Little Puzzles

Good picture books are works of art to me. Each one gives you something different to appreciate. The color, the movement, the placement of elements. It all goes together in particular, glorious ways.

Really, they are like little puzzles that I must happily figure out.

How does the picture support the text? Does the illustration speak to me? Does it elicit another thought or mood that adds to my appreciation of the story? 

So much to think about. 

I try to treat myself to several picture books a week. (And I'm thinking about how I will share these with readers in the fall.) 

Recently I read these titles:

Rosenstock, Barb. 2014. The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art. Ill. by Mary Grandpré. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0307978486 

When I first opened this picture book, I literally felt as if I were opening an artist's paint box (the title page is an illustration of an open paint box, and it will make you want to pick up a brush). It's historical fiction and based on true events in Kandinsky's life. (The excellent author's notes explain all of that.) When he was a boy, Kandinsky received a paint box from his aunt, and it changed  his entire life.

Barb Rosentock tells such a good story here. Previously, I read another one of her books and also one of my favorites: Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library.

Mary Grandpré's illustrations, done in acrylic paint and paper collage, match the wonder & mood of the text. Soft colors and lush strokes turn Kadinsky's life story into a work of art. That's genius! Each page echoes Kadinsky's feelings in the text, and as the story progresses, the art is even richer and more vibrant. (There is a page where Kandinsky's parents are talking, and Mary Grandpré represents this with text collages jetting from their mouths. I thought that was genius, too!) 

I will be recommending it to Mrs. Harris (our art teacher) and pretty much everyone else I know.
If you're not familiar with Kandinsky's work, the resources at the end of the book will be very helpful!

I could write more about it, but I must tell you about another book.

Gandhi, Arun, Bethany Hegedus, and Evan Turk (illustrator). 2014. Grandfather Gandhi. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 144242365X

If you could touch the cover, you would feel just the right amount of texture. Don't you love the shadows behind Gandhi and his grandson? And the sun! Look at the sun! Paper on paper in just the right proportion. Perfect! 

This isn't a full biography of Gandhi, so don't expect that. But what you get is something beautiful still. Gandhi's young grandson, Arun Gandhi, tells a story of living with his famous grandfather for a couple of years, and an important lesson he learned about anger. (Grandparents teach us such valuable lessons!) Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus wrote the book together (which adds such a level of awesomeness to this book), and the story of how they connected is interesting! (Read it in the authors' notes at the end.) Also, Bethany Hegedus is a Texas author! 

I cannot express adequately just how much I love the work of illustrator Evan Turk here. He uses watercolor, paper collage, cotton fabric, cotton, gouache, pencil, tea (yes, tea!), and even tin foil to create the illustrations. Using brown, orange, black and gold, Turk paints faces that express vivid life, creates scenes that evoke emotion, and uses perspective to magnify importance of moments. With scribbles and black, and placement of the character on the page, Turk depicts the anger young Arun is telling his grandfather about. On a double page spread where guests are gathered for a dinner of boiled pumpkin, I loved how Turk created the plates, spoons, and food. It's those little details that make this book stand out!

I could read these books for hours! I am so grateful to these authors and illustrators for their work. I hope my humble post here has inspired you to read their work, too!

Viva Frida: A Review

Morales, Yuyi. Viva Frida. New York: Roaring Book Press, 2014. ISBN 1596436034.

Viva Frida is both picture book and proclamation. Written in first person point of view, Frida Kahlo speaks to readers about her creative process in English and Spanish, with both languages on each page. The illustrations are both photographs (by Tim O'Meara) and paintings, and the combination is visually engaging, with vivid and playful renderings of her face, dress, and even her pet monkey. Reading Viva Frida is what it might have been like to listen to Frida speak at a museum showing. Husband Diego Rivera appears, but the focus here is Frida's artistic curiosity, as well as her vibrant appearance (with signature jewelry and floral head adornment) and spirit. In a double page spread in which Frida rests on a grass mound barefoot, (shoes cast off nearby), we gaze up dreamily into the sky with her, a delicate reaching hand aiming with hope. 


Viva Frida is a visual feast of a book and will inspire multiple readings. Not only a must for an art teacher, but also for anyone interested in creativity. 

Yuyi Morales has won the Pura Belpré Award multiple times, but most recently for Niño Wrestles the World.


Click here to see more about this book. 

Viva Frida is set for release on September 2, 2014. 

Summer Begins!

An end-of-year summer reads display designed by one of my awesome parent volunteers!
I love the jellyfish hanging from the ceiling! 

I wrapped up the school year on Friday officially, so I suppose my summer has begun!
But I am still thinking about the year, and reflecting upon all that it meant to me. I am writing an end-of-year piece to help me remember it all, but it's not finished yet. There is so much to think about!

I will be headed back to the library many times this summer. It will be a joy for me to do so! There are projects I want to begin, collections that need attention, and plans that need to be carried out. I already have several to-do lists.

But before my summer begins, I want to take note of just a few of my recent reads:

Image from Goodreads 

Thong, Roseanne G. (2014). Green is a chile pepper: A book of colors. Ill. by John Parra. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. ISBN 1452102031

From my Goodreads review: 

A book of poetry in Spanish and English, vividly depicting delightful scenes featuring colors. The illustrations brilliantly convey the joy of tradition, family, and celebration. A Spanish glossary is included, and endpapers resemble the entrance of a fiesta. Readers will enjoy flipping through pages and taking in every detail.

Image from Goodreads

Janeczko, Paul B. (2014). Firefly July: A year of very short poems. Ill. by Melissa Sweet. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.


The poems in this lovely collection are crisp and entertaining. The illustrations are a wonder for the eyes to absorb! A great addition to any children's poetry collection.

Image from Goodreads

Castellucci, Cecil. (2014). Odd duck. Ill. by Sara Varon. New York: First Second.

How I loved this delightful story! Theodora's routines were one of the great parts of this book for me. Chad enters the picture, and everything changes for Theodora. Part graphic novel, part picture book, Odd Duck takes readers on a sweet little unforgettable journey.

Two other books I've been reading but will blog about tomorrow:

VIVA FRIDA! by Yuyi Morales; photographs by Tim O'Meara
GRANDFATHER GANDHI by Arun Gandhi & Betheany Hegedus; illustrated by Evan Turk

My summer will be a busy one! But it will be filled with memories of a good year and good books.

Until my next post!

My Interview with Arree Chung: Author of NINJA!

Today I am happy to celebrate a book birthday! (I really do LOVE book birthdays!) Happy Book Release Day to Arree Chung, author of NINJA!, a sweet picture book about a boy with a great imagination! 

I asked Mr. Chung several questions, and here are his replies! 

Me: Librarians and teachers love to give book talks! When others ask you to tell about NINJA!, what do you tell them about it? 
 

Mr. Chung: I tell them about Maxwell, a 6 yr old boy who dresses up as a Ninja and causes havoc in his house by living out his Ninja fantasy.  It’s a perfect jumping in point for readers to get exposure to comics with panels, word bubbles and sequential story telling.  There are lots of places to talk about irony and how words and pictures work together.  For instance “...to defeat angry beasts” and “…a ninja goes unseen.”

Most of all, I tell them how fun the book is and how it can capture kid’s imaginations to go on their own ninja adventures.

Me: What did you enjoy about writing this picture book? 

There was so many things that I loved in making this book.   For the writing, I really enjoyed pairing down the words and trying to find the voice that would go along with the adventure.  Earlier drafts had many more words and it really was a reductive process to get it just right.  For instance, I toyed with changing the words “sacred cup” to “sippy cup” thinking it could be funnier. My editor, Kate was so helpful in pointing out that sacred cup worked much better.  Sometimes you’re so into the work that it’s helpful to have a guide to get you back on track.

Me: How did the idea for NINJA! come about? 
 

The original idea for Ninja came about randomly when I was in art school.  I scribbled out the idea: A boy dresses up as a Ninja and goes sneaking around the house.  It was just an idea and I never thought it would my break out story.

When I signed up for the SCBWI 2012 summer conference, I also enrolled into the illustration intensive workshop.  The assignment was to submit a manuscript along with thumbnails, character sketch and a full illustration for a story.  I had been working on a few stories for years but was stuck on most of them.  I decided to start anew so I flipped through my sketchbooks and found Ninja.

I was super busy wrapping up a few other projects that I didn’t work on Ninja for a couple of weeks.  I did think about it a lot and wrote little scribbles and doodles down.  All of a sudden, I realized the deadline for the assignment was due in two days, so I one night, I stayed up and frantically worked through 14 versions of the story.  In the morning, I had a story I liked.  It wasn’t perfect but it was solid.  I think having to simplify and get the story done for the deadline really helped me.  I haven’t been able to write another story in a few days since.  Sigh!

You can read the details of my path to publishing on my blog:

http://arreechung.blogspot.com

Because my blog name is Librarian in Cute Shoes, I loved the part in NINJA! where Arree Chung mentions that all ninjas needs "silent ninja footwear".

In fact, here is one of his sketches about how to make your own costume. I love it!

 

Me: What are the challenges in both writing and illustrating your own picture book?  

The hardest part is coming up with a great concept and the story.  As an author/illustrator, writing and drawing go hand in hand.  It actually makes the process easier.  There are times in the process where it’s helpful to put the sketchbook away and only focus on the words.  For this, I like to use flash cards to emulate page turns.  I can also get a sense of pacing and how it reads out loud.

Most of the time, I am working on the words and pictures together.  That’s one of the things I love most about picture books.  The words and pictures play together to tell the whole story.

Me: Tell us about the role libraries have played in your life. 

I LOVE libraries.  When I was a kid, it was my home.  I went there to day dream, to do homework and to draw anything I wanted.  Books opened new worlds up for me.  I loved reading adventure stories like James and the Giant Peach, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, and Rikki Tikki Tavi.

It’s funny because, thirty years later, I find myself doing a lot the same things I did as a kid.  I go to libraries and coffee shops.  I get lost in stories and I dream on paper.  I feel so lucky that I get to make books now and the thought of my book showing up in libraries gives me goose bumps!

Me:  I especially loved the ninja stars on the endpapers of NINJA! How did you decide on that? 

I couldn’t count the amount of ninja stars I made as a kid.  Probably at least 1,000.  When I was collecting patterns for possible end papers, it struck me.  I had to have paper ninja stars!  It was one of those, “duh” moments. 

I made several versions of the end papers.  Here’s a red one that I liked a lot. 

For a long time, I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, the red or green one.  In the end I’m happy with the choice we made.

Thank you, Arree Chung, for being a guest on my blog today and for sharing your art with us here!

Now, enjoy the book trailer for Ninja! (It's so clever!)