Revelations From The Woods

Each time we step into the woods, regardless if the trail is known and well-traveled or barely visible and new, we can never totally predict what we will encounter.  We are never sure what may happen during those encounters.  The wild is full of surprises.

It's this unknown that sends shivers of anticipation or unease through the minds and hearts of those who enter the forest.  If you happen to be the latter kind of individual, with a bundle of other things you fear, going into the woods is the last thing you want to do.  Author illustrator Matthew Cordell shows us bravery can come when we least expect it in his new title, Evergreen (A Feiwel and Friends Book, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, February 7, 2023).  This squirrel's trek represents the special turning point when bravery sets us free to enjoy the best kind of adventure our world has to offer.

PART ONE

Magic Soup

Deep in Buckthorn Forest, at the

northernmost edge of Burr Valley high in the

tallest red oak tree, behind the closed curtain of a

bedroom window, hid a squirrel named Evergreen.

As soon as Evergreen hears her Mama utter three familiar words, her timid heart sinks.  Her mother has more faith in her abilities than she does.  Mama wants her to take soup to a very sick Granny Oak who lives in the opposite corner of Buckthorn Forest.  Evergreen has never been in the woods alone.

One of the things Evergreen fears more than anything else is thunderstorms.  Every sound she hears in the forest gives her pause, but so far no thunderstorms.  A sudden terrifying sound leads Evergreen to a white rabbit trapped between two heavy rocks.  The rabbit is naturally panicked thinking about hawks.  Swallowing her own panic, Evergreen and the bunny, Briar, move the stones.

How does Briar repay Evergreen?  That wily rascal steals the soup, but before Briar can vanish a hawk swoops from the sky.  Does the hawk get Briar?  Does Evergreen get the soup back? (Now would be a great time to recall the Aesop fable, The Lion and the Mouse.)

With Ember airborne again, Evergreen grasps the soup-filled acorn and starts to continue her travels when a bone-chilling sound pierces the air.  An elder and his great-grandson are in need of her assistance.  As she has done several times today, Evergreen places the anguish of another ahead of her own.  With this feat, she surprises herself again.  As she makes her way toward Granny Oak's home, she repeatedly finds herself facing friends and foes.  So far, she has not spilled a single drop of soup!

GRRROOOAAARRR!

What is a squirrel who is definitely scared of her own shadow supposed to do upon hearing a sound like that?  After this day's adventure, there is only one thing for her to do.  Granny Oak needs the soup now. Upon returning home, she has no sooner hung up her shawl, when she hears Mama utter those same three words.  Evergreen answers her mother's request with much more confidence this time, but . . . Yikes!  Is that sound what she thinks it is?

Told in six sections, author Matthew Cordell uses the four middle parts to introduce us to forest characters whose expected personality traits offer unforeseen results; an enemy can be a friend, a friend can be a thief and a granny can be downright startling.  Narrative and dialogue are deftly woven together to accurately describe a particular place, create tension-filled moments and astonishing twists and fashion a cast of memorable characters.  Another thing Matthew Cordell does with each of these parts is to demonstrate how courage replaces dread when a being's heart has been supported with and filled with love.  Mama makes more than magical soup.  Here is a passage.

The first two stones were easy to step across.  And the next one, too.  But the next

stone was a big hop away.

Hop!  She made it! The next stone was an even bigger hop.  HOP! SLIP!

When readers look at the right side, front, of the open jacket, there is no doubt that squirrel is afraid.  Framed by forest fauna and a vine, we can see anxiety etched in every line of her body and in her wide-eyed look.  What has her so frightened?  The title text is varnished.

As we move our eyes over the spine to the back, left side, we see more framing with intricate woodland vines and leaves before we look carefully at the circular image of Evergreen and Mama.  They are seated in their home, spooning steaming soup into their mouths.  Their eyes are closed in contemplation.  (It is on the front and back of the jacket that only the most careful of readers can see the clever addition Matthew Cordell adds to specific images throughout this book.  Oh, how I loved this when I discovered it.  Thank you, Matthew!)

Across the entire book case is a bird's-eye view of Buckthorn Forest.  This map shows fourteen labeled places amid trees, fields, hills, a mountain, a pond and a stream.  The compass rose is a centered acorn with branches separating each of the directions.

On the opening and closing endpapers is a soft, grass green shade.  A large full-page image bordered in vine announces each part.  The illustrations vary in size to complement the text and supply readers with a stronger sense of pacing.  The artwork as a whole provides an intimate experience bursting with emotion.  (There is one heart-stopping double-page visual with only a sound and another double-page picture that accompanies shocking text.)

Rendered

with a 005 Micron pen and painted with watercolors,

the illustrations invite readers to pause and notice the elements within each one.  The fine lines create floral details in Evergreen and Mama's home, notable expressions on the characters' faces and their physical portraits, and in the depiction of Buckthorn Forest.  Sometimes a scene is shown to us in a panoramic view and other times we are so close to the action, we are there.

One of my favorite illustrations of many is a single-page picture.  It captures every small creature's fears as it capture's Evergreen's terror.  The image is framed in a leafy vine.  The background is a field edged with trees along the top.  Coming from the top of the frame are two feet with hooked talons belonging to Ember.  The one on the right is just the open talons.  The one on the left is more of the foot and talons.  These talons grasp Evergreen, barely holding on to the soup-filled acorn.  Her mouth is open in a scream.  This is the second illustration certain to induce gasps from readers, if not shouts of Evergreen!

When you finish reading Evergreen written and illustrated by Matthew Cordell, you will go back to the beginning and read it again.  With every reading something new will present itself to you in either the text or the artwork.  And as you read it, you will wonder how he selected the names for his characters and the points on his map of Buckthorn Forest.  Trust me when I say, people will be reading this title for generations to come.  Be sure to have at least one or more copies in your professional and personal collections.

To discover more about Matthew Cordell and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website or visit his Facebook and Instagram accounts.  At the publisher's website, you can view interior pages.

Family. Food. From the Heart.

This year, 2023, is the Year of the Rabbit.  The Chinese Lunar New Year began on January 21, 2023 and finished fifteen days later with the Lantern Festival.  Every twelve years, the animal that is celebrated in a given year is highlighted again.  Many years ago, this reader was born in the Year of the Rabbit.  For this reason, rabbits have a special place in my heart, even when they enjoy eating in my gardens without an invitation.

Like many others, Chinese food is one of my favorite meals.  When I am fortunate enough to go to a larger city near my community, I make sure to purchase spring rolls made fresh daily.  This year to my delight, they were serving three types of bao.  I am not sure if this is a new permanent item or just for the Lunar New Year. Regardless, yesterday I came home with Coconut Custard bao.  (I am still figuring out how to best steam them.)

To be able to eat this delicious food on a more regular basis would be marvelous.  This is one of several reasons Dim Sum, Here We Come! (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, January 3, 2023) written and illustrated by Maple Lam is pure delight.  Page after page, it is a joyous window into a world of family, food, and tradition, tied together with great affection.

Here we go! It's almost dim sum time!

Come on, Cece---hurry up, let's go.

I can't wait to see everyone!

Dim sum, here we come!

Grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins all join this bundle of energy with her sister, Cece, and her parents every Sunday to dine on dim sum.  As the group waits for an available table, Uncle Irwin takes the children to special spots in the restaurant.  For each one, we are told the cultural significance.  Did you know 

Dancing fish means good feng shui?

Our enthusiastic narrator is seated next to her grandmother. Soon a cart stacked with bamboo baskets filled with steamed food arrives at the table.  A dim sum card allows the diners to select which baskets they want.  They get ten baskets with ten different kinds of dim sum.  

It's hard to be patient for the turntable to spin from family member to family member.  Respectfully, our eager narrator waits for the basket with char siu bun.  Ten people later, that basket arrives in front of her.  She is so excited.

There is one left!  She carefully does three things with the char siu bun before her final act and then, she tells us what dim sum means.  After the families each travel to their homes, Cece and her older sister, our protagonist, have another dim sum moment.  It is here we learn the most cherished definition of dim sum.

With those first five sentences, spoken with pure happiness, our narrator's enthusiasm spreads to readers.  We appreciate how author Maple Lam, through the girl's first-person voice, introduces us to the art of enjoying dim sum, step by step.  Woven into her story are wonderful and enlightening beliefs.  Though the little girl may be hungry, of which she informs us often, mutual appreciation of others is foremost with each family member.  Here is another passage.

Uncle Jeremy refills hot tea for everyone.

Tap tap tap! Tap tap tap!

Tapping your finger on the table means thank you.

On the front of the matching dust jacket and book case, readers are introduced to our narrator, her younger sister, Cece, and the other ten family members who meet every Sunday for dim sum.  Seen here is familial love, merriment, and people who can hardly wait to try these delectable foods.  The design, the way the elements are placed in a large group, the two girls, and then the remainder of the family, leads our eyes to the title text.  

On the back of the jacket and case, the left side, on a white canvas with a delicate pale wash is a light red heart.  Inside the heart is the girl and her younger sister, enjoying the last of the dim sum.  Both are smiling and their eyes are closed in contentment.  Portions of their hair break the borders of the heart to give us a feeling of motion.

On the opening endpapers, as if in a spiral-ringed menu, are eighteen small boxes, nine on each side.  Within each are different kinds of dim sum.  They are labeled.  (This is guaranteed to make your mouth water with anticipation.)  On the closing endpapers the bamboo baskets and plates are still there, but empty.  Instead of the labels, we read commentary about the taste of each one.  On the title page, the siblings are running, hands clasped and mouths open.

These illustrations by Maple Lam were rendered using

watercolor and colored pencils.

The chosen color palette, shapes, and lines made by this artist all contribute and elevate the liveliness of the narrator.  The illustrations vary in size from two-page pictures, to full-page pictures, edge to edge and some surrounded by white space.  The different perspectives are outstanding.  We are close to the characters in many of the scenes.  Sometimes we are looking at them from slightly above.  The food is depicted in all its deliciousness.

Readers will be endeared to all the family members.  They genuinely enjoy each other's company as shown by their facial features and body postures.  This is a day full of promise each week.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page image.  From the lower, left-hand corner on the left to the lower, right-hand corner on the right is an arc.  This arc shows all twelve members of this family seated in their chairs at their table, even though we know it is a circle.  It is as if we can take the two ends and pull them together to complete that circle.  The baskets and plates of dim sum are in the center.  There is some talking and a whole lot of eating.  You want to hold the joy portrayed here in your hands beyond the story.

This book, Dim Sum, Here We Come! written and illustrated by Maple Lam will quench readers' hunger for food, family, and happy hearts.  It is certain to promote discussions about family, family food and family traditions.  Readers will be ready to research dim sum and other Chinese cultural traditions.  I can't imagine a professional or personal collection without a copy of this title.

To discover more about Maple Lam and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  There is a twenty-one page teacher's guide on her website along with several activity worksheets.  Maple Lam has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  There is some process art on her Instagram account.  Maple Lam is interviewed about this book by author illustrator Jena Benton.

Missions: Incredible

On February 2, 1925, a man and a team of dogs arrived by sled in the community of Nome, Alaska.  Gunnar Kaassen and Balto, the lead dog, became instant heroes for the delivery of a life-saving serum.  The children of Nome were battling a disease, diphtheria, and desperately needed the antitoxin.  Kaassen and his team drove the last leg, about fifty-five miles, of the serum's journey from Anchorage, Alaska, more than one thousand miles away.   

For many years there were people who didn't know that without the efforts of Leonhard Seppala and his lead dog, Togo, the last leg of the race might have been different.  Seppala, Togo and his other dogs left Nome to meet another team with the serum coming from Nulato. They then traveled back toward Nome to give it to yet another musher and his dogs who gave it to Kaassen's team.  Leonhard Seppala with Togo in the lead traveled a total of 261 miles, the farthest of any musher and their dogs.  And they crossed Norton Sound twice in treacherous conditions. 

Often in the chronicling of events, those in the lead seem to garner more attention then those working as hard or harder, but more in the background.  After reading The Indestructible Tom Crean: Heroic Explorer of the Antarctic (Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House, January 24, 2023) written and illustrated by Jennifer Thermes, you will understand the importance of those with special and specific talents to a group effort.  It is their determination and steadfastness that can alter the outcome, sometimes between life and death.

PROLOGUE

At the turn of the century, Antarctica is the last unexplored continent on Earth.

This time period is known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.  In England, the Royal Geographical Society, private investors,

commercial companies, and the Royal Navy support expeditions to the southernmost place in the world. 

 . . .

Born on the seacoast of western Ireland, in a large farm family, Tom Crean, like other Irishmen, aimed his sights on the sea.  At sixteen, he joined the British Royal Navy, working and learning for ten years.  Just before the ship Discovery led by Captain Scott left New Zealand for Antarctica, he needed a new member for his crew.  Tom Crean was that man.  This was the first of three explorations to Antarctica in which Tom participated.

Tom's rank was able seaman.  He and others pulled 800-pound sleds through snow and ice to leave a path of supplies for returning adventurers to the base camp at Hut Point.  Their ship was frozen in place for two years! 

Six years later, Captain Scott called on Tom again for another exploration to Antarctica.  This time their goal was not scientific discoveries but to be the first to reach the South Pole.  They left on a ship called the Terra Nova with ponies, dogs, and sleds with motors.  It was a race against time and Roald Amundsen.

After building a camp, they started to drag supplies along a route toward the pole, going back and forth.  Weather delays and food shortages slowed their progress to the South Pole.  Men, including Tom, were sent back to camp while Captain Scott and four others made the last 150-mile trip to the pole. At the camp on Cape Evans, winter ended but Scott and the four men did not return.  It nearly crushed Tom's spirit when he and the search party found Captain Robert Falcon Scott.  He and the four men were no longer alive.

In August 1914, one year later, Tom Crean was aboard the Endurance as a second officer under the command of Captain Ernest Shackleton.  Shortly after leaving South Georgia Island, the Endurance was trapped in ice.  The men rode out the winter on the ship, but the ice had no mercy.  The ship had moved 1,000 miles!  The story of the survival of the twenty-eight men (but no dogs) of the Endurance was (is) one of heartbreak and unimaginable fortitude.

The twenty-eight made it to Elephant Island, but no one knew they were there.  Twenty-eight became six and six became three.  Of those three, one was Tom Crean.  He and two others crossed a glacial range for thirty-six hours without stopping to bring help to the other twenty-five.  For a few more years after the Endurance, Tom served in the British Royal Navy.  Finally back at his beloved home in Ireland, Tom Crean never spoke of his Antarctic excursions.  

The meticulous research conducted by author Jennifer Thermes is evident through the factual edge-of-your-seat episodes she includes in this nonfiction narrative.  She sets the stage in the prologue, providing general information about the expeditions and the unrelenting environment of Antarctica.  Her text prior to the Discovery exploration is conversational, supplying us with the right words and knowledge to build a bit of suspense.

As we are told about Tom Crean's part in each Antarctic trek, readers find themselves fascinated and astonished at the same time.  Would you be able to balance for hours on an ice floe with killer whales circling, ready for you to slip?  Can you imagine walking alone for thirty-five miles (with no GPS) in Antarctica?  When Jennifer Thermes writes about Tom Crean and his time in Antarctica, we are there with him every moment.  Here is a passage.

Tom Crean, Bill Lashly, and Lieutenant Teddy Evans must return to base camp as fast as they can, before starvation and exhaustion overtake them.  Evans gets sicker by the day with scurvy, which ravages a body in need of vitamin C.  Tom and Lashly pull him on the sled.  The men are tired.  Evans begs to be left behind.  Tom and Lashly refuse.  Tom will go for help.

The artwork seen on the dust jacket, book case, endpapers, and interior pages were rendered by artist Jennifer Thermes using

watercolor, colored pencil, and salt on Arches hot press paper.

On the right side of the dust jacket, the front, we see Tom Crean with his beloved dog Sally, who accompanied him on the Endurance.  The ship is locked in ice under a chilly sky streaked with light.  On the other side of the spine is a cool blue canvas.  An oval image is framed in the center and slightly more toward the top.  It is of Tom and two others hoping to survive the wild seas.

The book case is covered in blue and blue green hues.  It looks exactly like ice.  This pattern overlaps the far left of the opening endpapers and the far right of the closing endpapers like flaps on a jacket.  Opposite this on the opening endpapers is a bulleted list of thirteen Antarctica facts.  Prepare to be surprised.  On the right side and crossing the gutter is a detailed map of Antarctica and the surrounding waters.  The closing endpapers showcase fifteen Animals Of Antarctica with portraits and labels.

With a page turn, we see the Prologue on the left and the title page on the right.  Jennifer Thermes has placed pertinent items around the Prologue representing Tom and the expeditions.  Most of Tom's face, close to us, is beneath the text on the title page.

Jennifer Thermes uses double-page panoramic scenes, geometric panels grouped on a single page, a blend of vertical and horizontal visuals, and full-page pictures to supply pacing and enhance her text.  You pause at each one to study her exquisite details.  She leaves no doubt in readers' minds as to what Tom Crean, the other men and other inhabitants are experiencing. (I nearly cried at the tiny, moving image for the words---The ice can break your heart.)  Carefully labeled maps are frequently included to give readers a sense of place and the paths the explorers took.  (The six small wordless square panels spanning two pages beneath a two-page horizontal map show the events on the trip Tom Crean, Bill Lashly and Lieutenant Teddy Evans took in their struggle to return to the base camp.  You find yourself holding your breath more than once.)

One of my many favorite illustrations is a two-page picture.  The image is filled with the high waves of a rough sea.  There are only two small portions toward the top of the pages showing a star-studded sky.  An enormous wave is curling from the center of the right side to the top of the page and across the gutter.  Tom Crean, Captain Shackleton, and the other four men trying to get help have swooped down from the left side in their twenty-three foot boat to be positioned under the crest of the wave.  In their wake is one word--- Whoosh!

This book, The Indestructible Tom Crean: Heroic Explorer of the Antarctic written and illustrated by Jennifer Thermes, is not only an outstanding biographical account, but depicts three thrilling South Pole adventures.  Her chilly color palette with warmth shown in some of the skies and in the men and their interior surroundings combined with her informative, perfectly-paced text are certain to have readers turning the pages as fast as they can.  At the close of the book is a full-page Afterword along with a Timeline and Select Sources.  This title would be a fantastic read aloud.  You will want at least one copy on your professional bookshelves and one in your personal collection.

To learn more about Jennifer Thermes and her other work, please access her website by following the link attached to her name.  She has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  You can see multiple images from this book at her Instagram account.  At the publisher's website linked above, you can see the opening endpapers and the Prologue page.

Dream. Believe. Act.

The other morning it was too icy and too cold to walk our normal route. When my canine companion and I roamed around the backyard, two chickadees swooped into a bush right next to us.  For several moments their cheerful chatter banished the bitter winter chills and wind.

Their presence brought back memories of other encounters with fellow chickadees, one brave enough to land on the tip of a cross country ski pole.  There are also those magical marvelous minutes too near a bull elk.  His haunting bugle echoing over me alone in the deep snow of Pigeon River State Forest forty years ago.  Some things stay with you forever.

These unplanned meetings are a reminder of our stewardship toward this planet we share with a myriad of living creatures.  So many wild beings are in need of our assistance and protection.  They are not alone, though, as Sanctuary: A Home for Rescued Farm Animals (Clarion Books, January 31, 2023) written and illustrated by Julia Denos shows us.  Her thoughtful text and heartwarming artwork are a precious ode to those animals who might be overlooked in our endeavors to make life for all those on our planet better.

It is dark, but I can see your light.

The voice of a child speaks to an animal, reassuring them about the security they seek.  They need to look no longer.  Another child tells a group of animals, they are to be given names rather than numbers.  Here they matter.

In this space, all are free to be themselves.  Animals can simply live for the sake of living.  They need not worry about supplying others with any form of food.  Their bodies are safe from harm.  They and their young can grow to oink, moo, and cluck to their hearts' content.

In this place, humans will heal, not hurt.  In this place animals can sleep without worry.  In this place, dreams do come true.

Sometimes, adults cannot believe children see things as they are, but they do.  They do see things as they are and they open their hearts and minds.  Nothing is more honest, valuable, or formidable than children who know their hearts and minds.  Their words become actions.

Through the voices of five children, author Julia Denos offers hope, hope for the rescued animals, hope for the children who love those animals, and hope for healing in our world. Each of the children offers comfort and expected joy to the animals who arrive and live in the sanctuary.  The word here is used repeatedly as reinforcement and a promise.  Its use does precede a soliloquy by the final child. Here she shares the truth all the children believe.  It is an opportunity for readers to participate in the same truth.  Here is a passage.

Here is home.  Where you can be

who you were born to be, just like me.

Let's feel the earth, stretch our legs,

lift our hooves, and spread our wings!

The child featured on the right, front, of the matching dust jacket and book case, is nuzzling nose to nose with a new guest at the sanctuary.  The light between their heads signifies the connection between those giving love and those in need of love.  The field filled with dandelions (and their wishes), tiny forget-me-nots, and clover stretches across the front and the back. 

The girl's body crosses the spine and her blue jean-clad legs extend to the far left side on the back, left, of the jacket and case.  Near the girl's waist are two, fuzzy yellow baby chicks.  On a hill behind her graze a cow and calf and a sow and piglets.  At the top of the hill is a barn.  There are sparkles of light around the barn and a ray of light coming from the barn.  Julia Denos has pinpricks of light on the entire image.

On the opening and closing endpapers, the backgrounds and patterns on each are reversed.  Left becomes right and right becomes left.  On the one the background hues are rose and golden yellow washes.  On the other, shades of blue, and a bit of green and yellow color the canvas.  On each are different prints made by the animals' feet.  Amid the tiny dots of light are dandelion seeds, a dandelion and dandelion leaf, clover leaves, a four-leaf clover, feathers, a butterfly, a bee, and the stalk of another flower.  

On the dedication, verso and title pages, a single illustration shows readers the rolling hills, flowers, birds and the barn of the sanctuary.  A beautiful blue sky fills most of the two pages.  These pictures rendered in

graphite, watercolor, acrylic, and digital paint

are double-page visuals, single-page illustrations or two images on a single page.

Most of the single page images are loosely framed with liberal white space bordering that framing.  The animals are realistically portrayed as are the children.  It is the use of color, lines, and brush strokes which give them a softness, a welcome gentleness.  This invitation asks readers to pause, looking for delicate details like a honey bee resting on a clover blossom, a butterfly poised on the tip of a horn, a spider hanging from a web in the barn as animals curl against each other during a rainstorm or the heart-shaped earrings one of the girls is wearing.

One of my many favorite illustrations (besides the final, double-page picture) is the one for the above-quoted text.  It is a two-page visual.  On the left side, beneath a blue sky, one of the children dances with a pig near one of the barns.  In front of them is barnyard dirt stretching left to right.  In front of the dirt is meadow grass filled with clover.  Among the clover on the left are two bunnies, one brown and the other white with brown spots.  On the right side just above the meadow grass, a white, feathery turkey stands with wings outstretched, some feathers drifting down to the dirt.  Happiness and contentment radiate from this scene.

This book, Sanctuary: A Home for Rescued Farm Animals written and illustrated by Julia Denos, is an exquisite treasure.  It could be used in animal studies or discussions about the care of our planet and its inhabitants.  At the close of the book, Julia Denos writes a moving two-page letter 

Dear Caregiver,

This letter is about animals and children, specifically farm animals. It speaks about how human society has treated the farm animals.  At the close of the letter, she lists seven 

small ways you can make big changes 

before she signs 

I'll be dreaming with you.

Julie

At the bottom of the first page of the letter, in small print, Julia Denos asks readers to look for nine wild plants in her illustrations.  On the back jacket flap, it states that Julia Denos has always been a lover of animals.  In 2017, she became vegan.  She has a rescued cat and dog and likes to visit animal sanctuaries.  This book is certain to find a permanent place in readers' hearts, hearts championing for animals.  You will want to place a copy on your personal and professional bookshelves.

To discover more about Julia Denos and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Julia Denos has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  She is most active on Instagram.

Growing A Legacy

When you are part of a family with parents like my parents who loved their flower and vegetable gardens, you find yourself gardening with the same optimism  and hope.  Even today with both my parents gone, I find myself continuing to overturn the soil, plant the tiniest of seeds, and know with proper care a flower or vegetable will push through that dirt and make something beautiful.  Regardless of knowing the science behind seeds and the plants they produce, it is still a miracle to me. 

Together as a family we took avocado pits and grew avocado trees.  We planted fruit trees, nut trees, shade trees, and a blue spruce twenty-six years ago in memory of my father.  For every year my sweet Xena has been gone, I have planted a tree to commemorate the joy she gave me.  The thing is when you plant something, it is an act of faith.

Author Anne Wynter and artist Daniel Miyares have collaborated to bring readers a book, Nell Plants A Tree (Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, January 31, 2023), that shows this optimism, hope, and faith.  A single act causes something to happen.  Some might say what happens is expected and ordinary.  There is nothing ordinary about the sight of a majestic tree or the generations of family bound to that tree, each weathering the storms of life.

Before a grip on a branch

and a fall to the ground

and a scrape

and a leap

and a reach for the top, . . .

A child, a little girl, named Nell finds a seed.  Another child, a little girl, does reach near the top.  She and two other children limb by limb scale that same tree to watch in wonder as three tiny birds crack open their shells.  Before those children embrace that tree, Nell takes that seed, now sprouted, and covers it with dirt.

The children use the tree as a goal for racing, racing to see who is the fastest runner.  Sometimes, it is the perfect spot to avoid irritating noise and too-much discomforts.  The trunk of the tree supplies strength and support.

In the right season, the ground beneath this tree is dotted with pecans.  Their shells are opened.  They are used to make the best kind of pie.  Around the tree is a space for discovering natural treasures . . . and something pushing between a partially opened pecan shell.

Before these children, grandchildren, race, find solace, pick pecans for pie, and find riches, Nell tends to the sprout giving it water and sun.  When it is large enough, she digs a hole and plants it.  The tree grows.  Nell grows and so does her family under the branches of a seed that sprouted, was given tender care, and planted.

It is hard to read the words written by Anne Wynter in silence to yourself.  You can hardly finish the first five phrases without knowing these words need to be read aloud.  She masterfully combines two stories in one.  She moves flawlessly from the present day activities of Nell's grandchildren to Nell's finding of the seed and her subsequent role in it becoming a magnificent pecan tree.  Anne Wynter begins each portion of the children's moments with the word before.  She then lyrically describes what they do, followed by a simple statement about Nell.  Here is another partial portion.

Before sacks of pecans

and a crack and a crunch

and a roll and a press

and a mix and a pour

The first thought in my mind when I opened the dust jacket was oh my goodness!  What Daniel Miyares has done is combine several perspectives in this single image.  On the front, we see the girl reading her book in the nook between the trunk and branch of the tree.  The family home is in the distance.  Notice the hues of the leaves in this tree and of the trees around the home.  The lighting is exquisite.  

Rather than have the entire tree cross the spine of a dusty, steely blue, leafy branches bridge the front and back of the jacket.  On the back, underneath the boughs of the tree, a grandmother and her grandchildren pluck pecans from the grass and place them in a basket.  We view this as if looking at them from the branches over their heads.  The colors of the leaves in this scene are darker in browns and greens not touched by the light.

One of the hues used in the dust jacket, a golden cream, covers the book case.  A darker golden orange is used for the spine.  The left side of the book case is bare.  On the front is a small stenciled silhouette in one dark color.  It is of the girl seated next to the tree, reading her book.  Between the center branches, now moved to create a space, sits the house.

For the opening and closing endpapers, Daniel Miyares has fashioned a patchwork of fabric and colors found in his interior illustrations.  On one of the pieces on the right side of the opening endpapers is the sprouted pecan.  On the right side of the closing endpapers, that pecan is now a fully-grown patchwork tree, leafy and grand.  To the left of the tree are the author and illustrator notes.

Rendered using

pen and ink, gouache, and collage

these images by Daniel Miyares are both timely and timeless.  His title, verso and dedication pages show a panoramic view of a grassy area, the pecan tree, and the home in the background on the right.  The children run, arms outstretched, from the left toward the tree.

He alternates between double-page illustrations, single-page pictures surrounded by wide, loose frames, full-page visuals, edge to edge, and two groups of smaller vignettes on a single page.  His viewpoints vary, but ultimately invite us into the settings.  Everything calls to the child in us, the sheer joy of being near a grand tree, climbing that tree, resting against that tree, finding wonders in it and around it.  Daniel Miyares's depictions of Nell are tender and honest.  And Daniel Miyares brings us full circle with his final piece of artwork.

One of my many favorite illustrations is a double-page picture.  The sky is drenched in orange and golden hues seen at sunset.  These colors touch the tops of trees along the bottom of both pages.  On the far left side, branches crossing the gutter to the right and bleeding off the top, is the pecan tree.  Standing on one of the higher boughs on the right is the girl clad in a white t-shirt and overalls. Her left hand clasps a branch.  Her back is to us as she stares into the distance.

Now, more than ever, the value of a tree is essential to life on our planet.  In Nell Plants A Tree written by Anne Wynter with artwork by Daniel Miyares, we clearly understand this, but we also see how one seed planted generations ago can grow into something around which an entire family is built.  It is as if the strength of that tree lends itself to the families.  They nurture each other.  This is a title you certainly will want on your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Anne Wynter and Daniel Miyares, please visit their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Anne Wynter has accounts on Facebook and Instagram.  Daniel Miyares has accounts on Facebook,  Instagram and Twitter. Daniel and Anne are interviewed at Maria Marshall's Making Nature Fun.  At Max's Boat hosted by Ratha Tep, Anne and Daniel are interviewed.  There is a bounty of images to be enjoyed.

Speaking Truth

By studying history, the results can be illuminating, often heartbreaking, and more times than we wish, heinous.  This does not mean we get to set aside the facts that are heartbreaking and heinous.  For ourselves, we need to accept them and use them to be better, to do better, and stand up for better.  This is what history should and needs to teach us.  As educators, we owe our students the truth . . . all of it.

Enslaved people from the continent of Africa were brought to the American colonies in the early 1600s.  President Abraham Lincoln issued the official Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.  The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States abolished slavery.  It was adopted on December 6, 1865 after being ratified by Georgia.  (We know the chains of slavery, all kinds of slavery, still exist today in other forms.  This is one of the reasons you might want to stay informed about the Abolition Amendment.)  In a memorable new title, An American Story (Little, Brown And Company, January 3, 2023) written by Kwame Alexander with art by Dare Coulter, readers are told the truth in powerful, poetic words and striking poignant images.

How do you tell a story

that starts in Africa

and ends in horror?

The narrative continues by telling us of people, men, women, and children, living in Africa.  We learn of their daily activities, a combination of work, play, and storytelling.  All the time we learn of these people in Africa, others are waiting, waiting, waiting to take them away in shackles to be sold in America.  Then, we find ourselves as readers, momentarily, in a contemporary classroom where students make a statement and ask a question. 

As this American story continues, we are told how these men who profited from the sale of human beings placed these stolen people below deck on their ships in spaces too small and too hot.  There were deaths because of these too small and too hot spaces on those ships.  And sometimes, when these people were taken on the decks of those ships, they jumped in shark-filled waters to be free.  There is now more commentary from the present-day classroom students.

We move to the plantations growing cotton and sugar and the too-long days of labor without pay.  We read of children forced into labor who watched the children of the plantation owners free to play, attend school and wear good clothing.  Learning to read and reading for enslaved people was strictly forbidden.  They toiled in the fields and in plantation homes doing numerous and varied tasks day after day without pay.  Yet again, a student hearing this story asks a question.

We read of the resilience, the unbelievable resilience, of these enslaved people.  They refused to lose their humanity.  They refused to forget stories, all stories.  Some escaped.  Some did not.  Some never saw their fathers, mothers, sons, or daughters again.  At this point, the teacher reading this story stops, unable to continue and apologizes to her students.  The children, her students, respond in words filled with the strength they have learned. In the concluding phrases, we are asked about telling and hearing and the final sentence is a potent response.

In that first question, author Kwame Alexander delivers a stunning opening.  Page turn by page turn, his words convey the intimately personal terrors and injustices experienced and endured by enslaved people from Africa. His use of the word waiting three times adds an eerie element of foreboding before the people are stolen.  By inserting the questions and comments from students in a present day classroom and the voice of their teacher throughout this story, the relevance, impact, and essential value of this telling is depicted with veracity.  His final words are unforgettable.  Here is a passage.

A story about mothers

fleeing in the wind

wading in the water

conducting freedom.

About fathers

fighting back

stealing away

chasing liberty.

As soon as you see the open dust jacket with the American flag spanning left to right, back to front, you pause.  You pause not because of the flag but because of the hands holding it.  These are the hands of an enslaved African.  These are hands that have seen hard labor.  The wash over the colors of the flag denotes time, a long time.

Beneath the jacket on the book case, interior images have been placed on either side of the spine.  On the back, left, under a cloud-dotted sky, a row of enslaved people bend; their backs making a row as they work planting seedlings in dirt and water.  The color of their clothing seems to have captured rays from a rising or setting sun.  On the front, right, is a boy picking cotton, a sack slung over his shoulder.  Other slaves work in the background and a horse waits patiently on the right.  The enslaved boy's eyes look right.  He is watching children his own age playing before going to school.  

The opening endpapers feature a star-studded sky at night.  A full moon shines amid a layered circle of clouds.  It is as if the clouds are holding the moon like cupped hands.  On the closing endpapers is a vast sky filled with glowing golden yellow and bright red-orange hues.  In the lower, left-hand corner rests a glowing globe.

The artwork for this book by Dare Coulter is explained at the back of the book like this.

The illustrations in this book are mixed media and were created with a combination of spray paint, acrylic paint, charcoal, graphite, ink, and digital painting on wood panel and watercolor paper, and also using Procreate and Adobe Photoshop.  The sculptures are both ceramic and polymer clay with added materials and were painted with acrylic paint and spray paint.

The illustrations begin on the double-page dedication page and continue on the title page with another two-page picture.  It shows a single home in an African setting surrounded by native flora and other homes glowing with lights at night.  Each piece of artwork, whether its a full-page visual or a double-page image pulses with certainty.

Forthright, emotional, and deeply moving are only a few ways to describe these illustrations.  When the text brings us into a contemporary classroom, Dare Coulter pictures the students and their teacher against a golden background with elements drawn in shaded shades of black.  Her final piece of artwork paired with Kwame Alexander's words will take your breath away.

One of the many moving pieces in this book is with a background of water fading to a paler blue toward the top.  Across the center of the illustrations are the hands and wrists of three people.  Their fists are clenched as a row of shackles hold them together.  Tears fill my eyes when I look, really look, at another picture.  This is a portrayal of the enslaved people jumping off the slave ship toward certain death . . . and freedom.  

This book, An American Story, written by Kwame Alexander with art by Dare Coulter, is an essential title to share often and widely. There is an author note and illustrator note at the end of the book.  I can't think of a single reason why this book should not be in your personal and professional collections, especially as an educator.

To learn more about Kwame Alexander and Dare Coulter and their other work, please access their websites by following the link attached to their names.  Kwame Alexander has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Dare Coulter has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Kwame Alexander is interviewed for the cover reveal by Shelley Diaz at School Library Journal.  Dare Coulter is interviewed with five questions at The Horn Book.  This is an excellent article about her research and artwork.  Here is a conversation at a Barnes & Noble site between these two creators.  There was an event at the Jacksonville Public Library last month about this book with Kwame Alexander and Dare Coulter.  The article talking about this has some interesting insights from them.  The video below is a television interview prior to the event.

Commemorating Their Contribution

If any individual's story ends in triumph, should we not cheer outwardly, or at the very least, inwardly for them?  Are we not glad for their success, whether they are known to us or not?  They might be someone from the past or present who spent or are spending time on this planet.  They might exist because of someone's imagination.  And if this individual is one of a group, a group bound together by history, culture, and resilience, we should exalt their accomplishments.

Each time All Because You Matter (Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., October 6, 2020) written by Tami Charles with illustrations by Bryan Collier is read, you find yourself saying in your heart of hearts, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"  You repeat that word of affirmation because of the truth and power in the words you've read and in the artwork you've seen.  This same collaborative team released the second book, We Are Here (Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., January 3, 2023), in this trio as our new calendar year started.  It is as compelling and eloquent as its predecessor.  

The journey of who we are

stretches beyond

   rivers,

      roads,

mountains high-fiving

blue skies.

This sentence is followed with a reminder that this is the way it has always been and always will be.  This unseen narrator speaks with joy and purpose.  They say as seeds our roots go deep, pulsing with potential.  That potential has been realized repeatedly in the achievements of others.

Their marks have been made in space exploration, building and music made with instruments and voices.  Those voices rang out on stages, steps, and in stadiums.  They still do.

This journey being taken is reflected in the array of food prepared, seasoned, and eaten.  Those walking on the path break barriers, heads held high at points around the world.  They are understood by all, talking in a universal language.  They march placing one foot in front of the other so no one is forgotten.  As long as your story is told, you will be remembered.

Even a condition that swept around the world, bringing everything to a standstill, did not stop these courageous people.  This child is told by this narrator that these courageous people did not stop because 

we have always been heroes.

Hold tight to your promise regardless of what others might say.  You are remarkable in every respect.  

The author's note by Tami Charles begins with this sentence.

For a long time, I have wanted to write something in honor of my daughter, whom I didn't get to meet.

Word by word, each rhythmic phrase builds something beautiful and . . . strong.  The voice in this narrative speaks to this beauty and strength created over time and seen in the determination of a people to be the best of the best.  The imagery fashioned by the words of Tami Charles are something to see with our eyes and hold close regardless of the ups and downs life has and will deliver.  A precious daughter has indeed been honored.  Here is another passage.

We are joy!

Igniting the world,

like stars caliente and bright,

like trumpets blaring at

midnight!

You hear that?

   Skit-skat-

      caddy-wack!

Even if you had not seen his name on the dust jacket and book case, you would know by looking at them the artwork is by Bryan Collier.  His color palette first seen on the matching and open jacket and case is rich like royalty.  See how the color of the text, the girl's headband and shirt contrast and complement the deep blue and purple hues.  The use of light and shadow is exquisite.

The opening and closing endpapers are a pattern of portions of row houses.  In the illustrator's note, Bryan Collier explains this choice.  The dedication, verso, and title pages use the sky and circular elements seen on the jacket and case as a background.

Rendered 

with collage and Winsor & Newton watercolor paint on 300lb. Arches watercolor paper,

these images each span one and one-half pages.  In many of the pictures, the child seen on the front, right side, of the jacket and case is featured.  She is shown with her family, very close to us so we see only a portion of her face, and we look, like a gliding bird, down on her as she builds something.

Subsequent illustrations highlight Black Americans showcased in the text.  Those row houses appear many times.  We see Bryan Collier's use of rays.  In four of the five final pictures, the girl returns.  Careful readers will see the balloon shown in the first picture appear again and again.  The artwork of Bryan Collier for this book lifts up the beauty and strength of the words until you want to shout it out loud.

One of my many favorite illustrations is the girl standing outside the home shown in the first picture of her with her family.  We are very close to her.  The upper portion of her body fills most of the space with the home and the vibrant blue and purple sky behind her.  She is leaning toward us.  Her lips are shaped to blow air toward the wand she holds in her right hand.  The wand has been dipped in a solution to make bubbles.  They float in front of her and to the right.

This book, We Are Here written by Tami Charles with artwork by Bryan Collier, is a song to be sung to Black children (to all children so all children will know).  You can sing it out loud like a choir or softly like a lullaby.  This is a heartwarming, inspirational, exhilarating, and hopeful title.  There are seven paragraphs at the close of the book dedicated to those honored in these pages.  There is a short glossary.  Be sure to read the author's note and illustrator's note.  You will want to share this often and widely by having it in your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Tami Charles and Bryan Collier and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Tami Charles has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Bryan Collier has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.