In getting ready to review a new season of TOON Books, I realized that I still had a couple from the fall that I hadn't reviewed yet. And in the case of Cast Away on the Letter A, there will be a new book in the series coming out this spring. So I wanted to make sure I took the opportunity to introduce you to Philemon now, so you'll know who he is when I talk about him again.
Just the title Cast Away on the Letter A evokes nonsense, mystery and quirkiness. How, exactly, can you be cast away on the letter A? What does that even mean? Well for Philemon, it all begins with a trip to the well. His father tries to pump water at their spigot, but nothing comes out, so he sends Philemon to the well for water. When Philemon gets there, he is surprised by a message in a bottle that he hauls up in his bucket of water. It simply says "Help!" He can't imagine how it could have gotten in the well, but dismisses it as a prank. Until more bottles appear immediately in the same well. Philemon is dying to figure out how the bottles are arriving. So he shimmies down the rope to get a closer look. While Philemon's donkey, Anatole, mutters dry comments such as "Curiosity killed the cat, Phil." (p. 15), Philemon slips into the well and is pulled under the water. As he is gasping for breath, a tide pulls him down deeper and deeper. One of the next indications that things aren't what they seem happens as a shark swims past bewildered Philemon.
Now Philemon is really in trouble. He wakes up on a beach as things continue to get weird. After he wonders what time it is, a clock emerges out of the sand. Just as rapidly, it explodes. He believes Anatole has come through the well also - he sees a pair of hind legs - but they turn out to belong to a centaur. The centaur mentions in passing that they are on an island, which really confuses Philemon. Philemon runs after the centaur, trips and falls into another hole. This hole has a little man in it, dressed all in green.
The man introduces himself as Bartholomew, the well digger. He tells Philemon he's been digging wells for forty years. Bartholomew was digging a well all that time ago, was sucked into a whirlpool, and never escaped. He's been digging wells on the island ever since, sending messages in the bottles, hoping he can reverse the effect and get back to his life. Oh yes, and he explains that they are stranded on the letter A... Philemon thinks "What's he talking about? He's off his rocker! Too many years living alone, no doubt..." (p. 23). As usual, I don't want to give away too much of the plot in my post. But this is also such an intriguing book that I don't want to give away too many of the surprises.
TOON Books has translated and reprinted Cast Away on the Letter A from its original French. Francoise Mouly, who is one of the publishers of TOON Books (but also Art Editor of The New Yorker), recalls "As a teenager growing up in Paris in the late sixties..." (p. 44), she would read the serialized versions of Philemon's adventures. This story was originally published in 1972, and I was pleasantly surprised at how timeless these adventures feel. The art has a slightly retro feel to them, but readers can interpret that retro quality as occurring because of Philemon's trip down the well. That island where he lands feels very much out of time. As the story unfolds, it is so odd and unbelievable that the reader doesn't expect anything modern anyway. And the language is plain, so without any dated frills or vocabulary. It works very well.
Just from the little I've mentioned of the plot, it should feel very fantastic as well. When Philemon awakes on the beach after his trip through the well, he exclaims "That's impossible! A beach inside a well? But I'm not dreaming. It's real sand." (p. 18) He is already having a hard time distinguishing reality from the bizarre world around him. And who could blame poor Philemon? He sees a clock grow out of the sand, then explode. He meets a centaur and a man who has been digging ditches for 40 years. The influence of fantasy on this story is heavy. When Philemon begins to hear Bartholomew's story, he says "Then you're the well digger in the legend?' Philemon goes on to explain "Well, in my village, they tell the story of a well digger who never came back up from the well he was digging forty years ago." (p. 22). So Bartholomew has become a legend through his disappearance. And the island is also a place of legend and mythology. There are also many mysterious elements here, including a bottle tree. Bartholomew harvests bottles off the tree for the messages in the bottles he sends.
This title comes from TOON Books' series called "TOON Graphics for Visual Readers". This is a newer series, which was first issued in Fall 2014. (I reviewed Theseus and the Minotaur here) and it is designed for a slightly older audience. I found a Teacher's Guide to Cast Away on the Letter A on the TOON Books website, and it is as thoughtfully produced as everything they do. The Teacher's Guide ties the book to the Common Core standards, and includes questions that help readers interpret the many layers of the story and the art. One of the things that I found most thought-provoking about the Teacher's Guide was an explanation about how the story had been originally serialized. The Guide challenges readers to find the cliff-hangers in the story, where the story would have stopped temporarily until the next issue.
And, as always, TOON Books does an impeccable job with the back matter. Inside the back cover is a list of tips for parents, teachers, and librarians. One of the items noted there is that "Reading TOON Graphics is a pleasure for all. Beginners and seasoned readers alike will sharpen both their literal and inferential reading skills." That is so true of this book. I may have recognized some of the ideas mentioned here, but there is an amazing compendium of elements on pages 44-45 for readers to engage with. There is a small graphic to help readers tie the element back to a specific place in the story. There are also page numbers for the citation, and information from other myths and legends that may have influenced the author. This is incredibly useful for readers and teachers alike. In her preface to this section, Mouly notes "I knew that in that first slow, careful reading, and every re-reading after that, I would be rewarded with a wealth of hidden treasures." (p. 44) Honestly, even with my initial reading (and multiple re-readings to write this post), there are most likely many layers and themes to this story that I've missed. I'm grateful for the extra help in the back matter.
Philemon's adventure is created of fantasy with a kernel of truth in it. And I haven't done justice to the book's sense of humor -that will have to be saved for another post. Philemon is quirky, clumsy, disbelieving, but a lot of fun. I am looking forward to reviewing another of Philemon's adventures this spring - catch up while you still can!
Cast Away on the Letter A: A Philemon Adventure. Fred. TOON Graphics, 2014.
sent by the publisher for review
So if you are a regular reader of my blog (or even an occasional reader!), you know that I have two young girls - Frances, who just turned 7, and Gloria, who is 5 1/2. I've talked before about their names here and how those aren't the names my girls were born with, just the names that I use on the blog so as not to identify them. There are a lot of similarities between the Frances and Gloria Russell Hoban created and my girls. They have similar personalities - my Frances can be way too trusting, like in A Bargain for Frances; my Gloria likes to play with her sister, but on her own terms, like Gloria in Best Friends for Frances. But lately I've seen a tendency towards sibling behavior like that of Benny and Penny in Benny and Penny in Lights Out!
This is the fourth book in the Benny and Penny series of easy-to-read comics from TOON Books. From the very first panel, it is clearly bedtime. Benny is peering at the moon outside the window. Penny is trying to keep them on track with their bedtime routine. Benny continues with his antics - "haunting" Penny with a flashlight, burping, basically acting up in that way that only children who should really be asleep do. Then Benny realizes that he left his pirate hat...gulp! outside. In the dark playhouse. It is only his sister's bravery and their teamwork that rescues the needed pirate hat.
One of the parts of the Benny and Penny series that appeals most to me is the sibling relationship. Benny and Penny aren't perfect and they don't always get along. There is tons of sibling squabbling. Penny announces imperiously "It's time to brush our teeth." (p. 6) And Benny promptly ignores her mandate, like most siblings would. He tells her he is busy. Then Benny cooks up a plan to scare Penny when she's brushing her teeth. He turns off the light and uses a flashlight to try and scare Penny with threats of the Boogey Mouse. It's all very familiar to those of us with more than one child - our constant refereeing of fights over a blanket, an inch of floor space, a perceived fight. And the also constant picking at each other - just like Benny does in this book. He's really only teasing Penny with his prank about the Boogey Mouse. But siblings can get under each other's skin unlike anyone I've ever seen.
But there is something equally redeeming about siblings and the way they can put aside their fighting when needed. Benny realizes that the pirate hat he can't fall asleep without is still in the playhouse out in the backyard. He sneaks out the window, and when it takes longer than Penny thinks it should, she is out the window after him. She's scared, though Penny keeps reminding herself that "The Boogey Mouse is not really real. It's just a story!" (p. 17) Ultimately, even though he drives her crazy, Penny is there to support and lend a hand. When she finally makes it to the playhouse, Benny is too scared to go in. It takes both of them together to rescue the pirate hat.
Another thing I enjoy about this story is the "just-right" sized adventure. There isn't anything really fancy about this adventure. To a parent's eye, there isn't even anything dangerous about their trip out to the dark backyard. But seen through the eyes of the two young mice, the story becomes perilous indeed. The two mice are on their own - no parents in sight as the story progresses. They feel real responsibility for what they must do to rescue Benny's hat. They are at that age where they want to solve the problem themselves, without parental involvement. And Benny and Penny take satisfaction from having saved the hat on their own. It's only after Benny has fallen asleep that Penny asks their mother for her help, but only with reading a story.
And that brings me to one of the best themes of this story - reading and storytelling. It combines the best of Penny and Benny. Both children like to read and tell stories, but of course their stories are very different. Penny loves fairy tales - they combine princesses with a sense of storytelling structure that appeals to Penny, with her love of routine. Benny, on the other hand, retells stories with drama, action and adventure. Those stories appeal to his daydreaming, adventurous side. He throws in some whimsy when he tells a story about a dinosaur that lives at the circus. The two children have a shared love of reading and story. They fight about story too. Penny primly gets under the covers and informs Benny that she is trying to read. He chimes in "You can't read." She says "Yes, I can." (p. 10) You can hear this fight going on for an eternity, but thankfully Benny burps loudly and breaks it up. Both mice can "read", but the stories they are "reading" really comes out of their imagination. Hayes very naturally shows the connection between adventures, imagination and literacy. Everyone loves the idea of a good story, and through reading, Benny and Penny have created their own adventure story.
As you know, TOON Books is one of my favorite publishers because of their innovative approach to literacy through comics. On their website they have an online CarTOON maker which Gloria loved using. It's a lot of creative fun. Benny and Penny in Lights Out! is a Level Two comic, designed for readers in grades 1-2. One of the descriptions of Level Two books in the back of this particular book says that Level Two books include "a story arc with few characters in a small world". This is a perfect description of Benny and Penny. It's intimate: Benny and Penny never go more than a few steps from their window, yet it seems a long, long way away.
Benny and Penny in Lights Out! Geoffrey Hayes. TOON Books, 2012.
sent by the publisher for review
I didn't intend to go two months without a blog post. I'm sure no one ever does. I started to write this post two months ago, got stuck, and stopped. Then life got in the way. So if you are still reading, THANK YOU. I promise I have a backlog of great books to review, along with some other exciting things! 2014 is going to be my year.
I'm not sure what spurred me to request The Big Wet Balloon from TOON Books. I suspect that I requested it because Liniers is a famous Argentinian cartoonist, and I was curious to see how his work translated to English. I also knew that it had to be a terrific book, as TOON Books has amazing and innovative taste. I was not disappointed.
The book begins with a little girl waking up her baby sister, announcing boisterously that it is SATURDAY! The day is full of opportunities - they can have a picnic! They can pick flowers! It doesn't matter what they do because today (or TA-DAY as the younger sister pipes up from her crib) is full of choices and chances for fun. That is, until they go to the window and see the rain pouring down. But Matilda (the older sister) knows that a rainy day can still be fun "We just have to dress for it." (p. 9). Her relentless cheer and enthusiasm gets Clemmie (the younger of the two) onto the porch, but no farther.
Matilda, always the wise one, informs Clemmie "You have to TRY things, Clemmie. If you TRY something, you'll see that you LIKE it." (p. 14). Clemmie still won't budge until Matilda bounds off into the rain without her. Then she finally works up her courage and takes a risk, venturing out into the rain where the sisters do spend a fun-filled day. They have made the most of their Saturday. Even better, Matilda promises "Tomorrow is Sunday...and Sundays are FUN too!" (p. 30).
I know you've all read about my little girls, Frances and Gloria. They are wonderful sisters, mostly playing together, experiencing things together, learning about the world together. They are a pair, and while they both give each other the freedom to play by themselves (sometimes Gloria's preference), or with other friends (Frances' preference), they are rarely divided. Frances and Gloria are 18 months apart, which seems like nothing now. When they were a toddler and an infant, they seemed very different, and there didn't seem to be much hope of them ever being interested in each other. But as I write this, they are both in their beds, reading books aloud and sharing them. Don't worry, while it sounds idyllic, I'm sure a fight will start up soon!
But everything I ever learned about being a sister, I learned from the best. My own sister, Katie, is 20 months younger than me. We have (almost) always been close. I treasure my sister, and our relationship helps me keep Frances and Gloria's highs and lows in perspective. I know that sometimes they will be incredibly annoyed with each other, possibly for weeks on end, and then suddenly it will dissipate and they will be close again. My relationship with Katie growing up was almost the opposite of Matilda and Clemmie's. My sister is far more extroverted and daring than I am. I have always been content to let her lead the way in everything. There are family stories about how I never tried to get out of my crib until Katie did it first. I vividly remember cringing when Katie (who was then 8) rode her bike for the first time. I grumbled because while I had a new pink Huffy bike at that point (I was 10), I had had no interest in trying something new. I knew now that she had been successful, I would have to figure it out, and fast. She has always smoothed the way for me - with friends, with new activities, in our lives. And she continues to be my best friend and show me the way all these years later.
In this story, it is the older sister, Matilda, who shows the way. She begins the book, instantly awake and alert. Matilda sees the potential in a Saturday and guides Clemmie into excitement. "This is how you wake up on Saturday...HOOORAAYY! HOOOORAAAY! FOR ALL DAY TODAY IS SAAAATURDAAAAY!" (p. 2). This is all said with her arms thrust above her head, in excitement and delight. When Clemmie is worried about the rain, Matilda soothes her fears of getting wet "We just have to dress for it." (p. 9). Matilda fearlessly leads the way, dashing out to dance in the rain. But sometimes Matilda's impulsive excitement hurts her younger sister. The title balloon belongs to Clemmie. Matilda decides to send it to the rainbow, because the rainbow needs something colorful. It devastates Clemmie. But like any good big sister, Matilda tries to make it right in the end.
One of the things I like best about this book (which by the way was named the Best Early Reader by Parents Magazine) was how appealing it was to everyone in our house. I saw it as Liniers' love letter to a moment in his own daughters' lives (and friendship). I watched the tenderness in how closely he observed their interaction. This story depicts one of those moments that all parents treasure. But both Frances and Gloria requested and read this book over and over again. They loved the humor in the girls' relationship, as well as both relating to the sisters and their feelings. Frances and Gloria share a room, just like Matilda and Clemmie do, which makes concocting adventures together very easy.
Liniers' illustrative style also makes this book fun to read. The colors are perfect - sometimes muddy and gray as the rain comes down, bright pure pastels in the girls' room and after the rain subsides. Matilda and Clemmie have small eyes and button noses, and it is most often their mouths that carry their expressions. There are grins, grimaces and outstretched tongues. It is a fun book to look at, as the girls' emotions are readily apparent - and Matilda's enthusiasm is matchless. Liniers has even created a scrapbook feel to the pages with rain spatters across some of the panels, just as if the book had been outside on the porch with Clemmie.
The final thing I love about this book is that it is simple. There is nothing fancy about this particular Saturday - there isn't a gadget or a piece of technology to be seen. It's two little girls engaging with the outdoors and using their imaginations. While Matilda and Clemmie's parents (we assume) wait safely out of our line of vision, the girls are free to explore their yard and the storm.
One of the things I have always loved best about TOON Books is their assessment of quality and the way they help parents and teachers introduce comics to new readers. The Big Wet Balloon is a level 2 book, which TOON defines as being between 300-600 words, using short sentences, and a story arc with few characters in a small world. This is a perfect level 2 book, as with initial guidance, eventually both Frances and Gloria could read it unassisted. There are also guidelines to reading comics with kids in the back of the book. One of my favorite recommendations is "Use your finger to show your place in the text, but keep it at the bottom of the speaking character so it doesn't hide
the very important facial expressions." I think this shows the difference between using picture books or traditional early readers with your children and these comic books. Facial expressions help add so much to the text, and TOON is smart to point it out to readers who may not be familiar with this style of reading. Another recommendation is to talk with your reader about pacing and how the panels can indicate pacing of the story This isn't something we've talked about before with Frances and Gloria, but we definitely will!
TOON Books also provides lots of literacy resources on their website. We received a poster about the questions kids should ask while they read (which I will be sharing with Frances' school librarian). It includes questions about the main idea (what is this story about?) and is this story fiction or nonfiction? This poster is another example of how hard TOON Books works to promote literacy through comics.
The Big Wet Balloon is a charming story that we can't get enough of. It celebrates weekends and sisters - two things that are dear to our hearts! I can't wait to read more of Liniers' work.
The Big Wet Balloon. Liniers. TOON Books, 2013.
sent by publisher for review consideration.
