All the Ice Cream In the WORLD: A Parable

 I'm a fan of ice cream, so this picture book had me at the title: 

ALL THE ICE CREAM IN THE WORLD, written and illustrated by Masoud Gharebaghi.

CLAVIS BOOKS, 2024

After all, it's SUMMER, and it's HOT, and it's ICE CREAM!

The cover illustration confirmed my assumption that this would be a romp through the glorious possibilities of ICE CREAM. Perhaps with a sampling of world-cultural takes on it, or ways ice cream makes its way to our mouths (that's what the cover suggested to me), or even a story about some ice-cream-crazed kiddo who could never get enough to satisfy. Even the end papers echoed this brilliant array of ice cream options, revealing the creator's background in design.

While the title of this post suited the story between the covers, I was wrong about the plot. I found absolutely no sense of greediness or self-indulgence. In fact, this story is a parable about the innocence and empathy of children.

The story line is simple, but beautifully and heart-tuggingly rendered in soft-edged, stylized art that makes the story universally recognizable and lifts it from the specific to the human level. That's especially appropriate because it is a story of global crisis and the need for a global effort to resolve it. All the effort in the world.

The very individual and specific problem sets a baby polar bear at risk when its snowy den becomes an ice floe set adrift by global warming. Currents take the bear into an overwhelmingly large city, one oblivious to his presence (the first metaphor). Adults hurry past wearing earphones, staring at screens, or blankly tunnel-visioned on their seemingly important missions. enormous structures suggest massive consumption of energy and time and attention. the central double spread reveals the collaborative nature of problem solving and presents a wide diversity of young faces, all focused forward, directly to the reader. From that point forward the images of countless kids loses its individuality and shows the power of numbers and unified effort.

It took a few moments of examining the art before I felt its affinity to Dan Santat's THE ADVENTURES OF BEEKLE, the little imaginary friend who roams unseen throughout many pages of its journey. Until...

LIttle, Brown Books
 for Young Readers
2014

In that gentle but deep story only a dog notices the seeking and longing of another creature in need.

In this story, one child with ice cream sees the small bear, senses need, and shares her sweet cold relief. The resolution is both satisfying and alarming. With a call to all the children in then world to bring their ice creams, they provide an icy island to send back to sea, returning the baby bear to its mother. 

That happy ending is deeply poignant, with not-at-all-subtle final lines:

"The small humans gave up something they loved to help me.

Maybe one day, everyone will do the same to save our home."

Under the dedication that opens the book there is an even more direct message from the author about this crisis. The story does what the best parables do. It entertains, elecits smiles, has a sympathetic character in need and a surprisingly clever and courageous hero. The art is both charming and powerful, the colors and canvas textures draw the eye for closer looks. And the concept of an icy floating mass of ice cream provides a cool, chill, delicious image. But the undertow of adults (or humankind, more generally) unable to even notice need due to preoccupation with their own driven natures strikes very close to home. 

It's not long past the time of graduation speeches and adults advocating for young people to take leadership in a challenged world. Fair enough. Every "next generation" has been charged with "doing better" or fixing the world. But the current state of conditions, the self-centered destruction that generated disastrous threats to the survival of the future generations, have wreaked havoc on the planet and make those requests immeasurably unfair. I have great faith in YOUTH, in their care and creativity and commitment to doing better. But I wish and hope that those of us who are older would shake loose of our preoccupations and contribute to solutions now, and forever forward. To put our shoulders into helping turn this ship around.

On a side note, I reflected on my own greedy reaction to the title before reading this book. It turns out there are many books about ice cream and its allure, and I refuse to think that having some fun and funny reactions to the prospect of mountains of ice cream is "wrong". Even so, I was grateful for this lovely reminder that such pleasures, in stories or in scoops on cones, should  close my eyes to "big picture" stories such as ALL THE ICE CREAM IN THE WORLD. If this subtle misdirection gets others to open and read, I'm happy to know it. And I hope you'll "save room" for this one among your lighter and more distracting choices. 

BARBED WIRE BETWEEN US: Fort Sill, Oklahoma

 It's hard to have to admit that this is a nonfiction look at a real place, FORT SILL, OKLAHOMA.

Even harder to admit that a country that erred horribly in turning this place into a concentration camp of American Japanese over half a century ago, a country that acknowledged and attempted to make compensatory payments, would now, as you read this, be using the same facility in a similar way. 

Hardest of all is acknowledging that these choices arose out of fear. 

Red Comet Press, 2026

Not the fear by those wrongly contained, but from a population whose fears were enflamed politically and without validity.

BARBED WIRE BETWEEN US is written by Mia Wenjen and illustrated by Violeta Encarnacion. The cover image implies both the similarity and contrast between the original use during WWI and the use now as a detention center for those accused of illegal immigration or violation of immigration laws for simply being "not us".

The remarkable technique uses a pattern similar to a REVERSO POEM. In this case, the book provides haunting and revealing images on each page along with brief text, a line or two that adds to the story of the lives so severely impacted during these fateful times. The first half of the book provides a color-shift at midpoint but continues the story with new characters. Once the pages end, readers are invited to begin again, reading back to front. The language and experiences now become eerily distinct but painfully mirror the original imprisonment experience. 

In both cases the incarcerations involved fear of "OTHERS", using a wartime-threat premise that could never really be justified. Both feature young residents, some suffering separation from trusted adults, and the powerful, painful contrast between hope and reality. 

Backmatter addresses the facts as well as offering a brief note about REVERSO poetry. What is not mentioned, which felt especially painful to me, is that this forward/backward reading cycle is, to a degree, like a mobius strip in which there really is no end. One small twist makes that happen, but once in place it becomes inevitable. Our earlier history was shameful enough, but to see that it is repeating is beyond shameful. The thought that this will continue to occur in the future with new "others" is appalling. And yet, we can no longer doubt  or deny it is happening. 

PLEASE, read this, share it, and then join me in finding ways to end this current chapter of our countries errors and prevent it from happening again. I have no answers as to HOW. A great start is to simply raise awareness of the horror of today's practices. This book is elegantly powerful in doing just that.

A LINE CAN GO ANYWHERE... Come along with Ruth Asawa

 Ruth Asawa is a remarkable American artist, worthy of remembering her name and eliciting examples of her work. If you are already familiar with her, I believe you will adore this account of her life and work for young readers.  If she and her work are unfamiliar to you, this book is even more important to read.

I am a wish-I-could-be-artist who admires and sings the praises of the talents of actual  artists, especially when they are celebrated in picture books. (Put the word ARTIST in the search bar on the right to find any of the many posts I've shared about other artists in the past.) Rarely have I met a child who didn't LOVE to make art, if left undirected or judged. But I have met MANY, across preschool to adult ages, who have precluded even trying to make art by self-assessing that they "aren't good". Others feel that art is only "one thing", whether that is drawing or painting or making identical copies of some image presented to them. Or that art requires a studio or specific materials. If you know anyone (including yourself) who shares those views, this book is a passport to rediscovery of your own creativity and self-expression.

To resist that destructive impulse to limit and turn away from creative impulses or efforts requires a willingness to trust our inner selves, a willingness to give voice to our inner impulses. Ruth Asawa had such a drive, and her inner impulses were wide-ranging, leading to creating work that now hangs or is otherwise displayed in museums. Many of her pieces have been sold for eye-popping amounts. Asawa's art expressions involved two-and three- dimensional images and materials not readily associated with art and she is credited with opening the art world to expand acceptance of, welcoming of, innovative materials and creative insights. 

This variation and expansion of expression began as a child, and her drive weathered injustice and deprivation. She benefited from rare opportunities to learn from masterful artists. That's quite a journey to portray in a picture book, but the lines that marked Asawa's creative life became the thread that pulls readers through this book. 

ROARING BROOK PRESS, 2025

A LINE CAN GO ANYWHERE: The Brilliant, Resilient Life of  Artist Ruth Asawa is a biography written by CAROLINE McALISTER and illustrated by JAMIE GREEN. The author launches the reader into Ruth's life at a young age as this American-born daughter of Japanese immigrants noticed her world before the Second World War. 

Readers enter Ruth's life through her perceptions and fascinations with lines and patterns, as revealed in wagon tracks, agricultural and natural  movements on the land, and geometric waves of horizons and river beds. The beauty and rhythms of what she saw in vegetables, bean strings, calligraphy class. Even the stripes on the American flag spoke to her, called to her, inspired her to mimic and elaborate on the lines and movements in her world. 

You may have guessed by now that she and her family, along with more than a hundred thousand others, would intersect tragically with the unjust incarceration and isolation of Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. I was unaware of that aspect of her background, but reading this explains as much about her eventual trajectory in the art world as anything.

It was her incarceration that limited access to materials but led to interactions with artistic mentors whose careers were halted by movement to the camps. Ruth's awareness of figurative lines were not restricted to straight segments and angles, but frequently incorporated spools and loops, waves and curves, symmetry and asymmetry.applying  traditional skills and techniques to unconventional but  available materials. Crocheting with wire and weaving metals resulted in works that instantly intrigue even though they are utterly original and unprecedented. 

Throughout her life, Asawa heard many nay-saying voices (choose between family life and artistic life) but heeded her own path. She married and raised six children while keeping her art production original and powerfully unique. (To view a brief video of her art, try this YOUTUBE clip.)

Once achieving success, she could have used the most expensive or traditional materials, but she chose to incorporate what was at hand, what suited her inner intent, what contributed to the total impact of her work. Her quote below captures that impulse:

QUOTE credit: Ruth Asawa

Illustrations allow readers to connect with Ruth throughout her ages and stages, while hinting at many of the extended voices and drives which led her to such acclaim. She called the disruptions of her family and childhood "interrupted lines", which are suggested throughout the illustrations, as are other visual details that can find echoes in her masterpieces. 

You'll do yourself a favor to read and explore this picture book biography. It includes back matter that extends information about Asawa's life and art. Both the main text and that added information combine with remarkable illustrations to submerge readers into a life worth learning about. 

Apologies Analyzed, and more: I'M SORRY YOU GOT MAD

 Oh, how I wish I had this new picture book while I was in the classroom daily. For preschoolers, for elementary kids, for middle grade and high school kids.For preservice teachers. 

Well, for everyone. 

Little ones need to learn to regulate their emotions and take accountability for their actions and consequences. They need to empathize with the feelings of others, especially when their own actions caused them. And adults (not just teachers) need to learn how to help that growth in the process take place. One version or another of  meaningless apologies seem to be everywhere these days, from a mindless "sorry" in passing to a publicly issued version of the title. A sort of "sorry you're a snowfake" statement.

DIAL BOOKS FOR YOUN G READERS, 
2024

I'M SORRY YOU GOT MAD is written by Kyle Lukoff and illustrated by Julie Kwon. (click on each creator for some interesting background, but especially to note the delicate handling of facial expressions in sample of art by Kwon.)

The gist of this book is what I assumed before reading. Namely, that someone had been unfair or unkind and then was not good at accepting responsibility for their actions. The cover offers that premise well, including that such a person being asked to write an apology will likely make them even angrier and in a deeper state of denial. Art on the back of the book jacket shows that the infraction was not a major one or irreparable and could have been resolved rather easily. 

So far, so good, and so anticipated. 

What unfolds in the first several spreads and page turns is a nearly wordless account of Jack's successive attempts, retries, and the growing fury he feels as well a the growing awareness of him among others in class. The few words used on successive attempts are scrawled on crumpled note paper  (SORRY... SORRY ZOE -JACK.... DEAR ZOE, I'M SORRY YOU GOT MAD   JACK...) with that last note adding writing in a different hand: Dear Jack, Please try again. Love, Ms. Rice)

That format and book design continues throughout, allowing readers (young or old) to read and understand a model of the ways in which intervention, allowance for time, persistence, and gradual growth to acceptance of responsibility can achieve long term change. 

Jack goes through stages of composition that are first intended to deny everything, to satisfy the teacher, and to put this behind him. If left without further expectation, the experience would confirm his view of himself in relation to others. By reprocessing the request for a real apology, readers can view the visual account of a normal progression of a day in class with Jack's intense drama in the background. It does not separate him from the group, but allows him to see the event in perspective with the full day and the magnitude (or lack of it) of his actions. His letters become more sincere, including empathy for Zoe's sadness, while still dodging accountability.

Eventually, Jack's letter incorporates what we see to be Ms. Rice's support: Three things an apology must include. 

What I did.

That I'm sorry.

And I'll help you to fix it.

This takes into account the adult's recognition of and respect for Jack's improved effort at writing something meaningful, then structuring an acceptable response for his success. His letter does what was asked.

That, my fiends, would be what I expected and would welcome in this type of book, one that might even be called "didactic", although necessary, and handled in a realistic way. But, there's more.

If it ended there, we'd assume that Zoe received the note. But then we see that Jack is furious that she and friends built something and did not include him. He demands an apology although he knocked their new project down again. I won't reveal the closing pages because they are quite clever, realistic, and worth reading for yourself.

While this is, in fact, a picture book  focused on writing or providing a good apology, one that means something, it is also an exploration of what and how we learn, of how we grow and use what we've learned, of the "big feelings" that can lead us to acts that we then want to deny and do not regret. Actions that hurt others and yet we feel justified in choosing to do them. That's often because we can't free ourselves of the shame and/or anger that surround our actions. It is also a manual for pre-service teachers (or those already in classrooms, or for parents with squabbling siblings) to manage such emotions and growth in a way that allows time and space for change.

I was certain I'd want to read this to consider if it should be included in my reflections in this blog. I can't begin to post about every picture book I read. This "second level" of story tipped the scale in favor of featuring it and sharing my reactions. This basic story AND second level serve as a constructive model in familiar circumstances but also move into the realm of the WHY of hurting others, the HOW of fixing, and the WAYS to become able to manage our own feelings and respect those of others. It modeled self-regulation not only in children but in adults. It moved from demanding apologies (and acceptance of those) to genuine personal development. 

And it moved my reaction from a strong recommendation to a rave. Please check it out.