Seasonal Celebrations

In cultures and countries around the world, especially in the northern hemisphere, this time of year represents a pause.  Mother Nature is at rest, so perhaps it is a time for us to reflect on the past seasons and celebrate.  Possibly, there are small, everyday things to honor, elevating the ordinary to extraordinary.  There are centuries-old traditions to commemorate; many steeped in religious beliefs or holiday observances.  Cold, snow, and wind bring their own special events.  For many, a new year is welcomed.

Following are six titles (with one more to arrive soon), which you might consider for reading during these several months.  The first book, Season of Light (Farrar Straus Giroux, September 13, 2022) written by Jess Redman with illustrations by Ramona Kaulitzki, takes eight single words and wraps them in activities and elements, defining those words for those who participate and for those who wish to understand.  From beginning to end, this book is uplifting.

After red and green dreams,

We wake up before the sun.

We're counting down December days

But savoring each one.

Joy, wonder, together, giving, song, story, faith, and light are featured through observing three families residing in a community.  We see them making snowflakes, hanging ornaments and stockings.  Relatives are welcomed and visited.

Kindness is presented through the giving of gifts and food. Caroling sends music throughout the town, bringing happiness to families, businesses, and those now residing in communal spaces.  Stories of Christmases past and present are shared.  Together the children in the three families participate in a Christmas play before they and their parents step outside into the snowy night for a final gathering.

Author Jess Redman focuses on people preparing and participating with an emphasis on placing others first.  Her four-line rhyming text supplies a rhythm readers enjoy and anticipate as the pages are turned.  For each of the eight words, they are preceded by the same phrase---

This is a season of . . .

This technique binds all the portions of the narrative together and references the title of the book which is also the final thought.  Here is another passage.

Our voices ring out

Silver bells and midnights clear

First noels and glorious morns

Offerings of goodwill and cheer.

On the right side, front, of the dust jacket readers can see the three families circling the community tree.  Windows, tree lights, and handheld candles are alight amid the snow falling at night.  The title text is embossed in gold.  On the back, to the left of the spine, on a crisp white canvas are four of the children from the families.  Above them the words read:

This is a season of joy . . .

of faith . . .

of light.

On the book case the image from the back of the jacket is moved to the front beneath the title text.  The same words are used on the back of the case, but they are set in a bird's eye view of the city as snow falls on the hills, road, and homes.  A snowman is featured on the right side on the top of a hill.

The opening and closing endpapers in a muted red highlight a pattern of reindeer, a branch of berries, a pine bough, and snowflakes all done in muted brown and cream.  A double-page picture of a glowing sky, snowy landscape and bare trees provides a place for the title and verso pages.  

These illustrations by Ramona Kaulitzki, digitally rendered, are colorful and embrace the emotions of the holiday. They are full-page pictures, smaller visuals grouped together, and two-page images for the single sentence text announcing the next word. The use of light in each scene elevates the narrative.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page picture.  The sky, near the horizon, is glowing.  Buildings, windows lighted, line the background on the left, crossing the gutter.  Another building stands alone on the right.  In the distance is the church and another building.  In the town center is the Christmas tree.  Gathered around it are shoppers, dog walkers, children and families.  They are listening to the three musicians.  Snowflakes gently swirl in the air.

Warmth flows throughout Season of Light written by Jess Redman with artwork by Ramona Kaulitzki.  This title is both a reminder and a nod to tradition.  You will want to add this title to your personal and professional holiday collections.

To learn more about Jess Redman and Ramona Kaulitzki and their other work, please access their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Jess Redman has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Ramona Kaulitzki has accounts on Behance, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior images.

Back in 2002, author illustrator Matt Tavares illustrated 'Twas the Night Before Christmas Or Account Of A Visit From St. Nicholas (Candlewick Press).  This volume measures seven and one-half inches by eight and three-quarters inches.  Along the spine is a deep cranberry cloth binding which sets off the sage green border around St. Nicholas as he visits a home.  There are delicate gold elements in that sage green border.  That same green shade is featured within the book, outlining text and pictures with a fine line frame.  The opening and closing endpapers are patterned in shades of red, somewhat like wallpaper in homes during the time period in which the poem was penned.  The exquisite and highly detailed artwork done in pencil elevates this pictorial interpretation of the poem to spectacular.  

This year 'Twas the Night Before Christmas Or Account Of A Visit From St. Nicholas (Candlewick Press, September 13, 2022) written by Clement C. Moore with illustrations by Matt Tavares has been recreated in a larger volume measuring just under ten by twelve inches.  On the front of the book's dust jacket and book case, we can see a close-up of St. Nicholas driving his reindeer-pulled sleigh off into the Christmas night as he calls out his famous exclamation.  The golden text is embossed.  On the back, to the left of a bright red spine, the same bright red color provides a border for an interior picture.  It is Papa looking out the bedroom window  

to see what was the matter.

The same A Note from the Illustrator appears prior to the beginning of the poem with a few alterations.  The dedication to his wife, Sarah, remains in this edition.  The title page is artwork depicting town buildings glowing from snow covered objects and a full moon just as in the prior edition.  We look between those buildings, their shadows stretching from one side of the street to the other side.

In this stunning book, the artwork extends to each page edge, whether it is a single-page picture or a dramatic double-page visual.  The illustrations are darker, still as detailed, but have a slight grainy effect.  In this book the text is framed on the top and bottom with an intricate leafy border in red and white.  If the picture is a two-page illustration the border is only along the bottom.  On some of the pages of text, just as in the original book, there are smaller images representing a moment in time, like a candle just blown out or a jack-in-the-box jumping up.

One of my many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  It is if we are standing outside in the street at night.  Two different fence styles border the sidewalk, close to us as we look left to right down the street.  Behind the fences are trees and landscaping in front of magnificent homes.  When we can see the sky above those structures there are some clouds among the stars.  Santa and his sleigh are landing on one of the housetops on the right side.  It is the variety of perspectives which I find wonderful.

This volume of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas Or Account of A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore with artwork by Matt Tavares is a title to have in every collection, personal and professional.  It is one to compare with other artwork by other artists.  Some versions change the text, but this book keeps the text the same as it was originally published 200 years ago in 1823.

To learn more about Matt Tavares and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  There is a page dedicated to this book where you can view interior illustrations.  Matt Tavares has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

For fans of the one-of-a-kind, buttered-toast loving pig, a new title takes readers to Deckawoo Drive for a Christmas journey.  One of the residents has a deep desire to go caroling, but not one other person wishes to join her.  They all have excuses, but our carol-loving child is not deterred.  A Very Mercy Christmas (Candlewick Press, September 27, 2022) written by Kate DiCamillo with artwork by Chris Van Dusen is a faith-restoring, miracle-believing, and soul-brightening tale which is utterly charming.

Stella Endicott felt joyful.  She felt like something

miraculous might happen.  She wanted to sing.

Frank, Stella's brother, was not ready to go caroling at the drop of a hat.  Mr. and Mrs. Watson were in the middle of a fruitcake disaster.  However, Mrs. Watson suggested Stella take Mercy with her.  Mercy was happy to accompany Stella.  They headed to the Lincoln sisters' house.  

There grumpy Eugenia Lincoln refused to go caroling with a pig and her happy sister, Baby, was told no one was at the door.  At this point, Stella is feeling a wee bit less happy.  General Washington, the Lincoln sisters' cat joins Stella and Mercy.

Horace Broom is too attached to celestial gazing to carol, so Stella, Mercy and General Washington decide to do it on their own.  The trio sing out Joy to the World, and are surprisingly joined by Maybelline, LeRoy Ninker's horse.  

As dusk descends, Stella, Mercy, General Washington, and Maybelline are greeted with new sounds, joyful sounds.  Each voice chimes in to affirm the personalities we know and love.  As they travel for a feast of buttered toast, a true miracle quietly surrounds each person.  

With her beloved skill of blending narrative and dialogue, Kate DiCamillo tells a tale of neighbors realizing the truest definition of the word, neighbor.  Each time Stella stops at a neighbor's home, another layer is built into the story.  Although Stella's original spirit is dampened, she believes that Mercy and General Washington are the best kind of pals to go caroling.  Adding in Maybelline is a stroke of genius.  In this story, Kate DiCamillo uses Stella, (and Mercy, General Washington, and Maybelline) to remind all of us miracles are possible when joy is involved. (It is guaranteed the final sentence will give you goosebumps of happiness.)  Here is a passage.

The pig looked over at Stella, and then she put her

snout up to the stars and let out a strange sound.

It wasn't an oink.  It wasn't a squeal.

It was a noise full of hope and wonder and longing.

It was---almost---melodious.

Words like bright, colorful, and bold come to mind when you look at the open dust jacket made by Chris Van Dusen.  The snow-covered landscape of Deckawoo Drive with lights and wreaths sends out a holiday hello to readers.  Mercy and Stella are looking their Christmas best.  The title text is embossed in silver.  To the left of the spine, framed in a star-studded scalloped sky, is an interior image.  It shows the neighborhood group gathered around a table as Mrs. Watson approaches with a huge stack of buttered toast.

The book case is done in a hue of blue with thin lines fashioning stripes.  Tiny diamonds make a pattern in these stripes.  A wide red cloth band covers the spine.  On the front of the case is Mercy Watson looking at an open box or ornaments.  The opening and closing endpapers are yellow and white check.  With a page turn, we see a snowpig, Mercy, alone in a white setting with a blue scalloped border.  It is the attention to details that sets the work of Chris Van Dusen apart.  Above the dedication is Mercy's Christmas stocking with a piece of buttered toast peeking out the top.

Single page images opposite text framed in the blue scalloped border followed by brilliant double-page visuals encourage readers to turn the pages as fast as they can.  What will happen to Stella, Mercy and General Washington next?  It is the final double-page picture with the final sentence that will have readers releasing a long and satisfied sigh.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a single-page picture.  Here Stella, Mercy, General Washington, and Maybelline are standing and sitting together on the sidewalk.  Snow covers the nearby lawns.  Lights twinkle in outside trees.  Windows glow with lights inside the homes.  The sky is studded with stars as the horizon shows the sun recently set.  Stella, Mercy, General Washington, and Maybelline have their heads raised and are singing Deck the Halls.

Regardless of how you feel when you first start reading A Very Mercy Christmas written by Kate DiCamillo with illustrations by Chris Van Dusen, you will feel much more joyful when you finish it.  In fact, you'll probably read it again right then and there.  Your personal and professional collections won't be complete without a copy of this title.

To discover more about Kate DiCamillo and Chris Van Dusen and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Kate DiCamillo has another site linked here.  Kate DiCamillo has an account on Facebook.  Chris Van Dusen has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  Mercy Watson has a site linked here.  At Penguin Random House, you can view interior images.

One of the best parts of this season is discovering something new done by a person, a family or an entire country.  How wonderful it is to encounter an Icelandic tradition presented in The Christmas Book Flood (Farrar Straus Giroux, November 1, 2022) written by Emily Kilgore with pictures by Kitty Moss.  Once you've read this book, you'll agree this is a tradition to spread around the world.

Darkness blankets the land,

covering forests and homes,

mountains and bookshops.

Northern lights shine down on a village with people trying to stay warm inside and outside their homes.  Snow is coming.  So is the Book Flood.  Book Flood?

On December 24th, people give books to those they love.  

Reading is magic when you have the right book.

People shop in earnest for the perfect book for each person in their lives.  There are so many choices it is hard to select a title.  

Snow has started to fall as people hurry to make their purchases.  Each heart is happy as they move within the shops.  It is mere hours until the gift giving begins.  A final treasure is located!

Now wrapped, the waiting is nearly over. It's time!  Each present is opened.  Each book is a new beginning.  Hot chocolate is savored as are all the different books.  Reading throughout the night, stories travel throughout a community and beyond its borders.

With each sentence, author Emily Kilgore paints a picture as deftly as an artist.  She supplies us with a place and time rich in descriptive words.  We cannot help but join with the townspeople as they get ready for the Book Flood.  We feel the anticipation growing until we, like those in this town, can hardly wait.  Happiness flows from the pages as people seek the right book.  And then, satisfaction settles like a warm blanket as the reading commences.  Here is a passage.

There's laughter and hope

and holiday cheer:

bright twinkling lights,

hot cocoa, soft music,

Clouds of warm breath,

tight hugs of hello,

the soft crunch under boots

as they trudge through fresh snow.

When opening the dust jacket, the reader will first notice the city scene extends flap edge to flap edge.  The brightness of the setting sends out merriment along with the falling snowflakes and airborne books, moving like birds through the night.  The tree in the town center, made of books, draws our eyes to the main character, a child longing for the Book Flood and also seeking the right book to give.  Her furry friend is eager to start their next adventure.  The title text is embossed in gold.

On the book case, some of the shops are still the same.  The sky is darker with fewer snowflakes but books still fly.  The ground is covered in snow.  Our protagonist rides her bike down the street with her dog running alongside her.  The tree in the town center is now an evergreen trimmed in lights and ornaments.  There are so many small details on the book case and dust jacket, readers will spend hours looking at all of them.

The opening and closing endpapers feature the town before and after the Book Flood.  One shows the end of autumn with a crescent moon in the upper right-hand corner.  The other shows a snowy landscape with northern lights, flying books, and magic in the air.  The moon, still in the right-hand corner, is full.  The verso and title pages highlight a single image with the girl riding through town with her pup in the bike's basket.  It is as if they are riding inside a book.

Rendered by Kitty Moss, the illustrations appear to be alive.  The layers in each collage are intricate and well-defined covering single and double pages and once, a smaller one wrapped in white space.  They ask us to pause, and we do.  Her choice of colors mirror the time, place and mood of the narrative.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page picture.  The sky is now very dark with hints of snow and stars.  On the left side, buildings in the community are a backdrop for bustling people trying to make final selections.  A couple walks up a snowy hill outside of town on the left.  On the right side, our young girl rides her bike up a large snowy hill.  She appears as a silhouette with a long shadow.  The skeletons of several trees are visible.  An owl carrying a book in its beak flies over the town.

In case you've ever wondered why some people say books make the best gifts, this title makes it abundantly clear as to why this is a truth.  The Christmas Book Flood written by Emily Kilgore with artwork by Kitty Moss is a gift.  In an Author's Note more is explained about this tradition.  Be sure to place a copy of this title in your personal and professional collections.  Let the Book Flood begin!

To learn more about Emily Kilgore and Kitty Moss and their other work, please access their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Emily Kilgore has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Kitty Moss has accounts on Instagram and Pinterest.  This title is highlighted by John Schu at Watch. Connect. Read.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior images.

In my humble opinion, you will never forget the first time you see the northern lights.  For me it was very late one night, nearly very early in the morning.  I was traveling home after an event as my school's junior class advisor.  At the time, I was living in a community in northern Michigan, less than an hour away from the top of the Mitt.  As I turned off a major highway onto my road, I was stuck speechless by the sight before me.  The entire sky was pulsating in pinks and greens, in a wide arc from horizon to horizon.  It was incredible!

In his newest title, The Lights That Dance In The Night (Doubleday Books for Young Readers, November 1, 2022), author illustrator Yuval Zommer brings his considerable talents to bear in showcasing the natural spectacle known as the aurora borealis.  In this book, we follow the beginning and journey of these lights.  Through the words and artwork of Yuval Zommer, we experience this phenomenon as if we are standing beneath them.

We are the lights

that dance in the night.

We started our journey as specks

of dust blown to Earth

from the Sun.

The lights traveled to the far reaches of the north.  They cast a colorful, shimmering glow to animals below them.  Polar bears, Arctic hares, seals and puffins all noticed their presence.  They shone on boats traversing the seas and on whales beneath the water.  

Arctic foxes, musk oxen, wolves and wild cats played under and called out to the lights.  Birds flew and gathered.  Reindeer looked up at the skies.  Animals were not the only ones to marvel at this display of dancing lights.

People paused and stared.  Storytellers told tales.  All animals and all people regardless of their size or age wondered at this natural magic.  Piercing the darkness, this magic offered something for all.  

Whether you read the words penned by Yuval Zommer to yourself or aloud, they convey an extraordinary truth of the northern lights.  We know the science behind them, but they still reveal themselves as enchanting and otherworldly.  The rhythm supplied by the words mirrors the movement of the lights, rhyming beautifully like a melody.  Here are two separate passages.

Our dancing lights made whales sing 

and bells on boats began to ring.

We lit the skies for forest birds,

we sparkled over reindeer herds.

The signature artwork of Yuval Zommer begins to shimmer on the open dust jacket.  Here, on the front, animals and people are drawn to the lights in the night sky.  Different colored glitter covers most of the elements in this scene.  On the back, to the left of the spine, swirls of color cross the sky as white birds glide upward through the glow of the lights and stars.  Text describes the book above the snowy landscape.  

On the book case, a single polar bear stands amid hues of blue above the title text in white on the right side.  A few stars are positioned above the bear.  On the left side, we are brought close to puffins who fly and play and seals who clap beneath the lights that dance in the night.

A pale dusty lavender covers the opening and closing endpapers.  A trio of white stars and a single star with a tail above them makes a pattern across these pages.  Yuval Zommer's dedication reads:

Dedicated to all

light seekers.

A two-page picture covers the verso, dedication and title pages.  A boat, puffins, northern birds, reindeer, a polar bear and whales are together here.

Two-page visuals or a series of three panels fill the pages of this volume. The intricate elements in each illustration beckon us to look and wonder.  We feel as though we are in a northern forest or near the shores of an Arctic sea.  Which animal are we?  Or are we only observers?  As humans gather, will we listen to the tales told by tellers or stand outside and watch the lights?  Or perhaps, we will do both.  

One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page image.  Across the blue-hued sky, the northern lights pulse in yellow, purple, and green.  Forest trees are shown in white, standing among a landscape in blue and snowy white.  A reindeer on the left and a reindeer on the right face each other.  They wear traditional domestic blankets and harnesses.  Birds fly above them and rest in their antlers.

No matter how many times you read The Lights That Dance In The Night written and illustrated by Yuval Zommer, you are mesmerized by the marriage of the words and illustrations each time.  You cannot help but yearn for your next sighting of the northern lights.  Maybe it will be this year.  I highly recommend you place this title in all your collections and gift it to those you love.

To learn more about Yuval Zommer and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name which takes you to his agency's website.  Yuval Zommer has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Yuval Zommer frequently posts pictures from his books on both platforms, as well as artwork done by readers of his books.

After the December rest amid the celebration of holidays, families, and friends, January heralds in a new year, the start of something unlike the past filled with potential and possibilities, but typing the final entry in this post, my eyes fill with tears.  Carols, now Silent Night, are playing on an Ambient Worlds music video.  When I enter in the title, and author and illustrator names, I find it hard to believe Patricia MacLachlan is no longer with us.  In this book, Snow Horses: A First Night Story (Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, November 8, 2022), she is collaborating again with artist Micha Archer.  Together they have created a vision of beauty, a story of tradition and hope.  This is both a memory and a captured moment.

SNOW FALLING

all day---

all night.

Drifting over

meadows

and gardens

and roads. 

In a nearby barn, sheep, covered in snow, gather inside.  Patiently waiting in their stalls are two horses, Tim and Tom.  They long to pull the large sleigh outside.  Jenny, their driver, takes them from the barn, putting on their bell-decked bridles and turns on the lights on the sleigh.  Horses and driver leave the barn gleaming with tiny white lights.

Happily, the horses move toward town.  They love this time of year.  In the town's market, horns blare.  Children climb into the sleigh, their laughter and chatter filling the air.  A golden dog races alongside the sleigh.

Children, Jenny, Tim, Tom and the golden dog move through the streets with houses lit with white lights.  After the children go home to sleep, the sleigh again fills with riders.  These are the grandparents, uncles and aunts, and old friends who were once children riding in the sleigh on this last night of the old year.  They, too, fill the air with laughter and chatter and memories.  The golden dog runs with them, too.

Finally, Jenny, Tim and Tom go home. The sheep are fast asleep.  Soon the horses rest.  And the little golden dog . . .

Patricia MacLachlan was an author with the ability to bring readers into a specific time and space through her descriptive, lyrical language.  In this book, her characters, human and animal, are fully realized.  We want to be with them.  We want to know them. We understand what it is to be the sheep on a snowy winter night and the horses who can hardly wait to pull the sleigh.  Regardless of our ages, we experience the joy of both the children and the older adults.  This is the gift of Patricia MacLachlan's writing.  Here is a passage.

Tim and Tom pull the sleigh past the

library with a light in every window,

across the old stone bridge,

along the icy river,

up the hill,

and down the hill,

where in every window

of every house

there are little lights.

The town sparkles. 

Rendered in collage with homemade papers and ink by Micha Archer, the illustrations we first see on the dust jacket and book case are an introduction to the wonder waiting inside the pages of this book.  On the right side of the jacket, children in the town come to pet Tim and Tom, standing patiently amid the falling snow.  This visual continues over the spine and to the left edge of the back of the jacket.  The author, illustrator, and title text are varnished.  You can almost hear the jingle of the bells on the horses' harnesses.

On the book case is another two-page picture.  Here we are privy to a vast country landscape as the sun sets in the background behind a grove of trees and rolling, snowy hills.  In the foreground Jenny is in the sleigh with Tim and Tom pulling.  The little golden dog runs behind the wagon.

The opening endpapers are also the dedication and verso pages.  This showcases an even more vast pastoral panoramic view.  Lines of trees, etched in darker colors line rolling hills.  We see the barn on the far right side and in the distance is the town.  A full moon hangs in the sky with a frosty circle of light around it.  This is a bird's eye perspective.  On the closing endpapers, everything is colored in hues of blue now.  Snow is heavily falling.  Lights dot the path to the barn and light windows in the town.  Anticipation hangs in the air.

Readers will study each illustration, noting the details Micha Archer brings to each scene.  On the title page, a double-page picture brings us near to the barn amid lines of trees, groves of trees, rolling hills and a fenced area for the horses, now wearing blankets. (Be sure to study the branches of the trees and the materials used to form them.)  Each of the following two-page illustrations or one and one half page pictures with varying perspectives takes us on an exploration of this New Year's Eve festivity.  You will have to remind yourself to keep breathing after seeing the sheer loveliness before you.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for the above-quoted text.  The sky and landscape are done in shades of turquoise.  The homes are varied in color with snow on their rooftops.  Some of the houses are in the foreground and others are on the other side of the river in the background.  The streetlights cast large glowing balls of light.  Each window is glowing with light.  Snowflakes fill the air and cover the tree branches.  The children ride in the sleigh driven by Jenny and pulled by Tim and Tom.  The little golden dog runs next to the sleigh.  (A portion of this image appears on the cover of the November/December issue of The Horn Book Magazine.) 

This work by Patricia MacLachlan and Micha Archer is certain to become a seasonal and holiday classic.  Readers of all ages will find themselves in the pages of Snow Horses: A First Night Story.  You cannot help longing for a sleigh ride on New Year's Eve.  Do yourself a favor and make sure a copy of this book is on your personal bookshelves in case the sleigh does not appear in your town.  Your learners will enjoy reading a copy hopefully found on your professional shelves, too.

Here is a link to the obituary for Patricia MacLachlan appearing in Publishers Weekly on April 5, 2022.  To learn more about Micha Archer and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Micha Archer has an account on Instagram.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior images including the entire dust jacket and book case.

In Her Care

She's always in motion, spinning morning into night and night into morning.  As one day stretches into three hundred, sixty-five, she gives us winter, spring, summer and autumn.  Land and water in its varied forms span her surface.  She is home to flora and fauna populations too numerous to count.  Weather swirls above her.

From the sun she is third, sustaining life for all.  For this she is to be cherished.  My Friend Earth (Chronicle Books, February 25, 2020) written by Patricia MacLachlan with illustrations by Francesca Sanna is a love letter to our planet.  The text and images, with flaps and die-cuts, work in marvelous unity.

My friend Earth wakes
from a winter nap.

She listens to sounds of spring, humans working the land and a chorus of birds.  Nothing escapes her attention.  She watches a seed sprout and a web spun by a spider.

When an albatross takes wing, a mole digs or a chimpanzee sleeps, she is there.  She guides a lost baby animal to its mother in a group of mothers.  On a prairie, the tundra or across a glacier, she nurtures all forms of life.  Regardless of size, no ocean resident is without her protection.

Rain, too little, too much or just the right amount springs forth under her guidance.  Fierce winds or gentle breezes flow from her mouth.  The cold arrives again.

Snow comes from her fingers settling over animals at rest in dens, mud, and nests.  Everything she watched in the other seasons is tucked away for a pause.  Earth pauses, too, ready for a new beginning.


Every thoughtful sentence written by Patricia MacLachlan combines to create a melodic whole.  Truthful, soothing and rhythmic words define how our planet, Earth, acts moment by moment to sustain every living being.  Alliteration, repetition and wonderful adjectives supply readers with highly visual scenes with their distinctive cadences.  Sentences are spaced to generate perfection in page turns.  Here is a passage.

She tends the prairie where sun-dappled horses run
through grasses that swish against their legs---

the tundra 
where the reindeer
graze for moss,

and the glistening ice
where the young polar bear
pads on mittened feet. 


When you open the book case, you will find yourself either gasping or sighing in appreciation of the artwork of Francesca Sanna.  Earth shown on the front, right, open-eyed with a gentle smile tugging the corners of her mouth, rests among her creatures of many sizes on land and along the water.  Her hilly, tree-covered tresses extend to the other side of the spine, on the left.  There more creatures of the forest, air and water are displayed.  An otter, fish, dragonfly, spider, ants, frog, seagull, squirrel and crow happily enjoy a moment in harmony.  The color palette is stunning and complementary.  On the front of the case the title text and elements in the scene are raised to the touch.  Other details are varnished.  These are a subtle invitation to open the book.

On the opening endpapers a series of hills, trees, clouds. stretches of water and grass pattern the pages in shades of green, golden yellow, orange, blue and white.  Earth is peeking over one of the circular hills in the lower, right-hand corner.  There is another series of hills, trees, clouds, stretches of water and grass in different colors on the closing endpapers.  The hues are deeper and include a rusty red, teal and various purples.  Earth is walking from the center of the far left.  Her arms are raised with tiny sparkles (seeds) trailing behind her.  The birds shown in the first set of endpapers on the left have moved to the right in the final set.

Rendered in pencil, ink, and digital painting, the illustrations are marvelous.  On the title pages Earth rides in a curled leaf on the right as leaves cascade behind and in front of her.  Across each of the two-page pictures, readers will find flaps to lift which alter the initial image.  Die-cuts offer hints of what is to come and what has been.  Large loosely scalloped edges along the top of partial pages provide intrigue and depth.  Gradually they are altered in placement and shape as the seasons and places differ. 

At times Earth blends with her surroundings becoming part of them.  Other times she is a participate in the scene.  She can shift her size to work her magic.  Sometimes we see the scene straight-on and other times we see it from above.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations has scalloped edges in the lower left-hand and right-hand corners with smaller cuts along the top on each side.  It is an Arctic spread with lots of cream color.  Reindeer, polar bear and human prints pattern this area.  On the left side the reindeer is moving to the right.  On the right, Earth and a young polar bear, on their stomachs, are looking at fish swimming beneath a hole (die-cut) in the ice.  This is a bird's eye view for us.


This book, My Friend Earth written by Newbery winner Patricia MacLachlan with illustrations by Francesca Sanna, is stunning.  It's an expression of all Earth gives us.  It's a reminder of all we should preserve and protect.  This would be an excellent read aloud for any story time but especially so for a study of our planet and her creatures and Earth Day.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal bookshelves.

To learn more about Francesca Sanna and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Francesca Sanna has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior illustrations with the flaps and die-cuts.



On March 3, 2020 another book was released with a focus on our Blue Planet.  One EARTH (Worthy Kids) written by Eileen Spinelli with illustrations by Rogerio Coelho is a special counting book.  In a rhyming poetic intonation with sweeping cheerful images readers are reminded of the spectacular beauty of our home and how we can honor her.

One wide, sweeping sky.
Two honeybees.

As children walk, they see more of each item named in the numerical poem.  Long-eared baby rabbits are snuggled near towering trees, some nearly one thousand years old.  Flora clusters in golden hues near resting reptiles.  Carrying their homes with them must be tiring.

Above and in the sea mammals leap and birds dive and call.  Back on land, over a vast patchwork of fields, critters burrow.  With Earth's elegance noted, what can be done to help her?  We start at ten and go back to one. 

Litter and bottles are gathered.  What can be recycled?  What can be reused?  Let's take old towels to animal shelters.  Let's take clothing no longer worn to others who need them.  You can always turn off extra lights at night.

Get out your needle and thread and mend.  No seed is to be wasted.  Place them in a pocket in the dirt or ground.  Give them water and sun.  What tools do you need to fix that which is broken?  Ask a friend.  Now we are at one.  Look to the sky and those two large shining orbs, one at night and one in the morning. 

Remember---
   only one.


For readers of all ages but for those younger and learning to count, Eileen Spinelli weaves a wondrous tapestry of our planet with her words.  She asks us to notice those things large and small found in fields, forests, along streams and the sea.  When she arrives at ten, it's an ingenious technique to count backwards and to state how those things previously noted can be protected.  Each example takes only time and the help of an adult, sometimes but not always.  Here is a passage.

Eight plastic grocery bags?
Weave them into mats.
Seven towels getting thin?
Good for shelter cats.


The layout and design of the open dust jacket is wonderful.  To the left, on the back, the picture of the first boy walking from his home, across fields toward the sea stretches to the left flap edge.  A group of homes sit on a slight hill.  A seemingly endless sky covers most of the back and flap with soft clouds layered on the blue.  A flock of birds fly from right to left.  The words read:

One EARTH.
One you.
Count the ways to help.

On the front of the jacket, the abundance of birds resting in and from the tree, butterflies among the flowers and fish swimming in the waves present all Earth offers to us.  The four children featured throughout the book are introduced to readers here along with their cat and dog.  As one they look to the sun.  The title text is raised. 

On the book case is a celestial setting, plentiful with stars.  On the right, front, is our planet with faint longitude and latitude lines.  Our moon and the sun are near as a comet crosses in the upper, left-hand corner. 

On the opening and closing endpapers is a golden marbleized canvas.  On the final page are two dedications, one by the author and one by the illustrator. A small bird flies between them.

On the title pages illustrator Rogerio Coelho starts his visual story, showing on a double-page picture a two-story farmhouse on a hill.  Some fencing and a few trees dot the fields.  With a page turn the narrative begins with the boy leaving the house. 

Each of the subsequent two-page pictures are a colorful delight in a variety of perspectives.  We are privy to panoramic vistas, standing at the base of redwoods as they soar upward, strolling between a lighthouse and dolphins leaping in swells, or watching as legs and feet stride over worms tunneling underneath fields spread before us as far as we can see.  In the pause before the count backwards, the four friends stand in breathtaking spot.  We gaze at them though a grove of trees.

The four friends walk into town to observe people striving to protect our planet.  Many races and ethnic backgrounds are featured as are generations.  The facial expressions, especially the eyes, are full of purpose and happiness.  The time of day is reflected in the hues chosen by Rogerio Coelho.  Readers will take great pleasure in noticing all the details in these images.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is when the original boy and two girls meet with the second boy at the beach.  For most of the right side dolphins move up and through the wavy water, across the gutter and tapering to the left hand corner on the left side.  On the left side the beach with rocky mounds meet the sea.  On the far-left side, a lighthouse stands tall on rocks.  Seagulls glide on the wind over the water and sand against wisps of clouds.  You can hear the water, wind and gulls.  If you listen closely you can also hear the happy chatter of the children.


To promote discussions about Earth and how we can be her guardians, One EARTH written by Eileen Spinelli with illustrations by Rogerio Coelho is a title you will want on your personal and professional bookshelves.  You can write and draw about your own special things found on our planet.  You can write and draw about the ways to assist in conservation and care.  These collaborators have featured those things of many sizes to notice and do.  Superb.

To learn more about Eileen Spinelli and Rogerio Coelho and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Rogerio Coelho has a blog also.

Notable Poultry Notes

To speculate on what our world would be like if all living beings could communicate with each other is always fuel for discussion, research, marvelous fiction and potential questions.  Would they be furious with our lack of care for the environment?  Would they be horrified at the rate of species going extinct?  Would they demand we stop clear-cutting forests?  Would they applaud our recycling efforts or our endeavors to rescue wild and domesticated animals?  Would they be happy to see more people are planting honey bee and butterfly-friendly gardens?

Closer to home, what would our pets have to ask or tell us?  There might be a certain chocolate Labrador retriever who would demand more treats, more chew toys, and a lot more running around outside.  Chicken Talk (Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, January 15, 2018) written by Patricia MacLachlan with pictures by Jarrett J. Krosoczka follows a brood of hens and one confident rooster who act with comical consequences.

Farmer Otis and his wife, Abby, loved their chickens.  Their children, Willie and Belle, loved them, too.

This shared love extended to their poultry, eleven hens, Beatrix, Bitsy, Grace, Boo, seven named Joyce and a rooster named Pedro, was constant.  Abby was sure to fix lettuce and arugula meals for the fowl family and collect their eggs every day.  The eggs were labeled with the hens' names by the siblings.

The hens enjoyed a life of leisure, resting in chairs on the porch, pecking for tidbits of food in the dirt, listening to the stories Willie and Belle told and watching them read books.  Imagine the surprise greeting the humans one morning when the words

No more ARUGULA

were found written in a pathway.  Otis and Abby came to the only conclusion they could, Trixie (Beatrix) wrote the message.

It was as if the first message opened a door to bottled-up opinions held by the chickens.  Each day another note was discovered.  The nature of the statements revealed their author.  Although the family believed if they told anyone they would be thought a tad bit crazy, the chickens took matters into their own . . . um . . . feet.

An accused mailman decided to seek the truth on his own.  A shocking discovery had the news spreading.  Curious people made for good egg business.  Even after all the Joyces had their say, there was still one chicken that was silent.  When she finally left her two thoughts scrawled across the ground, they were the best of all.


In the masterful hands of Patricia MacLachlan, the impossible not only become possible but it is done so with the utmost charm and good-natured humor.  It's funny when the sentences written by the chickens are the honest truth.  It's even funnier when the family members readily accept their chickens can write and can identify the creator.  The flawless flow of narrative and dialogue elevates the laughter factor.  Here is a passage.

Otis and Abby drove into the driveway and walked up
the hill with shopping bags.
Willie pointed to the words scratched in the dirt.
Trixie strutted over and looked at Otis and Abby with
her bright beady eyes.
"Trixie wrote that sentence," whispered Otis.
"Yes", said Abby.
"Don't tell anyone," said Otis.  "They'll think we're nutty."
Abby nodded.  "I thought Trixie liked arugula."


The canvas of barnyard dirt on the matching and open dust jacket and book case extends over the spine, front to back.  The eight showcased chickens are either looking directly at readers, at the text or ISBN.  The red circles around their eyes increase the animation seen on their facial features while at the same time coordinating with the darker red in the title text and bar at the top of the ISBN.

The opening and closing endpapers are covered in a rusty red. The title page begins the pictorial interpretation of the playfulness and wit found throughout the book.  Along the top are three sets of chicken legs with the lower portion of their bodies.  The text is written "chicken" style as if scribbled in the dirt on the path.

The illustrations by Jarrett J. Krosoczka with their loose lines and colorful washes delineating light and shadow appear to be done in watercolor.  Many of the images are double-page pictures with full-page visuals usually framed in a white border.  Sometimes it's as if we are standing with the characters in the scene and other times it's as if our point of view shifts to looking down on the action.  Readers will find the eyes of the chickens greatly enhance the hilarity especially when coupled with their body positions.

One of my many favorite illustrations is on a single page.  We can see the farmhouse porch and a bit of the siding and one window.  This is in hues of gray.  The curtains on the window are a light rusty red.  Three wooden porch chairs are placed in a row.  Right in the center of each are three plump white chickens; two apparently in conversation. (I laugh every time I see this.)


You can be sure requests for this book, Chicken Talk written by Patricia MacLachlan with pictures by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, will be frequent.  Who doesn't love to laugh and wonder what animals would say if they could write?  For a story time showcasing chickens you could use Blue Chicken, What Floats in a Moat?, Bawk & Roll, Henny, Chickens in Space, My Dog's a Chicken, Snappsy The Alligator And His Best Friend Forever (Probably) and Interrupting Chicken And The Elephant Of Surprise.  You'll want to add this title to your professional and personal collections.

For more information on Jarrett J. Krosoczka and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  Jarrett J. Krosoczka maintains a blog, an account on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. (You might want to check out Jarrett's tweets about this book.)  Jarrett J. Krosoczka also has two TED talks you might find interesting.  Here is a link to a short biography on the beloved Patricia MacLachlan at the publisher's website.

New Pooch In Town

Children all around the world continuously cheer the existence of grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts and uncles.  Their appearance and role in gals' and guys' lives is one of constant support and surprise.  When you think they are as predictable as sunrise and sunset, they do something out of the ordinary changing your whole life.

There are probable millions of children who would never have the pleasure of enjoying life with an animal companion if it were not for these fearless family members who bestow them on grateful relatives.  Once they get over the shock most parents welcome the new addition.  Acclaimed author Patricia MacLachlan, who willingly includes dogs as characters in many of her books, presents a new early chapter book series, Barkus Book 1 (Chronicle Books, June 6, 2017) with cheery illustrations by French artist Marc Boutavant.

Barkus
On a windy day, my favorite uncle, Uncle Everton, knocked on our door.  He wore a long plaid overcoat and black wool cap.

Uncle Everton was not alone. He brought Barkus, a very large, exuberant brown dog, as a present for his niece, Nicky.  Barkus was very clever, gifted in the trick department and did not bite.  To Nicky's way of thinking Barkus was perfect.

On the following Monday Nicky had to go to school assuring Barkus she would be home before he knew it.  Nicky kept turning around, sure she was being followed but no one was there.  As soon as she walked into her classroom, Barkus ran in behind her.  Barkus barked when Mrs. Gregolian wrote DOG on the blackboard.  (I told you he was clever.)

One day the mail brought a gift for Barkus, a treat from Uncle Everton for his birthday.  A snow day spoils plans for a party but that night a saddened and quiet Barkus has a wag-tastic gathering courtesy of unexpected guests.  It was a happy hubbub for everyone (even Mom and Dad).

Spring and spring vacation came but it was unexciting until Barkus brought home a baby...kitten.  Signs, phone calls and a whole lot of hope resulted in another change in Nicky's home.  To close this five chapter book, three friends discover the thrill of an overnight adventure in the backyard and the riches to be found in a story grown straight from the heart.


Some books seem to be better when you read them silently alone and others are better when read aloud with others but there are some remarkable books when read either way the story goes straight to the reader's heart.  Patricia MacLachlan is one of those authors capable of writing this type of narrative.  Many times when reading these short but delightful chapters, I found myself stopping to read a passage out loud.

Her gift is to create a seamless flow from event to event in this book.  Each of these episodes ties together with a rhythm formed by word choices. We become emotionally attached to the characters through the narrative and dialogue, experiencing their every mood.  Here is a sample passage.

Spring had come and it was vacation.
I was bored.
Barkus was bored.
"Barkus needs something new and exciting," I said.
"I don't think Barkus needs something new and exciting," said father.
But he was wrong. 


One of the first things readers will notice about this title is the trim size.  It fits perfectly in the hands of the intended audience.  The splash of yellow dots spans both sides of the opened dust jacket on white canvas.  The array of colors in the title text introduces readers to the color palette used throughout the book.  The expressions on Barkus's and Nicky's faces, along with their high-five, tell a story too.  I think it's safe to say, they are the best of friends.

The red hue used in the title text becomes the background for the book case.  A close-up of a joyful Barkus is drawn in black on the front and crosses the spine a bit to the left. A blend of multi-colored smaller dots covers the opening and closing endpapers.  Beneath the text on the title page Nicky is painting pictures of her two new friends.  The canvas for this image is the same bright yellow as the dots on the jacket.

Illustrator Marc Boutavant alters his picture sizes in keeping with the storyline.  He may give us a single page picture, an image which crosses the gutter or a series of smaller visuals to signify the rambunctious natures of Barkus and Nicky.  When he uses both pages it's to heighten the emotion of total merriment.  Readers will enjoy the wide-eyed looks on the characters.

One of my many favorite illustrations is on Barkus's birthday, the snow day.  Marc Boutavant has placed three images on a single page.  Nicky and Barkus are playing in the snow.  At the top they start to run with Barkus watching Nicky.  Her eyes are closed in complete bliss.  In the next scene they are jumping.  This time Barkus has his eyes closed.  In the final picture the pals are belly down in the snow, eating it.  This is how you enjoy winter.  This is how you enjoy life.


Barkus written by Patricia MacLachlan with illustrations by Marc Boutavant is a wonderful beginning to a marvelous early chapter book series.  Readers (this one included) will be more than ready for the next set of adventures shared by these two best buddies.  You will want multiple copies on your professional bookshelves and at least one for your personal bookshelves.  I plan on having a couple of copies to hand out for Halloween.

At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  They have also created a teacher's guide.  Here is a link which speaks about Marc Boutavant when he visited the United States in 2013.  Marc Boutavant is featured by author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast and by author and blogger Cynthia Leitich Smith at Cynsations.  As I did in a recent post for another Patricia MacLachlan book, Someone Like Me, here are two of my favorite videos featuring this versatile author.

Observations

Children learn at a very early age to watch, listen and learn.  Some do this in silence; others tend to display their new knowledge with flair, mimicking what they see or hear.   As an educator, an adult, you quickly realize everything you say and do is remembered...in vivid detail.  To be in the presence of children is a great honor and a huge responsibility.

If we are fortunate they will see value in what we say and do, taking the best part of each experience and fashioning it into an identity they will alter and wear for the rest of their lives.  Someone Like Me (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, July 3, 2017) written by Patricia MacLachlan with illustrations by Chris Sheban is a heartwarming journey through childhood.  It's about choosing what you do with your time.

If you were a little girl
who listened to stories 

These stories were not told once or twice or even three times but repeatedly during the course of this little girl's life.  They became a part of who she was.  These tales were from everyday life but elevated to familiar family legends.

Consuming books like air, fueling her heart and mind, even when her mom was walking home with her from the public library, was something this little girl did every single day.  She learned to be invisible hiding from her parents as they discussed things, hush-hush things.  Her imaginative mind longed for her animal friends to speak.

Like many children climbing to the tops of trees generated a feeling of freedom for her.  Above the regular world a new realm was revealed.  Have you ever wanted to run away?  Did you?  Was it because someone promised you something?  This little girl found people fascinating; what they did, said, and sang.

All these observations of the world around helped her become her true self.  They formed a focus for her life's work, woven into other familiar stories.  The daily directions she chose created pathways for others to follow for generations.

This narrative, a string of lyrical reflections, written by Newbery Medalist Patricia MacLachlan, is a gentle moving piece.  It reminds us of the transformative power of experience and study.  Through her words Patricia MacLachlan supplies us with encouragement; no part of our lives is too small to make a big difference.   Here is a partial passage.

If you were a girl whose great-grandmother loved
the smell and feel of prairie earth,
and ran through the grasses
sending the geese on the slough to
fly up
around
and back again


Rendered in watercolor, colored pencil and graphite all of the illustrations by Chris Sheban, beginning with the matching dust jacket and book case, cast a spell over readers, taking us to a place and time when a little girl uses her senses to enjoy the fascination the world offers her.  A striking use of light and shadow in this first picture as the sun rises asks us to pause with her and her dog beneath the tree on a rise above a field.  You have to wonder what she has written in her journal.

To the left, on the back surrounded in white a loosely framed image shows the girl sitting on the tree branch now, her back to us.  The dog is also facing in the opposite direction watching a line of geese above the field.  Golden yellow, orange and purple color the sunset sky.  The journal leans against the base of the tree.  Golden yellow covers the opening and closing endpapers.  Under the text on the title page a grandmother (great-grandmother) sits on a porch step telling the girl seated beneath her a story.  On the dedication and verso page and the first page, the duo is now walking down a lane as the storytelling continues.

Chris Sheban shifts his visual sizes to complement the narrative, full page, double page, and multiple pictures on a single page.  The colored pencil and graphite creates a textured look.  Chris chooses to use muted colors in large portions of some of the illustrations with other elements in full color for emphasis.  His use of white space is absolutely stunning on two of the pages.  The facial features on all the characters, especially on the little girl, have you wanting to be best friends with all of them.

It's hard to pick a single illustration as a favorite when they are all worthy of framing.  One particular picture I really like spans two pages.  It's a close-up of the girl under the dinner table.  We can see the underside of the table, the kind which pulls out to add leaves.  Her parent's legs and feet are visible.  Her dog, next to the father's chair, is watching her.  Lying on her stomach, head resting on her hands, elbows bent, the little girl, has one finger at her lips in a shush position.  Light from the room filters through the flowered table cloth and shines on the lower portion of her face.

Every single time I've read Someone Like Me written by Patricia MacLachlan with illustrations by Chris Sheban, I am moved by the simple but profound beauty on each page.  Patricia's words sing straight into your heart.  Chris's luminous illustrations envelope you.  I can't begin to tell you how much I love this book!  And I can't wait to share it with readers this coming school year.

To learn more about Chris Sheban and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  At the publisher's website you can view gorgeous interior images.  Chris Sheban is featured by teacher librarian Travis Jonker on his blog, 100 Scope Notes, Preview: The Crusty Nibs.  Chris is interviewed at LitPick and on author James Preller's Blog.

UPDATE:  Author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson shares art from this book on her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, September 22, 2017.

  These videos are two of my favorite ones highlighting Patricia MacLachlan.

Rescued

For those who know me personally and for those who only know me virtually my love of dogs is apparent to all.  When I say I love dogs, I mean there has never been a human being as wonderful as any of my four dogs.  If I should meet a human who surpasses the pure generosity, compassion, loyalty, love and joy of a dog, then surely there is reincarnation.  A dog must have been sent back in the form of a human to show us how to better live our lives.

Even before I read the first page of the first chapter of Patricia MacLachlan's new title, the book found a permanent place in my heart.  Here is what I read:

Dogs speak words
But only poets
And children
Hear
---P. M.

If I never went on to read the rest of The Poet's Dog (Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, September 13, 2016), I would have been satisfied with those four lines.  But I did read the book...again and again.

I found the boy at dusk.

The individual speaking to us is a dog.  The boy he found is lost in a blizzard; so is his younger sister.  They were left in a car by their mother who sought help.  Someone else told them the car would be towed for the plows.  Frightened they venture out looking for their parent.

The dog goes on to tell us about Sylvan, a poet, who saved him from a shelter.  Sylvan read to him and talked to him until he understood words.  Now it's the dog's turn to save the children.

Teddy, an Irish wolfhound, leads them from the pond, past a large rock and along a path to a cabin sitting in a clearing in the woods.  A light, always lit, shows them the way.  Flora and Nicholas, Nickel, understand words too.  They understand the words Teddy utters.  Now my friends you have the perfect setting for a book you will never forget; a blizzard, two lost children, a lone cabin in the woods and a dog who talks.  But remember only poets and children can hear him.

Over the course of several days as the wind howls, snow falls and the power flickers off and on, through the conversations between Flora, Nickel and Teddy, we come to understand how the relationship grew between Sylvan and Teddy.  We are intimately aware of the special qualities of each child.  We follow along as the three work to navigate this thing we call life.  And what of the poet Sylvan you ask?  You simply must read this book.


Every time I read this book I can feel the sheer beauty of every single line fill my soul with hope, a hope that stays.  (I have always believed everything in our futures depends on children.)  Chapter by chapter you can sense love growing; love between a poet and his dog, love between a poet and one particular student and love between two children and a dog who finds them.  Every word written by Patricia MacLachlan provides an exquisite connection to the next.

Her descriptions of the storm raging outside and the quiet haven created by the children and the dog take you deep into this story.  After a particularly poignant portion (more than one) you will find yourself stopping and thinking about relationships and what makes them endure.  You will also realize if you have not already done so, a single individual, dog or human, can make a difference.  Here are some passages.

"Poets and children" said Sylvan.  "We are the same really.  When you can't find a poet, find a child.  Remember that."

Or was it four days?  Being alone confuses the truth about time.

In the night I got up once to push up the door lever with my nose and go outside into the wind.
Nickel raised his head.
"Where are you going?"
His voice sounded frightened.
"I'm going to pee," I said.
I heard Flora's sleepy, comforting voice in the dark.
"He's a dog," Flora said softly.
"Oh, right," said Nickel.  "I keep forgetting that."
I came back to my red rug next to Nickel.
His arm went around me again.
"Sometimes I forget, too," I said to Nickel.

There was no silence in the cabin, even at night.  The wind was like a wild song that pushed away the quiet.


The Poet's Dog written by Newbery Medalist Patricia MacLachlan with dust jacket artwork by Kenard Pak is one of my favorite books of 2016.  It is a book I will read over and over.  I will read it aloud to anyone who will listen.  It is distinguished.

To learn more about Patricia MacLachlan enjoy this video interview released by the publisher three years ago.


At the publisher's website you can read and listen to an excerpt from the book.

Under The Moon's Gaze

Last night was a full moon night.  This moon is known as the Harvest Moon.  This special moon is closest to the autumnal equinox, the time in our year (in the northern hemisphere) marking the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.  This year the equinox falls on September 22, 2016.  On this date we will have an equal amount of daylight and darkness.

As parents, educators and those who share their lives with pets know, a full moon does dictate a change in behavior, in my experience, with children and dogs.  As the sun sets and dusk arrives, going to bed and falling asleep are not on their minds.  They are ready to continue playing...for hours.

One of the most popular of my Picture Book Ten for Ten posts is one listing ten plus one books guaranteed to encourage rest, sleep and Sweet Dreams.  Two titles have been released in 2016 which would make worthy additions to these selections.  They each invite readers into the presence of peace.

Two cherished personalities in the field of children's literature collaborate to bring us The Moon's Almost Here (Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, June 7, 2016).  The blend of Patricia MacLachlan's words with Tomie dePaola's illustrations will rock away all the day's cares easing listeners toward dreamland.  Let's follows along with the mime Pierrot and his child taking a walk.

The moon's almost here!
Robin sings in her nest.
Babies fly back to her,
Ready to rest.

A sheep nods to her lamb, a hen chatters to her chicks and ducklings follow their mother from water to land.  A colt listens to the call of a mare. Calves trail behind their mooing mother.  And

The moon's almost here.

A tiny winged creature takes flight hurrying in front of the night.  In the warm air beetles' bottoms blink.  At home, a pet settles, their eyes fluttering with dreams.  Another curls into a cozy ball of comfort.

A hand is offered for a final look outside.  Two stand, the younger speaking in gratitude to the night life.  The moon arrives casting her spell of sleep in a luminous glow of light.


The choice to repeat the first sentence over and over again, six times in total, soothes the reader and listener. The following phrases rhyme in a lullaby rhythm.  When you read the words aloud written by Patricia MacLachlan they ease into song, a soft sweet melody.  Here is another sample portion.

The moon's almost here.
Mama duck drifts to shore.
Ducklings swim after:
One, two, three, and four.


From left side to right across the spine on the dust jacket, an entire illustration of rolling hills, a countryside farm, depicts all the animals visited by the parent and child.  It's a gorgeous visual of life coming to rest welcoming the moon rise.  Careful readers will notice the change in the title text's color as it gets closer to the rising moon. The varying hues of blue and green with spot color and the white apparel, painted face of the parent and rise of the moon are part of the signature palette of artist Tomie dePaola.  On the book case an interior image of the mime Pierrot and his child going back outside to look at the moon is featured.  A lighter contrasting shade of blue covers the opening and closing endpapers.

Rendered in acrylic on gessoed Arches 150lb cold press100% Rag watercolor paper the pictures begin to tell a story of their own on the initial title page with the parent, arms spread wide, running to the right. On the title page, unlit lantern in hand he moves toward his child who is walking toward him with outstretched arms.  The remaining fourteen two-page illustrations are marvelous depictions of each stop on the duo's nighttime journey.

Each image is like an individual tableau; gazing upward at the fledglings flying toward the mother robin, a baby chick cuddled in the arms of the child as their father lights the candle in the lantern, the two watching the horses and cows through the windows of their home and the child carrying their cat as the dog looks outside.  One of the pictures, the child's bedroom, contains elements of Tomie dePaola visuals, a heart painted on the footboard of the bed and a checked border at the bottom of the page. There is an air of tranquility in each scene.

One of my favorite pictures is of the dog curled up on its bed on the porch.  A ribbon of stars swirls from his left across the gutter to the right.  He is dreaming of jumping over the moon.  The moon has a face with eyes looking upward at the jumping dog.

The Moon's Almost Here written by Patricia MacLachlan with illustrations by Tomie dePaola is a beautifully rendered poetic invitation to bedtime.  Readers can feel the calm from the pages settling around them.  The final illustration is sure to bring on a sigh if not sleep.  Please follow the links attached to Tomie dePaola's name to access his website and blog.  Each is a joyful depiction of the man and his work.




Known for his titles, Oh No, George! and Shh! We Have A Plan Chris Haughton presents readers with another of his colorful gems.  Goodnight Everyone (Walker Books, August 4, 2016 and Candlewick Press, December 13, 2016) is a sleepy stroll toward the best rest.  It's the end of the day.

the sun is going down and everyone is sleepy

Moving from the smallest creatures, mice, to one of the largest, Great Big Bear, each one is sleepy.  They exhibit their condition with yawning...lots of yawns.  There's one though who is not sleepy in the slightest, Little Bear.

No one wants to play with Little Bear.  Each time he asks his animal friends, the mice, hares and deer, they are simply too tired.  He continues to move around ready to play until...wait...what's that?

Little Bear yawns!  Great Big Bear believes it's truly time to end the day in rest.  Each of the animals is visited.  They are fast asleep, gentle snores filling the air.  A goodnight is called to each one.  A final gesture of affection is given to Little Bear.  The narrator calls out to readers and makes one final observation.


With his simple phrases Chris Haughton establishes a reassuring rhythm.  His use of repetition with certain portions of the narrator's remarks asks readers to participate in response. To further engage us, he adds a few new words to each set of sentences.

the mice are sleepy-----YAWN
the hares are sleepy
they sigh
AH----YAWN

In a dreamy use of the number three we visit three animals three times; when they are yawning, when they don't want to play and when they are fast asleep.  The pause in this cadence is when Little Bear engages with Great Big Bear.  This is sheer delight.


If they were to remove Chris Haughton's name from the book case, by the design, layout and color we would still know it is his book. His use of purple, magenta and blues is striking. The inclusion of white in the title text and in the white of Little Bear's eyes on the front and in Great Big Bear's eyes on the back is a pleasing contrast.  I dare you to look at either of these images without feeling your body start to relax.  On the opening and closing endpapers are stunning depictions of first the southern night sky, replete with constellations, on the left and the sun and planets to scale on the right. On the top of the earth is the forest from this book.  On the back the planets and sun are reversed, top to bottom and on the right is the northern night sky.  Little Bear and Great Bear are faintly drawn with the corresponding constellations within their bodies.

On the initial title page Great Big Bear and Little Bear are seated.  The larger is yawning and the younger is wide awake.  On the verso and title pages is a vivid, layered image in blues, purples, magenta, greens, orange and yellows, spanning from left to right with a large white border.  It shows all of the animal groups peeking forth from their special areas.

With a page turn we zoom in on a portion of the title page image.  At the next page turn there is a great deal of white space on the left.  For each of the animals Chris Haughton has designed a small page, a series of three pages imposed on the large right page.  As each is opened the image increases in size.  For the remaining visuals they vary in size to supply pacing, each outlined in a wide white frame with the exception of one two-page illustration.

One of my favorite illustrations of many is of the mice sleeping. The picture takes up nearly one entire page with white space spanning across the gutter to the edge on the right, providing a place for the spare text in purple.  Shades of green fill the image of four mice curled in sleep in their nest.  One of the mice is leaning away from the others, its body resting on the rim of the nest.  The nest is stretched between stems in the grass. Above their heads a dandelion starts to lose its seeds, several floating away.


I can't imagine someone not falling asleep after reading Goodnight Everyone written and illustrated by Chris Haughton. ZZZzzzzz.... Oh, sorry....I dozed off for a moment.  Chris Haughton says at his website this is indeed a book about sleep but also a book about scale.  It is fascinating to read about the development of this book on his blog here.  On both his website and blog there are numerous images.  On the publisher's website is yet another image.