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Which five words best describe Lillian’s Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965? America’s racist history surrounds us.

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Jazz Age Josephine

By Jonah Winter; illustrated by Marjorie Priceman

 

Recently looked up an overview of National African American History Month on the Law Library website of the Library of Congress.

It states that it “celebrates the contributions that African Americans have made to American History in their struggle for freedom and equality and deepens our understanding of our Nation’s history.”

I thought that I would perhaps focus this contribution on some of the astounding African American women in the arts.

Not that those men and women involved in the initial struggles for equality are to be short changed this month. They certainly paved the way for the recognition of people of color in the arts – and they are many and multi talented!

But I wanted to mention two women this month; namely jazz singing and performing giant Josephine Baker, and the picture book that brings her to abundant life called “Jazz Age Josephine”.

And ballerina Misty Copeland, literally flies through hard knocks in life with both talent and grace in this award winning picture book, illustrated by Christopher Myers, called “Firebird.” She is the first African American soloist at the American Ballet Theatre! And illustrator, Christopher Myers recently won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Book” for this Penguin Young Readers title!

 

 

 

And now to the dream of a young Miss Baker!

If we stand on the shoulders of the people that came before us, that is certainly true of a young Josephine Baker growing up in wrenching poverty in St. Louis. But Josephine’s granny tells her “Someday you’re gonna be a princess.” And she had the courage to dream those words to a truth all her own.

Tenacity, humor, talent and timing converge in the life of Josephine Baker to propel her to New York where she initially slept on a park bench.

From the chorus line to the heights of the Jazz Age in 1925, she travels to Paris where she becomes the toast of the town.

 

Gay Paree!

Josephine!

Here’s an act

they’ve never seen!

 

Dances like the Shimmy, Mess Around, Shake and the Charleston, make Josephine the rage when her great act includes outrageous costumes and a voice to boot.

Her fairy tale life is brought to perfection with strong punched up color art as strong and resilient as Ms. Baker herself. The art is from two time Caldecott honoree, Marjorie Priceman.

I didn’t know that Ms. Baker was there on the podium the day that Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech! Civil rights activism was also a big part of her life.

She and he both dreamed of a better life for themselves and others, and it is a testament to what is possible with a dream, a large measure of faith in the dream, and a resilience that doesn’t allow it to die.

Great messages for young readers to hear that are growing up today!

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Toodles!

Hazel

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Jazz Age Josephine
By Jonah Winter
Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Atheneum (an imprint of Simon & Schuster)
$16.99
ISBN: 978-104169-6123-9
Ages 6 and up
On shelves now

When we try to name the biggest and best picture book biography authors out there, two names spring immediately to mind. The first is David Adler. Mr. Adler specializes in picture books that go by the straightforward titles of “A Picture Book of [Enter Name Here]“. It makes him easy to spot on a shelf. All his books look pretty much the same with stories that reduce their subjects to a couple key points. They are serviceable in the best sense of the term. They serve a purpose. They also couldn’t be more different from the works of the great picture book biographer Jonah Winter. Where Mr. Adler is all white borders and straightforward fonts, Mr. Winter’s books leap off the shelf and make a dive for your jugular. They pop and smack and wrest your attention away from the glittery fictional pack. His latest, Jazz Age Josephine, is no different. A witty and glam look at a person rarely seen in picture book bios, Winter uses his storytelling skills to spin the tale of a fine lady, never told in quite this way before.

“Well, she was born up in St. Louis, and she grew up with those St. Louis Blues / Yes, she was born in old St. Louis, and she grew up singin’ nothin’ but the blues, / She just had one old ragged dress and a pair of worn-out old shoes.” That was Josephine Baker back in the day. Fortunately, the kid had pep. She could move and goof off and her dancing was so good that it earned her some money from time to time. Little wonder that when her home was burned by angry racists she headed straight for New York City. There Josephine was able to get some roles on the stage, but the minstrel parts were particularly galling. So off she flew to Paris and once she got there, “Paris, France – instant fame! / Everybody knows her name!” And though she missed her home, she was a jazz age baby and a hit at long last.

I did a cursory check of the reader reviews of this book online and saw that some folks were a bit peeved that Mr. Winter dared to mention hot topic issues like racism and minstrel shows. I think that highlights why it is that this is the first time such a biography for kids has been attempted (there was Ragtime Tumpie by Alan Schroeder in 1989 but that just looked at Josephine’s youth). The story of Ms. Baker is more difficult than your average Rosa Parks / Frederick Douglass bio. If you’re going to talk about Josephine then you have to talk about why she left America. You have to talk about what the state of the country was at that time, and why she felt she couldn’t return there. Then there are other issues as well. For one thing, is it possible to talk about Ms. Baker without mentioning the banana skirt? Winter doesn’t talk about the costume (six-year-olds are notoriously bad at pronouncing the word “burlesque”) but illustrator Marjorie Priceman does include a subtle glimpse of it from the side in two separate pictures. Meanwhile Mr. Winter does a good job of making it clear that Josephine was sad to be away from the States but that to become a star she had to go elsewhere. Interestingly the book ends at about that point, leaving the Author’s Note to explain her work with t

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I confess. I have never read a word of Gertrude Stein's writing. I picked this book up out of sheer affection for Calef Brown's illustrations and Jonah Winter's writing.
My husband was a little perplexed reading this (by request) to our son the other night. I on the other hand, adore it's wandering, nonsensical, lyrical prose. It reminds me of Seuss, but more sophisticated. I love reading this book aloud, and my son, seems to really respond as well. Toss in a few modern artist references and you have a fan.
Biographical picture books seem so challenging to perfect, but if the intention is to get the reader interested in the subject, then THIS book succeeded. But IS that the intention? Or does it just serve as an soundbite to introduce a writer to children, filing that away for the future when they are actually old enough to read their works. I'm not entirely sure of the targeted audience. The tone and writing certainly play a bigger part here: How do you feel about biographical picture books where the biographical information itself is so sparse?

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My daughter’s 4th grade class is celebrating Black History Month in the most wonderful way by creating a version of Kente cloth.  While it’s traditionally made with silk and cotton interweaving threads, her class used pens, paints, and colored pencils to create theirs.

Kente cloth is believed to have originated from the Akan people in West Africa*.  The designs are traditionally bright, geometric, and bold.  Additionally, the colors and shapes are usually symbolic of historic events, family trees, the seasons, and proverbs.  (The Smithsonian Institute has wonderful information online about their “Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity” exhibition)

Making Kente cloths in your library is just one of many ideas to celebrate Black History Month.  Texas Library Club has a wonderful list of books, songs, and activities – including a way of making Kente cloths by weaving strips of paper together.

We’d also love to recommend these books for your Black History Month displays:

• BARACK by Jonah Winter, illustrated by AG Ford
• BLACK IS BROWN IS TAN by Arnold Adoff, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully
• BOYCOTT BLUES by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney (download the Teacher’s Guide)
• THE GREAT MIGRATION by Eloise Greenfield, illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist
• SHE LOVED BASEBALL by Audrey Vernick, illustrated by Don Tate
• THIS IS THE DREAM by Diane Z. Shore and Jessica Alexander, illustrated by James Ransome
• WE TROUBLED THE WATERS by Ntozake Shang, illustrated by Rod Brown

And you can also download our Black History Month Classroom Kit.

What are you doing at your library to celebrate Black History Month?  We’d love to hear your ideas (or even photos of any displays you’ve created)!

* As a former librarian, I have to share this disclaimer: I got my information from Wikipedia.

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The winner of the original artwork draw is ... Kim Ardelian! If you see this post before I message you, please send me your address for mailing, in an email. Congratulations and I will be doing more giveaways in the future.


We are deep in winter in Maine. The snow is sparkling and we hit the minus' this week, the only way is UP. I have a little pot of spring bulbs on my mantel and the green spikes sticking through give a hopeful promise of spring. It's a nice thought. But at the moment it's about keeping warm and the pipes unfrozen, the horses fed and gathering with friends in cozy kitchens for laughter and games.


I finished my showcase piece for SCBWI Winter Conference (Yeah!) Here it is ... it's the most complicated piece I have worked on in a long time and I had a good time. I hope it shows. Let me know what you think:

Wish me luck! I'll be leaving on the 27th Jan ... and if you are going to be in NY too let's have a drink!

Just about ready to start on the Charlesbridge book ...yeah! I got a peek at the M/S.So I have a little breathing space. I've been thinking alot about my MG adventure novel. Perhaps I will get my writing head on and press on with it this week. It's been a long time since I visited it.

Also thank you to everyone utilizing the 'KID'S CORNER PAGE' on my blog; it's success has been amazing, the pages are getting lots of hits!


For now - back to the drawing board ...


Hazel
aka
The Wacky Brit


On the bedside table this week:
HOOKED - Les Edgerton (I am so enjoying this! A great book about Novel beginnings.)
MIRROR - Jeannie Baker 
INTERRUPTING CHICKEN - David Ezra Stein


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1 Comments on And the winner is ..., last added: 1/18/2011

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Kim said, on 1/17/2011 2:22:00 PM

Absolutely fantastic! The detail is amazing and the characters are a hoot! Thanks for sharing.

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Does the title of this week's blog sound like a scene from 'Highlanders'? (That excellent movie from the 80's ..) well it might. I started a little group of illustrators and writers on Facebook that gathers in an imaginary snug bar in a Highland Tavern and sits and chats about this and that. So far we are having fun! Never would I have thought that FB could have given me so much pleasure when I joined with such misgivings earlier this year. I have found old friends and made new. It has brought me new business contacts (and work). It has introduced my illustration to folks I would never have normally reached. It picks me up when I am down and even gives me inspiration through my connections with like minded people. It is, in short, a great place to gather. And I for one, in what is sometimes a lonesome occupation, say cheers mate!

Been scribbling away this week ... I did work on the pastel of the HORSE ... here it is ...

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*Picture book for preschoolers through third graders, realistic fiction (based on a true story)
*A nice tugboat driver and the garbage barge as main characters
*Rating: Here Comes the Garbage Barge! is a great book to share with students during any recycling lesson–they’ll laugh but get the point!

Short, short summary:

Jonah Winter has written a picture book based on a true story about the Garbage Barge (1987) that traveled up and down the east coast–trying to find a place to land and dump almost 3200 tons of garbage. Basically, Long Island’s landfills were full and polluting the groundwater. So, some businessmen decided that they should ship the garbage to farmers in the south and pay them to bury it on their land. Burning garbage was expensive, so a city called Islip (near New York City) decided to take the businessmen up on their offer and put their trash on the barge to ship south. In the picture book, with wonderful illustrations by Red Nose Studio, a little tugboat named Break of Dawn driven by Cap’m Duffy St. Pierre, set out to pull the garbage barge from Islip to North Carolina. But when the captain and his smelly barge got to North Carolina, he was turned away–the same thing happened in New Orleans, Mexico, Belize, Florida, Texas, and so on. Finally, with a REALLY smelly barge behind him, Cap’m St. Pierre had to take the garbage back to Long Island. The courts got involved, and finally, the garbage was taken off his hands. But as the author points out, the moral of the story is: “Don’t make so much garbage.” He also tells us that Islip now has a recycling program.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Many teachers and parents will read Here Comes the Garbage Barge! in connection with Earth Day or even at the beginning of the school year to talk about the importance of recycling and being good to the environment. This book can also be used with a science lesson on “green” living. It has a lot of practical applications to today’s science curriculum and could start a great class or home school discussion as well as classroom or home recycling program.

2. This is a great book to discuss problem solving! Poor Cap’m St. Pierre has a huge problem–how to get rid of the garbage. Long Island and Islip have a huge problem, too–too much garbage. Ask students to use their problem solving and brainstorming skills to come up with solutions to the problem BEFORE you read them the end of the story. When looking at students’ solutions, evaluate each one to see if it is a good solution or not through class discussion. Even though this happened in 1987, students today might have a better idea of what SHOULD have happened to all that garbage.

3. You could use this book to help you teach the six plus one traits of writing. It is a great book for organization–the beginning grabs the readers’ attention with all the garbage and then it is organized by the barge’s trip down the river–trying to stop at different states–before the story and the barge circle back to the beginning–to right where they started–garbage in Long Island. The circle format is one form of organization that many authors and essayists use.

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It is impossible to detach the life of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo from her paintings. Her work is a visual biography of her life, one beset with one painful ordeal after another. Read more after the jump. Born in July 6, 1907, Kahlo contracted polio at the age of 6, which affected the development of [...]

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The following books, no matter how simple or complex, have been selected to motivate the earth-conscious spirit within all of us ... Read the rest of this post

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This is the second installment of a book review and discussion of picture book biographies. The first one is here, if you’d like to read it or I can just catch you up. Because PB biographies are so short, it is my opinion there needs to be a focus on language, and story over biographical information. Last week I talked about the hook and through line in the Joseph Albers book An Eye for Color, as well as the wonderful language in Susannah Reich’s José! Born to Dance. Today I’m going to discuss voice, and how illustrations can be used to create character.


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We start with Lita Judge’s, Yellowstone Moran: Painting the American West. In the interest of full disclosure, I need to say that Lita is a dear friend but don’t let your knowledge of that fact minimize the sincerity of my praise.

An author writing a picture book biography has to, as any picture book author, leave space for the illustrator to add to the story telling. Lita is an author/illustrator so the evolution of her pictures and text happen in a more streamlined and dynamic way. Throughout the revisions, new art might change the text, new text might change the art.

In this book, the art is a key part of the characterization of Tom “Yellowstone” Moran. Moran was an artist who set up his easel in the wilds of the American West. Lita is also a plein air painter. Plein air painters paint outside catching the light and colors of the landscape moment by moment. Lita brings this skill to the book. Sweeping canyon and mountain panoramas are interspersed with framed inset spot illustrations. What does this have to do with PB biographies?

Lita’s paintings create character. Not only by what they portray but also by how she portrays the landscape. The reader understands the humility, dedication, and sense of mission in Tom Moran by the way the natural world is depicted. The text confirms this. The reader learns how Tom took a chance by leaving Philadelphia and coming out to join a scientific party with only a letter of recommendation. How he presses on through the pain of riding a horse for the first time, camping in difficult conditions, and forging new trails. Each of the inset illustration is a window into a more intimate aspect of Moran’s character. They let the reader glimpse his sketchbook, as well as quiet or difficult moments for the title character.

At the end of the book, the reader gets to see the actual 1872, Thomas Moran oil painting of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  The grandeur of the landscape literally dwarfs humankind, as Moran has included tiny figures in the foreground.

Many author’s notes in PB biographies give more facts and dates that the author couldn’t fit into the text. Lita’s author/illustrator notes relay more of her research process and personal connection to the story.

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Author: Jonah Winter (on JOMB)
Illustrator: André Carrilho (on JOMB)
Published: 2009 Schwartz & Wade (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0375837388

Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Gilded, stylized illustrations, scads of stats and lilting, laid back narration present an inspiring tale of persistence, power, poise and prevalent potential in this intimate look at the short but striking career of one of baseball’s greats.

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HOTLINE VOICES: Radio Producer and Sound Artist Paolo Pietropaolo explains why he loves Fantastic Mr. Fox (by Roald Dahl).

We’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline, +1-206-350-6487, so we can include your audio in our show

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by Tae-Jun Lee illustrated by Dong-Seong Kim NorthSouth Books 2007 first published in Korea 1938 This book gave me the creeps, and even once I sorted out the problem with the final spread I still find it a little weird. A child goes to the trolley stop to wait for his mother. With each arriving trolley he looks for his mother and asks the driver "Have you seen my mother?" He waits all day,

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