IT'S PRESIDENT'S DAY: Celebrate with REVOLUTIONARY FRIENDS

What better day than PRESIDENTS' DAY to turn the spotlight on a nonfiction picture book, REVOLUTIONARY FRIENDS: General George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette, written by Selene Castrovilla and illustrated by Drazen Kozjan.

CALKINS CREEK, 2013

 This is a distinctly appealing account of the Washington/Lafayette relationship we've all heard about, if only in HAMILTON. This nonfiction picture book has a deeply touching heart. Lafyette is often portrayed as a young, flamboyant, even cavalier Frenchman (of minor royalty) whose attention to the American Revolutionary War seems more youthful bravado than commitment to a cause.

At least that's the way I have viewed him. In this case, we see Lafayette and Washington in the full relationship that arose between them, that of a mentor/father/son with and deep true affection. Washington's national stature was the earned success of a non-nobleman, a general, then a president. He was a generation older, stood a head taller, and exuded the solemnity and stability that counterbalanced the zeal and exuberance of young Layfayette. 

This account makes clear that Lafayette's idealism was deep-seated and spanned the Atlantic to embrace both continents. He viewed himself as fully French and yet devoted himself and risked his life (repeatedly) to support the cause of the rebellious colonies.

I'm a fan of the text, including the brief and well-chosen inserts from Lafayettte's own writing. The illustrations range from formal introductions and settings to tense moments of war and treatment of threatening injuries. While revealing the formality of a bygone time and military roles, portrays of their contacts, expressions, and postures reinforced their mutual respect thoroughly. 

The back matter provides the remaining stories that readers (at least this one) longed to discover, as well as life-line timelines for each. It's a worthy addition to what seems a well-worn era, and one that humanizes the costs to emotions and personal commitments to a high-minded cause- Democracy.

This is firm reminder of the force of big ideas, adherence to principles, and dedicated friendships. It would be accessible for younger readers but is especially valuable for use with older readers in integration with social studies and history. The material opens discussions about where borders and b outcries lie in relation to deep-seated principles. It also presents a wealth of enlivened scenes for considering the relaunching of democracy in a modern (at the time) society that had for centuries been configured on monarchies, power, and wealth. Highly recommended.

THREAD BY THREAD: An unforgettable Journey

 Here's a picture book that enchants on its surface and aches at its core. How to write about refugees for very young audiences and still resonate with heart and hope? Try this one. Then, perhaps donate to a school or refugee center or family, or talk it up with someone you know who might not seem welcoming to the need for acceptance of desperate humans. I know, these are mice, but the story is universal!

Eerdman Books for Young Readers, 2023

THREAD BY THREAD is written by Alice Briere-Haquet and illustrated by Michela Eccli, with translation by Sarah Ardizzone. The cover image allows for some effective predicting. This seems like a delightful and charming story, a clever presentation of the warmth of family and home using mixed media and delicate but appealing line art in color. If that was your guess, you'd be right, on the first spread. 

But the title page features one unraveled strand of yarn, suggesting that the peace and contentment are short-lived. Endpapers, too, show that curly, unfurled yarn from the faoundaitonof the family's home along with some other yarns in different colors and conditions. 

The  minimal text is as pure as the knit one/purl one process that once constructed the security of their lives. The race to escape is inevitable, show on mostly white pages with literal and symbolic images shown in scenes combining color pencil art and yarn. Tension rises as the dangers increase, the pace intensifies, and the stakes rise. With nearly nothing to cling to, the escape across waves includes loss, and arrival reveals an armored encounter. What happens next is where the heart and hope enter the design. This community effort not only helps produce a new roof over their heads, but builds a social network and surprises that suggest not only safety but joy. 

This irresistible little picture book contains a global story, told through the universally identifable characters of mice. By no means does it replace picture books that reveal more details and specifics of individual and varied refugees and their cultures. For some examples that I've reviewed in the past, check HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and CROCODILE CROSSSING. 

And if that knit-bit caught your attention, check out Mac Barnett and jon Klassen's EXTRA YARN.

Side note: I read this and loved it when it first released a few years ago. The warm response (in the midst of ice and ICE) of the Minneapolis community brought it back to mind. If you know of little ones who are wondering about the things they see in news and media, remind them that the horror and chaos are nominally caused by concern about refugees and immigrants. The en-armored characters on the arrival shores could be discussed as having potential for acceptance or rejection... or worse. The choice they make (those with power and authority) leads to this happy and satisfying ending. The other titles linked can help do the same. Don't miss out on using such a tender and fun picture ebook with young audiences. 

Side-side note: This book works especially well as a LAP book (even if that just means Looking At Particulars). This is a delightful example of ways that illustration details, even the smallest, hold full stories within them and enhance the encompassing story with richness and depth.

DON'T TRUST FISH: Unreliable Narrators

    

I appreciate hearing from readers here, directly or in comments, but I am so enthralled with picture books that I'd post even if no one was reading. It genuinely matters to me when someone lets me know that the book(s) I feature here strike a chord with them. I take those regular readers as a sign of trust. Even though not every title might resonate with you, my remarks are seen as reliable and my honest opinion. That's the highest honor I could hope for. 

But not every narrator is reliable, and that can be by intention. 

In this case, I wrote about DON'T TRUST FISH when it first released, but am casting a wider spotlight on it now because... it deserves it! 

Dial Books For Young Readers, 2025

DON'T TRUST FISH is written by Neil Sharpson and illustrated by Caldecott medalist  Dan Santat. Sharpson is an award-winning novelist, but his debut dabble in the world of picture books ensures that this will not be his last. Santat's illustrations (and writing) in picture books have garnered fans and awards across many years. His recent middle grade, semi-autobiographic graphic novel won the National book Award for Youth in 2023. The cross-seasoning of backgrounds in works for mature and younger minds and hearts in this first time pairing produced an alchemy you should not miss.

Despite the undeniably powerful track records of its creators, this is proved to be a surprisingly entertaining picture book, one that states its intent on the cover and title. The crisp, retro-style art and sleepy-eyed cover fish contradicts that ominous statement in a way that invites some questions and confusions. Despite the imperative statement in the title, the opening spreads resemble a mid-century text book with simple images in muted and realistic colors facing a white-space text page with a few repetitive sentences that young readers can quickly echo. It appears that this is an instructive (even dull) science-y picture book about the classes and traits of vertebrate animals.

After spreads about mammals, birds, and others, the DON'T TRUST FISH line occurs, and is repeated. in ALL CAPS!

Ensuing spreads adopt a more high-stakes voice to indicate WHY fish are so untrustworthy, what they are "doing" that hints at sidestepping the nonfiction format. This suggests the narrator, though committed to the thesis, might be a tad suspect. Giggles will abound in the youngest. including the FINAL page turn, which really knocks your socks off.

Older readers will enjoy the humor, but can also use this remarkable book as mentor text for reading (and writing) text with unreliable narrators. This particular narrator requires readers to sort, analyze, and "consider the source", even before full evidence is revealed. There's quite a bit to be said for exploring unreliable narrators in text of all kinds, particularly as relates to ubiquitous digital technology.

The list of awards and honors for this book is already too long to list, but the best of all is that readers will love it, again and again. 

On a side note, I'll be presenting a short webinar hosted by WI SCBWI on the topic of UNRELIABLE NARRATORS on February 17, 2026, and it is open to all. Those who attend live will be invited to participate in some brief activities and shared ideas, and a book giveaway will take place at the conclusion. A recording of the session will be available to those who register for  a month. Readers here are invited and welcome to join! Click here the link:

JUST IN CASE: SAVING SEEDS in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault

CHARLESBRIDGE, 2025

 For more than year, my writing personal projects have included work on two nonfiction texts related to global hunger. It's quite a heavy subject, and finding ways to make it both intelligible and accessible to young readers presents plenty of challenges. Even so, kids are eager to better understand their "up-close" worlds as well as big picture topics. In the case of JUST IN CASE: Saving Seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault I have no doubt that readers of any age will be intrigued and excited at the concept and execution of this global project.

Author Megan Clendenan and illustrator Brittany Cicchese have captured the heart and heftiness of a highly technical and surprisingly simple program that could assure the survival of the human race. This one has stakes!

I was aware of this project, and had even read some science reports about it. Even so, this took me right into the depths of the story, and not simply as a good idea well done. Both the text and sprawling spread of the opening pages deliver readers to the barren snowscape of the near-North Pole. Quickly, though, we learn that this location was not only chosen for its low temperatures to preserve the seed samples, but also to remove the facility from most climate and geologic threats. With images and text, readers travel the globe and across time to note the universal necessity of seeds, and practices for their care and preservation. Occasional sidebars and text inserts build background on the significance and nearly magical power of seeds to assure life on our planet. Pages depicting the decisions involving the design, blasting, building, and operation of the Seed Vault are really intriguing. 

It is made clear that the storehouse of seeds is not only for a potential or eventual apocalypse, but these seed reserves are available for active distribution during more localized destructive events. A full-circle effect is evoked as the closing spreads return readers to view of a child, a garden, and the role we can each play in preserving seeds and growing gardens. As impressive as the Svalbard Seed Vault is, this  account is worthy of attention as a literary success. It works across many ages and curricula links, taking a broad and distant concept onto the picture book page. Young readers are fully centered in the story. It's a terrific nonfiction offering (including back matter with further details and resources) while enticing eyes and minds to connect with their personal roles in nature and science.