The Invisible Elephant

Thanks to the blog World Kid Lit and their #WorldKidLitMonth each September, I discovered a wonderful new chapter book, The Invisible Elephant, written by Anna Anisimova, illustrated by Yulia Sidneva, and translated from the Russian by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp.

I love many things about this book. To name a few:

• The way its art is beautifully integrated with the text, with illustrations on every spread and indeed, in some form, on every page.
• Its muted colors, selective palette, and design that appears simplistic at first glance but is in fact highly thoughtful, creative, and supportive of the story.
• The short, one-to-two page chapters, consistently expressed in the young girl’s voice.
• The narrative arc as the story develops over four sections, each portraying the main character’s growing understanding of the world around her.

Most of all, I love the little girl and the family who nurtures her. Gradually we learn that for her, seeing is touching. In the title story, “The Invisible Elephant,” she says: “But I really want to see this elephant. Where is it? I’ve never felt one before.”

Throughout the stories, the verb “see” is used in the same way a sighted person would, except her seeing involves using her other senses. How does this work? One example is when Mama describes the color choices for a new coat they are buying; red is equated to tomatoes; green to apples. Our girl chooses “…the apple coat! Because apples make a lovely crunch when you bite them, and tomatoes are squashy and squelchy.”

The illustrations are playful and energetic, like the main character herself. As in the art, where the use of white space allows the viewer’s imagination to enter more fully into the experience, this girl’s lack of visual definition stimulates an imagination rich in ideas, connections, and perceptions. And humor. 

The second story, “Speedy,” features Grandpa coming to live with them — and Grandpa has three legs! The third being his walking stick, which they name “Speedy” and use to devise numerous games, often involving sound. When something unexpected happens, our girl decides she, too, needs a walking stick and begins to learn how to use it.

In the third story, “The Music of My Woodpecker,” the girl begins to learn about reading. At the library she discovers tactile books and is introduced to Braille. She calls her stylus for punching Braille dots “Woodpecker.” At first she resists learning what the “bubbles” mean — after all, it’s much easier to just listen and be read to — but when her friend Pasha is intrigued by this “secret code,” she begins to enjoy a new way to communicate.

The fourth story, “Whale Seeks a Friend,” involves not just an imaginary friend, Whale, but a real one she meets while sledding. When she bumps up against a baffling (to her) negative stereotype, her father marvelously turns the experience into an affirming one.

Throughout the book, the reader is gently nudged to check their own assumptions — not overtly, but through entering into this lovely child’s imagination and life, with all its joys, challenges, and richness.

Published by Yonder, an imprint of Restless Books, New York, 2023.

One Amazing Book!

Every so often, I get really excited about a new book. Working Boats: An Inside Look at Ten Amazing Watercraft by Tom Crestodina is one I keep returning to with delight. From its eye-catching cover, to it’s meticulously crafted drawings, informative content, and end papers illustrating more than 20 knots and hitches, this 56-page book is a treasure.

Published in 2022 by Little Bigfoot, the book features ten types of boats: salmon troller, tugboat, salmon seiner, king crabber, Coast Guard cutter, halibut schooner, fireboat, Bristol Bay gill netter, NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) research ship, and double-ended ferry.

Crestodina really does give the reader “an inside look.” Each boat is first illustrated with a cross-section of the boat at work — most are double-page spreads — followed by schematic drawings that show every deck on board.

 Additional sections are devoted to working boats and their people, safety gear, and engines and propulsion. And there’s more! One to four more pages of spot illustrations and text blocks expand on topics specific to each boat. The section on Coast Guard cutters, for example, includes visual and textual information on jet boats, rescue at sea, types of cutters, survival suits, radar, and navigation aids.

While the amount of visual and written information is aimed at youth ages 6-10, the clarity and detail of both drawings and text will intrigue almost anyone old enough to hold a book. Normally complex subjects, such as engines and propulsion, are explained succinctly and clearly.

Crestodina incorporates a wide range of sea-related topics, such as resource conservation, the history of Seattle’s Duwamish fireboat, methods used by NOAA research ships to map the ocean, how different types of fishing boats operate, and tips on reading nautical charts, to name just a few.

Crestodina’s attention to detail extends to the people working on his boats; they reflect reality by including women and people of color. Overall design of the book is thoughtful and engaging, beginning with its large format, effective use of white space, creative end papers, and inclusion of a table of contents and glossary.

It’s a book I’ll keep in my personal collection, as well as recommend and purchase for others.

 

 

Congratulations to Michaela Goade! She’s just been awarded the Caldecott Honor Award for her picture book Berry Song, which she both wrote and illustrated. Published in 2022 by Little, Brown, the book is a luscious feast of storytelling centered around a grandmother and her granddaughter picking wild berries. It celebrates the bounty of nature, the cultural and spiritual connections between people and their environment, and the continuity of Tlingit teachings about that relationship.

Not surprisingly, given Goade’s skills as an illustrator, the pictures are gorgeous, as lush, dreamy, and detailed as the rainforests of Southeast Alaska, where she grew up and lives. In 2021 Goade received the Caldecott Medal for her work in the book We Are Water Protectors, written by Carol Lindstrom, thus becoming the first Alaska Native and indigenous artist to win the prestigious award.

The text, too, is lovely. Rhythmic, with rich words, deliberate pacing, and concise phrasing, it subtly conveys an overall pattern and themes that reflect the values of the Tlingit Nation, of which she is a member. Gratitude and interconnectedness permeate the book; a recognition that we humans are not just part of nature, but live in a deeply reciprocal relationship with our environment. As Goade states in a two-page Note from the Author, “Berries hold great symbolic and spiritual significance. They connect us to land, community, and culture. They remind us of home.”

Though the main text is in English, a few Tlingit words are smoothly tucked into the narrative, such as gunalchéesh (thank you). Tlingit names for berries appear in an illustration, in the author’s note alongside photos of berries and, more extensively in both Tlingit and English, in the endpapers, which are beautifully illustrated with a variety of berries.

Goade’s work melds artistry with deep roots to landscape and culture that are life-affirming and heartening. Berry Song is a gift to readers. Gunalshéesh! Thank you for your work, Michaela Goade, and congratulations!