To Catch Your Eye

Rarely when we are living life do we pause enough to think about the importance of  connections made based upon choices; choices made personally or those thrust upon us.  Of the picture book biographies I've read of late, the value of choosing to pursue one's passion regardless of any obstacles has been increasingly apparent.  You have to ask yourself how you would cope with life's detours big and small (some which were handed to them at birth) faced by the people whose life stories are being told.

Then too, I continue to be amazed by the knowledge presented within the pages of this form of children's literature; the power not only to inform but to spark further learning is undeniable.  I have met people I never knew before as well as having my understanding of others strengthened.  Author Jen Bryant and Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator Melissa Sweet (A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2008) have collaborated again in the brilliant biography, A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin (Alfred A. Knopf, January 2013).


On February 22, 1888, the town of West Chester, Pennsylvania, celebrated a holiday.  That day, in that same town, Daniel and Christine Pippin celebrated the birth of their son, Horace.

Early on it was obvious Horace would grow to be a big man; being long of leg and having large hands.  He used his size and strength to help as much as he could with the work involved in raising a growing family.  In the evenings, chores done, he would gather paper and charcoal, recreating his world.

Horace found he loved to draw and people wanted him to draw for them; whether at school, later when earning money to support his family or in the trenches during World War I.  It wasn't just his family or friends who appreciated his drawing.  Before he left school in the eighth grade. he entered and won a contest for his artwork; the prize was two brushes, a box of paints and colored pencils.

As a result of being shot by a sniper when Horace returned home from serving in the war the use of his right arm was not the same.  He could no longer draw. Despite marriage and community service filling his time, the desire to make pictures was so strong one day...a red-hot fire place poker became his brush and a piece of wood became his canvas.

Because Horace chose to overcome his disability, because he chose to painstaking paint a picture over the course of three years, because he chose to display his work in a shoe store in town, someone noticed.  They chose to tell a famous painter.  More than his splash of red would now be displayed for all to see, then and now.


One thing readers notice about the writing of Jen Bryant in this title is her nearly poetic narrative.  Based upon careful research she weaves the true words of his life (quotations of Pippin) with warmth and intimacy into the span of years from 1888, his birth until he and his art became famous.  Her passion for bringing his story to a new audience is evident on every page.  Here is a single excerpt.

As he walked along the streets of West Chester, his fingers itched to draw all the colors and textures he saw:
lacy curtains billowing in the windows,
a splash of red geraniums blooming on a step,
a yellow cat sprinting down an alley,
deep green vines spiraling up a wall.


Using a blend of watercolor, gouache and mixed media Melissa Sweet dedicates this title by saying:

To Jen, whose words make pictures in my mind.

Her matching jacket and cover open to display Horace's winning box of paints on the back with one of his quotes beneath:

Pictures just come to my mind and I tell my heart to go ahead.

The opening endpapers, against a mixture of cream textures, highlight another of his quotes and the tools of his art, brush, pencil, color palette.  The closing endpapers are a stylized map of the United States, red stars marking where Pippin's work can be seen.  Four miniature originals are shown, too.

The merging of colors and textures coupled with a varied layout and design replete with meticulous detail are stunning in their recreation of Horace Pippin's life.  Looking through the windows in the two homes shown is nearly three-dimensional.  Hand lettering the quotations incorporates them seamlessly into each illustration.  In her author's note Jen Bryant remarks about a male cardinal appearing when she visits Horace Pippin's grave.  Careful readers will see the placement of red cardinals within this book by the hand of Melissa Sweet.


It is pure pleasure to read a picture book biography as beautiful as A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin; text and pictures meshing together as if Mother Nature herself had a hand in it.  In the author's note, illustrator's note and an interview here, Bryant and Sweet discuss how they did extensive research together which is not usual.  This link is to a website dedicated to the book including a video about his work narrated by a child.  Random House has provided a Discussion Guide linked here.  The links embedded in Bryant's and Sweet's names are to their individual websites.

To Bloom Where You Are Planted...

There is no question about the value of picture book biographies based on solid research written to inform and connect with the reader; illustrations evoking a culture, a historical climate and the person's place in each of those.  In the space of thirty-two pages a masterful author and illustrator can focus on the significant events of the selected individual's life making their struggles and triumphs relevant and timeless for any age.  It is the person who we may think has the least in common with us that is the most similar.

In May of 1962 a man who lived sixty years, born in 1579, was canonized, the first black saint in the Americas.  Author Gary D. Schmidt, two time Newbery Award Honor winner, and illustrator David Diaz, winner of the 1995 Caldecott Medal, compliment and enhance each other's skills in the summer 2012 release of Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert (Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).  This is a life to be remembered, a life which can give hope to many.

Anna Velazquez hurried out of the barrios of Lima and onto the plaza.  She carried a quiet baby, wrapped closely so that no one could see him---but no one was looking.

This woman, a freed African slave, is making her way to the cathedral to seek baptism for her child.  The boy's father, a Spanish nobleman, is not present.  Not pleased with this the priest nevertheless completes the christening.

Living in the abject poverty of the barrios of Lima, Peru, Martin and his younger sister Juana are haunted by hunger and illness until at the age of eight his father, Don Juan de Porres took them both to Ecuador.  Several years later back in Lima Martin becomes the apprentice of a cirujano, a type of doctor, per his father's arrangements.  It is during this time Martin's gifts begin to shine; his healing abilities, his capacity to make things grow quickly and well.

Due to his race, Martin is not allowed to study to be a Dominican brother but at the age of fifteen he is allowed to enter the monastery to serve the others doing menial tasks; sweeping and washing floors, cutting hair, opening doors and cleaning baths.  Father Lorenzana realizes through tales being told that Martin is no ordinary young man; his talents are increasing.  Martin's devotion to healing people in the barrios, spreading to include people from all walks of life, becomes legendary as does his care for dogs.  

Within thirteen years that which was written was broken.  Miracles multiplied; being seen in two places at once, candle-carrying angels lighting his way and those trees he planted bore fruit all year long.  In 1639 voices floated from the monastery to be joined by voices in the streets of Lima, a Mother's belief, "He is a rose in the desert." was no longer blooming.

There is a particular, unique, quality to the writing of Gary D. Schmidt; drawing readers into a place so completely you believe you are there.  The easy flow of his narrative mirrors the spare life of Martin de Porres but there is also an undercurrent of richness to be felt in the telling, a richness revealed and received by all whose lives were touched by Martin de Porres.  Schmidt's technique of repeating what the slave boys, Spanish royals and priests see and say in a given set of circumstances places emphasis on the class differences but also highlights the faith of each, their willingness to believe.  It strengthens the importance of the saint's beginnings and the obstacles overcome to do what he did.

A young Martin de Porres simply clothed as a servant of the Dominican brothers surrounded by shades of green and followed by the smallest of creatures (spread across the front and back jacket and cover) begins the tale of a quiet, servant who rose to miraculous achievements.  Opening and closing endpapers, a vibrant but soft shade of rose, encase the mixed media illustrations of David Diaz. An older Martin head bowed, a golden-orange glow framing his face graces the title page. 

All the pictures span two pages with the text set in various spots; never a distraction but a part of each.  On three of the visuals smaller illustrations showcase a particular part in the retelling; a baptismal font, a lemon tree and a rose. The color palette, the shades of green, blue, red, gold and brown, simply glow.      Perhaps my favorite illustration of all is Martin moving through the arched cathedral hallways at night, two angels flying by his side, lanterns in hand, as he carries bread to feed to the poor, a dog walking by his side.

With the richness of Gary D. Schmidt's writing matched by the peaceful, luminosity of David Diaz's illustrations, Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert is picture book perfection, a biography to be relished repeatedly.  Readers young and old alike will be able to identify with the barriers Martin faced in his life but can also take heart in knowing barriers can be surmounted in more ways than one.

Please follow the link embedded in Gary D. Schmidt's name to view his website.  This is a link to a Scholastic interview of David Diaz.  

In The Eye Of The Beholder

I have always been fascinated with combinations of color.  In fact in kindergarten about the only drawings I brought home (and which my Mom saved) were those of rainbows.  Even today, decades later the sight of a rainbow will stop me in my tracks.  It's like everything is spread before you, inviting you to mix and match.

This and my desire to work on my book gap challenge as highlighted by Donalyn Miller, educator and author of The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child, in a post at the Nerdy Book Club, prompted me to pick up a book in the nonfiction section at my favorite indie bookstore last week.  Written by Marjorie Blain Parker with illustrations by Holly Berry Colorful Dreamer: The Story of Artist Henri Matisse (Dial Books for Young Readers) is an impressive, inspirational introduction to the life of one of the most notable artists of the twentieth century. It's a book not only about daring to dream but pursing your dream with a passion.

Years ago a dreamy boy gazed out his bedroom window.  He lived

in a deary village in France.  It was an industrial town---choked with

factories, clanking looms, and smoking chimneys.

Although the town itself seemed cloaked in a dismal gray, spots of color came and went with the seasons.  One constant source of brightness in an otherwise dull landscape was in the mind of Henri Matisse.

His noticeable inability to focus on anything which his hard-working parents deemed important was a source of concern.  It seemed Henri's greatest asset was his ability to imagine; to picture in his mind what he might do.  His parents felt a sense of hope when as a young man he left to study law in Paris.  

As readers without turning the next page we know this is not a good arrangement.  Henri becomes very ill spending a lengthy stay in the hospital.  While there he requests a set of paints from his mother.  

It's as if a cosmic gear has clicked into place  After painting at every opportunity his current job afforded, to his parents' distress, he decided to leave the law profession to pursue a full time career in art.  Years of study, hard work for something he clearly loved and determination fueled his deep desire to succeed.

Family, painting, travel, painting, patrons and painting filled Henri's life.  His distinctive style, his passionate pursuit of his art, eventually brought him the attention he deserved and desired.  In his later years illness caused him to follow another form of expression, cut-paper collage, drawing with scissors, which heightened his fame.  His life closed as it began when he was a little boy...with color; only now it surrounded him.

By acquainting readers with Henry when he is a boy, describing his town, his family and contrasting it with his boyish hopes and aspirations, Marjorie Blain Parker immediately creates a connection with which they can identify.  This connection continues when she uses anecdotes such as his pea-shooting

abilities while clerking or the painting on legal documents for practice as part of his story. What she chooses to tell us about this artist not only makes him real, coming to life within these pages, but conveys without a doubt his dedication to his work.  Her choice of words, the rhythm generated by her sentence structure and length, are those of a storyteller.  

When unfolding the matching jacket and cover, readers are immediately drawn to the vivid palette and differing styles of medium arranged across the two sections, focusing on the boy, surrounded by his adult art on the front and on Matisse's future home and travels on the back.  The bright sky blue of the endpapers becomes a hand squeezing out swirls of red, yellow, blue and green from a paint tube on the title page.  Using colored pencils, acrylic paint, watercolor, ink and collage on rag paper Holly Berry forms illustrations delineating between the two worlds in Henri's life; before and after discovering art.

Her delicate, detailed drawings of the town of Henri's youth (a tiny mouse crossing the cobblestones, the goods in his parents' store, an old milk can) overlaid with the colorful collages of his youthful dreams are splendiferous.  She includes important items such as the doves in the young boy's musings. (Matisse had doves around his home in his adult years.) Most of the pictures of life prior to his assured success are one page crossing the gutter to include half of the other with a narrow framing line to separate the portion used for the text.  Throughout these pages small intricate drawings enhance a single idea within the text.  The remainder of the book is an explosion of color mirroring his style in painting and finally in collage.  Stunning.


The narration written by Marjorie Blain Parker and illustrations by Holly Berry in Colorful Dreamer: The Story of Artist Henri Matisse are as lively as the subject covered within the pages of this book.  A note about Henri Matisse is included on the final page as well as two additional resources and a list of museums housing his art.  Please visit the author and illustrator websites by following the links embedded in their names above.

This is a video which might be used in conjunction with this title.

This is a link to a PBS site where children can make their own virtual Matisse-like collages.  This is a link to an art teacher's website, Art for Small Hands, for a unit on Matisse.

Batter Up!

It may be the middle of December, decades may have gone by, but the memory is as fresh as if it were yesterday.  One of the best days of my life was shopping with my Dad for my first and only baseball mitt.  Ever the practical man, not wanting my glove to get lost or blend in with the others, mine was black.  Many an hour was spent caring for the leather and placing a ball in the glove's pocket, fingers tied to form around the shape.

Softball season year after year made for sensational summers; me loving the thrill of throwing a ball to home plate from third to snag the out or running to catch a pop fly.  When Brothers At Bat:  The True Story Of An Amazing All-Brothers Baseball Team (Clarion Books) by Audrey Vernick, illustrated by Steven Salerno, garnered a spot on the 2012 Nerdy Book Club Award Nominees list, I knew I had to read it.  It boggles the mind to think all the team members were from the same family.


WHEN WINTER'S CHILL melts into spring, back doors swing
open and slap shut as kids just home from school run outside---
mitts, bat, and balls in hand.

At the Acerra house the back door did not open and swing shut once but twelve times as all the brothers ran outside for a game of baseball.  Four sisters were part of this family, but never played ball.  It was the 1930s.

With a family of sixteen children their outhouse was a three-seater, beds were shared and dinner was like a church potluck, each looking for the first available seat.  But baseball...baseball defined their lives.  After playing high school baseball, in 1938 the oldest nine started their own semi-pro team with their father as coach.

Game after game, year after year, members of the team, the brothers, made their mark in the annals of baseball history; hitting home runs into the Atlantic Ocean, having a knuckleball no one could hit, or never competing against each other, a team in every sense of the word.  During the 1939 New York World's Fair this incredible family from New Jersey was honored, flown to the fairgrounds.

The downside of life did intrude in the form of a bad accident on the field and World War II.  But the Acerra family endured supporting one another even when separated by distance and time.  Finally reunited again, playing again and making history again, the Acerras drew huge crowds for each and every game until their last in 1952.  In 1997 their accomplishments were recognized on a national level, much to their amazement.


In her author's note, Audrey Vernick explains how she came to hear of the Accera brothers' story, how one evening she found herself having a spaghetti dinner with Freddie and Eddie.  I can only imagine the excitement of spending time talking with two of these brothers.  Her passion for their story, her skill at recreating the past for her readers is clearly evident on each page.

You can almost hear the sounds of ball on bat or glove, a runner sliding into a base or the narration of an announcer as Vernick writes in a friendly, one-on-one conversational manner.  Her inclusion of perfect points is what makes this a standout biography, enjoyable for all readers. She makes the family, the brothers and their brand of baseball live again.


Looking at the illustrations rendered with black crayon, gouache, watercolor and pastel with added digital color using Adobe Photoshop, by Steven Salerno one word comes to mind---stunning.  His blend of mediums, color choices, layout and perspective make the reader feel like they are surrounded by the past.  It's as if you've stepped through a time portal.

Shades of blue, green and golden yellow are prominent but Salerno does not hesitate to modify this if the narrative requires him to do so. Opening the story with a two page spread, he follows with a grouping of four smaller pictures and then two single pages changing his size to enhance the text.  Most of his visuals go to the page edge except for the small insets found with the text.

Salerno's ability to create New Jersey neighborhoods changing with the decades is first-class.  His four pages about the six brothers going to fight in World War II are brilliantly conceived.  While I have many favorites in this title, the last two pages showing the three generations playing ball, like the background, is golden.


Brothers At Bat: The True Story Of An Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team written by Audrey Vernick with illustrations by Steven Salerno is an outstanding picture book biography for several reasons, the easy, familiar accounting, the design, detail and skill used in the illustrations, the blending of the text with the pictures but most of all for the warmth the reader feels when they become acquainted with these brothers.  Reading this title makes you want to read more about the Acerra brothers, baseball, World's Fairs, or World War II because the past is so vividly brought to life.  I know for a fact I'm going to try to find my baseball glove.

Please follow the links to the author's and illustrator's websites by clicking on their names.  Steven Salerno has a fantastic display of illustrations from this title on his site.  Here is a link to A Classroom Discussion and Activity Guide.  Audrey Vernick had a special day at The Baseball Hall of Fame; article is linked here.  The video below was posted on YouTube by Audrey Vernick. It is actual footage of the brothers playing a game.

A World Changed

The best kind of biography is not a dry compendium of a person's existence but an awakening; it's making them alive for today's readers and paying tribute to what made them who they were.  It is the result of years of research on the part of both the author and the illustrator.  Each of them know the person so well they live, however briefly, in the person's skin.

One of the most consistently popular historical figures is Helen Keller.  Justifiably, admiration for her accomplishments has never lessened with readers, no matter their age. Helen's Big World (Disney-Hyperion Books) is the third collaboration between author, Doreen Rappaport and illustrator, Matt Tavares.

Helen gurgled and giggled in her crib.  At six months, she crawled and said, "How-d' ye," and "wah-wah," for water.

Until she was nineteen months old Helen Keller was much like any other child, dearly loving the company of her parents.  Then a puzzling illness took away her ability to see, hear and speak.  Making sense of this change was beyond her young capabilities.

Five years passed before her teacher and companion, Annie Sullivan, entered her life.  With patience, persistence and firmness, Annie would spell words on Helen's palm, teach her social skills, and to use her fingers as eyes and ears, feeling what she could neither see nor hear.  Under Annie's tutelage, Helen learned to write, gaining her notoriety at the age of eight.

Learning to read on her own with Braille, outdoor adventures on land and sea in all seasons, lip reading by touch and graduating from college with honors were all milestones met by Helen. With Annie, all things were possible for this young woman.  Most people might have stopped growing at this point but not Helen.

Now that Helen had a voice she used it; championing for peace, labor rights, women's rights and civil rights.  Readers follow her and Annie, marveling at two lives well lived.  From birth to death the more Helen learned the larger her world became... as did the worlds of those whose lives she touched.


Reading what Doreen Rappaport has written about Helen Keller is like being Helen's shadow.  She has chosen to share significant moments in a vivid and personal manner.  After each narrative segment, in a bolder and larger font, beneath is a quotation made by Helen which directly correlates.

When her parents pressed her close,
she knew their smell and touch.
But she could not see them or hear them
or say their names.

"In the dreary month of February
came the illness which
closed my eyes and ears.
Gradually, I got used to the silence
and darkness that surrounded me."


Using watercolor, pencil and gouache Matt Tavares recreates stunning images of Helen Keller, allowing readers to visually experience those events in her life that held great importance.  The jacket and cover identical in every aspect except one, the Braille on the jacket is raised, focuses on Helen's pleasure in using those senses she did have.  It's interesting to observe as the story nears its end, Annie Sullivan's death noted, he pictures an older Helen, again holding roses to smell, but she is facing in the other direction.

Both sets of endpapers use a soft spring green as a background.  The opening illustration is a close-up of Annie spelling out the word "water" in Helen's right palm as the other catches and cups a stream of water.  The Manual Language Chart is featured on the closing two pages.  Featuring hands on both sets of endpapers further emphasizes their value in Helen's world.

Across the two pages for the title Tavares pictures Annie and Helen, hands clasped, jumping in the the sea so well you can almost hear the waves rolling and crashing.  All the remaining illustrations cross the gutter bleeding to the pages' edges, sometimes with a large white section holding the text or with the text tucked within the visual.  His color palette enhances the emotions of the text; joy, sadness, frustration, anger, patience, perseverance, discovery and dedication.  My favorite illustration is of Helen seated in the crook of a tree branch, clouds of pink blossoms surrounding her, as she faces toward Annie standing among the branches on the ground.

Helen's Big World:  The Life of Helen Keller adeptly written by Doreen Rappaport with illustrations rendered beautifully by Matt Tavares highlights the life of a woman who made a difference in our world; her passion for life captured by their passion for her.  This title is biography at its very best.  An author's note, an illustrator's note, important dates, and selected research sources are included at the book's end.

For more information on Doreen Rappaport or Matt Tavares please visit their websites linked to their names above.  For more information on Matt Tavares's illustrative process go to this interview at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

The Braille at the top of the jacket and cover spells Helen's Big World.