….and Houndstooth and Ikat and Argyle

A Pattern for Pepper – Julie Kraulis,      Tundra Books, 2017

The title of this blog entry is an homage to the late Jill McElmurry, illustrator of many wonderful children’s books, including Alice Schertle’s Little Blue Truck series.  Her first picture book, Mad About Plaid, is a funny fantasy about a girl who is initially thrilled by a certain fabric pattern, only to be overwhelmed when it takes over her world.

When I first found A Pattern for Pepper on the website of Canada’s Tundra Books, I could not help but remember McElmurry, although Julie Kraulis’ heroine Pepper has a much more intentional experience in this story. She wants to learn about different fabric patterns and, if you read the book, you will, too.

The boldness of the book’s project really impressed me. After all, it would not seem like the most likely candidate for a children’s illustrated work of fiction.

Continue reading “Mad about Plaid…” →

Book discussed:  Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride – Pam Muñoz Ryan and Brian Selznick, Scholastic Press, 1999

Imagine two of the most powerful and committed women in the world taking a short plane flight together, and then returning to talk and enjoy a dessert they both love.  Imagine that one is a spokeswoman for human rights around the world, and the other a pioneer in a field thought by many to require traits that women supposedly lack: courage, physical endurance, and quantitative skills.  Imagine their story brought to life for both children and adults through the narrative and artistic ingenuity of Pam Muñoz Ryan and Brian Selznick.  Then open Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride to experience a flight back into the past with headline grabbing text and cinematic images.  “How amusing it is to see a girl in a white evening dress and high-heeled shoes flying in a plane!” The “girl” is Eleanor Roosevelt. “There’s no describing it…You just have to experience it on a clear night when you can see forever.” The one with the vision to see forever is…

Continue reading “Women Take to Flight” →

Book reviewed:  The Language of Angels: A Story About the Reinvention of Hebrew – Richard Michelson and Karla Gudeon, Charlesbridge, 2017

This year, the Sydney Taylor Book Award for excellence in Jewish children’s literature and the National Jewish Book Award in Children’s Literature went to the same book.  The Language of Angels tells the story of the reinvention of Hebrew as a modern language, told from the perspective of a young boy, Ben-Zion, in late nineteenth century Eastern Europe. Ben-Zion is the son of Eliezer Ben –Yehuda, the quixotic pioneer who stubbornly insisted that the ancient language could be revived and used every day by Jews in communicating with one another, no matter where they were from. The elder Ben-Yehuda, in order to accomplish his goal, involved his family in a unique experiment; they would speak to one another only in this developing tongue.

Was this linguistic experiment also a difficult psychological one for the linguist’s son? You can be sure it was, and the book describes his initial loneliness and frustration.  Since Richard Michelson and Karla Gudeon’s purpose, however, is to educate and inspire, the book emphasizes the positive and exciting aspect of inventing new words for ice cream and bicycle, until eventually other children join in the “new adventure.”

Continue reading “A Language for Angels and People” →

Book Reviewed:  Miguel’s Brave Knight: Young Cervantes and His Dream of Don Quixote – Margarita Engle and Raúl Colón, Peachtree Publishers, 2017

Miguel’s Brave Knight is a picture book about the young Miguel de Cervantes and his formation as an artist.  It is written in verse by Margarita Engle, continuing a welcome trend of children’s books delivered in the least commercial literary form.  It is promising how many excellent examples of narrative poems that publishers are producing for children:  Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming, Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover, Jason Reynolds’s Long Way Down, Debbie Levy’s The Year of Goodbyes and Engle’s own Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba, to name only a few.  Perhaps poetry, sometimes the most challenging genre to read and interpret, actually has an advantage in the free verse form favored by children’s authors. Each segment or chapter is self-contained and brief, and relies partly on the rhythms of speech.

When I read Miguel’s Brave Knight, as well as some of the other works listed, I asked myself at times if the story could not, in fact, have been told in prose, simply by reassigning line breaks and creating sentences. In some cases, where imagery and metaphor are not features of the language, it could.  But I believe there is a value even in using the medium of poetry to tell stories because it “normalizes” this limitless form.

The young Cervantes doesn’t have an easy life. His father is depicted as an irresponsible gambler who spends time in prison.  Miguel’s education is erratic and he lacks the stability that children crave.

Continue reading “The Knight of the Not Always Woeful Countenance” →

Book referenced:  Jean and Johnny – Beverly Cleary and Beth and Joe Krush, Harper Collins, 2007 (reprint of 1959 edition)

Recently the New York Times Book Review had a nostalgic article by Joanne Kaufman about the girls’ “Malt Shop” novels of the 1940-1960s. It captured the moment in American history captured in these quaintly dated stories of teenagers in love, struggling with the problems of an ostensible simpler time.  I enjoyed the article, but I strongly disagreed with its assumption that Beverly Cleary’s books for teens are in the same category with those by Rosamond du Jardin, Betty Cavanna, and Lenora Mattingly Weber. I write that with absolutely no disrespect to the authors of the Beany Malone series (Weber) or Boy Trouble, Junior Year Abroad, and Practically Seventeen (du Jardin). They are entertaining stories exploding with mid-century sexist values, but also some positive examples of possibilities for girls.  They are genre novels, and that’s o.k. Beverly Cleary, who turned 101 last April, is not capable of writing according to a formula. Her teen novels, Jean and Johnny, The Luckiest Girl, Fifteen, and Sister of the Bride, transcend the repetitive if exciting tales of teens hanging out in malt shops and working through their issues with boys.  A crucial element of Cleary’s books is the work of Beth and Joe Krush (about whom I have blogged before) that accompanies her text.

It’s interesting how little attention was paid to these books during the celebrations of Cleary’s one hundredth birthday.  They do seem more dated than the Ramona books and her other classics, largely because adolescence seems to have changed in more obvious ways than the grade school years.  However, it is a shame to overlook these Cleary-Krush collaborations, in which teenaged girls gain confidence and independence, partly by learning not to waste their time on worthless jerks.  They are not picture books, but books in which words and pictures still work together to create unforgettable characters; the Krushes’ artistry is an inseparable part of these creations. I own an out-of-print collection of three of the novels, First Love, which includes all the original pictures.  (Do not be put off by the cover art, which is not by the Krushes.  I am actually not sure if the Harper Collins reprints also has the original illustrations; if they don’t, I strongly recommend finding out-of-print editions that do!)

Jean is a smart girl who wears glasses.  She is small for her age. Her father is a postman, so their family cannot afford stylish clothes and other luxuries, although her inventive and pragmatic mother enters contests who has succeeded in winning a television set.  Johnny is a popular and affluent boy who briefly develops a romantic interest in nerd girl Jean.  It is never explained exactly why, but a manipulative and controlling personality seems a likely candidate.  Eventually Jean wises up, realizing that she has more in common with Homer, who also wears glasses and has the good taste to prefer Jean’s  simple dress to more lavish ones, “…because it is streamlined…It isn’t a lot of material cluttered up with stuff.”

The Krushes’ depictions of the mismatched Jean and Johnny may seem hilariously stereotypical of a bygone era, but look at them more closely. In one, Jean and Johnny stand in front of a locker, where a great deal of action set in high schools take place. Directly behind Jean’s face in profile is an “Exit” sign, and Jean is starting to figure out that it is indeed time to leave.  Even slouching he is much taller than Jean.  He towers over her, his face showing condescension, as he points towards her nose.  Jean is actually clenching her fists, and who could blame her?  She glares at Johnny, who has just broken a date with her because his grandmother is sick.  This clueless emotional predator cannot believe that Jean doubts his story:

Continue reading “Beverly Cleary Plus Beth and Joe Krush: Not a Malt Shop” →

My three-year-old grandson has become fascinated by watching the original Mr. Rogers shows on PBS Kids.  As I watched with him while Mr. Rogers zipped his sweater, fed the fish, and explained why computers are important but lack the creativity of people (this was one of the last episodes), I felt frustrated beyond belief at recent events.  Watching the spectacle of political leaders once again abandoning our children to preventable violence, I was reminded of the virtually universal respect for Fred Rogers among parents, educators, and people who truly care about protecting kids.   Mr. Rogers died fifteen years ago; he would have turned 90 years old next month.  Watching his shows renews my appreciation for his ability to reassure children without patronizing them, as he repeats, again and again, that adults will always do our best to protect and accept them, “just the way they are.”

Continue reading “Thinking about Mr. Rogers” →

Book Reviewed:  La Princesa and the Pea – Susan Middleton Elya and Juana Martínez-Neal, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2017

It’s not easy to reconfigure a traditional fairy tale in an original way; every year many children’s books attempt to do so.  This year’s Pura Belpré Illustrator Award winner uses intensely colored images drawn from traditional Peruvian textiles as a setting for the story of the picky princess.  The text, short enough to entertain a young child or to amuse an older one, is as innovative as the pictures.  There are English rhymes, Spanish rhymes, and Spanish-English rhymes, all propelling the story forward to its inevitable conclusion. (There is a glossary at the beginning of the book to help guide the reader who may need assistance.)

As a Romance language, Spanish has many words ending in vowels, giving the language a melodic quality that lends itself to rhyme. However, it is one thing to rhyme boda and de moda (wedding and stylish), another to experiment with off-rhymes, such as el guisante and veinte (the pea and twenty).

Continue reading “The Princess and the Pea in Peru” →

Book discussed:  The Tale of Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter, Warne, 2002 (reprint of 1902 edition), Beatrix – Jeanette Winter, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003

I have not seen the new computer-generated animation movie version of Peter Rabbit, and it isn’t high on my list of things to do. If you are following the controversy, you know that parents have complained about the inclusion of a scene in which Tom McGregor, allergic to blueberries, is deliberately shot in the mouth with the dangerous food and experiences anaphylaxis.

Aside from empathizing with the distress of those families affected by this apparent insensitivity, I prefer to focus on the review of the movie in the New York Times by Glenn Kenny, who seems, despite the title of the review, oddly unaware of the nature of the original story by Beatrix Potter.

Mr. Kenny writes: “Yes, right away the movie dispenses with the sweetness and light and lyricism of the books by Beatrix Potter.” Lyricism, definitely. Sweetness and light? This seemed like a good time to revisit the understated tale of childhood fears and disobedience by the brilliant writer, artist, and naturalist (on whom I have also blogged here).

In case you have forgotten, the mother of Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter, feels the need to remind them that they should avoid Mr. McGregor’s garden at all cost, since their own father “…had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.”

Continue reading “Peter Rabbit: Not the Movie” →

Books referenced:
A Bear Called Paddington – Michael Bond and Peggy Fortnum, HarperCollins, 2014 (reprint of 1958 edition)
Paddington’s Finest Hour – Michael Bond and R.W. Alley, HarperCollins, 2017

Today, February 13, is the birthday of Michael Bond, the creator of Paddington Bear and author of his adventures, spanning the years 1958-2017.  Bond died this past June at the age of 91, having experienced the relative privilege of long and consistent acclaim throughout his life.  He first worked with illustrator Peggy Fortnum (1919-2016) and later with other artists, most recently R.W. Alley.  The most obvious part of Paddington’s appeal is as a toy animal who embodies the most endearing, and occasionally frustrating, traits of a child. Previously a resident of Peru, before his guardian, Aunt Lucy had to move to the Home for Retired Bears, Paddington braved a dangerous journey to London as a stowaway. He is fortunately adopted by the compassionate Brown family, who succeed in acculturating him to life in Britain, but never quite completely enough to remove the element of surprise and a little embarrassment from their daily lives.

Three years ago, I read a moving piece by author Pico Iyer in The New York Times Book Review, in which he reminisced about being himself a young Indian immigrant to London, and how he identified with Paddington’s confusion.  He even wrote Bond a fan latter, and received a kind response.  Over the years, Paddington, like Iyer, became more acclimated to his surroundings, but there were always the moments when his naïve enthusiasm made him stand out. Paddington’s combination of insecurity, and yet conviction that the way he saw things was correct, makes his character accessible to children.

Continue reading “Remembering Michael Bond” →

Books Reviewed:
I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark – Debbie Levy and Elizabeth Baddeley, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2016
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. vs. Inequality – Jonah Winter and Stacy Innerst, Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2017

First, I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark appeared in 2016, winning a well deserved Sydney Taylor and National Jewish Book Award, among other honors. Then, only one year later, Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. vs. Inequality followed. It was cited as a Sydney Taylor Notable Book, and also as a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book As far as I am concerned, there can’t be too many children’s books about this powerful and courageous female opponent of injustice.  An article in the New York Times by legal reporter Adam Liptak refers to her as a “rock star” and describes the grueling schedule she maintains, one that would challenge someone twenty years younger. Each book is a thrilling in its overt feminism, its frank acknowledgement of antisemitism, and its beautiful art.  Winter and Innerst’s work has a somewhat more detailed text with more complex explanations, but the differences are minor; both works would be suitable for readers in elementary school and their awed caregivers.

I Dissent opens with carnival-style lettering making the point that dissent has been the essence of Ginsburg’s life and career. We see young Ruth and the older Ruth in her justice’s robes, each proclaiming her profound objection to injustice and inequality.  Yet this does not, author Debbie Levy reminds us, make her “disagreeable.”  Girls and women who speak out are heroines, not annoying pests or witches.  We learn that Ruth grew up in an immigrant neighborhood and was entranced by books from a young age. One of Elizabeth Baddeley’s pictures shows Ruth seated in front of a shelf in the public library, reading about heroines real and imaginary, whose images form constellations in her mind.  There is no pulling any punches about prejudice, as a boldly lettered sign, “No Dogs or Jews Allowed,” keeps the Bader family from a hotel on their vacation. The facing page depicts other signs shamelessly excluding black and Hispanic people. Ruth is taking it all in. She is angry, but her anger is always focused, whether in her protests against teachers who force her, a lefty, to write with her right hand, or the obligatory cooking and sewing classes to which she is subjected.

When Ruth goes to college, she meets her ideal mate, Martin Ginsburg, as committed to women’s equality as Ruth is.  One beautiful picture shows nighttime in the Bader Ginsburg home through a blue background of semi-darkness. Martin is cradling their infant daughter while Ruth sits, law book and pen in hand, studying. Both parents are quietly smiling.   The book portrays Ginsburg consistently, mounting a strong argument that is not patronizing or simplified. Prejudice is wrong. Strength should be expected from both men and women. Both men and women are entitled to fulfilling professional lives and warm family lives.  All oppressed people deserve advocates.  The facial features and physiques of the characters are not idealized, so they further affirm for children how ordinary heroism can seem from the outside.

Jonah Winter and Stacy Innerst’s approach is similar to Levy and Baddeley’s: acquaint young readers with Ginsburg’s compassionate activism and defiance in the face of outmoded conventions.  Winter uses the premise of framing a legal argument, with such phrases as

“We now offer into evidence: Anti-Semitism experienced firsthand by Ruth – a sign outside a resort in Pennsylvania, seen from her parents’ car.  It said: NO DOGS OR JEWS ALLOWED.  This happened right here in America.”

This book also documents the young Ruth’s passion for books, her success as a student, and her grief at her mother’s early death.  Martin Ginsburg is also her staunch defender and soulmate, “…different from any boy she’d ever met – he liked that she had a brain.”

Continue reading “RBG for Kids” →