SMALL THINGS MENDED: A Tender Mentor Picture Book

 I'm not religiously committed to the idea of reincarnation, and yet I've often said I believe I was a bird in a prior life. I'd welcome a next life as a meerkat (despite facing countless predators and a diet heavy on scorpions). Everything I've leaned about meerkats (I was an early-adopter of meerkat fandom) indicates that they support each other in strong community and celebrate life daily. If my "next life" merited a human incarnation, I'd hope to be a visual artist, specifically a picture book illustrator. Books like the one featured below would be my goal.

In this life, using my current bucket of talents, I rely on writing for storytelling. I spend endless hours (years) learning about and trying to master narrative skills for picture book text. Any progress I've made over the years merits boundless thanks to resources such as SCBWI.org, The Writing Barn, and my very talented critique partners. The are no magic words or shortcuts to being able to produce text that inspires complementary and enriching visual storytelling from illustrators. There is, however, a "sweet spot" some authors find, honing their text down to perfect "show, don't tell" narratives that reveal not only story but also character, heart, and voice. It's really hard to define that sweet spot, but you know it when you see/read it. That's why picture books that achieve this deserve the designation of mentor texts.

Rocky Pond Books, 2023

My recent notes about WILLOW AND BUNNY involve such a brilliant pairing of talents. Two other talented creators, author Casey W. Robinson and illustrator Nancy Whitesides, produced  SMALL THINGS MENDED, a thoroughly realistic picture book with these magical results. Page after page, including endpapers, are awash with soft-edged, revealing scenes, objects, and subtlety that attract and merit our full attention. Text/craft elements (onomatopoeia and effective word choices, among others) are used naturally and with restraint to  inspire informative illustration details. Elements like a table set for one, shelves of toys and other child-friendly objects, small tools, images in photos that reveal Cecil was once lovingly partnered but is now on his own. 

A tiny phrase ("with his good eye") sets up the parallel issues of Cecil and his young friends. Many small things need mending, some more visible than others. Some are much more challenging to mend than others. 

Illustrations rise to the invitation of this skilled text to expand the emotional journeys of these characters. Whether human, animals, or even toys, it's the eyes that catch attention first. Whitesides skillfully used a style and technique that astounds me- relying on tiny dot or line eyes to convey even more depth of emotion than those sometimes-seen "puppy dog" eyes of comics. The angles and  placement of simple dots or lines, enhanced by faces and body language (of Cecil, his devoted pooch, and each child who needs help) evoke empathy. As with this seemingly-simple art technique, the text exemplifies delicate but potent minimalism, of phrase and of craft, especially repetition. Nothing is overdone, sometimes not even noticeable until a second or third reading. When Cecil restores Lily's pocket watch to its comforting tick-tick-tick operation, he responds to her thanks with a "twice-tap" to his heart. What a brilliant expression, and one that is all the more effective for its limited use in key moments.

That "tick-tick-tick" moment is when readers get a narrative insight to Cecil's backstory- "He had forgotten how much he liked fixing things." Those are the only words about his history, but a scene shift reveals more photos of his beloved and of the routines of his life. As word gets out that Cecil can help with small things in need of mending, he brings the melody back to a music box and more, hanging a small "shingle" on his fence declaring his willingness to mend small things. This connection marks his first steps to feeling like himself again, and to being part of his community. The smiles he seeks and provides are reflected on his face. 

Until... a girl brings her well-loved stuffed elephant (Daisy) to have its broken heart repaired. In this case, Cecil can't promise such success, but does his best. Readers are allowed the space, in text and in images, to imagine for themselves how and why Daisy's heart is wounded. Cecil's implied sense of isolation and grief are unstated layers to this problem, providing a clever scaffold for imagining the heartache of Daisy and the girl.

My opening notes in this post reflect on the importance of telling the essentials, the ESSENCE of a story with "just right" words and pacing, not overwhelming the heart of the story with unnecessary plot or prose. In this case, Robinson might have sought a way to resolve the "mending" of the stuffed elephant and concluded the story sooner. Here's the magic in this writing. Cecil's and elephant's restorations require more than simple fixes. The crux of knowing when to add and extend a story rather than simplify, in this case, comes down to allowing time, investing work, and pursuing what makes them feel whole. Once Cecil repairs his vegetable garden, a new sign appears on his fence. The community comes together with both Cecil and Daisy having healed their hearts. 

I longed to include some interior illustration images, all the way to the final endpapers, but the story summary will have to do. Each spread offers further insight to the story and I won't spoil your own discovery of those. Let me urge you, though, to get a copy and explore it closely. When you open the cover, ignore my mention of mentor text and close reading to enjoy it the way EVERY picture book is meant to be- fully immersed and responding without analysis. No author or illustrator invests such effort with the nthoufght that audiences will pick their final work apart on the initial reading. 

But...

When you do get your hands on this remarkable book, after that first (or repeated) immersive readings and sharing, go back to it again. AllowTIME AND ATTENTION to savor the skilled "magic" of the text and the illustrations. Notice the aspects of this pairing that tug at your heart, that connect with your personal history and emotions, that invite you to tell someone else about it. Most of the books I review are library copies, but this one will be part of my collection of "keepers". 

SUMMER IS FOR COUSINS... Of Any Age!

 After recently moving from my career-long home, hundreds of miles from my hometown, I am now located closer to many family members of many generations. In the past six weeks I've had more opportunities to enjoy their company (and their colorful personalities) than I've had in half a century. Most gathering during those visits were limited in time and interactions by focus on weddings, funerals, or annual holidays. In these less formal, more "ordinary" meetings, many recollections are being shared of childhood fun as cousins, of traditional gatherings, of shared (and contested) memories!

ABRAMS BOOKS For Young Readers, 2023

Perhaps that's why this new picture book appeals to me so much. SUMMER IS FOR COUSINS,  written by Rajani LaRocca and illustrated by Abhi Alwar, is vibrant with color, personalities, connections, and extended-family-love. It also resonates with my own memories, of beaches and ice cream outings and shared cabins at the lake and rotating  family turns to cook meals.

In LaRocca's contemporary picture book, these cousin-family traditions are showcased on the endpapers in seemingly-scrapbook-taped snapshots of game night, story time, campfires, broken limbs, identities and and very special cousin friendships. So familiar.

This particular family is, from the start, ethnically different from mine. Grandpa and Grandma are called Thatha and Pati, but I didn't need to speak another language or use Google-translate to know that. The text and illustrations retain distinctly authentic identities, diets, and details while resonating fully with the patterns of family lives that make the meaning immediately clear. Other things are labeled in recognizably generic language, kid-speak. For example, the shared vacation spot is not a wooded cabin or tent, but "a house that's not any of ours", as was our childhood gathering place. Kids leave such arrangements to their parents, yet assume that the summer ritual of gathering and celebrating the season together in a vacation spot WILL occur, even if not in the same place each year. They count on it.

In early pages the children are tagged with names, although not ones as common to my background as "Susie" or "Joey". No sense of distance from my llife, though, because their cartoonish enthusiasm and interactions are universally familiar. Each year's return reveals changes, the youngest no longer the youngest. A special friendship with an older cousin is a  worrying risk to the first-person narrator, Ravi. Could his cousin have outgrown his interest in spending time with Ravi? His voice has changed, he is incredibly taller. Would he still enjoy their favorite flavor of ice cream, or share his older-guy interests, like paddleboarding. 

Amid the many satisfying situations depicted in lively, action-packed illustrations and delightfully direct text, this tension of younger-Ravi's concern/hope is a thread that also recalled my experiences- always seeking the company of the older cousin rather than the younger one, hoping for affirmation that I was worthy of their continuing friendships, or at least their awareness. 

This is much more than a nostalgic mirror of a fun childhood summer, though. The dynamic of these cousins actually forms a dramatic throughline for Ravi to prove his theory that their special friendship has overcome their age/size differences. When the kids claim a night of dinner prep, Ravi sets out to test his cousin, to see if they still share the same favorite flavor of ice cream. I love his proactive approach and also his appealing decision to make the ice cream himself. Foodies, rejoice in this example of kids cooking and turning "making" into play! 

There is plenty to enjoy in this new picture book, for early readers, their families, and even those of us out here on the elder branches of our family trees. Apart from the affirmative values of shared family time, meals at the table, outdoor play, intergenerational activities, and family traditions, this is an ideal example of the power to both provide lesser-published  mirrors for those with non-western identities and open windows for others. It's a potent example of the ways in which "Same": and "Different" are utterly inadequate terms in a complex society such as we inhabit. Ours is a society (*most of USA) in which we live in neighborhoods that are siloed. A book like this takes our occasional and often limited contacts with people we might see only in "roles" at school or in retail or business settings beyond those artificial boundaries into their lives. Lives so much like our own. What a priceless gift that is, to those who rarely see themselves in such books, and even more to those who rarely see those lives in real life. Check it out at your library or invest a few bucks for a book that will be a treasure across generations. You'll be making memories!

For families with older kids, check out Rajani LaRocca's Newbery Honor title, RED, WHITE, and WHOLE, a phenomenal read involving the ongoing stress of strict family expectations in conflict with the immersive social patterns of a broader community. It's another loving family tale, but one immersed in the stresses of daily work and school life with the added burden of serious illness.

Rolling Along During EARTH WEEK: Garden Picture Books

 The books I've shared during 2021 Earth Week have stressed the significance of generational values and shared practices, of traditions, of commitment. That is true for both picture books by the Pumphrey brothers, THE OLD TRUCK and THE OLD BOAT. Then two picture books titled OCEAN SOUP,  about ocean environments, support the significance of learning about and acting on specific issues, across generations. If you missed either of these posts I hope you''ll click and check them out. 

Moving forward, today I'm declaring GARDENING day. This time of year there is an almost primal impulse to sow seeds, to feel the soil under our feet and in our fingers. Offering kids an opportunity to plant and grow a seed is a priceless gift, even if it is simply a sunflower seed in a paper cup. And yet the reality is that the REAL thrill of gardening is the return on investment of labor and love and relationships spent in gardens. Time and experiences often shared across generations.

A very recent release is MY NANA'S GARDEN, written by Dawn Casey and illustrated by Jessica Courtney-TIckle. 

I had to wait a bit to read this one, since it was backed up on my library hold. That should tell you something about it. Here's what Kirkus had to say  in their starred review: 

"Over the years, a little girl pays many visits to her nana’s house and garden...As the seasons cycle, the girl and her mother continue to visit and, increasingly, to help her nana in the “lovely and wild” garden....There is so much beauty in this heartwarming story. Written in rhyming couplets, the simple text flows smoothly. The stunning, delicate illustrations fill in the gaps left by the text, depicting the charm of the garden, Nana’s aging, the family’s emotions, and the girl’s growth. The artwork provides a wonderful display of three—and then four—generations and the love they share. The girl and mother have brown skin and long, black hair while Nana has paler brown skin and white hair...A beautiful, touching story of a family’s love and loss, the garden both metaphor and place of healing." (Kirkus Starred review)

Starbright Books, 2016

A terrific partner picture book is centered in a natural setting, not a family garden. GRANDMA IS A SLOWPOKE is written by Janet Halfmann and illustrated by Michele Coxon. Gentle text and images allow readers of any age to appreciate the delicate balance of long/short, old/young legs and minds. All the best picture book advice went into this one, with repetition, anticipation, ironic humor, and warm relationships enriching an already appealing story,

This will pair well with another recent picture book release: SIDEWALK FLOWERS (JonArno Lawson). And in case you missed it, check out my recent review of the glorious celebration of life, GROW, by JoAnn Early Macken, HERE. 

Finally, in this string of "bonus titles" related to celebrating nature across generations, explores the underlying truths about our family stories:  WATERCRESS, written by Andrea J. Wang and illustrated by Jason Chin. 

Has there ever been a child who did NOT feel embarrassed by a parent(s), who was not reluctant to take part in activities of parents, who did not judge their parents as "less" than other parents they observe? 

If so, I've never met those kids. It is a natural process in childhood to push back, and a natural part of parenthood to HOLD back- hold back stories that might make clear their own lives, experiences, struggles. That is universal, but it is even more pronounced among families involving immigration, migration, and relocation.When families are compelled to move, they often pack away the reasons for those moves, the stories behind lives left behind. Those stories become secrets, and yet continue to surface in the new lives and homes.
This story is written and illustrated with the tenderness of watercress leaves, but supports each gentle page of the story and the story-within-the-story on a foundation of resilience, love, and appreciation. Highly recommended for all ages and readers, with a special boost as mentor text to very young writers of "small moments" and adult writers of picture book stories with layers of heart and soul and reflection.

Here's hoping that wherever you are as you read this, the season and the weather surrounding you will invite you outdoors, into the wild or the gardens of your lives. It's asking a lot to care about the wider planet and its environment until we cultivate the deep appreciation of growing things in our immediate lives, especially in the company of people we love. 

BIRDSONG: Connections Across Age and Space and Time

GREYSTONE KIDS- Canada, 2020

Some picture books transcend time and space and age with a feeling that they have existed for all time, and yet are ever-fresh. BIRDSONG is such a book, written and illustrated by award-winning Cree-Metis artist-author-creator-maker Julie Flett.
A seemingly simple story is launched when an artistic young girl and her mother move away from their urban home by the sea, away from their loved ones, away from the tree outside her window, to live in the country in a house with creaky stairs. 
The story is structured around the seasons, using minimalist sweeping scenes and the young girl's art impressions of surrounding nature to adjust and settle into her new home--frog, pond, snowdrop flowers, and birds. 
So many birds. 
The author/artist uses a subdued and limited palette for this mother-daughter pair, suggesting their Native identity in word and image.  The passing seasons tint those subtle color tones her so slightly with hints of green, coffee, salmon, and yellow. 
Even stronger revelations of cultural patterns and values occur in the pacing of their adjustments, the gradually developing trust and concern for older neighbor Agnes, their appreciation for nature and neighbor, and their gentle engagement with wildlife. 
I agree with the Kirkus review, which calls it "Emotionally stunning", here.
Then, rather than read more about the book, go READ THE BOOK.
If you enjoy it even half as much as I do, you'll want to check out some of her other books, here.
I'd love to read what you think of it in the comments.