Growing up on the Canadian plains, I have fond memories of gardening alongside my mother and grandmother and reveling in the sheer magic of seeing vegetables sprout from once tiny seeds. My brother and I used to hide behind towering corn stalks and pluck pea pods off vines and author Erzsi Deàk and illustrator Doug Cushman take me back to that joyful time with the release of Pumpkin Time! (Sourcebooks, 2014).
Little Evy plants seeds with grand aspirations of a feast waiting to sprout. She is so intent on caring for her vegetable plot that she hastens to notice the zany antics that are happening all around her: donkeys sailing through the sky, pigs dancing round and round the May pole, and chickens, rabbits, and pigs playing badminton. Kids will enjoy repeating the phrase “What was Evy doing?” as the pages turn, clues stack up, and the story unfolds. Cushman’s bright illustrations are candy to the eye and Deàk’s playful language elicits a fun read-aloud with a celebratory ending. Surprises are in store in the back matter with facts, trivia, and a toasted pumpkin seed recipe. For ages 2+
Using the picture book Pumpkin Time! as inspiration, create a teacher or librarian gift that shows how much you appreciate them planting the seeds of knowledge that will grow forever! For additional activities to accompany the book, visit the Pumpkin Time! website.
You’re probably already aware that, worldwide, one of the most pressing environmental issues we face today is that of plastic pollution. However, did you know that infinitesimal amounts of plastic debris have accumulated in such way that five continent-like gyres have formed in our planet’s oceans? Dangerous gyres that endanger every ocean bound organism living today? Author Patricia Newman explores this horrific phenomenon in her fascinating book entitled Plastic Ahoy: Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (Published by Lerner) in a light-hearted, yet factual and informative way.
The book tells the story of a group of SEAPLEX scientists as they identify, classify, and hypothesize real-life problems and solutions created by gyres. Coupled with Annie Crawley’s insightful photographs, the young reader is certain to not only become fascinated by visual evidence of the problem plastic pollution has created, they will become inspired to participate in solutions to help stop the growth of massive clusters of garbage churning about in the ocean.
Lerner is offering of number of supplemental education materials on their website. Click HERE to access an author and photographer Q & A, an educator’s guide, and much more! And, for further information access an interactive website sponsored by 5 Gyres, an organization whose mission is to conduct research and communicate about the global impact of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.
IBBY Honors Inclusion of all Voices in Books From Around the World
The International Board of Books for Young People – IBBY – held their congress in September in Mexico City. IBBY introduced their 2014 Honor List, a biennial selection of outstanding, recently published books honoring writers, illustrators, and translators from around the world. The books were honored in the following slide show which includes a passionate Mexican celebration of trumpets and gorgeous illustrations:
The IBBY Congress celebrates the power of children’s books to build bridges among cultures and nations. This year’s theme was a call for inclusion in children’s literature. A wide variety of voices were heard. Some quotes and small introductions to a few of the authors and their books will give you a taste of this extraordinary gathering:
Writer David Almond said, “Every time a child is born, the world is re-created.”
“Give children the opportunity to discover reality on their own terms,” said Jochen Weber. “You are always creating when you read.”
Among the U.S. Honor winners is Kathleen Merz who translated NASREDDINE (Eerdmans Books) by Odile Weulersse from the French. It is a middle-eastern tale of growing wisdom, exquisitely illustrated by Rebecca Dautremer.
Gusti, a writer and illustrator from Argentina and Spain spoke about his creation of MALKA Y PAPA. “What happens to an illustrator who has a child with one extra chromosome?” he began. He says he learned from his own son who told him, “Who cares what he has? Who cares what he looks like? He is my best brother.”
Italian illustrator Roberto Innocenti, said about choices on books he makes, “I have to be happy.” That this drive is behind his books, no matter how difficult the themes or the times, is a gift.
In light of political breakdowns in the home countries of many who joined here, people came for the hope in children and their books. A young man from Gran Bretana working on a PhD presented his research in a poster session. The title of his presentation -“The Potential Role of Children’s Literature in Developing Tolerance Between Turkish and Kurdish Students” – speaks to the soul of IBBY.
Our guest contributor is Terry Farish, author of The Good Braider.
David Elliott takes us soaring with On the Wing, illustrated by Becca Stadtlander, the latest in the award-winning series On the Farm/In the Wild/In the Sea by Candlewick. His witty verses feel like velvet as they roll off the tongue.
“Music lovers fast await
the first duet
of summer.
Oriole is vocalist.
Woodpecker is drummer.”
It’s hard to choose a favorite from the seventeen birds we meet but I like “The Crow” with his cunning confidence and caw-caw-phony singing voice. The fifteen stunning avian species are spread across continents from the Americas to Australia to Asia. We begin with the busy hummingbird and end with the majestic bald eagle. In between we feel the rough southern seas the albatross steers across and early spring when the cranes dance in the snow.
Stadtlander’s gouache artwork is breathtaking in this, her picture book debut. The blend between art and text is sheer bliss. I can see young children taking the book outdoors and matching the birds in their backyard to some of the feathery friends found in the pages. On the Wing is a book to be treasured for all ages.
Take a peek at the trailer to see some of the amazing art work by Becca Stadtlander.
BOOKS ABOUT OUR NATURAL WORLD PLUS ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY:
Green Earth Book Award Winners
GREEN EARTH celebrated its 10th anniversary of the Green Earth Book Award last month events at the Read Green Festival. Part of this celebration included a donation of 10,000 environmental books to schools.
Each year Green Earth Book Awards are given to books in five categories: picture book, children’s fiction and nonfiction, YA fiction and nonfiction.
Ian Kline, explains about the purpose of Green Earth, “We’ve engaged thousands of students with books, outdoor classrooms, and even a student-designed nature trail. The impact is incredible – we’ve seen children of all ages embrace environmental responsibility through our programs.”
Teena Ruark Gorrow and Craig A. Koppie– INSIDE A BALD EAGLE’S NEST: A Photographic Journey Through the American Bald Eagle Nesting Season (young adult nonfiction)
These winning “eco-authors” led the Read Green Festival by visiting five schools in and around Washington DC. They talked with students about what each of us can do – regardless of age – to be environmental stewards. At the festival’s closing, the authors worked with students to create an environmental time capsule.
Amy Marasco Newton, founder and president of The Nature Generation said, “During the festival, a special magic begins when we bring our new winning eco-authors into the classroom — they make a deeper connection with the students and bring the message of stewardship alive.”
Take a look at three of the 2014 winners, books for young readers; descriptions from the Nature Generation awards announcement:
Winner – Picture Book
The Eye of the Whale – A Rescue Story, written and illustrated by Jennifer O’Connell (published by Tilbury House)
O’Connell describes the rescue of a humpback whale that was found tangled in lines from crab traps miles off the coast of San Francisco. A team to try to save the massive creature. What happened next provides a captivating ending to this unusual tale and will spark discussion of the whale’s ability to experience and demonstrate emotions. O’Connell’s attractive paintings–many of them full spreads, some with insets–show the rescue from above and below the ocean surface and the tiny size of the divers compared with that of the whale, which is shown from many perspectives. Recommended Age: 5 to 10
Winner – Children’s Fiction
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, written by Kathi Appelt (published by Simon & Schuster, Inc.)
Raccoon brothers Bingo and J’miah are the newest recruits of the Official Sugar Man Swamp Scouts. The opportunity to serve the Sugar Man—the massive creature who delights in delicious sugar cane and magnanimously rules over the swamp—is an honor, and a big responsibility Twelve-year-old Chap Brayburn is not a member, but he loves the swamp something fierce, and he’ll do anything to help protect it. And help is needed, because world-class alligator wrestler Jaeger Stitch wants to turn the swamp into an Alligator World Wrestling Arena and Theme Park. Newbery Honoree and National Book Award finalist. Recommended Age: 8-12
Winner – Children’s Nonfiction
A Place for Turtles, written by Melissa Stewart and illustrated by Higgins Bond (published by Peachtree Publishers)
In simple yet informative language, A Place for Turtles introduces young readers to the ways human action or inaction can affect turtle populations and opens kids’ minds to a wide range of environmental issues. Describing various examples, the text provides an intriguing look at turtles, at the ecosystems that support their survival, and at the efforts of some people to save them. At the end of the book, the author offers readers a list of things they can do to help protect these special creatures in their own communities. Recommended Age: 6-10
“In the Milky Way galaxy … in a big city … in a small apartment … lived a boy named Carl.” And so it begins, STAR STUFF, Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos, (Roaring Brook Press, 2014), written and illustrated by Stephanie Roth Sisson. In a charming book about the man who introduced the magical wonders of the universe to so many people, Sisson tells the simple story of a boy filled with an eagerness to understand the stars and planets in both words and pictures that will enthrall young and old readers, alike. Starting with the cover, where a young Carl gazes wide-eyed at the night sky, Sisson’s childlike illustrations, dotted with interesting tidbits delivered in cartoon balloons, make this inspiring story not only accessible, but eye-opening. Several vertical illustrations will draw appreciative ahhhs! from the audience, so perfectly do they convey the vast excitement of the universe.
We spoke to the book’s author & illustrator, Stephanie Roth Sisson, to find out more about how and why she wrote this book.
ReaderKidZ: The opening pages of Star Stuff are so arresting. By starting with an illustration of the vast universe, and then narrowing our perspective down to that of a little boy in a New York apartment over several illustrations, you make it so personal. How did you come up with that idea?
SRS:I had been looking for a way to begin – and that was actually one of the parts of the original dummy (there were many) that stayed pretty constant. I think the idea was a combination of knowing that the book would end with Voyager 1 leaving the solar system for interstellar space and wanting to play with that idea to begin with, and there was also this movie that I can’t remember the name of. Maybe you do? It was maybe late 70’s early 80’s vintage and I remember seeing it in a museum or that sort of venue at the time, where the movie starts off in very small scale and then zooms out and we see two people laying down in the grass and then zooms out to earth or something like that. Anyhow, I wanted to set the scene and also start talking about scale right off the bat because that’s a big part of the story – also expansion and exploring.
ReaderKidZ: In your author notes, you mention the many roles Carl Sagan filled in this life, but your story is a study in simplicity. Can you tell us a bit about how you went about finding your focus and how many drafts that took? There were so many directions you could have taken this story. It had to have been hard work, deciding on the right one.
SRS:As I mentioned, there were many versions of the story. When I was back home in California just a few weeks ago, I hauled them all into the living room and spread them out and thought, that this is what people never really see- how much work goes into every simple picture book out there. There were a lot of directions that I could have taken and I think that I took many of them during the process. His beautiful Pale Blue Dot essay was part of a couple of versions, but that pulled off track too much. The key was connecting with Carl, the boy, and what he was interested and then pulling those themes through. The 1939 World’s Fair opened up his world and then looking up at the stars and wondering what they were and then the trip to the library and his world just got big and bigger and more filled with possibility and more wonder. I got lucky, too, because I would listen to interviews that he gave (one per morning while I was taking my bath) and one day stumbled upon one that he gave at the Skeptics Society. I have a quote from it in the back matter where he talks about how his life was like he had imagined itas a child- and that science fiction and wonder led right to his career as a scientist – and then there it was.
ReaderKidZ: You were both the author and the illustrator. How do you work out what you’ll say in words, versus what you’ll show in your illustrations? Do you start out with a longer manuscript from which you trim sentences as you decide what you’d like to show in illustration, instead? Does doing both the writing and the illustration make your job easier, or harder?
SRS:I’ve been trying to figure all of that out, too. Writing isn’t something that comes easily to me. Looking at all of those versions of the book, the first one – the one I tortured my poor critique group with – was all text. I just about put everyone to sleep with my lists of facts – then someone said, “show, don’t tell” and my next version became much lighter and had depth without being so wordy. Maybe sitting down and trying to “write,” I forgot that I had another tool to create the story with. Funny. So, I am working on my next book now and I started off with both together this time . I actually have one version of it that is almost entirely pictorial and that seems to be with just a word here and there. I illustrated my first book in 1994, so I think I’m used to thinking in pictures – I just had to give myself permission to use that for writing.
ReaderKidZ: Is this your first author-illustrator book? How long did it take you to finish it? Did your editor ask for much revision, or was it accepted pretty much as you submitted it?
SRS:Yes. It took about 2-3 years. My agent, Abigail Samoun at RedFox Literary, asked if I had ever tried writing and encouraged me to try. I began playing around with the idea of a picture book biography of Carl Sagan- he was a childhood hero of mine. I couldn’t believe that no one had done one before. I reread the books I had of his and started torturing my critique group. We had a tiny dummy ready to send out around November of 2012.
I’ve included a picture of the original dummy that was sent out. Abi made a PDF of it and out it went. Abi wrote a wonderful query letter and off it went and in just a couple of weeks – I don’t even think it took a month, STAR STUFF found a home at Roaring Brook Press, thanks to their super savvy, wonderful editor Kate Jacobs. The dummy changed quite a bit from there. We worked hard to strengthen the central theme and narrow the focus even more. There was a trouble spot for me around the end of the book that was being rewritten over and over again as the deadline loomed. And then another big thing that happened right before heading off to move to Mauritius (my family moved to the opposite side of the globe in December of last year) – we were going to use a picture that Carl Sagan had done as a boy and we had assumed that since it was press released and was being donated to the Library of Congress that it was in the public domain, but it wasn’t. We couldn’t get permission, so I created a drawing that was loosely based on his that also included a female astronaut. I think it worked out better that way (with the rendering I did) because, as my dad pointed out, he stopped on that picture because it didn’t fit that a drawing newly-made would have an aged appearance. People can check out the original at the Library of Congress website – the collection is fascinating. It wasn’t made public until after the book was done and it was really cool to see all of the themes being played back- his lifelong fascination with Mars, for example.
ReaderKidZ: Can you give us a hint about your next book?
SRS:I’m a bit superstitious about talking about my next project. 🙂
We don’t blame you, Stephanie Roth Sisson. Thank you for a great interview and a beautiful book!
It’s October already and this month the ReaderKidZ will be sharing books about our natural world. We’re kicking it off with the gorgeous and informative, STAR STUFF: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos (Roaring Brook Press, 2014), which hits bookstore shelves October 14th. Coming up on Friday, Stephanie Greene shares an interview with STAR STUFF author/illustrator, Stephanie Roth Sisson. In the meantime, whet your appetite by taking a peek at this review from TTPM:
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SRS: As I mentioned, there were many versions of the story. When I was back home in California just a few weeks ago, I hauled them all into the living room and spread them out and thought, that this is what people never really see- how much work goes into every simple picture book out there. There were a lot of directions that I could have taken and I think that I took many of them during the process. His beautiful Pale Blue Dot essay was part of a couple of versions, but that pulled off track too much. The key was connecting with Carl, the boy, and what he was interested and then pulling those themes through. The 1939 World’s Fair opened up his world and then looking up at the stars and wondering what they were and then the trip to the library and his world just got big and bigger and more filled with possibility and more wonder. I got lucky, too, because I would listen to interviews that he gave (one per morning while I was taking my bath) and one day stumbled upon one that he gave at the Skeptics Society. I have a quote from it in the back matter where he talks about how his life was like he had imagined it as a child- and that science fiction and wonder led right to his career as a scientist – and then there it was.
