TOGETHER WE SWIM: Don't Miss This!

 I am a genuine fan of author Valerie Bolling. Since her picture book debut she has consistently captured everyday magic in lives of young children and families, with a special gift for starring Black families within scenarios that once ignored them. Black Child Joy is authentically portrayed without glamour or exaggeration, and her titles welcome ALL children to recognize themselves within those  universal situations, emotions, and developmental learning stages. I reviewed her earlier title, TOGETHER WE RIDE, here, including my "rememory" (thank you, Toni Morrison for that priceless vocabulary addition) of learning to ride a bike with my dad.

Chronicle Books, 2023

A companion title has splashed on the scene, and it is equally welcome and celebrated: TOGETHER WE SWIM!, also illustrated by Kaylani Juanita. I'd like to say that learning to swim is a universal experience, since it is skill more vital to a long life/survival than bike riding and does not require much equipment. Sadly, some recent statistics indicate that about 70% of all Black Americans DO NOT know how to swim. (Check article here.)

Before my praise/raves for this book begins, I'll mention the dedications. 

From the author:

"For every child who's learned to swim and for those who one day will." 

And from the illustrator: 

"To Black mothers, aunties, grandmothers, and guardians. We celebrate the entirety of you."

These captured some of my favorite aspects of this new offering. The portrayals of a new-learning child in a family of successful swimmers is ideal, especially in his ambivalence of eagerness and anxious concern. It is the mom, in this case, who does the direct instructing and provides hands-on support that allows the child to take that first dip, to grip and eventually release, to risk and trust, to succeed. The rest of his supportive family notices, cheers, and welcomes him to their world of confidence and joy in the watery world, a second happy habitat for life and joy. 

All that can be found in images, including expressive features and body language, watery effects that begin and end on end papers, and a resolve that extends the learning of new things into a family bonding moment that stays with you. 

But that visual narrative only enhances Bolling's brilliant rhymed text. Those of us who write picture book text often hear (and repeat) only a slice of the message we receive from agents and publishers: "not interested in rhymed text". The ENTIRE message is actually more true, and Bolling's crisp, creative, compelling rhymed titles prove the rule: No one wants to read attempted rhymed text unless it is precisely written in rhyme and meter, unless it tells the story better than prose would, unless it reads well aloud and in natural language. Bolling is not an exception to a rule,  she proves it. Rhymed picture book text that was well done is ALWAYS welcome, especially in families with young children. Since her first picture book was published a few years ago she continues to create lively language, gaining fans among readers and those who MAKE books..

A brief example:

"Toe dip,"

"Side grip"

TOGETHER WE SWIM, Interior Spread

I'll bet those four words generate your own "rememories" of making your way into a pool before learning to swim. They're all that are needed for the first two double page spreads, in which we meet this young man and his family, swimming along on his journey. By my count the entire text is 76 words, each perfectly achieving  exactly what it should; no more, no less. The two-to-three word lines in rhymed couplets allow young readers to chime in, to read along, to eventually read on their own with the same gradual acquisition of skill and growth in confidence that this swimmer displays. 

Don't waste another moment of summer before reading and sharing this delightful book. And check in your community to see if there are ways you can support the teaching of swimming in Black communities for all ages. Like riding a bike, it's never too late to learn!

A few years ago I had several swimsuits in great condition but not being used. I checked and found an elementary school that sponsored after-school swimming lessons but found some unable to participate due to lack of swimsuits or the means to buy them. I was able to make those lessons possible for a half dozen kids and adults at no cost to me other than dropping off those suits or mailing them to an address they provided. 

SIBLINGS: ME AND THE BOSS!

 

Anne Schwartz Books, 2022

The subtitle for this very special picture book is: A STORY ABOUT MENDING AND LOVE. I have three other siblings and, at this stage of life, my sense of those relationships is one of gratitude, not worry or concern. Even so, thoughts of childhood flood with memories that we got along and loved each other, but there were plenty of days which might have deserved some mending. But there I go, reading that subtitle with my adult mind, assuming the meaning related to resolving a disagreement or some relationship trouble. Kids though, are literal critters, and they will understand immediately the very big and deep story behind the looks on the faces of these characters, on the cover and on the interior spreads.

ME AND THE BOSS: A Story About Mending and Love is written by Michelle Edwards and illustrated by April Harrison. The first seemingly simple lines target the heart of this story with the following words:

"I know big sisters. Zora, the Boss, is mine. 

I go wherever she goes and we are always home before dark. 

Those are the rules."

This is a likely-familiar scenario within many families, while each reader's take on it will be deeply refracted by their own relationships within a family cluster. Even the singleton child who always longed for siblings might ache for such an imagined older or younger "appendage", someone who might halve the worries and cautions of daily life.

Now read only that second sentence: "Zora, the Boss, is mine." 

Without the surrounding words, six-year-old Lee's first person voice states the foundation of his world, even within their loving, stable circle of caring and present parents. From waking to dusk, Lee belongs to Zora and is safe with her. His careful observations and gentle smile are not erased by her stern demeanor. She takes him into the world, insists he be allowed to participate, even with a needle and thread that could prick his fingers. She fibs about his age to assure he can take part. And he knows she does.

He does not shed tears. He does not give up. He watches, learns, and admires the Boss. He trusts her to be "mine". She will get them home before dark, heads down, and he will feel safer slipping his hand into hers, which she grips tightly.

This launches us into Lee's world and softens our view of his stern-faced sister. He is not a quitter. Lee is as stingy with words as his sister is. If Zora believes in him he can believe in himself. His overnight wakefulness provides time to practice, to calm his too-quick fingers on the needle, and accomplish his plans. He expands his sense of independence, achieves a goal for himself, then extends his newfound skill to offer a silent surprise to his sister. 

Much effort is currently being made in the publishing world to elevate and promulgate author and illustrator voices that share stories and images from previously underrepresented cultures and identities. Within that, the shift is on to share "Black Joy", as I've written about HERE, HERE, and HERE. It will take many such titles to provide celebrations of contemporary relationships, interests, and experiences that begin to balance the prior focus on stories of suffering and slavery and pain. Those historic stories are essential, but mirrors of daily life and lively engagements, like this one, need to be readily available and welcomed into the canon of children's literature. In this case the sibling roles within family, neighborhood, and community are not only contemporary but reminiscent of generations of families of every color. This, then, is a welcome version of the century of stories sharing such experiences in which the people on the page are white. conventional (exclusionary) policies claimed that "others" who read/view it will "see" themselves in it. Here, the same can be said for those who are not Black. These characters, this story, could belong to anyone. As illustrated by the powerful images of April Harrison, the family members are not mere darker-skinned generic people. They embody and project an undeniably rooted Black family and relationships, people I want to know. The dignity, strength, and synergy within this family are undeniable and enviable. They don't need for me to know them,  but they deserve to be known.

Examine those faces closely. Pay attention to every word, within the full story flow and also as single statements. Project their lives forward. Zora is not "forever" Boss, only to remain so as they age. Her demands of Lee and her defense of him are building within him a brother who will, one day in the future, separate himself from her Boss role and become the brother she loves and needs as there are now, side by side, equal sibling adults.

Putting the CELEBRATION in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday

 In the nine years I've been sharing picture books on this blog, I've had LOADS to say about Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday recognitions. After reading this post, I invite you to use the search box in the right column menu to find previous featured titles. I've felt strongly positive about the books I chose to showcase, but MANY of them focus on history. MANY are biographic, inspiring and motivating and providing content that could have been missed in mainstream culture through relentlessly white-focused portrayal of American culture. Few, though, are contemporary, humorous, joyful, or playful. In large part that's because books of that type rarely existed. If they did they were the "precious few" that everyone already knew about. Think of Ezra Jack Keats's THE SNOWY DAY (and other titles).

The best news is that, as I began to assemble this collage of covers, I had to stop in order to have enough room for the rest of the blog post! These are only fifteen of my recent favorites, and there are so many more, including others that are featured in past posts on this very blog.

BLACK JOY PICTURE BOOKS!

To honor Martin Luther King, Jr. on this national holiday commemorating his birthday, I'll share this bounty of beautiful recent books portraying BLACK JOY! My celebration is that there are now so many picture books that portray readers of EVERY identity, allowing kids to see themselves in the pages of those contemporary exhuberant stories. My notes below will be a select few, but you can find more HERE, and HERE, and HERE, and HERE. In fact, while you check out those resources from others, you may want to subscribe to their blog posts, too!

Click the titles below to read some brief notes for any-and-all that appeal to you:

  MIXED ME is written by Taye Diggs and illustrated by Shane W. Evans. 

JABARI TRIES is written and illustrated by Gaia Cornwall

FOR BEAUTIFUL BLACK BOYS WHO BELIEVE IN A BETTER WORLD is written by Michael W. Waters and Illustrated by Keisha Morris.

JUST LIKE ME is written and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton.

MY RAINY DAY ROCKET SHIP is written by Market Sheppard and illustrated by Charley Palmer.

SWISH! The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters is written by Sizanne Slade and Little illustrated by Don Tate.

MY HAIR IS MAGIC is written by M. L. Marroquin and illustrated by Tonya Engel.

BLACK IS A RAINBOW COLOR is written by Angela Joy and illustrated by Ekua Holmes.

NORMAN The Amazing Goldfish is written by Kelly Bennett and illustrated by Noah Z.

THE WORLD MADE A RAINBOW is written by Michelle Robinson and illustrated by Emily Hamilton.

ALL BECAUSE YOU MATTER is written by Tami Charles and illustrated by Bryan Collier.

EVELYN DEL REY IS MOVING AWAY is written by Meg medina and illustrated by Sonia Sanchez.

BROWN BABY LULLABY is written by Tameka Fryer Brown and illustrated by A. G. Ford.

HELP WANTED: MUST LOVE BOOKS written by Janet Sumner Johnson and illustrated by Courtney Dawson.

DUSK EXPLORERS is written by Lindsay Leslie and illustrated by Ellen Rooney.

Whew!  Doesn't that look wonderful?  Well, despite this joyful shift in focus and subject matter, here's the bad news. Based on data that is collected and analyzed annually about the patterns of the publishing industry for children's books, progress is being made, but at a glacial pace. 

Minimal, barely budging progress.

2019 Data Analysis

“Keep Moving Forward,” is a theme from Dr. King’s address “Keep Moving the Mountain”, given at Spelman College on April 10, 1960. He said, 

“Keep moving, for it may well be that the greatest song has not yet been sung, the greatest book has not yet been written, the highest mountain has not been climbed. This is your challenge! Reach out and grab it and make it a part of your life…we must keep moving. If you can’t fly, then run; if you can’t run, then walk; if you can’t walk, then crawl; but by all means keep moving…whatever you do you have to Keep Moving Forward.”

 I can think of no better advice than this to the industry and to the readers, buyers, and teachers of children's books: make your voices heard through recommendations, reviews, purchases, requests from libraries, and social media. Examine your own stock of picture books featuring Black characters and work to update your shelves, making certain to include current, colorful, uplifting titles like these.