tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33505944203013922662024-03-19T04:30:34.896-05:00Unpacking the POWER of Picture BooksSandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.comBlogger762125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-8418857367488621752024-03-19T04:30:00.014-05:002024-03-19T04:30:00.145-05:00EASTER ON THE FARM: Latest in Picture Book Holiday Series<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> I hope you were able to take a look at a post last fall by a talented pair of picture book creators, <b><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2023/09/ready-for-halloween-in-orchard.html" target="_blank">HALLOWEEN IN THE ORCHARD, reviewed here.</a> </b>That story follows a young family to a public orchard experience, and the fun involves holiday symbols and foods, seasonal changes inn nature, as well as a "find the scarecrows" visual search to extend the basic story and encourage examining details on each page. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/easter-on-the-farm-phyllis-alsdurf/1143606389?ean=9781506487700" target="_blank"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgaK0y9DX_1U5lGGkyuY51dU8Q8xGimPSKjnZ7hXH6A4g5xg3hGRhQUSVFBILLd0f52BPcnzE8zYx8snDo2-nIdW26AiEtVrlPmn8z0_At_jCtHwnnTGxCAtChiK-r6YkWBj3gacCYzO5KsNFJWCCD1VfO7oxDvGGYb8R2QeGTOvTD3yzR950zt_qCGnHH/s595/Easter%20on%20the%20farm.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="595" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgaK0y9DX_1U5lGGkyuY51dU8Q8xGimPSKjnZ7hXH6A4g5xg3hGRhQUSVFBILLd0f52BPcnzE8zYx8snDo2-nIdW26AiEtVrlPmn8z0_At_jCtHwnnTGxCAtChiK-r6YkWBj3gacCYzO5KsNFJWCCD1VfO7oxDvGGYb8R2QeGTOvTD3yzR950zt_qCGnHH/s320/Easter%20on%20the%20farm.webp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BEAMING BOOKS: March, 2024</td></tr></tbody></table><br />EASTER ON NTHE FARM</a></b>, written by Phyllis Alsdurf and illustrated by Lisa Hunt provides a slightly different story line. In this one a young family visits relatives on their farm, having a family-centered experience with the aunt and uncle. It also engages with the springtime symbols of new life, from piglets to fuzzy catkins on the pussy willow plants. Released March 5, this is available now to share with families, friends, and schools before the traditional Easter date arrives</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This is most definitely a Christian-centric, western-tradition Easter book, but it also encompasses solid science, including the moon phase, sprouting and planting vegetables, preserving and using prior crops, seasonal changes (with a find and count suggestion on one spread), and shared community experiences. This is the fourth of the holiday series by this team and does not disappoint. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Within the actual narrative and in back matter the author includes a variety of kid-friendly art/craft activities, with a strong reliance on natural materials and everyday objects for those not living on or visiting a farm. Make this one of the many seasonal picture books on your family, library, or classroom shelves. </span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-4141633881007213782024-03-15T04:30:00.071-05:002024-03-15T10:44:38.805-05:00I AM GRAVITY: A Welcome Companion to I AM SMOKE<p><br /> </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAPYZR2t5L_6ZN1GmM-gRPkNuZCcawweXFZo41Xd1tGzh4Xez0LRvYk_rYfmctJeRs9zGtBOA2n7fu5iRNwf_m1LcZcjcMEJGfBqD7MIUSmxhgWvIRPS18lpseNCkJzYTHxyIus9KQA_6_sP2W-edhmUufC8jcCI73Y9axiN7qbOXnCY81CKw-fDAZ_ZUz/s500/9781668936849%20I%20AM%20GRAVITY.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="386" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAPYZR2t5L_6ZN1GmM-gRPkNuZCcawweXFZo41Xd1tGzh4Xez0LRvYk_rYfmctJeRs9zGtBOA2n7fu5iRNwf_m1LcZcjcMEJGfBqD7MIUSmxhgWvIRPS18lpseNCkJzYTHxyIus9KQA_6_sP2W-edhmUufC8jcCI73Y9axiN7qbOXnCY81CKw-fDAZ_ZUz/w309-h400/9781668936849%20I%20AM%20GRAVITY.jpeg" width="309" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Tilbury House Publishers, April, 2024<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;">In case you missed it, check out my thoughts about a remarkable picture book from 2021: <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2021/09/i-am-smoke-poetic-upside-of-fire-and.html" target="_blank">I AM SMOKE</a>, here</span></b>. The portrayal used a unique voice and poetic, personified narrative for such a ubiquitous, sometimes nostalgic and other times unwelcome, even tragic part of our lives, SMOKE. That picture book has been hailed as groundbreaking. That's not just my opinion. I (and many others) have been awaiting a companion picture book on some equally challenging abstract, universal experience. It's exciting that<a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/i-am-gravity-henry-herz/20286429?ean=9781668936849" target="_blank"> <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I AM GRAVITY</span></b> </a>is arriving soon. It does not disappoint. Both are written by <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Henry L. Herz</span></b> and illustrated by <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.mercelopez.com" target="_blank">Merce Lopez</a></span></b>. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In<b> I AM GRAVITY</b>, Herz voices a universal force (literally) that's infinitely more complex than smoke. With text that explores familiar daily life and star formation within the same spreads, the power, necessity, and magnificence of GRAVITY in our lives becomes vividly clear. Both concepts and images are illustrated with fluidity and subtle detail that offers something for every age and background on this subject. The limited colors allow gravity's invisibility to be "shown" or suggested through a sense of graceful movement lines and consistent color that catches the eye against neutral background shades. From the cover (ball catch and bouncing hair) to remarkably balanced rocks to black hole activity and star formation, gravity is somehow made visible. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That's the alchemy of picture books as a format: text and images achieving more than either could accomplish alone. In this case it is also the nearly magical achievement of these two creators to turn potentially mundane scenes into transformational connections that evoke awe, appreciation, and awareness of a vital life force that we rarely notice without the attention of such an effective homage.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It does not do justice to the complexity and appeal in this new picture book to offer excerpts, and yet I can't resist. Here's one example:</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"I tether the moon to the Earth. High tide.</i></span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Low tide. I wave to you with the oceans."</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIwrUGt0EtWpz7X0Isy1oApF2vUWnBskmbuOC8dkXdnH4iCxIiTylia2Wn_B8VYQ7b76LctCLKHzFQrg9pKn7KSLM5rl6H2gdF-PTaM0zui4mHmU5__7SbbONGQ0IDWE4l8xij_Cmx5B_5IIP07DsIgBt4NsdAI2qUbrQcU4PAL-HostQt2ZNwSs8vxy7E/s626/HenrySmiling72.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="571" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIwrUGt0EtWpz7X0Isy1oApF2vUWnBskmbuOC8dkXdnH4iCxIiTylia2Wn_B8VYQ7b76LctCLKHzFQrg9pKn7KSLM5rl6H2gdF-PTaM0zui4mHmU5__7SbbONGQ0IDWE4l8xij_Cmx5B_5IIP07DsIgBt4NsdAI2qUbrQcU4PAL-HostQt2ZNwSs8vxy7E/w183-h200/HenrySmiling72.jpg" width="183" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Henry L. Herz, author</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;">These two seemingly simple lines reveal the lyrical appeal and the accessibility of this material even to very young audiences. It also sparks curiosity in older readers and invites further exploration of the multilayered science elements and interconnections of gravity in everything we know and do. A few pages of back matter provide direct information for readers and their families. This is an excellent example of WHY and HOW picture books of such high quality have much to offer for readers of many ages, as well as purposeful uses within language arts and content area classrooms. A huge plus is that the young people whose lives are shown in these images are diverse and multicultural, additionally emphasizing the global significance of this topic.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The <b><a href="https://afuse8production.slj.com" target="_blank">well-known librarian, Betsy Bird,</a></b> shares her thoughts about this pair of books and an <b><a href="https://afuse8production.slj.com/2024/03/05/from-smoke-to-a-force-an-interview-with-henry-l-herz-about-i-am-gravity/" target="_blank">interview with the author, HERE.</a></b></span></p><p><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Excerpt: </span><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(119, 119, 119); font-size: 19px;">“Holy moly. I think you’ve just written something even better than </span><em style="caret-color: rgb(119, 119, 119); font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 0.9em; outline: currentcolor;">I Am Smoke</em><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(119, 119, 119); font-size: 19px;">.” </span><em style="caret-color: rgb(119, 119, 119); font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 0.9em; outline: currentcolor;"> – Betsy Bird, librarian and blogger for School Library Journal</em></span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(119, 119, 119); font-size: 14.4px;"><a href=" https://youtu.be/yXzyeisdPs4" target="_blank"><b>Check out the book trailer!</b></a></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I appreciate and welcome the opportunity to have an advance look at this, (without promise of review) and I hope you'll read more about it, request it at your library, and <b><a href="https://bookshop.org/orders/populate_remote" target="_blank">(pre)order for gifts</a></b>, your home library, or your classroom. You won't regret it. </span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-49000858704756495802024-03-12T04:30:00.098-05:002024-03-13T09:55:04.477-05:00MUD ANGELS: History Restored <span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXcg58aPKvMDZIz-fqhJK24G-iI8aF_T0d9nOP7BoOQ-rsq-69QcVnVh2cqfBy-hyEMoujREyuN6mrLPI0Fjec-mQ-YJ_AWcC9bwMpNOBCu2w86CJL3AkIHGUff8LwM7XSZV05YWp7-wDmWMI0hLbA45th6akZfKjo4sYkAE4BIDno7OCfwEfe9SNGxYlW/s500/9780807552780%20Mud%20Angels.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXcg58aPKvMDZIz-fqhJK24G-iI8aF_T0d9nOP7BoOQ-rsq-69QcVnVh2cqfBy-hyEMoujREyuN6mrLPI0Fjec-mQ-YJ_AWcC9bwMpNOBCu2w86CJL3AkIHGUff8LwM7XSZV05YWp7-wDmWMI0hLbA45th6akZfKjo4sYkAE4BIDno7OCfwEfe9SNGxYlW/s320/9780807552780%20Mud%20Angels.jpeg" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Albert Whitman, 2024<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>With weather extremes occurring around the globe, sometimes without warning, this historical fiction account of a flash flood in Florence, Italy resonates with modern times and concerns. <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-mud-angels-how-students-saved-the-city-of-florence-karen-m-greenwald/20303830?ean=9780807552780" target="_blank">MUD ANGELS: How Students Saved the City of Florence </a></span></b>is written by <a href="https://www.karengreenwald.com" target="_blank"><b>Karen M. Greenwald</b></a> and illustrated by <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.directoryofillustration.com/artist.aspx?AID=17087" target="_blank">Olga Lee</a></span></b>. Despite modern scientific developments in forecasting and remarkable global scientific tools, sudden weather events continue to assault communities, too often without warning. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">In this account of a surprise weather event in the 1960s, Florence, Italy, was badly damaged by storm-generated rogue waves. Magnified by their containment within urban canals, the waters rose several stories high, rushing and crushing everything in their wake. Although that weather event itself lasted only eighteen hours before the waters suddenly receded back to the sea, the damage to everything in its path would take massive efforts for weeks, months, to salvage and rescue the city and its cultural treasures from utter destruction. (Learn more about that storm <b><a href="https://www.history.com/news/the-disaster-that-deluged-florences-cultural-treasures" target="_blank">HERE.</a></b>)</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Author Greenwald creates personal connection for young readers to this story featuring older kids. The young narrator indicates that a four-generations-old hand-printed book authored by her ancestor resides in the Central Library of Florence, an even-older institution that was directly in the path of those rising, ravaging waters. The narrator's family lived nearby and operated the hotel at which many young Florida State University students resided during their time in Florence.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The well-researched story begins in modern times, revealing that the institution still serves its community. A page-turn takes readers back in time more than fifty years to what could also be considered "modern times" and yet clearly qualifies as history. Unheralded from that era and that horrific episode are the young people who led the rescue and restoration of the flood-damaged books in the Central Library of Florence. The author's notes (in back acknowledgements) share her information sources and interests, with reference to the young story narrator's likely perspective through interactions with the students staying in her parents' hotel. The author was able to incorporate primary source materials to assure that this rarely-told story would honestly and thoroughly depict the brave young "mud angels" from many countries whose efforts are celebrated in the book. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Illustrations suggest a page-turn time shift, depicting visiting students who wear period clothing (girls in skirts, not slacks) and the obvious thrill it must have been for international youth to be able to study and learn in such an exciting location. The subsequent and remarkable efforts of visiting students in attempting to rescue and restore priceless and timeless volumes from the flooded, muddied lower levels of the library are revealed in efficient text and compelling visuals. The residue "mud" and waters of the flood (as anyone who has dealt with such events will attest) included dangerous detritus, unknown chemical contaminants , and other matter that exposed those young people to serious harm to their skin, lungs, eyes, and more. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvtePIRNaEsQ04c3P97mCzyds2Cj6jKLpwgOT2cgVdSIGzsa3sLmpoJ-pqXPlE2BMG5gVJ44w4ZUFc6MzFjGZbGDHijejZh8ZlFB_yxPzBFvB7fjENE_0-4gHyNfOVsIdjnW9oTxGViqUsTZCcEicCt-oFFRQp-RVNBvGqEXd-3jmRPjmSSo3gB1RsZgJ3/s1934/Screenshot%202024-03-05%20at%209.51.53%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1178" data-original-width="1934" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvtePIRNaEsQ04c3P97mCzyds2Cj6jKLpwgOT2cgVdSIGzsa3sLmpoJ-pqXPlE2BMG5gVJ44w4ZUFc6MzFjGZbGDHijejZh8ZlFB_yxPzBFvB7fjENE_0-4gHyNfOVsIdjnW9oTxGViqUsTZCcEicCt-oFFRQp-RVNBvGqEXd-3jmRPjmSSo3gB1RsZgJ3/w400-h244/Screenshot%202024-03-05%20at%209.51.53%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Internal illustration from ARC, MUD ANGELS<br />Albert Whitman, April, 2024</td></tr></tbody></table><br />And yet they left their safe hotel rooms, those young folks who were not even residents of Florence. They could have remained comfortably above the waters, or returned to their homes, but instead they plunged into the deepest levels of the muddied institution, determined to rescue and revive as many of the ancient volumes as they could. The author compares the eventual influx of even more students arriving from around the world </span><span style="font-family: arial;">to waves of human, international good will, volunteering </span><span style="font-family: arial;">to participate in a rescue effort that spanned not months, but years. That theme, of serving, caring, and borderless commitment is clearly and effectively conveyed. Volunteering relies on such efforts, and a story like this is overdue in giving credit where it is so well-deserved.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">This important, inspiring, informative new picture book will release in April, 2024. You can preorder a copy <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.albertwhitman.com/book/the-mud-angels/" target="_blank">from the publisher,</a></span></b> your favorite<a href="https://bookshop.org/book/9780807552780" target="_blank"><b> book store</b></a>, or <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-mud-angels-karen-m-greenwald/1143852755?ean=9780807552780" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">online sources.</a> By the way, <b><a href="https://www.ala.org/ala/pio/mediarelationsa/factsheets/NationalLibraryWeek.htm#:~:text=National%20Library%20Week%20is%20observed%20each%20year,in%20April%2C%20generally%20the%20second%20full%20week." target="_blank">National Library Week (ALA)</a></b> is in April, so consider purchasing a copy to give to your own favorite library! At the very least, share this review with your favorite youth librarian and encourage them to add it to the public collection! May no library ever need such a cadre of MUD ANGELS, but if and when it happens, consider stepping up. Serving our communities can be inspired by this story, and it deserves everyone's appreciation.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-12765013223239998852024-03-08T04:30:00.175-06:002024-03-08T04:30:00.138-06:00BAT, CAT, and RAT: Stars of A COZY HOME<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> If you don't know author AMY DYCKMAN, I have one question: WHY NOT?!?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Her well-earned reputation and popularity comes not only from excellence in writing well for kids, but in her knack for hitting humor where it lands best- on the funny bone, not the snarky or snide or out-of-joint corner of kids' senses. They find laugh-out-loud and grin-able-tell-someone lines in everything she offers, always combined with brightly colored and appealing images created by some of picture book publishing's most shining stars. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaUHf6NnhrlmbqzwZQ7gnTL_iB4tog-DrGHfzXOuNRE7VulACDU_ZDjpBV7jqDh8j0A8OuyL-sBiy_bW0gCVGrECut5KtRHd5pqSRttZSYqyCNy40YD4rA3jHo6M540AMelhMSzphrRnP48yMoE8PTOR6JbCubcnEc0VH_Hvv6wWoD0C3GsrZp64t9a0r5/s900/the-cozy-home-9781665930420_xlg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="606" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaUHf6NnhrlmbqzwZQ7gnTL_iB4tog-DrGHfzXOuNRE7VulACDU_ZDjpBV7jqDh8j0A8OuyL-sBiy_bW0gCVGrECut5KtRHd5pqSRttZSYqyCNy40YD4rA3jHo6M540AMelhMSzphrRnP48yMoE8PTOR6JbCubcnEc0VH_Hvv6wWoD0C3GsrZp64t9a0r5/w269-h400/the-cozy-home-9781665930420_xlg.jpg" width="269" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SIMON & SCHUSTER, 2024</td></tr></tbody></table><br />In this case, <b><a href="http://www.amedyckman.com" target="_blank">AMY DYCKMAN</a></b> was paired with illustration star <b><a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Mark-Teague/157911312" target="_blank">MARK TEAGUE </a></b>to create a trio of unexpected animal friends for an early-reading, beginning chapter book series that promises a long life of fans and adventures. BOOK ONE released too late to be considered for the <a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2023/10/cybils-awards-season-is-underway.html" target="_blank">2023 CYBILS award</a> in that category, but after serving as a panelist for this past season I assure you this (and upcoming titles in the series) will be nominated and seriously considered as finalists for the 2024 awards. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">With that bold claim, consider the book itself: <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/series/Bat-Cat-Rat" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">BAT, CAT, and RAT series Book One: THE COZY HOME.</a> This new independent reading series provides loads of fun. It's the introductory title that will help the ongoing series become a favorite with kids and families. Humor is a bonus and it has the lighthearted blend of silliness and realism that author Dyckman has mastered. Illustrations are equally delightful and make these three characters feel like new and lasting friends.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The subtitle note, THREE-and-a-HALF CHAPTERS suggests the ongoing nature of their adventures and the tongue-in-cheek writing approach readers can expect. (Excuse me a moment while I restock my hyphen-key for the rest of these these comments.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I'll admit I had my doubts when I first read the title. Beginning readers that rely on (often overuse) words from the <i><b><span style="color: red;">-at</span></b></i> letter pattern are rarely my favorites. It suggests to me (after countless years of using beginning readers and early chapter books) that the "author" may be over-focused on inserting and "practicing" such patterns at the steep cost of fluent and fun narrative text. Similar to the painful reading of awkward poetry attempts, lines are inverted, repeated unnecessarily, and and sometimes even created where they had not existed before in order to provide particular letter patterns/groups that can then be considered "mastered" after the book has been successfully read without assistance. Just explaining that gave me a stomach ache. Nothing repels a child more (and that's probably the child in me reacting above) than opening a book, expecting a story, something engaging and entertaining or informative, only to find a word-soup of awkward, oddly assembled words and images with no real connection to their lives or imaginations. If you doubt me, just go to Goodreads or other book lists and check how many CAT-BAT-RAT titles you find! I'm not saying they are all bad, but I urged you to read any yourself before condemning a child to them.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It's joyful for me to know, after reading, that Dyckman and Teague have retained their child-focused storytelling, in words and visual narrative, throughout Book ONE. The characters are introduced as friends, revealing childlike behavior in their choices and playful banter. the stories flow naturally and invite young readers to imagine themselves as neighbors to this lively trio. Coming in May, BOOK TWO takes them on VACATION, and I'm smiling now as I imagine their antics, as well as hoping for many more titles to come. These are the kinds of characters, experiences, and storytelling patterns that will have the books well-worn and in need of eventual replacement over time in homes, libraries, and classrooms. They continue the power of picture books (Compact, Complete, and Compelling) while transferring the power and agency of independent reading into the welcoming hands of young readers. That certainly shouldn't have surprised me, given the long success and accolades of the creative pairing of Dyckman and Teague. Even so, there is a particular talent to achieving that level of appeal within the format and intentional constraints of beginning readers. Kudos to both creators, commendations to whoever paired them, and happy reading to the young folks whose hands will find the joy of actually reading on their own in company with BAT, CAT, and RAT.</span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-91217021742850182422024-03-05T04:30:00.010-06:002024-03-05T07:18:55.375-06:00THE LAST STAND: Lovely, Powerful History<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2021/04/collaboration-construction-and.html" target="_blank"> In an earlier post</a></b> I first featured a picture book by the <b><a href="https://thepumphreybrothers.com/about" target="_blank">Pumphrey brothers,</a></b> narrative storytelling illustrators and wonderfully effective voices for Black History that is ignored, not just overlooked.<b> </b>They create stories that speak for themselves, adding excellent foundational background in their creator notes in their debut <b>THE OLD TRUCK. </b>The author did the same in this new truck-centric picture book written by<b><a href="https://www.antwaneady.com" target="_blank"> Antwan Eady</a></b> and illustrated by <b><a href="https://thepumphreybrothers.com" target="_blank">Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey.</a> </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-last-stand-antwan-eady/20082867?ean=9780593480571" target="_blank"></a></b></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL6EPCIKavYU9AetTEKBrJzodEcZ6nIg53IS0wcSAhuASapVQypGjKVOa35L3Cf21dAcVW1vdpSjW458OyW2FVmxafPIJtasDUCAIsWw3pQI4JPlaON6ypCANdXrQentFqkpTAyFIfjJ-IsH49KiHJthK9S2IElE_FyQgDQaZZM37d7XxBx7n0AqvPilAM/s500/9780593480571%20last%20stand.webp" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="500" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL6EPCIKavYU9AetTEKBrJzodEcZ6nIg53IS0wcSAhuASapVQypGjKVOa35L3Cf21dAcVW1vdpSjW458OyW2FVmxafPIJtasDUCAIsWw3pQI4JPlaON6ypCANdXrQentFqkpTAyFIfjJ-IsH49KiHJthK9S2IElE_FyQgDQaZZM37d7XxBx7n0AqvPilAM/s320/9780593480571%20last%20stand.webp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alfred A. Knopf, 2023<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-last-stand-antwan-eady/20082867?ean=9780593480571" target="_blank"><br />THE LAST STAND</a> </b>features an old truck and continues that underlying history of Black farmers and their current lives, as the cover reveals. Relationships star, including the partnership, the evident love between Papa Earl and the young narrator, his grandson. The surface story indicates that Papa is a farmer, that the young narrator shares and learns those habits, practices, skills, and appreciations by living the life with his family. The cover and opening revelations also indicate how important Saturdays are, not just for them but for the community. That's the day that the two generations load their harvest in Granny's sweetgrass baskets, fill the bed of the old blue truck, and head out to the farmers' market. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Such Saturday chores are more quickly said than done, allowing readers a few page turns to gain perspective on the work and time for minimal but potent text to mention Papa's black and wrinkled hands, each wrinkle telling a story. Of fixing, of carrying signs, of taking stands in life. Those simple signs (in the background, on the other "closed" stands, on the bumper sticker) point out the hardships and struggles that underlie these current Saturday mornings. Black community shoppers lined up and waiting speak volumes, too, about the significance of sustaining this food stand experience on both sides of the exchange. Not only are there economic and political strengths in this cycle but also a strengthening of community. Shoppers and sellers are known to each other, seen by each other. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">On its own, this would make an important and complete story. But, as they say on the infomercials, "Wait, there's more...". And the <i>more </i>in this case is the core of the story. The pair return home after dark, returning to their dusty bumpy driveway, where every bump welcomes them home and tells a story of its own. When the young narrator next describes a change, he is coping with collecting and loading and preparing for Saturday market on his own. Papa does not participate. Readers are allowed only hints that Papa is experiencing some kind of struggle, but the tradition will go on. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Or will it...?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Delivering harvest loads on a bike produces a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, precious crops spilling onto the roadway or needing to be left behind. The next Saturday we are reassured that Papa is still around but too tired to load or drive. A solution has been considered and implemented, though, and the market opens that morning. Including Papa Earl's sign. Even then, the story has not concluded. A few more page turns allow the storytelling to include every player in the satisfying, inspiring closing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This book is a delight, even at its most literal, it's uplifting. It serves as mentor material for discussions, even lessons, on thorough and effective storytelling. Of not simply "saying more" but of following the trail to the heart of the story. The text captures the heart and power of the relationships among the family and community with direct and lyrical language but surprisingly few words. The visual narrative reveals similar simplicity with eloquence that yields even more power to each line, detail, and word of text. That includes those recurring indicators to "Support Black Farmers". </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This is a picture book that entertains and satisfies, but also enlightens and challenges. It contributes important content to our generally untold American history and encourages us to learn more. There's not a thing I'd change about it, and I hope it finds its way onto countless lists and shelves and into discussions when it comes to layers and layers of topics: community, economy, social justice, social-emotional learning, multigenerational families, farming and gardening, and so many more. It's a true harvest of rich discussion and reading resources.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p><br /></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-39057779227640079892024-02-29T04:30:00.005-06:002024-02-29T04:30:00.136-06:00A LEAP DAY Duo: Two Fun New Titles <p><span style="font-family: arial;"> It's time for one of those "quick looks" at recent picture book offerings.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioM-7WkhRiOXqiKoWkKBRQ_oeskm3SzxRaPtcDz7A2Oozf8yySvH9pT8BJgPUA5i3hkcNuYkudHxbew-Ooq35ZlzQB4zRwADYkCilSwd1iEW53PqqRwZcmSvTbPMB1UVYpn4KfpKan-WNGWnqBbfdU_pwZWNWmF7wqomLL1zXiwlHoAuXDGFtaZOPN6cSL/s500/9780358683346%20Down%20the%20Hole.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="409" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioM-7WkhRiOXqiKoWkKBRQ_oeskm3SzxRaPtcDz7A2Oozf8yySvH9pT8BJgPUA5i3hkcNuYkudHxbew-Ooq35ZlzQB4zRwADYkCilSwd1iEW53PqqRwZcmSvTbPMB1UVYpn4KfpKan-WNGWnqBbfdU_pwZWNWmF7wqomLL1zXiwlHoAuXDGFtaZOPN6cSL/s320/9780358683346%20Down%20the%20Hole.jpeg" width="262" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clarion Books<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />First up, <b><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/102188752-down-the-hole" target="_blank">DOWN THE HOLE,</a></b> written by <b><a href="https://www.scottslaterbooks.com" target="_blank">Scott Slater</a></b> and illustrated by <a href="https://adamming.com" target="_blank"><b>Adam Min</b>g</a>.<b> Down the Hole</b> taps into classic animal relationships, especially the predator/prey cycle of life that keeps our world in balance but places one species in the "bad guy" role and the prey becomes the "underguy". That automatically casts the prey as the hero of any story, at least most stories. Turning such a tale into something original isn't always easy, since this plot appears over millennia and across cultures globally. When the "underguy" manages to outwit the "bad guy", readers/audiences are satisfied. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In this case, the combatants are Fox (with hints of past success diminishing this particular community of rabbits in the past) and the underground "menu", the bunnies . Outwitting that fox, who, on the cover, lurks above ground, begins when Fox invites a bunny to come up and "help" a friendly fox.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The leader bunny demonstrates bright dialogue, alert to the past and aware of the current intentions. Meanwhile bunny leader (wearing collar and tie) and his rabbit crew devise a way to eliminate the problem, not just at the moment but permanently. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The text includes some fun word-play, sly hints and twists (with the bunny proving to be every bit as sly as the fox), and a delightful view of the benefits of cooperation. Even so, I might have rated four stars for all that, since it covers such familiar ground. But the illustrations elevate my opinion by providing extra layers of visual narrative elements, especially in the life underground extending beyond the bunny warren (residents like mice or moles or groundhogs). These images include one particular underground dweller who might tip that predator/prey scale.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The art itself is genuine bonus. Colorful and fun, yes. But also very effective at elaborating on the appeal of this tale. The illustration note in back describes creating digitally on PROCREATE combined with hand-painted textures and icons in acrylic guache on fancy watercolor paper. The combination media and techniques give a nearly collage-like effect at times, always adding to the impact of the humor, reactions, and depth, despite the somewhat cartoonish images. The spreads suggest movement, attitude, anticipation, suspense, and foreshadowing.</span></p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUPfcyBZ58FIgm8cQXQ9OaeIr9lT_paajQaAOIKzM6yguhTsCBkt_4AjnU4bUANjBTUScyTNslFTD2rvEit-YmQsRgVe8ZfOvphmhw1QbtM4rcPIjlJKtPW-G9HhADnv0KuyryJjITMx9Ryk-RRBCF8HqL-YVXU6fKjAxZfbOB45c6v6w80yE47Rk_HZKU/s500/9781536233803%20concrete%20garden.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="459" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUPfcyBZ58FIgm8cQXQ9OaeIr9lT_paajQaAOIKzM6yguhTsCBkt_4AjnU4bUANjBTUScyTNslFTD2rvEit-YmQsRgVe8ZfOvphmhw1QbtM4rcPIjlJKtPW-G9HhADnv0KuyryJjITMx9Ryk-RRBCF8HqL-YVXU6fKjAxZfbOB45c6v6w80yE47Rk_HZKU/s320/9781536233803%20concrete%20garden.jpeg" width="294" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Candlewick Press<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Next up is another picture book that takes a lively and appealing story, then elevates it to memorable through the talents of the creator. <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-concrete-garden-bob-graham/19719549?ean=9781536233803" target="_blank">THE CONCRETE GARDEN</a></span></b>, written and illustrated by <span style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://readingaustralia.com.au/authors/bob-graham/" target="_blank">BOB GRAHAM</a>, </span><span>is not a classic animal tale, nor is the art style similar. </span>This is a realistic contemporary story inspired by the period in which pandemic isolation was lifting locally, allowing kids and adults to emerge from the restrictions imposed by viruses and winter conditions. In this case, an intensely populated urban apartment complex releases a swarm of cabin-fever kids and their masked adults to swarm onto an outdoor concrete space. From the fifteenth floor alone a cadre of kids, diverse in age and identities and pursuits launch themselves into the open air for the best antidote to confinement, PLAY! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This provides a perfect launch for the brilliant emergence of masterpiece via improvised changes and creative additions, collaboration and accidents, as well as attention and appreciation. As above, this would be worthy choice if it ended there. But, it is elevated in this case not only by the appealingly child-friendly and clever art, but also by pushing the story to its easily imagined next days. Yes, chalk on concrete has a surprising lifespan if conditions are good, but when it rains... it pours.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In this case, I won't spoil the author/illustrator's clever extended thinking, but he certainly must be in touch with his inner child. Not only does he explore domino-effect expressive art options that rain provides, but continues by setting the stage to suggest a future use for material fragments of the project. I found myself wondering about potential uses for those fragments long after closing the cover of this book. That's a wonderful impact for this story, but also an example of making picture books as layered and dense with positive elements as possible.</span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-27482364916160604532024-02-25T04:30:00.066-06:002024-02-25T04:30:00.136-06:00THE RED JACKET: A Lively, Laughable Parable<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBp1sI2DE8CdyRwsT3AaJF7UXfI6-XA-5CHvVTHaQTMPXyCeCeE0mpAptr-nHwJVeeO6dFsanbjsPQ8AL9Afo8cQPFWksjrLVT2PpYP2VtqnpolB-Pn_vDx1rc2uGVpXbe5ZSBJUZO9dY75LrZ3Wkn2Zu3sH1ftQfMhtXZ0Fd7ZCWzY8fLmaR8JylO1JX1/s500/9780063237605n%20red%20jacket.webp" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="500" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBp1sI2DE8CdyRwsT3AaJF7UXfI6-XA-5CHvVTHaQTMPXyCeCeE0mpAptr-nHwJVeeO6dFsanbjsPQ8AL9Afo8cQPFWksjrLVT2PpYP2VtqnpolB-Pn_vDx1rc2uGVpXbe5ZSBJUZO9dY75LrZ3Wkn2Zu3sH1ftQfMhtXZ0Fd7ZCWzY8fLmaR8JylO1JX1/s320/9780063237605n%20red%20jacket.webp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HARPER, 2023<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> Who wouldn't want a RED JACKET... with French fries in the pockets!?! That premise had me at hello, to overuse that phrase. <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-red-jacket/18853913?ean=9780063237605" target="_blank"><b>THE RED JACKET </b></a>was written and illustrated by Bob Holt. Stars of this show would seem to be seagulls, one in particular. But, upon a second glance, it must be the jacket, right? </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That's a reasonable response, until you read the book. Then you'll realize that the "star" of this story is a very real but abstract one we can all have, give away, and still have even more for ourselves. Obviously, I'm not talking French fries!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">You've probably heard that description about <b><span style="color: red;">love</span></b>, and that's certainly true. Our hearts grow in capacity for love the more of it we give away. Yet this "star" doesn't require you to be as invested as loving others. We can change the lives of strangers, even casual acquaintances. If you doubt that, read this entertaining, delightfully ageless picture book. Creator Holt clarifies that in his dedication, but saves it for the end of the book so as not to be a spoiler.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">How does someone create such a picture book that can soak to any age? Plenty have accomplished this, but THE RED JACKET uses a terrific blend of image and text and universal experiences. The illustration talent is evident from the cover, and does not disappoint throughout. Despite its vibrant, comic-style approach, every detail counts, including the most minimal gestures, body language, and facial expressions (on seagulls, crabs, turtles, and more). This visual narrative success allows Holt to combine wordless spreads with others that include speech-bubble minimal text, while relying on common-knowledge awareness of the risks of living beachside. There, massive waves can sneak up on you and change your life. The very youngest will "get" every page, and audiences of every age will read themselves into this situation, the relationships among the characters, and the inner life of central character, Seagull BOB.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In the opening spread Bob stands a few steps away from a squabble (one of several collective nouns for seagulls) on a seashore, where his face and posture reveal his belief that he is neither known nor welcomed as he'd like to be. Right there, it is easy to feel empathy, isn't iit? Perhaps it triggers similar emotional reactions within our adult selves. (Think: first time attendee at a conference of "your people", or at a new school, or even at a social event to which you were invited. Or am I alone in this?) Kids feel all of the above, even a first day at a preschool. Tears are not all about separation anxiety, but include feelings about not belonging there. Within a day or two of breaking that wall to feel welcome, the worried kiddo races into class enthusiastically. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That's the way this humorous and appealing story catches each of us where we are. A random act of kindness from a bird wearing a red coat helps Bob feel "seen", giving him the confidence to speak out, resulting in many surprise discoveries about his community, and about himself!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This story carries readers (again, of any age) on an emotional journey allowing self-reflection, developing empathy, and encouragement to notice "others" whose facial and body expressions suggest they might need to hear they are welcome. This doesn't burden each of us with being the endless "door-front greeter", but rather builds communities in which everyone sees themselves as empowered and having a voice.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The RED JACKET was the adaptive device that gave Bob his own voice. If all of this sounds heavy handed or didactic, that's unfortunate, because it is neither. It's a lively romp, layered with authentic emotions and humor, while inviting readers along for the ride. The SEL (social and emotional learning) potential of THE RED JACKET is boundless, but so is the re-again-potential. I hope you'll give this one a try and share it widely.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-78106048344749091452024-02-20T04:30:00.001-06:002024-02-20T04:30:00.137-06:00Too BIG To Miss!<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio17rGsVOidQdrccf5-10POqQD8GZwtMtqLsfzihHolsdNQmpU_8kAWYJYUkrCs3Q8_8y4usWsgHQiYSCn1bK3iR4HVvS4Oqr2zkakoJmVZL4baR1u4GZk_A0DNebPJXS1Y1AUDX_sINaLP8PzTffxZ6dOKNPONCooz9o1-RVOViuF9tByVbBs8PuqLPmi/s500/9780316353229%20BIG.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="430" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio17rGsVOidQdrccf5-10POqQD8GZwtMtqLsfzihHolsdNQmpU_8kAWYJYUkrCs3Q8_8y4usWsgHQiYSCn1bK3iR4HVvS4Oqr2zkakoJmVZL4baR1u4GZk_A0DNebPJXS1Y1AUDX_sINaLP8PzTffxZ6dOKNPONCooz9o1-RVOViuF9tByVbBs8PuqLPmi/w550-h640/9780316353229%20BIG.webp" width="550" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">LITTLE BROWN & COMPANY, 2023</span><br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;">I rarely begin a post about a book for little kids with the cover at the top, and seldom with such a large version of the cover. In this case, it felt like my only choice. I'm asking </span><span style="font-family: arial;"> you to see, immediately, that this picture book, this book for "little kids" is a very big deal. Apart from the obvious medals indicating that I am not alone in this opinion, it was also selected as best fiction picture book by bloggers, receiving the </span><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.cybils.com/2024/02/announcing-the-2023-cybils-awards-winners.html" target="_blank">CYBILS AWARD</a></span></b><span style="font-family: arial;"> in that category. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Please, meet this remarkable book. <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/big-vashti-harrison/18833386?ean=9780316353229">BIG</a></span></b> is written and illustrated by the multi-talented <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.vashtiharrison.com" target="_blank">VASHTI HARRISON</a></span></b>. Those medals on the cover represent the most prestigious of the many annual awards- <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.brilliant-books.net/2024-caldecott-medal-winner-and-honorees" target="_blank">Caldecott Gold Meda</a></span></b>l,<b><a href="https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-2023/?cat=ypl" target="_blank"> National Book Award Finalist for Children</a></b>, and <b><a href="https://www.epl.org/booklist/coretta-scott-king-illustrator-award-winners-and-honor-titles-since-2001/" target="_blank">Coretta Scott King Honor as Author and Illustrator.</a></b> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So what's the BIG deal about this book? Can you guess by looking at the cover? I thought I could, and I connected with the potential of its contents before even cracking the cover. The little girl under that BIG word, BIG, is adorable. Her pink ballet tutu is adorable. Her young body looks strong and intentional. And yet, do as I did. Look a bit closer. Check out her eyes. Under her uncreased forehead, below her precious pompom hairdo, those eyes suggest something deeper than intention. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">(Once I finally got my hands on this book for a close-up exploration), my eyes rested on this cover for many minutes. Those eyes hold her story within a dab of deftly placed and angled black line. There is commitment, persistence, and pain. Here we see a child who has lost some of the joy of childhood, one who makes her choices from a place of deep pain and self-healing, but not from spontaneity or trust. She is no longer crushed by the negativity BIG has conveyed but instead elevates it and owns it. It's unfair to think of such a young and adorable child needing to stand on her own, but she has been made to do so. If you can get that from the cover, you'll approach the story you're about to read with the significance it deserves.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">With tender-yet-potent minimal text, with expansively emotional and evocative illustrations, with power-laden colors, Harrison addresses a particular issue within Black-girl communities. It is one that also tugs at every boy or girl who has ever felt the pivot from "being big" as a growing-up joy and accomplishment to recognizing "big" as negative. Subtly or literally, moments occur in the lives of children who are larger than average, in height or mass or even per SLsonality, when such a thing as "TOO BIG" becomes the sharp tip of a universal social spear. That message comes in traditionally-sized clothes, in overt name-calling, in role-assignments, in rejection by peers and even from teachers and parents. Those pink-toned loving words of earliest encounters (caring, considerate, graceful, fun, creative) are buried under darker-hued labels and intentions (cow, moose, not right, TOOOOO anything...). The emotional tattoos of these shifting "assigned identities", including mocking laughter, add weight to the burden she feels, stealing away her true self. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I don't dare reveal the ways in which my exposition of the story is conveyed within the pages, but it includes her shifting relative size in relation to the pages of the book and a powerful double gatefold-expansion to fully reveal the monstrous-sized pain imposed on this suffering young child. The resolution lies within her, not in the hands of apologies, or of well-meaning "fix-it" or "help you" adults. Her own gentle spirit eventually finds its footing and returns their insults and pain without venom, offering instead her rejection of their impact on her true self. Once she releases the pain within herself she charts her own path to acceptance and self-love, to reclaiming the beauty of wearing pink, of movement, and of grace. She claims her identity, body and soul, and has found power in knowing that BIG is not BAD.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The author note indicates personal experiences that led her to write this, but also explores the documented pattern of Black girls (and boys, too) being seen as older, more mature than their ages, and "too big" to be children. <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://centerforhealthjournalism.org/our-work/reporting/what-you-should-know-about-adultification-bias" target="_blank">Society does have adultification and anti-fat bias </a></span></b>that mandates conformity for many children, but especially Black children. This book matters and its many awards mean it will stay in the canon of available titles across generations, thank goodness. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I sincerely hope that adults, even those without children, will read this and spend time considering their place within it. As a lifelong teacher, I view my own approach and unaware biases about students who "take up too much space", physically or behaviorally. Working with students identified as having issues in the general classroom meant I also actively taught young people to conform, to "fit in". To my conflicted shame. As an older adult woman, my memory of childhood (despite photograph evidence to the contrary) is that I was fat and not a good fit in a family of slender siblings. Body image, especially for young girls, is a dominant and harmful force in modern American society. This book brilliantly addresses the specific issues related to Black youth, but it has much to say to all of us at any age. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The author uses the verb "return" in her back note- as in return the playfulness and fun and innocence of childhood to all of our children. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It's a BIG ask, but each of us has a role in this process we can't afford to ignore.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-74232961634531646652024-02-16T04:30:00.003-06:002024-02-16T04:30:00.146-06:00MARA HEARS IN STYLE: A Welcome Story of Fitting In<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Speaking from the aging end of life's stages, I know plenty of senior folks who recognize their own need for hearing aid</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">support but who resist wearing the devices. That can be related to wearing them consistently enough to adjust to the sensations and effects so that their benefits can be fully appreciated. There is also a tendency to not want to be "seen" wearing hearing aids, even though there seems to be no such concern about wearing glasses, which are much more obvious. Seniors who feel this was would do well to take a lesson from Mara, a delightful new character.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ku24OxIkWQ-sEE56s8xg4ZD3ns-efFPXBw2GXC-IRe5GDTb3_5wTJNYbmrlOE-8XGSzv9b3_ygFjUZPXcSI7_iKFCjGQ5xXjbNI5ki7IBA2QXi89zaqBGvToF-mnpvKyXD87aCWCD0Q2jD2Ok7wWl-kx8_nydzwhpOgoCRBaPCcCt04NxrvXALHiqSdm/s500/9781506488745%20Mara%20hears.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="425" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ku24OxIkWQ-sEE56s8xg4ZD3ns-efFPXBw2GXC-IRe5GDTb3_5wTJNYbmrlOE-8XGSzv9b3_ygFjUZPXcSI7_iKFCjGQ5xXjbNI5ki7IBA2QXi89zaqBGvToF-mnpvKyXD87aCWCD0Q2jD2Ok7wWl-kx8_nydzwhpOgoCRBaPCcCt04NxrvXALHiqSdm/w341-h400/9781506488745%20Mara%20hears.jpeg" width="341" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BEAMING BOOKS, February, 2024<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/mara-hears-in-style-terri-clemmons/20137532?ean=9781506488745" target="_blank">MARA HEARS IN STYLE</a></span></b> is written by author/teacher <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://terriclemmons.com" target="_blank">Terri Clemens, </a></span></b>and illustrated by <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.lucyrogersillustration.com" target="_blank">Lucy Rogers</a></span></b>. In this story, Mara sits at the early-onset stage of hearing loss, needing support not for aging deterioration but for other reasons. Readers meet her lively personality as she prepares for school in her bedroom. Her flashy purple aids and hot pink ear molds reveal her favorite colors and stylish personality. She loves them! And yet... </span><span style="font-family: arial;">on the first day of attending a new school, she second-guesses herself, wondering if they might go unnoticed if she had chosen a plain color to blend in with her skin tones.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Front and back endpapers represent swirling sounds using blue swoops, droplets, and musical notes. I found the images and blue color choice perfectly represented the conflicting emotions and reactions Mara experiences. The blue conveys her worry and sadness when the aids generate overwhelming cacophony in echoing hallways/lunchroom, and when a new classmate rudely (and loudly) points out how "different" Mara is. The musicality and flow reflect Mara's balanced and upbeat approach to school, including new friends and teacher in her mainstream class and supportive learning in her speech and sign language classes. Within a few spreads, Mara faces both challenges and encouragement, developing friends whose genuine interests in fingerspelling, sign language, and lip reading open more doors for communication and connection and make her feel at home.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Despite the many ways in which more and more young readers are able to find themselves portrayed and included within the pages of picture books (and beyond), the proportion of differences from the dominant culture and established "norms" still shows considerable underrepresentation. At the lowest level of such appearances, especially in leading roles, are sensory disruptive conditions, among others. Things like white canes, hearing aids, and braces appear as tokens or even become signifiers of "lesser" capacity, becoming minor props in the background of the main story. No such issue exists for Mara. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The great strength of this new picture book is that Mara interacts with the world with some adaptations and extra skills, but shines through it as fully aware and involved in making the most of her new opportunities and owning her own talents and interests. Her desire to fit in, to form friendships, to understand her world, and to be seen as WHOLE are one hundred percent the same as every other child's, as characters, as readers, as neighbors, and classmates. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The illustrator's page (click above) indicates that she is deaf, which likely strengthens how well she is able to tell a visual narrative in these pages. Young audiences who show an interest may also want to read the graphic memoir/novel and other titles by deaf author <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/2014/12/14/369599042/el-deafo-how-a-girl-turned-her-disability-into-a-superpower" target="_blank">Cece Bell, EL DEAFO.</a></span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>This releases at the end of February but is available for preorder now. The publisher provided a review copy with no promise of a post, but I am excited to share this new and appealing picture book with readers here. I hope you'll read it and do the same with your friends and families.</i></span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-66612944740289922602024-02-13T04:30:00.008-06:002024-02-13T04:30:00.133-06:00Wordplay and Heart-Tugs: The Wishing Machine<p><span style="font-family: arial;">When it is well-done, especially when it catches me by surprise, I appreciate word play in any form of writing. That is particularly true of picture books. Young readers so often scramble everyday words (pa-sketti, breck-ist, etc.), with many families continuing to use the mispronounced words years after they have been correctly mastered. Beyond that there are puns, of course, and many young ones not only mis-state words but conflate a correctly-heard word with a different meaning. In this case, the title alone demonstrates an example.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-wishing-machine-jonathan-hillman/19730634?ean=9781665922302" target="_blank"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelymApFN5DKyii_9JBMtu2K4QATqm70Xc-Ll8WgwomDfZK35ZIUvH4oihhRYlrYmSppmOKgBSRWr5bOzPQFMf-JK6xKIF7l04m9tAhU4-QXbUF9hIue84vS9C5x-P9MTZD5LYnnHPDEa71VMAzRe432AlLoZe5AhpygHizaz_aROxunAGc_k67akTgwtG/s500/9781665922302%20wishing%20machine.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelymApFN5DKyii_9JBMtu2K4QATqm70Xc-Ll8WgwomDfZK35ZIUvH4oihhRYlrYmSppmOKgBSRWr5bOzPQFMf-JK6xKIF7l04m9tAhU4-QXbUF9hIue84vS9C5x-P9MTZD5LYnnHPDEa71VMAzRe432AlLoZe5AhpygHizaz_aROxunAGc_k67akTgwtG/s320/9781665922302%20wishing%20machine.webp" width="319" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simon and Schuster<br />Books for Young Readers, 2023<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>THE WISHING MACHINE</a></span></b> is written by <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.jhillmanbooks.com" target="_blank">Jonathon Hillman</a></span></b> and illustrated by <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.nadiaalamillustration.com" target="_blank">Nadia Alam</a></span></b>. The cover hints at the confused word, and the first lines suggest that such artful confusions will play a part in the story:</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"<i>Every Sunday after cereal, </i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>we walk to the laundry-mat, Mom and me."</i></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In that opening spread the charming text and gentle illustrations land us smack in the routine that shapes this story. The page turn brings readers into the warmth and familiar smells and smiles of a diverse gathering of laundry-doers. For the last time. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That hint establishes the emotional tension of the imminent life change of our central pair- leaving to live with Grandpa the next day, away from the comfort of familiar places and friends, their own place to live, their neighborhood. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That issue is reflected in the subtle shifts in the child's expression, demonstrating mastery of even the smallest lines and postures. The details and sensory experiences in laundry-mats will feel entirely like home to some families, while others with no direct exposure are invited into a new and lively experience. Those black and white tiles, the CLINK-coin sounds, and the ways people pass time, including the child, are rendered as the backdrop to the family's emotional journey.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Throughout this story the efforts to problem solve are realistic and tender, layering a short timeline with parental strength and reassurance, growing awareness of the needs of others, and a lucky surprise that results in a moral dilemma. All of which makes the conclusion so much more than a "good line" or familiar words. The topic of losing a home and friends could be morose, but is instead sincere and strong, allowing the child (never clear if this is a boy or girl) to face upcoming changes with newfound confidence and strength.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-35237003967450005792024-02-11T04:30:00.020-06:002024-02-13T10:42:35.953-06:002024 Newbery Medal Winner: THE EYES AND THE IMPOSSIBLE<p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;"><i>**Click here to read what author David Eggers had to say about getting the NEWBERY AWARD phone call on the morning of the day: <b><a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/94163-dave-eggers-s-newbery-win-wandering-around-in-a-daze.html?oly_enc_id=8686E9271356B6S" target="_blank">DAVID EGGERS.</a></b></i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Since my inaugural post on this blog, my focus has been on picture books. They are produced in the unique format in which the combination of visual and language narratives blend (I'll say it) in magical ways to produce powerful content that is greater than the sum of its parts. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That remains my focus here, and yet...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I've expanded my view to consider some graphic novels, a similar but specific structure that also combines image and text, but with unique patterns and skill demands, often resulting in more complex storytelling. Certainly longer storytelling.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I've also celebrated the Caldecott Award and Honor winners in many posts. Those very worthy titles get plenty of attention from platforms more substantial than this one, so I prefer to find and share other outstanding offerings. I especially enjoy having featured some of those titles BEFORE the big awards are announced. That was the case with picture book <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2023/08/august-dog-days-time-for-hot-dog-by.html" target="_blank">HOT DOG by Doug Salati </a></span></b>when (way last August)<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2023/08/august-dog-days-time-for-hot-dog-by.html" target="_blank"> I raved about it here,</a></span></b> months before it was awarded the 2024 Caldecott Medal.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTe_mUgtYwhyphenhyphen8i1C1-oOFWCMlcawUgIsf3aabJwsaLRyTjjrxvSlM1B2YhczjrJ48I8-k4eGdsj0cab2ENwdK5JGBDnqF3sC-5ETBnyhl-Mc_oBZe7OSiaFWnqQjG_B2T2CbJjdXuvrOiF8JD4tajr5uJq4bF27gWY0KlIwB3oi6gDgXX9RX79u4khCv5y/s500/9781524764203%20THE%20EYES%20and%20Impossible.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="409" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTe_mUgtYwhyphenhyphen8i1C1-oOFWCMlcawUgIsf3aabJwsaLRyTjjrxvSlM1B2YhczjrJ48I8-k4eGdsj0cab2ENwdK5JGBDnqF3sC-5ETBnyhl-Mc_oBZe7OSiaFWnqQjG_B2T2CbJjdXuvrOiF8JD4tajr5uJq4bF27gWY0KlIwB3oi6gDgXX9RX79u4khCv5y/s320/9781524764203%20THE%20EYES%20and%20Impossible.jpeg" width="262" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I've even, occasionally, stretched my limited space here to spotlight full text titles. That is the category that's the other jewel in the<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newbery" target="_blank"> ALA Awards list, the Newbery Award</a></span></b>. As i followed the announcements this year, I waited for the ultimate news to be celebrated. I had somehow not even heard about the winner, <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-eyes-and-the-impossible-dave-eggers/18751937?ean=9781524764203" target="_blank">THE EYES AND THE IMPOSSIBLE,</a></span></b> written by <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://daveeggers.net" target="_blank">Dave Eggers,</a></span></b> with remarkable occasional art by <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.shawnharris.info" target="_blank">Shawn Harris</a></span></b>. I ordered it immediately.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Once i had my hands on this remarkable book I devoured it. It is nearly impossible to classify the genre of this Newbery winner for 2023. It offers elements of contemporary realism and fantasy, or perhaps magical realism. After reading, you should make that decision for yourself, and that will likely depend on your deep-rooted sense of the strength and wisdom of nature and its creatures. Although I hadn't heard about it until that announcement, I can't stop talking about it to everyone, every age. Notable authors' comments on the back cover attest to that. I agreed with them all, but especially with author <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="http://annie-burrows.co.uk/newsletter.php" target="_blank">Annie Burrows</a>:</span></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><i>"...Exhibit A in the argument for children's books being great literature."</i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Johannes, the four-legged narrator, has a voice for the ages, offering mentor text for ANYONE who writes. Every word, every punctuation mark (or lack of them), captures and reveals the inner workings of his mind and heart. This ranges from the immediate and concrete to social and philosophical. His general attitude about the uselessness of ducks reminded me of the rabbits' disparaging attitude about dogs in<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/watership-down-richard-adams/286191?ean=9780743277709" target="_blank"> Watership Down</a></span></b>, as did the deftly interspersed suspense, affection, and humor. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The author opens with a brief statement that these characters are animals- not symbols for any humans or human themes. He states clearly that the location and animals are not real, and particularly that the animals represent only themselves, despite human impulses to see symbolic or satirical reflections of ourselves and others in any other species. We often impose our superior, more important selves. The author succeeded, since that was my impression walking away. These are truly the voices of the creatures in nature that I have long observed, enjoyed, and even studied. Their inner lives, for a change, have been revealed to me, to all of us.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The role of ART and our innate responses to it plays a vital role in this story, too, and so does the occasional, powerful, full color, double page art revealing Johannes in various scenes. The images are always breathtaking and evocative of his complex character and the sense that the park is a full-fledged character, too.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Another benefit of this book is its layout: slightly larger font, wider line spacing and margins, storytelling that demands both close reading and obsessive page-turning. It was easily a one-night read, and that meant I could read it again and again. Each time I discover new details and nuances, deeper questions, and stronger connections to these remarkable characters and their concerns. It's an ideal read-aloud to younger folks since it does not require endless hours to sustain attention to the end, and young people are even more enthralled by nature and their fellow inhabitants than adults.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Any attempt to share a synopsis could spoil or at least diminish the power of the first read experience. This story, Johannes and his account of life as he lives it and considers it, invites readers to come along and discover for yourselves what his life is like. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Say yes.</span></p><p><br /></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-40347990418385354002024-02-06T04:30:00.047-06:002024-02-06T10:31:58.668-06:00A Woman Who Raced for the Stars: Kalpana Chawla, Astronaut<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> Everyone knows this hard truth: Becoming a NASA astronaut is a daunting challenge. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEn-1Jzy5zG7bGgn13P7a0JPLGLQnJlG2X-YS_vVx-QFXsMg0BgHCpQBC44zmc-HIxAlGpgsB28I3fK99SY74MtuVbudszCYI4RClcMvqz4AunazJ3VAYHE2wBJXskOO6AiPRNdN1yjL8sqMSAbRiRBm6HiGPnABWpcQm855aLCpibhAmYFwiibnsQOUX5/s500/9781506484693%20journey%20to%20the%20stars.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="425" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEn-1Jzy5zG7bGgn13P7a0JPLGLQnJlG2X-YS_vVx-QFXsMg0BgHCpQBC44zmc-HIxAlGpgsB28I3fK99SY74MtuVbudszCYI4RClcMvqz4AunazJ3VAYHE2wBJXskOO6AiPRNdN1yjL8sqMSAbRiRBm6HiGPnABWpcQm855aLCpibhAmYFwiibnsQOUX5/s320/9781506484693%20journey%20to%20the%20stars.jpeg" width="272" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BEAMING BOOKS, 2024</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That has been true from the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">earliest days of space travel, and continues to be true today. </span><b style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/journey-to-the-stars-kalpana-chawla-astronaut-raakhee-mirchandani/20137498?ean=9781506484693" target="_blank">JOURNEY TO THE STARS: Kalpana Chawla, </a></b><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/journey-to-the-stars-kalpana-chawla-astronaut-raakhee-mirchandani/20137498?ean=9781506484693" target="_blank">Astronaut,</a></span></b> co-written by<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.lauriewallmark.com" target="_blank"> Laurie Wallmark</a></span></b> and <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.raakstarwrites.com" target="_blank">Raakhee Mirchandani </a></span></b>and illustrated by <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.behance.net/Maitreyighosh18" target="_blank">Maitreyi Ghosh</a></span></b>, shares an impressive true story of a young girl who eventually reached that goal. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">What ARE the requirements? <span style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/astronauts/become-an-astronaut/" target="_blank">Check NASA's page, HERE.</a> </span><span>B</span><span>etter yet, read this terrific new </span>biographic account of a remarkable young girl who grew up in love with the sky! The requirements are all in there, and she met/exceeded them but still faced setbacks. You may be one of those people who is afraid of heights of any kind, or one who loves flying, or even one who mountain climbs or otherwise enjoys extreme height sports. Kalpana Chawla knew, even as a young girl in India, that a view from on high was thrilling. She craved it. From her family home rooftop she would watch for passing pilots to wave and imagine herself up there, flying with them. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That's just the opener for this chronologic profile of the first woman from India who followed her dreams and became a NASA astronaut, meeting every one of those requirements, and more. Author Laurie Wallmark is widely admired for her picture books that celebrate Women in STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Math). I've reviewed several of her titles and posted interviews with Laurie <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">HERE,</span></b> <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2021/01/meet-sophie-kowalevski-queen-of.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></span></b>, and <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2023/10/another-notable-nonfiction-picture-book.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></span></b>, among others. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In many cases, cultures, and eras, girls/women are actively discouraged from (if not outright denied) pursuit of their interest in STEM areas or access to attend the institutions that help lead to successful careers. In the case of Kalpana, her parents provided both encouragement and opportunities at early ages. The steps and stages through which she proceeded toward her goal are described as straightforward and inspiring, revealing not only hard work and persistence, but also her determination and joyful engagement in these studies. She also developed whole-person, whole life activities that assured the fitness, endurance, and broad knowledge that contributed to her eventual selection as a NASA astronaut.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Chawla's two space assignments were on shuttle flights, but she also fulfilled many other successful assignments. Despite various delays in training, she acquired those skills and worked in NASA's control center while preparing her for inflight experimentation and her role as controller for the robotic arm. Throughout it all, she fully embraced her identity as an American citizen but also her Indian cultural heritage, including foods, music, sports, and her own personal history. Co-author Mirchandani provides a note on the back pages to share the importance of Chawla as a role model in her own life and in sharing those successes with her own daughter. Chawla is not the most widely known NASA astronaut, in part because her life was cut tragically short. I was impressed that this fact was not centered or used to launch her story, or even included in the main text. This woman's life and career is inspiring, based on her lived values and accomplishments, not just because she was one of several astronauts whose lives were lost in a NASA accident. Don't miss her honors listed on back pages, and the timeline will make clear how many impressive and courageous accomplishments she packed into her short life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Illustrations are vibrant and exciting, with Chawla's fascination and enthusiasm for so many interests and pursuits shining through at every age and situation pictured. The quality of the pages/paper enhances the brilliant, saturated colors that offer contrast between the many deep indigo sky backgrounds and the colorful figures, expressions, and clothing, or even the background white-space on some pages. The spine and endpaper "astronaut orange" choice is ideal. I'm counting on each of you to share this with girls, especially, but with any child who has big dreams and might not be getting the validation and encouragement to help support them into their futures, where setbacks too often become stop signs. Chawla's life models the truth that delays or rejections can be seen as opportunities to forge stronger paths forward. And don't wait for (or limit this to) WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH.</span></p><p></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-25198152989520454362024-01-31T04:30:00.058-06:002024-01-31T11:41:05.237-06:00EVERYWHERE BEAUTY IS HARLEM: A Visual Tribute to Photographer Roy DeCarava<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrl7pHajjdvNZ5CDJw4D6ncRKDUQImeQiiGetzUVzamkCOmh67-5jWciq-fOpueh9P6OBvdyTlwV3yfNizxEvX3MAEVvOR8Q1xAWZZcqOm4LK6Y6tdVwMcm7lAhvwq1tkxHGNHkPrZlgpENlelcs527Cq_KLAeKeZc51HC_JXRSAu-ABOoYPWF8s1wJkXK/s500/9781662680557EVerywhere%20beauty%20is%20harlem.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="432" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrl7pHajjdvNZ5CDJw4D6ncRKDUQImeQiiGetzUVzamkCOmh67-5jWciq-fOpueh9P6OBvdyTlwV3yfNizxEvX3MAEVvOR8Q1xAWZZcqOm4LK6Y6tdVwMcm7lAhvwq1tkxHGNHkPrZlgpENlelcs527Cq_KLAeKeZc51HC_JXRSAu-ABOoYPWF8s1wJkXK/s320/9781662680557EVerywhere%20beauty%20is%20harlem.jpeg" width="276" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Calkins Creek, 2023<br />Imprint of ASTRA BOOKS<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;">I have several friends whose full, professional lives have nevertheless led them to become remarkable photographers, unrelated to their main careers. Their specialties range from capturing planned events, to patient wildlife photos, to those who combine candid and intentional photo captures with observed/gathered artifacts to form creative collages with emotional depth. I admire and appreciate the "eye" and skills of each of these. The same is true for this photographer I never met.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/everywhere-beauty-is-harlem-the-vision-of-photographer-roy-decarava-gary-golio/20016428?ean=9781662680557" target="_blank">EVERYWHERE BEAUTY IS HARLEM: The Vision of Photographer Roy DeCarava</a> </b>is the award-winning recent picture book profile of a twentieth century master of the camera, <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.moma.org/artists/1422" target="_blank">Roy DeCavara</a></span></b>, who also completed a full day's employment of one sort or another. Working day jobs offered other times and opportunities to drop a roll of film in his camera, then follow his eye and heart, capturing the beauty of everyday life in his home, Harlem. The text relies on an artful blend of minimal but informative text by<b><a href="https://garygolio.com" target="_blank"> author Gary Golio,</a></b> blended with inspiring excerpts from DeCavara's writings and interviews. Each quotation is sourced in back matter, but they are so seamlessly blended as to lend a sense of co-authoring this gloriously illustrated biographic homage to a brilliant artist. DeCavara's works revealed not just his skill with the techniques of using black and white film to isolate candid images, but also his talented eye for the moment, the magic, of life. He saw what anyone could, but he showed us what we were missing.The opening text is one of those DeCavara quotations that sets the tone, literally, with this:</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"It doesn't have to be pretty to be true,</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>but if it's true it's beautiful.</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Truth is beautiful."</i></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The DeCavara body of work is primarily black and white, emphasizing light and shadow, rarely using a flash. His remarkable images were often primarily dark with the brilliance of situational, minimal light finding its/his target. His approach elevates the magic, the beauty of a subject to impressive heights. Work by gifted and multi-awarded <b><a href="https://eblewis.com" target="_blank">"artistrator" E. B. Lewis</a></b> is also often dense and dark in background with intentional and stunning lighting lending luminous attention to the heart of each scene. In this case his approach enlivens iconic Harlem locations and frames experiences as if to animate those original moments from the photographs for which the Harlem photographer is best known.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In times when film is unnecessary and rarely used, when cameras of excellent quality are in the palms mod so many hands, His concluding quotation, from back pages, urges us to find what we love in every day life and celebrate it in the moment:</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"Unexpected treasures are waiting to be seen,</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>if you just take the time to look."</i></span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-49901606821669791262024-01-28T04:30:00.052-06:002024-01-28T04:30:00.241-06:00ANGELA'S GLACIER: Don't Miss This!<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Does the name of author <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.jordanscottwrites.com" target="_blank">Jordan Scott</a></span></b> call to mind his prior picture book titles, or at least catch your ear and remind you that this is someone who makes brilliant and heart-rich stories? If not, please make it a point to remember the name now and develop that response. After his debut picture book,<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> <a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2020/09/i-talk-like-river-do-not-miss-this.html" target="_blank">I TALK LIKE THE RIVER,</a></span></b> illustrated by <span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.sydneydraws.ca/about/" target="_blank"><b>Sydney Smith</b></a></span>, I have been in awe. You can check my review of that original piece <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2020/09/i-talk-like-river-do-not-miss-this.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</span></b> You'll see that my caption for that post said the same as this one- DO. NOT. MISS. -- his book(s). When a title captures my unconditional respect, I'll admit a quiver of concern that subsequent works might disappoint. In fact, this talented duo then produced another unforgettable picture book, <span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-celebration-of-generations-my-babas.html" target="_blank"><b>MY BABA'S GARDEN, </b></a></span>just a few years later. It, too, evokes many layers of love, memory, and resonance while fully immersing readers in the immediate experiences depicted. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrQajpNTH4RcuDEag20jXu2H3l5vkN0lgx629Ul9s2TBoy1r75ZOgOzYRvx_BFEuAVrPEOyjmo604l6KVYJ_uWCCXb4OYC-kmhG7MPz_m3ZD2amETcluqJmWJsO4_vmMldkKHkP6uiQqECOu_dhQArJ6hNmvrp7EehGHUfMUKa8HKfVGKcwN4aD2GkOwV5/s500/9780823450824%20Angelas.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrQajpNTH4RcuDEag20jXu2H3l5vkN0lgx629Ul9s2TBoy1r75ZOgOzYRvx_BFEuAVrPEOyjmo604l6KVYJ_uWCCXb4OYC-kmhG7MPz_m3ZD2amETcluqJmWJsO4_vmMldkKHkP6uiQqECOu_dhQArJ6hNmvrp7EehGHUfMUKa8HKfVGKcwN4aD2GkOwV5/s320/9780823450824%20Angelas.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NEAL PORTER BOOKS, 2024<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;">What strikes me about both of these gorgeous and eloquent stories is how specific yet universal they are, presenting characters and situations that may be distant from individual readers yet provide seemingly lived connections to the events and emotions within the literal stories<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/angela-s-glacier-jordan-scott/19973803?ean=9780823450824" target="_blank">.</a></span></b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The<b style="color: #2b00fe;"> </b><span>lyrical</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"> narrative of</span> <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/angela-s-glacier-jordan-scott/19973803?ean=9780823450824" style="color: #2b00fe; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">ANGELA'S GLACIER</a>, is written by Jordan Scott but, in this case, illustrated by <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.dianasudyka.com" target="_blank">Diana Sudyka</a></span></b>. This story, too, depicts an isolated experience, and also involves a massive geographic/geologic land mass. In Iceland. With an unfamiliar language playing a critical role in the storytelling. Add this: the premise is unusual, to say the least. Any one of these could have doomed it to limited audiences or weak interests.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">And yet, my reading left me feeling that I lived this story with Angela from the first word and gorgeous spread to the last. I'm certain many readers (of many ages) will finish their first reads with a deep longing to walk in Angela's footsteps and follow her example. Picture books rarely succeed at stories that span long periods of time, unless they involve a chronologic biography, but this one does. It was also useful that the page facing the title page provided a reader-friendly translation and practice text for the name of the mountain: SNAEFELLSJOKULL: Snow Mountain's Glacier.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Once that four syllable word becomes familiar, the narrative opens at the foggy/shadowy base of the massive mountain. A new father warmly wraps and embraces his newborn daughter, Angela, lifting her to see and sense the heart of the distant mountain just as the fog lifts. Page by page, year by year, father and daughter travel across the lava fields, lichen beds, among the snow foxes, to the blue heart of the glacier. As Angela grows, she walks alone onto glacier, repeating her father's rhythmic chanting, each syllable matching each stride, taking her closer to a place of secrets and wonder. She presses her hands, her cheek, her heart against the ice of the glacier, feeling and hearing the life within it-- rushing rivers, cracking shifts, and melting tunnels "breathing" its story to her. When the cold sends her home, she resumes daily life-- school, violin, friends, and soccer, carrying the glacier's story in her own heart. With age and added time demands, Angela feels a loss in her heart, one that can only be filled by spending time with the glacier. Again, she connects and confirms her love, making a promise-- "I will listen, I will listen, I will listen."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In the author note Scott reveals, as with earlier works, his capacity to draw on personal experiences to inspire this account. In this case, it was his meeting with the real-life Angela in Canada. Angela began listening to nature as a child, and she offers an extended essay in back pages to recount her adult trip to this Icelandic location, describing the physical and emotional connection she has with Iceland's </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.visiticeland.com/article/snaefellsjokull-national-park" target="_blank"><b>SNAEFELLSJOKULL</b></a></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> in more detail. Based on current climate patterns, this particular glacier may survive only a fee more decades, likely less than than two decades.Given that tragic reality, this story is an even more valuable gift to readers, and to the glacier itself.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Perhaps the connection readers will experience when reading such a very specific story, so distant from their own lives, comes from a more familiar experience. Many of us have our own particular nature-place, one that speaks to us, in the moment and in memory. This book is both a call to vicarious caring and a link to whatever our own lived experiences in nature may have provided through a similar sense of belonging and validation. At the risk of repeating myself, DO NOT MISS IT!</span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-16855301711258792722024-01-22T04:30:00.009-06:002024-01-22T04:30:00.239-06:00A Few More Favorites... Funny and Fabulous<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_uneUvtCNGOzEnruZn1E-TNAtnUuYsTVP1M_uA93eY9H4kIKI1XIoNlXawyzrmnzAdfALREG2SjfKGYBuVBt68I1yQia0Y-m2p5QHeuSU0ga0MH7M4i7-hzIfcntiRFI3gafbZBO9uh-_iaCqQveA0kVuG_BRUFOIWn6HxUkQUqjxuNXHPMOOigy2DcC/s500/9781951836627%20Animals%20in%20oants.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="379" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_uneUvtCNGOzEnruZn1E-TNAtnUuYsTVP1M_uA93eY9H4kIKI1XIoNlXawyzrmnzAdfALREG2SjfKGYBuVBt68I1yQia0Y-m2p5QHeuSU0ga0MH7M4i7-hzIfcntiRFI3gafbZBO9uh-_iaCqQveA0kVuG_BRUFOIWn6HxUkQUqjxuNXHPMOOigy2DcC/s320/9781951836627%20Animals%20in%20oants.jpeg" width="243" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">CAMERON KIDS, 2023<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1e1915; font-family: arial;">Here's another post with brief notes about three recently-read books you will not want to miss. All feature humor and memorable characters, but are otherwise quite distinct from each other. What they share in common is that all are smile-inducing delights for readers and those who share them with kids. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1e1915;">First up is a poetry </span></span><span face="Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1e1915;">collection with a delightful theme: What if animals wore pants? No, not the way pet owners often make such choices for their animal-family members. These are wild/natural habitat animals and the assumptions is that they would choose what suits them best. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/animals-in-pants-suzy-levinson/18702529?ean=9781951836627" target="_blank">Animals In Pants</a></b> is written by <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://suzylevinson.com" target="_blank">Suzy Levinson</a></span></b> and illustrated by<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Books-Kevin-Kristen-Howdeshell/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AKevin+%26+Kristen+Howdeshell" target="_blank"> Kristen and Kevin Howdeshell</a></span></b>. This poetry collection offers many takes on an absurd premise- what if animals wear pants? Or other clothing. The delightful concept invites close consideration of the text (outstanding poems in a variety of formats by the very talented poet, Suzy Levinson) and examination of the colorful and interpretive illustrations in each case. The forms range from haiku to limericks to parodies of song lyrics to Shakespearean lines and many more. Many offer rhymes but all present suitable and superb language. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In each case the selection of animal subjects and poetry forms is intentional and well-suited (pardon that pun). Each also reveals solid information about the subject animal, as with the squirrel, whose darting, sprinting, climbing habits require what else-- a track suit!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Get this one into the hands of young readers, and be prepared to laugh along!</span></p><p><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbyPIeHBy3OHtlrfRUuXLUpmPHjmOAMX3yV8PFMY6r5aotHkWbO_ClLC857hjmbemf3Yls719vjvH33lnXCShIwki_qSlRK0i3cGIQdCUw9gnQcu4Q_mGndrssdaImOs3W5w5AhGMWpecTLl8n0yJo3qPiSLtniH-evCYZ-T1jgB7Q_okSfNz3wj9mPE-X/s400/75665877%20Fenway.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="258" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbyPIeHBy3OHtlrfRUuXLUpmPHjmOAMX3yV8PFMY6r5aotHkWbO_ClLC857hjmbemf3Yls719vjvH33lnXCShIwki_qSlRK0i3cGIQdCUw9gnQcu4Q_mGndrssdaImOs3W5w5AhGMWpecTLl8n0yJo3qPiSLtniH-evCYZ-T1jgB7Q_okSfNz3wj9mPE-X/w129-h200/75665877%20Fenway.jpeg" width="129" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">G.P.Putnam's Sons, <br />2023</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Another animal character wins hearts in<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75665877-fenway-and-the-great-escape" target="_blank"> </a></span><b style="caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75665877-fenway-and-the-great-escape" target="_blank">FENWAY AND THE GREAT ESCAPE</a></b><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">, written by </span><b style="color: #1e1915;"><a href="https://www.victoriajcoe.com" target="_blank">Victoria J. Coe</a></b><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;"> and illustrated by</span><b style="color: #1e1915;"><a href="http://joannelewvriethoff.com" target="_blank"> Joanne Lew Vriethoff</a></b><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">. Fenway is a truly appealing dog (speaking as a dog-lover) and that is true whether you enjoy dog stories or not. Told through Fenway's voice and perspective, he is devoted to his "short human" but also is a curious, adventurous character by nature. The humor emerges from this distinct point of view and mitigates some of the anxious worry that might emerge when his opportunity to run free results in his getting separated from his "short human". In his case, he not only attempts to make that connection again but to prevent his human from "wandering off" and getting lost again. This is a beginning chapter book series kids will really enjoy across many ages, with enough plot and character complexity to lay the groundwork for longer/older novels.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1e1915; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1e1915; font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidkmbBhyfn6_IXvZbAoTd-m4jREyeBD6jTKwZrFn8WIXBzs0W9gkE56DfggUg4n7tw_0EFSD7VKC_2vx6mqMAzBMcqf2_F1P8aMYkbmV8vlZjq0_oI3-nmnbXbPrLBtJJMq-gPEBBnWzWV62PvLj4VhsQGveDbPOYsAKh5zhXhO39JTZBzstI8cE-cABy5/s2100/62919219%20Kitty%20cam.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidkmbBhyfn6_IXvZbAoTd-m4jREyeBD6jTKwZrFn8WIXBzs0W9gkE56DfggUg4n7tw_0EFSD7VKC_2vx6mqMAzBMcqf2_F1P8aMYkbmV8vlZjq0_oI3-nmnbXbPrLBtJJMq-gPEBBnWzWV62PvLj4VhsQGveDbPOYsAKh5zhXhO39JTZBzstI8cE-cABy5/s320/62919219%20Kitty%20cam.jpeg" width="213" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Simon Spotlight, 2023<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1e1915;"><br />Here's a pre-level-one, earliest independent reader that captures attention, maximizes the humor, and launches the "Critter-Cam" series<b><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/kitty-cam-ready-to-read-pre-level-1/18836113?ean=9781665927321" target="_blank">. KITTY-CAM</a></b> is written my<b><a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Margie-Palatini/1316618https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Margie-Palatini/1316618" target="_blank"> Margi </a></b></span></span><span face="Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1e1915;"><b><a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Margie-Palatini/1316618https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Margie-Palatini/1316618" target="_blank">Palatine</a></b> and illustrated by award-winning<b><a href="http://www.danyaccarino.com/about.html" target="_blank"> Dan Yaccarino</a></b>. This earliest introduction to reading independently</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> is a delightful way to empower those beginners with the joys of books and reading. That creative team of Palatini and Yaccarino provides tons of personality and pacing with their page-turning choices of words, perspectives, and fun emotional reactions captured in the assumed "go-pro" style head-cam worn by Kitty. This has everything going for it, including re-read-ability and appeal even after more complex skills develop. Each spread merits close looks, since the images are CLOSE-UP and offering some valuable subtext to this very simple story:</span><p></p><p><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915;">First sentences:</span></p><p><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915;"><b>Jump, Kitty. Jump. </b></span></p><p><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915;"><b>Jump. Jump. </b></span></p><p><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915;"><b>Dunk, Kitty. Dunk. </b></span></p><p><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(30, 25, 21); color: #1e1915;"><b>Dunk. Dunk. Dunk. </b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1e1915;">The fact that this launches a simple series of "critter cam" titles invites those eager little readers to move forward with laughter and a love of books.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Proxima Nova, Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1e1915;"><br /></span></span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-86248139743111003062024-01-14T04:30:00.015-06:002024-01-14T04:30:00.131-06:00TWO DOGS: Ian Falconer's Mastery of HUMOR<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> Here's a quick weekend post about a picture book with something we all need more of- HUMOR! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1FSW2XKRPelrHumd7SePE3FUzkFmfurp4b8T765lwEurDrYrX3LVkP27jG8AZUNAQv4Mju7EbxzcK3XOIS4U9WasYKrFTPBjyxev5XpUhU5BUcs9-0UU_HatR8NselvCgLUCtLySOG4nfBRR_DCeFYkUJh7hFSAKGEZemWTr-rN0FkGc0WX0VzAgQwCU/s500/9780062954473%20Two%20dogs.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="389" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1FSW2XKRPelrHumd7SePE3FUzkFmfurp4b8T765lwEurDrYrX3LVkP27jG8AZUNAQv4Mju7EbxzcK3XOIS4U9WasYKrFTPBjyxev5XpUhU5BUcs9-0UU_HatR8NselvCgLUCtLySOG4nfBRR_DCeFYkUJh7hFSAKGEZemWTr-rN0FkGc0WX0VzAgQwCU/w311-h400/9780062954473%20Two%20dogs.jpeg" width="311" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael DiCapua Books/HARPER COLLINS<br />2022<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://bookshop.org/book/9780062954473" target="_blank">TWO DOGS,</a></b> created by author/Illustrator <b><a href="https://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/olivia-board-book/?Kenshoo=20728c69-d2e9-4283-a535-63de9216468b&cm_ven=NonBrandSearch&cm_cat=MSN&cm_pla=NonBrand_Search_DSA&cm_ite=books_370521654_dat-2325398373393377%3Aloc-190&msclkid=55e2b520761d18d8e693d082db4185b8" target="_blank">Ian Falconer</a></b>, will leave you smiling and recommending it to others. That's no surprise, since Caldecott winner Falconer is acclaimed for his talent as a visual storyteller/illustrator. In this case such praise proves itself merited, and not just because of the of the appeal of these two <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/dachshund/" target="_blank">dachshund</a></span></b>-brother characters, surprisingly upright and outrageous. He has captured their personalities with semi-realistic situations, poses, and personalities accompanied by minimal but clever text.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This seemingly simple work, an account of a day's adventure and its consequences, is a treasury of mentor content on ways to express and convey humor. The juxtaposition of what is expected versus simple surprises begins on that cover and is an effective device throughout. The tug/hug contrast of emotions among siblings adds another rich layer, as are curiosity, teamwork success and foibles, and more. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Wouldn't everyone love to get a laugh, to tell or write humor in memorable ways? Check out this little masterpiece! And to learn more about <b><a href="https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/dachshund/" target="_blank">dachsunds, </a></b>click to see more, including their characteristic description: curious, friendly, spunky. Exactly like these TWO DOGS.</span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-59034511474701933682024-01-12T04:30:00.031-06:002024-01-12T04:30:00.129-06:00Fairy Tale Variants: Always Welcome Here!<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> Anyone who has attempted (seriously) to write picture books for children will have heard some supposedly reliable advice: don't attempt to write fairy tales and folk tales, even ones with a "twist". Publishers will NOT be interested. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That's certainly NOT the case, since you can see many fine examples of this genre in this <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://bookriot.com/picture-books-that-twist-traditional-fairy-tales/" target="_blank">review/post on the blog BOOK RIOT </a></span></b>from just a few months back. Each publishing year such notable efforts break through that false advice and land in welcoming hands. If you are a fan of such stories, be sure to check out these excellent recommendations. If you are a writer who has abandoned such manuscripts due to the discouraging words of warning, read that post. Then read the books.You'll find ample material to study to consider why she make it and some don't.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">What makes such published and praised fairy tale/folk tale twists stand out is that they are superbly done. They bring the best of writing to the challenge, offering enough of the original references to invite comparison, add humor, provide wry insights, or introduce other layers of meaning to consider. They are written to provide new views on the characters, the problems, the range of audiences, the identities or cultures of the stars, or even to flip the typical "moral of the story" on its head-- or on its bum.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKFxw2l075b_wdyiOTZIzFf0zorJ_jNL_fPUo-PJhgc1RHi91GJ3j4YrRE8THkxW_oGYuuGSu49GR4TQp32RRom9RWxFSnFuxMrYqtRKYbE25bChyphenhyphencOOtS85bcYtn5AfMAyQWC68A3WGqsyVzk5ngBBwO2uxjCYI7mhQSSkzq7drCjkLNenUfBtzgDMe7f/s500/9780593480038%20cinderella%20and%20fred.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="411" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKFxw2l075b_wdyiOTZIzFf0zorJ_jNL_fPUo-PJhgc1RHi91GJ3j4YrRE8THkxW_oGYuuGSu49GR4TQp32RRom9RWxFSnFuxMrYqtRKYbE25bChyphenhyphencOOtS85bcYtn5AfMAyQWC68A3WGqsyVzk5ngBBwO2uxjCYI7mhQSSkzq7drCjkLNenUfBtzgDMe7f/w329-h400/9780593480038%20cinderella%20and%20fred.jpeg" width="329" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne Schwartz Books, 2023<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>One recent picture book that achieves many of those benchmarks is <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/cinderella-and-a-mouse-called-fred-deborah-hopkinson/19108463?ean=9780593480038" target="_blank">CINDERELLA AND THE MOUSE CALLED FRED</a></span></b>, written by<b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=deborah+hopkinson&form=APMCS1&PC=APMC" target="_blank"> Deborah Hopkinson </a></span></b>and illustrated by<b><a href="https://www.paulozelinsky.com" target="_blank"> Paul O. Zelinsky.</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The twist here is that Cinderella is an avid gardener who meets a mouse with kind and curious eyes. She calls the mouse Fred, and advises on ways for him to stay safe from the mean step-family and the housesat. Fred is smitten and devoted. Ella (as she prefers to be called) is tending to a prize pumpkin intended to win a blue ribbon at the end of the season. Ella asks Fred to help nurture and protect it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The sudden appearance of the fairy godmother (see cover image) adds that comic element, and provides wild transformations of that pumpkin into a carriage and Fred into a horse. Quickly, the fairy godmother decks out Ella in an elaborate dress and glass (GLASS!) slippers, sending her to the ball as the driver of her own carriage. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">You can tell that familiar elements have been shifted to reveal a more complex personality for Ella, a more cognizant and opinionated role for mouse, with a thorough lack of traditional angst about falling in love or impressing Prince Charming. When that inevitable final chime at midnight ruptures the pumpkin and lands Ella on her un-bustled bum, she knowingly collects the seeds from that robust pumpkin for future planting. When the prince and entourage arrive to test that single glass slipper on the step-relatives, humor and exaggeration of their struggle burst from the page in images and effective commentary by Ella- "I'll find my own destiny, thank you!" </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The story line invites comparisons to the original plot, the characters, the goals, and the conclusions. At the risk of spoiling the final twist a bit, it is a happy ending involving a gardening contest and a soulmate who is most definitely NOT a prince. This is a delightful offering in storytelling, both in text and through visual narratives. It's a modernization and variant that works for any age. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9INcD45nnVfXnK0PdN_gwEaMtg2UUADnzGxVieFhJAT8MBwrzlYlOgUTXmEhPKe8vt8QUyncGA2R84FFjfeGXqbPEc4oLS_eF8kTQQdJGvFsHYipyN5ArQHSdBO4NpzwnmS8fcTXZ9f9NZgKvlkH3-1coMFcM0dqbcJb3026Hsu08x3kUVv_Qo2PQT1i/s390/0140549463%20Maid%20mouse%20house.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9INcD45nnVfXnK0PdN_gwEaMtg2UUADnzGxVieFhJAT8MBwrzlYlOgUTXmEhPKe8vt8QUyncGA2R84FFjfeGXqbPEc4oLS_eF8kTQQdJGvFsHYipyN5ArQHSdBO4NpzwnmS8fcTXZ9f9NZgKvlkH3-1coMFcM0dqbcJb3026Hsu08x3kUVv_Qo2PQT1i/s320/0140549463%20Maid%20mouse%20house.jpeg" width="246" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dodd, Mead. 1981<br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Each of these elements provide mentor examples for those developing stories of their own. There is one aspect of this delightful book that can't be replicated, though, and that's the combined prestigious talents and name-recognition of its creators. Hopkinson is widely admired for nonfiction, kid-friendly boigraphies as well as her praised/starred picture book fiction. I featured some her other works posts <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2012/02/happy-200th-birthday-charles-dickens.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></span></b>, <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2021/03/a-celebration-of-amazing-content-and_17.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></span></b>, and <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2012/03/unsung-women-and-titles.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></span></b>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Anyone who has read prior posts on this blog will be aware that I am a longtime fan of <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://www.paulozelinsky.com" target="_blank">Paul O. Zedlinsky's</a></span></b> work. I'm not alone, of course, in that admiration. Zelinsky is a Caldecott Medal winner with multiple Caldecott Honors, among countless other awards. One of his earliest picture books is among my favorites: <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/paul-o-zelinsky/maid-mouse-odd-shaped-house/" target="_blank">The Maid, The Mouse, and the Odd-Shaped House</a></span></b>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I treasure my signed copy of this out-of-print picture book. The moment I viewed the cover of the current<b> CINDERELLA </b>release I recognized the influence of the style Zelinsky displayed in <b>"The Maid..." </b>that guided these wonderful new illustrations. That was certainly not for lack of alternatives, since his various successes demonstrate mastery of a wide range of art approaches and techniques. See examples in some links to prior posts I've shared about his work, <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2012/04/z-is-for-moose-says-who.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></span></b>, <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2012/04/overlook-ogre-at-your-peril.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></span></b>, <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2021/12/red-and-green-and-blue-and-white-color.html" target="_blank">HERE,</a></span></b> and <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2018/11/all-of-kind-family-hanukkah-timely-and.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></span></b>, or type his name in the search box on the right menu bar.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Whether you click and check those earlier references or the recent one at the top, or not, please consider reading this delightfully fresh and appealing take on a traditional fairy tale. I believe you'll have fun with it and think of plenty of kids to share it with... soon.</span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-32831189654060852682024-01-05T04:30:00.011-06:002024-01-06T08:40:03.107-06:00CYBILS AWARDS Finalists: Early Chapter Books<p> <span style="font-family: arial;">I hope you read my post earlier this week to share my thoughts about one of the EASY READER finalists for CYBILS AWARD for Early Chapter Books. If not, HERE it is!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">(If so, you can skip this next section which was offered last time.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">From CYBILS,<b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://www.cybils.com/cybils-award-categories/category-description-easy-reader-early-chapter-books" target="_blank"> found here</a></span></b>: </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #566471; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;">"</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>The Easy Reader / Early Chapter Book category includes the spectrum of titles for early children just learning to read and ranges from very basic books for emergent readers to longer, illustrated titles for kids who are not quite ready for kids who are not quite ready to read middle-grade novels on their own.</i></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #566471; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>For <b style="box-sizing: border-box;">easy reader</b> nominations, we look for leveled readers with controlled vocabularies. These are books designed for kids to build vocabulary (e.g., "sight words") and practice their reading. Often they are parts of series with reading-related titles, such as “Step into Reading” or “I Can Read” and they can usually be identified by their large type, simple sentence structure, and colorful illustrations on every page. Easy readers are typically 32-64 pages in length. Well-known easy readers include series like Bink & Gollie and Elephant & Piggie.</i></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #566471; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">Early chapter books</b> (also called beginning chapter books or short-chapter books) can be a little bit more difficult to identify. Many books have chapters (including a lot of middle-grade novels), but only books designed for developing readers belong in this category. Compared to easy readers, early chapter books are a bit longer (up to 160 pages or so), and they have fewer illustrations. Instead of full-color pictures on every page, they may have just a few black and white line drawings sprinkled throughout the text. What distinguishes them from novels is that beginning chapter books use large print, short chapters, and simple plots, and they rely heavily on dialogue. Popular beginning chapter books include the Princess in Black, Dory Fantasmagory, and Magic Tree House series."</i></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.cybils.com" target="_blank"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="color: #2b00fe;"><span><i>To see ALL the CYBILS categories with clickable links to their </i></span></span><span face="Open Sans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">descriptions, check </span><b><span style="color: #800180;">HERE.</span></b></i></span></span></a></span></p><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNo7zBjo7ylEGfSDqOm3GdKcjWs2K2EE2xGY9fX8XLpUY3XZpBqsoTwjj_-DsS6zMQWhYOXe0uX1UoaQLOS0I_VVF75b3BqIhu37ib5F1xPAEFPDDavf2utoM8dnG_HQPlO2SRxApgXnclnY5tr-UfwwmS-6eG1vH6aW1l6Ntd_wLTG7SVxSEmacUuutO/s500/9781536229462%20too%20small%20tola.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="336" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNo7zBjo7ylEGfSDqOm3GdKcjWs2K2EE2xGY9fX8XLpUY3XZpBqsoTwjj_-DsS6zMQWhYOXe0uX1UoaQLOS0I_VVF75b3BqIhu37ib5F1xPAEFPDDavf2utoM8dnG_HQPlO2SRxApgXnclnY5tr-UfwwmS-6eG1vH6aW1l6Ntd_wLTG7SVxSEmacUuutO/w269-h400/9781536229462%20too%20small%20tola.jpeg" width="269" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Candlewick Press, 2023</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Let's get right to the finalist title I was honored to write about, <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/too-small-tola-gets-tough-atinuke/18580738?ean=9781536229462" target="_blank">TOO SMALL TOLA GETS TOUGH</a></span></b>, by author <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://atinuke.co.uk" target="_blank">Atinuke</a></span></b> and illustrated by <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://www.onyinyeiwu.com" target="_blank">Onyinwe Iwu.</a></span></b></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><div><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><b>TOO SMALL TOLA GETS TOUGH</b> is a unique early chapter book set in Lagos, perhaps one of the largest urban areas in the world but rarely portrayed in typical American texts. In this series, and now this title, Tola's loving family is portrayed realistically in both dialect and circumstances that provide a window into daily life that is not unusual for the time and place portrayed. In this case it is set in circumstances surrounding the outset of the Covid pandemic and lockdown. </span></div><div><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);">The most unusual part of this early chapter book is not the rarity of material in this locale, or this cultural portrait, but the fact that Tola is the central character, yet the older siblings/family/characters carry the storylines through several chapters. Those sequences portray challenges that are much older than young Tola would have faced. In fact, though, this is a valuable presentation that proves to be engaging, appealing, and broadening in the natural and authentic way in which the story is told and the events unfold.</span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><br /></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><br /></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">For more information about the other CYBILS <a href="https://www.cybils.com/2024/01/cybils-2023-easy-reader-early-chapter-book-finalists.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">finalists in this category (and others), click HERE</span></b>.</a></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Stay tuned for the announcement about the actual WINNERS in each category, shared on social media and online on the<b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://www.cybils.com/blog" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.cybils.com/blog" target="_blank">CYBILS blog, HERE. </a> And share the book love for any books you </span></b></span><span style="color: #800180;"><b>love!</b></span></div></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzzQy8tS9ofZ9L-4rL7Ulq4QlmofCjfO9xhZgAY6pYuuC1JI4z6lrUUY_ejRXj_HheduqEgDByKJ5xx4fHJfpVm11yNdhafAFBjwgjwJOxlrR6LAHzFTzL3TjUcCfw3L2x-5o8wikB2isD8pkAeHq8ktkLgHrtcnbfbWV72YgLOGgvR4P1kzjeEsKgdnPX/s1600/CYBILS%20chapter%20book%20finalsists%202023.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzzQy8tS9ofZ9L-4rL7Ulq4QlmofCjfO9xhZgAY6pYuuC1JI4z6lrUUY_ejRXj_HheduqEgDByKJ5xx4fHJfpVm11yNdhafAFBjwgjwJOxlrR6LAHzFTzL3TjUcCfw3L2x-5o8wikB2isD8pkAeHq8ktkLgHrtcnbfbWV72YgLOGgvR4P1kzjeEsKgdnPX/w400-h225/CYBILS%20chapter%20book%20finalsists%202023.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><br /></span></span></div>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-50913508973430259342024-01-02T04:30:00.006-06:002024-01-02T04:30:00.138-06:00CYBILS AWARDS Finalists! EASY READERS<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> It has been my joy and honor to take part in CYBILS AWARDS Round One evaluations for many years. This year I worked in a new category (to me) but one that I know and love from my long teaching career. Our team read and considered dozens and dozens of books for the earliest (emerging) readers and for those who have acquired reading but are building independence and endurance for longer text. The following is a direct statement from CYBILS to describe the two book categories I worked with this year.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">From CYBILS,<b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://www.cybils.com/cybils-award-categories/category-description-easy-reader-early-chapter-books" target="_blank"> found here</a></span></b>: </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #566471; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;">"</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>The Easy Reader / Early Chapter Book category includes the spectrum of titles for early children just learning to read and ranges from very basic books for emergent readers to longer, illustrated titles for kids who are not quite ready for kids who are not quite ready to read middle-grade novels on their own.</i></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #566471; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>For <b style="box-sizing: border-box;">easy reader</b> nominations, we look for leveled readers with controlled vocabularies. These are books designed for kids to build vocabulary (e.g., "sight words") and practice their reading. Often they are parts of series with reading-related titles, such as “Step into Reading” or “I Can Read” and they can usually be identified by their large type, simple sentence structure, and colorful illustrations on every page. Easy readers are typically 32-64 pages in length. Well-known easy readers include series like Bink & Gollie and Elephant & Piggie.</i></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #566471; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">Early chapter books</b> (also called beginning chapter books or short-chapter books) can be a little bit more difficult to identify. Many books have chapters (including a lot of middle-grade novels), but only books designed for developing readers belong in this category. Compared to easy readers, early chapter books are a bit longer (up to 160 pages or so), and they have fewer illustrations. Instead of full-color pictures on every page, they may have just a few black and white line drawings sprinkled throughout the text. What distinguishes them from novels is that beginning chapter books use large print, short chapters, and simple plots, and they rely heavily on dialogue. Popular beginning chapter books include the Princess in Black, Dory Fantasmagory, and Magic Tree House series."</i></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><i>To see ALL the CYBILS categories with clickable links to their </i></span></span><span face="Open Sans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">descriptions, check </span><b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://www.cybils.com/cybils-award-categories" target="_blank">HERE.</a></span></b></i></span></span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);">When I mentioned my role in these categories in early fall </span><b style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2020/09/cybils-awards-news-yep-im-excited.html" target="_blank">(HERE)</a></span></b><span><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"> I promised a post about ways I considered the appeal and merit of these books, with some references to their similarity and differences from picture books.The time has come! Many adults seem to think that picture books are 'easy readers", but that is far from the case. For thoughts and notes about that, and ways that it is my firm belief that quality picture books should be read and enjoyed at ANY age, check </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254); color: #800180;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2012/01/so-what-is-power-in-picture-books.html" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">the post that launched this blog</a><b>.</b> </span></span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);">The key difference is that picture books are intended to be read by </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);">adults/older readers, and the storylines or concepts are delivered with equal (and necessary) weight through both text and illustrations. Well-loved picture books might be retold or share-read by young ones not yet able to read without support. picture books might also address established readers who can work independently, but the images and text are essential in partnership. Both of the categories above are intended for developing readers whose use of the text will have some picture support (much more at the earliest levels) but the text without an image would still function effectively. Also, some adult interaction and support may be involved, but it is not their intended delivery model. With the early chapter books, illustrations may be very few, and another major difference from picture books is the length of the text and complexity of story line. These are not intended for a single, short reading from beginning to end. They allow readers to sustain story elements over time and chapters, to predict coming events, and to use text context to explore new vocabulary and character depth.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span face="Open Sans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254); font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdVRKBnA1fdNSCffWw8nNYLZfpjCtTFd-SETRRmHCoQm4Mxq3kEC9AwuznD6-ZGj5ZrkCcu_GMzy4eXDFwKrBEvzmrcNSvGAPb1Qy6Zq0yfxIoE_Q81YewgYTLabwqvCmKLLOr6-bjLWxmTtzmxtosQrYzCC-DAyN1knPLP_cUBxIPU5BSbtkViy-soBeU/s500/9781665920018%20worm%20and%20cagterpillar.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdVRKBnA1fdNSCffWw8nNYLZfpjCtTFd-SETRRmHCoQm4Mxq3kEC9AwuznD6-ZGj5ZrkCcu_GMzy4eXDFwKrBEvzmrcNSvGAPb1Qy6Zq0yfxIoE_Q81YewgYTLabwqvCmKLLOr6-bjLWxmTtzmxtosQrYzCC-DAyN1knPLP_cUBxIPU5BSbtkViy-soBeU/w266-h400/9781665920018%20worm%20and%20cagterpillar.jpeg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SIMON SPOTLIGHT, 2023<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Open Sans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254); font-family: arial;">This post celebrates the EASY READER finalist title that I wrote about for the award finalists announcement, <b><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/worm-and-caterpillar-are-friends-ready-to-read-graphics-level-1-kaz-windness/18562488?ean=9781665920018" target="_blank">WORM AND CATERPILLAR ARE FRIENDS</a>,<u> </u></b><u>by<b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="http://www.windnessbooks.com" target="_blank"> Kaz Windness.</a></span></b></u></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What a terrific offering this is for earliest readers to launch themselves into a lifetime love of books. The two characters are irresistible, their similarities and differences are openly discussed, and the underlying truth is shared directly- do we really need to be the same to be friends? The structure of the opening prior to the main text allows the twosome to introduce readers to the ways in which understanding graphic/comic/speech bubble text calls on unique skills, not just from picture book or straight text narrative reading. The brief back matter provides age/interest level science related to the story elements and plot development. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The ability of this text and images to elicit emotional concern and connection while providing controlled vocabulary, sentence length, and story elements is as awww-inducing as the storyline and relationships themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span face="Open Sans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254); font-family: arial;"></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This new easy reader (series coming) will be a strong favorite for young readers!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For more information about the other CYBILS<span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.cybils.com/blog" target="_blank"> finalists in this category (and others),</a><b><a href="https://www.cybils.com/2024/01/cybils-2023-easy-reader-early-chapter-book-finalists.html" target="_blank"> click HERE</a></b></span><b><a href="https://www.cybils.com/2024/01/cybils-2023-easy-reader-early-chapter-book-finalists.html" target="_blank">.</a></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamt4frPuzbaNBEBKI6pNIcanUX8MxKGEtDfKFIBxC1aQ2oI22-EwBRK3DFZOAyiLZSC19z2_hnvG-T5wWm5lBQTGhdFEYSgnbAnv2NNcMscBhWmwppgRfpL85DkNBAH0yZbPtRHFM1TGrB4JOenZDJYyjcdXTgsElGsQvy99HCGHiUwF8uNd6ZQCxkHj9/s1600/CYBILS%202023%20Easy%20reader%20finalists.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamt4frPuzbaNBEBKI6pNIcanUX8MxKGEtDfKFIBxC1aQ2oI22-EwBRK3DFZOAyiLZSC19z2_hnvG-T5wWm5lBQTGhdFEYSgnbAnv2NNcMscBhWmwppgRfpL85DkNBAH0yZbPtRHFM1TGrB4JOenZDJYyjcdXTgsElGsQvy99HCGHiUwF8uNd6ZQCxkHj9/w400-h225/CYBILS%202023%20Easy%20reader%20finalists.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Next up, in just a few days, I'll celebrate the finalist title I wrote about for the other CYBILS category in our group: Beginning Chapter Books. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><i style="color: #800180; font-family: arial;">I had the great pleasure of meeting <b><a href="http://www.windnessbooks.com" target="_blank">Kaz Windess </a></b>at <b><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2023/12/mini-report-from-ncte-annual-convention.html" target="_blank">NCTE 2023 </a></b>a month or so ago. She is as vibrant and tenderhearted and exciting as her books. Check them all out by clicking on her name.</i></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span face="Open Sans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span face="Open Sans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span face="Open Sans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.313em;"><span face="Open Sans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);"><br /></span></span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-70889855937061947972023-12-29T04:30:00.001-06:002023-12-29T04:30:00.133-06:00BUNNY and TREE- Reflections on HOME<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> This year's holiday gatherings have felt especially sweet. My recent move back to my home town (after MANY years away) find me taking part in big and small occasions with family and friends, most I had rarely seen at this time of year. During the Fall, I enjoyed aa short visit to my longtime home to deal with multiple business matters. When my plane landed, a thought filled me- "I'm HOME!" Not many days later, as my return flight approached landing back in my hometown/new home, another thought overtook me, unsolicited: "You'll be HOME soon." Then, in a conscious, intentional thought, I compared those two reactions and I realized, to my deep joy, that I have TWO homes. Two places where I know my way around, where caring people who have been part of my life for a long time are near, and where I find joy and feel safe. We all require safe shelter and sustenance to survive, and will fail to thrive without relationships of love and trust.But HOME is immeasurably more than that.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmYxmEoSObm_7G5VJOFqjlk9ZM0Yt57Ng5a_MLTjcr4wKARhO4_YLnYXKIXdwWpNZMKtjtXX9S8mvUZhaf0Ev4J8wQD8-h4b7UDuu5CRmU3ZLwmHVp2UMwy7cd_OWBMhrv-bDyREXl8lwJfpzH35Akp49NQy9TqMk3RPYRYmyAXvqDOtBWAHvPcJC6R1Y/s500/9781592703937%20Bunny%20and%20tree.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="387" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmYxmEoSObm_7G5VJOFqjlk9ZM0Yt57Ng5a_MLTjcr4wKARhO4_YLnYXKIXdwWpNZMKtjtXX9S8mvUZhaf0Ev4J8wQD8-h4b7UDuu5CRmU3ZLwmHVp2UMwy7cd_OWBMhrv-bDyREXl8lwJfpzH35Akp49NQy9TqMk3RPYRYmyAXvqDOtBWAHvPcJC6R1Y/w310-h400/9781592703937%20Bunny%20and%20tree.jpeg" width="310" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enchanted Lio0n Books, 2023<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>That's what brought me back to share this very special wordless picture book. <b><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/bunny-tree-balint-zsako/18639920?ean=9781592703937" target="_blank">BUNNY & TREE</a></b> is a loving and moving debut endeavor by <b><a href="https://balintzsako.com" target="_blank">BALINT ZSAKO</a></b>, A visual artist/photographer/filmaker, he was born into an artistic family in Budapest, Hungary but now is a resident of Canada.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This is an exceptionally impressive wordless book for many reasons, not the least of which is the quality of the art and the final product. Colorful, full-spread illustrations are expensive to produce for publishers, especially with the large page size, excellent paper, and surprising length of this offering.With a range of tones and colors, from glowing pastels to shadowed subtlety, each sprawling spread incorporates the gentleness or intensity needed to share a glorious field off flowers or a seethingly fierce wolf. The cover image here gives you a sense of the story, as does the title. The length of this book (184 pages) is beyond rare for such a publisher's financial commitment to storytelling and to art. This is a visual storytelling of escape, assistance, need, challenge, travel, hope, and the power of such emotional connections between friends. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I receive picture books from authors and publishers (but with no promise of a review). I seek out most books I reveiw at my public library collaborative. (Cheers for those fabulous folks and facilities, at my prior home and now here!) I buy books as gifts and often reveiw those, since I curate actual purchases very cautiously. In this case, though, I learned about this July, 2023 release long before it became available, and I preordered. From my first "reading", through countless others since then, I have deferred writing a review because I felt inadequate to praise it. With SIX starred reviews (so far) and being named on "Best of Year" lists, I'll admit to a shift in my thinking. This is one of those phenomenal books that is getting outstanding support and will certainly be named among many medal and honor winners in the coming month. (All well-deserved.) I decided I would lend my small voice and limited blog posts to some other books that were still a step away from such glowing spotlights. Yet, these many months later, I have not shelved this book out of my line of sight. I keep it "at hand", because each time I examine it from front to back, retold its visual stories, I find more to love. New details or insights expand previous readings, and I continue to love it deeply. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">After my experiences reflecting on HOME and what it means, I picked this up again and found an even closer connection.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Throughout each reading, the short version of what happens is an epic journey, a nine-act story with prologue and epilogue. It seems both fanciful and familiar. RABBIT (with different-colored ears to foreshadow attention to color in images and impact) and its mates seek escape from a marauding wolf. Just as death is imminent, TREE reveals itself as having both empathy and unique abilities. Reshaping its trunks, branches, and limbs into the shape of a massive wolf head, TREE forces the predator to retreat. This is all in the the prologue. Each chapter reveals grateful RABBIT and caring TREE moving through helpful roles, balancing each other. All the while they discover places and experiences in a wider world that only bond them further in trust and awareness of the potential each offers. Their journey involves dangers and sacrifices, but this story provides the polar opposite of the Tree's sacrifice in THE GIVING TREE, a picture book both despised and cherished by readers of different opinions. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I considered sharing an interior spread, or a short passage of my (latest) interpretation of the visual narrative in words, and choose not to do so. Whether you check it out of a library, gift it to someone you love, <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bunny-Tree-Balint-Zsako/dp/1592703933" target="_blank">screen first by reading other reviews</a></span></b>, or ask your local independent bookstore to show it to you, please "read" it. Many times, if you can. Over time. The meaning of HOME and FRIEND and COMMUNITY changes throughout each of our lives, as it does within the pages of this book. The magical accomplishment in this wordless marvel is the epilogue indicator that when we share journeys and emotions and understanding with others, nature itself may join the pro9cess in the most surprising ways.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-49815319130669194292023-12-23T04:30:00.058-06:002023-12-23T04:30:00.130-06:00A Christmas (Eve) Recap<p> <span style="font-family: arial;">For those who celebrate a western tradition of Christmas on December 25 (ands also for those who celebrate other seasonal holidays or Eastern dates for Christmas or ignore holidays) this is recap of some of the picture books I've shared over the years, including the current publishing year.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">If you are a fan of picture books at all, this bouquet of beauties will lift your spirits and please your eyes and ears. (For those who have yet to fall in love with picture books, this collection might win you over!)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vZVZsBBnHieM8nposlDyWryv-RKzSkT85woYm4XKfrKQB6nntJ-a-q7fIRsLfeQkwfwAbFKsSxUMVE-Kumpj5nk-YKTI2Xs8MKSjjdFZHViwVkIZUaoScwqSmx18XlaJ2b4BWtHI2ZhVn6tbBRROgm1-YTc2WvhPauwDsog9qPDLnA_93CwY-btj4w86/s400/9781506485621%20Lullaby%20for%20the%20king.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="327" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vZVZsBBnHieM8nposlDyWryv-RKzSkT85woYm4XKfrKQB6nntJ-a-q7fIRsLfeQkwfwAbFKsSxUMVE-Kumpj5nk-YKTI2Xs8MKSjjdFZHViwVkIZUaoScwqSmx18XlaJ2b4BWtHI2ZhVn6tbBRROgm1-YTc2WvhPauwDsog9qPDLnA_93CwY-btj4w86/w164-h200/9781506485621%20Lullaby%20for%20the%20king.jpeg" width="164" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Beaming Books, 2023</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">Starting with my "this season" favorite that has already landed on MANY best-of-year lists is a book that is certainly destined to be a classic, Take a look<b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2023/10/lullaby-for-king-glorious-new-picture.html" target="_blank"> (HERE) </a></span></b>at my glowing praise for <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/lullaby-for-the-king-nikki-grimes/19256490?ean=9781506485621" target="_blank">LULLABY FOR THE KING</a></span></b>, written by the incomparable Nikki Grimes with luminous illustrations by Michelle Carlos. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbiP1hNYiwx0PiVi03pdoLjiQB0OB9Kd-gBvvd6vad2zTHFJ5Yv_QZNq8Opedc6u51jQr5MY76GaMN0MjGAyrTaH6NeaMh5BUD-IaJfUjt4EDeBgdNSclXzB3YnkCWHoYVP6cvyua20net4T1rM9zVI6GMETWt9zeJJoqr-nUSbEDQuoY_p8s6eh1b8A6_/s400/9781646140879%20red%20green%20blue%20white.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbiP1hNYiwx0PiVi03pdoLjiQB0OB9Kd-gBvvd6vad2zTHFJ5Yv_QZNq8Opedc6u51jQr5MY76GaMN0MjGAyrTaH6NeaMh5BUD-IaJfUjt4EDeBgdNSclXzB3YnkCWHoYVP6cvyua20net4T1rM9zVI6GMETWt9zeJJoqr-nUSbEDQuoY_p8s6eh1b8A6_/w166-h200/9781646140879%20red%20green%20blue%20white.jpeg" width="166" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Levine Quiredo, 2021</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />In recent years an equally compelling holiday picture book conveys a fictionalized version of true events, a story of anti-semitism and hate that is playing out across out country today. Of course, the ending is based on those real events and reveals the most uplifting of choices among the community surrounding the targets of such hate. <b><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/red-and-green-and-blue-and-white-lee-wind/18449842?ean=9781646140879" target="_blank">RED AND GREEN AND BLUE AND WHITE</a></b> <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2021/12/red-and-green-and-blue-and-white-color.html" target="_blank">(reviewed HERE)</a>,</span></b> was created by the immense talents of Lee Wind and Paul O. Zelinsky. I gifted this book multiple times this season because the message is both necessary and inspiring, revealed for any age through effective storytelling and illustrations that are both luminous and emotionally powerful. Sadly, the <b><a href="https://www.leewind.org/the-story-behind-the-story-red-and-green-and-blue-and-white/" target="_blank">origin story for this one goes back to 1993</a> </b>and the hatred is rooted many centuries earlier.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhorFWt9wjnfKzAJiKedI5Dhkicpb8dYgo8Hogu2CsVH_Mo5tfiEKWIp9m_yS2yJADO_DGpg5SlAcFQdy_kxgNqqxDPJpwA04Hgv8Xkt3ghfPRbpJkdLna5nPfFs7O3e_vHOXdekW3p1GiAh-_RERjKHXsRhYdKU0G9IQ7pqDYT_xpgAj3dIuDS_lniRkF9/s320/9781554534692%20SOS%20CHristmas.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="261" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhorFWt9wjnfKzAJiKedI5Dhkicpb8dYgo8Hogu2CsVH_Mo5tfiEKWIp9m_yS2yJADO_DGpg5SlAcFQdy_kxgNqqxDPJpwA04Hgv8Xkt3ghfPRbpJkdLna5nPfFs7O3e_vHOXdekW3p1GiAh-_RERjKHXsRhYdKU0G9IQ7pqDYT_xpgAj3dIuDS_lniRkF9/w163-h200/9781554534692%20SOS%20CHristmas.jpg" width="163" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Kids Can Press, 2012<br /></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Dipping back a decade, one of my favorite characters is a perfect fit for the youngest readers, guaranteed to generate laughs on each page turn (and repeat readings, guaranteed!). Adult readers will be chuckling right along and might be surprised by the astute observations and details noticed by those little lap friends sharing the book. </span><b><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2012/12/whos-afraid-of-christmas.html" target="_blank">SCAREDY SQUIRREL PREPARES FOR CHRISTMAS: A Safety Guide for Scaredies</a></b><span style="font-family: arial;"> is both written and illustrated by Melanie Watt. Whether this book introduces you to Scaredy or brings him to a new situation for you (among the countless situations that scare the tail off of him), you'll love this one season after season.</span><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmLfeXPanA2pF-rjoHj31MLt8XGlInryD07w9fdtmUZvgP3zrxwDnqAJtZrlKhess3DNOFl0QjFcJQMUId1HqUC7mcHiGzdXDPxkoEy5whuYdM6yt1eEgFRvJKQ0XwALvHzXhdl4jrOEI_FEme56u9zOs2pZHY0OLCW2WluI__9cOrHGLRDp47CH_FNii/s320/9798986396545%20out%20and%20about.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiMsFGbHMF_Fun-me9WCaknks_uzgbm2fJroED0xaOZ9x9dUGXYvAgBPqhb24WhYqymb8v0ykx32qCOzb3EyXoUqLQ4bKTen9fvnsvZaeCIE2UPlVzVlZRYHI-RnjV85j93X1zmFam20qPDXxk1YYkSznGuzbHA0d2T4nbMone1UL2GsncovfAFsif3LG/s320/9798986396545%20out%20and%20about.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="243" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiMsFGbHMF_Fun-me9WCaknks_uzgbm2fJroED0xaOZ9x9dUGXYvAgBPqhb24WhYqymb8v0ykx32qCOzb3EyXoUqLQ4bKTen9fvnsvZaeCIE2UPlVzVlZRYHI-RnjV85j93X1zmFam20qPDXxk1YYkSznGuzbHA0d2T4nbMone1UL2GsncovfAFsif3LG/w152-h200/9798986396545%20out%20and%20about.jpeg" width="152" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Kalliot Books, 2023</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />How often have you heard (or said), "If only the Christmas Spirit could last all year. *sigh*"? This next, also recent picture book, is not actually a holiday book despite wintery scenes. In fact, <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2023/08/out-and-about-story-of-giving.html" target="_blank">OUT AND ABOUT: A STORY OF GIVING,</a></span></b> is a tale of sustaining that giving, caring attitude throughout the year. It is also about passing down values, the concern for and action to support others and their needs, which could not only continue the holiday spirit through the year but across generations. Just imagine what that world would be like. Written by Liza Wiemer and illustrated by Margeaux Lucas, this story/family reveal the ways in which we can move ourselves from a sense of caring and empathy into action, not requiring an occasion to do so. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To this last offering, firmly set in contemporary families and situations,<b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2012/12/catching-santa-and-memories.html" target="_blank"> I'll add one last link </a></span></b>that I've shared several times since the first post. My childhood memory and reflections on my own family include a short poem I wrote for my own family based on actual events as a child. May anyone reading this (and everyone else!) look around in the days, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">past, present, and coming, to recognize and celebrate the blessings you find in your lives- even when surrounded by struggles or concerns. I wish you all many moments of peace, joy, generosity, and security.</span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-13176981873740189012023-12-19T04:30:00.016-06:002023-12-19T09:28:44.486-06:00Compare, Contrast, and Celebrate Imagination!<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> I enjoy sharing more than one title in a post, even though that means providing a slightly less detailed examination of each. In the prior post,<a href="http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2023/12/speed-round-few-picture-books-featured.html" style="color: #800180; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"> HERE, </a>I offered a quick look at three picture books that came home with me from the NCTE 2023 Conference. Each offered distinct appeal and each would be shelved in different sections of a library or book store. </span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;"><i>Please note the following word of warning from this committed picture book reader/writer/cheerleader:</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>I enjoy taking a deeper dive into titles that provide valuable and appealing reads in their own standing, but might be elevated even further when read together. I'll repeat something I often advise when mentoring young teachers/parents or providing workshops or professional development: ALWAYS share a picture book on its own merits before beginning any lesson or analysis or other exploration. Some kinds of intentionally instructive books can be used in parts or sections, but a quality picture book offers that glorious opportunity that few other whole "books" can do. They provide COMPLETE, COMPACT, and COMPELLING art and literature in a single sitting. They are meant to be read through, to be experienced as a whole. That is the intention of both the author and the illustrator. Honor that. Share it as a whole. Of course a single spread in isolation or a breathtakingly beautiful line of text can be isolated and shared, but it will mean so much if that happens after the entirety of the book has been experienced. </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">After that side note, I'm eager to share with you two books that each deserve the tag, "quality picture book." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_I33hBuLGj3DYo4i9r0MH_1FoZQNazwmess1ehJnk-Iu2hC9emeRstvL4nb3qNWaSQX_4pCWooBxnONoxm8a9V108S9e6kkvI-to15esDzt_vqAAv96k7ckpZJ2DFdNpmjJqHv8B63FnLlNsjhfKBAG38j2wuY8oF_I-OK6Xfebr3ahPs8X6-a_L_MW2c/s500/9780823449477%20nice%20to%20be%20alone.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="386" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_I33hBuLGj3DYo4i9r0MH_1FoZQNazwmess1ehJnk-Iu2hC9emeRstvL4nb3qNWaSQX_4pCWooBxnONoxm8a9V108S9e6kkvI-to15esDzt_vqAAv96k7ckpZJ2DFdNpmjJqHv8B63FnLlNsjhfKBAG38j2wuY8oF_I-OK6Xfebr3ahPs8X6-a_L_MW2c/w309-h400/9780823449477%20nice%20to%20be%20alone.jpeg" width="309" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NEAL PORTER BOOKS, <br />Holiday House 2023<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;">The first is <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/sometimes-it-s-nice-to-be-alone-amy-hest/18510617?ean=9780823449477" target="_blank">SOMETIMES IT'S NICE TO BE ALONE,</a></span></b> written by <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://www.amyhest.com/about" target="_blank">Amy Hest</a></span></b> and illustrated by the<b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://philipstead.com" target="_blank"> Philip Stead</a></span></b>. This spectacle-wearing girl presents a thesis: "Sometimes it is nice to be alone...." </span><span style="font-family: arial;"> repeated on multiple-spread sequences that reveal a pattern. Doing everyday things (eating a cookie, reading, tumbling, even trailing after-bath footprints), she restates the premise and then adds a "what if a friend..." consideration. After the initial comparison of solo versus shared activity, it is clear that the "sometimes" qualifier matters. Even the most independent and "loner" personalities will <i>sometimes</i> find great pleasure in sharing the activity with a friend. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In this case, the remarkably talented, Caldecott Award winning illustrator depicts each set-up scene with visual clues that allow readers to soon anticipate who each surprise friend might be as the page turns. Light-hearted and heart-warming humor arrive in each revelation, allowing audiences to nod approval as familiar stuffed characters achieve "real life" size and traits as they join in a paired/shared activity. They are all animals, wild animals at that, but ones that convey the safe and sentimental personalities of the ZOO animals in A SICK DAY FOR AMOS McGEE, also illustrated by Philip Stead.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I noted the effect of the spectacles throughout, always reflecting so that we never see the actual eyes of this girl. Her gaze/glasses are always aimed at her own pursuits, not at the reader, underscoring her comfort in being on her own. I couldn't help but notice, though, that even as her stuffed animals joined in the engaging pastimes she chooses, none are actual friends or humans. In repeated readings I believe young audiences might note the poignancy of that, wondering if she is masking a longing for actual friendship and companionship, at least at times.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQygYxyFjgxKCnKb8LKC9dp_ZZk16BGH0bNpSPIKgTkhY5VVys5QhEX95Ys9ST-UJQ8oUfWbJT4vtRXZz4x77MYaxQM4hau7VD4asR9dGZx6GDyjZrnG-XMPmjpnxt1BXd8RczyU-_B8-zERjOopf_p1PuXBXdh7C4XYiXywhcIU8-WVlFK_056d-72e8H/s500/9781592703838%20what%20if%20one%20day.webp" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="500" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQygYxyFjgxKCnKb8LKC9dp_ZZk16BGH0bNpSPIKgTkhY5VVys5QhEX95Ys9ST-UJQ8oUfWbJT4vtRXZz4x77MYaxQM4hau7VD4asR9dGZx6GDyjZrnG-XMPmjpnxt1BXd8RczyU-_B8-zERjOopf_p1PuXBXdh7C4XYiXywhcIU8-WVlFK_056d-72e8H/s320/9781592703838%20what%20if%20one%20day.webp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ENCHANTED LION BOOKS, 2023<br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />The second picture book that extends this "What if..." line of thinking into a more conceptual level is <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/what-if-one-day-bruce-handy/18315179?ean=9781592703838" target="_blank">WHAT IF ONE DAY... </a></span></b>, written by <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Bruce-Handy/75805730" target="_blank">Bruce Handy</a></span></b> and illustrated by <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://www.ashleighcorrin.com" target="_blank">Ashleigh Corrin.</a></span></b> This book uses a similar pattern of proposing a potential situation ("What if one day all the birds flew away?) followed by several double-page spreads that propose consequences.No labels or clear indicators of the relative merits or losses of those consequences is imposed, inviting discussion. So, the skies would be quieter, worms would worry less, etc. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This picture book is oversized on sturdy paper stock with vibrant illustrations that splash across the pages and drip off the edges. The character posing this question appears to be similar in age to the prior main character, in this case a child of color without clear indicators if it is boy or girl. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The minimal but thought-provoking text invites audiences to imagine other potential results if such a thing would happen one day. A celebratory double spread concludes each "what if" sequence, declaring, joyously, that "THERE ARE BIRDS!" and other such exuberances for each cycle. That format means this is picture book longer than the usual 32 of 40 pages, with color and font and considerations leading to the ultimate "What if...". What if things are missing from this world because someone has not yet dreamed it? What might the reader dream that could lead to filling the world with wonders as a result. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Both books invite imagination, empathy, and connections to the natural world. Both, obviously, use repeating patterns to assure young readers that the stories offer secure and safe places to consider such remarkable "what if..." questions. The first asks the same WHAT if each time- regarding the potential of sharing with a friend. The latter looks around and sees what is taken for granted then erases it to explore potential consequences.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So, WHAT IF you get your hands on both of these books and compare them yourself, then find others to share them with. Invite yourself and others to ponder that final question: WHAT WOULD YOU DREAM OF? And what could that lead to? </span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-70757597481375703372023-12-15T04:30:00.001-06:002023-12-15T04:30:00.141-06:00"Speed Round": a Few Picture Books Featured During NCTE 2023<p> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcRyAUfp2UBpPE3gFYDOljgqZKV9phn3tybJxudZNKpzPZtX9_DV3h35PU6gIQ8mJdDBlcfOd90-tg0fKX2CN_cCt1SVtlddKpMFrrii7g33rAOITeKUL3fQSwVs4xkW7d1NbP-fXbUWBUNzPqoOnf_lKnHI2ZZxYMu6Fa29ntp5O9JmCibXpz6OtR1v7g/s400/9780823438617%20the%20dirt%20b%20ook.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcRyAUfp2UBpPE3gFYDOljgqZKV9phn3tybJxudZNKpzPZtX9_DV3h35PU6gIQ8mJdDBlcfOd90-tg0fKX2CN_cCt1SVtlddKpMFrrii7g33rAOITeKUL3fQSwVs4xkW7d1NbP-fXbUWBUNzPqoOnf_lKnHI2ZZxYMu6Fa29ntp5O9JmCibXpz6OtR1v7g/s320/9780823438617%20the%20dirt%20b%20ook.jpeg" width="247" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">HOLIDAY HOUSE, 2023</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;">To make up for several missing weeks of posts, this time I will spotlight several picture books that followed me home from my recent <b><a href="https://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2023/12/mini-report-from-ncte-annual-convention.html" target="_blank">NCTE Conference</a></b>. To name any single title, author, session, or special event as the best would not do justice to the well-planned array of experiences offered. Even so, I'll admit that joining the Notable Children's Book Awards Luncheon was unforgettable. I was seated at a table hosted by Holiday House, showcasing their informational poetry picture book T<b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-dirt-book-poems-about-animals-that-live-beneath-our-feet-david-l-harrison/15238366?ean=9780823438617" target="_blank">HE DIRT BOOK: Poems About Animals That Live Beneath Our Feet.</a></span></b> Author <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="http://davidlharrison.com" target="_blank">David L. Harrison</a></span></b> was a special guest of the publisher and I was delighted to take part in some lively conversation. Big bonus? </span><span style="font-family: arial;"> I received a signed copy of his book!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I reviewed this delightful picture book earlier this year, a library copy, and this is what I had to say at that time:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">"What's better than a collection of poems in a variety of forms that informs and explores the various lives (from roots to earthworms to mice) that abide mostly underground. Easy, right, to conclude "out of sight out of mind"? Not so in this case. Sharing the common habitat of "dirt", each exploration entertains and amazes in ways both familiar and unexpected. The " What's better?" part is in the trim size and art design that requires readers to turn the book 90 degrees and view the spreads from very long top-to-bottom expanses. The dark-toned illustrations also remind and invite readers to consider things that don't sparkle or flash, but may well, often do, prove to be treasures of nature."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That's all true, and now I happily add that this is a 2023 Notable Picture Book of Poetry!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiotJD7tLsIcB2AkRPQoJWnlsoONtia3P_Hd11x2ukLl1UPOFx725aIz5LV41L3TlP_m-thdvcSxBxZw9LNUyt-2cssaKMxI4mI_hyRI9z396slyLNepYI9P3bjMcGGyzvVSIhEJxSG6xq3jd4HIQH8Easkkkow-Rg0WaCqMb9NdNO0s0mF333vFK-5bX2x/s500/9780593380604%20whale%20fall.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="500" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiotJD7tLsIcB2AkRPQoJWnlsoONtia3P_Hd11x2ukLl1UPOFx725aIz5LV41L3TlP_m-thdvcSxBxZw9LNUyt-2cssaKMxI4mI_hyRI9z396slyLNepYI9P3bjMcGGyzvVSIhEJxSG6xq3jd4HIQH8Easkkkow-Rg0WaCqMb9NdNO0s0mF333vFK-5bX2x/s320/9780593380604%20whale%20fall.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Random House Studio, 2023 <br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />During those whirlwind four days I also attended a fantastic panel session that included the noted, multi-award-winning, and always inspiring <a href="https://www.melissa-stewart.com" style="color: #800180; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Melissa Stewart</a><b style="color: #800180;">. </b>Her presentation did not disappoint, and I later lined up to meet her and receive a signed copy of her latest non-fiction picture book, <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/whale-fall-exploring-an-ocean-floor-ecosystem-melissa-stewart/18600957?ean=9780593380604" target="_blank">WHALE FALL: Exploring an Ocean-Floor Ecosystem.</a></span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This is both luminous and enlightening in its informative text, the fluid and movement-infused illustrations, and the remarkable facts of this after-life contribution of whales. Their biodegrading processes have served the ocean ecology since whales first existed and yet evidence of a whale fall was only discovered and study begun in recent decades. This is one astonishingly powerful picture book I urge you to read and share.Everyone should know this powerful portrait of life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAJBc13wuFt9RmHYSV9fCKUrKkBJsBzm5R6pkxrgIUy1CVcm5PKzg0NMnGlaFr9GmAgVMZJuJ-Fr9dsBMd2fdQFnrOVJpv2i8ux_Xb_Ct_5oLt3ZBBjNZ-73A3C88eGe_A-YlEplFP_fa0X_C4uncmD1MP5J8qBS0QEvyUBYItCOSHMelJxHs9kteBs8uG/s500/9781773068503%20Malaika%20carnival%20queen.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="500" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAJBc13wuFt9RmHYSV9fCKUrKkBJsBzm5R6pkxrgIUy1CVcm5PKzg0NMnGlaFr9GmAgVMZJuJ-Fr9dsBMd2fdQFnrOVJpv2i8ux_Xb_Ct_5oLt3ZBBjNZ-73A3C88eGe_A-YlEplFP_fa0X_C4uncmD1MP5J8qBS0QEvyUBYItCOSHMelJxHs9kteBs8uG/s320/9781773068503%20Malaika%20carnival%20queen.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GROUNDWOOD BOOKS, 2023<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />In a light and lively twist, author <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://www.nadialhohn.com" target="_blank">Nadia L. Hohn</a></span></b> shared her latest release, <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/malaika-carnival-queen-nadia-l-hohn/18631821?ean=9781773068503">MALAIKA, CARNIVAL QUEEN.</a></span></b> In this title, Malaika continues to splash her warm-hearted and colorful joy of life in CARNIVAL season. As in earlier titles featuring Malaika, a contemporary story is woven with local language, culture, family history, and an innovative, engaging personality that sparkles on the page and leaps into young readers' lives. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">These three varied titles range across library categories, target ages, and purposes.These are only a first sampling of the exciting books and authors I encountered in a few short days. I promise to return soon with some more special offerings and background stories. Meanwhile, this trio of beauties are available in libraries and for holiday gifting. With such a variety of topics and treatments, there must be someone in your life who would love to find one or more of these in their lives, right?</span></p><div><br /></div>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-49644080588416944372023-12-11T12:54:00.002-06:002023-12-11T16:52:03.750-06:00Mini-Report from NCTE Annual Convention in Columbus (Whew!)<p> <span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://convention.ncte.org" target="_blank">The 2023 Annual NCTE Conference </a></span></b>was held in Columbus, Ohio in the middle of November. When I noticed that location, WA-A-Y-Y last spring, I planned to attend. Doing so has been a long-time dream, since this is the largest literary conference in the country each year. I've never had the opportunity/circumstances to make it happen until now. Their gatherings offer remarkable contacts, resources, and connections for teachers of preschool through university level<a href="https://ncte.org" target="_blank"> <b>(National Council of Teachers of English)</b></a><b>.</b> Why wouldn't I want to go?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Planning ahead, I scheduled review posts for this blog throughout the days and weeks leading up to that exciting weekend. I was certain I'd return home with fodder for countless posts, including books obtained in long lines, waiting to speak with and obtain signatures from their creators. Those things did happen, as well as meeting and visiting with several authors, poets, illustrators, educators, and literacy leaders with whom I've connected online or through work on my blog. I'll just say, ZOOM, webinars, YouTube, and other virtual experiences pale in comparison to even brief encounters with these talented folks in real life. I was a four-day-fan-girl, and that feeling continues.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To snap back into a regular posting schedule (delayed until now due to some personal/family issues) I'm sharing this annotated collection of images taken during a whirlwind of four exhausting days. Next up, in only a few days, I'll begin reviewing some of the remarkable books I was able to bring home with me. Topping all this off? Saturday morning the keynote speaker was TOM HANKS, who was not stingy with his praise for teachers in his life who had shaped the man he is today. For now, just know that picture books continue to fill my thoughts each day, and I look forward to sharing many of them with you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rPljdVOGzSc8m0k0CSRNBcgIDiVPgeQvgZtMhoLuwbNEVbFJFp6D7JCKchdcXjQRjslwNeWJ_DhVPHALC3hRu9v7uiDk9Zdim96C08M4HkQJpF8ZreOgaY4KVfhQc09soaZJ1DtcR955cxXHrOiMJJnDgTVEDO56vH_CoAUVbj7SfrcCD_YHm9gI4aps/s1532/NCTE.2023.pix%20and%20notes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1132" data-original-width="1532" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rPljdVOGzSc8m0k0CSRNBcgIDiVPgeQvgZtMhoLuwbNEVbFJFp6D7JCKchdcXjQRjslwNeWJ_DhVPHALC3hRu9v7uiDk9Zdim96C08M4HkQJpF8ZreOgaY4KVfhQc09soaZJ1DtcR955cxXHrOiMJJnDgTVEDO56vH_CoAUVbj7SfrcCD_YHm9gI4aps/w640-h472/NCTE.2023.pix%20and%20notes.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Here's hoping this is only the first of MANY times I manage to attend NCTE conferences. Fingers crossed for next year in BOSTON! This year clearly measured up to its theme: </span><span style="font-family: arial;">CONNEXIONS. <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://ncte.org" target="_blank">Next year the theme is HEART, HOPE, and HUMANITY!</a></span></b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350594420301392266.post-19779741383697451992023-11-10T04:00:00.001-06:002023-11-10T04:00:00.139-06:00Did You Know This Booklover, JACKIE KENNEDY?<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBUDNMoUA2f19mGfBUiWmX2ZQI-G8ypTI5JLrbRtYIpLtyksZF-mS5FHit_lgERZt7H-ZwHvFsjeAtSG3fcjBj0Ot81Sh44RDDKxoTotaL8DYxXbQkzlRaECOkH5Paeggl1y6V77oh7atTLzW2OrAgqz4-TxTcBV2df1R01WKoASCBoEFIe2eWIdeEq2z/s500/9781510776425%20Jackie.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBUDNMoUA2f19mGfBUiWmX2ZQI-G8ypTI5JLrbRtYIpLtyksZF-mS5FHit_lgERZt7H-ZwHvFsjeAtSG3fcjBj0Ot81Sh44RDDKxoTotaL8DYxXbQkzlRaECOkH5Paeggl1y6V77oh7atTLzW2OrAgqz4-TxTcBV2df1R01WKoASCBoEFIe2eWIdeEq2z/w320-h400/9781510776425%20Jackie.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sky Pony Press, 2023<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> The name <a href="https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-jacqueline-kennedy-onassis" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis </a>will always have a place in American history and likely in world history. As the wife of one of our most well-known presidents at the time (and since), Jackie Kennedy was a first lady whose short tenure in that role reshaped expectations of the spousal-residents of the White House. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In <b><a href="https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-jacqueline-kennedy-onassis" target="_blank">JACKIE AND THE BOOKS SHE LOVED,</a></b> written by <b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://ronnidiamondstein.com" target="_blank">Ronni Diamondstein</a></span></b> and illustrated by <b><a href="https://www.batslangley.com/about" target="_blank">Bats Langley</a></b>, readers will learn that a throughline of her life was her love of books. Reading books, talking about them, eventually writing and editing books, articles, and even becoming a photojournalist/interviewer. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The roles played by books in her life, from childhood until her dying days, were less widely known by the general public than her roles in politics, fashion, or social circles. This cradle-to-grave account of Jackie and the ways books shaped and enhanced and supported here throughout her life makes it clear that knowing this central force in her life is essential to understanding who she was.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As iconic as her image has been for decades, and as admired and even idolized as she was globally, this is actually a very intimate view of the privacy, solace, and comfort she sought within the pages of beloved books and among those in her life who understood who she was. One spread especially appealed to me, in image and in narrative. This segment references the time in her later life in which she edited and helped to launch the many books she supported in their making. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs5vUN55d3VFiDvjEcq3BGCn_W4fwE79y-rItG-CvMqMz9wF5BW03kme315UWml_5fyWbbt3gP4ITtnlj5AgitMtucySgHwVhMAsX8sKT_8Vv-3v2VrsZEFaeaAfsg3xNyBeSmPM4bmCaFMkFwfOr7dNbZ7ijxzYppMl5mopRdiPkhGXTXRARrkdJuqj_0/s2016/IMG_0606-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs5vUN55d3VFiDvjEcq3BGCn_W4fwE79y-rItG-CvMqMz9wF5BW03kme315UWml_5fyWbbt3gP4ITtnlj5AgitMtucySgHwVhMAsX8sKT_8Vv-3v2VrsZEFaeaAfsg3xNyBeSmPM4bmCaFMkFwfOr7dNbZ7ijxzYppMl5mopRdiPkhGXTXRARrkdJuqj_0/w300-h400/IMG_0606-2.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interior Illustration and text:<br />JACKIE and the BOOKS SHE LOVED<br />Sky Pony Press, November, 2023</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">"Even though she was very famous, for Jackie, </span></i></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;"><i>the author was the star of every book. </i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;"><i>She made sure to stay in the background and let her authors shine."</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As a once active and successful photojournalist, Jackie was well-aware that the subject of the spotlights and flashbulbs told a story in themselves, so it is her unlit face here that beams out at her starring author on stage. And at readers who may often feel those camera-aware selfies and smiles are the mark of greatness. With her approach, it is clear that Jackie invested in the editing and publishing process for the sake of the creation and celebration of fine books, not for the spotlight. Both front and back endpapers include short quotes from her career, including this one:</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;"><i>"If you produce one book, </i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;"><i>you will have done something wonderful</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: arial;"><i>with your life."</i></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);">It is noteworthy that Jackie wrote her own books as a child, as well as poetry. Anything she chose to write and submit would have found ready publication and promotion. But she actively resisted writing a memoir or other book under her own name throughout her life, although she wrote with and researched writings of others, including her husband Jack Kennedy, as well as the many authors she later edited. She chose to submerge herself into their work and into the readings and thinkings about other books that opened her to worlds beyond her own persona- past, present, and future. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254);">Back matter for this distinctive bio/profile includes a timeline of Jackie's life, an author note, more quotations, and a representative selection of the books professionally edited by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Sources and credits are also included for this thorough homage to an iconic American woman. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span> </span><br /></span></p>Sandy Brehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02073122273951186418noreply@blogger.com0