Have You Met Millie Fleur? Or her POISON GARDEN?

 If you don't yet know the picture book character Mille Fleur, you should! Her illustrated persona is reminiscent of Wednesday Addams of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, with a much higher frequency of appealing smiles. Millie, we quickly see, enjoys gardening. 

 

Where do we see this, you ask?

ORCHARD BOOKS, 2024

A good place to start is in Millie Fleur's POISON GARDEN, written and illustrated by Christy Mandin. Let's begin with the creator's dedication, since it expresses the overall tone of the series:

"For anyone who's ever felt a little bit weird.

The world is more interesting with you in it."

Millie's family moves into a neighborhood best described in  "Little Boxes," written by Malvina Reynolds in 1962, (little boxes full of ticky-tacky, little boxes in a row). All alike, including their landscaping. Everything spotless, pruned, trim and true. 

Everything except the new Fleur home. Millie and her thoroughly modern mom are happy there, except it doesn't feel like home until Mom hands Millie some packets of seeds. Images on the seed packs confirm our suspicions from the title...  these are no ordinary plants. 

Millie's well-tended garden thrives, complete with expressive faces, tentacles, snapping petals, and sprawling vines. What follows is also predictable, but in an entirely fun and metaphorical way. Something different is not only rejected by the majority but banned, condemned, utterly rejected. Even Millie's frog knows they  could just leave it alone and BYOB, so to speak.

Millie wonders about conforming. Affirmed by her mom that she should do what makes her happy, Millie finds a way to win over the curious kids, to broaden their awareness and understanding of differences, their respect for allowing space for new and exciting visitors to the neighborhood.

Throughout the garden scenes, Millie's plants sport seemingly frightening names that reflect both exotic and recognizable plants, along with characterized expressions that elevate the humor over the potential for fear. The resolution is a delight and allows for every level of acceptance, even if only a tolerance for change among the most conservative.

Mille Fleur also has a PUMPKIN picture book and a PROBLEM picture book, both of which can join the POISON GARDEN to launch falls season of spookiness and spicy lattes. Even this synopsis reveals that the stories have their own tone of oddity to them, while presenting Mille and her mom as appealing and empathetic. Discussions are guaranteed, and back matter connects readers even more closely to their own interests and concerns.

Do yourselves a favor and make it point to meet Millie Fleur. Just avoid her salads!

Beware the Diminishing Power of Casual Remarks: "It's Just A..."

Before I say a word about this colorful, artful picture book, I confess. I was NEVER a fan of worms as a child. I experienced them as slime trails, squished remains under bike tires, slippery challenges for fishing hooks, and the cause of that post-rain funky smell in the air. That was all to cover up the fact that worms scared me. 

I still have no idea just what I was scared of, but I vividly recall avoiding contact at all costs, and that siblings and their friends knew they could chase me away by holding up a sample.

My adult self "holds" worms in high regard. I dig in garden soil comfortably and try to avoid slicing into those valuable, productive, essential worms below the surface.I can even handle them myself as circumstances require, although that still is NOT something I go out of my way to do. 

Greenwillow Books, March 14, 2023

This new picture book, JUST A WORM, written and created by Marie Boyd, intrigued me on many levels. The extra large image above allows you to appreciate that this was imagined and assembled using an eye-appealing paper-quill-scroll technique combined with photographic capture of three-dimensional layouts. More about that quilling technique below, but first, let's meet WORM. 

As Worm "la-la-la"s its way across the ground, voices related to two sets of kid's legs share an "Ew" and the remark that it is "Just A worm". Those words echo what my childhood self would likely have said. That incident launches lighthearted, wiggly, squiggly Worm on a journey of discovery to prove he can DO things. Things that matter. 

From that point on I was rooting for Worm. My own understanding of what worms DO led the central  process for me hold them in high regard, and to my eagerness to share their ecological value with kids. This is an excellent picture book to make that an appealing experience.

In a beautiful garden that expands in color and variety from page to page, Worm inquires of garden creatures about what THEY can do. In each case, (caterpillar, butterfly, dragonfly, bee, spider, and snail, as suggested on the cover), Worm lacks their skills. In each interaction, though, Worm recognizes what it CAN do, but mentally attaches that "just" qualifier to those seemingly unimportant skills, dismissing their value. It is only when Worm realizes that by cleaning, casting, (okay, pooping), feeding, and digging through the soil, it contributed to this gorgeous, healthy garden. This realization makes the sting of that "just" remark fall away.

The illustrations invite close examination and tempt audiences to wonder how they were made and even try it themselves. Boyd achieves an ideal balance between intricacy and seeming simplicity in each element and in the full scene assemblies. Boyd uses a combination of elaborate quilling in flowers alongside carefully cut and shaped papers with curled edges, some twisted, arched, and otherwise raised from the background page to provide shadows and depth. Overhead clouds tell a story of their own, with sizes, color, quantity, and depth indicating changes of mood and rising tension. I was especially intrigued by the tiny fan-folds in Worm and the subtle shading of its shape and color on the cover image. Worm is rendered in pen and ink throughout the book, except for the final spread, which is the only spread in the story where Boyd made Worm from quilled paper. A two-page spread in back matter demonstrates some examples of the scroll/quill techniques used. Scroll down to the bottom of Boyd's homepage to find examples you can observe in the making: HERE.

Take time to check this one out carefully, exploring connections to environmental education, self-esteem, food cycles, and peer pressure/name-calling.The final page turn provides some additional thoughts from Boyd (attributed to Worm in speech bubbles) that readers and families/classes may explore on these themes and topics, as well as a few added facts about earthworms and a brief glossary. This is an excellent example of a book I wish I'd had while teaching about "decomposers", the remarkably efficient and productive trash disposers/composters of our planet. They are seriously unappreciated and under-protected! Recommended for all ages as nonfiction text and mentor work for art and illustration.

Release date: March 14, 2023       Preorder discount link HERE.

Rolling Along During EARTH WEEK: Garden Picture Books

 The books I've shared during 2021 Earth Week have stressed the significance of generational values and shared practices, of traditions, of commitment. That is true for both picture books by the Pumphrey brothers, THE OLD TRUCK and THE OLD BOAT. Then two picture books titled OCEAN SOUP,  about ocean environments, support the significance of learning about and acting on specific issues, across generations. If you missed either of these posts I hope you''ll click and check them out. 

Moving forward, today I'm declaring GARDENING day. This time of year there is an almost primal impulse to sow seeds, to feel the soil under our feet and in our fingers. Offering kids an opportunity to plant and grow a seed is a priceless gift, even if it is simply a sunflower seed in a paper cup. And yet the reality is that the REAL thrill of gardening is the return on investment of labor and love and relationships spent in gardens. Time and experiences often shared across generations.

A very recent release is MY NANA'S GARDEN, written by Dawn Casey and illustrated by Jessica Courtney-TIckle. 

I had to wait a bit to read this one, since it was backed up on my library hold. That should tell you something about it. Here's what Kirkus had to say  in their starred review: 

"Over the years, a little girl pays many visits to her nana’s house and garden...As the seasons cycle, the girl and her mother continue to visit and, increasingly, to help her nana in the “lovely and wild” garden....There is so much beauty in this heartwarming story. Written in rhyming couplets, the simple text flows smoothly. The stunning, delicate illustrations fill in the gaps left by the text, depicting the charm of the garden, Nana’s aging, the family’s emotions, and the girl’s growth. The artwork provides a wonderful display of three—and then four—generations and the love they share. The girl and mother have brown skin and long, black hair while Nana has paler brown skin and white hair...A beautiful, touching story of a family’s love and loss, the garden both metaphor and place of healing." (Kirkus Starred review)

Starbright Books, 2016

A terrific partner picture book is centered in a natural setting, not a family garden. GRANDMA IS A SLOWPOKE is written by Janet Halfmann and illustrated by Michele Coxon. Gentle text and images allow readers of any age to appreciate the delicate balance of long/short, old/young legs and minds. All the best picture book advice went into this one, with repetition, anticipation, ironic humor, and warm relationships enriching an already appealing story,

This will pair well with another recent picture book release: SIDEWALK FLOWERS (JonArno Lawson). And in case you missed it, check out my recent review of the glorious celebration of life, GROW, by JoAnn Early Macken, HERE. 

Finally, in this string of "bonus titles" related to celebrating nature across generations, explores the underlying truths about our family stories:  WATERCRESS, written by Andrea J. Wang and illustrated by Jason Chin. 

Has there ever been a child who did NOT feel embarrassed by a parent(s), who was not reluctant to take part in activities of parents, who did not judge their parents as "less" than other parents they observe? 

If so, I've never met those kids. It is a natural process in childhood to push back, and a natural part of parenthood to HOLD back- hold back stories that might make clear their own lives, experiences, struggles. That is universal, but it is even more pronounced among families involving immigration, migration, and relocation.When families are compelled to move, they often pack away the reasons for those moves, the stories behind lives left behind. Those stories become secrets, and yet continue to surface in the new lives and homes.
This story is written and illustrated with the tenderness of watercress leaves, but supports each gentle page of the story and the story-within-the-story on a foundation of resilience, love, and appreciation. Highly recommended for all ages and readers, with a special boost as mentor text to very young writers of "small moments" and adult writers of picture book stories with layers of heart and soul and reflection.

Here's hoping that wherever you are as you read this, the season and the weather surrounding you will invite you outdoors, into the wild or the gardens of your lives. It's asking a lot to care about the wider planet and its environment until we cultivate the deep appreciation of growing things in our immediate lives, especially in the company of people we love. 

The Rough Patch: Wisdom for Every Age

I launched this blog many years ago to celebrate the joy, value, quality, and benefits of picture books for every age. If this is your first stop at this blog, you can read my manifesto about picture books in these early posts, HERE and HERE. 

Greenwillow/Harper Collins Children's Books, 2018

I take great joy in reading picture books (text and illustrations, which is how picture books speak to us).
I never planned to provide daily posts (and I'm still  in awe of those who manage to do so). I'm very selective about the books I feature here.

Deciding which picture books to discuss and how extensively to write about each book challenges me. I look for something unique in the books I feature, searching for something that attracts my attention, draws me back again and again, and allows me to uncover new elements in the text and the illustrations on each rereading. 
I share books that are multi-layered, both timeless and ageless, in my opinion. 
Even though it goes against my nature to name favorites among the many books I love, some continue to absorb my attention, even years after an initial reading or post.

THE ROUGH PATCH, written and illustrated by BRIAN LIES, will undoubtedly be such a book. I'm not alone in feeling this way. It has already garnered rave reviews and three stars. Check out what School Library Journal said (HERE), Kirkus Reviews (HERE), and Publishers' Weekly (HERE). Each outlines the story well and makes note of a few of the many distinctive details, like Evan's garden boots.

I offer these trusted sources to confirm that my opinion about this tender story wasn't unduly influenced by the fact that I faced a heartbreaking final good-bye to my own four-legged companion earlier this summer. In fact, if this book had been released in June I probably wouldn't have chosen to read it at that time. My emotions were still too new, too raw.
Having read it now, though, I wish it had been available to me then. 
There is as much comfort between the covers of this book as I feel when wrapped in one of my heirloom family quilts.

Yes, on one level, THE ROUGH PATCH is a story of loss. But it is so much more than that. It explores and celebrates the amazing capacity and power of friendship and love. It reveals the depths and strengths of human emotions, the importance of living in the moment, and, yes, the circle of life.
In fact, the initial opening spreads are joyous, vibrant, luminous. Evan (the Fox) and his friend (the Dog) savor every moment of their full, shared lives. Their companionship, comfort, and wordless communication shine on the pages and will be deeply felt by those who share their own lives wth dogs, cats, or other friends. 
The scant but potent text in each spread, throughout each stage, conveys Fox's joy, grief, anger, and eventual healing. Lies's writing perfectly suits the lives of this garden community: simple, direct, and pure. It reminds me of a free-verse Robert Frost.  In one achingly gentle double spread, Evan realizes that "the unthinkable happened."

The next several spreads follow Evan through his stages of grief: his isolation and anger, and his rejection of his formerly joyful garden. The metaphoric title plays out superbly in the middle portion of the book, in which "a good place won't stay empty for long". Evan destroys his formerly manicured garden, but nature abhors a vacuum. The space soon fills with growing things: weeds, thorns, and spiky intruders. Evan nurses that negativity, embraces it. In the process, though, he experiences the healing power of resuming his daily habits despite his aching, broken heart. 
Time passes, sun shines, and a "volunteer" vine creeps into the garden. 
When Fair Week finally rolls around Evan is open to a twinge of familiar excitement. Time and old habits have allowed his heart to begin to heal, to give himself permission to enjoy familiar joys. When a scrabbling tendril of possibility reaches out to him at the fair, he chooses to begin anew.

Throughout each page and stage, Lies uses his mastery of illustration to combine expressive features, shifting perspectives, light, shading, color, and detail to create scenes that beg to be examined closely while urging readers to turn the page and know the characters more deeply. Throughout it all I found myself walking hand-in-paw with Evan, wanting desperately to comfort him but knowing his was a journey to be traveled alone.

Lies has created many books I admire. His talent for capturing the nuance of expression, movement, habits, and postures in animals is incredible. I first described that talent in a post (here) about MORE, which he illustrated for author I. C. Springman. 
Apart from the elements within each scene or spread, I greatly admire the way he conveyed the emotional arc of this book through the continuity and transformations from first page to last. In THE ROUGH PATCH I noted his use of similar artistic tools, and yet he achieves distinctly different effects. In both cases, the transitions are so deftly accomplished that what might be considered simple circle stories instead become salvation stories, each ending with the characters transformed and strengthened in ways that are layered and lovely.

I recommend many books, but put THE ROUGH PATCH at the top of your list. 
Share it widely.
This fox and dog represent all of humanity.