THE FIRST STRAWBERRIES by Joseph Bruchac & Illustrated by Anna Vojtech

Bruchac, Joseph.  1993.  The First Strawberries:  a Cherokee story.  Ill. by Anna Vojtech.   New York:  Dial Books for Young Readers.  ISBN 0-803-1331-2

In this pour quoi tale of the creation of the first strawberries, Joseph Bruchac sets the stage “long ago when the world was new, the Creator made a man and a woman.”  Anna Vojtech beautifully illustrates the man and woman with traditional Native American clothing and happy contented faces.  We see them at authentic daily tasks such as the man making an arrowhead and the woman shucking corn.  The conflict begins on the very next page as the man is unhappy when he comes home from hunting and finds that his meal is not ready because his wife is out picking flowers.  His cold, harsh words hurt his wife, and she tells him she will not live with him anymore.  She walks toward the sun and he follows her, but cannot keep up her brisk pace. 

The Sun sees that the man regrets his angry words, and tries to distract the woman so the man can catch up to apologize.  The sun puts in her path the first raspberries, then the first blueberries, then the first blackberries, but all are ineffective in slowing the hurt, angry steps of the woman.  Finally “the Sun tried its hardest,” and creates strawberries in the path of the woman.  The woman stopped when she saw them “glow like fire in the grass.”  When she bit into one, its sweetness reminded her of “how happy she and her husband had been together before they quarreled.”  The husband was able to catch up to his wife and ask her forgiveness for his harsh words.  The woman’s response was sharing the sweet strawberries with her husband.

Anna Vojtech captures the beauty of a brand new world with her lovely watercolor paintings in cool soothing tones and glowing sunshine.  She illustrates the Native American pair with warm earth tones that communicate not only strength, but soft feelings as well.

This simple, traditional tale with its themes of kindness, respect, forgiveness and sharing, is perfect for a very young audience.  How delicious it would be to initiate a school tradition to honor the Cherokee culture with a Strawberry Day to remember the importance of these virtues in all societies.  The talents of Joseph Bruchac and Anna Vojtech create a culture rich story so sweet, it just might make your mouth water for some strawberries!

THE LION AND THE MOUSE by Jerry Pinkney

Pinkney, Jerry. The Lion and the Mouse. New York:  Little Brown. 2009. ISBN 978-0-316-07360-8

In THE LION AND THE MOUSE, Jerry Pinkney, no stranger to accolades in the world of children’s literature, garnered his first Caldecott gold.  This traditional fable by the ubiquitous Aesop is retold in wordless, lush, panoramic watercolor that is Pinkney’s trademark.   How does one convey the fable with no words?  Although you do not hear the mama mouse plead with the king of beasts to spare her life in exchange for the incredulous possibility of returning the favor someday, we see plenty of emotion in the poignant faces of the animals.  We also see the strong sense of family as herds of wildlife decorate the Serengeti landscape as you open the cover  of the book, and the mouse family shares an outing with the lion family on the final end sheets.

From the very beginning we observe the vulnerability of the mouse.   On the title page she sits in the depression of the lion’s paw print.  Next we see her narrowly escape the talons of the owl.  We see terror in the eyes of the proud lion when he is rendered helpless in the net of the poachers, and we see joy in the determination of the little mouse when setting the lion free from the net trap.   Children identify easily with the smallness of the mouse and are inspired by the enormity of her courage and kindness.  The timeless relevance of this story begs a "Random Acts of Kindness" day, or week, or month, or year.

One should take their time with this book and try to take in every detail that Pinkney’s skill affords us.  From the insects and spider webs, to the full faced expressions of the lion, there is no famine of visual delight.   I would have to agree with School Library Journal review that "Everybody loves this book.  A must have and a must purchase."  Considering that this book is dedicated to Pinkney’s first great granddaughter, I would say it’s a roaring labor of love.

THE THREE PIGS by David Wiesner

Wiesner, David.  The Three Pigs.   New York:  Houghton Mifflin. 2001. ISBN 0-439-44517-5

In the best three little pigs version, ever, David Wiesner thinks out of the box, and draws the pigs out of storybook land in his 2002 Caldecott winner, The Three Pigs.  In keeping with an idea he introduces in Tuesday, his 1992 Caldecott that ended with a tease of the pigs taking to the sky, he lets us join the pigs in their own adventure in this fractured retelling of the traditional three pigs story. 

With the cleverest of artistic savvy, Wiesner communicates to his readers when the pigs are in the story and when they escape into real time.  They explore the real world and even gawk at us for a moment!  They explore the surroundings of the world on hoof and by air (page airplane), and roam into a mother goose rhyme.  There they attract the attention of the cat with the fiddle who joins their excursions.  They also roam into a fairy tale and rescue a dragon.   By showing him the way out of his book, the dragon escapes the prince sent to slay him.   The pigs eventually decide to return to their story, but take their new friends with them which alters the story in a most satisfying and entertaining way.

Wiesner draws the storybook worlds with detailed watercolor, pencil and colored pencil drawings.  The illustrations of the three stories that the pigs explore are drawn so individually that they look like they have been drawn by different artists.  The Mother Goose pages are whimsically drawn in pastel colors, and the fairy tale pages are drawn in detailed black and white.  When the pigs are out of the stories and exploring the real world, Wiesner allows lots of white space to communicate freedom from the confines of a book.  He also draws the pigs much more realistically, right down to the bristles on their "chinny chin chin."   

Children's imaginations will soar in discussing what if the pigs had explored this rhyme, or that fairy tale.  What if they met this favorite character or that mean villain?  The possibilities of engagement are limitless.  No huffing and puffing are required to enjoy this favorite tale, but the fun it conjures just might blow you away.

A BALL FOR DAISY by Chris Raschka

Raschka, Chris. A BALL FOR DAISY.  New York:  Schwartz and Wade Books. 2011. ISBN 978-0-375-85861-1

Who can resist this warm, affectionate, innocent, lovable little dog out for a walk with her owner?  Without a word, Chris Raschka tells the story of Daisy who loves her red ball.  She sleeps with it, and takes walks to the park for a fun game of fetch with her owner.  While on one of these outings, Daisy meets a playmate and they are in playground heaven until, the fun comes to a dramatic halt.  The new friend dog accidentally punctures the red ball, and it must be thrown away.   We grieve with Daisy and our heart strings are pulled as we wish we could make it all better.  Never fear.  The ending does not disappoint.

Chris Raschka creates his Caldecott winning, watercolor magic yet again with pictures that need no words to communicate happiness, contentment, joy, rest, love, energy, sadness, depression, and even gratitude.   His color palate of warm hues in joyful moments and his muted grays and browns in the gloomy moments carry our emotions along with the story.  His relaxed lines create a very youthful tone.

Raschka’s work has been an acquired taste for me.  Being more of a fan of the Van Allsburg or Wiesner style of realistic art, the more whimsical brush of Raschka provides a very different canvas.  On repeated perusal I have come to appreciate the endearing and enduring quality of the youthful innocence in his storytelling.  As Horn Book observes of Daisy, “Though her story is simple, it’s transcendent.”

WE ARE IN A BOOK by Mo Willems

Willems, Mo. WE ARE IN A BOOK!  New York:  Hyperion Books for Children. 2010. ISBN 978-1-4231-3308-7

Let me catch my breath and wipe my tears of laughter and I will tell you about this hilariously funny masterpiece by literary genius, Mo Willems.  I love every  Piggie and Elephant book, but this one tickles my funny bone, turns over giggle boxes by the dozens, and arouses a deafening “read it again!!!!” from my pre-K and kindergarten audiences.  Piggie and Elephant discover that they are in a book and proceed to try and make the reader say a word.  They find this power incredibly funny and we all laugh with abandon right along with them.  When the book is about to end, Elephant is distraught, so Piggie comes up with an ingenious idea to extend their time with the reader; a win for us as well as Piggie and Elephant. 

Simple, uncluttered, clear line drawings and word bubbles with few words and big print draw the young reader in as easily as Harold with a purple crayon.  Willems pairs the ultra sensitive worrier, Elephant Gerald, with the more relaxed risk taker, Piggie, and creates a charming friendship as endearing as Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad or Jim Henson’s Bert and Ernie.  The discovery of the readers looking into the world of Piggie and Gerald is reminiscent of the same genius in David Wiesner’s The Three Pigs.

This book is just so much fun to read aloud.  Willems’ style of simple text is so full of emotion, that it lends itself to drama.  Glee, fear, sadness, panic, intrigue, mischief, surprise, all in less than 100 different words make this a well deserved Geisel Honor Book.  Quoting the Horn Book Guide, “Willems successfully and humorously deconstructs the concept of a book for the youngest readers.”   As I said, Mo Willems is a genius.

ELOISE by Kay Thompson

Thompson, Kay. Kay Thompson’s Eloise:  a book for precocious grown ups. Ill. by Hilary Knight. New York:  Simon and Schuster. 1955. ISBN 06067122350x

Eloise is coming up on her 60^th birthday soon, but somehow I missed her when I was growing up.  She lives in the Plaza Hotel in New York City, and wreaks havoc as only a precocious, bored, and unattended six year old can.  Her parents are off making money in the corporate world, leaving Eloise with her Nanny whom she loves.  And why not!  Nanny lets her get away with, well, that’s what the story is about.  The illustrations by Hilary Knight are detailed pen and ink drawings embellished with a splash of pink.   It reflects its 1955 publishing date.  The copious 65 pages of illustrations accompany the small print text and difficult vocabulary.  Thus I agree it was written for “precocious grown ups.”

Eloise reminds me of Barbara Park’s  Junie B Jones with her funny antics and mischief making, however, I did not find Eloise quite as endearing as Junie B.  Eloise is the epitome of a spoiled brat, and thus I did not find her very loveable.  Although the kindergartners I teach are somewhat scandalized by Junie’s language (the d-word, “dumb” and the s-word, “stupid”), I imagine they would be appalled at the disrespect Eloise shows to people, places, and things, not to mention her frequent expressions of “O my Lord.”

 Elizabeth Bird of fuse#8 fame noted in her 2012 article, The Top 100 Picture Books (blogs.slj.com), that Eloise has slipped in her classic ranking from #37 to #76.  I think this may be partly due to the many references to things that a child today would most likely not relate to such as “witch hazel,” “cod liver oil,” “corset,” “garters,” and the TV favorite of the 50’s, “Howdy Doody,” (which Eloise hates).  I think Eloise has had her day.