EMILY SAW A DOOR: Consider WHY Doors Matter

 In recent posts I've featured titles dealing with "Others" or with separation or discrimination. (I've featured other titles on this topic in the past, of course.) Whatever the reason for treating others differently, the stories each reveal ways in which denial of access or justice have affected people for reasons unrelated to right or wrong. In the new, recent picture book, we find Emily trying to enter various doors. The response from the "doors" (or whatever was speaking from the other side) varied. In this story there is rejection, welcoming  (for nefarious reasons), and willingness to accept without offering any benefit to entry.

EMILY SAW A DOOR is written by Mel Rosenberg and illustrated by Orit Magia.

RANADOM HOUSE STUDIO, 2026

Responses to her knocks point out  on Emily's size, or color, or volume, or mindlessness, or more. In the end, Emily has been left to her own devices and determined that if she wants access to a door, she'll have to create her own. She eventually uses resources at hand to make a choice, celebrating her own positivity and imagination. 

The door she creates is exuberant, vibrant, smile-inviting. Unlike the refusals or false welcomes on the previous pages, which included subtle symbols fading or dying plants, diminished spirits, and minimizing of Emily's value. Emily's door is uplifting. When she creates her own door it attracts a knock, which she quickly responds to with welcome, leading to joyous play and friendship. 

This book is a kind of parable or analogy for the many ways in which acceptance by others can feel like our only way forward. many may feel that finding the right door, the right validation, the right sense of belonging are necessary to be our full selves. Certainly, those things matter, but not as much as figuring out that we, the truth of who WE are on our own, is already enough. Then expressing and sharing that self, embracing our own potential can be the very door we were seeking. 

In this story it feels to me that the many blocks Emily dealt with made her more willing than ever to welcome others into her own space. If that were the pattern for all adults, throughout history, much of the pain and suffering that "othering" causes could have been avoided. Prevented. Countered. Repaired.

With so much talk and concern about the potential for AI engagement to harm children, one fear focuses on the "pleaser" programming that makes such systems eager to confirm whatever the user wants or feels.I thought about that as I reread this story. I hope this might be shared across many ages with that very discussion in mind. If affirmation and guaranteed approval define us, it also limits what we might learn about ourselves. Building capacity to deal with struggle and rejection, if not in excess, can be the fuel for inner strength and identity. 

This story has staying power, especially when shared with the intent for such discussions and in combination with specific titles placed in history and actual events. But it is also a delightfully simple and elegant story for even the very youngest audiences. Enjoy!

A Fast Fanfare of Fiction Titles

 I've returned from a lengthy stretch away. It's one that involved loss and struggle, as well as some illness. I only mention that to indicate that this marks a full return. I'll resume a more normal schedule now, and I thank you for your patience and for staying with me during some abbreviated posts and less frequent reviews.

That stack of very special picture books I mentioned in a recent post, HERE, has now gained my full attention. Any one of them deserves a full post. In my time away, I was honored and excited to learn that I will again be serving as a ROUND ONE CYBILS panelist for 2022 titles in the nonfiction category. Since our listings this year will span elementary, middle grade, and high school titles, I'm already beginning the process of reading and preparing reviews for those. As a result, I offered brief thoughts about these fantastic fiction books in my GOODREADS pages. I'll include them here with cover images and a line or two from my reviews. I hope you'll trust my opinion enough to get your hands on them and check them out for yourself while I return to a growing stack of nonfiction titles at the other side of my desk!

CLARION BOOKS, 2022

LITTLE GOOD WOLF is written  and illustrated by the talented pair of sisters, Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel. 

Some lines from my Goodreads notes:

It is a topsy-turvy twist on the trope of a BIG BAD WOLF in those many folk tales, with a young wolf who is a major disappointment to his "Big Bad" parent wolves. Despite their most earnest efforts, he is deeply, naturally GOOD, but also wants to please his parents and be accepted by them.

 

CAPSTONE EDITIONS, 2022

YOU ARE LIFE is written by Bao Phi and illustrated by Hannah Li. Moving from fantasy/allegory to contemporary philosophy and identity, this is a book for everyone, with special emphasis on the ways in which we are alike... in a society that too often stresses and threatens differences.

I had this to say:

Lyrical, lovely text and images that offer a diverse cast but with particular affirmation of Asian/Pacific Island children whose physical identity may have resulted in situati0ns of taunting/bullying or led to witnessing this toward people in their family or communities, especially during the polarized Covid battles. The author note in back is worth reading with young audiences. 

CAROLRHODA BOOKS, 2022

FROM THE TOPS OF TREES is written by Kao Kalia Yang and illustrated by Rachel Wada. 

This is must-read for any age.

The art on the colorful pages of this poignant book will connect with kids from any background, while introducing them to the daily life of a child's family and community life in a refugee camp. Despite the comforting love of family and glorious pets, despite occasional spreads of grey and somewhat worrisome expressions. This child's hope is for life in a place that is different, better, holds promise, but she has no experience on which to frame such dreams. 

Her father's uplifting solution opens the whole world to her future. 

LITTLE, BROWN & COMPANY, 2022

BERRY SONG is written and illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Michaela Goade. 

Don't miss this one at any time of the year, but especially at this harvest time of year.

Dripping with delicious language and emhanced by glorious art in natural tones and sweeps of outdoor scenes, this brief, simple text celebrates "berrying" through the voices of an Alaskan indigenous pair, young and older. 

ut in the forest, they seek... BERRIES, like "little jewels".

From those early pages, the voices of elder and young, forest and heritage echo to each other with the values and cultural richness they share. Interspersed with berry chants naming specifics that were new to me, little audiences will quickly learn to chime in as they recur:

"thimbleberry, swampberry, dogberry, chalk berry,

lingonberry, raspberry, bunchberry, cranberry."

and more...

As I reread and wrote these various notes I realized that these are titles that are well-suited to share a post, since each deals with personal identity and finding/embracing our places in the wide world and within our own families.

I'll let those be the last words on this bouquet of terrific fiction titles. Let the fiction reading begin for you, and nonfiction for me!  Back with those notes soon.

Facing the Truth: Feeling Better!

I can say with confidence that we all have hidden stories about ourselves. They may be hidden from the general public, from our circle of family and friends, from those closest in our lives, or even from ourselves. At a time when privacy feels (and usually is) elusive, the last, most sacred, private spaces are within our own heads and hearts. As a very private person myself, this feels like a good thing, something to help kids appreciate and develop for themselves. 
Except...
When those inner secrets haunt us, make us sick, twist our guts, or torment our thoughts, finding safe ways to let them out is the healthy thing to do.
Healthy, but not easy.
Once again, using picture books (and other books- see below) allows us, at any age, to live through intense or seemingly threatening inner struggles through the eyes of a character. That slight distance from the personal and often visceral distress of trying to talk about our own turmoils, whether those are minor or major, provides a sense of safety and  perspective.

NorthSouth Books, 2019

I AM A THIEF is written by Abigail Raynor and illustrated by Molly Ruttan, both of whom seem to be deeply connected with the emotional distress some prickly secrets can generate, at any age. 
The text introduces the issue in Eliza Jane Murphy's matter-of-fact first person voice: 
"I am a thief. Me. Eliza Jane Murphy. Line leader. Caring friend. Captain of the Worm Rescue Team."
This confident and clearly empowered girl is not in denial, only in SHOCK! The reality of what she has done appalls her, and her self-worth is in question. She lays things out as facts, even if they are mind-boggling facts, to her. 
When that sparkly green stone on the classroom display table caught her eye, it stole her heart, her attention, and then stole its way into her little bag. 
"Having" it made her heart sing, until she reflected (wonderfully demonstrated in a bathroom mirror). She realized that her impulsive act had made her someone she never imagined she could be- a THIEF! As she seeks to understand her own actions and also define herself as good or bad by questioning loved ones about their own thieving pasts, she is in for a surprise. 
Not only are the stories she hears unexpected, but they also offer various approaches to integrating obvious mistakes and even intentional poor choices into a full identity. Possible consequences and resolutions are modeled within their stories. A funny and not-so-subtle visual subplot involves her thieving cat, which tempers the satisfying conclusion and avoids an overly sweet resolution. Involving insights into dad and teacher in the ending lends some perspective, too, without extending a free pass to take whatever you want in life. 

Graphix (Scholastic) 2019

As I mentioned above, this kind of self-betrayal and hidden struggle is not limited to the very young. Picture books are not the only explorations of hiding the truth and subsequently stewing internally. Young people often view that approach as a sign of independence, but that isolation only increases anxiety and pain. I AM A THIEF depicts a young elementary girl, but a parallel issue involves a middle grade girl working through hidden fears and suffering in a new semi-autobiographical graphic novel, GUTS. Raina Telgemeier presents aa lightly fictionalized version of her middle grade life that shares many of the same stages and steps toward growth. It also opens the character's eyes to fuller truths about her friends, her nemesis, parents, and teacher. 
And, ultimately, about herself.
Books, particularly books with visual depictions of emotions, settings, and relationships, are uniquely positioned to develop awareness of a reader's internal explorations. More importantly, they can develop empathy for others, as is discussed in a wonderful post by author Bobbi Martin recently on one of my favorite blogs, Teaching Authors.
I AM A THIEF confronts the very common experience of impulsively helping ourselves to something that is not rightly ours. GUTS explores unexpected and escalating feelings of anxiety and desperation, arriving at a highly realistic but encouraging non-resolution. 
In both cases the books remind us, at any age, that we are not alone in our struggles. 
Not alone in such experiences.
Not alone in seeking understanding and resolution.
Let's use books like these to actively help young people develop patterns of turning to others to strengthen themselves, in empathy and independence.