art – Page 5 – Mom Read It

Take a peek inside Elise Gravel’s Journal…

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

If Found Please Return to Elise Gravel, by Elise Gravel, (June 2017, Drawn & Quarterly), $17.95, ISBN: 9781770462786

Recommended for ages 7+

Ever wonder what an artist’s journal looks like? What thoughts, doodles, and ideas wait within the pages? Wonder no longer: If Found Please Return to Elise Gravel lets you peek inside the Canadian artist and author’s (The Great Antonio) journal. There’s wonderful advice for budding authors and artists, combined with drawings and doodles, themed pages and spreads, and notes about little characters she creates.

Most authors advise aspiring writers to write – no matter what, just write to get into the habit of writing. Similarly, Ms. Gravel notes that she draws every night; she draws for fun as often as she draws for work, letting readers know that joy is a really important part of being a working artist and author; and she never critiques the drawings in her black notebook. If they’re ugly, they’re ugly! She gives herself permission to mess things up; in fact, she shares her artwork with daughters, from whom she also draws inspiration.

Gravel’s drawings are bright – even the blacks are vibrant and fun. I loved the pages and pages of silly, fun, adorable monsters; grumps, and creatures. I love her sense of humor, and I love her sense of fun. How can you not enjoy the work of someone who loves what they do? She embraces the silly: something we all need to do a bit more in our own lives.

I love that I can put this book in my children’s room at the library as easily as I can hand it to my tweens and teens. It’s a fun commentary on the creative process, with helpful advice for older kids who may be interested in pursuing art as a career or more serious hobby. Ms. Gravel turns the tables on the reader at the end, providing readers with starting prompts for their own notebooks, and telling them that it’s their turn. But look at how much fun it is!

You know me – I love my programs in a book, and If Found, Please Return to Elise Gravel is another great program in a book. I’ve got a writer’s workshop this summer, where I’ll be working with my Queensboro Kids every week to tell their stories using a different style, from journaling to poetry to comics. I’m also working with my teens on a ‘zine workshop, and a book like If Found is a great addition to my collection, to show kids yet another fun way to express themselves. A must-add!

Early Reader, Preschool Reads

Niko Draws a Feeling: What do you see?

Posted on March 1, 2017February 13, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Niko Draws a Feeling, by Bob Raczka/Illustrated by Simone Shin, (April 2017, Carolrhoda Books), $17.99, ISBN: 9781467798433

Recommended for ages 4-8

Niko loves to draw the world around him. Everything inspires him, and ideas flow through him, from his brain down to his fingers. He captures feelings, not images: the ring-a-ling of an ice cream truck; the warmth of the sun; the hard work of a mother robin building a next. No one seems to understand Niko. They’re looking for the bell of the truck; the sun and Niko’s face; the mother robin. Niko captures the feelings these things inspire, but no one seems to grasp that, until he meets Iris, a new girl moving into the neighborhood. She understands exactly what he has to say, because she feels, rather than looks.

I adore this book. It reaches in and touches the reader, just like Niko’s drawings. Younger children will appreciate that someone out there understands what they’re trying to communicate, much like Niko and Iris finding one another. Raczka and Shin create a story that relies on feelings and emotions inspired by the world around us, and reminding us that art, like feeling, is abstract, and able to be communicated in many ways. Simone Shin’s mixed media, digital and acrylic paints give us a world that looks like it could have been drawn by Niko himself.

There are so many ways to use this book beyond a simple storytime. Ask kids to draw their own feelings, their own experiences of the world around them. Let them explain what they see, and see it with them. Pair this with Andrew Larsen and Mike Lowery’s A Squiggly Story for a great storytime on self-expression and art.

Bob Raczka is an award-winning children’s author and poet. Simone Shin is an award-winning illustrator.

Early Reader, Intermediate, Non-Fiction

Wild Animals of the South – beautiful animals, beautiful artwork

Posted on March 1, 2017March 1, 2017 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Wild Animals of the South, by Dieter Braun/Translated by Jen Calleja, (March 2017, Nobrow), $35, ISBN: 9781909263970

Recommended for ages 5+

This gorgeous companion to Braun’s Wild Animals of the North (Nobrow, 2016) introduces readers to animals in the Southern hemisphere. Organized by continent: South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica, readers will enjoy the beautiful, colorful illustrations. The emphasis here is on the illustrations, making this a great starter book for younger children; caregivers can read the short passages on featured animals, which offer fun facts. For example, while most know that a male lion’s mane is his crowning glory, did you know that female lions prefer males with more beautiful and lustrous manes? And that other males will hold back when a male with a more impressive mane appears?

The art is stunning. Braun’s illustrations are geometric, with strong lines and rich colors. There is a wry sense of humor in some – the lion’s lush mane, for instance – while others, like the breaching humpback whale, are breathtaking. A waddle of penguins, under a snowy sky, stand in the stark shadow of glaciers. Braun captures habitats with the same beauty the he sees in the animals themselves.

The $35 price tag may be a bit steep for some readers, especially those who are looking for more information than artwork (but that’s what libraries are for!), but this book is gorgeous for wildlife lovers and art lovers. For more of Dieter Braun’s illustrations, make sure to visit his website.

Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Tween Reads, Women's History

Life in Motion: Misty Copeland’s inspiring autobiography, edited for young readers

Posted on November 24, 2016November 23, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina (Young Reader Edition), by Misty Copeland, (Dec. 2016, Aladdin), $17.99, ISBN: 978148147979

Recommended for ages 8-12

Misty Copeland is amazing. The first African-American principal dancer for American Ballet Theatre didn’t start ballet until her early teens and has faced poverty, racism, criticism, and injury to do what she loves. In this young readers edition of her autobiography, she tells readers about the trials and triumphs she’s lived, the hard work she’s put in, and the sacrifices she’s made to get where she is in the dance world. We read about the custody battle between her mother and ballet teacher when she was 15; the rampant racism she’s endured, and she holds up to the light the eating issues that run rampant in the ballet community. We also read about amazing achievements, like her dancing on tour with Prince and her joy at meeting the dancers that inspired her the way she inspires a new generation of children.

Misty does not shy away from diversity here: she embraces it, giving us the names of the African-American dancers that went before her. She also doesn’t hide the fact that she’s taken some heat for being “too mainstream”; that bringing ballet to the masses is looked down upon – thankfully, that’s something she disagrees with. Ballet and dance, the arts, are for all – if she can inspire another kid to put on a pair of toe shoes, or sign up for hip hop classes because it’s something they love, she’s done right. Copeland is all about embracing your passion. Her confidence and gratitude come through in equal measure, and she dispenses advice for living and building one’s self-esteem throughout the book. Embrace your strengths and never give up – these are the lessons that kids will come away with after spending some time with Misty Copeland.

There are photos in the finished book (I’ve got an egalley), and more on her home page. You can also find her on the American Ballet Theatre page, which also has a section on education and training for readers interested in learning more. Display and booktalk this with Copeland’s picture book (illustrated by Christopher Myers), Firebird.

This book is a must-add to biography collections. Booktalk and display this if, like me, you’ve got kids that need to see someone smashing stereotypes and making it to the top of her (or his) game. If you have dancers in your home or your life, give this book to them and let them watch this ABC Sunday Spotlight from 2014.

Fiction, Historical Fiction, Middle School, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads

In The Gallery, art speaks volumes – who’s listening?

Posted on August 20, 2016August 20, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Gallery, by Laura Marx Fitzgerald, (June 2016, Dial Books), $16.00, ISBN: 9780525428657

Recommended for ages 10+

It’s 1929, and 12 year-old Martha has gotten herself thrown out of school for the rest of the school year. Her Ma certainly isn’t going to let her sit home and do nothing, so Martha ends up going to work as a maidservant for Mr. Sewell, the wealthy owner of a major New York newspaper, and his reclusive wife, Rose. Martha’s mother is in charge of the household and oversees all the staff, and Rose isn’t getting any favors by being Ma’s daughter: she’s put straight to work in the kitchen, scrubbing, sweeping, and mopping. She also hears a lot of talk from the servants in the house, who say that Rose is crazy, but Martha isn’t buying it: there’s more there than meets the eye, especially because Mr. Sewell gives her the creeps. When she discovers the Sewell gallery, a conversation with Alphonse – a servant who also seems to know more than he’s letting on – confirms Martha’s suspicions. By learning more about the art that Mrs. Sewell sends down from her locked room to be displayed in the gallery, Martha puts together the real story about what’s going on at the Sewell house.

The only thing better than the story taking place in The Gallery is the fact that it’s based on a true event. Ms. Fitzgerald’s captivating author’s note at the end of the story fills in some crucial details about the story, the true story that inspired it, and more information about events taking place at the time the story unfolds. The Jazz Age, on the brink of the stock market crash and ensuing Great Depression, had anarchists, performers both glitzy and outrageous, defined separation of classes, and a lot of backstabbing, both professionally and personally. It was a fascinating time, and The Gallery is a fascinating look into some of that era.

The Gallery is a metaphor for there being more than just face value to things. Martha sees past Mr. Sewell’s exterior, to be sure, but there’s also a touching subplot about a girl coming of age in the middle of this madness, and realizing that her father isn’t the person she thought he was, either.

Every single character in this book is interesting; the story’s pace is perfect, with just enough exposition, then a slow but consuming buildup to the big finale. The bookend story that frames the entire narrative is just so good, and brings readers full circle. This is a great book to introduce to middle schoolers who want something… more. You know the readers: they want something, but not what everyone else is reading. They aren’t really sure what they’re in the mood for, but they want a good book. This is that book. Suggested books I’ve seen are Chasing Vermeer and The Westing Game, neither of which I’ve read, but have heard great things about. As they’re art-related mysteries, display them together. I’d also suggest The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, an excellent Jazz Age re-imagining of the beloved fairy tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and also includes an autocratic, wealthy male figure that wants to keep the girls in his life locked away so he doesn’t have to deal with them.

Definitely worth the add to your collections. I’m thinking of gifting this to the eldest’s girlfriend; she loves a good story. It’s lovely when there are readers all around you!

Intermediate, Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Non-Fiction, Tween Reads

Kid Artists is a great addition to Quirk’s “Kid” series

Posted on July 21, 2016August 24, 2019 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Kid Artists, by David Stabler/Illustrated by Doogie Horner (Aug. 2016, Quirk Books), $13.95, ISBN: 9781594748967

Recommended for ages 8-12

The third outing in Stabler and Horner’s “Kid” series, following Kid Presidents and Kid Athletes, introduces kids to artists. Before the museum exhibitions, every artist was a kid, shaped by his or her circumstances. Kid Artists organizes 17 artist profiles into three sections: Call of the Wild, focusing on artists who grew up with a love of the outdoors; It’s a Hard-Knock Life, featuring artists who overcame obstacles like discrimination, war, poverty, and extreme shyness; and Practice Makes Perfect, where artists who had a teacher, friend, or family member cheering them on to practice, perfect, and succeed.

There are funny stories and inspirational stories, all illustrated in full-color. We learn that Claude Monet had a lucrative caricature business as a kid, and that Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of Medusa, on a shield was so terrifying that his father almost ran away from it! Kids will meet artists like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose graffiti art on the streets of New York garnered them fame, and Jacob Lawrence, whose Migration Series tells the story of the migration of African-American families from the rural, southern United States up north, in search of a better life.

I enjoy this series, because it introduces kids to a wide range of people under one umbrella term. They’ll be exposed to new people, cultures, and ideas, in a kid-friendly atmosphere with a bite-sized biography that shows them that no only do we all start out as kids, but we all have challenges to overcome.

Early Reader, Fiction, Fiction, Preschool Reads

A little boy learns to tell A Squiggly Story

Posted on July 1, 2016June 29, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

A Squiggly Story, by Andrew Larsen/Illustrated by Mike Lowery (Sept. 2016, Kids Can Press), $16.95, ISBN: 9781771380164

Recommended for ages 3-6

A little boy wants to write a story, just like his big sister, but he’s got one problem: he doesn’t know that many words! Big sister knows just what to tell him: start with what you know. Every word starts with a single letter, after all! When he writes the letter “I”, he’s on his way; with his sister to help guide his thought process, he’s on his way to creating an exciting adventure!

What a great way to encourage new learners to create their own stories! The little boy is unsure about himself at first, but his sister quickly allays his fears by empowering him to just go with what he knows, guiding him through the stages of writing a story: the beginning, the middle, and the end. When he proudly brings his finished story to school, his teacher encourages him to think even more deeply, and turns the story into a class project. It’s a great storytime concept and a great way to introduce creative writing and art to new learners.

Mike Lowery’s cartoony art is filled with interesting styles to capture a young readers’ attention. There are word bubbles, emphasis on words like BIG and small, comic-style panels, and callout sketches that invite readers into the characters’ imaginations. The children are multiethnic, making the story accessible for all.

This is a good addition to creative picture book collections. Pair A Squiggly Story with Written and Drawn by Henrietta for a creative storytime and crafternoon.

Fiction, Middle Grade, Middle School, Tween Reads

Framed! Gives us a new tween sleuth, Florian Bates

Posted on May 1, 2016February 22, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Framed! A Florian Bates Mystery, by James Ponti (Aug. 2016, Aladdin), $16.99, ISBN: 9781481436304

Recommended for ages 8-12

Florian Bates is a 12 year-old seventh grader in Washington DC. He’s the new kid in school, he likes pizza and egg rolls, he’s in the Scrabble Club, and he’s on the FBI’s speed dial. Florian is like a young Sherlock Holmes: he notices all the small details that people often overlook. He’s even got a cool acronym for it: TOAST, short for Theory of All Small Things. His dad designs security systems for museums and his mother restores paintings, so he’s developed an eye for the details. When he teaches his TOAST theory to his new friend, Margaret, they foil an art theft that saves the National Gallery millions of dollars, Florian finds himself on the FBI’s speed dial – and possibly on a crime syndicate’s hit list!

Framed! is a fun whodunit for tweens. Florian is Sherlock Holmes without the intimidating presence, and Margaret is a sidekick with the promise of becoming more involved in future books. I love the TOAST theory and the detail with which Ponti describes and illustrates various ways to apply it; it’s a great talent to hone and a smart and fun way to communicate it to readers. As the mother of a tween who can stare into a refrigerator and tell me there’s no milk, simply because the container isn’t dancing and jumping into his arms when he opens the door, I thoroughly support teaching kids the importance of noticing the details.

The story is light and fun, and kids will appreciate that, FBI consultant or not, Florian’s parents aren’t letting him solve any mysteries until he gets his homework done. This is a good selection for libraries (personal, school, or public) where kids need a good mystery and are ready to move on from A to Z Mysteries.

James Ponti is the author of the Dead City series, a middle grade series that follows the adventures of Molly, a tween zombie hunter, in New York City.

History, Non-fiction, Teen, Tween Reads

A Weird and Wild Beauty tells the story of Yellowstone

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

A Weird and Wild Beauty: The Story of Yellowstone, the World’s First National Park, by Erin Peabody (Feb. 2016, Sky Pony Press), $14.99, ISBN: 978-1-63450-204-7

Recommended for ages 12+

A beautiful book with stunning photo and a powerful ecological and historical message, Erin Peabody’s A Weird and Wild Beauty tells the story of the founding of Yellowstone National Park. She tells us about the hard journey and oftentimes grueling expedition West; about the lives of the men who explored and risked their lives to bring the natural beauty of Yellowstone to the rest of the post-Civil War United States; and provides breathtaking photos and paintings of the natural wonder that is Yellowstone.

More than just a book on the beauty of Yellowstone, readers will discover that there was a fight to keep Yellowstone’s lands untouched: from Jay Cooke, a robber baron who wanted to build a transcontinental railroad that would cut through the lands, to the Native American tribes who wanted their tribal homelands to remain untouched.

A welcome addition to tween and teen nonfiction, A Weird and Wild Beauty is a lovely addition to collections in classrooms, libraries, and homes. I’ll have to booktalk this one to let the kids know it’s on the shelf – nonfiction, especially in the YA area, tends to go unnoticed – but with summer vacation coming, I could pick any picture out of this book and talk about dream destinations. History fans will love the narrative storytelling voice Peabody assumes, and art fans need to know about this book because of the stunning work by the expedition’s photographer, William H. Jackson, and the painter, Thomas Moran. Readers will learn the complex processes behind each photo – there were no negatives in the early days of photography, so photographers (and their poor pack animals) had to carry hundreds of pounds of equipment, including glass plates of different sizes to capture different images – and painting, or woodcut. It’s a beautifully artistic book that art students should not miss.

"Crater of the Giant Geyser", illustration from "The Wonders of the Yellowstone"; NP Langford; May/June 1871 issue of Scribner's Monthly — “Crater of the Giant Geyser”, illustration from “The Wonders of the Yellowstone”;
NP Langford; May/June 1871 issue of Scribner’s Monthly, from Yellowstone’s Photo Collection

The book includes maps, a guide to Yellowstone’s hydrothermal features, complete endnotes, sources, photo credits, and an index. Make sure to consider this beautiful resource for your collections.

Early Reader, Fiction, Historical Fiction

The Artist and Me looks at bullying in a new way.

Posted on January 26, 2016August 24, 2019 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Artist and Me, by Shane Peacock/Illustrated by Sophie Casson (April 2016, Owl Kids), $16.95, ISBN: 9781771471381

Recommended for ages 5-10

Did you know that Vincent Van Gogh, one of the greatest artist of all time, was bullied? Not as a child, either – as an adult. When the Dutch artist moved to Arles, France, he was taunted and bullied by the townspeople, including the children, who mocked his bright red hair and his unusual artistic style. It’s even a recent theory that Van Gogh did not commit suicide, but was shot by two teenage boys that he knew.

The Artist and Me is told through the eyes of a childhood bully, one of Van Gogh’s tormentors, looking back at his life. Written as a journal entry, or possibly a letter to a son or grandson, the unnamed narrator begins by writing, “I used to do an ugly thing…” and tells the story of how he laughed at and ridiculed a “crazy man with wild red hair and a short red beard and a dream.” While he’s secretly intrigued by Van Gogh and his paintings, he falls into bully mode, “in crowds, of course, since that is what cowards do.” One day, he follows Van Gogh into a field and sees, just for a moment, the landscape as the artist does, and this transforms him – but when Van Gogh tries to connect with him, he runs away. As an older man, he sees the paintings in a museum and sadly writes, “I don’t laugh at him anymore”.

The Artist and Me is a message to both the bullied and the bullies. Anyone can be a target, but you can also rise above it. Van Gogh never gave up on his dream of telling the truth with his art. Bullies are redeemable – and you don’t have to wait for years to pass before realization. Seeing the world through someone else’s eyes can be the great equalizer, if one is brave enough to let it happen. The acknowledgement that bullying is a team sport for cowards delivers a strong message that I hope reaches children and adults.

Sophie Casson’s beautiful art is created in Van Gogh’s signature style, looking very much like he illustrated this story. She uses bold colors and lines, creating landscapes and people alike.

This is the kind of book you read to all of your grade levels to talk about the consequences of bullying. Putting Van Gogh’s story out there for people to hear and see opens up the chance to have some deep conversations about mob rules, crowd behavior, and most importantly, the effects that bullying has on both the bully and the bullied.

Take a look at some of the beautiful artwork from this powerful book.