Basketball Champions- NBA and a TALL TALE!

 As we enter the NBA championship season, I enjoy bragging about our Milwaukee Bucks. This has been "my city" since BEFORE we had an NBA team. Then, with combinations of great coaching (Larry Costello), player-leaders (Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson), and team effort, this newbie team won the whole shebang, the NBA championship in 1971. Despite some strong years in between, including memorable players and teams, it was exactly fifty years later, in 2021, that the Bucks (Fear the Deer!) won the whole dang thing again for the second time. Led by MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, it was teamwork and spirit that turned them around after losing early games in the final round. 

What does all that have to do with picture books? Well, Milwaukee's history with basketball runs deep, players do best when they have big hearts that match their outsized talents, and winning matters, but it isn't everything. A picture book that can convey the value and story of such things will win hearts, too. And one way to hook readers is to find books that match their interests. I shared winning picture books that capture the action, spirit, and edge-of-the-seat- excitement of  basketball and championships HERE. Some of the most popular picture book biographies feature stars of the NBA, past and present. 

Charly Palmer has created stunningly powerful art, but this is his debut as a picture book author. He takes on a similarly inspiring and engaging picture book that takes a sidestep from these others in several ways. First, his focus is not NBA or even NCAA players, teams, and championships. Instead, his story was inspired by the amazingly talented and big-hearted street-ball stars who never made it to the NBA. He chose a slightly fictionalized account of a team, a rivalry, and a character-compilation to celebrate in a legendary way. 

Farrar Straus Giroux, 2022

Palmer delivers a winning account of GRAVITY, one of several remarkably talented teammates. It will win over readers of many ages and interests. His helpful author's note at the back includes the specific names of truly memorable players from city lots and local teams across the years. Among them are two dedications: One to Richard "Deep Water" Brown, and the other to Milwaukee's own Albert "Spoony" Hall, who, like most of the others, never made the "big time" teams but were so unforgettable that their stories of greatness deserve the term legendary. Players like these, past and present, inspired THE LEGEND OF GRAVITY: A TALL Basketball Tale. 

Using a storyteller's voice that feels right at home among the colorful, impressionistic urban center of Milwaukee, the narrator addresses young admirers of "King James" Le Bron  and other deeply talented, lauded, and compensated hoop stars. That opening concedes they are "not too shabby", followed by the familiar phrase, 

"But have you ever heard of ..." 

And so begins the TALL tale of GRAVITY. The narrator spins a colorful, lively description of a sunny June street ball game among talented friends with trait-revealing nicknames: Sky High, Left 2 Right, and Liquid (smooth with the ball and with his words). A single pass and play reveals that his knobby-kneed, lanky, and low-key approach disguises phenomenal ball skills. but he did not have a street name of his own. A terrific double spread reveals that the narrator was a team member, and she tags the new kid GRAVITY, because he goes up like he's never coming down, like he has redefined GRAVITY.

This already-good team is now unstoppable, heading toward a championship. Teams used housing project courts, rode city busses to other neighborhoods to compete, headed into summer's end with confidence. Best of the Best Milwaukee Basketball Tournament" was theirs to win, and time spent on strategy always relied on GRAVITY. In a single weekend they defeated team after team as his legend grew. When  the final game approached, the perennial winners, the FLYERS, devoted themselves to keeping GRAVITY down. That's when the power of leadership and spirit proved themselves to be legendary, too. 

I won't spoil your reading with an ending, or even reveal the pages leading up to that final buzzer. I will say that I'm convinced I'd love this and recommend it even if it wasn't set in Milwaukee, my longtime hometown. The swaths of colorful scenes, dynamic perspectives, impressionistic but effective expressions, and action postures, stances, and moves make this a power house picture book, one that will stay with you. It offers (without overdoing it) an authentic  look at the importance of individual skills and talents, of teamwork, of believing in yourself, and of excellence regardless of outcome. For each NBA player (even those often traded or benched) there are, literally, hundreds of thousands of kids playing B-Ball on city playgrounds, at the Y, in schools and clubs who will never know and who will never be drafted by an NBA team. Even so, among them are many who will be remembered, whose names will remain legendary. 

Meanwhile, GOOD LUCK, BUCKS!

Visit Milwaukee: In Real Life, and in a New Picture Book!

It's summer tourist season and Milwaukee is waiting to welcome you. Ever since I first arrived in Wisconsin to attend Marquette, the downtown area won my heart. In my first years here, Summerfest was launched as a soggy lakefront music festival.  It has since become the annual "World's Largest Music Festival" and anchors a summer-long series of ethnic and themed festivals, drawing millions of visitors from around the USA and the world.

Sleeping Bear Press, 2019

Each and every one of these (and other) events features kid-friendly activities.  Even so, I urge families to check out a recent picture book before and during visits to the city. ROCKY & LULU in MILWAUKEE is written by Barbara Joosse and illustrated by Renee Graef. This talented pair is noteworthy for individual achievements, including many award-winning and classic books (Joosse's MAMA, DO YOU LOVE ME and  PAPA, DO YOU LOVE ME; Graef's many LITTLE HOUSE picture book adaptations, and illustrations for titles in the nonfiction Alphabet series). These two are close and longtime friends from the Milwaukee metro area who enjoy traveling together as much as Lulu and Rocky do. This is their first title in a planned series about other cities, published by reliable Sleeping Bear Press. Because I know them both I was picturing the fun they must have had in doing the background work for this book.

The story opens with an invitation to the pair (and Lulu's friend Pufferton, a penguin) to visit Milwaukee. They meet doorman Norman at the luxurious landmark Pfister Hotel, then spend three days exploring iconic locations in MIlwaukee's city center. 

The characters are all delightfully humanized animals, each more charming than the next, but the sites featured reveal kids-eye-views of some of the best year-round attractions this city has to offer. The text is direct but not simplistic, and Norman's comments offer some fun examples of figurative language from an earlier generation.

The level of detail is "just right" for young readers, with informative labels and enough color and side details to spark curiosity and develop an appetite for exploration. 
This lively pair (and observant penguin) cover a great deal of territory in a short amount of time, which happens on vacations, right? 
Out-of-towners with kids would do well to spend some time with this book prior to a visit and encourage the young ones to state a preference for side trips. Most won't be able to stay at the Pfister, but it does offer tours, including stories about ghostly residents!  Back matter provides accessible details about various high points and icons visited throughout the story.

Once families get their hands on this book the adults will be as enthused about visiting Milwaukee as the kids will be. In fact, I encourage classroom teachers and local families to check it out, too. I'm sadly aware from leading school field trips (for many ages) that there are thousands of people living within a few miles who rarely visit downtown and are unaware of its many treasures. 
Milwaukee offers something for everyone in every neighborhood and district. Summer isn't the only time to explore the city, but it does offer an ideal opportunity to get to know it better, or for the first time.
And there's no better souvenir (or gift of any kind) than picture books!