shanoz

A reference question on picturebooks about art

A patron emailed me looking for books to use in a class she is teaching called “Books and Art” for four and five year olds. Amazing! She was looking for picturebooks to use as read-alouds to inspire the chidlers’ projects – specfically books about creating art or using colour.

In an ideal world, I would have taken five days to answer this and sent her an annotated list of 100 books. Then I would have gone home to read a new book by James Mashall In reality, I had about 20 minutes and I went home to eat some Pilsbury Easter cookies I got for 35% off. I thought it might be fun to share what I came up with.

Keep in mind that I was limited by what is in my library’s collection (we’re not super teensy, but we’re not huge either. We serve about 33,000 people and are the only library in town). Because I was short on time, I relied on my own knowledge but discovered 2 or 3 of the titles while browsing – yay for serendipity! I also wanted to include some Canadian titles because I’m pretty gung-ho about promoting Canadian books. I know I’m probably missing a buncha titles, so please feel free to leave more suggestions in the Comments.

Also, sorry that the books aren’t in any kind of order. They were originally organized according to what was in and what was on loan at my library. I also don’t have the authors and illustrators listed (where applicable) because we catalogue our picturebooks by author. The annotations are the same ones I included in my response to the patron.

Picturebooks With an Art Theme for Reading Aloud to 4/5 Year Olds

The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau – John Agee
A classic story about an artist who paints animals..that come to life!

I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More – Karen Beaumont
An artistic take on the song “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More.” A boy who gets in trouble for painting on the walls takes matters into his own hands and paints his whole body!

White is For Blueberry – George Shannon
A concept book that explores the not-so-obvious colours of familiar things – the black centre of a poppy, the green top of a turnip, and the purple hue of shadows on the snow.

I’m the Best Artist in the Ocean – Kevin Sherry
A big, bright, hilarious story about a giant squid who loves to paint.

My Many Colored Days – Dr. Seuss
A very sensitive offering from Seuss about the connotations of different colours.

The Party – Barbara Reid
While not about art, this book is noteworthy because the illustrations are done entirely in plasticine. Reid is internationally known for her work with plasticine and has many, many stellar books.

The Dot – Peter H. Reynolds
Vashti hates making art but learns that even a random dot of ink can bring inspiration.

Draw Me a Star – Eric Carle
This is essentially a creation story about an artist who draws the world – starting with a single star. There are directions at the end showing children how to draw the stars in the book.

Augustine – Melanie Watt
Augustine is a penguin who idolizes famous artists. When she moves to a new school, her art helps her overcome her shyness.

The Imaginary Garden – Andrew Larsen. Illustrations by Irene Luxbacher
This book actually includes painting lessons within the story. After a young girl’s grandfather has to leave his beautiful home garden to relocate to an apartment, the pair find an artistic solution by painting a garden on a giant canvas. The text might be a little long for a read-aloud for 4s and 5s, but it is really worth checking out.

Art and Max – David Wiesner
A perfect story for beginning artists with stunning, semi-surreal artwork about two reptilian friends.

Harold and the Purple Crayon – Crockett Johnson
A classic. Harold steps into his own drawings and has all sorts of adventures.

Dog’s Colourful Day – Emma Dodd
A simple, engaging story about a white dog who gets into a rainbow of messes after his daily walk. Any of Emma Dodd’s books are fantastic for this age group.

The Black Book of Colors – Menena Cottin
A completely one-of-a-kind book done all in black. Different colours are described with words and with textured pages. It gives very young children a sense of what it would be like to see the world without sight and to essentially “feel” different colours.

I got a very lovely thank-you email from the patron after she received the list saying how inspired she is now. Can’t ask for anything more! (plus, 4/14 Canadian books ain’t bad!)

Naylor’s Alice Series – Whatta Makeover!

During the last ten minutes of my shift, I always like to walk through the Children’s area to make sure all is right with the world (and that no icky book has somehow ended up on display).

Tonight I had a horrible realization. We don’t have Alice in Rapture, Sort Of !!!

If I could fire myself, I would. In my defense I’ve only been at this job for five months. But still. STILL.

Part of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s epic Alice series, Alice in Rapture, Sort Of is one of my top ten favourite books of all time. Actually, probably top five. I LOVED it is a kid and I still LOVE it. I love it with a passion that makes me weepy. No other book so perfectly captures middle grade romance. My stomach gurgles just thinking of it. From the Lift Up Spandex Ahhh-Bra to Alice’s cute new bikini to the country club date with Patrick. There’s nothing better! I still haven’t finished the series because I can’t bear for it to be over. And I can’t stand the thought that Alice might not end up with Patrick! (don’t put spoilers in the comment field or I’ll cut you)

Well, I busted on over to Amazon to get the ISBN to order it from ULS and saw that most of the Alice books have had a makeover. A seriously dern CUTE makeover. Now, the series has had several incarnations but I think this is the best yet. Here’s Alice how I knew her in the 1990s:

And here she is now:

Here’s another version. I’m not crazy about photos of kids on covers but these kids are pretty legit:

And another. Quite vague and stock photo-y:

But I do have to say that I think this newest look is the best. Here are some of the other titles all spiffed up:

I think there is something delightfully vintage about these covers and I like that Alice actually looks her age. But does this look too vintage? Are my 1950s/early 1960s tastes atypical? I think real live 9-11 year olds might be into this – it’s sort of reminscent of Charice Mericle Harper’s Just Grace books but less cartoony.

I do think that the images could have incorporated a bit more humour. Alice is a klutz and is quite funny, and she looks quite sweet and a wee bit saccharine here. But overall, I think I’m sold.

I’m rarely happy with cover makeovers as I form pretty intense attachments to the originals. But I can’t wait to re-read the new beuts on Capri Island this summer when they are released in early May.

Ricky Gervais is Wrong – Serendpitiy is (was) Awesome!

I recently saw a rerun of Inside the Actor’s Studio where Ricky Gervais said his least favourite word was “serendipity.” That may be, Ricky, but it was one heckuva conference!

Serendipity is the name of an annual conference organized by the Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable. It’s a big deal. Big deal people come in from all over. It’s not really a conference in that there are break-out sessions and such – it’s more of a day in an auditorium with a slew of really great children’s writers, illustrators, editors, etc. In the past, they’ve hosted the likes of Katherine Paterson, Linda Sue Park, David Wiesner, David Macaulay, Cornelia Funke, David Shannon, Liz Bicknell (from Candlewick), and so many others. I think a lot of manager types are hesitant to send staff to conferences that don’t have an obvious practical bent. But I don’t think you can put a price tag on the kind of inspiration you get after hearing from the creators of books you love (oh boy – CHEESE ALERT – but it’s true!).

In any event, it’s a highlight of life here on the West Coast of Canadaland and this year was no exception. It took place last Saturday and I had the pleasure of Mcing. Billed as a graphic novel event the speakers were (in chronological order of the day):

Matt Holm

Raina Telgemeier

Gene Luen Yang

Valerie Wyatt (winner of the Roundtable’s Information Book Award for How to Build Your Own Country)

Jason Shiga & Aaron Renier (they gave the coolest workshop on making your own comic. Watch this YouTube video! Now! It’s the most amazing, simple, and low-budget thing you can do with kids)

Aaron and Jason also joined in a panel discussion in the last hour but should have had their own spot on the bill, fo’ sho’.

There are two things I wonder when I hear about an event I didn’t attend:

What is that author/illustrator/big deal person really like?

What neat things were shared?

Let me answer those questions for the first three presenters. Why just the first three? I had a really bad cold and was too busy blowing my nose and sneezing in the afternoon to take notes. Note: I wouldn’t include the answers to that first bullet if all of the speakers weren’t amazing people. You’re not going to see me write “___________ was a major D-bag.”

Matt Holm

What’s he like?

He personifies joy itself, not unlike Wilson the Weasel. A generous laugher (the BEST kind of person – one who laughs with you when you’re trying to make jokes to impress them) and so easygoing and mellow and seemingly unaware of what a big deal he is.

Neat things learned:

He showed us an amazing collection of old family photos – heartening and really lovely to see all the real-life love behind Babymouse
He frequently forgets to draw Babymouse’s tail
A Babymouse book takes a year from start to finish

Raina Telgemeier

What’s she like?

So genuine and sweet (real sweet – not syrupy) and speaks so well and confidently. That gal is the kind of role model you want for your kids. I mean, seriously.

Neat things learned:

Her dad bought her this graphic novel when she was a young ‘un and it really stuck with her
She was reading Bone back when it was being published every month. She was on top of that, yo! She’s legit.
She is inspired by Calvin and Hobbes (Matt Holm said he was too – actually, I think everyone on the panel mentioned it)
Ann M. Martin was none too pleased when she saw that Raina had given Claudia a haircut in the BSC graphic novels
Smile was in a Cul de Sac comic!!!

Gene Luen Yang

What’s he like?

HILARIOUS. Puts Jon Scieszka to shame. For REALS. But so, so insightful and eloquent. He seriously is Children’s Literature Ambassador material. I was blown away. RUN TO SEE HIM IF YOU GET THE CHANCE.

Neat things learned:

He received a grant from the Xeric Foundation.
Great quote – he said that all one needs to be a comic creator is “a healthy ignorance of your own artistic limitations.”
Another great quote – “Self-publishing in comics is proof that you’re awesome.” He had some very enlightening things to say on the differences between self-publishing a novel vs. self-publishing a comic.
He did his MA in Education thesis on teaching math with comics. He also put this into practice with one of his high school classes (he’s a part-time teacher too). I begged him to do a book on this.

Another highlight was when Aaron Renier signed my copy of The Unsinkable Walker Bean. He asked me “What do you like?” I gave the most obvious answer, of course: “Girls with big hair.” He obliged by drawing the cutest gal with big hair and her peppy little dog, all the while fretting that it wasn’t good enough. I was like “Dude, it’s awesome! I’m the dummy for answering your question with ‘Girls with big hair!'” Here’s what it looked like:

Oh, and I also won a Babymouse sketch in the silent auction!

There you have it. Serendipity’s 2012 theme is Asian children’s literature and Paul Yee is already booked! I’m going to suggest that we try and wrangle Grace Lin into coming. How cool would that be!? Very.

Merry Christmas with Tammy Grimes!

Oh boy, I was majorly pumped to find out this bit of Tammy Grimes trivia today. Basically, everything I loved most in my childhood relates to her.

Since childhood, I have been obsessed with a little-known (or at least I think it’s little-known; it never made it onto DVD) Rankin Bass animated version of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.

TwastheNightBeforeChristmas — Thank you, 1974, for bringing this to television.

Long story short: human family and mouse family live in harmony together in a house. Human dad is a clockmaker. Mouse dad has some job or another, but he often converses with human dad. Mouse dad has a son that writes to Santa and tells him to bugger off because Santa ain’t real. Thus, Santa decides not to visit the town. Human dad must build a really nice clock (that plays music of course) to lure Santa back.

The show used to get played on the Family Channel but I haven’t seen it on for about ten years. Sadly, my VHS copy from eBay is somewhere at my mom’s house. Thank God for YouTube. Tonight I’ll be huddled ’round my laptop watching a really low-quality version of this amazing piece of television history.

The songs are SO DOPE. I managed to download this little gem, “Even a Miracle Needs a Hand,” off Limewire or some other illegal program back in 2004.

Well, guess who voices the role of the disenchanted mouse son and sings some of the aforementioned dope songs? TAMMY GRIMES! TAMMY GRIMES!

You may remember that I blogged about the best audiobook of all time, narrated by the TG (also now obscure and hard-to-find). What a coincidence, hey?! That’s a Christmas Coinicidence, folks.

Have a good one!

ChristmasTammy — Tammy Grimes in a clip art Santa hat, obvi.

October Was a Busy Chidler Book Month in Vancouver!

I spend a lot of time on Twitter – about 72% of that time is devoted to being jealous of all the cool stuff that happens in New York and Boston. But Vancouver can get pretty bumpin’, especially in October and February.

October brings the Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable’s (VCLR’s) Illustrator’s Breakfast and the Vancouver International Writers Festival. February brings the VCLR’s Serendipity Conference (2011 will have Matt Holm, Raina Telgemeier and Gene Luen Yang!)

This year’s Illustrator’s Breakfast featured Pierre Pratt. It really doesn’t get any better than French-Canadian illustrators. I mean, seriously. There’s Monsieur Pratt, of course, but there’s also Marie Louise Gay and Melanie Watt and so many others (this is such a fun website if you want to see a buncha Quebec illustrator talent).

Pierre Pratt was very charming and showed us some striking Little Red Riding Hood illustrations – while he doesn`t have a publisher attached to the project, he’s thinking of doing a wordless Little Red book. That would be so cool! I need to start bringing my camera to things, but here’s a crappy Blackberry photo:

PierrePrattLRRH — You can't see it very well, but that's Little Red actually walking up the Wolf's tongue. Amazing!

The next week was the Vancouver International Writers Festival where I had the pleasure of introducing Kenneth Oppel, Richard Scrimger, Kevin Sylvester and Richard Newsome. Here are a few things you should know about each of them:

Kenneth Oppel: He’s a super funny guy. Who knew!? He looks so serious and pensive (and dreamy!) in all his author photos but he’s a laugh riot.

Richard Scrimger: Do Americans know about him? They should. Add him to your “I need something for a teenage boy who won’t read anything” list. Oh boy, and he’s so funny too.

Kevin Sylvester: Also funny! There was a lot of funny going on. I don’t think there are enough books about kids and cooking and mystery. Sylvester has this market down. And he sent me a thank you email after his presentation! So classy! I’ll be printing that off and selling it on eBay if times get tough…

Richard Newsome: I’m sad to report that Richard Newsome didn’t offer to adopt me. You can tell he’d be the greatest dad and The Billionaire’s Curse is so good (and so hot right now). And the book trailer is beyond impressive and special effect-y (the first one on the page). Puts Titanic to shame.

And I almost forgot – I won a piece of Julie Flett’s artwork at the silent auction at the Pierre Pratt breakfast. It now hangs in my office. She is one of my all-time favourite illustrators and was just nominated for a Governor General’s award. NB: The Moccasins is the simplest, most beautiful story for kids growing up in foster families (not to mention being a positive, loving portrayal of a First Nations family).

These were just the events I managed to get to – October also brought the start of a year-long position as the Head of Youth Services at the Port Moody Public Library (the most fantastic public library I could ever hope to work at), my very first guest review (i.e. – the long ass 950 word review) for Quill & Quire and committing to be on the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s 2011 Best Books for Kids & Teens Committee. I’ll be looking at non-fiction, so things might get a little factual ’round these parts for the next couple months.

Scholastic’s I Am Canada Series: Making History Manly

Awhile ago, I posted in anticipation of Scholastic’s new I Am Canada series. I had a few reservations. My feelings about the name remain (a bit beer commercially), but I’m won over by the prettiness.

The first two books are Hugh Brewster’s Prisoner of Dieppe and Paul Yee’s Blood and Iron. Both these authors are natural choices for these topics as they’ve already done their homework: Brewster’s Dieppe: Canada’s Darkest Days of World War II came out last year and no one should ever forget about Paul Yee’s Tales From Gold Mountain and Ghost Train.

The I Am Canada website, as is the case with the Dear Canada site, is stellar. It is also imbued with a healthy amount of testosterone and perfectly reflects the books in all their navy blue glory. I’m really impressed with the cover design – it has enough in common with Dear Canada with the photo and the weathered paper, but also stands alone, too. These boys and girls sure look smart together, don’t they?

TheCanadas — We stand on guard for good book design.

It’s interesting that the I Am Canada books seem available only in paperback (correct me if I’m wrong here). Perhaps because of the maxim that boys prefer paperbacks? If so, very interesting.

While I think boys might be reluctant to read the Dear Canada books (there’s a picture of a chick on the front, plus the hardcovers have a ribbon for a bookmark), I can see gals partaking in I Am Canada.

Next up is to give these new boys on the block a read and see how they measure up. But with authors like Brewster and Yee on board, I suspect the final verdict will be… Shannon: 0 I Am Canada: 1

Tammy Grimes and Esther Averill. Audiobooks Don’t Get Better.

Even though I have this audiobook in my possession, I haven’t heard it for at least fifteen years. I can only find it on vinyl and I don’t have a record player! But, nevertheless, an ode to Averill and Grimes is in order.

Jenny! — I wish I could take better, not-dark picture in my living room. Sadly, this was the best of eleven...

I was a major audiobook kid. I’m still very much an audiobook person. I like to listen to them on the bus or while cleaning/putzing about the house. If I’m doing something where I can’t devote 100% of my attention to the story, I’ll put on Charlotte’s Web read by E.B. White – my theory is that, if I listen to him enough, I’ll soak up some of his writing style. Or I’ll develop a booming Massachusetts twang.

My favourite audiobooks as a chidler were Roald Dahl’s Matilda and The Witches (I can’t remember the readers – lovely British ladies) and the abridged Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island read by Megan Follows. But nothing can ever top Esther Averill’s Jenny and the Cat Club read by Tammy Grimes (1978).

Grimes was a Broadway and television actress whose best-known audiobook accomplishment is likely Where The Wild Things Are (in addition to some other Sendak stories). But man oh man, she nails Jenny Linsky.

Jenny Linsky is a black cat. She lives with Captain Tinker (best name ever). At night she rolls with her feline friends in the Cat Club: Concertina, Mr. President, Macaroni, The Duke, Romulus, Remus, Arabella, Antonio, and Solomon. Anyone who doesn’t know these books is at a serious disadvantage in life.

I don’t know what it is about Grimes’ voice that lends itself so well to Averill’s stories. There is something very old-fashioned and dear about the Jenny Linsky tales (the synopsis on the record calls them “unpretentious little classics”) and there is nothing particularly dear about Grimes’ voice. It sounds very much like a cross between an ashtray, a cat’s purr, and a grandmotherly cajoling.

But there is something about Grimes’ reading that makes you believe she is just as pumped about the story as you are – she is utterly engaged and expressive to the hilt (but not in an overdone way). I think I loved the audiobook so much because I felt like I had a kindred spirit in Grimes – she was just as wild about Jenny as I was. You could just hear it in her voice.

I borrowed the cassette tape over and over again from the library until one day it just disappeared (or, as I understand now, it went to the Land of the Weeded). I thought about it often over the years and it was the first thing I looked up in WorldCat upon entering library school. Now I just need to get my hands on (and learn how to use) a record player…

Book Covers: Testicular Heart Cherries are to Girly YA as Silhouettes are to Evolution Kidlit

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that silhouetted book covers and evolution have been mad played out lately. Behold, this image I constructed with Microsoft Word and a screenshot program (Photoshop is beyond me) that I posted a few months ago to illustrate what many others already know:

Sidenote: I am introducing Half Brother author Kenneth Oppel (along with some other very talented authors like Richard Newsome and Richard Scrimger) at the Vancouver International Writers Festival next month. Lots of swooning to follow.

I snarikly tweeted some time ago that Lo Bosworth of The Hills has a book coming out that features some testicular-looking cherries on the front. But it seems she’s not alone! Alexandra Diaz’s Of All the Stupid Things also has the same testicular cherries, complete with matching heart stem!

Diaz’s cover was first, so Lo is officially getting sloppy seconds. If I find a third cover like this (three cherries – very Vegas slot machine), methinks it will officially be a trend.

I Haven’t Been This Mad in a Long Time

Oh man. Shannon angry.

Yesterday the Summer Reading Club chidlers got to pick a free book as props for cracking the covers all summer long. While herding the chidlers and handing out stamps and “Congratulations!” and “Awesome!” I noticed something truly horrifying in the selection of books:

MoreScaryStoriesHelquist — OH, THE HUMANITY!

What the crap!?!

It seems that Brett Helquist is re-illustrating the three Scary Story collections compiled by Alvin Schwartz and originally (and brilliantly) illustrated by Stephen Gammell.

HarperCollins, I love you. Brett Helquist, I love you too. But there’s no excuse for this.

Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell are like peanut butter and chocolate. Or Jay-Z and Linkin Park. Or James Marshall and Harry Allard. Together, they are perfection.

I don’t know how on earth I missed this. It seems that More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was re-released at the end of August, right when I had a terrible case of food poisoning. In hindsight, my body was likely reacting subconsciously to this loathsome event. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was re-released at the end of July. I don’t know what I was doing then, but it must have been important. Scary Stories 3 will be re-released in January 2011. I’ll need to find a tree to chain myself to or something.

I’ve book talked the three Scary Story books more times than I can count – both to groups of kids and in the stacks. Gammell’s illustrations always sell it. The thing is, when you tell kids you’ve got something scary for them, they just don’t believe you. I think it’s because kids have come to learn that a trusted adult’s version of scary usually equals lameness.

But Gammell’s style perfectly straddles “safe scary” and “creepy scary.” Actually, cancel that. They’re just a bit too scary. But just the right amount of a bit. You can’t take your eyes off his work. Each drawing is like a perfectly disastrous car crash – you are physically unable to look away. And when you read one of Schwartz’s tales out loud to a group, and then reveal Gammell’s deliciously scary visual interpretation, the result is gold. We’re talking audible gasps, mouths agape, the whole nine.

Harold — From Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

I’m not saying that Helquist isn’t talented. He’s mad talented. But in my opinion there was no reason to mess with perfection – even if Stephen Gammell said, “You can’t use my pictures anymore. They are too awesome for you to use.” If that happened (and maybe it did – what do I know?), there should have been a worldwide moment of silence for these books before they went out of print.

I know there are probably people out there who are in support of this and think it’s good to give the ol’ books a facelift. I’m sorry, but I am too blinded by anger to hear you out right now. Maybe after I’ve mellowed out with several glasses of wine and some George and Martha, we can talk.

Ferry Halim: Free, Classy, Beautiful Flash Games for Wee Ones

As most youth librarians will attest, a big part of the job is trying to lure the littlest chidlers off the computer in a seemingly casual, non-chalant way. “Oh, you’re playing some Arthur games! He’s great. You know, we have a whole bunch of books about Arthur. I bet we have almost a hundred! Would you like to see some?” If that fails, there is always the power of the digger stamp.

But sometimes kids, especially the three to sixers, just won’t budge. Not for a book, not for a stamp, not even to go to the bathroom. And when they’ve exhausted Arthur or Franklin or whatever other CD-ROMs we have they’ll give the plaintive mew, “Do you have any more games?” Parents will frequently ask the same question “Can you recommend any good computer games my daughter/son/monkey can play at home?”

There is tons out there of the Club Penguin variety, but finding free, high-quality computer games for the teeniest tots (that aren’t filled with blinking ads) can be challenging. And, yes, while I’m Team Book (as opposed to Team Computer), a request is a request.

That is where Ferry Halim comes in. He is the Patron Saint of Amazing Free Flash Games for kids. Race over to his site right now.

[20 minutes later – because you will have likely spent at least that much time playing around]

As you will know by now, Halim’s site offers over 50 beautifully designed, achingly simple games. I have never seen such an attractive, effective, wordless “Table of Contents:”

Clicking on one of the thumbnails takes you directly to the game (they load really quickly – even on an old clunker) and little ones can start playing immediately. This completely visual way of navigating a site is brilliant – very International Children’s Digital Library-esque.

The games are so, so, so(!) wonderfully and cozily designed. Plus, many of them have lovely classical music in the background. I have many favourites, but have been playing “Hungry Spiders” to try and work on my arachnophobia.

FerryHalimArachnids — Click the picture to test your spidey sense...

I still can’t play without letting out some little yelps every now and then. Baby steps.

I also love “A Dog For All Seasons,” one of the simplest games on the site. Move the mouse and click on the ball. That’s it, y’all.

FerryHalimDogforAllSeasons — Click the picture to woof it up...

The best part about the games is that they really don’t require any reading. I’m sure some would argue this is actually a bad thing, but the absence of print means many things:

little ones have to intuitively figure out how a games works (there are brief instructions at the beginning that can help if needed)

the emphasis is on hand-eye coordination and using the mouse, not “Can you read this next set of instructions?”

the games can be played by children (and adults) of all ages, regardless of their comfort with English

School Library Journal featured one of the games “Winter Bells,” in their Extra Helping newsletter, but I think the uses of this site go beyond the seasonal. From little ones looking for entertainment to seniors learning the ropes of the mouse, these games are straight up great.

The mondo-est of thanks to Saara, my co-worker, for showing this to me. Saara went to library school in Montreal, which is the cool capital of Canada, so she knows many cool things.