A Rock and Roll Persona

In 1983 a group of prominent names in the music industry formed the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation.  The primary goal of this group after the establishment of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was to find a city in which to construct a building which would serve to honor the inductees and promote this genre of music.  It was September 2, 1995 when the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame welcomed visitors for the first time.

Prior to that time in 1986 the first inductees were named.  Of those sixteen men, one of ten performers is Elvis Presley.  Elvis Is King! (Schwartz & Wade Books, January 8, 2019) written by Jonah Winter with illustrations by Red Nose Studio chronicles this signature musician's rise to fame.




Elvis Is Born!
But alas, he is born
in a humble shack
on the wrong side of the railroad tracks,
the side where the poorest of the poor people live,
down down down in the Deep South---Tupelo, Mississippi.

Twenty-eight subsequent short, concise chapters highlight significant contributory events. At an early age Elvis's father is sent to jail for fourteen months.  Before and at ten as a shy little boy Elvis sings solo in church and at a county fair talent show.

Knowing Elvis has a gift, his mother buys him a guitar for his eleventh birthday.  This took a lot of saving and sacrifice.  The boy cannot stop singing and playing his guitar, even when he should not.  A fortuitous moment outside an African American church with gospel music singing makes a memorable impression.

Leaving Tupelo, hoping for a better future, the family lands in Memphis.  It's a struggle for the trio to live in a one-room apartment sharing a bathroom with other residents.  Elvis, now a teen, is the breadwinner and a student.  He decides it's time for a change.

With hair dyed black and wearing stand-out-in-the-crowd second-hand store clothes, Elvis croons his way to a crowd-pleasing success at his high school talent show.  Dixie Locke becomes Elvis's one true forever love.

After graduation Elvis haunts clubs listening to blues.  Recording a song on a record on his own leads to an important phone call; Sun Records wants to record Elvis!  It takes several tries but it's an instant success.

When people see Elvis perform, they go crazy at his movements and the sound of his voice.  The number of his fans grows but heartbreak is in the offing.  There are costs for fame not measured by dollars and cents.  Elvis is a star.


The length of the chapters, the number of sentences or phrases in each one, is determined by the portion of Elvis's life author Jonah Winter wishes to disclose.  Each chapter is a relevant layer forming the whole individual the public sees.  Specific word choices supply an easy conversational narrative.  Here is another chapter.

County Fair Talent Show
Look at Little Elvis up onstage,
shy as he can be, ten years old,
so small he has to stand on a chair to reach the microphone,
but when he opens his mouth to sing---
a tearjerker song about a dog that dies---
everybody listens to every word.  When he is done:
Clappin' and hootin'!
ELVIS IS LOVED!
What a feeling that is.
(Fifth prize!)


One look at the open dust jacket and you know the artwork in this book is a showstopper much like Elvis.  The decision to have the text ELVIS like a neon sign and show only a portion of his face with that signature hair style is excellent.  To the left, on the back, Elvis with his eyes closed, is singing and playing his guitar as he vibrates before his audience on the stage.

On the underside of the dust jacket illustrator Red Nose Studio (Chris Sickels) displays elements from his pictures labeling them with how they were made.  They are shown in actual size.  He also asks readers to locate these objects in the story.

The book case is done in the blue seen on the jacket.  To the left, on the back, a microphone on a stand is placed on a stage.  On the front, the title is recreated with a star hanging from the top between "L" and "V".  Elvis's guitar is leaning against an empty folding chair.  Two different shades of blue, light and dark, cover the opening and closing endpapers.  On the title page is an old radio with a single rose in a vase on top.  Above this is a family portrait.

All the illustrations

are hand-built three-dimensional sets shot with a Canon EOS 5D Markill Digital SLR camera.

Each scene is meticulously created replete with accurate details.  Some are full-page pictures and others span two pages.  Two accentuate the moment, the point of view shifts from bringing us close to the subject or giving us a larger view.  When the chapter reads

The First Cheeseburger Ever Eaten by Elvis

all we see is the table top of a booth with two beverage glasses and a single cheeseburger.  Elvis and his mother are seated opposite each other on benches.  We can only see their legs and feet.  His mother is barefoot.  It's as if we have stepped back in time with this individual.

One of my many favorite illustrations spans two pages.  The background is in hues of sunset rose, orange and blue in the sky at day's end.  A large sign in neon letters spreads across most of the two pages.  It reads

RAINBOW
SKATE RINK.

Seated on top of the sign and looking over the city below is Elvis and Dixie Locke. Their backs are to us. Elvis has his guitar. 


Elvis Is King! written by Jonah Winter with illustrations by Red Nose Studio is a stellar picture book biography about this one-of-a-kind rock and roll musician.  It informs readers but also will inspire them to realize you can come from nothing and become exactly what you want to be.  The blend of words and art is fabulous.  Whether you are a fan or not, you will want this title in your professional and personal collections.  At the conclusion of the book there is a two-page author's note.

To learn more about Jonah Winter and Red Nose Studio, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Red Nose Studio has two other places to visit, here and here, for more about this title. Chris Sickels, Red Nose Studio, has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  Jonah Winter is interviewed at Book Q&As With Deborah Kalb about this title.  At author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast this book is showcased.


Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the other selections by participants in the 2019 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

His Vision Took Him Underground

In the early 1860s shortly before the advent of the American Civil War if you were to casually ask someone living in the United States the most common thing found below the ground, I'm fairly certain they would not have mentioned a mode of transportation.  Depending on the age of the person, their status and occupation they might have responded with the next crop of potatoes, pathways created by moles, shrews and earthworms or buried treasure.  If the neighborhood dog could speak human, it would probably have revealed the secret location of a stolen bone.

One city in the United States, New York City, had a huge problem.  The Secret Subway (Schwartz & Wade Books, March 3, 2016) written by Shana Corey with illustrations created by Red Nose Studio reveals how the mind of a brilliant man sought to solve the dilemma.  His efforts as well as the depiction of them in words and images by Corey and Red Nose Studio are quite remarkable.

Welcome to New York City---the greatest city on earth!
You say it looks crowded? Dirty? DISGUSTING?
The streets are filled with GARBAGE?

This was exactly the shape of the city's roadways at this time.  It seemed as if everyone had an idea how to get from point A to point B under safer and cleaner conditions but nothing changed.  One man, a man of vision, had an idea.  His name was Alfred Ely Beach.

He wanted to construct a tunnel and tracks underground which would carry a train powered by a fan...a really big fan.  Beach was sure no one would agree to such a huge undertaking so he proposed building something smaller, something carrying the mail under the city streets.  In the dark of night when everyone else was asleep, even the highest ranking politicians and undeclared ruler of the city, Boss Tweed, Beach had his crews silently haul away much more rocks and dirt than would be accumulated from digging a tube for mail.   He was digging a pathway for his train!

For nearly two months the men worked digging during the day and hauling away at night.  When they reached a dangerous obstacle they carefully persevered.  Eight feet wide and two hundred ninety-four feet long the vision of Beach's dream was finally finished.  In his characteristic style he prepared the basement from which they had been working into a lovely, fashionable waiting room.

On February 26, 1870 the first passengers, invited guests of Alfred Ely Beach, rode a train beneath New York City.  When opened to the public the train whooshed back and forth on the track for months and then several years before politics and money made their move.  When workers again went below digging and hauling in 1912 they made a surprising discovery.


Every minute devoted to research is evident in every sentence written by Shana Corey.  She declares her intentions with the first phrase and follows with the distressing status of the streets at the time.  Then she completely captivates us with the efforts of one man who dared not only to dream but created the opportunity for success.  Through her words we understand the enthusiasm Beach had for this project, the wit he used for thwarting politics and the dedication he had to making something not only safe but first class.  As we read we are inwardly cheering for Alfred Ely Beach.  Here is a sample passage.

Beach was a THINKER---a publisher and an inventor.  His father had owned a newspaper, and Beach had grown up in a simmering soup of letters and words and newfangled notions.  He was also a man of ACTION.  And if there was one thing he loved more than thinking up ideas, it was making them happen.  As Beach studies the street below, the wheels in his brain turned.


When first opening the matching dust jacket and book case readers will be intrigued by the unique, extraordinary images designed and made by Red Nose Studio (Chris Sickels).  With his finger to his lips we are immediately wondering who this man is and what he may or may not share with us.  To the left, on the back, we are still in the tunnel looking at the rear of the train car.  The reverse side of the dust jacket becomes a marvelous nine-step explanation of the illustrative process in a blend of photographs and short captions.  The work performed and the precise attention to detail shown by Sickels are astounding.

The hand-built three-dimensional sets shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III Digital SLR camera are so lifelike you expect the people to start moving and talking along with neighing horses. The line art and lettering was drawn with Hunt pen nibs and Higgins Black Magic ink on paper and inverted blue pencil on paper respectively.  It is hard to resist the temptation to walk right into the pages.

All the pictures span two pages: cityscapes, close-ups of Beach, meetings between politicians and those in control of the city workings as well as the first guests to ride the train, workers in the tunnel and others designing and decorating the waiting room.  Two of the more moving illustrations are when Beach closes his train and the discovery in 1912.  In both the main elements are surrounded by a large portion of black with focused illumination.

Two of my favorite illustrations spanning two pages are placed one above the other horizontally.  At the top we are given an interior view of the first passengers to ride the train in the tunnel with Beach acting as the engineer outside in the front. The six passengers are wearing an array of expressions ranging from awe to fear.  On the ride back they all anxiously await their arrival at the beginning.  It's a slice of history portrayed with excellence.


Assuredly inspirational the story of Alfred Ely Beach as portrayed in The Secret Subway written by Shana Corey with illustrations by Red Nose Studio (Chris Sickels) is a stellar work of nonfiction.  It is an impressive representation of the art of bookmaking, a polished blend of text and images.  Readers will be fascinated from beginning to end.  This title has my highest recommendation.  An extensive author's note provides further information along with a selected bibliography and Internet resources.

To discover more about Shana Corey and Red Nose Studio please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Red Nose Studio maintains a blog and Tumblr pages.  On his blog is an activity for making your own Secret Subway.  For a look inside at some of the initial interior pages stop by the publisher's website.  This title was reviewed by teacher librarian, former member of the 2014 Caldecott Medal and Honor book committee and blogger Travis Jonker at 100 Scope Notes.  Educator and author, Monica Edinger, premiered the book trailer at HuffPost Books and followed with interviews on her own blog, Educating Alice.






Please take a few minutes to read about the other selections by bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge hosted by Alyson Beecher at Kid Lit Frenzy.