not only endear readers to the main character and her friends, but will make us all strive to view the world, appreciate life, through her eyes.  Readers of all ages will find these books completely charming.  I thank Naoko Stoop for bringing these books into the children's literature world.

To learn more about Naoko Stoop and her artwork please visit her website by following the link embedded in her name.  She was featured at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Red Knit Cap Girl was on The New York Times Best Illustrated Books last year.  I was personally thrilled to discover Naoko Stoop's Etsy shop. For an additional interview with Naoko Stoop about Red Knit Cap Girl To The Rescue at Carter Higgins's blog, Design of the Picture Book, follow this link.