BEING HOME: Finding Rhythms of Our Hearts

Traci Sorell and Michaela Goade have created a rich journey-to-the-heart tale with lyrical text and illustrations that are both joyous and intense. 

With resonant but minimal text, the rhythm of lives in an urban setting cannot feel like home. The people, noises, even the air itself feel invasive, constricting. Nature connections are absent. A move is planned. With heartfelt good-byes to beloved elements (tree, swing) the family drives away to restore the natural rhythms to their lives and home. 

Characters are ones in which readers from many cultures might see themselves. Specifically, though, this provides a vibrant look at a contemporary Native family and community. When so many young people today (and most of us old folk) conjure an image of leather and feathers when "Indian" or "Native" is mentioned, this is a superb book to showcase the reality of modern Native lives and relationships. Honoring traditional ways  and connections is valued in most cultures, and is shown to be at the heart of this familiy's life. 

The young narrator is also clearly an artist at heart and seeks inspiration in daily life as well as centuries-old patterns.

As I am unpacking from my second move in a little over a year, I find that  picture books on the topic of  MOVING are of special interest. This one is unique in the sense that it is not the moving that matters, but the destination. Make your library or bookstore your destination and check this one out soon. Then spark some conversations about which elements in life define "home for those in your own life.

and connections 

Solving Puzzles: Two Powerhouse Biographies

 

PEACHTREE, 2024

These two picture book biographies celebrate people who solved important puzzles. One's name is a household word, the other is less familiar. 

ERNO RUBIK AND HIS MAGIC CUBE is written by Kerry Aradhya and illustrated by Kara Kramer.  This biography portrays the very bright young man, who, even as a boy, pursued (AND SOLVED) puzzles of every kind, especially manipulative ones. What's more, he reveled in making up new puzzles of his own. 

The text is straightforward and the illustrations are vibrant, cartoon-style, focused on his activities and materials as described. They are especially helpful in allowing me to understand the actual stages of development of the famous RUBIK'S CUBE and how it works. I can clearly recall when I first met  this seemingly magical and IMPOSSIBLE puzzle (trust me, not YouTube clips, it cannot be solved!). Advertising was everywhere, adults and kids alike responded in one of several ways: obsessing (as kids now do with digital screens to reach new levels), or tossing it aside after multiple failed attempts. Most functioned somewhere between those reactions, periodically returning to it without managing to reach success. That last range was my turf. 

Testing in my younger years indicated that I have excellent 3-D assembly skills. Years of putting together cheap furniture has proven that to be true. Even so, the challenging mechanism that makes the cubes actually work remains a puzzle to me. Other, likely younger, minds could well "get it" better than I do after reading and examining this book! It remains impressive to me, and Rubik himself is even more impressive. 

CAMERON KIDS, 2024

ELSE B. IN THE SEA: The Woman Who Painted the Wonders of the Deep is written by Jeanne Walker Harvey and illustrated by Melodie Stacey. When a notable deep-water scientist recognized that the colors and residents of life in the deep were quite different from at the surface. Life-forms he observed there were mesmerizingly unusual and appealing. He sought an artist who might capture what he alone was seeing.

New Yorker Else B. was already an award-winning and famous painter while still a young woman. She took on the challenge and began preparing both her artistic approach to painting the ocean and its contents. In 1930, the technology for deep water exploration required that she descend while wearing a heavy helmet, attached to a tube that pumped air from the boat above her on the surface. 

Another way she prepared was to identify art materials that could effectively be used underwater. She began with a steel pencil on a zinc plate. She also trained not to tilt her head while sketching underwater in the helmet, or water would rush in and she could drown. Soon she experimented with ways to paint underwater. Else also sketched and painted creatures from the deep after they were caught and brought to shore. She had to work quickly before the normal processes of death would change the actual colors of the subject. Their shared discoveries and depictions included unknown fish and other living things that had never been identified before. 

This was during the first half of the 1930s, when the depression had paralyzed people in poverty and sadness. The paintings of this remarkably unseen world were uplifting and published widely, giving people diversion and a lift in spirits. End paper maps and two pages of detailed backstory/science include a photo of Else B. at work in her home studio, using the resources from the field.

It's interesting that the scientist, Beebe, was treated dismissively by some because he employed and supported several women scientists in his work. At the time, women were considered to have less expertise, especially in sciences, and regardless of their training or experience. 

These two biographies are wonderful in their focus on individuals who deserve more attention, and both demonstrate remarkable persistence at their challenges. Both provide entertaining text and images with "did you know...?" engagement from young readers likely to follow. Take a close look, as these two folks didm with amazing results!

THE YELLOW BUS: Get On Board Life!

 

ROARING BOOK PRESS, 2024

From the yolk of an egg to the sun overhead, YELLOW is the color of LIFE. Loren Long's recent release, THE YELLOW BUS, is a triumph, both in writing and in illustration. 

The first time I saw the cover, I was hooked. Soon after, I read an interview in which Long shared backstory, one that he presents in a double spread of touching text and photos at the end of this picture book. It recounts his reflections and internal queries about a goat-occupied, abandoned yellow school bus, noticed on his daily runs. Those back pages include photos and discussion of his illustration process for this work, involving model-construction, rescued toys, and explorations with light and shadow. The resulting colors, shadows, perspectives, and angles evoke mood, changes over time, and especially the relationships between/among the people/characters, community members, settings, and THE YELLOW BUS.

I was enamored with all of the above, as well as the emotional journey of this very special central character. THE YELLOW BUS achieves a balance between its natural, purpose-produced nature and the undeniable heart and self-awareness at its core. Several reviews noted that this story evokes qualities from the beloved THE LITTLE HOUSE by Virginia Lee Burton, 1943 Caldecott Award winner. Personification and anthropomorphizing do not really describe either of these central characters, a little house and a little yellow bus. In both, it is the living beings who account for movement and changes of circumstances, but both "objects" are clearly self-aware of their relationships to those who surround them and inhabit them, with a capacity for joy in contributing to those lives, if given a chance. 

In his modern, mobile treatment, Long's imagined life story for THE YELLOW BUS, uses color (or lack of it) to clarify when and how that awareness occurs. In an expansive opening double spread, readers view a complex valley scene with intriguing details that echo throughout the story. That scene (worth close exploration) is in gray tones, but includes one spot of color, a tiny yellow bus, busily traveling its route. In following pages, with angles that always seem perfectly chosen from street level to sky-views, across seasons and time, the little bus senses and appreciates life when beings are on board. Readers know this from superb, minimal text (more about that in a minute), but mostly from the transformation of color. The loving families, community members, and surrounding scenes remain in grey tones, as do the beings, until they physically contact the bus, at which time they are shown in "living color". Another illustration technique that sustains the focus on our lead characters is the facial angles of those on board. We see enough of their features to lend personality and life to each of them, but their quarter-profiles, obscured-by-objects positions keep us focused on the most important player, THE YELLOW BUS. 

Long also wrote the text, providing purpose to the bus (taking them from one important place... to another). The varying casts of characters who share those journeys produce multi-sensory, ear-pleasing lyrical lines of text, from pitter-patter to shuffle-clunk, to rustle-bump-brrr, and more. These rhythms of occupancy form the heartbeat of the bus, and their absences indicate when the bus may no longer have a purpose. At that tender moment, readers will welcome the fact that several pages remain. I won't spoil an inspired and satisfying surprise conclusion. Please take time, in those final pages, to dwell on the visuals and explore what might be coming. And when the end is revealed, savor the gratifying shift in use of colors throughout the scene. 

Reflections on service, life, and connection couldn't be more dramatically and sensitively portrayed than on the wide double spread viewing a sunset skyline from inside the abandoned bus. The color choice, once again, suggests that life may have left THE YELLOW BUS behind. This is a fantastic book for young audiences (target age, Pre-K-2nd) but it's strong evidence that  picture books can offer life reflections for any age. Living in and appreciating each moment, valuing service, re-purposing ourselves when something beloved has been lost, and acceptance of the present  moment are values for any age. For every age. Achieving those attitudes and commitments requires resuming our own journeys again, and again. Taking us from one important place in life... to new important places.

A Leader For All Time: Paul ROBESON: OUTSPOKEN

 Added bonus: Teaching Guide from Candlewick! CLICK HERE.

If the name PAUL ROBESON elicits a nod of recognition, you may be closer to my generation than to that of digital natives. A new picture book biography goes a long way to revealing a hero and icon who could inspire them to greatness on many fronts to upcoming generations. As I think of the life of PAUL ROBESON as it might have played out in a time of widely-shared information I can easily imagine countless schools, auditoriums, and other monuments to his greatness that would sustain him in public awareness for all generations, for all time.

Candlewick, 2024

OUTSPOKEN- PAUL ROBESON, Ahead of His Time: A one-man Show, is written by the incomparable Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Those who are familiar with even part of Robeson's life and career will appreciate this beautifully elaborated portrait of his remarkable life and accomplishments. Everything about this book is exceptional, including the quantity of text, the gloriously detailed and revealing illustrations, the lyrical quality of the first person narrative, and the sense of the immediate presence of Robeson on the page, despite his absence from our physical world since his death in 1976. This account makes clear that the impact of his life resonates even today, whether we know of him or not.

I am generally skeptical of using first person voice in biographic presentations. It is rare that direct quotes can sustain a full accounting in those attempts. Without that validation, assuming the "I" voice for someone else gives me pause. And yet...in Weatherford's capable and respected hands, I trust the approach entirely and feel it serves an immeasurable contribution in producing that sense of Robeson speaking directly to readers on the page. Her channeling of his voice makes this a book worth reading for adults, too.

This book is also unusual in its length (48 pages, including useful and informative back matter, timeline, etc.) large format, high word count, and inclusion of personal elements throughout Robeson's complex and accomplished life. Each stage of his life is explored through  free verse poems or prose, utilizing lyrics of songs, repeated phrases and themes, and lyrical language. Beginning with reflections on the heritage of his ancestry (resistance and intelligence, from his enslaved forerunners), carrying through his childhood and every phase of life, the poems and narrative are superb individually and as a compilation of life-story. Each poem across several pages includes majestic, informative images, full-page and spot illustrations, to provide readers with a sense of the time, place, and emotional drama of these Robeson-voiced depictions. The effects of text and illustration together are powerful and moving, with an undeniable reflection of the dignity of the man.

I'll admit my awareness of him was limited to his career as an incomparable singer, a man whose experiences with injustice and assault to his dignity led to living in Europe to experience a higher degree of equality than could be found in this country. Over the years, I learned more through studies of the Civil Rights Movement, Black History Month programs, and some PBS documentary coverage over the years. Even so, none of those scratched the surface of this man's complicated life and layered accomplishments. While I held a deep respect for the man I thought I knew, nothing prepared me for the miracle of this impressive treatment. Weatherford's and Velasquez's deep research and thoughtful structuring of the book and its total design allowed me to know and appreciate Robeson more fully. I believe the same will be true for readers across many ages, with late elementary through middle grade audiences as its target audience. 

The public and private treatment Robeson faced in this country (as was true for most non-white people) throughout his life limited the degree of his contemporary fame and success. Nevertheless, he lived his life and shared his talents, intellects and leadership. That's not to say that residual impacts of those discriminatory patterns have disappeared. I am left with a sense of loss of the ways in which his life might have further enriched all of us, cementing him within our culture for all time. This book is so thorough and powerful that I feel my hope restored, imagining that the life of Robeson will rise in public awareness and, just possibly, elevate him to the honors and cultural appreciation he deserves in the generations to come. His life is a legacy and deserves to be appreciated by all of us.

Thank you to the publishers for sharing a very helpful teaching guide to encourage use of this book in the classroom. Be sure to click and check it out!