It's All Around Us

In a discussion with a class of fourth grade students last week during our Mock Caldecott election process, I pointed out that if we have eyes to see, shapes are to be found everywhere in the world around us.  We need to be more aware; excellence, as they say, is in the details and a shift in perspective.

The collaborative talents of Newbery Award winning author Joyce Sidman and Caldecott Award winning illustrator Beth Krommes, previously exhibited in Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow, have delivered another title, Swirl by Swirl:  Spirals in Nature (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, October 4, 2011) that holds up for our pleasurable examination the mysteries and miracles of design in nature.

A spiral is a snuggling shape. 
It fits neatly
in small places.
Coiled tight,
warm and safe,
it waits...

Using expressive, deliberate free verse Sidman takes readers on a poetic walk beneath the ground, beneath the sea, across a forest floor, in fields of green, on jungle paths, peering in corners, over the ocean's expanse, through a garden's glory, in water and air, reaching to the stars and back again to where we began.

A spiral is a snuggling shape.

Whether a harvest mouse curled in repose, a chambered nautilus nestled on a sandy bed, fern fronds unfurling, a clinging sea horse tail, a grasping elephant trunk, a spider web woven among branches, cresting waves, a spinning tornado or a cluster of stars, each, large or small, repeats this shape with uncanny precision.  With thoughtful phrases meant to educate but also in admiration, Sidman describes all that spirals are.

What Sidman has alluded to in words, Beth Krommes elaborates on in illustrations.  Eloquent scratchboard in bold, vibrant colors greet readers on endpapers picturing spirals in every size from the varied vistas covered within the pages of the book. Throughout no detail is overlooked; dandelion fluff, millipede legs, and mouse whiskers are given intimate care.  Sweeping panoramic scenes defy the limitations of the page edges. 

Large type highlights Sidman's verse, small lettering labels spirals, tiny and immense, as Krommes's visuals warmly bid readers to enjoy what is there for them to see not only in this title but in their own backyards.  At the book's end each characteristic of a spiral, snuggling, growing, strong, reaching, clever, beautiful and moving, is further detailed.  To fully experience the extent of their writing and art visit the web sites of Sidman and Krommes by following the links attached to their names.  They have much to offer educators and those interested in children's books and art.

For Joyce Sidman, wordsmith extraordinaire, the less-is-more ideal has been polished to perfection in this title, Swirl by Swirl:  Spirals in Nature as Beth Krommes's striking scratchboard art depicts these patterns in a breathtaking array.  Beth Krommes states on her web site:

 My mission is to create artwork that is joyful in spirit, universal in nature, and accessible and affordable to others.

Well done, Beth Krommes, mission accomplished.

Let's Take Note

A fairly recent web 2.0 application crossed my radar.  No registration is required and it is, at this time, free to use.  If you are one of those people, like I am, reaching around for something, anything on which to jot some new piece of information and want to have the ability to read it again or share it in seconds Notes.io is where you should head.

Access the home page.  As quickly as clicking on the work space your web-based notetaking can commence.  As you type, the size of your file (notes) is shown in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.  Text can also be copied and pasted to the page.  When you have finished click on the icon in the upper right hand corner labeled Short.

A shortened URL link to your notes appears.  This link is limited to only eight characters.  It can be shared with a mouse click to Facebook, Twitter or FriendFeed. 

Forthcoming to the site is the ability to attach, print, email and create an account.  This is a simple way to instantly save information.  This application more than lives up to its header---fast. easy. short.

My test of the application is here.

A Ride To Remember

Having lived my entire life in Michigan, waiting for the snows of winter is the sweetest kind of anticipation; the thrill of shrieking and zipping down Dead Man's Hill has never been matched to this day.  Hoards of children from around the neighboring streets would gather for days filled with exhilarating activity, individual feats of daring and races to be won.  When I held Red Sled written and illustrated by Lita Judge for the first time looking at the cover, that same sense of expectancy washed over me and... a great big grin.

As the tale unfolds a small brown house, roof heavy with snow a tall solitary evergreen next to it, is the destination of a child carrying a red sled on a crispy cold day.  Evening descends lights glowing inside as the cherished icon of snowy delight rests against the house outside. Along comes a curious bear with a look of questioning possibilities on his face. 

Scrunch scrinch scrunch scrinch scrunch scrinch

appears on the page in reversed order and type size replicating the sounds made as the child returned home earlier; only this time the bear is carrying the sled as a rabbit head, ears alert, watches from the bottom of the page.  Readers next see the two cascading down a hill smiles plastered on their faces as joyous exclamations burst forth.  When they go for a second run bear on his back, rabbit riding his outstretched feet, a moose is taking it all in from the side of the page. 

Oh, you guessed it, the next illustration has the trio on a rip-roaring ride, full moon as their backdrop, moose on the bottom with bear riding on his antlers and rabbit not quite so sure about this. As they speed toward the hill's bottom a duo of raccoons peer from a hole as a hanging opossum looks at them as if to ask, "What do you think guys?  Should we join them?"  And so it goes as they, then a porcupine and mouse, are subsequently added to the mix. 

Going over a mound of snow, the group flies skyward moon glowing in the distance, only to land in a tangled happy heap.  In the morning the child wonderingly notices footprints going to and from his red sled.  As snow drifts down that night a watchful, yes, even hopeful, face gazes out.

The final single page display, the only one other than the title page, says it all...friends stacked together on the red sled rushing downward on a frosty full moon winter's night.  Ahhhh...delirious delight.

Lita Judge using watercolor and pencil illustrations emulates the chill of winter day and night, shades of blues against a stark snowy landscape moon resting in the sky.  Natural warm golden browns color her animals as animated eyes and mouths convey each and every feeling.  Judge's landscapes are spare allowing readers to focus on the frolicking, fun-filled antics of her characters.

The narrative is nearly wordless; cleverly Lita Judge accentuates the activities with one or two word phrases focusing entirely on sound.  So readers get ready for a rollicking journey on the Red Sled....Yipeee!  Simply divine from beginning to end.


Please be sure to view and browse through Lita Judge's enchanting web pages filled with additional images from her books and activities to use stretching the reading experience.

Mind Your Ps and QRs...#2

On January 9, 2012 Richard Byrne posted on Free Technology for Teachers, Create a Mobile Language Lesson With QR Voice.  Using this free application QR codes (refer to an earlier post on Librarian's Quest about QR code basics) can now be generated to hold a short voice recording.  QR Voice, to quote the statement on their home page, is

when a picture is worth a hundred characters.

To convert text to speech simply type your message into the provided space making sure to stick to the one hundred character limit.  There is a drop down menu where the language can be selected in which you wish the message to be spoken.  When that task is completed click on the blue button on the right with the QR code icon.  (Please note: The site can be viewed in English, Italian, Japanese, Portugese or Spanish.) 

An HTML link will appear above the QR code which is a link to that code.  This will give you a clear copy to print or you can click on the generated code below that link and save it to your user space. 

I am still using QuickMark on my Samsung Galaxy smart phone.  It worked very well when I read the QR codes that I had made.  The computer voice lacks animation but it gets the job done. 

In my library media center I can see placing the QR codes about the room, recording a quote from a book that includes the author's name.  With that information student's could go to OPAC, look up the author and decide which book includes that quote. 



What title contains this quote?



He Was Here A Minute Ago...

It is hard to put into words the power of a wordless picture book that is done well.  It uniquely transports readers into the realm of their own imaginations; where their creativity can match or exceed those of the author/illustrator. In his Caldecott Award acceptance speech for Tuesday, David Wiesner states:

A wordless book offers a different kind of an experience from one with text, for both the author and the reader. There is no author’s voice telling the story. Each viewer reads the book in his or her own way. The reader is an integral part of the storytelling process.

Stephen Savage, illustrator of Polar Bear Night, 2004 (a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book), by Lauren Thompson and of the Margaret Wise Brown title, The Fathers Are Coming Home, 2010, has authored and illustrated a new book, Where's Walrus?, which was released in February of 2011.  Without words readers are privy to the escapades of a walrus that flees the confines of his tank in the zoo.  At every turn of the page mirth greets the eyes; smiles and laughter will quickly follow.


A turquoise and white diamond motif picturing scenes from the story line are featured on the front and back endpapers.  The title page sets the stage with Walrus peacefully sleeping in the center of his tank within the gates of the zoo, the title across the tank in white block letters.  When turning to the dedication page the head of Walrus is pictured and extends across two pages winking; in that moment readers get a hint of what is to come.

As the tale begins four zoo animals, the elephant, lion, bear and peacock, as well as the zookeeper are napping but walrus, eyes shifted to the zookeeper, is not and the open gates are a tantalizing invitation.  As Walrus makes for the entrance and the fountain in the distance, the zookeeper is shocked into wakefulness.  From that fountain, to a diner, a store window exhibit, to a bricklaying construction site, a fire brigade, to dancers on stage, painters in a park and finally to a swimming competition, the walrus evades the vigilant efforts of his pursuer. 

By donning a variety of headgear and assuming the appropriate pose Walrus blends into the surrounding views no matter the closeness of the zookeeper.  As Walrus takes the winning dive his cap falls off, disclosing his true identity to the surprised onlookers.  To dissuade any future adventures the zookeeper hatches a plan that brings cheer to Walrus and his admirers.

Done on Adobe Illustrator Savage generously uses white space accentuating the crispness of his images.  For the most part bold primary colors delineate the action but Savage is not afraid to break that trend as in the case of the pink buildings behind the fountain.  From the open cover which portrays Walrus and the zookeeper at opposite ends of a diner counter, the comedy is found in the two's nearness; so close but so far away.  Then too, Savage does enhance that humor, as in having Walrus in the park masquerading as a artist painting a portrait of none other than the zookeeper.

Engaging, highlighting the wit of Walrus's ability at camouflage and the puzzled zookeeper in hot pursuit, readers of any age will laugh loud and long at the genius employed by author/illustrator Stephen Savage in his book, Where's Walrus?

Caldecott Challenge 2012 #1

Somehow from following one tweet to another, much like discovering something new online, I came across Caldecott Challenge: 1938 to present on a blog hosted by LibLaura 5; this challenge is being co-hosted by her friend and fellow librarian Anna at A to Z Library.  The goal of this stress-free challenge is to read all the Caldecott Medal and Honor books before the close of 2012.  Considering the extent of our collection at Charlevoix Elementary School Library Media Center, I am off to a fine start. 

My plan is to read them in chronological order as we have them, filling in the gaps with inter-library loans, haunting used book shops and garage sales until I have them read; hopefully with fingers crossed  Given the extent of the titles, numbering more than 300, I am limiting myself to just a few observations about each book.

1938 Medal Winner--Animals of The Bible:  A Picture Book by Dorothy P. Lathrop; with text selected by Helen Dean Fish from the King James Bible

Using black and white lithographs, Dorothy P. Lathrop's careful, meticulous portrayal of animals mentioned in The Bible is a classic, beautiful rendition.  The following lines from her Caldecott Acceptance Paper, the first ever given, are why her drawings stay true to the flora and fauna of the area.

For a person who does not love what he is drawing, whatever it may be, children or animals, or anything else, will not draw them convincingly, and that, simply because he will not bother to look at them long enough really to see them. What we love, we gloat over and feast our eyes upon. And when we look again and again at any living creature, we cannot help but perceive its subtlety of line, its exquisite patterning and all its unbelievable intricacy and beauty. The artist who draws what he does not love, draws from a superficial concept. But the one who loves what he draws is very humbly trying to translate into an alien medium life itself, and it is his joy and his pain that he knows that life to be matchless.

Also according to this speech Lathrop had many a live model in her studio; so much so that she felt at times better able to communicate with them than their human counter parts.  Clearly she was a woman with a great deal of love for animals; connecting with them on the purest level.  This is definitely reflected in her visuals.

1939 Medal Winner--Mei Li by Thomas Handforth 

Black and white drawings illuminate a tale of Mei Li following her brother to the New Year Fair; of being lost in her adventures and found in time to greet the Kitchen God.  What bits and pieces I could gather suggest that Handforth had personal experiences based on travel in China upon which to base his illustrations.  They, as is the text, are a reflection of the culture of the late 1930s but nonetheless inviting and enhancing.

1939 Honor Winner--Andy And The Lion:  A Tale Of Kindness Remembered Or The Power Of Gratitude by James Daugherty

After a visit to the public library, Andy reads and dreams lions.  A most opportune encounter on his way to school establishes a friendship with a wayward circus lion.  This is a delightful retelling of Androcles and the Lion with pictures thought to be rendered in rubbed charcoal; illustrations of the lion are fully animated.  Every emotion between boy and beast is pictured perfectly.  The dedication reads:

To Lady Astor and Lord Lenox, the library lions who have so long sat in front of the New York Public Library and with such complacent good nature and forbearance looked down on Manhattan parade.


1939 Honor Winner--Wee Gilllis by Munro Leaf; illustrated by Robert Lawson

Using pen and tempera Robert Lawson captures the dilemma faced by Alastair Roderic Craigellachie Dalhousie Gowan Donnybristle MacMac, Wee Gillis for short. When the time comes, will he choose to live in the lowlands of his Mother's relations or the highlands from which his Father comes?  It is a set of bagpipes, a "pooped" player and his visits to both areas of the Scottish land that determines his answer.  You've got to love the facial expressions.  And I do like a book with endpapers that mirror the tale.

1939 Honor Winner--Barkis story and pictures by Clare Turlay Newberry

Newberry's artwork is so textured that readers will be hard pressed to not reach out and touch the puppy and kitten.  James finally receives a pet he can call his own for his ninth birthday; Barkis, a cocker spaniel.  Nell Jean has had her own feline friend, Edward, but now she wants to be able to share Barkis with James.  Animals befriend each other before brother and sister can come to terms about who belongs to who.  A near tragedy with a happy ending resolves all.  Illustrations done in charcoal and watercolor wash, endearing and timeless, sweeten a story whose message is just as relevant today as it was then.


1940 Caldecott Award--Abraham Lincoln by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire

Anecdotes from the life of Abraham Lincoln through the Civil War are warmly illustrated using lithographic pencil on stone according to one source and lithographic crayon from another.  What I do know to be true is that these pictures some in color, others strictly in black and white varying in size throughout the book are first class gems, treasures to behold.  Anita Silvey's Children's Book-A-Day Almanac provides further information. 


1940 Caldecott Honor--Madeline story and pictures by Ludwig Bemelmans

This story has endured the test of time; rhyming text paired with simple but expressive watercolor, brush and pen illustrations has true heart.  The colorful endpapers, those girls in two straight lines come what may, are what the magic of storytelling is all about.

One interesting fact of which I was not previously aware is that Ludwig Bemelmans is buried in the National Cemetery at Arlington.

Twitterville Talk #31

This was a busy week for tweeters; so many wonderful and intriguing happenings in the world of libraries, books and technology.

Julie Danielson blogger extraordinaire at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast shared a link to a written and video interview with Ed Young, author and illustrator, regarding his book, The House Baba Built:  An Artist's Childhood in China.  This is another thoughtful, beautiful title in a distinguished career creating children's books; my collection just grows and grows.

And who can resist the wacky cakes featured on Cake Wrecks website, Sunday Sweets:  At The Movies.

The World of The Hunger Games cover revealed.  I certainly don't want to wish my life away, but March can't come soon enough to suit me. 

Listen to the NPR interview of Walter Dean Myers, To Do Well In Life, You Have To "Read Well"

Rick Riordan's third book in the Kane Chronicles, The Serpent's Shadow, due out May 1, 2012 will have a 2 million copy first printing.

He's back, Scholastic Announces The Return of Captain Underpants.

This is a great interview about a fabulous author, Spielberg gives War Horse author Michael Morpurgo a chance to live his dream.

At Watch. Connect. Read.: Exploring Children's Literature through Book Trailers, a blog hosted by John Schumacher, take joy, as I did, in his Dan Santat post.  2012 is certainly going to be fun!


The American Association of School Librarians' president has initiated a petition that reads:

Ensure that every child in America has access to an effective school library program.  It is located at The White House website, We The People.  If you believe this to be true, it is imperative to stop by and sign the petition.

Mo Willems book, Hooray For Amanda & Her Alligator! has been nominated for the Kiddo Awards at James Patterson's ReadKiddoRead.Com site.  It is one of the selections for our Mock Caldecott Award here at Charlevoix Elementary School.  There are other categories of books in which to vote.  Thanks Pigeon.

The Pigeon also retweeted a link to a quirky, innovative take on picture book characters, National Animalgraphic.  Our world is filled with creative genius.

Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers posted a thought provoking infographic about the effects of multitasking and technology, Infographic-Multitasking:  Your Brain on Media.

The ALSC, Association for Library Service to Children, blog has listed the Notable Children's Recordings-2012 Discussion List.  You could not go wrong with trying out those on this list.

Just for fun and who doesn't like fun, this video is a must see for lovers of books.  Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo of Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...



Just this morning Larry tweeted this link which pretty much wraps up all the news about McDonald's and their new book give-away, Could McDonald's become a leading book retailer?

Here is an interview with the man behind the video, The Joy of Books.  Thanks to Shelf
Awareness.

The lengths people will go to just turn a page; a video for the gallery.  Who has the time to think up this stuff?

Read a interview with a fantastic young adult author whose book is just as fantastic, The Mane Event:  Maggie Stiefvater on success, rejection, and her new novel, "The Scorpio Races".

If he writes like he played basketball readers are in for a treat, Interview:  NBA Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on His First Books for Kids.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore iPad App Trailer link courtesy of Booklist.  The part of me that loves movies thinks this is totally awesome but the book person in me says it will never take the place of holding a book in one's hands and turning the pages savoring each word and illustration.