Earth Week 2021 #1

While those who champion for our planet's preservation, our preservation, are grateful for the establishment of Earth Day in 1970, there is still much to be done.  Time is literally running out.  It is more important than ever; each day should be dedicated to our Earth.  

One book at a time, change happens.  Words are powerful, reader to reader. Hello, Earth!: Poems To Our Planet (Eerdmans Books For Young Readers, February 9, 2021) written by Joyce Sidman with illustrations by Miren Asiain Lora is a conversation through a collection of twenty-two poems between human voices and this big beautiful Blue Planet.  Listen.

HELLO, EARTH!

It's your children.

Some of your children---

the human ones.

We have been studying you, Earth,

but we long to learn more.  . . .

So begins the first poem.  It's a greeting and a request.  It respectfully concludes with the first of many questions and comments.  There is a large curiosity including many topics needing to be satisfied in this narrative.  How is it that we and Earth spin among the stars together?  It is perplexing to comprehend Earth's size when there are things on this planet so large, we are tiny next to them.

Compared to us, Earth is ancient.  Nevertheless, she is still changing.  Volcanoes and earthquakes signal her shifts.  We hope Earth enjoys the benefits of both the sun and moon.

We acknowledge Earth's ingenuity in giving us clean air through the bounty of plants.  We are astounded by her places of bitter cold and ice and intense heat, wind, and sand.  High tides and low tides tug at her watery masses.  We recognize the vast expanses of water on this place and the life that dwells there; all of it marvelous regardless of its size or shape or abilities.  Knowing what we know about these watery realms, no wonder we continue to explore.  

An apology is given for the constant chaotic commotion humans supply to this planet.  It is known Earth communicates with us other than through words.  Her weather speaks volumes, sometimes loudly and other times in a whisper.  It is humbling.  Even though we do not always show it, we dwell on Earth, our precious planet, with grateful hearts.  

With each reading of the poems in this book, you cannot help but be moved by their sincerity and veracity.  Many different aspects of the planet are covered in the praises penned by Joyce Sidman.  The poems are connected, like us, flowing from one to the other.  They also, like us, can stand alone distinctly.  Here is another partial poem, its beginning and its ending.

SUNLIGHT, MOONLIGHT

What is it like

to spin

and feel the sun

warm all your

beautiful places,

          one by one? . . .

One so close,

a silver sister.

One so far,

a burning star.

The dark endless space covers both the front and back of the open book case.   It is peppered with dots of starlight.  To the left, on the back, is the entire first poem.  The full moon supplies a point for placing the title text.  The swirl of currents and clouds reinforces the constant motion of our planet.  Notice the different animals and people and their activities.

On the opening and closing endpapers is a camel shade.  It is the background for a multitude of tiny blue birds.  It gives the appearance of an endless migration.

Another view of the entire planet is beneath the text on the title page.  A single engine plane flies above it.  A schooner sails below it.

Each double-page picture rendered by Miren Asiain Lora, like the poems, is fascinating and unique.  You need to pause at each one to study the elements and the people.  The intricate details are amazing.  The perspectives in these images are designed to depict the magnificence of Earth and its immense size.

One of my many favorite pictures is for the poem, SUNLIGHT, MOONLIGHT.  It expertly conveys the feeling one gets when standing alone or nearly alone outside on a full moon night.  Most of the two pages are the night sky speckled with a few stars.  Along the bottom of both pages are evergreens.  On the left is a mountain peak, glowing in the moonlight.  Another mountain begins to the left of the gutter and rises on the right in shadow.  At the top of this peak is a single person garbed in clothing for a bit of a chill in the air.  Their left arm is reaching and touching one edge of the glowing full moon.  How many times have you seen a full moon, believing it was so close you could touch it?

This book, Hello, Earth!: Poems To Our Planet written by Joyce Sidman with artwork by Miren Asiain Lora is stunning.  At the close of the book is extensive back matter, More About How The Earth Works (Earth's Age, Earth's Size, Earth's History, Earth's Layers, Plate Tectonics, Continental Drift, Rotation and Orbit, Powerhouse Plants, Altitude, Ecosystems, Gravity, Oceans, Water Cycles And Currents, Human Impact, Messages From The Earth, New Species, and Living With The Earth), and To Find Out More, Explore The Resources Below (Understanding Climate Change, Ways Kids Can Help, Citizen Science Projects and For Further Reading).  I can't imagine a collection, personal or professional, without a copy of this book.

To learn more about Joyce Sidman and Miren Asiain Lora, please access their respective websites by following the link attached to their names.  Be sure to check out the additional resources linked at Joyce Sidman's website for this book.  Joyce Sidman has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  Miren Asiain Lora has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  You can get a peek at some interior images at the blog for Eerdmans Books For Young Readers.

It is a fact that our sea ice and polar glaciers are melting faster than is safe for our planet.  Most of our glaciers are in Antarctica (90%) and Greenland (10%). 

Sea ice forms and melts strictly in the ocean whereas glaciers are formed on land.  Icebergs are chunks of glacial ice that break off glaciers and fall into the ocean. 

When it comes to sea ice, 95% of the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic is already gone.

A clever portrayal on the change our glaciers experience is presented in Blue Floats Away (Abrams Books for Young Readers, March 23, 2021) with words by Travis Jonker and pictures by Grant Snider.  As if we are side-by-side with Blue, we navigate the unknown.  We learn about the transformative power of being different.

Little Blue lived near the North Pole with his parents.

They were close. 

You could say they were three peas in the proverbial pod until suddenly with a resounding loud noise, Blue broke apart from his parents.  He was floating away from everything and everyone he knew.  He reassured his mom and dad he would return soon.  Would he?

In short order, Blue could not see his parents.  He could see nothing but sky, sea, and snow, lots of snow.  He was alone for a long time, until he wasn't.  He saw something new and something beautiful.  These two somethings became Blue's best buddies.

From these two companions Blue learned how he might return home.  Wind and ocean currents controlled a lot.  Another thing, an unexpected thing, altered all of Blue's ideas.  It was getting warmer and warmer and warmer.  Blue vanished.  Did he?

Through a continuing and constant process, Blue rose above the water.  He was floating away in the sky.  Again, Blue saw two things.  They taught Blue.  Blue was headed home.  Four fascinating friends stuck with Blue as he grew larger and larger as it got colder and colder.  There were his parents!  And Blue . . . well, Blue was developing into something else again. 

It takes a special kind of author to create affection for an iceberg in readers, but Travis Jonker does it with considerable skill.  And if you don't burst out laughing after reading those first two sentences, you might want to check for a pulse.  With spare text infused with humor and informative insight, we willingly embark with Blue.  Travis ties the two portions of Blue's travels together with repetitive phrases, inviting reader participation.  (I said them aloud the second time.  I woke up my dog.)  Here are three consecutive sentences.

Blue learned things

from his new friends.

About the directions:

East, West, South . . .

and North.

Blue set a course for home. 

One of the first things you notice when you open the dust jacket is the different hues of blue for the water and the shades used for the sky.  On the left, including the spine the water is dark turquoise or teal or a combination of the two and the sky is a vibrant dark pink.  White birds soar in that pink sky.  Shark fins cruise in the water.  On the right the sky is pale orange with paler orange clouds.  The water is ocean blue.  The rock on which the lighthouse sits extends over the spine to the back.  The bold color palette here is used throughout the book, attracting readers of all ages.

On the open book case a deeper royal blue is given to the water which fills nearly all the space.  At the top of the page, for the sky, is a muted steel blue.  Separating the water and sky is a white wavy line.  Blue's parents are placed in the upper, left-hand corner.  Blue moves slowly away in the lower, right-hand corner.

Bright purple covers the opening and closing endpapers.  On the title page, Blue's portrait is in a circle with blue water and orange sky.  This picture is above the text.

These remarkable illustrations by Grant Snider 

made with cut paper, colored pencil, and white ink

are brilliant in their simplicity and characteristics.  (You want to reach out and touch them.)  They take the idea of less-is-more and turn it into an art form.  The facial features on Blue's parents and on Blue, three dots or marks, display a range of emotions.

The color compositions, blues with orange, blues with blue, blues with red, blues with orange and red and bold golden yellow with crisp white are fabulous.  A huge clue is given to careful readers with the unexpected use of green.  The appearance of Blue's new form will have readers smiling.  Most of the illustrations span two pages with the exception of Blue's two major alterations.  Here Grant Snider uses four vertical panels across two pages.

One of my many favorite visuals is after Blue has learned several things from his first two new friends.  Most of the double-page picture is water, a deep dark royal blue.  Above the jagged edge of the wavy water is a peach sky.  On the left, the black rock juts into the water.  From the lighthouse, a golden yellow beam enlarges as it moves off the right side.  Blue floats on the right, a slight smile filled with hope on his face.  His two friends, a sailboat and shark, are on either side and in front of him.  White lines signify wind and currents.

As a read aloud, Blue Floats Away with words by Travis Jonker and pictures by Grant Snider is perfect.  Readers and listeners will be loving Blue so much, they won't realize they are learning about the water cycle.  They will also come to understand change is life and change does not mean gone.  At the close of the book to the left of the Author's Note are four pictures with arrows explaining the water cycle courtesy of Blue.  Travis clarifies the water cycle, polar ice troubles, climate change, and what simple things we can do to help.  Each personal and professional collection needs a copy of this book.

To discover more about Travis Jonker and Grant Snider and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Travis Jonker has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Grant Snider has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  On his blog, 100 Scope Notes, School Library Journal, Travis reveals the cover.  Here he interviews Grant Snider about his illustrative process for this book, including different cover ideas.  At The Yarn, School Library Journal, Travis talks about how this book, his second book, came into being.

If you are interested in a bit more information about sea ice, glaciers, and icebergs check out articles/information at the World Wildlife Fund, the National Snow & Ice Data Center and The Washington Post.

Beginning At The Ending

Have you ever noticed when there is only one of anything left, the value, real or imagined, increases?  When you think you will never enjoy the sensory experience of tasting, touching, smelling, seeing or hearing it again, it's as if there is nothing quite as important as tasting, touching, smelling, seeing or hearing that one thing as much as possible.  Without a doubt you find yourself wondering why you waited until there was only one remaining before you gave it the attention it so richly deserves.

Perhaps this is why we need to protect and enjoy every detail of our lives, each and every day.  The Very Last Castle (Abrams Books for Young Readers, October 9, 2018) debut picture book written by Travis Jonker with pictures by Mark Pett asks us to follow one very brave little girl.  Not only does she ask questions, but she decides to find her own answers.

In the middle of a small town stood something
you might not expect.

A castle. 

This castle is distinctive.  It is the very last castle.  For reasons unknown, no one has been inside nor has anyone left the castle. There is a guard at the top of a tower, unmoving and watchful.

One day Ibb, a girl living in this town with the very last castle decides to drop a stone in the moat.  The guard does not budge.  Sounds come from the castle, snapping, thudding and hissing.  These sounds cause people in Ibb's circle of friends to speculate on what might be inside the castle.

Autumn turns into winter.  The guard never leaves his station.  What could he possibly be sheltering? With the shift in seasons to spring, Ibb grows bold.  Another stone is dropped in the moat.  The guard moves.  The next day, she crosses the moat in a small boat and knocks on the very large door.  One of those three sounds scares her into leaving as fast as she can.

Soon an invitation is delivered to Ibb.  Her presence is requested inside the castle.  She is warned to not honor this summons.  Regardless, she walks to the castle and enters after the drawbridge is dropped.  Amazing answers to questions are revealed.  An agreement benefiting many is reached.


We are immediately intrigued after reading the first two pages.  Travis Jonker begins with not only the unexpected but a mystery.  We have questions.  With four words he opens the door to answers.

Then there was Ibb.

This child's curiosity challenges her to be courageous despite her teacher, friend and grandfather's speculations about what is being guarded inside the castle by someone no one has met.

Each time she decides to be brave Travis uses a repeating phrase to bind the incidents together.  Sound effects play an important role; three different sets plus two.  Dialogue is skillfully blended with the narrative.  All these techniques work wonderfully to create a storytelling rhythm.  Here are two passages.

The next morning, Ibb walked
past the castle.  She stopped and
looked up at the tower.

No guard.

Ibb had an idea.

She floated across the
moat, walked up to the
door, and, with all the strength she had,
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCKED.


When we look at the front, right, of the opened dust jacket we are introduced to a curious little girl and the shadowy figure of a guard on a tower top.  The one is already moving into a part of our heart.  Who can resist the shy smile, adorned backpack and cheerful clothing?  The falling leaves designate autumn as the season.  A careful look at the spine shows it covered with castle bricks.  A tiny figure of Ibb is pulling on the drawbridge lever below the title. An apple is placed above the title.  Why?

To the left, on the back, Ibb is standing in front of the castle door, having crossed the moat.  Her hand is raised as if to knock.  On the book case two different scenes are presented to readers.  One shows a determined Ibb walking toward her destination.  On the left we get our first look at the guard when he is not in the tower.  The two tiny images on the spine of the jacket have been removed.

The opening and closing endpapers are a darker shade of the blue in Ibb's dress.  Mark Pett renders his pictures using pen and ink and watercolor.  They span double pages and full pages.  Readers will want to notice the facial expressions on all the characters, especially their eyes.

Many of the illustrations are in full color but other visuals have limited color.  This not only elevates the pacing but draws our attention to the most important details in any given scene.  Sometimes a portion of an image will be in full color but other elements will have limited color.  The townspeople with the exception of Ibb's teacher, Miss Wicks, her friend, Alex and her grandfather, are never shown in full color.

One of my many favorite illustrations is when the story introduces us to Ibb.  She is striding across a pale green field with a few delicate flowers still blooming.  A tiny butterfly comes from the gutter.  Ibb moves with arms swinging from left to right.  She wears her yellow boots, red and white striped stockings, blue dress and polka-dotted long-sleeved shirt.  Her green backpack is covered with her favorite things. Her eyes are closed in contemplation.  The background is a crisp white.


When you read The Very Last Castle with words by Travis Jonker and pictures by Mark Pett for the first time, you are compelled to read it again, then and there.  You realize Travis and Mark have not only entertained you but guided you toward valuable life lessons.  You need to read this book often and share it with others as often as possible.  I highly recommend this for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Travis Jonker and Mark Pett and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Travis has another site here.  Both Travis and Mark have accounts on Twitter.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  The cover reveal with a chat between Travis and Mark is at School Library Journal.  Travis has two great posts about this title on his blog, 100ScopeNotes; here and here. (The comic explaining the story behind this story is super.)  There is also a post full of Twitter tweets from Mark Pett about his illustrative process.  Travis wrote an article for the Nerdy Book Club about being an author.  Travis's friend, Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries, John Schumacher, celebrates this book at his blog, Watch. Connect. Read., today.  I went to Travis's event on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at McLean & Eakin, a book shop in Petoskey, Michigan.  To hear him read his story aloud was simply the best.

Of Celebrating Elephant Seals, Caldecott Winners and Birthdays

As teacher librarian at Charlevoix Elementary School I had the pleasure of working with an outstanding educator named Sara Jonker.   Sara frequented the library on a regular basis, her love of books and reading obvious.  She often talked about her brother-in-law, a teacher librarian in another district downstate.

When I began seriously blogging in the summer of 2010, I searched for other blogs to read on a daily basis.  One of the blogs I selected was that of Sara's brother-in-law, Travis Jonker.  At 100 Scope Notes (which has since relocated under the umbrella of School Library Journal) readers can always be sure of insightful, candid, witty and worthwhile commentary on the world of children's literature.  Travis sees details others might miss.

Last year Travis was one of the members of the 2014 Caldecott Award committee. Tomorrow evening he and hundreds of others will be in attendance at the Newbery-Caldecott Banquet during the annual American Library Association conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Everyone will cheer for the medalists and honorees, but Travis will have the unique distinction of being one of the people who chose Locomotive written and illustrated by Brian Floca as the medalist, Journey written and illustrated by Aaron Beck as an honoree, Flora and the Flamingo written and illustrated by Molly Idle as an honoree, and Mr. Wuffles! written and illustrated by David Wiesner as an honoree.

Today is Travis Jonker's birthday.  I am sending him sincerest wishes for one of the best birthdays ever and, of course, many, many more.  To help him celebrate the day I am reviewing one of the newly illustrated books by Brian Floca which was released last month.


Quirks of nature, those things which defy explanation, make for the best stories, especially when they are true.  When animals choose to place themselves closer to humans, rather than remain in their normal habitat, it is newsworthy.  More than twenty years ago, an elephant seal decided to make the waters of Christchurch, New Zealand her residence.  Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas (Schwartz & Wade, an imprint of Random House Children's Books) written by Lynne Cox with illustrations by Brian Floca is her story.

There was once a lovely elephant seal who lived in the city.  

If you were to visit Christchurch, New Zealand, you would see the Avon River moving beautifully on the west side of the city; a small portion of land separating it from the southern Pacific Ocean.  Elizabeth, as she was named by the city residents, made this river her home.  You could see her floating along in the water, resting on the shore and covering herself with mud to keep cool.

Every day on his way to and from school, a boy named Michael would seek out Elizabeth calling her by name if he saw her.  She in turn would give him a glance before snorting.  On one particular morning the friendly seal felt the need to bask in the sun on the warm two-lane road.  As you can imagine after several near collisions Elizabeth moved her considerable bulk, twelve hundred pounds, back to the river.

This became the talk of the town; causing worry for Elizabeth and motorists.  It was decided to tow her far away down the river, out to sea and away from harm.  Michael, on his way to school, was not happy to see this.

Elizabeth was not content in the company of other elephant seals on the crowded ocean beach.  Making her way across the ocean and into the familiar river, Elizabeth once more could be seen sunning herself on the city street.  Joyfully, Michael greeted her.

Not once, but twice more this lovable, determined elephant seal was towed farther and farther away.  Each time she returned to what she knew as home.  Each time Michael and the people of the city welcomed her.  What they finally did was visible proof of their affection.


In her debut children's book, author and internationally recognized long distance swimmer, Lynne Cox writes with skill and the sure knowledge she has a story people will want to hear.  In an introductory author's note she explains how two children told her the tale which she has now passed on to her readers.  Empathy, an understanding, for Elizabeth is generated in her narrative.  Use of repetitive phrases at the beginning and end and each time Michael sees the elephant seal, bind us to this fascinating account.  Here is a portion of the passage where Cox explains how Elizabeth got her name.

...  She was eight feet long--as long as a surfboard---and she weighed twelve hundred pounds---as much as fifteen Labrador retrievers.  The people of Christchurch knew there was something very special about her.  ...


Using pen-and-ink and watercolor throughout, Brian Floca endears us to Elizabeth instantly on the dust jacket and book case; looking directly at us on the front as she comes up for air and gliding by on the Avon River on the back.  The same meticulous care we see in any Floca illustration is apparent in this title.  His depiction of Elizabeth is realistic in its details of her physical characteristics; the eyes, shape of the mouth, tiny hairs above her eyes and whiskers.

His color palette is a reflection of the natural world---blues, greens and yellows prominent on each page.  There is a lightness and golden quality to the pictures; enhancing the heartwarming tone of Cox's writing.  Elizabeth is featured in the center of a blue green sea with a cloud-filled sky above her on the opening and closing endpapers.  Seagulls and a small map of New Zealand decorate the verso page.

Beginning with a gorgeous two page spread of Elizabeth in the Avon River, highlighting the city activity along both banks, Floca alters his illustration sizes with each page turn.  Smaller insets with loose, rounded borders, edge to edge full pages and more breathtaking double page visuals persuade readers to pause and pace themselves.  One of my many favorite pictures is of Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas returning for the final time to the river, citizens lining the bridge as she passes beneath it.  It portrays the pure joy felt by everyone.


You cannot read Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas by Lynne Cox with illustrations by Brian Floca without feeling the happiness of this true story.  It's a wonderful book to share with children and students who may know nothing about elephant seals, New Zealand or this particular story.  I am thankful to both Lynne Cox and Brian Floca for bringing this to our attention in their delightful collaboration.  I think this would pair nicely with another nonfiction book, Wild Animal Neighbors: Sharing Our Urban World (Twenty-First Century Books, a division of Lerner Publishing Group Inc., August 1, 2013) by Ann Downer.

Please follow the links embedded in Lynne Cox's and Brian Floca's names to access their websites.  Here is a link to an interview of Lynne Cox at Watch. Connect. Read., the blog hosted by teacher librarian John Schumacher.  Julie Danielson features Brian Floca, including many images from this book during his illustrative process, on her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Here is the link to an article about Elizabeth, Memories of Avon River's sea elephant you can find when searching on the Internet.  This link will take you to the publisher's website where you can see several pages inside the book.