RIVKA'S PRESENTS: Laurie Wallmark's Gift To All

 If you read this blog you'll know that I've sung the praises of author Laurie Wallmark's nonfiction picture books, particularly her masterful research and presentation of Women in STEM from the past. If you missed those reviews, I hope you'll take a look HERE, HERE, and HERE (giveaway ended). You can also read an interview with her HERE. If you do, you'll note that in addition to her proficiency with research and writing about WOMEN IN STEM, she has a flair for writing fiction picture books, too. 

Random House Studio, 2023

In RIVKA'S PRESENTS, Wallmark's talent turns to a fictional family living in an  immigrant tenement neighborhood in New York City in 1918, the year of the first flu pandemic following the First World War. The opening spread reveals Rivka shouting out her window to the iceman below, sharing her excitement that this would be her first day of school. Her eagerness to read and write and learn about the world is recognizable and infectious, but one page-turn readers find that her mother was listening, then gently reminds Rivka that she is needed in the family and can't go to school. Papa is still very ill, Mama needs to go to work to support the family, and Rivka will need to stay home to care for little sister Miriam. 

In her sorrow, Rivka races outdoors and realizes that the nearby shopkeeper works with letters, the tailor works with numbers, and an older neighbor woman, studying for her citizenship test, was learning about this new country in which they lived.

In each case clever Rivka bargains for her learning by assisting at shop or home chores while tending to little Miriam. I especially appreciated that little sister was learning along the way, not just about numbers but about the value of other generations, hard work, and community support. The gentle and straightforward text enfolds hints of the passing of seasons, also revealing that Papa is gradually recovering. 

As a traditional school year would be winding down in late spring, Rivka, too, has completed nearly a year of individual learning. One day she is met with a delightful and satisfying surprise-- her neighbors bearing small gifts. Their presence, and presents, celebrating the accomplishments of this bright, determined, and responsible young girl. There's a satisfyingly joyful conclusion without a tiny bit of saccharine in it. Rivka's gift to readers is her examples of curiosity, eagerness to learn, work-around mentality, and devotion to her family without sacrificing personal goals. Her strength is a blessing.

Images by illustrator Adelina Lirius are layered with color, detail, and meaning. The tones evoke a prior century, incorporating historic elements like fire escapes, clotheslines, horse-drawn carts, and clothing styles that inform and endear. They seem strongly authentic rather than "quaint". There are indicators of  the economic status and Jewish identity of Rivka's family without referencing those directly. The endpapers suggest the studies Rivka pursues, the seasons passing, and the art styles of this earlier era. While text also reinforces the cultural values of Rivka's Jewish family and neighbors, the universal themes of family love and loyalty, learning, hard work, and struggles regarding health and economic hardship will resonate across cultures and centuries. The color palette edges away from sharp lines or bright contrast to a softened, aged tone throughout foreground images and backgrounds. The individuals pictured provide identifiable emotional reactions without resorting to caricature or exaggeration. The overall impact is a highly readable story for audiences of many ages, and a very admirable but realistic lead character, Rivka.

Wallmark is a leader in writing accessible and important back matter for her nonfiction titles. Here she follows the main text with an author's note that enhances information about this era and location in American history as well as traditional Jewish culture regarding the value of learning. I highly recommend it for any time of the year, but especially at the beginning or end of a school year. It is certainly a delight at any time of year.

Drawing Outdoors: A Perfect Time of Year

 The creative pair behind a recent book are new to me, but I now have my eye out for anything else they have created and will continue to produce. Author Jairo Buitrago is an award winner and is based in Mexico City. Rafael Yockteng has been illustrating acclaimed/awarded picture books, too, and currently live sin Bogata, Columbia. I appreciate the publisher, GREYSTONE KIDS,(An Aldana Libros Book) for this deft and artful translation to English. Both the story and art reflect a  seemingly non-USA setting, but the characters, circumstances, imaginations, and inspirations are so global, so universal that every child will be able to enter the experiences fully.

GREYSTONE KIDS, 2022

So, let's get to it. This new book, DRAWING OUTDOORS, has already been widely praised. I welcome this opportunity to add my voice to those accolades. Just as the art incorporates depth, crisp lines, lush colors, and familiar details (like a dog lifting its leg on a bush), the text presents the story directly and deliciously.

"Our school has almost nothing. A blackboard, some chairs. It has a teacher. She's always there. She stands in the doorway and waits for us every morning."

Not every reader will attend school in a small, hilltop building with red tile roof, arriving on converging dirt trails, alongside a river, tucked between green mountains. (Some WILL, and they will thrill to seeing their own familiar but rarely-portrayed school setting in a picture book.) Many, regardless of urban or other experiences, will identify with those opening lines above. 

And children everywhere will be tagging along with that teacher says lessons will be OUTSIDE today, snatching up their paper, crayons, and explorers' spirits to join the fun. What might have been a delightful example of children doing open-air nature art, or science observations (as in this prior post), or even a mapping exercise, turns out to be an expansive lesson in imagination. (The more mundane possibilities had been my prediction, so I really appreciated the imaginative developments that followed.)

In fact, with continued roaming, pausing, and specific prompts, these very diverse students spend time   seeking, finding, then sketching or painting a series of dinosaurs along the river bank, weaving through boulders, roaring in a wooded area, or flying through the darkening skies. Eventually they take a snack break while resting on "a branch as big as an ankylosaurus". Even during the snack scene we see that this "group" is composed of charmingly diverse individuals, friend and sibling pairs, and personality patterns that disrupt any sense that we readers would DARE to bring stereotypes or assumptions to our perceptions of communities outside our own narrow perspectives.

And yet, just as author John Schu took a more conventional approach to "school" in his recent book (reviewed HERE), regardless of the building or location or number of staff, WHAT IS A SCHOOL? can be answered as it can be here: SCHOOL is a place to look, listen, learn. To find safety, care, and inspiration.

And it should  always a place to find ourselves connected to others from every background.

With an expanding effort to "ban" books beyond narrow parameters, books that reveal what a wide and glorious world exists outside ourselves, even such a simple book as this might find itself questioned because of its definition of "school" or "learning" or even community. If you have opted to ignore this issue or feel it is one too many straws on your overburdened life, please consider reading this article. I'll appreciate it if you do.

THIS IS A SCHOOL! (Don't miss this one!)

 My professional years in public schools involved working in a major metro system with hundred-plus schools and a small suburban district with only FOUR schools in all. The differences could fill a book, not a blog post. In recent years with charter choices, Covid remote learning, and mandated social distancing, masks, and dividers, traditional assumptions about "school" have been transformed. Add to that the absurd intrusions of politics and demands into choices about funding, book inclusion (or censorship), and topics for instruction (or exclusion), and it's about time to ask, 

What is a school? 

CANDLEWICK PRESS, 2022

John Schu provides his answer in a recent picture book, THIS IS A SCHOOL. As you can see from illustrator Veronica Miller Jamison's cover (and interiors support this approach), this suggests a very traditional brick-and-mortar, in-person definition for "school". Within that context, the people and scenes pictured will feel familiar to those returning to a physical school. For those who have not yet been able to attend a physical school, this introduction presents a warm welcome in scenes populated by diverse peers, adults, and community members who suggest safety and support. 

The text and transitions are as concise and potent as haiku poetry: Concrete details expand the essential to universal applications and concepts in a wide range of lives and experiences. 

For example:

"This is a kid.

This is a kid in a class.

This is a class in a hall.

This is a hall in a school.

WELCOME!" 

With transitions to what school IS beneath all that:

"We ask.

We learn.

We share.

We help."

This simple approach extends out to the families, community, and the purpose of "school": 

Look, listen, learn.    

The last page/single-line is at the heart of SCHOOL. And at the heart of a child's life. It's a message that is simple, direct, and applicable to any and every location and shared learning space. 

Stay tuned for more picture books from John Schu, an experienced school librarian, field expert for Scholastic Books, and committed literacy expert. In March 2023, THIS IS A STORY arrives on the scene and can be preordered now. To learn more about it, check HERE.

THIS IS A SCHOOL (and later, THIS IS A STORY) will make welcome gifts for teachers and families to begin and wrap up the school year. I hope you'll take a look and agree.

Two More CYBILS Nominees of Note: What's in a Name?

There's no denying that winning an award, as well any designations as honors and finalists, are  exciting landmarks in the lives of people and their books. For any given award, there can be hundreds or thousands of titles (or more) under careful consideration. So-called "buzz" about a book only heightens hopes and, perhaps, deepens disappointment for the all-but-one title named. On February 14, Monday, the CYBILS AWARDS in every category will announced. I'll be standing by that morning to read and celebrate the winners. With advance congratulations to all who win, and to the finalists in each category, I continue to sing the praises of some of the other titles in my category for round one evaluations- nonfiction for elementary readers. 

Albert Whitman & Company

This biography of MARIA MARTINEZ is a fitting account of a pottery artist whose work changed the trajectory of her chosen media. If you didn't already do so, please pause to click on her name above. At least spend a moment to see examples her work in her website banner. They are breathtakingly gorgeous, while retaining a simplicity of form and function that reveals the deep roots of Martinez's art. SHAPED BY HER HANDS: Potter Maria Martinez  is written by Anna Harber Freeman and Barbara Gonzales. Their text and Maria herself are brought glowingly to life by illustrator Aphelandra.

This is a biography as artfully told as the artist it profiles.  Maria Martinez is a name well known among admirers of coil pottery. To those outside that specialty, like me, few are aware of her inventive, innovative, stunning work. She took a traditional role of women in her culture (pot making) to an unbelievable and elevated level through curiosity, problem-solving, and creative explorations. The unusual (and stunning) colors and surfaces she achieved stand the tests of careless encounters and time in their appeal. Her work forged a path for countless artists to follow, yet she retained her rooted place in her home and community. As inspiring as her life is, the text is also straightforward but uplifting, and the earthy, vibrant tones of the illustrations will transport readers into Maria's daily life.

I've known very few kids who don't plunge fingers into clay with joyful excitement. This is a book to share widely as an introduction to ceramics as art, and to inspire imagination and innovation in the use of that media, and others. 

Speaking of names, and kids, it is incredibly important to pronounce an individual person's name correctly. I happen to have a last name that is often mispronounced and I have no level of worry about that when it happens. If asked, I indicate our preferred pronunciation, of course. But if you are someone who was one of those Jason C., Jason R, Jason W,, trios in a classroom, or a Katie B., Katie M., and Katie S. cohort, you know how frustrating that was. Your name always felt special to you, and you've suddenly been lumped into a last-name-initial identity. Just imagine the frustration of anyone, especially any CHILD, who has a name that feels totally natural in your own mouth and in the mouths of those you love, but seems to trip and tangle the tongues of your teachers, your classmates, pretty much everyone else. DIstortions (by accident or intention) must be far more disorienting and disabling to the child than they are stressful to those who casually fail to learn your name. 

OWL KIDS, 2021

THAO, a twenty-four page picture book, written and drawn in wise but child-like simplicity, gives a kids-eye-view of what that identity-denial feels like.Endpapers suggest the universality of this issue, but an opening reproduction of Thao Lam's early-school photo instantly reveals the personal roots of this book.

With a mix of crayon, collage, and dynamic text placement it is easy to feel the irritation, hurt, and accommodation that those with non-western/familiar names must experience. I taught many Hmong students throughout my career and many used a traditional-"American" first name. I always asked if they preferred to use their own names, and never had a child say they would. Many said their parents wanted them to use this "school" name. That only serves to expand my view from those days that it was not only the child who dealt with the dishonor of having a name repeatedly mispronounced. 

This book is an extremely simple but important insight to the value of a name, and the respect it deserves. The blend of distinctive fonts, childhood photos and incorporation of simple collages drawings offers an honest but plaintive portrayal of the cost we impose on others by not making the effort to pronounce their names as they should be. 

Endpapers are priceless in offering many examples of a variety of children with a variety of names that have a variety of potential pronunciations. How hard is it to ask, then practice (with mouths in which they feel awkward) names that we should say correctly and spontaneously? Especially when we realize that the people behind those names are REQUIRED by our communities to learn and use a language that is equally strange in their mouths and ears in order to function in an English-speaking world?

While teaching I would ask about pronunciations, but I recently saw a better way- introduce yourself, then ask “Who are you?” Learn not only the name, but take a first step in demonstrating respect for the WHO that name represents.

I hope you'll agree that awards aren't everything. The grace and honor that  books like these achieve is in expanding minds, hearts, and understanding of wider communities and cultures. That deserves a round of applause from us all.

ADVENTURES TO SCHOOL: Around the World

It's that time again... back to school, around the world!  Whether a child can walk out their front door and take a few steps to the schoolhouse door (as I did), or boards a bus, or walks miles on a dirt road (as my mother did), getting there matters. Many kids feel the stirring excitement of going to school in their bones, usually fostered by their parents' messages about the value of learning. 

little bee books, 2018

ADVENTURES TO SCHOOL: Real-Life Journeys of Students From Around the World is co-authored by Baptiste and Miranda Paul and illustrated by Isabel Muñoz. It makes a compelling case that this feeling is a universal experience. 

This delightful recent picture book uses imagined but convincing first-person-voiced young locals describing trips to school under challenging circumstances. This combines with informative illustrations and narrative text to reveal daily school-travel in remote areas around the world. The balance of voices/perspectives is effective in connecting and developing empathy as well as curiosity and respect. Expository sidebars include images of each country's flag, an iconic indigenous animal, and up-to-date facts about the featured country as a whole.

Author notes in front- and back-matter are helpful in recognizing the universal importance of education and the extent to which families value and support learning and progress for their children. Notes about research and authenticating sources are especially valuable, including cautions about online videos, often viral, making claims about places and people that are no longer true or perhaps never were. 
I particularly appreciated the range of locations across many continents (including North America) and the album-like double page spread at the back to assemble images and place-designations for the fictionalized characters within the book. One additional feature I would have enjoyed would be a world map marking and labeling each character with a location. I can easily see this book being used to launch a geography/map unit of study, for a classroom or for individual readers and families.

I'm pleased and privileged to say that both Miranda and Baptiste are personal friends of mine, and I was expecting to invite them to answer a few interview questions here. Before asking, if they'd have time in their busy lives, I developed a list of questions. Then I went online to search for prior interviews so that I could eliminate duplicates and be sure to provide something fresh for readers. In the process I found that Maria Marshall had posted an extensive interview with Miranda and Baptiste on her blog, THE PICTURE BOOK BUZZ (HERE). It's not surprising that some of my questions matched hers, but she had covered every topic on my list! I was especially interested in how they had divided up the writing work, and was excited to read about their process in this earlier post. Actually, Maria's questions were even more comprehensive than my own, included the same interior spread and author photos, and also provided information about upcoming books and links to other reviews.

I know when to take a step back and give the stage to others, and this is a perfect case. I also know when I've found another picture book blog to which I should subscribe, which I did (and you should, too). Please, take the time to click the link to this comprehensive blog post (Repeated HERE!) 

So, instead of an interview, I'll remind you to get your hands on this book and share it with kids. While you're at it, check out my previous post about IT'S YOUR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, BUSY BUS! by Jody Jensen Schaffer. Both books tap into the excitement of returning to school, and between the two of them there's something for any age!