Pog

Posted on June 1, 2017 by gsheley

Title: Pog

Author: Lyn Lee

Illustrator: Kim Gamble

Publisher: Omnibus Books, 2000

Number of pages: 29

Tags: Emotion, Fantasy, Fiction, Picture Book, Grace Sheley

Genre: Fiction

This tale of a young monster named Pog focuses on facing fears head-on and making friends along the way. Pog has a busy family and one morning his mother instructs Pog to walk to school with his big brutish brother, Vandal. Vandal teases Pog and jokes that humans are probably waiting in the bushes along their path to school, eager to grab little monsters and kidnap them in sacks. Pog tries to put on a brave face, but his fears come true when in the bushes he and his brother stumble across a human child. Vandal darts away in fear, but Pog’s curiosity is piqued and he asks the young boy what his name is. Tom, the young boy, is unable to leave the monster world because he is stuck in a dream, so Pog decides to bring Tom home, hide in the closet, and dream Tom back home.

The text of this story is childlike and approachable. On more than one occasion, Pog bravely declares, “I am six and a half feet tall and older than I have ever been,” his ongoing mantra that any child could repeat (besides the height) in order to face their fears. The story is very reminiscent of the movie Monsters, Inc. in which a child is the source of fear for the monsters; this classic flip flop of a common childhood fear can make the fear of monsters less prevalent for young children, and the personification and humanization of these monsters in the story make them less scary and more identifiable. What’s most beneficial about this book is Pog’s kindness and sympathy for others in his own time of fear. While he could have run away and remained ignorant like his brother, Vandal, he instead chose to stifle any preconceived notions of children and help the boy in any way he could. While it may be problematic that the father is the one who gets to leave the house to do work while the mother is a stay-at-home monster, it is balanced by all of the tools she is illustrated wearing. She is clearly able to handle any and all problems that could arise.

The illustrations use monstrous colors in tones of green, purple, and black, but they do so in a way that pops and draws the eye. Each page has a lot of white space so that the illustrations themselves are, in a sense, framed like a story. These act as a window into the monsters’ secret world that humans are allowed a peek into. One page uses the picturebook code of movement in sequence: on the left page we see Pog nervous that children might be hiding in his room, then we see him checking under the bed, in the toybox, moving to the right page looking behind the door, and finally in the closet.

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Grandma’s Gift

Posted on June 1, 2017 by gsheley

Title: Grandma’s Gift

Author & Illustrator: Eric Velasquez

Publisher: Walker Publishing Company, 2010

Number of pages: 29

Tags: Culture, Family, Non-fiction, Holidays, Picture Book, Social Science, Grace Sheley

Genre: Non-fiction

Eric Velasquez’s story centers on his childhood experience of making pasteles with his Grandmother. They travel to various grocery stores to make the pasteles before Christmas Eve dinner. Eric also must make a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for class. While at the Museum, his Grandmother asks for Eric’s translations on almost every painting except one – a painting of Juan de Pareja. Eric fondly recalls that it was this painting and his Grandmother’s gift of a sketchbook that sparked his interested in art.

The text seamlessly incorporates both the Spanish conversations and the English translations – teaching children basic phrases and exposing them to different cultures. The text also provides a sense of community in El Barrio. The Grandmother and shopkeepers know each other and are familiar with her orders. When they are observing Juan de Pareja’s portrait, the text captures the emotions young Eric must have felt that inspired his own art. The ideologies presented in the text reinforce acceptance of cultures, the awareness of challenges faced by those speaking another language, and a sense of community and helping each other.

The illustrations take up both pages almost every page. They use a variety of colors to show the diversity of the New York area and the various cultures that reside there. The process of the pasteles being made is depicted in a picturebook code of multiple illustrations showing movement. These illustrations depict the careful and meticulous process of filling and wrapping the pasteles just right. On the page depicting the Grandmother and Eric observing Juan de Pareja, the page is mostly empty except for the painting and the pair of them. This draws the eye directly to the painting and reinforces the awe that the young boy felt the first time he observed the portrait.

The author’s note at the end recalls the emotions he felt when seeing the portrait for the first time. He discusses the importance of illustrations depicting children of color, as he grew up reading stories that did not reflect his own culture. The portrait of Juan de Pareja reinforced that “my people were part of history and not just a casualty of it.”

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The Three Lucys

Posted on June 1, 2017 by gsheley

Title: The Three Lucys

Author: Hayan Charara

Illustrator: Sara Kahn

Publisher: Lee & Low Books, 2016

Number of pages: 36

Tags: Animal, Culture, Family, Fiction, Award Book, Picture Book, Non-fiction, Emotion, Grace Sheley

Genre: Fiction, Non-fiction

The story begins with a young boy and his three cats, all named Lucy, living in Lebanon. His family travels to Beirut one day to visit family, leaving the cats at home. On the journey back, bombs begin to fall in their hometown and they immediately return to their family’s home in Beirut. When they are finally able to return home after a month, only two cats have survived the bombings. As the town begins the rebuilding and healing process, the young boy reflects on all the time he spent with the lost cat and fondly recalls the happy memories with her.

The text of this book truly reflects the fear and panic, yet community and ability to heal that many families experienced during times of war in Lebanon. The author and illustrator both experienced times of war in Lebanon and Iran, and it is impossible to read the text without understanding the emotional impact that creating this book had. The textual ideology behind the story is a lesson of dealing with loss, finding strength in family and community, and how to heal after experiencing immense loss. For readers who have not been in countries plagued by war, it is a great text to sympathize with those who have, and to further broaden children’s minds to the experiences of others.

The illustrations follow the emotional tones throughout the story by use of bright, warm colors for times of joy to darker, cooler colors in times of fear. The first page, for instance, features the boy sitting on the beach in warm weather and warm colors, happily surrounded by the three Lucys. The page that depicts the family driving away from the first bombing uses darker colors, but illuminated in a reddish glow to assist the text’s description of the red streaks from the bombs. There are no harsh lines, but the illustrations use a more abstracts shading technique to convey feelings of insecurity and fear that the characters experience during this time. When the family finally returns home, they are pictured on the left side of the page, more secure and relieved to find that their home is not completely destroyed and that some of the cats survived.

The author’s note provides background information on the true events of a bombing that occurred in 2006. He notes that the war between Israel and Lebanon devastated the country, and the motivation for writing this book was to provide comfort and hope for any children who have been the victims of larger forces of destruction.

 

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Peter and the Wolf

Posted on June 1, 2017 by gsheley

Title: Peter and the Wolf

Author: adaptation from Sergei Prokofiev

Illustrator: Erna Voigt

Publisher: David R. Godine, 1979

Number of pages: 26

Tags: Adventure, Animals, Culture, Fiction, Fine Arts, Picture Book, Grace Sheley

Genre: Fiction

This retelling of Prokofiev’s symphonic fairy tale illustrates the popular story of Peter, a young boy, who helps various animals fight off the wolf. Before Peter could chase off the wolf, he gobbled up the duck whole. However, Peter fights the wolf off before he can eat the cat and the bird by tying a rope to his tail and connecting the rope to a tree. The story ends with Peter and some hunters taking the wolf to a zoo (with the duck still alive inside the wolf’s stomach).

The text is very simplistic, but it is enhanced by the musical instruments that are assigned to various characters – such as Peter’s violin and the wolf’s french horn. On a new page introducing a new character, the instrument’s line from Prokofiev’s symphony is included at the bottom of the text page. It is a great way for young students to be exposed to classical music, especially if the part is played for them on the instrument it is written for. The ideology behind the text is that a young boy who rebels against his grandfather’s words of caution about the meadow is suddenly a hero for his clever outsmarting of the vicious wolf. It is a story meant to inspire and empower young children, but perhaps the message is not the best due to Peter’s ignoring his elder’s advice. All end’s well, however, and Peter is the hero of the story.

The illustrations are vibrant and convey the folk-like atmosphere of the story and the music alike. The pages are divided by the left side being a text page with the musical excerpts and the right page being a framed illustration. The framed aspect conveys that a story is being told, that the reader is not a part of it, but observing it. There are no harsh lines, but the softness of the illustrations conveys a feeling of motion, of anticipation for the wolf’s inevitable arrival. On the page that the wolf arrives, the meadow’s previous bright and sunny colors suddenly turn darker. This mood shift assists the general feeling of suspicion and caution that arrives with the wolf’s prowling around the meadow. However, when Peter reenters to save the animals from the wolf, the lightness comes back, as though the sun has reappeared and all is saved. On the page describing when Peter has outsmarted the wolf and tied him to the tree, the wolf is at the bottom of the page (the lowest in power) and Peter is at the top of the page (the highest in power).

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A Boy Called Slow

Posted on June 1, 2017 by gsheley

Title: A Boy Called Slow

Author: Joseph Bruchac

Illustrator: Rocco Baviera

Publisher: PaperStar, 1994

Number of pages: 29

Tags: Culture, Family, Historical Fiction, Picture Book, Grace Sheley

Genre: Historical Fiction

This is the story of Sitting Bull as a child and the process of earning the name he came to be known by. The story describes the Lakota tradition of giving young children a temporary name before earning their adult name, and Returns Again’s son was given the name “Slow” for his patient demeanor.  When Slow is fourteen, he participates in a raid on the tribe’s enemies, and initiates the attack – earning him the name Sitting Bull.

This text seems to function as more of a window than a door or mirror, it is a brief glimpse of Native American culture that can be educational for children. What Slow demonstrates for young children is patience and determination – he does not give in to negative connotations of his childhood name and wishes to fulfill his father’s legacy, not only for his father’s sake but for his own. The narration provides a relatable approach to a childhood that many children would not experience – the protagonist is portrayed as strong and uncompromising, but also sensitive and considerate.

The illustrations are framed, so the narrative reads more like a story that one is observing from afar rather than being in on the action. Many of the illustrations use a darker color palette, lots of dark blues and browns; however, they are juxtaposed by vibrant, warm colors on other pages. A picture book code that is evident is the positioning of Slow at the very top left of an illustration in a strong pose with one arm raised. The text on this page confirms the confidence the protagonist is conveying through the illustration: he is established as the strongest of the boys in his tribe. On pages showing movement, the illustrator takes more liberty with brushstrokes – such as the herd of buffalo running in the middle of the story. The fast strokes convey movement and even seem to provide the noise of the herd’s hooves running.

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Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat

Posted on June 1, 2017 by cford

Author and Illustrator: Javaka Steptoe

Publisher and Year: Little, Brown and Company, 2016

Number of pages: 38

Genre: Biography

This book is about Jean-Michel Basquiat, a famous artist from the 1980s, and how his life led him to art.  From copying organs out of an anatomy text his mother gave him while he was recovering from a car accident to spray painting graffiti on buildings and mailboxes in New York City, Basquiat grew into his own, messy art form and became world renowned for his iconography and style.  Throughout the narrative Basquiat is framed as visionary and upbeat, though it is revealed in the author’s notes at the end of the text that he ultimately passed at twenty-seven.

The illustrations for this book are particularly interesting.  They are created on wooden planks, and the images at the start of the narrative are all painted or drawn in ink, reflecting Basquiat’s initial art style of drawing and painting.  As the story progresses the art changes, mirroring Basquiat’s changing style, becoming more collage-like and incorporating more materials than just paint and ink: newspaper clippings, chalk, and photographs.  Many of the people seen in the book are people of color, reflective of Basquiat’s community of artists and friends.  Also, as the images are made on wooden planks they are framed within windows into Basquiat’s life, yet the frames are not perfectly rectangular, mimicking Basquiat’s own chaotic and messy art style.

      

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The Only Child

Posted on June 1, 2017 by cford

Author and Illustrator: Guojing

Publisher and Year: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2015

Number of pages: 105

Genre: Fantasy

This story is about a young only child who, after their parents leave for work for the day, decides to go on an adventure to visit Grandma.  But after falling asleep on the bus, they wake up in a place unfamiliar to them and have to find their way home.  They encounter a stag who flies them up into the clouds, across the sky, and eventually back home safely to their parents.

Though there are no words in this story, the picture narrative provides the emotional context for the narrative.  Most illustrations are framed within panels, offering a limited window into the child’s world and perspective; however, for truly big moments, the author chose instead to draw two-page spreads that fill the entire page.  There aren’t any ideological structures embedded in this book that I could see, other than the author’s note where she discussed the feelings of loneliness she had as a child as a result of China’s one-child policy in the 1980s, which birthed the premise of this book.  The illustrations were rendered in pencil, and the lack of color in this book is not conveyed as dreary, but rather as comforting in its familiarity.

      

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A Blind Guide to Stinkville

Posted on June 1, 2017 by cford

Author: Beth Vrabel

Publisher and Year: Sky Pony Press, 2015

Number of pages: 246

Genre: Realistic Fiction

This story is about a young girl named Alice, who has albinism and is legally blind.  Her family moves to Sinkville, South Carolina (known to residents as “Stinkville” due to its local smelly paper mill), where she deals with bullying, her mom’s depression, and the difficulties of living in a small town with a disability.  But Alice perseveres through it all, learning that even though her eyes may not work well, she can still see the stories that intertwine in her new town, and makes new friends.

In this narrative, there are multiple instances of people being ableist towards Alice because of their perceptions of her disability.  The librarian assumes that because she is blind, she must also be deaf, and speaks to her slowly and loudly, assuming her dog is the one following her guidance, not the girl herself.  However Alice also acts in an ableist manner towards other blind people she meets, even though she knows she would be bothered by that same behavior being exhibited toward her.  Alice also struggles with her identity as a disabled person, stating on multiple occasions that she isn’t really disabled because she can still see, just not well.  She uses this as a reason why she should not be at the specialized school for the blind, because she does not want to be differentiated from her sighted peers any more than she already is.  Through Alice’s story, the author brings up discussions of ableism and racism, but without using the terminology, using words children like Alice can understand.  

There are no illustrations in this novel.

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Drummer Hoff

Posted on June 1, 2017 by cford

Author: Barbara Emberley

Illustrator: Ed Emberley

Publisher and Year: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1967

Number of pages: 28

Genre: Realistic Fiction

This story is about a group of soldiers and officers working together to fire off a cannon during a war.  Each officer who appears on the page has more injuries than the last, except for the general.  After they finally get the cannon prepared, it goes off, and the final page shows the cannon, long since left in disuse and disrepair, covered in the flora and fauna of the area.

The narrative of this book is simplistic and rhyming, but it is the pictures that really tell the story.  The author and illustrator wanted to convey the message that war was a hurtful and unnecessary thing, and they got that message across with the illustrations: by showing every officer except the highest-ranking, the general, with worse and worse wounds, and by showing the cannon on the last page, covered in flowers and bugs, to indicate it was no longer needed.  This picture book functions as a window into the world of war for younger audiences, and allows conversation to start up about the necessity of war in our country and world.  The illustrations of this book were created on woodcuts and have many chaotically arranged details.

      

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Auntie Yang’s Great Soybean Picnic

Posted on June 1, 2017 by cford

Author: Ginnie Lo

Illustrator: Beth Lo

Publisher and Year: Lee & Low Books, Inc., 2012

Number of pages: 32 

Genre: Realistic Fiction

This book tells the story of a Chinese-American family having soybean picnics with their cousins, friends, and neighbors.  The aunts and uncles tell stories of when they were growing up in China and talk about the importance the soybean has always had in their family.  At the end of the story, the grandparents of the family fly into Chicago from China, and the whole family has a huge soybean feast.

Every full-page picture is set within a rounded frame, representing the family as secure in their identity and in their enjoyment of their culture and community.  The family is also shown as more traditional, with the women of the family preparing the majority of the food at every meal.  The mothers and adult women all wear dresses, indicating this story is set in the past, and again supporting their traditional practices, but the children wear skirts or shorts.  The illustrations were created by painting with ceramic underglazes on handmade porcelain plates, which explain the existence of the rounded frame.  There is a glossary of terms on the last page.

     

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