UNSTOPPABLE JOHN! Tribute to a Man, to Libraries, to Books

My recent break here is the consequence of a stubborn head cold, which continues to slow me down. Even so, this remarkable book demands that I share it with you. So, inspired by UNSTOPPABLE JOHN, my post was not stopped, just delayed. 

New picture books are coming out all the time, so keeping up can be a challenge. That's one reason why I only write about select titles, choosing those that stand out (to me) and appeal in particular ways that I think readers here will appreciate. After focusing on nonfiction works for the CYBILS AWARDS (see our finalists selections HERE) , I was especially eager to consider fictional material. But UNSTOPPABLE JOHN: How John Lewis Got His Library Card-- and Helped Change History is a long-awaited title that deserves the spotlight!

VIKING, 2025

Newly released UNSTOPPABLE JOHN is written by Pat Zietlow Miller and illustrated by Jerry Jordan. Both are talented creators, and their talents blend perfectly on this project. For those meeting John Lewis for the first time, his love of reading, learning, books, and fairness will undoubtedly resonate with aspects of their own contemporary lives. The launching of this story finds Lewis as an impoverished young teen, longing for books, enough "to fill a room and spill into the hallway". He was well aware that libraries were such places, but also aware of the unjust rules that prevented anyone of color from having access to a library card. Even so, he requested one, was refused, and used that episode in his first official protest-- a letter to seek change.

To someone with my own history, someone near his age and aware of Lewis's activism and Civil Rights leadership at the time he was rising to roles within the movement, that simple act of protest did not surprise me. In fact, it reminded me of  earlier accounts, RICHARD WRIGHT and the LIBRARY CARD (MIller/Christie, 1997) and RON'S BIG MISSION (Blue/Naden/Tate, 2009), which depict a struggle for access to books by other young people of color. Wright became an honored American author, and Ron became a NASA astronaut. Lewis, though, chose a path directly related to making changes in the overt and subtle rules and laws in this country that imposed such limits on any members of our society. His path involved activism, politics, writing, and speaking, all of which are wonderfully described and illustrated throughout. It's a history and legacy that deserves attention, described in  a back matter timeline. 

Throughout, the narrative and images incorporate the powerful drive Lewis followed throughout his life: books. He read them, wrote them, used their contents to support the positions he advocated throughout his life, and even married a librarian! The essential value of reading, of access to books, of public libraries (now, too often, under attack) are at the heart of this new picture book and of John Lewis's life. The text is both accessible and comprehensive, incorporating Miller's talent for rhythm and appeal ("stopping by is not the same as stopping") and Jordan's images that depict Lewis in action as a boy/young man and then on into years of public service. The scenes and details in both text and images incorporate books, including standing in long lines to wait to register to vote and in lunchroom protests. Books anchor and center Lewis's strength and influence.

For most readers, this might be an introduction to John Lewis. His collaboration in writing a trilogy of graphic books, MARCH, Books One, Two, and Three, gained accolades and awards aplenty, and justly so. Anyone seeking further information about the details and consequences of his long life should read these. I fully anticipate that this recent picture book about his life will gain such attention and praise. It deserves both, and to be read by everyone, every age.

Another side note:

As we approach February, Black History Month, this is a superb addition to home, school, and library collections. That certainly affected the timing of its release. Even so, please be sure to make this book available to young readers throughout the year, year after year.  I wrote about HERE.

HIGHLY recommended Nonfiction Reading- For All Ages

The finalists in all categories have been announced, with nonfiction titles linked HERE. Our team worked so hard (with than fifty nominees in the middle grade group and more than a hundred titles in the elementary group!). The discussions and considerations were intense, and some terrific titles had to be left aside, but we'll share many of those as this new year unfolds. Deepest thanks to this remarkable team of readers and supporters of the best books for kids.

Congratulations to all the finalists! Now our Round Two team faces the difficult choice naming a single winner in each group, to be announced on Valentine's Day! 

Take a look at these diverse and intriguing topics from our hard work:

If nonfiction isn't your first choice of reading (c'mon, give it a try!), here's the link to the finalists in every other category at the CYBILS AWARDS site. For our finalists and all of these, you can read a short blurb about the choice at the Cybils link. Happy New Year Reading!

OOOOH.... It's Almost Here! CYBILS FINALISTS ANNOUNCEMENT!

Yep- Holiday season is well underway now, whether you celebrate or not. That could be Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or Winter Solstice or... whatever brings you comfort and joy and kindness and peace. 

What brings me those feelings, along with family, friends, and reading and writing, is the pending announcement of CYBILS AWARDS FINALISTS!

Please join me in that excitement on January 1, 2025, when CYBILS AWARDS CATEGORY FINALISTS will be rolled out starting at noon.

Whether you follow on YouTube, follow their website and blog, check the news on Facebook, or other social media, don't miss the excitement.

A quick overview of the process is as follows:

Those who support quality reading for young people (bloggers and others who reach out to the public on a regular basis on various platforms) can volunteer to serve on judging panels in one of eight categories. You can check those out, including their nominees, here.

Nominations come first from the public; later from authors and publishers. The reading is organized and reported by a remarkable team behind the scenes, chairs of each category, and panels of readers. Links to reviews are posted among us (later shared by more of that remarkable behind-the-curtain team). Discussions ensue, including true conversation, not simple argumentation or lobbying. Eventually (and now we are getting to the heart of this post), each panel agrees on seven finalists in their category(ies), and that magical team-behind-the-scenes prepares graphics and links and ... the news is finally ready to share!

That's what is looming and has me excited. January First will be the announcement of  the seven titles in each category among a huge number of nominees. These will then be considered by a new panel of readers, the Round Two judges. 

The ultimate CYBILS AWARDS winners for all categories will be announced on VALENTINES DAY! 

So, during the coming and much-anticipated Youth Awards announcements by many organizations in January and beyond, the CYBILS panelists will be deciding on the 2024 winners. You'll have time to read the finalists in any category while you wait for official news.  You can also compare those to the names/titles being touted in other awards. Don't you love second guessing what others think? 

And on the chance that you are one of us who regularly reach out to encourage readers to discover great new books, watch for the call for volunteer panelists in the next season! 

It really is a challenge and loads of fun, and your opinion will actually affect the official decisions!

STILL LIFE: A Study in Quiet... and Artful Adventure

"Twas the night before Christmas and all; through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."

Greenwillow Books, 2024

Wanna bet?
 

On this EVE of Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa, on these dark days of winter solstice, I seek "peace" and "stillness" in rare moments of calm and  deep reflection. STILL LIFE, written by Alex London and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky riffs on that theme and does so with insight and humor, for every age. Both are award-winning creators of works for young minds and eyes, and both have contributed those talents to this work of art, about works of art. And about LIFE, still or otherwise.

Big picture first, since the cover suggests an up-close perspective. It raises BIG questions, too. There is a painter involved, front and center, and a still life artwork.(For a full version of the intended masterpiece, check the back jacket cover.)

The front of the jacket cover indicates a potentially mischievous dragon who "enters the picture", breaking the frame, hinting at all sorts of imagined adventures that might ensue. In this case, dragon's "second point of view" emerges within the art. In real life, that "other" point of view is the audience. Once the artist declares "done", all control of the art is lost, and we make of it what we will. That interactivity of creation by the artist and creativity from the viewer takes on a special twist when the "other" emerges from within the painting. 

Much of the fascination for reader/viewers will lie in close examination of each page-turn variation within the painting as a distinctly alternative "not-at-all-still" story unfolds in contrasting cartoonish, bold-lined style involving characters we recognize from other picture book tales. You can guess, can't you? A princess, a dragon, mice, and more? The text, though, carries its weight by also setting up contrasting expectations:

"The candle does not flicker, glow, or drip.

There is a knife and a spoon, but no one to use them.

The coins in the purse will stay where they are."

That's an open invitation to examine these aspects closely, markers for pending change. When viewing actual still life art, I tend toward such details, wondering in what ways, for what reasons the artist assembled the objects to model for the work. What story did they have in mind about the people behind the places/times in which the display would have occurred? That state of inquiry is both deeply peaceful and imaginative. And it parallels the unfolding of this book. 

Not a spoiler, but some advice... 

Adults who share this with children might tend to examine the "still life" art most carefully, but lap-audiences and other young minds are going to quickly catch the unexpected shifts and appearances in the background of the easeled art. Somehow, mice, obviously stirring creatures,  appear and  make their way from outside the art to inside it, and thus the action/adventure is launched. 

I wondered about the magical creative thinking here: were the mice interacting with the actual modeled scene, with evidence of their actions somehow appearing within the art itself? But the actual illustrator, as always, provides subtle and delightful clues to that answer. Check the spreads for evidence that the "life" characters within the "still life" art are interacting on images painted on canvas. In fact, the adventure also breaks the frame of presumed expectations. It is the princess who runs to the rescue, and the note calling for help is not as simple as classical assumptions might suggest.

The surrealism and magical genre juxtapositions with classical images will have readers begging, "read it again!'. Perusing the overall visual complexity and detail, both evident and obscure, could occupy a quiet afternoon. Such examination will yield satisfying discoveries while, most likely, leaving many more specifics to find in the next encounter. Among those close-looks could be a side-by-side comparison of the before-and-after images using the back jacket and the final two spreads. 

I recommend this highly, as holiday gifts and throughout the year. Anyone who has ever enjoyed a "Where's Wally" title will dive into this with glee. Please urge them to read and savor the full story, first and foremost. More than that, fans of Zelinsky's other works will treasure the blend of elements of his classical mastery (Rapunzel, Rumplestiltskin), lively and complex cartoonish creations (Z Is For Moose), and his wry visual humor throughout, most especially when blending classical and comic styles, including speech bubbles (Awful Ogre's Awful Day). For more of my reflections on picture books by Zelinsky, type his name in the search box and sit back to enjoy!

BONUS INFO....

***Beneath the jacket cover, the hard case front and back (under the paper jacket) presents a visual tale of this lively and lovely book, one that reminds both artist and audience that art is in the eye and talent of the artist, but also the eye and imagination of the beholder. Finding a way "in" to the art we view allows access to creativity and imagination. It's an opportunity to treasure, as is this book.