Another book illustrated by Bryan Collier...I know, I just can't get enough. Also, it was written by Nikki Giovanni, the editor of book #27. Rosa (2005), as you can imagine, is a biography of Rosa Parks. I know what you're thinking...aren't there already a lot of them? Yeah, there probably are, but what I loved about this one is that is tells a slightly different narrative than what is traditionally portrayed. Giovanni does not present Rosa as a tired woman who didn't want to get up because her feet hurt. That notion seems to invalidate Rosa as a political activist, instead positioning her as a bystander who had had a long day. Which is kind of disempowering if you think about it...she was more than that.
Collier's signature watercolor and collage shines in this books as well as all the others. Notable on the cover are the gold flecks surrounding her head, almost in the shape of a halo. The fact that Collier positions her eyes just above the bottom edge makes it obvious that we are to look at her, to see this story through her eyes. Those eyes are not tired, they are strong and ready for change. The policeman staring at her just makes her inner strength that much more powerful. Collier reveals the reason why he used a lot of yellow hues in his illustrator's note-- 'I wanted the reader to feel in that heat a foreshadowing, an uneasy quiet before the storm.' To him she is a 'radiant chandelier, a light that illuminates all our many pathways'. Collier's collages include important elements of the time, including a newspaper article about Emmitt Till (that one man is reading on the bus), the teenager brutally murdered in Mississippi not long before these events. Collier is always deeply aware of how the elements in his collages tell an important story as well. One particularly effective opening is one where the reader must fold back the pages to reveal a 4 page bleed representing many of the marches that went on in the Civil Rights Movement.
Giovanni's words complement Collier's illustrations...she tells us about Rosa's work as a seamstress and her thoughts and feelings that day. The reader gets a sense of what was going on in Rosa's head as she makes her fateful decision that day. With a quiet strength, 'she was not going to give in to that which was wrong'. Giovanni says that she was tired, but not of working, instead she was tired of the injustice and segregation. The story is crafted in such a way that you feel you are a fly on the wall, listening in to secret conversations and participating in the scene. So many picture book biographies are told with a separated, objective stance. This one lets you step right in and see how Rosa's brave act created 'an umbrella of courage' for others to stand under and continue the cause of fighting for civil rights. This version of Rosa Parks' biography is one that I feel will inspire children more and empower them to exert a quiet courage in their lives.
Ok, so I know people don't really use the word 'sissy' anymore (there are many other choice terms that are now thrown around), but Tomie de Paola's 1979 book still has relevance today. In fact, you could almost image the story coming right out of a news report.
"In local news today, a young elementary school boy was bullied so consistently by classmates about his behavior that..." Well, you get the idea. No, nothing tragic happens to Oliver in this book. But he does experience what many boys and girls do when they try to step out of their strict gender roles-- feeling ostracized and disliked by members of his own gender...leaning on people of the opposite gender to support and understand him.
Oliver loves all sorts of things that boys are not supposed to love: reading, drawing pictures, playing with paper dolls, dressing up, dancing. I'd like to think that more than 30 years after the publication of this book, we would be in a world where it would be more acceptable for little boys to do these things. Unfortunately, I don't think it is. If Oliver were here in 2011, his dad and other boys would probably still be calling him a sissy.
But, as with most picture books, there is hope in the end. Oliver shines at what he does best and the others appreciate him...finally. A book about acceptance of differences and breaking down the walls of stereotypes. I had seen this book in the library so many times before, but never really took the time to open it up. It will now be on my read aloud list each year as I continue my focus on social justice education.
Tomie de Paola's signature, almost folk art, style shines through in a simply illustrated tale with a limited palette of muted browns, grays, and blues. His pencil sketches give certain images texture, while his acrylic backgrounds take the reader from lighthearted to disheartened moods. Also, the use of vignettes move the story along as we see Oliver in action. Oliver's dancing creates a great sense of movement, action, and drama. The final illustration shows us how far Oliver has come...no longer enclosed in a rigid frame, he is enveloped in a circle of spotlight. His picture bleeds into the white border of the page. Oliver no longer needs to be contained in a square. People are proud of him and accept him for who he is...someone who never let rules about 'being a boy' hold him back. A great book overall with a powerful message for us all.
We've all heard the story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" right? The mischievous little girl who messes with the bear's things...the angry bears who chase her out. Well, as happens to all beloved fairy tales, this one has been re-worked and fractured over the years. My newest experience with a spin on the Goldilocks tale is Anthony Browne's Me and You (2009). You know it is going to be different from the get go...Browne dedicates this book "for all the underdogs". But who is the underdog in this tale? You must read to find out...
The book is practically wordless-- pages and pages go by where the only thing you have to rely on are Browne's incredibly detailed and heartfelt illustrations. The words that do appear are essentially the same as in any Goldilocks story (the porridge, the chairs, the beds), except this time we hear everything from Baby Bear's perspective. Which brings me to the unique aspect of this retelling. Brown chooses to write and illustrate a split narrative, with Goldilocks' experience on the verso and Baby Bear (with his mom and dad) on the recto. The little girl's illustrations are always cast in a dark, gray, dull palette, showing us her gritty reality and filling us with sympathy for her life. She lives in a bleak urban setting. Her story is told in vignettes (3-6 on each page), which help the reader move quickly through her life, understanding that she is not the same girl we are used to reading about. Though she is with her mother, she is often turned away and seems to be longing for something. Then, while following a balloon, she gets lost. And that's how she ends up at the bear's house.
Browne's attention to realistic detail shows you the graffiti on the walls, the anguish on her face when she is separated from her mother, the comfort she feels in the Bear's house. We are drawn to Goldilocks' story because Browne creates her with such drama and sympathy. The only color that appears in her life (besides her own golden locks) is when she is drawn into the warm yellow of the bear's house. There she is no longer downcast and experiences a world different from her own. Thus, we don't blame Goldilocks for going into their house...she is not the brat we are used to reading about.
Meanwhile, on the opposite s
ide of the book, the three bears are colorful (pastel tones), happy, and a family unit. We immediately know that the bears are much better off economically-- they live in a huge house and have plenty of food and furniture. In fact, they are so wrapped up in their world that the parents often have their noses in the air while Baby Bear ' messes around. They are carefree and ignorant of the bleak reality that Goldilocks faces not so far away. (In fact, on the wraparound cover you can see the happy bears in front with a dark Goldilocks, lost and forgotten in the background).
Browne's style and choice of media even further the distinction between the stories-- the subtle, subdued tones of Goldilocks almost appear photographic, while the bears seem to be shaded with colored pencils and appear slightly cartoonlike (with some realism as well).
Browne takes a traditional fairy tale and fills it with an emotion I have never felt in other versions. It is a social commentary on the haves and have-nots, on the social classes that can live right next to each other, but not even be aware of each other's existence. It can teach children to think about how you treat others and try to understand where people come from (before immediately judging them). It is in this version that we get a motive for Goldilock's actions-- perhaps she wasn't so bad after all. Even Baby Bear himself worries about her in the end (after she runs away).
In the classroom, you could use this book in a text set about fractured fairy tales or even in a unit on social justice. I found myself affected by its message and want to add it to my collection.
From the moment I saw the cover of the book and peeked inside at the illustrations, I was drawn in. William Low creates an incredibly realistic world full of rich, detailed, and dramatic paintings. His illustrations look like acrylic paintings on canvas, so intricate that you want to reach out and touch the textured pages. [Upon further research, I found out that he does all of his work digitally, using a stylus and pressure-sensitive screen.]
Starting from the cover (a wraparound, bird's-eye view), I felt immersed in Chinatown, with the hustle and bustle of the streets to the quiet of Mr. Chin's apartment. Low is a master at using light to express emotion-- you can feel the excitement of a new day beginning and the creation of a new kite in the blue sky...and the ominous clouds of an impending confrontation. His realistic artwork reminds me of a cinematographer in film-making-- rather than give us the same perspective on each page, he takes us from down in the streets to the top of a building looking down to a close inspection of the kites being created. I felt like I was whisked from one place to the next which heightened my emotional investment in the story. The bright, vibrant colors of the kites contrast with the muted colors of the town and characters. These colors conveyed the feeling of hope in the midst of tension. Most of the book was filled with double-page bleeds (enhancing the reader's immersion in the setting and story), but there were a few times that Low chose to use white space in the background. It was these times when he wanted the reader's eye to be on the foreground.
Henry and his friends love making and flying kites with Grandfather Chu, but time after time the Italian boys in the neighboring park destroy the kites. Full of anger, Henry and the gang confront Tony and his gang, only to find out the reasoning behind their destructive acts. Bruce Edward Hall does a great job of writing the story from the perspective of a young boy...filled with speech patterns and realistic thoughts and emotions. In the end, the children learn messages of open-mindedness and compromise. The story could be incorporated into a unit on bullying or social justice. It could also be used to explore multicultural texts and portrayal of other cultures (while of course being careful to highlight the fact that not all Chinese or Italian people are like this).
Because this story has such a realistic feel to it from the get go, its ending (though slightly predictable) has a sense of freshness. The bully is revealed to be human and both sides work out a respectful solution. I am always in favor of a book that teaches children to stop and listen before judging others...especially when it is accompanied by such gorgeous illustrations!
