Dave the Potter

First of all, I have been reading in the last three weeks, just not writing.  I've been up against a couple of deadlines - many library books that I couldn't renew for various reasons (and I would never give up a library book without reading it first!), and I've also been reading the books for School Library Journal's Battle of the Books.  If you don't know about this fun contest, you should.  Each year, they pit 16 books against each other and have children's authors read two books each and decide which book should move on, culminating in one final winner.  In the children's literature world, these decisions are hotly contested, and the authors' decisions are always strongly written and entertaining.  This year, I hadn't read many of the books chosen, so I have been reading like crazy, trying to get to the books before their fate is determined.  The choices the Battle Commanders have made are really interesting - a strong mix of fiction, nonfiction and graphic novels.  If you're interested in seeing which teen-level books I've been reading, check out my YA Challenge page.  While I am only listing the books that I've read that are considered teen books, this gives you an idea of the volume of books that I am reading.

But I have also been reading all of the books that won Youth Media Awards from the American Library Association this year, and I want to talk about a book that won both a Caldecott Honor Award and a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for its illustrator - Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave.

The author, Laban Carrick Hill, begins with a connection to the young reader who is opening the book.   He invites them to remember the feelings of dirt, mud and clay, how each of these feel trickling through the reader's fingers.  This is a detail that brings readers right into the book and in turn invites them into Dave's world.

While a quick flip through Hill's brief, poetic text might make you believe that this is more of a picture book, it is definitely beyond a young child's capacity.  Because of how Hill deposits readers into the middle of the story, readers have to have a certain amount of knowledge before beginning.  For instance, there is no mention of time period at the beginning of the book.  Readers have to recognize that it is slavery depicted on the first page to get at least an idea of when the book occurs.

From the very first page it is apparent that Dave is a slave, but that he isn't the same as the other slaves on the plantation.  As Dave sifts through dirt in the foreground, there is a line of men behind him, toiling in that same dirt.  As his talent for throwing pots is exposed to the reader, it is obvious that this talent has elevated Dave above the field slaves.  There are often glimpses of slaves working in the hot sun behind Dave as he creates.  So without even describing the conditions in which Dave lives, Hill and Collier have explained how his life is structured.

Although Hill's text is sparse, it is rich in imagery.  Hill doesn't need a lot of extraneous words to describe Dave.  In a particularly strong fold-out spread, Hill's words cascade down the first page and then stack in a corner of the double-page spread as Collier demonstrates Dave's pottery abilities.  Hill evokes sensory images of Dave's work - something important to allow readers to envision the process and its difficulty.

All of this discussion does very little justice to the amazing illustration work that Collier has done.  The technique that he used is a combination of watercolor and collage, and it truly makes the paintings pop off the page.  There is a painting where Dave has finished the jar, making it so large that Hill notes if Dave would have gotten in the jar, "he would have been embraced."  Dave is shown with his eyes closed, arms outstretched.  Behind him is a tree with arms outstretched as well, but on the arms and trunk of the tree are the faces of other people, supporting and inspiring him.  It is truly majestic.

And in the illustration where Dave is described kicking his potter's wheel, Collier does something unusual.  Dave is shown with his back to the reader, hunched over the jar so that the reader cannot see either Dave's face or the jar.  Instead, the reader's eye is drawn to the potter's wheel, peeking out between Dave's legs and feet.  Collier has created a stream of sunlight that burns down through the haze of Dave's workshop onto the wheel, focusing the reader's attention. 

While most of the colors Collier uses are the colors of the dirt - clay, mud, ruddy - the book is somehow luminous and vibrant.  The light sources that Collier shows - from bright sunlight to the stream mentioned above - make Dave's work glow and brings the man to life.
Finally, as the story ends, Hill takes time to describe what little is known about Dave the Potter.  He goes over why Dave's life story and pottery are so unique.  And as in any work of nonfiction that I champion, there is a strong bibliography, a list of websites, and really illuminating author and illustrator's notes.  Collier describes his own creative process and how these illustrations came to be made.  It is truly amazing to me that so little is known about Dave, and yet Hill and Collier were able to create such a rich book about him.

I have to admit that I would have chosen this book as the Caldecott winner over A Sick Day for Amos McGee.  These illustrations really spoke to me.  I felt that they were so elegant and full of humanity.  Of course, I was not on the selection committee, and I do recognize how hard their job is.  But take some time to find and celebrate this book - it's worth it.

Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave.  Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Bryan Collier.  Little, Brown and Co., 2010.

borrowed from Helena School District

Guardian of the Dead

It's late and I'm trying to squeeze in a blog post before it gets too much later, but I wanted to write about this book before I have to return it.  I once again have a bunch of overdue books or books coming due in the next week, so I've got to get reading!

Guardian of the Dead was on the William C. Morris YA Debut Award shortlist this year, so it went on my reading list.  I had read a review of the book a few months ago, when I was still ordering books for the library, and it seemed intriguing.  It begins in a boarding school, and I am a total sucker for boarding school books.  The book also takes place on New Zealand, and the information about Maori culture and society brings a new life to supernatural fiction.

Ellie is at boarding school because her parents are on a year-long trip.  She is asked by a friend to help out in a nearby production of "A Midsummer's Night Dream" because she has tae kwon do experience and can help with the fight scenes.  It is through this play that she begins to become aware that some things around her are not adding up.  There's a mysterious boy who keeps confusing her, a woman without pupils, and a serial killer who is stealing people's eyes.

Her connection with the mysterious boy, Mark, becomes deeper as more of her own latent power is awakened.  This connects her as well to the world Mark represents - the world on the other side.  The biggest threat to this world comes from the patupaiarehe - beings who live in the mists around the island and are yearning to become immortal.  But if they gain immortality, it will threaten to bring destruction to all of New Zealand.

I felt like this book was unique in several ways.  First of all, the introduction to Maori culture and mythology is something that American readers don't have exposure to.  But Healey does a terrific job of giving the context to the unfamiliar language and cultural norms.  There is also a brief glossary of Maori terms that are used throughout New Zealand so that readers can refer to it - even non-Maori speakers use these terms regularly.   This book is strongly rooted in Maori mythology, but Healey draws parallels between Maori, Greek and Roman mythologies.  Ellie is a Classics student, so she explains the parallels to readers in a natural way.

Above all, this book is a suspenseful adventure.  It is complex, with many layers of story and characters.  And most importantly for me, it is intelligent.  I am not a big fan of supernatural fiction, so the addition of smart characters who are not afraid to be smart makes the supernatural more palatable.  Ellie is not the sort of female main character who will dither and wring her hands.  She's scared and unsure at times, but she is also exploring her power and trying to find her way through what is rapidly becoming a nightmare.

This is a really strong, smart book - I recommend it to you!

Guardian of the Dead.  Karen Healey.  Little, Brown and Co., 2010.
borrowed from Lewis & Clark library

The Agony of Alice

As you've seen here and here, I'm reading the Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.  I had read a few books in the series and loved them, and I'd always intended to read them all.  The Agony of Alice was the first book in the series, written in 1985.

It takes place after Alice, her father and older brother have moved to Silver Spring.  Alice will be beginning sixth grade in a new school - a daunting task for anyone.  Alice is no exception - she is looking at herself and feeling very self-conscious.  She is embarrassed by some of the situations she finds herself in - like when she asked a neighbor to play Tarzan and Jane with her so she could kiss him, and then changed her mind at the last minute.  Naylor is very tuned in to Alice's tween personality and fluctuating emotions, and I think any girl of this age will relate to Alice.  Even as an adult, I can remember feeling self-conscious, awkward and unsure of myself at Alice's age.

However what makes Alice different than most girls is the absence of her mother.  While Alice's mom died seven years ago, when Alice was four, but that doesn't mean that Alice misses her any less at this point in her life.  In fact, Alice is sure that a mother would have helped steer her away from the embarrassing situations Alice seems to find herself in.  Her mother's death is part of what makes up Alice's personality.  I love that Lester (who is older, and thus remembers their mother more clearly) shares his memories with Alice, who remembers very little of her.  The family spends a lot of time bringing their mother to life - a healthy way to grieve but also honor her.

As these books go on, it is evident that Alice's father is slightly out of depth with Alice.  Alice gets her period in this novel, and luckily it happens at her aunt's house.  When she gets home, her dad mentions it awkwardly, and Alice knows that however she feels about it, she wants to make her father comfortable.  She reassures him matter of factly that everything's okay, and he is visibly relieved.

Alice finds herself grasping for guidance that she might have gotten from her mother.  She is disappointed when she arrives at her new school to find she's been assigned to Mrs. Plotkin's room.  She instantly dislikes Mrs. Plotkin, based on her name and shape.   Alice wants nothing more than to be in the beautiful, young teacher's classroom, but as the year progresses, Mrs. Plotkin turns out to be the teacher Alice needs and much more.  The name Mrs. Plotkin is so evocative, but her true personality is revealed and she is wonderful.  Naylor provides a gentle lesson for readers, but in a warm way.

Many of the recurring characters in this series are already onstage in this novel - Alice's father has memorable female employees vying for his attention; Lester has two girlfriends who he will go back and forth between throughout the series.  Alice is observing what it is like to be a woman in all these situations, and it is a diverse group that influences her.  Alice has already met the girls who will be her best friends, Pamela and Elizabeth.  And then there's Patrick, Alice's "boyfriend" - "On the way to school the next morning, Patrick threw another candy bar toward me, a Three Musketeers.  This time I was so nervous I dropped it,...and after that , I guess we were going together." (p. 94)  So sixth grade!!

This book introduces new feelings and ideas to tween girls, but it is done in such a friendly, comforting way.  Yet another terrific book about growing up by Naylor.

The Agony of Alice.  Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.  Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1985.
borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night

I've paid $1.20 to review this book for all of you.  I know that's a little backwards, but I've had a bunch of books come due at the library all at once.  I liked this one so much, and wanted to think about it a little more before writing about it, so I kept it out, accruing overdue fines all the while.  This is when it's inconvenient to not be a librarian any more!  But it's a good one, I promise!

Joyce Sidman's books of poetry have twice won Caldecott honors for their illustrations.  I especially love Red Sings from Treetops.  But this year it was Sidman herself who got the winning call - she had won the Newbery Honor Award.  And as you read through this book, it is easy to see why.

The opening poem "Welcome to the Night", sets the tone for the book.  Sidman invokes all of the senses in this first poem while telling readers about the nocturnal creatures they'll be meeting.  Rick Allen, the illustrator (more on the illustrations later) set this poem against a twilight scene, as night begins to seep into the forest.  The scene is set.

Each double-page spread is set up in the same way - poem on the left hand page with a small spot illustration; then a much larger illustration on the right that takes most of the page.  On the far right hand side of each spread is a sidebar of information about the nocturnal creature discussed in the poem.  This is a really thoughtful page construction.  I love how the illustration is placed between the poem and the facts - to give you time to digest Sidman's soaring verse before learning more information.  I love that there is information included here - I hate to say it, but I think it makes the book more "usable" for those who might not be poetry lovers.  I wish I had a picture to show you this extremely appealing page design, but you'll have to take my word for it.

I wanted to talk briefly about my favorite poems.  The title poem "Dark Emperor" is about the great horned owl, and the poem is shaped like an owl trying to grab a tiny mouse.  I also love "Oak After Dark" - we tend not to include trees as nocturnal beings, but Sidman points out in the sidebar that trees also are busy working at night.  But my favorite poem of all is "Night-Spider's Advice".  I love the night-spider's calm, practical wisdom, including these final lines: "Someone has to remake/ the world each night./ It might as well be you."  Stunning.

I hate to criticize now, but there is one thing that I thought would make this book stronger and perhaps more useful.  There is a glossary of terms included at the end, and I thought this would make a great place for information about the types of poems Sidman has written.  For instance, the last poem, "Moon's Lament", is called an ubi sunt, but without a definition, I'm not sure what makes this poem different.  There are multiple types of poems here, and I suspect it would help readers understand this cycle of poetry and why Sidman chose the styles she did.

Finally, the illustrations.  Rick Allen uses a relief printing process in this book, and the blocky prints are a perfect partner to the moody poetry.  There are plenty of thick black lines to evoke the night, but he hand colors the light parts of the illustration with vibrant gouache, making these parts sing in contrast.  They are luminous and heavy together, just like the night.  The cover is also amazing with the great horned owl hovering over the reader and the book's title, glaring down at both fiercely.  The little spot illustrations throughout all include the eft, a creature that eventually becomes a newt.  The poem and sidebar about the eft explain how these creatures wander the woods, making them most likely to end up crossing paths with the other creatures here.

This is a glorious, thoughtful book.  You can tell how much care went into its creation, and I celebrate the fact that the Newbery committee recognized it as one of the best books published in 2010.

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night.  Joyce Sidman; illustrated by Rick Allen.  Houghton Mifflin, 2010.
borrowed from Lewis and Clark Library

We Are In a Book!

I have always loved Mo Willems.  Every time we've read one of his books - whether at home with Frances and Gloria, or at storytime when I worked at the library - I came away with some new tidbit he had tucked away in an illustration or newfound respect for the way Willems interacts with his audience.  But when Willems won his first Geisel Award for There is a Bird on Your Head!  in 2008, I hadn't read the Elephant & Piggie series.  I thought "Good for him!", but didn't take it any farther.  Even after a co-worker who is a regular reader of my blog told me this series was genius, and how much her daughter loved it (Hi, Sofia!), I still didn't make an effort.

But I'm here today to tell you how much I love the Elephant & Piggie series, and how revolutionary these readers are, just in case you've been skipping over them like I did, thinking "Oh, they're just readers - I know what readers are."  No, you really don't.  Let's talk about Willems' latest Geisel Honor winning book We Are in a Book!

To give you a little background, Elephant (whose name is Gerald) and Piggie (whose name is just Piggie) are friends.  Best friends.  They do everything together.  Elephant wears glasses, Piggie does not.  On the very first page, Elephant and Piggie are sitting down, back to back.  Piggie says "Thank you" and closes his eyes.  As Piggie closes his eyes, Gerald opens his and hisses to Piggie that someone is watching them!  Piggie gets up to examine the intruders and tells Elephant that there are indeed people watching them, and those people are called READERS.  Then Willems begins an intricate dance between characters and the reader.  Piggie first declares that he'll make the reader say "a word".  That particular word, when said by the reader, throws Elephant into pages of infectious, hysterical laughter.  But then the friends begin to panic when they realize they are drawing near the end of the story.  So they beg the reader to start the book again.  Remember Piggie's thank you at the beginning?  It's a delightful circle - the kind that all kids enjoy following again, and again, and again...at least in my house.

Part of Willems' creativity in this series of books is in the emotions of the friends and how those are expressed on the page.  When Elephant is laughing hysterically, his hee's and ha's grow bigger and multiply until the page full of laughs makes the reader helpless - they have to laugh along.  Emotions are clear on Elephant and Piggie's faces, giving needed context to beginning readers.  Yelling is done in a large font, whispers in italics...these books ask to be read aloud by an expressive reader.

One of the fascinating things about this particular book in the series is how Willems experiments with perspective.  On the title page, Elephant's proclamation "We Are in a Book!" is the title and Elephant himself is so large he blocks out Willems' name.  As Elephant and Piggie interact with the reader, they move up close and then draw back into middle ground, bringing the reader in with them.  Piggie also hangs off some word balloons, turning our traditional sense of a picture book on its ear.  However, the backgrounds are uncluttered and the drawings simple, to help focus readers on what is important - the words.

There are very few words on each page, and what's there is solely dialogue.  Another genius idea of Willems' was to color coordinate the word bubbles with the friend who is speaking.  Elephant's word bubbles are grey; Piggie's are pink.  Beginning readers can grasp plot movement very quickly when using the words in the word bubbles along with that character's actions and facial expressions (Side note - these books not only make terrific read-alouds, but would be fun plays, too!). 

While I'm spending a lot of time talking about beginner readers (after all, these are the awards Willems has won three times!), I don't want those of you with preschoolers to just ignore this series.  One of the best things about this series for my girls (3 1/2 and 2) is that they can "read" the books themselves.  The combination of facial expressions, movement and limited word choice makes it easy for them to retell the stories over and over again, and that, my friends, is an important step on the road to literacy.

I can't say enough what great books these are.  Elephant and Piggie's personalities bring to life what can be seen as a chore (learning to read).  It's hard work writing a beginning reader with a controlled vocabulary, and there's a good reason Willems keeps winning the award named after the greatest beginning reader author of all - Dr. Seuss.  The books have sparkle and wit.  Have I told you yet how fun they are to read aloud?  Go get them!!!

Willems, Mo.  We Are in a Book! (Elephant & Piggie) Hyperion, 2010.

Borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library

Keeper

I finished reading Keeper a few days ago, late at night.  But I wanted to think about it, and let it seep in.  I also have had very little sleep for the past few days (Gloria and Frances have been sick) and I wasn't sure I could be coherent about it.  Hopefully now that I've gotten a good night's sleep, I'll be smarter!

Keeper is having a very bad day.  It is a blue moon, and everyone in her small, gulf-side neighborhood is angry at her.  For a ten year old, that is hard to deal with.  Keeper has ruined Signe's gumbo, she has ruined Mr. Beauchamp's night-blooming cyrus and she has ruined Dogie's ukelele.  There is nowhere to turn for comfort except for her birth mother, who is a mermaid.

As you begin the novel, Keeper is already out in the pond which connects to the Gulf of Mexico.  She has "borrowed" Dogie's boat, even though she has been told that it is not sea-worthy.  Keeper has been raised by Signe after Keeper's mother became a mermaid when Keeper was young - or so Keeper believes.  The other people on this small road form an unusual, close-knit family.  In fact, Dogie was going to sing a marriage proposal to Signe that very night...until Keeper broke his ukelele.  Keeper (nicknamed by her mother on their last day together) feels the weight of her actions as they seem to spiral out of her control.  The only person who she believes can fix things is her mermaid mother.

Appelt takes the traditional mythology of the sea and turns it on its ear.  Keeper knows every story about mermaids and the creatures of the ocean, and because there is a blue moon this night, the magic is thick in the air.  Keeper's story is so drenched in mythology, in fact, that readers will be prepared to believe just about anything.  It is a strong introduction  to magical realism for an older elementary school student.  This story is about love and family connections, but it's also about the call of the sea and how you can sometimes mishear it through the waves.

All of this summary and discussion does not do justice to the tension of this novel.  From the very beginning, you know that Keeper is out in a boat, pointed out to sea, in the middle of the night, by herself.  As readers, we know that there is the potential for quite a bit of danger.  Keeper's naivete as she begins her journey is stunning.  She believes her mother will rescue and protect her on this trip, so there is nothing to worry about.  However, Keeper could not be more wrong.

The ocean chapters are short and succinct, building on the tension until you are gulping chapters to see whether Keeper can survive her perilous quest.  But Appelt subtly relieves the tension by interspersing Keeper's chapters with chapters from the other characters' points of view.  While Keeper has certain things that she has always believed about her childhood, the other characters understand more.  Appelt explores the ideas that children hold about themselves and their childhood through Keeper.  But the adult characters show how coming of age often means learning more about what you have held dear.

One of the strongest pieces of magical realism in Keeper involves Mr. Beauchamp.  He is the oldest person living on the beach, and he has been waiting a very long time for the love of his life to appear.  Appelt tells his story with kindness and compassion, as he rejected the person he loved when there was something about him that was different.  Mr. Beauchamp's love is a man, but it is handled respectfully and in a way that a child who wasn't ready to read about it might only see a loving friendship.  And the way this love melds with the rest of Keeper's story is terrific.  I don't want to spoil the plot too much, but I will say that the legends of the sea truly become human in this story in a very fulfilling manner.

All in all, I am surprised that this book hasn't won any major awards this season.  My only complaint about the book is that at 399 pages, it looks a little long for the audience.  However, its small format and short chapters mean it reads very quickly.  The comfort of the ocean setting, the love that comes from Keeper's non-traditional family, the mermaids that swim throughout Keeper's imagination make this a beautiful novel.

Keeper.  Appelt, Kathi.  Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010.
borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library.

YA Reading Challenge

So I'm a little late jumping on this bandwagon, but jump on I will.  Here's the link to the actual challenge - http://jamielovesya.blogspot.com/2010/12/2011-young-adult-reading-challenge.html
I choose to do the "Fun Size" challenge (which is reading 20 Young Adult novels), although in reality I might even read 40 books (the "Jumbo Size").  I'm looking forward to noting some of my reads, although I probably won't review every one of the 20 books...just the ones that I really want to talk about.  But I just wanted to let you all know.  And if I can figure out how to put the button on my blog, I'll do that too!!  Let me know if you want to join in.