BATS

I picked up Amazing Animals: BATS by Kate Riggs (Creative Education, 2020) at the library the other week because just a few days before we had our own bat encounter. This has happened twice in our (gulp) 22 years here, but always in February. This time I wonder if it was because of the fire smoke we were experiencing from the Matt’s Creek fire at the time. We were reading in the living room when I sensed a shadow swoop by and looked up to see a bat had landed on the door to the back staircase. I have hand-fed bats years ago when I worked at a wildlife rehabilitation center during our time in Princeton, NJ. But I knew it was not wise to try to catch this guy or gal. He or she was very cute though.

The book BATS is very nicely done. I love the cover! The large text and gorgeous close-up illustrations are engaging and perfect for young readers. Shorter than most 32-page picture books, it manages to pack in a lot of information in its 24 pages. And, it is structured in a way that is different than other books on bats. Using terms I had not heard before – microbats and megabats – much of the text compares the two kinds. For example, microbats eat insects and megabats pollinate and spread fruit seeds because they eat fruit.

The very last page surprised me. It told a bat tale – an origin story about bats based on a culture which was not named. These tales have their place but I was surprised to find it in a science book. I wish it had been prefaced to tell what such tales are or were. Even better would have been a comparison with the evolution of bats as the only flying mammal. Nonetheless, I would recommend this book for your young reader. Knowledge is power and such knowledge helps dispel fear that many people have about bats.

How did our bat fare? We closed all doors to the upstairs. Propped open the closest outside door. We retreated to the library to watch a show and when we checked an hour later, he was gone. We are lucky to have so many doors in our house!

Build it and They will Come

This summer we put in a long awaited patio between the back of the house and the garden. When it was finished, my husband declared he wanted a hot tub and I declared that I wanted a frog pond. I bought a how-to book, read it, ordered a liner and started to dig. I am pleased that I did most of the digging myself. It is about 5 feet by 3 feet and 2-3 feet deep. Chris did help with some final digging and he helped me line it and add rocks around the edges. Then I waited. Everyone said, “If you build it, they will come.” How, when and from where? filled my thoughts. Sure enough, less than three weeks later, I saw a green frog!

So, when I noticed the very colorful cover of A Day in the Life- Frogs: What do Frogs, Toads, and Tadpoles Get Up to All Day? By Itzue W. Caviedes Solis and illustrated by Henry Rancourt (Neon Squid, 2023), I had to bring it home. Maybe I’d find my answers.

Frogs is a wonderful book full of awesome facts that depict the incredible diversity of frogs. The writing is engaging  and covers movement, parenting (there are a lot of single-parent dad frogs out there), various habitats and behaviors for attracting mates or avoiding predators. Much I had already heard about like the mother whose eggs develop inside her skin where the male put them, and which metamorphosis inside her skin and emerge as froglets and hop away. But some information was new like the male Darwin’s frog who carries his tadpoles in his mouth until they develop into frogs and hop away. I’m glad I am a mammal!

Overall, I would recommend this book for young readers from mid through upper elementary because it is engaging and full of surprising facts about frogs. But I was disappointed that the only North American species mentioned was the Pacific tailed from Canada. What about our very own green frog? I know a lot about Lithobates clamitans and they have a wide distribution in the eastern North America. But alas that enticing subtitle “what do frogs get up to all day?” was not answered for me. Maybe that’s ok. The mystery is what compels me to sit and watch and contemplate them on summer evenings. And I get to fall asleep to their calls.

First image: a pickeral frog found in the garden near the pond.

Third image: between the plant stems you can see the head and partial body of a green frog sticking out of the water.

PS: Yes, my husband got his hot tub too!

Art Show and Sale

I do not have a book review this week because we’ve been out of town, and then home for Thanksgiving prep and family time. My husband and I traveled to British Columbia – he is taking his phased retirement goals very seriously – where we visited Whistler, which we’ve never been to, and Tofino, which is a favorite place of ours. It was a visit full of hikes and walks among wonderful giant trees and along the Pacific coast. If we didn’t love where we live in Virginia so much, we would be tempted to move there.

I do want to announce that I will be participating in ART IN THE BATHS December 9 at the Rockbridge Baths Fire Department from 10 am -3 pm. This is also the day of the North Rockbridge Trail Days so I hope you have some time to get in the holiday spirit in northern Rockbridge County on December 9. I will be selling my all six of my picture books and my art note cards. I have three different sets with four designs each.

Until then, some pictures from our trip.

And Tango Makes Three

This week I want to share a book about careful observation, kindness, families, penguins and love. Sounds like wonderful content, and it is. However, it has been banned countless times since it was published.

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell and illustrated by Henry Cole (Simon & Schuster, 2005) is a true story about a pair of male penguins at the Central Park Zoo who seemingly fall in love because they pair up together and exhibit the same behavior that males and females who pair together do during the mating season. One of the zookeepers was very attentive and noticed this and their attempts to hatch a rock. So, when another penguin couple produced two eggs – and could only care for one – the keeper gave an egg to the two males who successfully hatched and raised the chick together.

Princeton University’s Children’s Library has a page that states: “This book was very popular and won multiple awards including: the ALA’s Notable Children’s Book Nominee in 2006, the ASPCA Henry Bergh Book Award in 2005, and was named one of the Bank Street Best Books of the Year in 2006. It was lauded as a great book for parents and educators to use for introducing children to diversity of families and to the idea of homosexual couples. Part of the appeal of And Tango Makes Three is that it is based on a true story.”

One of many reasons we read is to get that introduction, those glimpses into unfamiliar ideas, truths, and ways of being. And yet, there are people who want to tell us what to read so that we cannot be informed, are not shown examples of other cultures/ways of being and cannot make our own informed choices. This blog is not intended to state my opinions on every book I read (or to digress into political commentary or culture wars debates). I do not review books I do not like because it is not my place to censor that author’s voice just because I disagree (if I came across a lot of factual errors I might, but that is different than my opinion).

Many people feel differently. A School Library Journal article written by Besty Bird states, “ And since its initial publication that book has been challenged and banned countless times. Heck, the American Library Association has reported that it was the most frequently challenged book between 2006-2010, and the second most frequently challenged in 2009. It was also the fourth-most banned book between 2000 and 2009, and the sixth-most banned book between 2010 and 2019.”

It seems to me that a lot of time and money is spent trying to ban books – actions which give such books the publicity and intrigue that the banners are trying to thwart.  Whatever your opinion on the subject of banned books, I am here to say that I think And Tango Makes Three is a wonderful book and that you and your young reader may agree. It is your choice.

I am Jazz

This week’s book review is about a transgender girl and based on the real person, Jazz Jennings, who is a transgender teenager. She has become a national transgender figure, an author, and an LGBTQ activisit. And she’s co-founder of the Transkids Purple Rainbow Foundation. Already an impressive resume for a young person.

I am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jenning and illustrated by Shelagh McNichols (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2014) is a first person narrative beginning with Jazz explaining how she embraces her life as a girl, but was born with a boy body. It’s a gentle exploration of a sensitive subject in our culture that can help young readers understand gender dsyphoria and build empathy towards others. It tied with two other books as the most banned book in the country in the 2021-2022 school year. The other was And Tango Makes Three, which is a lovely book that I find absurd to be banned.

One book cannot answer all our questions or give us complete understanding about a person’s differences. One book is not meant to do that. But one book can help us begin that journey, and we read to take all kinds of journeys. Our young readers deserve exposure to all sorts of books in order to develop their own critical thinking skills. Banned books block this development. I hope that you will give I am Jazz a try and share it with other families so we can travel together on a journey of inclusion for all people.

Ho’onani Finds Her Place

In Ho’onani: Hula Warrier by Heather Gale and illustrated by Mika Song (Tundra Books, 2019) we meet a young Hawaiian wahine (girl) who generally does not feel like a wahine or a kāne(boy), she just feels like herself. Her school wants to bring back a Hawaiian custom – a traditional hula chant – which is performed by high-school kāne. Ho’onani really wants to be in the performance and with the support of the teacher and her parents, she earns the part of hula warrier by meeting all the demands of the role. Her sister however, is embarrassed by what she sees as Ho’onani rejecting wahine behaviors. Ho’onani persists and is a powerful presence on stage winning over the audience members and her sister.

A prelude to the story states: “In ancient Hawaiian culture, every person had a role in society. Māhū, people who embraced both feminine and masculine traits, were valued as healers and as caretakers and teachers of ancient traditions. In Ho’onani: Hula Warrier, we hope to show that, in the spirit of this Hawaiian tradition, we can make room for all people – kāne, wahine, māhū – and show every person the same unconditional acceptance and respect.”

The above statement and ethos is beautiful. I believe young readers can readily embrace these inclusive characteristics of a community if introduced to books like this before any negative exposure to ideas that exclude and harm people who are different – an exposure that unfortunately abounds in homes, schools, churches and our television programs.

The author’s note explains how the main character and teacher are based on a real Hawaiians who are featured in the documentary called A Place in the Middle. It is a powerfully moving portrayal of this important story. You can watch it here here. I instantly fell in love with Ho’onani’s geniune sincerity and spirit. I highly recommend both the book Ho’onani: Hula Warrier and the documentary.

Neither This or That

I am sure we have all felt a time when we were neither this or that. We just did not feel we belonged in a certain place or within a certain group. Sadly, humans feel a need to bond together with their own kind and when that bonding is exclusive of others it can be stressful and damaging for the one left out. Children navigate this often growing up, some struggle more than others because of societal norms. This is what Neither the green chicken rabbit feels in the book Neither by Airlie Anderson (Little, Brown and Company, 2018). What is a green chicken rabbit? It is when you are neither a chicken or a rabbit, and you are born in the Land of This or That; a land where you are either a chicken or a rabbit.  Life was hard for Neither because the rabbits and the chickens excluded him, so he left. He discovered the Land of Somewhere Else and a rich array of diverse creatures that accepted him just the way he was.

A cute book that celebrates our uniqueness, Neither, can make it comfortable for your young reader to talk about times they have felt excluded and to empower them to make spaces in their lives that are like The Land of Somewhere Else.

Julián is a Mermaid

I think one of the best ways for a child to grow up is when imagination and aspirations are encouraged, or at least supported. In Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love (Candlewick Press, 2018) Julián is just such a lucky child. While his abuela (grandmother) looks a bit intimidating in the beginning spreads, we come to understand that Julián must feel completely supported by her given the way he lets his imagination roam. Julián loves mermaids so much that he sees them at the pool and on the subway and he dreams of feeling so flowing and swishy and wild. So much so that when they get home one day and his abuela goes to take a bath, Julián becomes a mermaid using a creative array of household items and some lipstick. Then his abuela emerges from the bath with the most intimidating expression yet, and leaves the room. Gulp. However, she returns with a gift, literally and figuratively, that allows Julián to shine that afternoon (I will let you discover where they go), and more importantly shows her unconditional love for him that will allow him to thrive.

Julián is a Mermaid shows young readers that it is ok to want to feel or be or experience something outside society’s expectations of how a boy or a girl or any specific child should act. It is a daydream made real and who knows where that may take you. This is a sweet and powerful book and yes, we get to see Julián’s abuela smiling on the last page.

Finding Your True Color

Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall (Greenwillow Books, 2015) is a story about a crayon named (labelled) red by mistake at the crayon factory. It is a twist on the traditional meaning of showing your true colors where we mean that someone’s real personality comes out in a situation, showing that they were deceiving us before. Here Red is trying to live up to his name; he is not pretending to be something else on purpose. Red’s story is told by his friend pencil and portrays Red’s frustration in school and with friends because he just cannot seem to do anything right. A look at the cover will tell you why, but the way the story is told is creative and fun to read, and contains a very sweet and profound message that life is best when you can be your true self. Once Red finds and uses his true colors, he is happy and fulfilled in his life as a crayon.

I think this book is best read for its main purpose of fun and the be yourself message. However, it could also be used in the classroom or at home to make predictions at the page turns, helping the reader connect what the text and the illustrations are portraying. And I can imagine the predicting would be fun. Another possible activity involves the page where other crayons are giving their opinions about what is wrong with Red. For example, Army Green says, “Right! He’s got to press harder.” And Sunshine Yellow says, “Give him time, he’ll catch on.” It could be fun to have children find other crayon colors and create some advice that fits the name of the crayon.

When you are expected to be red, but really you are blue, life is hard. Red is a book that kids will want to read again and again for the crayon character’s comments – some silly, some caring – and in the process gain a deeper appreciation of the importance of being yourself.

Just Ask Makes Learning about Differences Easier

Sonia Sotomayor’s picture book Just Ask: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You (illustrated by Rafael López – Philomel Books, 2019) is a creative and simple solution to help children see that everyone has differences, that such diversity makes us stronger in our communities, and that we can ease our initial discomfort at seeing differences by Just Asking another questions about themselves. By removing the mystery, we can become closer and embrace all kinds of ways of being.

In a beautiful Letter to Readers at the beginning of the book, Sonia writes:

“I was born on June 25, 1954, and in 1961, when I was seven years old, I was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. To take care of myself I had to do things other kids did not. Sometimes I felt different. When kids saw me giving myself a needle shot of insulin, my medicine, I knew they were curious about what I was doing. But they never asked me, my parents, or my teachers about it. I also felt they thought I was doing something wrong.

As I grew older, I realized that there are many ways to be, that I was not alone in feeling different. I wanted to write this book to explain how differences make us stronger in a good way.

Like my experiences with diabetes, the challenges some kids face can be very hard and sometimes frustrating. Some of us have conditions that require medicines or tools to manage things that other kids never have to deal with. Some of our difficulties are not even visible to others, but they make us feel different, and we may do things that others don’t understand. Yet all of these challenges often give us strength that others can’t imagine.

I hope by seeing yourself or your friends in this story, you will understand that we’re all different, and you will find that notion comforting and empowering. I hope too that you will recognize what we have in common. Instead of fearing our differences or ignoring them, we can shed light on them and explore them together. If you ever wonder why someone is doing something different from other kids, JUST ASK.”

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Each spread of the book presents a child with something that makes him or her different. There is an explanation and then the child asks a question. Each question serves as a page turn where the next vignette is about another child and their difference. These examples and how they are presented make Just Ask a very approachable tool for readers to internalize and then use in their daily lives.

Just Ask is a wonderful book for empowering readers with differences AND helping all readers learn a way to approach and understand others. I highly recommend it.