May is #AAPIHeritageMonth (Asian American Pacific Islander). Thanks to #WeNeedDiverseBooks and other initiatives, there are more and more books portraying kids from all backgrounds. Find more AAPI picture books here.
TWO BICYCLES IN BEIJING by Teresa Robeson and Junyi Wu
A DIFFERENT POND by Bao Phi and Thi Bui
MY FIRST DAY by Phúng Nguyên Quang and Huỳnh Kim Liên
BIRDS AND BEASTS
ARIBA: AN OLD TALES ABOUT NEW SHOES, Masha Manapov. A new pair of shoes reminds Marcus’s grandfather of an old, old story.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE MISSING MAMMOTH, Ellie Hattie / Karl James Mountford. Help Oscar locate the missing Mammoth who is on the loose in the museum!
MAURICE THE UNBEASTLY, Amy Dixon / Karl James Mountford. A little beastie must prove being different is a good thing.
WILD, Emily Hughes. “You cannot tame something so happily wild…”
COMING HOME, Michael Morpurgo / Kerry Hyndman. A plucky robin travels on an epic journey to get back to his family for Christmas.
WORDY BIRDY MEETS MR. COURGARPANTS, Tammi Sauer / Dave Mottram. An chatty bird goes camping with her friends and encounters a cougar.
The Journey
“What is it like to leave everything behind and travel many miles to somewhere unfamiliar and strange?”—Francesca Sanna.
My heart goes out to all those fleeing war and persecution around the world.
GITTEL’S JOURNEY: AN ELLIS ISLAND STORY, Lesléa Newman / Amy June Bates.
Gittel is suppose to journey to America with her mother but when her mother is prevented from traveling, Gittel must embark on the trip alone.
SEA PRAYER, Khaled Hosseini / Dan Williams. This book was inspired by Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian refugee who drowned at sea while fleeing his war-torn homeland in 2015. All proceeds from the book go to the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and to the Khaled Hosseini Foundation to help fund life-saving relief efforts for refugees around the world.
THE JOURNEY, Francesca Sanna. In 2014, Sanna collected stories about the incredible strength of the people who undertook those journeys. Those stories are combined into a journey of a mother and her two children; one filled fear, and also of great hope.
Recently, my cp’s (critique partners) and I were discussing picture book story boards. There are two main types and it is confusing at first but hopefully this will make it more clear. The math for the number of pages is always divisible by four. One sheet of paper has two sides. Folding it in half creates four pages.
Both examples are of a tall picture book, but some picture books are square shaped while others are wide format.
For the 40 page self-ended storyboard, page one starts on the endpaper that is pasted down onto the board of the cover. This is how the inside pages attaches to the cover. In this version the story begins on pages 6-7 and has 16 spreads.
For the 32 page storyboard, page one starts on the title page. In this version the story begins on pages 4-5 and has 14 1/2 spreads.
IT FELL FROM THE SKY by the award-winning Fan Brothers is a whopping 52-page self ended picture book.
A big thanks to Nebraska-SCBWI for hosting a webinar featuring Yuko Shimizu. I’m a big fan of Yuko’s work, and with her permission and the blessing of the Nebraska chapter I’m going to share some quotes from her presentation. I’m devastated about the new war in Ukraine and the continuing bloodshed in Syria. I’m grateful for people like Alaa (the character in the book below) for making the world a better place.
Yuko Shimizu is a multi-award-winning Japanese illustrator based in New York City. Yuko is also an instructor at the School of Visual Arts. You can read more here.
Yuko won the Caldecott Honor for her picturebook THE CAT MAN OF ALEPPO, co-authored by Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha.
“I’m so very, very, very grateful…[for] getting the [Caldecott Honor] award [for THE CAT MAN OF ALEPPO]…because that will only benefit future generations.”—Yuko Shimizu
Yuko Shimizu spoke a lot about representation when creating illustrations.
“The question [that] comes up [a lot is], am I the right person…for the project?... I don’t want myself to be creating only Japanese art, and I don’t want only Japanese people to create art about my country…Representation is becoming more and more important, but where do you draw the line?...I don’t have the right answer for it right now. How I feel is how much effort you put in to learn[ing] about the culture…country…religion…people [of] that religion that you will be illustrating. And that comes from respecting and admiration. And we as artists try to learn as much as we can to pay respect, and then I think it’s okay.”—Yuko Shimizu
Front an back cover
Yuko told us she has never been to Syria. And because of the war and the pandemic, she was not able to travel to Syria to research the book. She relied on research and sensitivity readers to make her artwork as accurate as possible about the Syrian people and their culture. She also has never had a cat as a pet, but through her thoughtful research and keen observation she made a beautiful book.
“Where does the representation start and end and where does segregation start? I don’t have the answers, but I think about [it]. At the end of the day, what we want is the good stories be told as accurately with respect as possible. I keep that in mind…and I want everyone to think of that moving forward with whatever book you’re creating. And don’t be shy or intimidated [about] creating the world that is not yours, because the world is bigger and…we should be able to do that as artists…”—Yuko Shimizu
I’m having a good month at ChildrensIllustrators.com! Their February newsletter theme is “bear”, and they highlighted my picture book, THE MUKLUK BALL written by Katharine Johnson, illus. by AliciaSchwab. Published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press.
Also, my art for an upcoming SCBWI IA/MN conference featured this week (Feb. 6—12, 2022) on the ChildrensIllustrators.com homepage!
The theme this week is funny and sweet animals!
I’m reading for research. #ReFoReMo (reading for research month) isn’t until March, but look at the #libraryloot I’ve been hauling to the studio!
BEFORE I LEAVE, by Jessixa Bagley
BAABWAA & WOOLIAM, by David Elliot and Melissa Sweet
SLEEP TIGHT CHARLIE, by Michael Escoffier and Kris Di Giacomo.
CHIMPANZEES FOR TEA, by Jo Empson
HOLEY MOLEY, by Lois Ehlert
DINOASAURS LOVE UNDERPANTS, by Claire Freeman and Ben Cort
February is Black History Month. The theme this year is “Black Health and Wellness”. What are you reading? This beautifully written and illustrated book is very inspiring. I support #FReadom (pushing back against book banning).
All Because You Matter by Tami Charles and illustrated by Bryan Collier. “In a beautiful ode to generations of Black sacrifice, happiness, and love, a family tells the story that brought a young boy into being and emphasizes his inherent worth.”
American Library Association Notable Children’s Book of 2021 https://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/notalists/ncb
All Because You Matter, by Tami Charles and Bryan Collier
I was inspired by the James Webb telescope launch to make this art. The telescope was designed to unfold like origami and travel to the outer edge of our galaxy. It is hard to imagine how far away that is. But I wonder what is out there.
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/Gallery/JWST.html
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/16/1036600340/nasa-is-launching-a-new-telescope-that-could-offer-some-cosmic-eye-candy
https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/the-long-awaited-james-webb-space-telescope-has-a-big-to-do-list
Valentine’s Day here we come! Here’s a book that been featured on We Need Diverse Books. Love, Violet Charlotte Sullivan Wild, illustrated by Charlene Chua, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and is available for purchase here. This heart-warming tale is full of hope, by two lovely book creators. I support #FReadom (pushing back against book banning).
ONLY ONE PERSON MAKES VIOLET'S HEART SKIP! Of all the kids in Violet’s class, only one leaves Violet speechless: Mira, the girl with the cheery laugh, who races like the wind. If only they could adventure together! But every time Mira comes near, Violet goes shy. As Valentine’s Day approaches, Violet is determined to show Mira just how special she is!
Charlene Chua’s luminous watercolors bring to life this tender #LGBTQ+ picture book about friendship, love, and the courage it takes to share your heart–even when it’s pounding!
Charlotte Sullivan Wild was first struck speechless by a crush in preschool. In grade school she may have crafted a special Valentine and been too shy to sign it. But she’s not shy about love anymore! She has loved teaching, selling books, creating kidlit events, and talking about books on the radio. Her first picture book is The Amazing Idea of You, illustrated by Mary Lundquist. Originally from snowy Minnesota, she now lives wherever her wife is stationed, recently Texas and now Italy, to see what they might find—together! She is represented by Minju Chang at BookStop Literary Agency. Learn more: www.charlotteswild.com
Day 8: I’ve got 20 new ideas. How about you? #picturebooks #fiction #nonfiction #picturebookideas #read #write #create #grow #learn #writers #illustrators #literacy https://taralazar.com/2021/12/27/storystorm-2022-registration/…
Every year we celebrate the same moment around the world on December 31st. When the clock strikes twelve (midnight), we celebrate the beginning of a new year. In, At The Same Moment Around The World, by Clotilde Perrin circles the globe to show kids how the same moment looks in each place as well as how the time on the clock changes in each timezone.
The last years have been full of many challenges. I wish you peace, hope and good health for 2022.
Are you hungry? There’s a ton of good eating if you know where to look. My friend, Matt Lilley has a yummy, new book coming out from Tilbury House in January 2022, Good Eating: The Short Life of Krill and is illustrated by Dan Tavis. Perhaps krill are not the kind of food you and I eat but they are on the menu for many ocean creatures from humongous blue whales to not-so-big penguins. I recently received the ARC and the Reader Guide (link below) for this thought-provoking book. It is a belly-full of animal facts about their eventful lives and has been nominated as a “Junior Library Guild Selection”.
“Good Eating: The Short Life of Krill follows the life of an Antarctic krill, starting with an egg sinking in the deep sea. The 2nd-person narrative follows the krill as it metamorphoses from a “six-armed oval” into a 26-legged glutton, and as it rises from the ocean’s deep midnight zone to the surface, encountering all sorts of hungry sea creatures as it grows.
Antarctic krill can catch and eat one-celled phytoplankton, and krill in turn are eaten by the largest animals ever to live on earth—blue whales—as well as by seals, penguins, and a host of others. Antarctic krill are the keystone species of the Southern Ocean.
This book will lead to discussions about
· The ocean food web
· Life stages and metamorphosis
· Narrative point of view”
Matt Lilley is the author of numerous nonfiction and educational titles. Find more of his books here: https://www.mattlilley.ink/books
ORDER THIS BOOK
I love learning about different cultures. There are many holidays at this time of year.
I support #FReadom (pushing back against book banning).
Our Favorite Day of the Year, by A. E. Ali and Rahele Jomepour Bell. “In this charming story of friendship and celebrating differences, young readers can discover how entering a new friendship with an open mind and sharing parts of yourself brings people together. And the calendar of holidays at the end of the book will delight children as they identify special events they can celebrate with friends throughout the year.”
Every year, my mom sends me a Jan Brett book for Christmas. We love her books. And Jan loves Christmas!
Here are some of Jan Brett’s author-illustrator books:
Home for Christmas
Gingerbread Friends
The Animal’s Santa
The Nutcracker
Gingerbread Christmas
Happy Hanukkah, Little Dreidel (Finger Puppet Board Book) by Brick Puffinton, Cottage Door Press and Juliana Motzko. “Mazel tov! It’s time to spin the dreidel! Hebrew school is in session for little dreidels everywhere, and they’re hard at work learning all the game rules and practicing their biggest and best spin moves.”
My Family Celebrates Kwanzaa by Lisa Bullard and Constanza Basaluzzo. “Kwanzaa traces its origins to the American Civil Rights era. Critical thinking questions and fast facts prompt young readers to engage with this fun narrative and learn all about Kwanzaa.”
Jaheem’s First Kwanza, by Zephaniah Martin and Bilal Karaca. “Jaheem learns the importance of honoring his cultural roots. He is introduced to Kwanzaa as a family tradition. African American families gather together to celebrate their culture and heritage.” Martin is just ten years old. His book was featured on the local news segment about the Midtown Global Market holiday event in December 2021. https://midtownglobalmarket.org/new-events/2021/12/26/first-day-of-kwanzaa-live-music-by-elliot-crafts-and-black-entrepreneurial-vendors
Under the Bodhi Tree: Story of Buddha, by Deborah Hopkinson and Kailey Whitman. “Bodhi Day is the Buddhist holiday that commemorates the day that Gautama Buddha (Shakyamuni) is said to have experienced enlightenment.”
I’m experimenting and playing with color for #Huevember, hues: red through green with an emphasis on magenta. #WIP #painterly #amillustrating #kidlitart #nebula #artistsoninstagram #space #fantasyart
HOW TO READ A BOOK by Kwame Alexander; illustrated by Melissa Sweet is one of the books I’m reading for research. Look at the #libraryloot I’ve been hauling to the studio!
I support #FReadom (pushing back against book banning).
Happy Halloween! DRAWlloween is one of many art prompts during October. Day 31” “Trick-or-treat”!!!
This image is from my picture book, TAKÓŽA: WALKS WITH THE BLUE MOON GIRL, written by Tara Perron. TAKÓŽA (grandchild) drinks cedar tea with her Kúŋši (grandmother). This endearing, lyrical picture book is as cozy as snuggling under a star quilt on a chilly day. #Cozytober is a month-long art prompt during October.
“Then, together they fill the kettle with cedar tea and feast on bread with maple syrup.” —Tara Perron, TAKOZA: WALKS WITH THE BLUE MOON GIRL
The prompt of #Inktober Day 26 is “Connect”. This image is from my picture book, TAKÓŽA: WALKS WITH THE BLUE MOON GIRL, written by Tara Perron. I illustrated the book with dotted lines to symbolize the threads that Kúŋši (grandmother) sews into the quilts. She uses her quilts (throughout the book) to tell stories to her Takóža (granddaughter).
“All summer the village waits patiently to watch you grow. We all have our part.” —Tara Perron, TAKOZA: WALKS WITH THE BLUE MOON GIRL
From the picture book, THE MUKLUK BALL, written by Katharine Johnson and illustrated by me!. “All autumn Karhu swayed, glided and whirled with his new friends.” —Katharine Johnson, Minnesota Historical Society Press. #Cozytober #Drawlloween2021 #drawlloween #witch #ChildrensBooks #scbwiARTober #kidlitart #artistsoninstagram #amillustrating #portfolio #work #multimedia #artistontwitter #Cozytober is a month-long art prompt during October.
