Personal Favorites- in Artifacts and Fleischman Titles

I've been a fan of Paul Fleischman's work for years, and his recent release does not disappoint. 

Candlewick, March, 2013

I'll admit I was predisposed to like THE MATCHBOX DIARY, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, before ever reading it. Back in the sixties (the decade, not my age) I was attempting to personalize the decor of a furnished sublet apartment on a limited budget. 
Okay, on NO budget.
What I did have in my possession was a stack of advertising notecards which were miniaturized versions of Pan Am travel posters. (For the younger crowd, Pan Am was the classy world-wide airline of the time.) I gathered some loose change and bought a couple of "boxes of boxes" of matches. Friends who were known to bar-hop on weekends provided me with a stack of absorbent cardboard coasters. Thus equipped, I set about using the notecards to wrap four dozen matchboxes with images of world-class destinations, taking care to keep the sandpaper striking side untouched by glue.  I then applied those images to the flip side of each coaster. (It was the sixties- think MadMen. It was assumed that guests would smoke and drink.) 
To my mind a brandy snifter of international matchboxes next to a stack of poster/coasters was a first step in transforming a co-ed who didn't drink, smoke, or travel beyond the midwest into a more interesting character. 

The very suggestion that an illiterate Italian immigrant would salvage empty matchboxes to document his challenging but admirable life had me falling in love with this book before I even opened the cover. Once I did, things only got better. Then I read Fleischman's description of his lifelong love affair with boxes and watched his Matchbox Theater Video. I was a goner.

When it comes to Fleischman's other titles, I find myself surprisingly ready to state my favorite, which I'm so often reluctant to do for any given author's or illustrator's work. When  asked about favorites I find my mind instantly snaps to qualifiers: For what readers? For what purpose? In which format? This should certainly be the case for him,  as you can see here from the vast array of outstanding titles he has produced. The fact that this hasn't happened with Fleischman's work means that one of his books transcends my general high standards as "one of my favorites for ___" to stand alone as my unqualified favorite. Full Stop. 

Candlewick, 2002

Until now that title has been WESLANDIA, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. 
In this story Wes launches his summer vacation in his own backyard, equipped only with what he has learned in school, that the core of every enduring civilization is a staple food crop. That knowledge  in the hands of  a boy with insatiable curiosity and ingenious creativity needed only a summery night breeze to deposit a few seeds of unknown origin. An entire civilization takes root in his yard, extending  its reach into the hearts and minds of his bullying classmates and clueless parents. 

Candlewick,  2007

Fleischman and Hawkes again paired their talents for the fantastic SIDEWALK CIRCUS, with impressive and appealing results, yet WESLANDIA still had a lock on my heart.

Until now. 
Now I must fall back on qualifiers and hedging of one kind or another, because THE MATCHBOX DIARY has latched on to another piece of my heart. In WESLANDIA  the exuberance and vibrant abstractions in the images fully reflect Wes's blend of  nerdy schoolboy with super-hero resilience and brilliance.

 THE MATCHBOX DIARY's  muted tones, crumpled artifacts, and historic specificity reflect the fragile but durable experiences of great-grandfather's life, preserved in matchboxes collected over many decades. The fact that these two titles are so different in image, content, character and genre protect my heart from being severed like the baby in Solomon's court. Instead they lend themselves beautifully to different purposes and audiences, reflecting the remarkably versatile talent of their author.

Each stands on its own solid ground as fine literature and art. Each has unforgettable characters, setting, and plot. Each transcends target ages, offering something for everyone without diluting quality or story. And each is densely layered, offering potential for discussion, for curricular connections, and for links to personal experience. 

If Paul Fleischman's titles are not already on your shelves, add these two today, then explore the rich array of others he has to offer.

Love a Tree- Today and Every Day!

Sometimes it's best not to fight Mother Nature. Or social media, for that matter.
I was planning to post a piece about the incredible book below later this month, but decided to shift gears and get it out today, just in time for "Love-a-Tree Day". This is yet another example of a worthy designation of a themed day, week, or month. But, (and regular readers have my permission to roll their eyes at this point) I've stated my reasons for being less than enamored with this approach, especially when it comes to sharing quality picture books.
But some days the signs are too strong to ignore and you gotta cry uncle.
So, this mid-week post started when I read Cathy's HUMOR ME post about this special day, including quick notes and links to several of my favorite books about trees. (Some who know me personally might spot one title in her list about which my strong feelings are not really positive, but it shall remain a mystery, since I know it is a beloved favorite of many.) 

Albert Whitman & Company, 2013

Then I read Beth's comment on Cathy's post recommending the recent release, PICTURE A TREE, by incredibly talented author and illustrator, Barbara Reid. 

Just last week I was drafting a post about this book while I was lucky enough to have it from the library, but I took this as a sign that posting it today was "meant to be", as they say. 

For starters, I hope you'll go to the link to Barbara's website before reading any further. Regardless of the content, Reid's signature plasticine constructs/illustrations create visual storytelling at its best. In this case, each double page spread, including the end papers, develops a story far beyond the few words on the page. This is one of those priceless selections offering something for every age and purpose, beginning with sheer enjoyment. It can also serve as mentor text for figurative language, especially metaphor. It's the kind of book that will be reread/re-examined time after time. And for those countless kiddies who adore "search" books, this is an ideal alternative.

Once I resigned myself to posting this today I was waiting to complete some gardening and errands. During that time I caught snippets of three different public radio programs dealing with trees, deforestation/climate change, and urban forests. I headed for the keyboard and started putting this together before Smoky Bear came knocking at my door.

But for those who might have missed my weekend post, I'm linking here. My radio monitoring (which obviously sustains me throughout the day) also revealed that over in Madison, Wisconsin the legislature is following up their legalization of wolf hunting by proposing that the cost of buying a license be reduced. I won't even think about debating the rightness or wrongness of hunting wolves in this venue, but I would like to think that making it "cheaper" to do so is a less desirable choice than using proceeds from the existing license fees to monitor the wolf population for precipitous reductions. 

Dutton Juvenile, 2008

So here's my mid-week, theme-based Love-A-Tree Day post. Do yourself a favor and get your hands on PICTURE A TREE. You won't regret it.

They're Back, But For How Long?

Readers of this blog are aware of my contrarian attitude about focusing on theme months, specific holidays, etc. as a reason to feature quality titles, only to mentally (or even physically) stuff them away for the remainder of the year. Earth Day was several weeks ago, but the backstory on this event stretches through time into the past, the present, and our multi-generational futures.
The forces threatening Mother Nature's delicate balance have been at work since before the advent of humankind, but the footprint of civilization has crushed wide swaths of nature in its wake. Rachel Carson's paradigm-shifting SILENT SPRING celebrated its fiftieth anniversary last year (2012), the same year that marked the death of another noble defender of nature, Jean Craighead George. No words of praise from me or others can do justice to the impact her writings have had in leading countless readers along a path of responsible conservation of Earth's resources, especially wildlife.

Dutton Juvenile, 2008

George's work on her writings and her cause continued until the end of her days, and beyond. (see below)  Her series focusing attention on the loss of species to particular habitats and their eventual restoration began with THE WOLVES ARE BACK. Each of the titles in this series paired her text with paintings by Wendell Minor. In this book the sad truth is told that wolves were intentionally eliminated from Yellowstone National Park in order to offer public viewing of only more docile creatures. That elimination involved shooting and tapping wolves until every last one was gone. Only after they were missed, truly mourned, were packs reinstated. Over time, their presence has enhanced the quality and balance of the entire ecosystem, including food chains, populations of other species,  and the natural growth patterns of grasses and woodlands.

Dutton Juvenile, 2010

Two years later THE BUFFALO ARE BACK was released, produced with the same pairing of George's words  and Minor's paintings. Once again the sad truth is that the buffalo were also eliminated intentionally as a means of controlling the survival of Native Americans and their reliance on prairie traditions. Removal of the buffalo led directly to dependence on reservation life.
Almost a decade before Silent Spring was published I recall standing  with my fourth grade classmates for a choral recitation of the eloquent short poem by Carl Sandburg, Buffalo Dusk.

The Buffaloes are gone.
And those who saw the buffaloes are gone.
Those who saw the buffaloes by the thousands and how they pawed the prairie sod
into dust with their hoofs, their great heads down pawing on in a great pageant of dusk,
Those who sawa the buffaloes are gone.
And the buffaloes are gone.

George's text is equally eloquent in its clear portrayal of the domino effects this interference with nature generated. A cascade of negative consequences followed: plowing, farming, and  predictable climate cycles of drought and flood resulted in the grasshopper plagues, erosion, and the dustbowl.

Dial Books, 2013

Last March, less than a year after her death, THE EAGLES ARE BACK was published posthumously. In this case the loss of our incomparable eagles was the inevitable but unintended consequence of the use of pesticides, developed in part to maximize crops from the depleted plains. In this portrayal a young boy begins his own lifetime commitment to nature when he experiences firsthand the dwindling population of eagles. In the course of the book legislation and conservation actions, promoted by the leaders who created Earth Day, help to restore health to the entire food chain, allowing eagles to once again breed successfully. 

I hope these books will find their way into the hands of young readers, initiating a domino effect of positive consequences. My life has spanned the years when extinction and loss were considered inevitable and irreversible, on to years of awareness and activism on behalf of nature. Now, though, the good news contained in these portrayals has produced the twin challenges penned by Dickens: ignorance and apathy. When populations have recovered enough that states now allow hunting and trapping of wolves, when the boundaries of national parks form an unfenced border beyond which these restored species are game, it's far to easy to assume that extinction is not a concern. Our vigilance must be greater than ever. The youth of today need to read these stories of species on the brink of disappearing in order to become tomorrow's defenders of the cause to which Caron and George devoted their lives.