Noticing Nature #2

Across the street is a large vacant lot.  On either side is a row of trees and shrubs.  To the west is an occupied home.  To the east are two unoccupied houses.  Behind them are rows of mature evergreens.  It is a forest in a neighborhood.  By chance, several days ago, I looked up from working at the kitchen sink out the windows at that vacant lot.  Gasping, I watched a fox in the middle of the day running from one side to the other.  Now, when out walking with my canine companion, she stops, sits and raises her nose sniffing as soon as we are near that wooded area.  She knows.

(And then just minutes ago, yes today, November 16, 2021, as we rounded that familiar corner close to our home on our walk, the crows were more vocal than normal.  Out of a row of trees on our left, the fox ran, stopped on a grassy area, crossed the road in front of us, and stopped on the lawn of a house on the right before disappearing into those woods. He was gorgeous, red and with lots of bright white on his tail.  I was trying to get my phone out of my pocket to get a picture, but also gaze at him at the same time.  Mulan, my dog, just stood silently and watched.)

Wild animals, regardless of where we live, are a part of our world.  Living with them is wondrous.  We never know when they will cross our paths or we will cross their paths.  We All Play kimetawanaw (Greystone Kids, Greystone Books Ltd, May 25, 2021) written and illustrated by Julie Flett explores the commonality and bond between animals and children.

Animals hide

and hop

and sniff

and sneak . . .

Rabbits, foxes, a turtle, and eight owls show a group of gals and guys how they play.  Next, we find ourselves in and near water.  Here whales, seals, and a mother Canada goose and her babies squirt, bend, and chase.  Nearby, children enjoy the same activities.

Back on land, snakes slither through grass.  Buffalos thunder across the plains.  Bears act like acrobats.  Snow has fallen.  Bundled in their winter wear, a hill provides the same possibilities for the girls and boys.

After a day of being constantly on the move, the animals start to slow.  They look for a space to be cozy and to cuddle.  Together, they rest.  Do the children snooze, too?

The words author Julie Flett has selected are like musical notes in a song.  Their alliteration envelopes readers, inviting us to participate.  With every page turn, the melody increases taking us through the seasons and days of play.  Three times with three different animals, we watch and listen as they play, then the same refrain, the title, ties the animals to the children.  It is here that the Cree language is used with the English.  Here is another portion of a passage.

Animals . . .

and wiggle

and wobble.

On either side of the spine, the grasses extend on the cream canvas.  As the children chase butterflies, the bobcat youngsters calmly watch on the front, right side.  You can, in your mind, hear the children laughing.  Their exuberance is contagious.  On the left, back of the dust jacket, two children are lying in the grass, feet to feet.  Their arms are raised.  A butterfly glides just out of reach.

An interior image of seals enjoying a swim is placed on the book case.  The background is the same rich cream color.  Bubbles rise from each of the three and along the bottom.

On the opening endpapers is the green used for the grasses.  On the closing endpapers is a rusty red of autumn leaves.  On the title page, the image from the front of the jacket is replicated.  Opposite this is the dedication page.  Here illustrator Julie Flett speaks of her father, Clarence Flett, Swampy Cree, Red River Metis (1936-2019).  

Rendered in pastel and pencil, composited digitally

these illustrations, each double-page image, depict joy in its purest form.  Animals appear and leave on page edges, left and right, top and bottom, breaking the frame.  Tiny details are tucked into visuals, Insects jump with the rabbits.  The geese walk among a patch of clover.  Beetles are busy as the buffalos rush past them.  Paw prints fashion a trail past the bobcats.

One of my many favorite illustrations accompanies the text above noted.  Here three bears enjoy an early snowfall.  Their warm brown bodies against the snow is a pleasing contrast.  On the left, one of the bears is on its back, feet curled up.  On the right, another bear is sliding down on its stomach toward the first bear.  A smaller bear is on the back of the sliding bear.  If they spoke our language, they might be saying

yippee!

Asking us to be aware, see, and respect what nature supplies us, We All Play written and illustrated by Julie Flett celebrates the antics in the animal world we mirror in the human world.  No matter how many times you read this book, the happiness will heighten your own happiness.  At the close of the book is a list of animals in English and in Cree.  This is followed by an explanation of the Cree 

used in this book.

There is also a Dear Reader note from Julie Flett.  I highly recommend this title for all your collections, personal and professional.

To learn more about Julie Flett and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Julie Flett has accounts on Instagram and Twitter. Julie Flett was highlighted this past May on two websites, Art Of The Picture Book and Let's Talk Picture Books.  At the publisher's website is a guide for educators and parents and an audio pronunciation of the Cree words.  At School Library Journal, The Classroom Bookshelf, this title is featured with multiple resources and educational ideas.

We All Play by Julie Flett from Let's Talk Picture Books on Vimeo.

Color conveys and connects to us, as do light and shadow within those colors.  In her two previous phenomenal books, Green (March 27, 2012) and Blue (September 25, 2018), Laura Vaccaro Seeger presented colors to readers with fresh eyes.  She elevated our awareness of colors' effects on us.  In her new book, Red (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House, October 5, 2021), Laura Vaccaro Seeger tells of being lost and found, heartbreak and humanity.  It is about a fox.  It is about a girl.  It is about all of us.

dark red

light red

lost red

During a move at dusk, a young fox gets separated from its group.  It sleeps, awaking and realizing it is lost.  It safely crosses a road by a railroad tracks during the dark of night.

While roaming, the fox notices a girl in the yard of her home.  She watches the fox watching her.  Continuing its explorations, the fox finds other signs of humans, eventually injuring itself on a rusty nail.

It seeks food and discovers other obstacles, some high.  The fox moves through the woods and into a field.  Readers will recognize the vehicle and a box from a previous scene.  Hungry, the animal is unaware of the danger ahead.

Human and animal clash.  Compassion and confidence blend in another animal and human encounter.  Steps by steps, previous settings are revisited until there is a flash of . . .

Each word placed before the title word by Laura Vaccaro Seeger reflects a time of day, an emotional feeling, a description of place, a foreshadowing, a physical characteristic, or homecoming.  At times every other word will rhyme.  Sometimes for emphasis words in succession will rhyme.  And those words, in turn, rhyme with an earlier word.  There is a bit of alliteration to enhance the cadence.  It is an ingenious working with words by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. 

When you first look at the swirl of red shades on the open and matching dust jacket and book case, the image extending from flap edge to flap edge, what do you see?  If you look closely above the raised title text on the front, right side, there is the head of a fox.  When you look at the entire jacket and case, you can see the whole body of the fox running.  Above and below this fox are other foxes.  What would it be like to see a group of them running together?

On the opening endpapers, which is also the title page, we are deep in a forest.  Tall trees, undergrowth, and patches of grass span page edge to page edge.  Through the tops of trees is a brilliant blue sky.  Three foxes briskly walk toward the right side beneath the title text.  On the left, behind them, another fox strides toward them.  With another page turn, the woods are darker.  We see the first die-cut leading us to the next double-page picture.  On the closing endpapers are words from the author illustrator, a dedication and the publication information, all on the left.  On the right side are three vertical panels, one green, one blue, and the third, red.  (I got goosebumps reading the author's note.)

Using acrylic paint on canvas

Laura Vaccaro Seeger takes us on an intense journey.  Through her artwork and the placement of die-cuts, it is a sensory experience, abundant in detail.  We are walking through darkened woodlands.  We are waking on a cliff overlooking an expanse of forest as the sun is partially shown on the horizon.  We are curious.  We are hurt.  We need food.  We need help.  And most of all, we need to find our way home.  

Between the final two-word phrases, Laura Vaccaro Seeger breaks from her double-page pictures.  On these two wordless picture pages, first on the left, are three panels.  There are two squares over a rectangle.  On the right side is a full-page picture.  Then, it is guaranteed you will sigh at the sight of the final two-page image with the last two words.

One of my many favorite pictures is for the two words, rose red.  At the base of the two-page visual, among the grass and roses, the fox, on the right, looks forward.  In front of the fox is a sturdy white fence, made of posts and a single row of rails.  The setting is framed on the left by oak leaves and acorns, and on the right by a blooming red and pink bush.  In the upper portion of the picture on the left, the girl is picking up a ball.  She and the fox look at each other.

As soon as you finish reading Red written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, you'll read it again and again.  Then you'll go to your bookshelves, or the nearest library to read the two previous books in the trilogy.  You might read all of them together more than once.  You certainly need a copy of this book for your professional and personal collections.

To discover more about Laura Vaccaro Seeger and her other work, please visit her website by following the link attached to her name. Laura Vaccaro Seeger has accounts on Facebook and Twitter.  At the publisher's website are an event kit with activities and an educator's guide with discussion questions.  At Penguin Random House you can view the first double-page picture, the title page.  This book and her other work is discussed with Laura Vaccaro Seeger at Publishers Weekly, Let's Talk Picture Books and Critter Lit.

As we get older, we see the world with a wider and deeper perspective.  For many adults, but not all adults, it is clouded by past events and life experiences.  What we need to retain is the constant curiosity and bliss we had as children in investigating the world outside our homes.  Dear Little One (A Paula Wiseman Book, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, November 2, 2021) written by Nina Laden with illustrations by Melissa Castrillon is a love letter to our natural surroundings and all the minute marvels they hold.

Dear Little One

Your time on

Earth has just

begun. 

A small child and their dog walk along the shoreline, peer into the water, and touch its surface.  The child is encouraged, as they walk into the woods, away from their home, to look, listen, and inhale.  They are asked to appreciate the flowers, bees, and trees.

Insects abound in sheltered nooks and crannies.  It only takes a minute to seek them out and observe their work.  Plants, from seeds to stalk, reveal secrets.

Speaking of secrets, what can you find by digging through the dirt?  There might be treasure, natural or human.  As the child and her canine companion walk through the woods, they need to remember their purpose in keeping our planet alive.  Each animal found along the way is part of a vital unseen web.

It is important to remember to venture farther than our home.  We must develop a respect for large bodies of water, sand, and tall mountains.  Wind, calm or wild, rain, snow, and the sun each are essential.  Be sure to gaze at the stars and have their endless expanse embrace you.  You are a caretaker of this Earth, now and always.  

You know from reading the first word Nina Laden is addressing someone with, at the very least, respect.  As the narrative continues, you realize, through her lyrical rhyming text, the speaker is building a loving relationship with the child.  They ask the child to be aware, to be grateful, and to be responsible.  Sentence by sentence we get a sense of building toward something extraordinary.  The final three words are our answer.  Here is a passage.

Hike in the forests.

They make the world green.

Their leaves act like lungs

to keep the air clean.

Two lavishly framed and illustrated scenes greet readers on the back, left, and front, right, of the open dust jacket.  The exotic plant life, flowers and leaves, twine around a three-lined gold foil border on the front and a golden yellow border on the back.  The child, on the front, is already heeding the advice of the speaker in looking at the beetle.  Other insects and small creatures are curious about her.  How many more can you see?

On the back, the child and their dog are perched on a branch.  It is placed near the top of the image.  They are looking at something to their right.  Beneath them are ferns, flowers, and a single bee.  

The book case is done in several hues of deep green.  There are less elements in the scenes on the back, left, and the front, right.  The child is only shown on the front.  There is more gold foil in addition to the borders.  Both the jacket and case are stunning.

On the opening and closing endpapers is a fan pattern with evergreen trees, tree branches, birds and leaves.  It is done in green and cream.  The child with a backpack is standing in a corner with their dog, ready to explore.  With a page turn, we see bees in cream on green on the left.  On the right, the child is smelling a flower as their dog runs behind them.  The child is wearing a red jacket and yellow pants.  The dedication, publication information and title pages are a two-page picture.  A close-up of leaves and flowers surround the text.  There are a few small critters.

Each of the two-page pictures, full-page pictures and smaller pictures grouped on a single page

were rendered in pencil and then colored digitally

by Melissa Castrillon.  The delicate lines and intricate details welcome closer inspection.  The invitations found in the text are enhanced by the artwork.  The breathtaking color choices amplify the enchanting images.  Shifting perspectives make us a part of the adventure.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture at night.  A portion of the moon hangs low in the sky in the upper left-hand corner.  Evergreens bend in from the left and right sides.  The sky is peppered with stars, some of them shooting comet-like tails.  On a small hill in the center is a tent.  Close, but not too close, a small fire burns.  Next to it is the child and their dog.  They have a new friend, either a coyote or fox, joining them.  All of them are looking to the stars.  An owl dozes in one of the trees.  The colors are cream, purple, and green, with the exception being the child's clothing and the orange red of the tent and fire.

In a word, this book, Dear Little One written by Nina Laden with illustrations by Melissa Castrillon, is splendid.  The heart-warming letter paired with the striking artwork makes this a book to treasure and share often.  Your personal and professional collections will not be complete without a copy of this title.

By following the link attached to their names, you can learn more about Nina Laden and Melissa Castrillon and their other work at their websites.  Nina Laden has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  Melissa Castrillon has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior images including the open dust jacket and book case.

Where To Start? Look In Your Heart.

There are days so exquisite, your soul feels like it might burst with happiness.  The air is diamond sharp. Even though the temperature is in the mid-fifties; you have your windows open to savor the clarity of the gentle breeze.  Small clouds, tiny puffs, roam across a startling blue expanse of sky.  The sun, at a different angle now, calls forth in warmth the blossoms on autumn flowers. 

Today is one of those days.  You wish, not for the first time, you could bottle it up to enjoy at a future date.   With gratitude, there are books, mirroring these magical days, for us to hold in our hands and read whenever we desire.  One such book is You Are A Beautiful Beginning (Roaring Brook Press, August 25, 2020) written by Nina Laden with illustrations by Kelsey Garrity-Riley.  In this marvelous, mindful guide to life, profound perspectives lead the way to truth and wonder.  

It is not the number of pages.

It is the story in the book.

For many of us it is not the distance we walk from one point to another, but the first move we make.  Do we focus on all the subsequent steps, or look at the world around us?  Lifting our voices in song, whether there are words, or not, is an uplifting style of music all our own.  

Sometimes we try hard for perfection without realizing the special skill behind every attempt.  One good friend, the one who is there despite all obstacles, is more valuable than numerous acquaintances.  It is good to remember not how many things we have, but how many things we are willing to give to others.

Do we try to outshine others?  Do we pride ourselves on being a contributing member of a group?  Do we construct roadblocks?  Do we make new paths?

In each of these comparative thoughts, fourteen altogether, we are asked to assess our thinking.  We are shown how to see the world through the eyes of "we" instead of "me."  We walk side-by-side with words and images toward being exactly who we are, a child of the universe, a spectacular piece in the fantastic whole.

Each of the pair of sentences penned by Nina Laden are a thoughtful study of personal growth.  The final word in the second and fourth statements in two pairs rhyme.  This cadence of rhyming and repetitive words is a gentle invitation for reader participation.  It's as if Nina Laden has held out her hand to readers, willing to walk with us as we converse and ponder the paths we choose.  Here is another passage.

It is not being afraid of darkness.

It is looking for places that glow.

The three children shown walking across the log bridge, on the front of the open and matching dust jacket and book case, meet each other one by one as their days begin and they start to explore their outside world.  The animated elements from nature and the tiny fantastical beings join them as their adventure grows, image by image.  To the left, on the back, is a pastoral scene, looking down a hill toward the tiny community where the children reside.  The final four sentences from the book are placed in the center of the picture.

A plaid pattern of diamonds in two tones of lighter rust cover the opening and closing endpapers.  Wildflowers, mushrooms, small grassy mounds, a beetle, and a snail are items included in the visual framing the lower portion of the text on the title page.  Prior to the book's closing endpapers is a charming two-page picture of the initial girl, asleep in her bed, on the left, holding the book she was first reading.  From the book is a flowing stream of experienced and possible adventures and dreams, stretching from the left to the right edge.  Under the right portion of the stream is the dedication and publication information.

The illustrations rendered by Kelsey Garrity-Riley using

gouache, ink, and colored pencils, with a little bit of digital editing

alternate between large oval images, double-page pictures, and single-page visuals, edge to edge.  With her artwork, Kelsey Garrity-Riley forms a companion story, taking the words of Nina Laden and applying them to the unfolding pictorial tale.  To see this happening as you read the words is quite enchanting.

Readers will stop at each page turn to study all the intricate details.  They will be thrilled to see a beetle wearing a bowler hat, and carrying a curved cane watching the first little girl leave her home.  They will gasp in wonder at the dandelion fluff turned into ballerinas floating on the wind.  They will exclaim at the fairy folk who emerge from their homes to help the children.  They will sigh as the day progresses into evening and everyone is together sheltered by the efforts of their day.  

One of my many, many favorite pictures is for the words

It is singing a song in your heart.

This full-page illustration is a close-up view of a collage of yellow flowers open and budding on a backdrop of leaves in green and blue hues.  Two brown-shaded birds fly into the scene, one from the lower, right-hand corner, and the other down from the top, left-hand side.  In the center of the page in the center of an open yellow flower is the boy we see on the jacket and cover.  His eyes are closed, and his arms are spread wide, ready for an embrace.  His face is raised, and his mouth is open in song.  Three beetles are near him playing instruments.  This is pure bliss.

This book, You Are A Beautiful Beginning written by Nina Laden with illustrations by Kelsey Garrity-Riley, is one to keep close to you.  Each pair of phrases welcomes us to think how we will approach moments in our days and the directions we wish our lives to follow.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To discover more about Nina Laden and Kelsey Garrity-Riley and their other work, please visit their respective websites by following the link attached to their names.  Nina Laden has accounts on Facebook, and Instagram.  Kelsey Garrity-Riley has an account on Instagram.  (You can see pictures from this book there.)  At the publisher's website you can view multiple interior images.

Word Wonder

There are days when you long to set your mind free.  Today as the wind chill dipped into the single digits, the sun teased us by playing hide-and-seek with the clouds scurrying along the brilliant blue sky.  When it shone shadows of dog and tree branches danced on the snowy surface.  I found myself looking up wishing the clouds were kites with strings attached to my canine companion and I.  Perhaps for some minutes they could have lifted us up, giving us a much grander view of the landscape.

It's important to look beyond the obvious.  It's important to assign a more imaginative definition to the everyday things in our world.  If I had a little dream (A Paula Wiseman Book, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, February 7, 2017) written by Nina Laden with illustrations by Melissa Castrillon is filled with marvelous insights, a beautiful outlook on the ordinary, using the vision of a child.

If I had a little land,
I would name it There.
There would be my home,
be it stormy be it fair.

A calm acceptance and truth is found in this first poetic observation.  There is most definitely a place.  When out walking near your home with someone and they ask where you live, you will probably point and say there.

The house on the land named There is called Love.  When you think of love and its numerous definitions, are they not realized within the four walls of our houses?  With great wisdom the child assigns a word to garden making perfect sense when explained but not how most of us would think.

She includes a pond and a boat upon the pond.  Her bicycle makes her feel like a bird, wings lifting her to places far and wide.  Inside her home her senses, taste and touch, define a table and chair.

Furry friends fill her world with goodness and curiosity.  Siblings fill her with essences of life.  Her final three words of the fifteen, book, bed and dream embrace us in the soothing cadence of story, the peace it can supply and the value it gives each individual.


Thirty words are paired with keen awareness by author Nina Laden.  With a sure knowledge of her narrator's mind she places them in four-line rhyming poems.  Each one reads like a movement in a symphony.  The melody asks us to travel with the child as she introduces us to those things of most value to her and how they will enrich her life.  Here is another poem.

If I had a little pond,
I would name it Wonder.
Wonder would show me beauty
above the water and under.


When you open the dust jacket you will find yourself gasping at its intricate beauty.  The swirling lines of leaves and stems, extending from the front to the back, hold elements from the overall design and from specific poems.  The limited color palette provides a stunning contrast on the cream canvas.  It's a gorgeous rendition of the beauty of a dream.  On the book case the images are duplicated but their hues have been changed.  The blue from the dust jacket has become the background.  Gold foil, from the title text on the jacket, has replaced the blue leaves and stems.  Shades of blue and white outline and fill the other portions of the picture.

On the opening and closing endpapers we have moved closer to the leaves and stems.  A pale orange is the background for cream-colored details, flowers, birds, insects and the child resting in the curve of a stem.  With a page turn at the front and back this is continued to a lesser extent.  Prior to the title page, the girl is holding one of the large plants in her garden.  Twisting and turning vines wrap around the dedications, publication information and title page text. (Nina's dedication will have librarians wanting to reach out and hug her.)

Each two-page illustration rendered in pencil and colored digitally by Melissa Castrillon (all the images are created with this technique) is an exquisite blend of color framing the text.  You must stop and look at the tiny details, the creatures placed among the flora, squirrels, snails, an owl, bees, birds, mice or a rabbit.  For other poems the text is beneath an oval visual on one page with a close-up of a portion of that on the opposite page.  For a house named Love, the smoke coming out the chimney is shaped like a heart.  At other times an element from the right frames the text on the left.

One of my favorite pictures of many is for

If I had a little dog...

On the left an oval in brown surrounds the image portrayed in a hue of blue, orange, red, peach and white.  In that brown oval are stylized leaves and flowers and birds.  The dog is seen running on one side.  Two other times the girl and her dog are seated together.  Within this is the land, the house, a portion of the garden and a puddle.  The child and her pooch pal are playing.  Off to the right the dog is sitting in the water, ears and tail dripping.  A tiny snail watches.


The blend of words and art in If I had a little dream written by Nina Laden with pictures by Melissa Castrillon will weave a magical spell around each and every reader.  You are immediately welcomed into the child's world and you will find heartwarming comfort there.  This is an excellent book for asking readers to look with extraordinary eyes at what they see day after day.  I can't imagine a better bedtime book than this one.  Make sure you have a copy for both your professional and personal bookshelves.

By following the links attached to Nina Laden's name and Melissa Castrillon's name you can access their websites learning more about them and their work.  Nina has a blog here.  Melissa has entries on Tumblr.  You can view some of the marvelous interior pages and the book case at the publisher's website.  Nina Laden is highlighted by author illustrator Renata Liwska here in a post.  Pictures from Nina's home are included.  Nina is interviewed at KidLit 411 and at Andrea Skyberg's site. Melissa is interviewed at Cranberry Deer.

Happy day playing around with endpaper ideas.. #endpaper #illustration #picturebook pic.twitter.com/sUF5SR0TMX

— Melissa Castrillón (@mv_castrillon) April 18, 2016

Finalising the hard cover design for the Simon & Schuster picture book...imagine the white is gold foiling...oooooo! pic.twitter.com/HlSJrPcoYJ

— Melissa Castrillón (@mv_castrillon) May 19, 2016

ITS HERE!!! pre-copy of my first illustrated picture book!! out this feb!! #ifihadalittledream #ninaladen @simonschuster pic.twitter.com/7EqZ2Pfx76

— Melissa Castrillón (@mv_castrillon) November 22, 2016

UPDATE:  Nina Laden writes on her blog about the spark for the idea of this book and the entire process.  It is a lovely, lovely post.  It's a must read. 

What We Keep

What is it about the words once upon?  It's as if when they are silently read or spoken aloud an ageless storytelling incantation is evoked, swirling about the reader or listener.  As the tale continues we are drawn deeper into the realm it creates.

When a book includes those two words in the title or as part of the opening sentence, it's nearly impossible, as an individual reading silently, not to imagine sharing with others.  You find yourself placing emphasis on certain words, altering your voice to convey emotion and falling completely under the spell of the narrative. Written by Nina Laden with illustrations by Renata Liwska, Once Upon a Memory (Little, Brown and Company, December 3, 2013) is one of those books whose charm does not fade when the covers are closed.

Does a feather remember 
it once was...

...a bird?

In a series of seven rhyming couplets, fourteen questions are asked of readers.  For each one we take a journey back to the beginning; to the origins of an object, a man-made area, a natural element, an action or an endearment.  We explore and learn to look closer at those things which might be a part of our everyday lives.

A young boy is sitting, stuffed animal friends and his dog sharing a day with him, when a breeze blows a feather into his room.  This feather provides the impetus for all the other places we see this little guy visit.  Or sometimes we watch as he does something which triggers another thought.

Looking at a book, sitting in a chair, digging in the dirt, or walking his dog leads him to words, trees, peas and grain.  He visits a seashore, a home for statues, a special piece of land or his own yard to ponder rain, stone, the unknown or play.  The boy sleeps, chats with an older woman, watches a line of baby ducks, and rides an airplane to contemplate, allowing his mind to wander.  He may even grow up wondering if he will remember.


By the end of the first couplet, the invitation sent to me as a reader by the carefully written words of Nina Laden was gladly accepted.  As each question is read, readers can't help but anticipate where the next page will lead them. What word will be chosen to rhyme with the previous word?  We follow the narrative not only for this purpose but to encounter those things we can sense, the tangible and actual, and those things we can feel, the intangible and rare.  It is in the silence these words create, we are able to enlarge our perceptions.


When opening the matching jacket and cover, it's hard not to sigh with pleasure.  Renata Liwska pictures the boy sitting with his animal friends who have come alive.  On the front they are enjoying a peaceful read in a tree, the feather dangling down from a string held by the squirrel.  On the back the tree branches are extended but day has shifted to night, stars sparkling in the air from a pen poised over an open book held by a tiny bear.  The opening and closing endpapers are done in pure white with a single feather tucked in the corner of each set.

The introductory two pages are wordless, featuring the boy surrounded by all his toys and his dog.  A small table is set for tea and an owl-shaped clock ticks on the wall as the curtains blow out into the room.  For each question, using white space to accent and frame, Renata Liwska pictures the boy on the left for the first part of the phrase with animals depicting the second part on the right.

The verso explains her work:

The art was initially sketched by hand in the artist's journal.  It was then scanned and colored in Adobe Photoshop.  The animal characters were inspired by the artist's experiences with nature, from her worldwide travels to her own backyard. 

As an example, for the sentence

Does a cake remember
it once was... 
...grain?

we see a smaller illustration on the left of the boy's dog up on its hind legs, paws resting on the window, looking into a bakery with the boy inside holding loaves of bread.  On the right we see six mice walking and climbing through fields of grain; an adult, holding the hand of a child, is listening and another is pulling a little red wagon.

Liwska's illustrations are luminous in their delicateness. Details are intricate; defining features on her animals are full of life.  There is humor with all the added extras; the bird sweeping up feathers in the "barber shop" is listening to a tape player with a headset, in the bookshop another animal is writing on a little red typewriter, the dog is digging in the garden, as water is filling their boat two bears are scooping it out while another plays with rubber ducks and paper boats, and a mallard is wearing a tool belt as he constructs a nest.

One of my favorite illustrations (I truly love them all) is of the boy sleeping with his dog curled up on the bed, a speckled ball in his paws.  On the opposite side is a day-at-the-beach scene filled with all kinds of animals at play, two are seated in the foreground on a bench, flip-flops scattered about on the deck.  Kites are flying.  Characters are surfing.  Crabs are dancing.  And the ball is being kicked in the sand.  Happiness is everywhere you look.


If you want a book to soothe, to gently encourage imaginations to flourish, Once Upon a Memory written by Nina Laden with illustrations by Renata Liwska is a title you need.  I know it will become a favorite with readers and listeners alike.  It opens the door to infinite possibilities.  In my heart and mind I am adding this title to those books I call huggable.

On the left-hand side of the closing endpapers is a list by the author and illustrator of their favorite things to remember.  They ask you what your favorite things are.  Please follow the links embedded in their names to access their personal websites and Renata Liwska's blog.  Here is a link to a post at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast highlighting the work of Renata Liwska.