Seeking The Bright Side

As an educator, one of the things you learn and remember about working with children is their constant ability to think outside the box.  Their cleverness and fresh points of view, given freedom and support, are astonishing.  Their compassion inspires. 

Never have they, never have we, been more tested than now, on a global level, for more than a year.  The losses have been unprecedented in this new normal.  Two recent titles, addressing unexpected change, provide us with deep insight and a way to seek and find hope.  Ten Beautiful Things (Charlesbridge, January 12, 2021) written by Molly Beth Griffin with illustrations by Maribel Lechuga follows the road trip of a girl to her new home with her grandmother.  She is not happy about this move.

Lily ran her finger across the Iowa map.

An X marked Gram's house

on an empty patch of land.

Lily's new home.

With a long drive ahead of them, Gram suggests they search for ten beautiful things.  She knows these things will help to fill the empty space in her granddaughter's heart.  Lily, looking out the window, is certain there is nothing worth noting.

Suddenly, the sun breaks over the horizon.  This is the first beautiful thing.  Gram offers further encouragement, but the initial warmth of discovering beauty wans.  Then, Gram yells.  The second beautiful thing stretches before them.

Sometimes the loveliness they find is seen, other times it is heard or smelled, and sometimes it extends the meaning of beautiful.  As they travel closer to Gram's house, a wild storm with wind, thunder, and lightning races across a darkened sky.  They count it as number nine.

Gram keeps driving. The words

almost there

seem like almost never.  And then, they arrive.  Lily is dismayed they did not find number ten.  Gram assures her.  They have number ten.  It's the most beautiful thing of all.

In carefully chosen words, author Molly Beth Griffin pens a gentle story of loss and gathering even the smallest thing to help fill the hollow feeling.  Using a blend of narrative and conversation, we connect with the duo as they travel across the vast landscapes found in the American Midwest.  We, along with Lily and Gram, learn to use our senses to find beauty.  Here is a passage.

A wind farm had sprouted

in the field beside the freeway.

Spinning windmill blades

gleamed in the morning sun.

The scene we see on the front, right, of the matching and open dust jacket and book case extends over the spine to the left edge of the back on the left.  This full color image by Maribel Lechuga captures the true spirit of driving through the countryside.  The red-winged blackbird against the rays of the rising sun as Lily and Gram head home depicts several of the beautiful things.  On the left as the sunlight paints pinks and purples on clouds over the farmland, barn, and silos, another of the beautiful things is displayed.  (Truthfully, this image is a beautiful thing, making the number eleven.)  The title text is varnished.

On the opening and closing endpapers, the hue is the same rich teal seen in the title text.  The illustration on the title page shows Gram packing the car, as Lily sits on a box.  The pictures in this title are rendered

in Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint, with added watercolor textures made in traditional mediums.

They are full-page pictures, double-page images, smaller visuals grouped on a single page or single loosely framed images on one page with liberal white space around them.  

There are multiple vistas shown as the granddaughter and her grandmother travel to begin their new life together.  Sometimes, it is a bird's eye view.  This enables us to make the trip with them.  At the right moment to enhance the pacing and text, we move in close to the characters or one of the beautiful things.  We may be inside the car with them or looking at the outside through a car window.  This makes the experience more intimate. 

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture.  Five high-flying mallard ducks glide among clouds over a meandering stream.  The perspective for readers is as if we are with the birds.  Beginning in the upper, right-hand corner to the left of the gutter, this small, two-lane road cuts across the right side and over the water.  The land on either side of the stream is represented in shades of green, with grasses, shrubs, and willowy trees.  This is a glorious point of view.

Change in our lives is inevitable, but how we work through it can supply us with an accepted new normal.  Ten Beautiful Things written by Molly Beth Griffin with illustrations by Maribel Lechuga is a book to cherish for the simple but profound actions it requires of us.  It is a marvelous guide.  You'll want a copy of this on your professional and personal bookshelves.

To learn more about Molly Beth Griffin and Maribel Lechuga and their other work, please visit their respective websites by following the link attached to their names.  Molly Beth Griffin has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Maribel Lechuga has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  She also has a blog here.  At the publisher's website you can view an interior image and download an activity kit.  At Penguin Random House you can view other interior visuals.

One of the most important truths to hold in our hearts is during difficult times we are never completely alone.  It may appear we are alone, but there are others who have been in a similar situation or are in the same situation with us at the same time.  This book, There Is a Rainbow (Chronicle Books, January 26, 2021) written by Theresa Trinder with pictures by Grant Snider empowers readers to see both sides of time.

A story has a beginning and an end.

When we begin at a particular position, there is another place for us to arrive.  The space, the points from the start to the finish, are real.  During the isolation we are feeling during a pandemic, it is good to understand each of these sentences.  

We know from our increased use of computers, there are colleagues, classrooms, and students on their computers with us.  When we look outside our windows, we see other people.  Some of these people are important to keeping the world functioning.  Others are important in keeping us connected to a smaller circle of family and friends.

In the continuing cadence of phrases, we learn how the journey takes us forward.  It moves us to a glimmer of brightness, a direction, and comfort.  Storms don't last; we do by holding to the belief each day is a new beginning.

The first sentence of this narrative is like the first string of notes in a piece of music.  Theresa Trinder uses this as a rhythmic line, an invitation to readers, for all the sentences that follow.  There is a declaration and a response in each thought. These responses sometimes are what readers might expect, but others are refreshingly original.  Each response is marvelously upbeat.  Here is another of her sentences.

On the other side of town 

(page turn)

there is a voice.

All the illustrations in this book

were rendered in colored pencil.

The soothing, uplifting quality of the narrative is heightened by the artwork of Grant Snider.  His medium fashions a soft texture and his color palette reaches out to the intended audience enveloping them in warmth. The neighborhood street shown on the front, right side, of the dust jacket continues on the other side of the spine.  The time of day is slightly different.  Here, on the back, it is still raining.  People are outside going about their business.  These two scenes are our introduction to the intricate details Grant Snider incorporates into his illustrations.

On the book case is a close-up of a sidewalk.  Colorful drawings of a rainbow between two clouds, our planet, a shooting star, the sun peeking from behind a cloud and a red balloon are spread across the two sides.  We read:

THANK YOU HEROES, WE GOT THIS, STAY SAFE, IN IT TOGETHER, and STAY STRONG.

The title is written in a rainbow of colors on the right side.  A rainbow pattern of triangles is along the bottom of the right side.  

The opening and closing endpapers are bright purple.  On the verso and title pages we are introduced to the neighborhood boy and girl, each with large pieces of chalk in their hands for making the pictures on the sidewalk.  They wave in greeting while keeping their distance.

Each visual spans two pages.  There is a rainbow in some form in many of the illustrations or the colors in a rainbow are used in each scene.  This supplies readers with a sense of harmony.

One of my many, many favorite pictures brings us close to the street in the neighborhood.  At the top of the page on the left side are portions of two buildings and a city bus on the street.  Across the street running into the crosswalk is the boy, a letter in his outstretched hand.  Three pigeons appear in the foreground.  The crosswalk fills a large section on the right side.  We see the curb and a street signpost in the upper, right-hand corner.  This illustration and the three subsequent visuals are part of another pictorial short story.

This book, There Is a Rainbow written by Theresa Trinder with pictures by Grant Snider, is a superb book for people now.  It speaks to the everyday events we have experienced and are experiencing.  It is an explanation.  It is hope we can hold in our hands.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To discover more about Theresa Trinder and Grant Snider and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Grant Snider also has a website titled Incidental Comics.  Theresa Trinder has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Grant Snider has accounts on Facebook (Facebook), Instagram, and Twitter.  Theresa Trinder is showcased at KidLit411.  The cover reveal for this book was hosted by Travis Jonker, School Library Journal, 100 Scope Notes.  At the publisher's website you can view interior pictures.  You will enjoy the book trailer.  Grant Snider speaks about his artistic process for this book.

A Wet Wild Rollicking Expedition

Dogs and children have notable activities in common.  They love to sprint when they should walk.  They refuse to move when they should dash.  They like to dig in the dirt and sand.  They like to walk through and roll around in mud. They are constantly searching for the perfect stone or rock.  One of the most puzzling things is their attraction to water, rain, snow, streams, or lakes, but the merest mention of bath time has them seeking the ultimate hidden nook, far removed from the tub.

When respected and gifted creators successfully collaborate and return, readers rejoice.  The first title,  Bedtime for Sweet Creatures (Sourcebooks, Jabberwocky, January 14, 2020) written by Nikki Grimes with pictures by Elizabeth Zunon, portrays the nighty ritual of a patient parent persuading a reluctant child to go to bed.  In their second book, Off to See the Sea (Sourcebooks, Jabberwocky, January 12, 2021), a child is coaxed into a watery excursion extraordinaire.

"BATH TIME,"

I whisper in your ear.

Those words send the laughing child scampering to hide.  Not to be deterred, their mother invites them to a wondrous place.  Here a waterfall flows from the faucet.

The child is lifted and placed into the newly formed sea.  Mother shouts out a warning.  There might be monsters.  Is that a rubber ducky on the loose?

Squeals and splashes blend.  The child grasps their nose and disappears beneath the surface.  What will they find?  Two tugboats, a gift from daddy, carry mother and child safely over wild waves.

Bubbles still bounce on the surface as a special, floating book is read.  In the blink of an eye the pulled plug supplies an exit for the special, daily realm.  A new routine causes giggles and squirms.  A trio wanders from the room, all knowing the adventure will begin anew soon.

The everyday becomes enchanting through the masterful writing of Nikki Grimes.  She opens the doors of our minds inviting us to swim, dive, sail, and savor the sea found in our imaginations.  Her lyrical descriptions using alliteration supply us with a joyful cadence.  The inclusion of the mother's dialogue makes the story more personal, generating a connection to readers' real-life experiences.  Here is a passage.

Then down, down you go,

slip-sliding 

into a

SOFT-SCENTED

SEA.

"Now, was that so bad?" I ask.

You play pretend and sniffle.

When you look at the matching and open dust jacket and book case, you are greeted with a burst of vibrant color.  Bubbles rise from the waterfall forming from the faucet.  The child is no longer hiding, but ready to move into the sea scene.  This image, on the right, front, of the jacket and case, is a combination of reality and nightly, motherly inventiveness.  To the left, on the back, we move closer to elements from the story.  There are bubbles, tiny fish, another jellyfish, starfish, a crab, shells, flowers, a toy boat, the yellow rubber ducky, and a sandcastle with a shovel and pail next to it.  The shade of color for the canvas is the same on the front and back.  Certain elements on the front and back are varnished.  The first sentence from the book is shown on the back.

On the opening and closing endpapers is a collage of patterned papers.  They are layered in horizontal rows like waves rolling in from the sea.  On the title page, the yellow rubber ducky is resting on the "A" in SEA.  To the left of the text is the empty white bathtub.

The art 

was created using oil and acrylic paint with cut paper collage, marker, and gel pen

by the excellent Elizabeth Zunon.  Each item is placed with care on each page on carefully selected backgrounds.  The pictures span two pages, edge to edge except for the first and last images on single pages. On these visuals Elizabeth Zunon employs a variety of perspectives, enhancing the pacing of the narrative.  The facial expressions on the mother's, father's, and child's faces are endearing and full of warmth.  Affection abounds in this family.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is on a canvas of palest yellow.  Across the two pages in different sizes are bubbles.  In nine of them, acting as mirrors, are the child's face.  Happiness is reflected in each one.  Their eyes are alight with pure contentment.  Their cheeks are rounded from happiness.  In several of them an open mouth indicates shouts of merriment.

In many families, bath time is a habit with rambunctious results.  Through the talents of author Nikki Grimes and artist Elizabeth Zunon, it becomes a glorious, lighthearted romp in Off to See the Sea. This is a book to inspire other original voyages.  You'll want to make sure you have a copy in your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Nikki Grimes and Elizabeth Zunon and their other work, please visit their respective websites by following the link attached to their names.  Nikki Grimes has accounts on Facebook and Twitter.  Elizabeth Zunon has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Elizabeth Zunon has a blog here.  Elizabeth Zunon answers five questions at The Horn Book.  Here is a link to a virtual launch for this book with both Nikki Grimes and Elizabeth Zunon at Books of Wonder.

Equal Justice Under Law

For those visiting the nation's capital of the United States, they are setting foot in a place steeped in the remarkable words and actions of individuals from the past to present day.  Countless women and men have worked to build visible structures and to ensure the Constitution in its entirety is upheld for 

We the People.

For many, more than others, the challenges started at the beginning and continue.  Their resolve has led us closer to forming a 

more perfect Union.

One such individual is portrayed in a collaboration of two Coretta Scott King Honor winners in The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall's Life, Leadership, and Legacy (Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, January 5, 2021) written by Kekla Magoon with illustrations by Laura Freeman.

Thoroughgood Marshall was in second grade when

he decided that if there was something he didn't like

about the world, he should try to change it.

The first thing he changed was his first name.  Growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, Thurgood was privy to the separate but not equal laws dictating segregation.  Parental conversations around the dinner table supported rising above this discrimination.  If he were to alter the laws, Thurgood knew his parents' demand for getting a good education needed to be met.

An incident at school prompted Thurgood to learn more about the law.  In high school and college at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, he flourished as a member of the debate team.  On the college debate team, Thurgood was part of a first, the first interracial U. S. college debate.  In college he met one of his staunchest supporters, his first wife Vivian "Buster" Burey.  (She later died of cancer.)  

Thurgood studied to be a lawyer at Howard University Law School because he could not attend the University of Maryland as a Black student.  One of his first major victories as an attorney was to win a case so another Black man could attend the University of Maryland.  Soon Thurgood became the special counsel for the NAACP.  Four years later, he argued and won his first Supreme Court case.  In the early 1950s Thurgood Marshall's arguments garnered him a win before the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education.

Seven additional Supreme Court cases were won by Thurgood Marshall.  He remarried Cecilia "Cissy" Suyat. President John F. Kennedy asked, and Thurgood Marshall answered by becoming a judge in 1961.  Year after year Thurgood Marshall broke barriers, the first Black man to be solicitor general, the first to win more Supreme Court cases than any other attorney, and the first Black man to be nominated for the Supreme Court.  On October 2, 1967 he began his service on the court.  When he retired, he did something no Supreme Court judge had done previously.  Even in death Thurgood Marshall received one final honor for his life's work in service for all.

Very early in her presentation of Thurgood Marshall to readers, author Kekla Magoon establishes  a single underlying current which guides his life choices.  This becomes a thought she entwines into the narrative of his accomplishments.  As readers, we are captivated by specific details Kekla Magoon includes.  She allows us to see how his natural and acquired skills build toward his seat on the Supreme Court. Here is a passage.

Thurgood joined the high school debate club.  It was a good

place to ask his questions and discuss solutions.  He liked

discovering facts that he could use to win an argument.  He

liked being part of a team.  He liked using words and ideas to

persuade people to see complicated issues in a new way.   

On the open and matching dust jacket and book case, artist Laura Freeman features Thurgood Marshall dedicated and filled with purpose in his facial expressions and body postures.  On the front he is placed before the Supreme Court building where he served as the first Black man with this distinction.  To the left, on the back, Thurgood Marshall and two other members of his legal team are striding away from the Supreme Court building.  Superimposed on the court steps are newspaper headlines heralding the triumph of the Brown v. Board of Education win.

On the opening and closing endpapers is a shade taken from Thurgood Marshall's tie and the title text on the jacket and case.  On the title page text frames Thurgood Marshall, hand raised, as he takes the oath of office for the Supreme Court.  On the verso the Scales of Justice are placed between the dedication and publication information.  On the next page is a quotation of Thurgood Marshall containing words used in the title. 

The digital illustrations rendered in Photoshop are double-page pictures.  They portray significant events in various perspectives.  These different points of view draw readers into each scene.  In several of the visuals more than one particular success is highlighted.  Light, shadow, and adept layering fashion impressive images.  With every page turn, you find yourself pausing.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is when Thurgood is a student prior to attending high school.  On a crisp white background is a layer with the original words from the Preamble to the United States Constitution in a light blue.  We move in close to Thurgood reading the Constitution in an open rich, dark red book.  All we see are his hands holding the book and the upper portion of his face, eyes down as he reads.  (The child with the book covers one-and-one-half pages.)

With each portion of this exceptional man's life revealed to us in The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall's Life, Leadership, and Legacy written by Kekla Magoon with art by Laura Freeman, we find our considerable respect growing page by page.  This book is certain to motivate readers of all ages to never falter in their pursuit of their personal best.  At the close of the book is a Thurgood Marshall Timeline, a list of Major Court Cases, suggestions for Further Reading and a Bibliography.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal collections. 

To learn more about Kekla Magoon and Laura Freeman and their other work, please access their respective websites by following the link attached to their names.  Kekla Magoon has accounts on Facebook and Twitter.  Laura Freeman has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At author Kate Messner's website, the cover for this title is revealed with Kekla Magoon speaking about this book.  At author Cynthia Leitch Smith's blog, Cynsations, you'll enjoy reading Guest Post: Kekla Magoon on Writing The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall's Life, Leadership, and Legacy.  At the publisher's website is a Teaching Guide.  At the publisher's blog, Harper Stacks, the author has written a guest post about this title.

Through The Door

Many learn of him during religion classes.  His persona grows further when learner becomes teacher.  He was a man, a prophet of power.  He lived thousands of years ago, but still holds a prominent place in religious teachings and celebrations.  He is Elijah.

This year the Jewish spring holiday of Passover begins on March 27, 2021.  It commemorates the Exodus of Jewish people from slavery in ancient Egypt.  In The Passover Guest (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House, January 19, 2021) written by Susan Kusel with illustrations by Sean Rubin, readers step back in time to experience the reverent wonder of this holiday and Elijah's place in it. 

Muriel loved Washington in the springtime.

The white buildings stood out crisply against

the green leaves.  The cherry trees burst into 

pink blossoms at the Tidal Basin.  She could

feel Passover in the air.

This year despite the familiar buildings and signs of spring, Muriel knew Passover would be different.  In 1933 the effects of The Great Depression left everyone scarred.  Her family hardly had enough to eat normally.  This holiday feast would be no different.  They lacked enough wine to fill the traditional cup for Elijah.  (It is believed Elijah visits during the Passover seder.)

In no hurry to get home, Muriel passed the Lincoln Memorial, pausing to look at the President silently sitting.  On the steps of the memorial was a juggler, looking as poor as many others.  As Muriel watched him, he and the objects he juggled transformed.  So stunned by the marvel she witnessed, she stopped to place a single penny, her only penny, in his hat.  After a short conversation, the words of the stranger caused Muriel to rush home.

Passing the sights, sounds, and smells of other families preparing for the Passover seder, Muriel opened the door to her home expecting a feast, but saw only her parents and a bare table.  Turning to open the door again, hoping to enjoy the Passover seder with another family, Muriel stopped.  There was a knocking on their door.  It was the stranger, the juggler.

He asked to join them.  They replied they had nothing.  When Muriel and her parents turned from the man and looked at their room and table again, they were astonished.  They did not believe it was real.  Even though the man assured them it was, Muriel ran to the home of the rabbi. Of all the ensuing moments, the most telling was the discovery of the disappearance of the stranger.  As to his identity, a single glass told the truth.

With her words, author Susan Kusel invites us on a miraculous journey.  She takes us to a memorable year, a remarkable city, and a notable day.  Our sensory perceptions on this first day of Passover, in our nation's capital and in the year 1933 are heightened by Muriel's encounter with the stranger, the juggler.  There is an atmosphere of expectation carefully built sentence by sentence through the narrative and the conversations by the characters.  The story envelopes us, bringing us to the final three thoughts.  These thoughts are certain to supply readers with the certain knowledge they have witnessed an extraordinary event.  Here is a passage.

She told him about 

their mysterious guest

and how a magnificent 

feast had appeared from

nowhere.

"If you can pour the wine and

break the matzah, then what 

you have described is a true

miracle," said the rabbi.  "Can

you show me your seder?"

The rich hues of blue blend beautifully with the golden yellow and vibrant green on the open dust jacket.  On the front, right, we see the amazed looks on Muriel's and her parent's faces as they gaze at the stranger.  This stranger's stance lets them, and the reader know something marvelous is about to happen.  The tails of his coat extend over the spine to ribbon along the bottom of the back, left, side.  Slightly off center and to the left, light glimmers through a curtained window.  A blue cat stares from the outside at the room. (This cat appears throughout the book.)  Along the top and right portions of this dust jacket, we notice small swirls of pink and white representing the cherry blossoms.  The title text is varnished.

On the book case in an array of lighter blue hues we look down upon the Passover seder with the guests enjoying the feast.  Serving dishes and glasses filled with food and drink signify this remarkable celebration.  Readers will enjoy every element and its meaning in this scene.

On the opening and closing endpapers is a glorious spread of cherry blossoms.  A few twining tree trunks and branches reach from the bottom of the artwork.  On one of the branches, the blue cat is stretched and resting.  Several sparrows are perched there also.  With a page turn, at the beginning, we view a double page picture focusing on the Washington Monument, the Pool, the Capital dome, and in the lower right-hand corner, a cluster of shacks supply housing for the poverty-stricken Americans.  In the Pool other elements are reflected.  Perhaps they are a promise of events to come.

Rendered 

with graphite on Bristol board with digital color and additional line work in Adobe Photoshop 

by illustrator Sean Rubin, these images speak with excellence to a singular time and place.  Each double-page picture elevates the story, but also expands our view of this day.  There are other stories entwined in this narrative, just as it is in real life.

Light and shadow work wonderfully with the color palette to evoke a sense of deep respect, joy, and mystery along with the hardships being endured by the people.  When you look at the faces on the people, the days of their lives are evident in each line.  We see ourselves in their expressed moods and emotions.  

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is inside the Lincoln Memorial.  The colors are gleaming in the shades of light we find at the end of a sunny day.  Our perspective is as if we are seated with President Lincoln on the left.  We get a view of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Washington Monument and the dome of the Capital in the distance through the pillars.  Although there are three other people shown at the memorial, our attention is on the stranger and Muriel as she places the single penny in his hat.  They are on the right side of this picture.  At this exact moment, even without reading the words, we know something has shifted.

This book, The Passover Guest written by Susan Kusel with illustrations by Sean Rubin, is a gift to all readers regardless of their beliefs.  It is a tribute to those who observe this holiday and for those who do not it provides understanding.  Readers will enjoy and appreciate A Note from the Author, A Note from the Artist, A Note on the Passover Holiday, and the Author's Acknowledgments.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Susan Kusel and Sean Rubin and their other work, please follow the link attached to their name to access their respective websites.  Susan Kusel has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  Sean Rubin has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Susan Kusel is highlighted at The Soaring '20s.  Susan Kusel is interviewed at Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb and Jewish Books For Kids.  Both Susan Kusel and Sean Rubin are guests at Elizabeth Bird's A Fuse #8 Production, and Matthew Winner's The Children's Book Podcast.  The cover reveal for the book is hosted by Travis Jonker at 100 Scope Notes.  Both creators are interviewed there.  At Penguin Random House you can view the opening endpapers.  There are several events in the near future at Hooray for Books! and Aaron's Books with Susan and Sean reading their book.

UPDATE:  This title was featured by author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson on her site, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  There is an interview with Sean Rubin and multiple process images.

A Fresh Point Of View

During a story time when you share a wordless picture book with children, they lean even closer to you to look at the illustrations.  They know each line, each color, each facial expression, and each element in each scene is essential and valuable. When you've read it once, your listeners will ask for it to be read again.  Then, after the second reading, the questions, discussion, and answers begin in earnest. 

Sometimes after the questions, discussion, and answers, your listeners will ask for it to be read a third time. (If you, the reader, happen to be sitting in a chair, this is when you move to sit among the children.)  This third reading signals the very real impact, the mark on their hearts, this book made.  Over The Shop (Candlewick Press, January 5, 2021) written (conceived) by JonArno Lawson with illustrations by Qin Leng is a wordless examination of human souls.  It is a poignant presentation showing us single acts of kindness can change not only our world but the lives of those around us.

Inside Lowell's General Store, in the living quarters on the ground floor, a new day begins.  A little girl wakes up, joins her grandparent for breakfast, and later her grandparent sets out produce in front of the shop.  As the child does the breakfast dishes, she notices a stray cat, a cat who tries to steal produce from the grandparent, run into the alley.  Quietly and alone, the little girl takes a bowl of food into the alley for the cat.

As the little girl colors and draws, her grandparent makes an Apartment For Rent sign.  It is hung in the front store window.  Over and over again, people, male and female, single or together, one with a dog, come to look at the apartment.  All leave quickly in disgust.  The apartment is in major disrepair.  Discouraged the grandparent removes the sign from the window, but not before a young interracial couple see it.

At first, the grandparent is hesitant to rent to this couple, but the granddaughter offers a positive opinion.  The grateful couple move in and get right to work, cleaning, removing boards from across windows, and repairing damage.  The granddaughter willingly helps.  The neighborhood pigeons and the stray cat observe these welcome alterations.

Seasons pass and more differences inside and outside the shop and apartment are seen.  The definition of family is beautifully portrayed in the final images on the final pages.  The last double-page picture, the last pictorial words of the story, depict the best side of humans, friendship, and family.

From the imaginative mind of JonArno Lawson, readers see threads of several stories unfold only to be woven into a tapestry of a more profound tale.  The characters in this story, the neighbor, the grandparent, the granddaughter, the stray cat, the various possible renters, and the final couple who reside in the second-floor apartment all have stories, individual personalities revealed to readers.  In this book JonArno Lawson tells us how generations can be bridged, how the youngest among us is sometimes the wisest, how being willing to shift a perspective can lead to joy, and how kindness heals and builds the most wonderful life possible.

When you open the matching dust jacket and book case and look at the front and back, right and left, of them, you are not initially aware of the ultimate significance of this title.  You see a little girl and an older woman beginning their day in a local grocery shop.  You do notice the cat and the resident pigeons.  

On the back are three separate images under the words:

APARTMENT FOR RENT.

INQUIRE WITHIN.

In these three illustrations we meet the final couple wanting to rent the apartment.  The granddaughter speaks on their behalf.  And the grandparent has to decide what to do.

On the opening and closing endpapers the majority of the two pages are devoted to a morning sky first and an evening sky second.  On the first pigeons are coming to roost on the roof of the shop.  The cat is crawling up to the peak of the roof on the opposite side.  On the closing endpapers, the cat is gone, and the pigeons are curled in sleep.  To continue the opening endpapers, the verso and title pages show the cat leaping at the pigeons as they scatter in flight off the roof.  

Rendered 

in ink and watercolor

by Qin Leng, these visuals are awash in emotion.  They depict realistic settings with everyday people.  They bring readers into the story.  Their alternating sizes and groupings on the pages elevate the pacing.  Each line detail, brush stroke, and color choice contribute to our participation in this story as readers. 

One of my many, many favorite pictures is on a full page.  We are looking slightly down at the scene.  It shows the grocery shop, the neighbor's home to the left, and the other building on the right side of the alley.  The neighbor is watching the new tenants, carrying luggage, walk toward the shop.  The grandparent is walking into the store.  The granddaughter is waving at the new couple.  The couple are smiling as one of them waves back.  There is much potential and hope in this illustration.

This book, Over The Shop written by JonArno Lawson with illustrations by Qin Leng, is one of those titles you will long remember.  This story is to be shared often and widely. It asks us to be our best in every choice we make.  It asks you to leave beauty wherever you walk.  You will want to have a copy in your personal collections and one on your professional bookshelves.

If you wish to learn more about JonArno Lawson, I recommend you read about him at the Poetry Foundation.  To learn more about Qin Leng and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Qin Leng has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter.  At Penguin Random House you can view interior images.  At author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, this title is highlighted.

Bird Bills Built For The Best

It is not uncommon for chickadees to venture closer to humans than other birds.  When cross-country skiing I've had one land on the end of my pole.  They've flown in and gathered among the pine boughs over my head when I'm putting fresh water in the bird bath.  Still, yesterday, when one flew and landed on the table placed against my front windows on my covered porch, I was surprised and overjoyed.  It was a gift.

Admiration for our feathered companions grows with every song they sing, every nest they build, and every flight they take, whether it is a short spurt from tree branch to tree branch or a soaring glide on windy air currents high above the ground.  The Beak Book (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, January 5, 2021) written and illustrated by Robin Page provides readers with fantastic facts, vivid images, and one more reason birds deserve our utmost respect.  The will to survive, adaptations, and their ingenuity in using this physical characteristic will astound you.

Bird beaks come in many different

colors, shapes, and sizes.

From the time they are born

birds use their beaks - - - sometimes

called bills- - -in many unusual

and amazing ways.

As the pages in this book are turned, we meet twenty-one birds and the twenty-two uses for their versatile bills.  The soft beak of a ruddy duck can shift through mud separating out a variety of items.  Did you know at the end of the beak of a Norton Island brown kiwi is its nostrils?  It is a master sniffer.

Beaks can change prey into a meal by tossing, crushing, stabbing, or ripping it.  The keel-billed toucan carries its air-conditioner with it.  Its long beak emits heat.  

The common tailorbird is an expert at sewing.  The female's beak stitches leaves together using spider webbing like thread.  A red crossbill is clever at extracting seeds from pinecones with its beak.  In warmer weather it is not unusual to watch birds with slender, long beaks sipping nectar from blossoms. At hummingbird feeders you can hear them chirping at each other as their wings blur, holding them in place.

You can almost hear a hyacinth macaw call out--- "Look mom, no hands!" as it moves up a branch utilizing its beak.  You'll want to move aside if male hornbills start fighting.  The beak on the oriental pied hornbill is indeed a weapon.  Noted for its color and imposing size, the pileated woodpecker makes large holes in trunks with its sharp, hard bill.  On the final pages the ruddy duck makes another appearance.  This time it emerges from an egg courtesy of a special tooth on its beak. 

The first sentence describing the beak is the same for each bird, supplying readers with an inviting cadence.  Robin Page expertly selects a verb for the end of that sentence.

This beak is for plucking.

Following the sentence are one or two sentences offering further explanation.

The flightless takahe

(tah-kah-hay) plucks 

leaves and grasses with its

short, stout beak.

Her invitation with the introductory sentence is almost like a question and we seek the answer willingly.

The crisp, white canvas seen on the front, right, and back, left, of the open and matching dust jacket and book case is found throughout the book.  It heightens the details and hues of the birds' faces and beaks.  The fierceness of the eagle on the front is evident in the tilt of its head, its curved beak, and its steely stare.  It is poised for action.  The bird and text are varnished.

On the back a small circle is placed on the white background.  Within the circle, the adult eagle is using its beak to feed a baby eagle, head lifted from the nest.  This is an additional use of this bird's beak from the sentence in the interior of the book.

The opening and closing endpapers are a golden yellow (bird's beak yellow).  On the title page a shoebill stork looks directly at the reader, its body placed between two pieces of text.  Rendered in

Adobe Photoshop

the illustrations created by Robin Page are beautifully lifelike.  Texture, color, and shading are superb.  The eyes are exquisite.  You can't help but feel these creatures will move off the page at any moment.

For each bird, an enlarged version of their head, upper body and beak are prominent on the page.  A smaller accompanying image shows them engaged in the noted activity.  A caption with this smaller picture tells us their name.  For four of the birds double-page pictures rather than single-page illustrations are devoted to them.  One bird has two double-page visuals.

One of my many favorite illustrations is of the common tailorbird.  The hues of rusty-red, grass green, grayish white and a splash of black of its feathers are splendid.  The spark of life in its eye adds to the authenticity.  One can easily see how the beak is used for sewing.  In the smaller picture, the female is shown stitching leaves together with spider webbing as she leans in from a branch.

Everyone, birder or casual reader, will be intrigued by the information and pictures in The Beak Book written and illustrated by Robin Page.  You'll find yourself captivated from beginning to end of this title.  At the conclusion there are two pages dedicated to showing the birds in comparative sizes to an adult human being.  Global maps show their main area of residence. What they eat is also noted.  There is a bibliography and further reading list on the final page with the publication information.  I highly recommend this book for your professional collections and your personal bookshelves.

To learn more about Robin Page and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  At the publisher's website you can view the entire dust jacket and interior images. I suggest you take a few moments to look at the visuals for this book at the publisher's page.  You can see what a stunning title this is.  

Strength As One

More than one year ago, the world was overrun with a deadly virus.  This invasion was and is unprecedented in most living people's lifetimes.  It is still happening and evolving.  It has forced entire countries to shut down and close their borders.  Regions, states, and communities required and still require people to stay in their homes unless it is essential for them to leave for work or to obtain items for their well-being.  When people depart from their residences, they are either mandated or asked to wear face masks, stay no closer than six feet from others, and to wash their hands frequently.  Life on our planet has drastically changed and is continuing to change.

Adults and children find themselves in situations; they never could have imagined.  Priorities have shifted.  What is valued most, those people, places, and things we hold in our hearts, are in sharper focus.  Outside, Inside (Roaring Brook Press, January 5, 2021) written and illustrated by LeUyen Pham using spare, eloquent text with realistic, poignant images portrays the very difficult adjustments and surprising accomplishments and results.

Something strange

happened on an

unremarkable day

just before the season

changed.

One day, as usual, everybody was out and about doing what they always did.  Then, as if a switch clicked, they were inside.  This happened all around the world.

Everyone inside wondered and paused and paused and wondered.  Some, though, were not always inside.  These people kept the outside world running for those now inside.  Medical personnel worked to exhaustion. Their duties multiplied.

Outside nature continued through the seasons, much quieter with the absence of most adults and children.  Inside families expanded their activities, baking, cooking, reading, playing games, inventing, and watching television.  A little bit at a time outside and inside were becoming different, adapting to the new normal.

Time did not stop outside or inside; growth did not stop.  Why did we all go inside?  The narrator's explanation leads us to a new manner of musing about the words outside and inside.  They become about us, all of us.  Remember, seasons offer hope for change.

With each reading the words written by LeUyen Pham speak to readers with increased relevancy.  Using the two title words, outside and inside, LeUyen Pham compares what happened to two parallel worlds as we existed in various forms of quarantine.  With impeccable pacing, specific observations are represented.  As the pages are turned, we move through subtle transformations as we remain under the cloud of the pandemic.  These transformations reveal in a conclusion the resilience of people who work together for the common good.  Here are several sentences from the outside and inside pages.

Outside

there were fences

both real

and pretend.

Swings sat still,

and slides

were lonely.

Inside

we waited

and we worried,

we laughed

and we cried,

and we tried to breathe.

The little girl and her cat featured on the front, right, of the open dust jacket are a constant, flowing in and out throughout the pictorial. (Readers will be looking for both on every page.) They anchor the narrative.  The girl, the cat, the title text, and the author illustrator's name are varnished on the front of the jacket.  To the left of the spine, on the back, the room transitions into the family's kitchen.

A herringbone, two-tone green wallpaper provides a place for family photographs, a calendar, notes, the girl's artwork, and hooks holding face masks.  On the counter is a flowerpot full of crayons and a bowl of rising bread covered with a red-and-white-checkered cloth.  On the table a freshly baked loaf of bread cools on a rack.  Next to it is an open laptop and schoolwork.

On the book case we are outside the child's home in her neighborhood.  Only she, her father, masked and holding her jacket, and the cat are visible.  The girl and her cat are looking at each other eye to eye on a small hill. On the sidewalk, in chalk, someone has drawn a rainbow between two billowing clouds.  Above it is a cluster of hearts.  Below it are the words:

Together.

On the opening and closing endpapers on first a pale green canvas, we see the girl embracing her cat inside her house colored in white.  Secondly, on a white canvas, the girl, smiling with outstretched arms, is running from her home now in pale green.  Ahead of her the cat prances.  On the title page, a double-page picture brings us close to the girl and her cat cuddling in front of double windows inside their home.  

These illustrations by LeUyen Pham rendered digitally in full color span two pages or are grouped together in geometric shapes on two pages like collages.  Their grouping is intentional contributing to the atmospheric impact of the text.  A broad spectrum of facial expressions mirrors a range of moods and emotions during this pandemic.  Readers will see themselves and those they know in these images.  Particularly poignant is the double-page group of twelve smaller pictures inside hospitals and medical facilities.  Readers will smile at the four-page gatefold portraying hope near the end of the book.

One of my many favorite pictures is a double-page illustration.  Without giving too much away, it is a mirror image of the previous page except it is early evening.  The buildings are all uniformly dark against a purple sky.  All the window openings are golden with light.  The people, now like dark silhouettes, are all doing the same thing.  They all have a single element on their bodies.  Clusters of this element rise upward in great joy.

This book, Outside, Inside written and illustrated by LeUyen Pham, is a marvelous title to share often and widely with children (and adults).  It expertly captures in words and pictures what this confinement has meant and continues to mean to many.  The two-page author's note and dedication at the close of the book must be read.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about LeUyen Pham and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  LeUyen Pham has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  Here is a link to an activity kit.  You will enjoy School Library Journal, A Fuse #8 Production, Outside, Inside: The LeUyen Pham Interview and Trailer Reveal hosted by Elizabeth Bird, the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system.  Author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson showcases LeUyen Pham and this title on her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  At Publishers Weekly you can read LeUyen Pham Celebrates Kindness in Covid-19 Picture Book.