Life After Whale

Posted on 01/13/2025

Neal Porter Books/Holiday House | 978-0823452286

Did you know that when the largest animal on earth — the blue whale — dies, it is the end of one story, and the beginning of another?

“The death of a whale awakens and ignites a cascade of new life.

An entirely new ecosystem will build around this singular whale’s passing. Her body will provide shelter and food for millions of creatures for more than a hundred years…. Scientists call this a whale fall.”

We know that life begets life and, in much the same way as happens when a tree falls, new life springs up in what remains as the tree decays. Even so, I’d never thought to wonder about what happens when a whale dies. In fact, according to author Lynn Brunelle, research and study of whale falls is a rather newish science.

LIFE AFTER WHALE: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall begins as an enormous blue whale drifts through rippled water.

“Just above her, thousands of tiny, shrimp-like krill merge and mingle into a massive pink cloud near the suface. With a single beat of her enormous tail fluke, she surges upward and lunges!”

With clear prose and poetic language, Lynn Brunelle deftly leads readers into the undersea habitat of a blue whale. Though she is over 85 feet long (the equivalent of more than 8 stories high!), “she moves with grace and power, like a dancer, as she plunges, drifts, and whirls above and below the currents of the Pacific Ocean.”

Interesting facts fill the opening pages. For example, did you know that every six months a new layer of wax lines the ear canal of a blue whale and that these lines are like the rings on a tree trunk, allowing scientists to, not only determine the age of a whale, but, also how many times the whale was pregnant, and information about such things as the temperatures of the water, or pollution in the sea?

Amazing, isn’t it?

And that’s just the beginning because, soon, this beautiful mammal will die, and when she does, the whale fall begins.

This fascinating and informative account of the phases of a whalefall and the thriving ecosystem it supports will ignite the curiosity of young readers. Helpful resources, links to videos (such as THIS ONE about researchers’ discovery of a whalefall during a 2019 exhibition below the surface near the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary) encourage young readers to learn more.

Jason Chin, known for his techinical precision and carefully rendered watercolor and gouache on paper, bring this underwater world to life.

**

Pair LIFE AFTER WHALE: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall with WHALE FALL: Exploring the Ocean-Floor Ecosystem by Melissa Stewart and Rob Dunlavey.

 

 

Lone Wolf Gets a Pet

Posted on 01/06/2025

Neal Porter Books/Holiday House | 978-0823457786

It’s a new year and I’ve been switching up my reading of picture books by revisiting chapter books I’ve loved and adding newer chapter books to my reading list.

Recently, I discovered a charming new series by Kiah Thomas and K-Fai Steele about a LONE WOLF who lives by himself and enjoys his quiet life just the way it is. Wolf eats alone. Rides his bike alone. And never, ever has to tell anyone where he is going! What, exactly, does wolf like? Jellybeans!

In LONE WOLF GETS A PET, Wolf arrives at the store only to learn that the jellybean section is empty. What will he do without his beloved jellybeans?

Fortunately for Wolf, a helpful shopkeeper hands him a poster for a pet competition. The best part? 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize-winners will receive jellybeans!  Nine packets for 1st place, five for second, and one for third.

Since Wolf is a loner, he has no pets. He doesn’t even want a pet. But… he *does* want jellybeans. Which means, of course, that he’ll have to come up with a plan to find the perfect pet.

I won’t give away the rest of the story, but be assured that LONE WOLF is a memorable new voice in the chapter book space, with a wry humor that is sure to tickle beginning readers.

Don’t forget to look for the companion book in the series, LONE WOLF GOES TO SCHOOL and keep an eye out for LONE WOLF GOES TO THE LIBRARY and LONE WOLF ON VACATION, coming in May 2025.

At the Poles

Posted on 12/16/2024

Candlewick Books | 978-1536205992

In AT THE POLES, the eighth in this poetry collection about animals in habitats and locations around the world, David Elliott and illustrator Ellen Rooney introduce young readers to fifteen creatures living in some of the coldest parts of our northern and southern poles.

The collection opens with the Antarctic’s emperor penguin — both male and female sharing the work of caring for the egg and, later, the hatched chick. In an amazing example of group cooperation, the penguins huddle together to shelter one another, rotating those on the inside circle where its the most warm, to the outer circle, allowing all the penguins to enjoy the heat created by the community.

 

 

Also in the collection, at the most northern pole, readers meet the Musk Ox, who, despite appearances, is more closely related to sheep and goats than to bison or ox. Did you know that underneath the musk ox’s shaggy coat there’s a layer of fine wool called quviut (pronounced kiv’-ee-at)? Indigenous peoples of the region collect this soft-down underwool and spin it into yarn or blend it with other fibers to create ultra-warm hats, scarves, and sweaters.

Like Elliott’s other collections (such as AT THE POND and IN THE WOODS, and IN THE SEA), the poems are a mix of information and humor, all very accessible to young readers hoping to learn more about some of the world’s beautiful and fascinating animals. Backmatter adds additional notes about each animal.

AT THE POLES is the recipient of the Claudia Lewis Award given by Bank Street College Children’s Book Committee for the best younger poetry book of 2024.

Look for two more books in this poetry series by David Elliott coming in the next several years. (IN THE DESERT, March 2025,  followed by AT THE EDGE.)

 

When You Find the Right Rock

Posted on 12/09/2024

Chronicle Books | 978-1797214580

I had been anticipating the publication of WHEN YOU FIND THE RIGHT ROCK and finally had the great pleasure of reading it a few weeks ago while attending NCTE/Boston. What a beauty! I have loved author Mary Lyn Ray’s books for years and adored Felicita Sala‘s work (even before I had the good fortune to have her illustrate two of my books).

It’s the kind of book I know immediately I must add to my collection as inspiration for my own writing, a mix of the vibe I get from two of my favorite classic picture books — Margaret Wise Brown’s THE IMPORTANT BOOK and Ruth Krauss’s A HOLE IS TO DIG.  I look forward to sharing this book with writers in the classes I teach.

Below is one of my favorite spreads. I love the way the words stack up beside the tower of rocks! And speaking of the rocks, I enjoyed watching this video demonstration of Felicita’s process of creating the paper for these piles of stone.

There’s something so soothing about this meditation on the goodness and beauty of rocks…

“Some people think you’re doing nothing,

same as they might think a rock is doing nothing.

But you and the rock

know they’d be wrong…”

“If sometimes it happens that the world

seems not to notice how big you really

are, don’t forget those mountain rocks.

Some of their big goes unseen, too.

But it’s still there. Like yours.”

If you’re a fan of picture books as I am, perhaps you’ll enjoy perusing Mary Lyn Ray’s website. I loved learning more about the inspiration behind her writing and her ideas around the question of “Why picture books?” Here’s a snippet that resonates with me:

“I wish picture books weren’t so often regarded only as learner books, thin books or baby books but were, instead, seen as a different–and very special–way of telling (and experiencing) a story. They invite a different kind of reading and filling in around the edges, a different exercise of curiosity and imagination and creative thinking. They have their own smell and heft. And they are, besides, small flat packages of art: very real and sophisticated art any of us would be astounded to receive as a gift. And there it all is, for the taking, for any child (and those who read with or to that child).”

I hope you’ll check out WHEN YOU FIND THE RIGHT ROCK soon and maybe even pair the book with a set of watercolors and have fun making your own painted rock illustrations!

 

Zooni Tales: A Friend Till the End

Posted on 12/02/2024

Holiday House | 978-0823453580

 

If you haven’t already read ZOONI TALES, let me introduce you to the second book, Zooni Tales: A Friend till the End, a delightful early reader graphic novel by Vikram Madan. Full of vim and vigor, Zooni is the adorable lead in this collection. In three full-length stories and two mini comics, Zooni guides newly independent readers through one adventure after another. In the first story, titled, Bumbled Bee, Zooni cleverly helps his new friend, Bee, find her way home. It seems she’s bumped her head and bent her wing, and can’t remember anything!

“Which way’s my hive?

Where should I go?

My head’s so bumbled,

I don’t know!”

Text and illustrations by Vikram Madan

Luckily, Zooni is there to help. Along the way, they discover an ant nest complete with a dancing queen, and eventually put together enough clues so that Bee finds her way home and Zooni is crowned an honorary Honey Bee.

In the second story, Racing Day, Zooni and his pals are ready!

“We’ll zip and zoom,

we’ll swerve and chase!

But no one knows

who’ll win this race!”

Before long, KA-BOOM! Cat’s in trouble and Zooni is there to help.

Whey don’t you hop into my ride?

We’ll keep on racing, side by side.

Text and illustrations by Vikram Madan

Ever helpful, Zooni comes to the rescue of other friends along the way. “Remember, friends, we’re here for fun. Let’s stick together till we’re done.” And so they do, all the way to a happy ending.

In Cheese, the third story, Zooni, Pig, and Sheep look to the skies for their next adventure. Their destination? The Moon! They’ve filled their cargo hold with bread and will collect the cheese to go with, once they land. As you might imagine, things don’t go as planned, but not to worry, Zooni, Pig, and Sheep come through, make three new friends, and celebrate with more than one party!

Likeable and endearing, Zooni and his friends entertain from beginning to end with brightly colored, charming illustrations, rhyming text, and plenty of antics to keep kids laughing.

***

Enjoy this delightful ACTIVITY KIT created by the publisher to accompany Zooni Tales: Keep it Up, Plucky Pup, and  Zooni Tales: A Friend to the End.

The Table

Posted on 11/25/2024

Neal Porter Books | 978-0823456420

This week, I’m enjoying THE TABLE by Winsome Bingham and Wiley Blevins. It’s a story of all that matters most – family and community, the people we gather together with, and the table (literal and figurative) around and upon which we create and build our lives.

“Dawn sneaks through the curtains, shining a sliver of light on the side of the kitchen table.”  There, a mining family meets to share cornbread, pork-fat pinto beans, and peas. There, Easter eggs are painted, books are read, and dresses, sewed. The table centers the family’s life.

When the bills pile up and Papa loses his job, the family must move into a smaller place. “We all fit, except the table” which finds a “new place to stand on the side of the road.”

One family’s loss then becomes another family’s gain. Soon, the left-behind table finds a place in a new home.

“Daddy lets me pick a spot for the

new-old table. I pick a place by the window,

a space with the sunlight and moonlight,

for Momma’s coffee and Daddy’s crossword,

for math homework and family game night.”

Text by Winsome Bingham and Wiley Belvins. Artwork by Jason Griffin

As the family gathers for the first time around their new-old table, the boy wonders what kind of stories it might hold and what “only a table could tell.”

Text by Winsome Bingham and Wiley Belvins. Artwork by Jason Griffin

Illustrated with mixed media on paper, artist Jason Griffin captures the essence of what holds the characters,  and us as humans, together: held hands, daily meals, prayers, and parties. In an illustrator’s note, he writes:

“This book is about connection despite distance , despite difference. And so: open it up, turn each page, place your hand next to the characters’ hands. Now you are at the table, too.”

Authentically representing people and families in ways that shine a light on our commonalities matters. As Winsome Bingham writes:

“Before we are anything else, we are humans first. Our values are not that far apart. We value family and kindness. We value traditions and culture… All of these are what The Table represents – family, kindness, traditions, sharing, oneness, and strength.”

Wiley Blevins writes about his own family roots:

“My family is from a rural community in West Virginia. My grandfathers were coal miners. For generations many in my family were illiterate. We had little but I didn’t know that. It felt like I had everything I needed. ..

Of families similar to his, Blevins writes:

There is a beauty and a decency in the way they live their lives. They don’t have much, but they’ll give everything. Our stories matter. I hope in some small way I’ve helped them feel truly seen.”

This beautiful, moving book has received four starred reviews and is a Junior Library Gold Standard Selection.

Share it with your family this holiday season.

 

I Know How to Draw an Owl

Posted on 11/11/2024

Neal Porter Books | 978- 0823456666

In Belle’s class one day, the teacher announces that the kids will be drawing an owl.

A round head and oval body;

talon feet and a small hooked beak;

folded wing and two big eyes.”

Every child’s owl turns out slightly differently, but the owl that Belle draws has wise eyes and “almost looks alive!” The kids wonder how she does it. Belle knows why, but isn’t ready to share.

The story continues:

Mom and I once had our own home, too —

with a table and chairs

and a sleepy cat.

But now we live in our old blue car.

It’s hard for Belle to fall asleep in this strange, new place, in a shady park with branches and tall trees.

And then, “Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo!”

Their car is parked near a tree where a hoot owl lives! Belle’s mom assures her that the owl is “keeping an eye on” both of them.  Its “hooty lullaby” soothes them through the night, but Belle wants to see the owl, not just hear it.

One night, she does.

Oh! He was big and wild, that owl…

I could almost touch his wings

as I looked in his two wise eyes

and he in mine.

It’s a transformative moment, but not one which Belle is anxious to share with her classmates. Until, that is, a new boy arrives at school in a old blue car with a suitcase on top that reminds Belle of her and her mom’s situation.

At that moment, Belle knows what to do. Reaching out, she introduces herself and takes the boy’s hand, her actions speaking for themselves to say, “I’m here. I understand. I’ll keep my eye on you.” 

I KNOW HOW TO DRAW AN OWL is a tender story about a situation – housing insecurity – that is familiar to more children than we know. A study in 2022 by Children’s Healthwatch found that 1 in 6 children in the US, aged 0-17,  have experienced unstable housing at one point or other in their lives.

In her dedication, author, Hilary Horder Hippely, a teacher of young children, writes about a time when she was walking by a lake and came upon a student of hers living with her mother living in their car.

“I have been so moved by these families – the bravery of the students who come to school each morning, and the bravery of the parents who try tirelessly to keep hope alive.”

Hippely’s moving text, paired with Matt James‘ approachable and soothing illustrations of acrylic on masonite, make this an extraordinary book, suitable for home, classroom, and school libraries.