Again...Again...Repeatedly

A book is a gift you can open again and again.

Garrison Keillor

What is it that makes us return to our favorite picture book titles?  Do we go back, even though we know exactly what is going to happen, because the story, the beginning, the middle and the end, is in perfect alignment.  Could it be the words, the narrative, the dialogue, create a kind of song in our minds, painting a picture even without the illustrations?  Or might another visit be due to the stellar artwork, the fresh color palette, intriguing layout and design?

I believe it to be when the combination of all of these is so striking, that not only is the book memorable, but you as a reader sense a kind of magic, a cosmic connection.  When I first lifted the cover of Open This Little Book (Chronicle Books) by Jesse Klausmeier with illustrations by Suzy Lee I had no idea what to expect. (I rarely consult the jacket flaps until after I read the book.)  Within a few seconds I began to feel a pull, a pull taking me right into the center of the book.


Open this...

Those first two little words offer much.  It seems so often when growing up we hear the opposite.  "Stop!" "Don't open that!"  This phrase is different; freeing, warm and inviting.  So we do as it requests.

In the Little Red Book, the Little Green Book, the Little Orange Book, the Little Yellow Book, the Little Blue Book and the Little Rainbow Book readers are introduced to Ladybug, Frog, Rabbit, Bear and Giant.  Each character is reading a book about the next as the volumes, inset in one another, continually get smaller.  As we move from book to book the characters move into the next title until a problem arises.

The pages of the smallest book cannot be turned by the hand of Giant.  But what are friends for? A book is began and finished with the story within read; to each character's individual and personal joy.

As first the Little Rainbow Book, followed by the others, is closed Giant, Bear, Rabbit, Frog and Ladybug return to their original settings.  When readers turn a page and read:

You close this little red book...

they, like the characters, are transported to a place where a passion can be pursued in the company of like-minded beings.  Read.  Read again.  Share. Read another. This is a timeless, treasured circle with no end.


According to an interview at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast Jesse Klausmeier first conceived this book when she was five years old.  There is a child-like wonder in the simple sentences linked together; a curiosity about what will happen next to whom.  When she chooses story, the reading of a story, to bind these characters together in friendship, the repetition of the words creates a spiral circling outward to surround you.  You, the reader, become a participant in the tale.


Every single time I read this book I discover something new in the illustrations.  Suzy Lee's interpretation is meticulous; right down to the tiniest amazing detail.  Using pencil and watercolor with digital manipulation she begins on the jacket and cover; a lofty view of a tree trunk on the left whose branches stretch as shelves providing space for books and readers alike. Her opening endpapers are rows of tiny gray raindrops on a soft creamy white background switching to a variety of colors, like a rainbow, on the closing endpapers.

Initially Lee opens using a limited palette, black, white and red with a hint of green.  As each little book is opened small spots of the other colors are added.  As the characters return home the use of color increases plus careful readers will see not only the gift of color but the gift of something else bestowed upon each. The pure happiness exhibited by Lee's Ladybug, Frog, Rabbit, Bear and yes, even Giant in each setting is marvelous to behold.


I've lost count of the number of times I've read Open This Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier with illustrations by Suzy Lee.  What I do remember is my excitement building at each page turn.  When I finish I know I am grinning from ear to ear wanting to shout from the rooftops "I love this book!"

Please follow the links embedded in this post to visit the official author and illustrator websites.  Suzy Lee did an interview at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast linked here.

I went right to my bookshelves and pulled off copies of Look At My Book: How Kids Can Write & Illustrate Terrific Books by Loreen Leedy, Making Mini-Books by Sherri Haab (Klutz) and The Elements of Pop-Up by David A. Carter and James Diaz because this title is guaranteed to inspire creativity.  You might also want to visit the web 2.0 application, Zooburst, to make virtual books.  It was an American Library Association 2011 Best Websites for Teaching and Learning.

Through The Eyes Of A Child

Information, the right information, can be a powerful thing, now more than ever.  Having worked with students, helping them to access, evaluate, use and present relevant information in an engaging and collaborative manner has proven this to be true again and again. Creating independent learners (and avid readers) has been fun for my students and me.

On the flip side of the coin, the final sentence of a poem, Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College by Thomas Gray (1742),

 No more; ---where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise.,

has likewise proven to be true.  After twenty-one years working with middle and high school students, thirteen plus years at the elementary level has provided for countless memorable moments where innocence ruled the day.  It is because of a portrayal of ignorance and  innocence, I found myself laughing out loud in a bookstore last week reading Silly Doggy! written and illustrated by Adam Stower.


One morning, Lily saw something wonderful in her garden.

Peering out her bedroom window this wonderful something has all the attributes of her heart's desire; it's large, brown, furry, four-legged with a tail and a matching large nose.  That's why after she dons hat, coat, boots and a scarf, running up to this creature, she cries with all the exuberance of youth

Doggy!

As she eyes her new best friend she realizes that up close he is mighty big and kinda' cranky but perhaps, she reasons, he needs her as much as she wants him.

When she shows up with her pal at day's end, her Mom is fairly certain Doggy belongs with someone else.  Lily decides to make a poster enumerating all the qualities of her companion; his physical description, how he fails to eat the dinner set before him, how he likes going to the park as long as he doesn't have to walk, his lack of game-playing skills and obedience, how nice he looks after a bath, his favorite thing and Lily's favorite thing---him, of course.  With the poster posted, Lily hopes, truly hopes, no one will notice it.  But...

It's hard when your heart's desire is gone even though you know they're back at their forever home.  It's going to be a long night.  Wait!  What's that?  It's another morning and a new surprise awaits Lily in the garden; a BIG surprise.


Within the first two pages author Adam Stower has you hooked with his comedic narrative and character responses.  Impeccable pacing, use of the pregnant pause, creates an expectation of wondering how what is said and what actually happens will differ.  His descriptions of Lily's and Doggy's activities on a single day, when you consider Doggy is not really of the canine variety, are hilarious.


It's the artwork which increases the laughter factor to new heights.  This title received a position on the longlist for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2012 (not published in the United States until April 2012) and the companion title, Naughty Kitty, not yet published here, appears on the longlist for 2013.  Stower begins with front endpapers in shades of blue zooming in on a table set for tea with a portion of a newspaper headline showing.  The text in the paper provides plenty of "punny" clues.

A variety of soft colors used in the illustrations, which look like ink and watercolor, are displayed either across two pages, a single page opposite a white page with minimal text, or as small insets with continual alteration in perspective. While the text says one thing the illustrations paint a whole new contrasting view; Lily says Doggy is silly for not eating his dinner, behind her he is going through the refrigerator eating everything in sight, Doggy doesn't like to walk to the park but he and Lily are shown heads hanging out of a speeding city bus or the text says Doggy is not so hot at playing fetch, Lily is peeking into his open mouth saying, Where did your ball go?  Lily's petite cuteness against the bulk of Doggy, both having a series of expressive facial looks, are guaranteed to garner giggles.  The closing endpapers, again depict a table set for tea with another newspaper showing portions of two separate but pertinent articles.


Sometimes, even before you've finished a book, you know it will be one of those titles that are read repeatedly.  Adam Stower's Silly Doggy! is one of those books.  I have not stopped grinning during the writing of this post and readers won't be able to stop either.  Get ready for gales of laughter during a read aloud.

A Bear...A Story...

I may have mentioned a time or two before but sometimes when I get a new book by an author and an illustrator whose work I appreciate and admire, I don't read it right away.  I keep it in view, anticipating the moment when I open it for the first time; like I do with a present.  I am careful when I do open it, looking at the jacket, cover, endpapers and title page before I even start the story.

There are those when the story is finished, where I sit in stunned silence wondering.  Then I read the story again...and again...and again.  The new title, Bear Has a Story to Tell (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press) written by Philip C. Stead with illustrations by Erin E. Stead is one of those books.

It is almost winter and Bear was getting sleepy.

Before Bear will let himself go to sleep, he has a story he feels the need to tell.  He first goes to Mouse. But Mouse has seeds to gather. Bear helps him and watches him burrow into the ground to wait out winter.

Duck has no time for a story needing to fly south. Frog has to find somewhere to sleep out of the cold.  When Bear looks for Mole, he listens but Mole is already deep asleep, deep down in the earth.

As the snowflakes drift down, Bear, too, lets himself go to asleep, story untold.  Excitedly, Bear awakens to the warmth of spring eager to tell his tale.  As his friends slowly shake off the seasonal shift and slumber, Bear helps each one adjust to this season as he helped each one get ready for the last.

A moon rises in the darkening sky.  Bear sits upon a log with Mouse, Duck, Frog and Mole around him ready to listen.  But Bear has a problem.  His friends speak up as friends do, everything coming full circle.


As the text written by Philip C. Stead is read you can't help but feel he has leaned over and whispered to you, "I have something to tell you.  Listen."  His words truthfully, gently, softly beckon you to follow Bear. And you do because of the way he writes.

As Bear progresses from one of his friends to the next we know he is getting sleepier and sleepier by the descriptive language and comparisons.  We can picture him and his friends in the woodsy surroundings through sensory phrases.  Every carefully told action Bear takes depicts his kindness, his patience.  Mouse, Duck, Frog and Mole respond naturally, instinctively, to their world and to Bear.


It's the illustrations of Erin E. Stead created with crushed dry pastels and pencil (her favored medium) that illuminate the narrative further, evoking a sense of peace, a quiet presence.  Every feature of Bear, his face with expressive eyes, black nose, his large rounded stomach, arms and paws are very much bear but more.  The way he looks when he walks, his stance when he bends over to offer assistance to Mouse, how he holds his arm outstretched to check the wind's direction, how he gazes upward at the snowflakes, are all done with a reverent grace, a respect for the story.

Tiny details on Mouse, Duck, Frog and Mole offer insights into their personalities but do not stray from their natural appearances.  As readers turn the pages different backgrounds, sometimes mostly white with a few stray leaves and Bear's sitting log, distinctive tree branches awash in fall colors, or varying shades of blues and blue-greens signifying a change in seasons or time of day.  I have so many favorites but the one of Bear lying down, head on paws, with Mouse, Duck and Frog waiting with him for Mole to pop out of his hole in the evening is simply beautiful.


Authors Norma J. Livo and Sandra A. Rietz in Storytelling: Process & Practice, state:

"Story" is a mystery that has the power to reach within each of us, to command emotion, to compel involvement, and to transport us into timelessness.

Through the combined, award-winning talents of Erin E. Stead and Philip C. Stead readers enter the marvelous mystery of story in Bear Has a Story to Tell.  We are witness to its rhythm, its invitation and how everyone has a story to tell in their own time.

Follow this link to an interview of Erin E. Stead at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast where she discusses her work.  Here is an interview given by both Erin E. Stead and Philip C. Stead to Publishers Weekly, Life After The Caldecott: Erin and Philip Stead.

It's A Bear-y Good Thing

This year I have been spending time (less lately than I should) participating in a Caldecott Challenge hosted by LibLaura5, librarian and blogger along with her friend and fellow librarian, Anna, found at A to Z Library.  In the course of participating in the challenge I have had the benefit of revisiting many old favorites.  One such title, a Caldecott Honor winner for 1949, is Blueberries for Sal (The Viking Press) written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey.

I enjoyed reading it again so much I knew I needed a copy for my personal shelves. Even now, gazing at the pages, the warmth of the story and illustrations, is there as much as it was all those years ago.  Anita Silvey, author, blogger and lifelong lover of books for children of all ages, best describes it in a post on her blog, Anita Silvey's Children's Book-A-Day Almanac. 

Then on March 11, 2012 and on August 2, 2012 Julie Danielson, blogger at the informative and downright gorgeous, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast highlighted the new title of author/illustrator Ashley Wolff, Baby Bear Sees Blue (Beach Lane Books), along with an interview and a selection of some of her other books.  It seems Wolff was drawn to the relationship of the mother bear and her cub in Blueberries for Sal.  After spending a day with Baby Bear and his Mama readers will sense the same warmth (and more) found in McCloskey's book, in this title by Ashley Wolff.

Deep down in the den,
Baby Bear wakes up.
He yawns and blinks
and stretches his stubby legs.

As a glow fills the cave's opening, the curious little bear asks his mother who is warming him.  Her reply is the sun.  What he sees is yellow.

As he ventures out into the day, once again, his curiosity is piqued.  In noticing the leaves he wonders who is waving at him.  She names it as the oak.  Green is what Baby Bear sees.

With each "who" question Baby Bear asks, his ever present Mama answers with an exact answer.  He in turn visualizes the object as a color.  In this manner readers follow the two on their day's journey, crossing a stream, wandering through a meadow, back to the safety of their den when a storm threatens and into the comfort of sleep.

Ashley Wolff's narrative, her word selection, has a natural, pleasing and inviting rhythm to it.  When Baby Bear perceives with his senses, at times in the form of personification, an object, his Mama's response is to instruct and introduce him to his world.  When he follows with the name of a color, the trio readers have come to expect is complete. 

Wolff's artwork is breathtaking; illustrations have been rendered by printing linoleum blocks in black on Arches Cover paper followed by, what can only be described as meticulous, hand coloring with watercolor.  Every single two-page spread entices and rewards the reader's eyes.  Color choices radiate, even in the rain

At repeated readings, once will not be enough, all the extra details can be savored; facial expressions on the bear pair, the squawking jays, or the splashing trout.  Smaller woodland and meadow creatures, plant life too,  make their way into the illustrations giving depth to the bears's world.  There is joy, an exuberance, that reaches out from the pictures and wraps around you.

Be sure to follow the links to both of the interviews at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast to feast your eyes on pictures from the book in various stages of completion.  Ashley Wolff's text and illustrations most certainly offer readers a path to the learning of colors and the names of things in Baby Bear's little corner of the forest and field.  But Baby Bear Sees Blue is so much more, a charming, delightful story that will stand the test of time, a thing of beauty.  I am adding it to my Mock Caldecott list for 2013.