I AM GRAVITY: A Welcome Companion to I AM SMOKE

 

Tilbury House Publishers, April, 2024

In case you missed it, check out my thoughts about a remarkable picture book from 2021: I AM SMOKE, here. The portrayal used a unique voice and poetic, personified narrative for such a ubiquitous, sometimes nostalgic and other times unwelcome, even tragic part of our lives, SMOKE. That picture book has been hailed as groundbreaking. That's not just my opinion. I (and many others) have been awaiting a companion picture book on some equally challenging abstract, universal experience. It's exciting that I AM GRAVITY is arriving soon. It does not disappoint. Both are written by Henry L. Herz and illustrated by Merce Lopez. 

In I AM GRAVITY, Herz voices a universal force (literally) that's infinitely more complex than smoke. With text that explores familiar daily life and star formation within the same spreads, the power, necessity, and magnificence of GRAVITY in our lives becomes vividly clear. Both concepts and images are illustrated with fluidity and subtle detail that offers something for every age and background on this subject. The limited colors allow gravity's invisibility to be "shown" or suggested through a sense of graceful movement lines and consistent color that catches the eye against neutral background shades. From the cover (ball catch and bouncing hair) to remarkably balanced rocks to black hole activity and star formation, gravity is somehow made visible. 

That's the alchemy of picture books as a format: text and images achieving more than either could accomplish alone. In this case it is also the nearly magical achievement of these two creators to turn potentially mundane scenes into transformational connections that evoke awe, appreciation, and  awareness of a vital life force that we rarely notice without the attention of such an effective homage.

It does not do justice to the complexity and appeal in this new picture book to offer excerpts, and yet I can't resist. Here's one example:

"I tether the moon to the Earth. High tide.

Low tide. I wave to you with the oceans."

Henry L. Herz, author

These two seemingly simple lines reveal the lyrical appeal and the accessibility of this material even to very young audiences. It also sparks curiosity in older readers and invites further exploration of the multilayered science elements and interconnections of gravity in everything we know and do. A few pages of back matter provide direct information for readers and their families. This is an excellent example of WHY and HOW picture books of such high quality have much to offer for readers of many ages, as well as purposeful uses within language arts and content area classrooms. A huge plus is that the young people whose lives are shown in these images are diverse and multicultural, additionally emphasizing the global significance of this topic.

The well-known librarian, Betsy Bird, shares her thoughts about this pair of books and an interview with the author, HERE.

Excerpt: “Holy moly. I think you’ve just written something even better than I Am Smoke.”   – Betsy Bird, librarian and blogger for School Library Journal

Check out the book trailer!

I appreciate and welcome the opportunity to have an advance look at this, (without promise of review) and I hope you'll read more about it, request it at your library, and (pre)order for gifts, your home library, or your classroom. You won't regret it.