IT'S CORN PICKING TIME! A Must-Harvest New Picture Book

 In case you are unfamiliar, I want to call out author JILL ESBAUM as a master of rhymed text in picture books. Click on her name to see full shelves of titles she's created. Two of my favorite, most heart-tugging titles are WHERE'D MY JO GO? and TEENY TINY TOADY. I always think of Jill's books when I hear familiar advice to writers of picture books, that they should avoid rhyme. The second half of that advice is not always linked, but it matters the most...

UNLESS YOU CAN WRITE IN RHYME PERFECTLY! 

and, sometimes added...

UNLESS IT IS THE BEST WAY TO TELL YOUR STORY.

That's a high bar indeed, and authors like JILL ESBAUM raise the bar even higher. Not all of her books are in rhyme, but those that are bring enhanced rhythm and pacing with lively and natural language to share the stories even BETTER than prose might. As someone who sometimes writes in rhyme, I consider Esbaum's books to be the gold standard for deciding if my rhyming efforts are improving the story or detracting from it. Her rhymed text, when she chooses to use it, make the results feel like those stories were BORN rhyming. 

 

NEAL PORTER BOOKS, 2025

IT'S CORN PICKING TIME, illustrated by Melissa Crowton, is an ideal example of excellence in rhymed text, with the added challenge that this is an excellent informational picture book!

The first lines made me imagine this would be a variant on "This is the house that Jack built." There are several superb picture books that use that template, and I had no doubt that Esbaum would do it well. But I was surprised and pleased to see that she used only that short intro phrase to explore (along with vibrant and only slightly abstracted images throughout) the people, places, tools, processes, and majesty of corn harvest on a modern farm. 

"This is a farmer, her hat and her gloves,

This is the farm, a land that she loves."

are the opening lines that set not only the launching scene for corn-harvest day but also the warmth and emotional depth of life on a farm. An effort to construct a cumulative text would not ahve allowed each of the elements of this remarkable process to shine on its own.

From the screeching barn door to the keys tucked on a high shelf, readers are invited into THIS SPECIFIC farm, to join THIS farmer in THIS harvest. It becomes a very personal experience, and the stages involved rise above what I know to be a dusty, hot, exhausting task into satisfying, gratifying, and important work. It is also clear that farming, though occasionally lonely, is not a solo operation. Various folks of diverse ages, roles, and conditions play important parts. Even random bugs have their very authentic place on the shed shelves. 

I was particularly impressed with the natural flow of language, with accurate terminology feeling natural and accessible within nearly musical text (chaff, auger, combine). The morning-to-night framework for the harvest story incorporates soaring scavenging birds, collaborative coworkers, prowling farm cats, a faithful watchdog, and young ones. 

This is a story in which the corn is the star, but the adult farmer (female, POC) orchestrates the performance. Another frequently stated "rule" of writing picture books is that kids need to play the lead role, to solve the problem, etc. As with the prior-stated advice, this is often true. Unless it can be done as masterfully as this. The adult farmer is in every way integrated with her own family, other workers, and even into a society at large. 

And the land. Always the land.

Back matter is handled equally well. Final spreads describe "LIFE ON A CORN FARM" through simple Q and As, along with enhancing spot illustrations. Jill and her husband live on a farm in Iowa, a home that has been in their family for over a hundred years. That suggests to me that the facts are reliable, but also that the heart of it is also authentic. As someone with farm family background, there's no denying that farming of any kind is demanding, wearing, and even sometimes heartbreaking. And yet farmers stay, and farm, and root themselves into the processes that feed us all. I admire this latest Esbaum effort  for its skillful informational content, for the natural cycle of a day on the farm, and, of course, for the perfectly written rhyme. Illustrator Crowton shares my the praise for the many ways in which the color, design, and details portrayed expanded the warmth and clarity of CORN PICKING TIME!

Garden Time... in Two Terrific Picture Books

 When rain (and slushy snow) were forecast for seven days in a row, I made an impulse decision to stop at the garden center and load up on grass seed and lawn patch kits. Within an hour I was spreading seed and seed/slurry across my badly bare and damaged lawn with flurries swirling around me. All week long, as folks around me grumbled about the gray, miserable days trudging one after the other, I held on to the dream I had of a green, healthy lawn, of seeds swelling and preparing to sprout, digging down and stretching toward the sun. (Eventually there will be sun, right?)

G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2022

I am not a lawn perfectionist, at all, preferring to trust Nature's management. But I do abhor bare patches, spots that seem neglected or uncared for. Then I do my part to give Nature a hand. 

That's why I felt immediately connected to Millie, the first person, present tense narrator of IN OUR GARDEN, a celebratory, instructive picture book written by Pat Zietlow Miller, with illustrations by Melissa Crowton. 

Millie is a girl transplanted from the home she knows and loves. She's surrounded by concrete-- steps, sidewalks, buildings. She sees (and feels) gray, dull, hard. Mom calls it HOMESICK. 

Millie longed for the tender, bright, uplifting color of her home. Then she has an idea, a bouncy idea, an idea that her classmates can't see. 

They see what is. Millie sees what could be!

Millie's idea is inspired by her previous life in a tall gray building with a garden on the roof. Her roof now isn't the right kind, but her SCHOOL ROOF seems perfect. And her mission is launched: first with her naysaying classmates, then with her teachers, and eventually with the community. Of course, there's the unstated but joyful involvement of Nature, every step of the way.  Lessons in science, math, and safety are needed to make this project possible and successful. Lessons were learned involving patience. (Lots of patience- no sign of grass sprouts after ten days, but I know what Millie knows: something IS happening. Out of sight! It makes dreamers like Millie bounce and believe. I'm right there with her.) Over time, a neglected, barren roof in a gray world under a gray sky is peopled with colorful new folks, old friends, soft and fragrant produce, and the buzz of life! 

Same sky, same sidewalk, new Millie!

Peachtree Publishing Company, 2022

Next up, MIGUEL'S COMMUNITY GARDEN is written by Ja-Nay Brown Wood and illustrated by Samara Hardy. This is also a contemporary, urban, realistic picture book, but it begins, in a sense, where IN OUR GARDEN ends. In this case the community garden (at ground level) is in full bloom and ready to harvest. Miguel is on a mission, too. His plan is to harvest a sunflower for his garden party. With a narrator using an implied second-person voice to the reader, the traits of a sunflower, a sort of "what makes a sunflower a sunflower?" listing, provides the anchor for the unfolding garden investigation. One by one, Miguel compares those traits to the plants he finds and harvests. 

What he doesn't find are the sunflowers. At each plant encounter the wheelbarrow is filling up with harvested goodies for the garden party. But what about that sunflower? A long view of the garden leads the reader's eye, and Miguel's, to the prized sunflowers, nodding at the top of their sturdy stems in the warm sunlight. 

This simply-told "story" frames a ciose examination of various plants, their traits, their names, and their colorful but accurate images on delightful spreads filled with the colorful bounty and bounce that Millie would love. There is plenty to learn in the direct text, but also within the cartoon-style illustrations that reveal other plants, specific little critters, and types of growing media and habitats. There is also a subtle seek-and-find tone, concluding with the picnic/garden party at which the various foods are served.

 The latter book is wrapped with vibrant endpapers splashed with the plants that appear in the story. Endpapers for IN OUR GARDEN are subtle line drawings on green background that depict the various tools and steps involved in bringing Millie's ideas to life. Both books  offer abundant opportunities to embrace the values, practices, and power of gardening, especially with kids and community. Their colorful joy extends to illustrations with varied skin tones, body shapes, relationships, and ethnicities. These occur in a naturally inclusive experience and require no direct references, a perfect way to reflect a diverse and accepting community. None of these identities affect their abilities to fully engage with each other or the projects involved. The portrayal of such worlds is a welcome window to a healthy neighborhood, especially for kids whose communities are more homogenous. 

As for my grass seeds... stay tuned!