A RIDDLE OF EELS: A Mystery in an Enigma

RANDOM HOUSE STUDIO, 2026

Nonfiction books should, by definition, share information, right? A RIDDLE OF EELS, written by Nicholas Day and illustrated by Corey R. Tabor, offers loads of information, facts, details. Intriguing ones. Fascinating ones. 

But very few answers. 

In fact, there are more questions than answers.

The watery, rainbow-swirling endpapers serve well to overcome my natural aversion to snakelike things. (One important fact, eels are fish, not snakes.) The first double spread has an opening line that invites an immersive experience..."If you were an eel, all slimy and sleek..."  A boy in ballcap transforms into an eel in a fishbowl sporting that same cap. From that point on, the text uses second person address with the assumption that readers have suspended reality and allowed themselves to be an eel, for just a bit. Lighthearted humor enhances a well-paced and accessible text that addresses the central issue of the title and contents:  

EELS ARE A MYSTERY!  The more we know and learn, the more questions arise.

Eels are found everywhere, although back matter mentions that most information about eels in this material references American and European eels. Back matter points out that eels are highly endangered by extinction, making study urgent!  And yet the biggest questions remain unanswered. It's not for lack of curiosity or intentional study. In fact, the "facts" known (and then found to be untrue) stretch back through time, cultures, mythology, and legend. The word "ACTUALLY" plays an important role throughout, since statements of fact, over time, have been followed by contradictory information and discoveries. Thus, ACTUALLY, even what we know now is incomplete and confusing. 

I will not offer specifics, since there is so much surprise and seriously head-shaking content throughout. By the time the main text concludes (in a trail of open-ended wonderings) any eel-ish-reader just might want to stay an eel and try to find some answers of their own. 

I'll admit I almost didn't read or review this book. I'm not exactly a fan of eels, conditioned by years of associating eels with snakes and other slimy, slithery critters. I have never longed to taste an eel, to hold one, or to even see one up close. 

I know, I'm a wimp and far too affected by childhood viewing of Tarzan and other jungle movies. My brain says that's foolish, but my impulse when it comes to eels is to look away. 

Until I realized that the creative team behind this book is amazing and the cover itself is so reader-friendly! Those colors and eyes and the overall energy meant I gave it a try. I'm happy I did so and I hope you will, too.

OTIS KNOWS (How To Be A Bear)

 This is my first post for November. At the first of each month you can watch any and all weather broadcasters or news anchors to lose count of all the "Can you believe it? it's ________ already!" But you'll never find a bear being surprised by the changing calendar. The brown bears who make their homes near Brooks River in Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve have always lived by the calendar of their stomachs. In perfect sync with seasonal changes that seem to surprise even weather forecasters each month. 

BEacACH LANE BOOKS, 2026

OTIS KNOWS (How To Be A Bear) is co-authored by Liz Garton Scanlon and Martha Brockenbrough, with utterly irresistible illustrations by Stephanie Laberis. Otis appears to be a delightfully imagined bear-ish character in a story. In fact, he is the delightful REAL LIFE character in this nonfiction book. He is actually tagged bear number 480, but, like many other longtime bear residents, he acquired a nickname some years back.

The authors introduce Otis as he lingers and slumbers in his underground den, undisturbed by Nature's clock that wakes and draws the other park bears to the river. Hibernation means that a fully stuffed belly and layers of fat have dissolved during the winter, and life demands waking and making way to the river to eat. 

And eat.

And eat.

But readers see Otis snarking and snoring underground LONG past the time the others, including mothers and cubs, are staking claims to the best feeding spots for spawning salmon and juicy spring berries. Bears scrabble and scruff for the best spots, first restoring their body's weight, and then... building up new layers of fat for the coming winter. 

Otis is nowhere to be seen. 

Is Otis sick? Or foolish? Nope. Otis does things in his own time, in his  own ways, because OTIS KNOWS how to be a bear. He's been a bear longer than any of the others. When he drags his scruffy, skinny self out of the den, he doesn't need to compete. He takes up a spot on the river that will bring the fish to him. He knows to eat. He knows his missing teeth won't keep him from devouring plenty of fresh foods. He does it all in his own way. In his own time,

As Fall comes, the bears grow fat. Fatter than fat. The mothers, the cubs, the others. Otis, though, is ONE FAT BEAR! When the seasons lead him back to his den, he is well-prepared to sleep deep, long, and in his own way.  

Dang, I just gave away the whole story! But it isn't just a story, it's public record. Otis, #480, is one of the actual bears who gained online fame for the annual FAT BEAR WEEK contest. Otis was the proud winner of that FAT BEAR contest several times, despite being old, lumbering, and a late-starting each spring. He certainly proved that he knew what he was doing. Finally, in spring of 2024, Otis did not come from his den late, or at all. At about 28 years of age (a very long life for brown bears). 

What merited my attention was not just the appeal of Otis, nor the perfectly paced writing with  graceful language, nor the illustrations that are as informative as they are heartwarming and humorous. The creators track record for fantastic picture books assured I'd read this, but I was blown away. What happens in this nonfiction (yes, nonfiction) book is as magical as anything Disney could design. Back matter provided more details about Otis as well as notes about true hibernation and dormancy. But it isn't the back matter that earns my highest praise. 

The authors have used the life and patterns of Otis and his life to offer understated advice to us all, at any age. Doing things in our own way, in our own time, may draw concern, or even scorn. Living by our inner clocks while still knowing what needs to be done and getting it done may not be popular with everyone around us. That approach may suggest to others that we are incompetent or clueless. Judging others has become as natural an impulse to people as fattening up is to bears. But we can all know, or learn to embrace, an Otis attitude. When we know ourselves and what we can and need to do, the question is, will be get it done?  Not when, or how, or just like someone else would do it. 

And when others around us approach life in ways we would not, were can give them grace. They just might know enough to win the prize!

ELECTION DAY!

 

Stock image, 2026

As important as picture books are to me, (and if you don't already know how much that is, I've got more work to do here!)  it's even more important today to focus on GETTING OUT THE VOTE!

More people than usual have voted early in this midterm cycle. I voted on the first day of early in-person voting. More than usual numbers have requested absentee ballots. If your responsibility and rights have already been completed in the voting realm, take this last day of eligibility to drive someone to the polls, to encourage those still holding absentee ballots to drop off TODAY, or take a drive past a polling place and SMILE!

Once all that can be done has been done, you may want to sit back and learn about a few of the many titles celebrating how this crucial right and responsibility came to be taken for granted. (It never should be, as we see today more than ever.) A good place to start is with the remarkable story of how POX nearly cost us our revolutionary war, making all of this a moot point!  Several recent releases exploring the topic were featured HERE, while earlier titles have not lost their potent messages HERE, and some fun twists on voting are featured HERE. Some profiles of activists and leaders cast spotlights on folks who are still fighting the good fight in today's political contests, HERE.

Whatever else you do today, please make sure you've stepped up to the plate to cast your own vote- for whoever or whatever rings your bell. And, when possible, speak up in support of the process and others who might face struggles to get to the polls. Then, regardless of whether the results are what you hoped for or not, raise your voices to say that the results are safe, trusted, and a consequence of citizens exercising their rights to make choices. 

HOW A BEAR BECAME A BOOK: POOH!

 I've recently added commentary about text structure to my reviews of nonfiction titles. Narrative approaches present factual content within a storytelling style, as with biographies and others, HERE, HERE, and HERE. Expository approaches present facts within various texts patterns, always as a sort of user-friendly direct instruction. Examples are HERE, HERE, and HERE. But there are OTHER approaches, and those are few and far between. When well done, they elevate an information book to magical proportions.

HENRY HOLT and COMPANY, 2026

HOW A BEAR BECAME A BOOK: The Collaboration That Created Winnie-the-Pooh is written by Annette Bay Pimentel and illustrated by Faith Pray. There is no shortage of books about the legacy of Pooh, about the characters, origin story, creators, spin-offs, and more. I was looking forward to reading this, but was knocked off my feet by the originality of the approach and the excellence with which it was delivered. 

The choice here was neither narrative nor expository, although both play a role. The style is something of an homage to the original style of the works (something I often appreciate) although that is not the overall structure. Nor is it epistolary.

Its topic is exactly what the title says, but actually about so much more. Endpapers often augment the contents of the book, and these do that superbly. Almost poetically. The opening endpaper offers a blurred silhouette of a Pooh-shaped and Pooh-colored bear gazing out a rainy window. The closing endpapers use that same window setting and cozy blanket but provide full images of Pooh and his friends on that ledge, fully formed. These bookends frame the story, mirroring the progression of the contents of the main text. 

A Pooh-ish image interacts with a boy-narrator who strikingly resembles Christopher Robin. They engage in dialogue from the first page turn. The next several turns reveal the pair in a plan to tell the story of WHO the Pooh-ish being actually is and where he came from. I love the early awareness by the bear that he is a creation of words. But... another turn reveals the title page, with shadowy images of the two romping hand in hand through the pages of a book. So, we're just getting started? what were those early pages about? Set-up, yes, but more.

Seriously... This alone is a brilliant launch of boy-explaining-book-making to readers through the eyes and heart of Pooh. Just as the title says. The boy's words are in standard font and bear's words appear hand-written and honey-colored. Bear's responses are often carefully selected excerpts from actual Pooh conversations in the original books. Our understanding of how the books came to be sets up a parallel for Bear's understanding of himself and his embracing of his full personality. And as that progresses, his shadowy image acquires identifying lines and featu

(Pause here to consider that children's picture books in the 1920s were barely illustrated at all, and certainly not in the interactive, full spread, kid-friendly way that we now know. The wild success of the POOH books set the stage for a revolution in books for children.)

The exchanges feel like we are observer/participants with this appealing pair in an ongoing conversation (not sounding at all like "dialogue"). Bear learns about his own history through editors, illustrators, art directors, and more. The more Bear learns of his origins and development, the more defined his image on the page becomes. He acquires his Pooh-ish personality until there is no mistaking who this is. On the final spread of the main text, the whole Pooh crew is romping through their familiar fields. The closing words carry a significant message, although not the only one.

"Sometimes words need pictures 

and pictures need words.

When they find each other,

characters spring to life."

This delightfully suited style has informed readers while winning their hearts. But, as they say in so many infomercials, WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

What would typically be labeled back matter continues in the voice and style of the main text in first person voice, labeling various those text blocks with the Pooh-patterned language;

"IN WHICH WE LEARN MORE ABOUT ALAN, ERNEST, AND THEIR EDITORS"

I've never yet encountered back matter details presented in a way that made me more eager to read on. The spot illustrations continue and the creators who brought this timeless cast and their stories to the world leap off the page every bit as much as the originall ones did. Further pages use this same approach for other information about the creation, success, and impact of these books. The "In Which We Learn... " labels continue to share bios/notes about the author and illustrator, followed by notes about the team members that brought THIS book to all of us, and even the citations and sources.

So, even though this has a read-again magnetism to it, though it is heartfelt and huggable, it is also deeply researched, thoroughly accurate, revealing and recognizable in its language/style, and accurate in both the historic and current players who produce picture books. It is a celebration of collaboration of the highest order, which reflects Christopher Robin and Pooh in their community of friends and problem solvers. The structure used may not work as well for any other information as well, but it suits this effort perfectly. The point is, the approach of style, voice, and text structure served the purpose of information-sharing better than any other I can imagine. 

I wish I had imagined this. It's brilliant. ***Great idea for holiday gifting!