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Submitted by Lena Erysheva for the Illustration Friday topic HEART.

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The Armstrong Girl: A Child for Sale: The Battle Against the Victorian Sex Trade. Cathy Le Feuvre. 2015. Lion. 224 pages. [Source: Review copy]

 I loved, loved, loved Cathy Le Feuvre's The Armstrong Girl. I think you might love it too.

Do you enjoy reading nonfiction? Do you enjoy biographies?
Do you enjoy reading about the Victorians--fiction or nonfiction?
Do you love history books RICH in primary sources?
Do you like to read about law cases and the legal system?
Looking for a good--true--story about women's rights?
Have an interest in journalism, reporting, and publishing?
Have an interest in learning more about the history and/or origins of The Salvation Army?
Do you enjoy compelling narratives? How about complex ethical dilemmas?

The Armstrong Girl is set in England around 1885. One man--with a good amount of help--sets out to right some wrongs. He is upset--and rightly so--that young girls--young virgins--are being sold into prostitution and sometimes even trafficked out of the country into foreign brothels. He wants to prove that it is relatively easy to find a young girl--thirteen or so--to buy for immoral purposes. He goes undercover himself to prove that this is so. Now, for the record, his intentions are to save her once he's bought her. To place her safely among friends in The Salvation Army so that she is not sold again. Who is he? He's William Thomas Stead of the Pall Mall Gazette. His series of stories about child prostitution and sex trafficking were called The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon. His big goal was to strongly encourage--compel, force--parliament to raise the age of consent from 13 to 16.
Here is how he 'warned' his readers:

Therefore we say quite frankly today that all those who are squeamish, and all those who are prudish, and all those who prefer to live in a fool's paradise of imaginary innocence and purity, selfishly oblivious to the horrible realities which torment those whose lives are passed in the London Inferno, will do well not to read the Pall Mall Gazette of Monday and the three following days. The story of an actual pilgrimage into a real hell is not pleasant reading, and is not meant to be. It is, however, an authentic record of unimpeachable facts, "abominable, unutterable, and worse than fables yet have feigned or fear conceived." But it is true, and its publication is necessary. 

The first half of the book focuses on the articles he wrote and the legislation that resulted from his reporting. The second half of the book focuses on the legal aftermath of his reporting. He is arrested and placed on trial. Others who helped him--knowingly or unknowingly--are put on trial as well. Will he be found guilty? How about the others, will they be found guilty as well?


I loved this book. I found it fascinating. It was well-written. It was compelling--complex and detailed, full of oh-so-human characters. It was rich in primary sources: excerpts from the articles, testimonies from the trial, journal entries and letters from some of the participants, etc. It was just an absorbing read.

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Oh my! I found this Level 4 reader while browsing at my local library. Nonfiction books can be a hard sell for beginning readers. Often, the books just rehash the same topics to death or they water down the content to such a degree that they are boring to read. Not so for Lion, Tiger, and Bear. Ritchey tells a heart-warming, high-interest story of how an African lion, a Bengal tiger, and an American brown bear became an unlikely trio of friends.

The animals were discovered in 2001 in the basement of a house where the owner was keeping the cubs illegally. The rescued cubs, suffering from various ailments, were sent to Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary. The caretakers there noticed that separating the cubs caused them distress so the decision was made to keep the trio together.

Ritchey presents this information without dwelling too long on upsetting details-Baloo the bear needed surgery due to a too tight harness that had dug into his skin--and gives a strong sense of the animals' personalities. The story ends on an upbeat note with an invitation to readers to visit the three compadres in person at their Georgia-based sanctuary. Photographs of the animals as cubs and fully grown will captivate the intended audience.

Lion, Tiger, and Bear
by Kate Ritchey
Penguin Young Readers, 48 pages
Published: 2015

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This is an illustration of mine printed in HighFive. Kids’ keeping active–with a little help from animals!

(Copyright Highlights for Children)

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Something on the drawing board. It’s fun to take a pic and distort it!

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I’m changing Summer Reading this year. When I was in Chicago for ALA last summer I saw their Summer of Learning and was duly impressed. I am going to try something similar this summer, using STREAM – Science, Technology, Reading, Experience, Arts, and Math. The Common Core is not a Thing here in Canada (yet) but I love the idea of experience-based Summer Reading Program. Yes, Reading is still a big part of it, the main focus even, but I wanted to offer some experiences rather than Pieces of Plastic as incentives. So I contacted the local zoo. Oaklawn Farm Zoo is small and owned by a couple that are known in our area as generous and kind folks. I had a meeting in their farm house to talk about offering 2 Library Days this summer– 18 and under get in free if they show their library card (and can earn a badge if we get that part figured out).  We sat at the table over tea, muffins, and homemade jam to discuss the details. They liked the idea as much as we did– we’ll be offering storytime and needle felting demos (using zoo-animal fur collected by the keepers). We’ll also take our portable StoryWalk and our Bookmobile for a total library/zoo day! Fun!

So, we have at least one great experience to offer for our Summer STREAM. And for me, the experience was even more amazing because when we first arrived, we heard ,”Oh, here comes the lion. Put your boots on top of the fridge.” Yes, that’s right. LION. For the winter, a lion cub lived in their house. Obi, the 6-month old African lion strolled in, rolled over on the floor, and allowed us to pet his belly. Library Days at the Zoo — YEAH! Plus, I got to pet a lion. I love my job.

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.. Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds Dan Santat, illustrator Chronicle Books 6 Stars Inside Jacket:  The lion is the king of the jungle! The great white shark is sovereign of the seas! The timber wolf is emperor of the forests! But . . . it’s lonely at the top of the food chain.  It’s difficult to …

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Here's a big cat. This is from "Animalogy", written by Marianne Berkes, illustrated by me, published by Sylvan Dell Publishing.

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All finished:
And regarding the "rage" in the post title - no, I'm not angry about anything, but I have to take a moment to promote my husband's new video game Rage which just released today. (And in the unlikelihood that the title isn't enough of a dead-giveaway, this game is not for young children! :) )

Official website: http://www.rage.com/gate/?return=%2F
EGM Review: http://www.egmnow.com/articles/egm-review-rage/
Several trailers: http://www.gametrailers.com/game/rage/5315

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Okay, maybe not so much...

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OS X Lion - App Compatibility Grid:

luclatulippe:

Hey Mac folks: this handy chart (and you can also view it in “table” mode.. just click the tab on the far right of the page) helps you understand if OS X Lion will work with your current desktop apps… including the beasts from Adobe. 

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A rare lion: for the program "Livromagie" by Communcation Jeunesse: a group that promotes books and reading for youth in Quebec, Canada. This was used for posters and other material for children in 2008-2009. The theme was "Lire me chavire" or "reading bowls me over" (literally "reading sinks me" but it means something good in French!)

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My idea of things seen at a safari:

Please check out the other illustrations posted on Illustration Friday.

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Here's my lion contribution. A book I did back in 2004 for Standard Publishing.

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This is going on my "school visits" web page

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The Illustration Friday word for the week is “burning”. Ok, this is a bit of a stretch, but it sort of works, eh?

I’m heading to the SCBWI L.A. Illustrator’s Day tomorrow and this is what I entered for the illustration contest they are having. We were asked to illustrate something for the following sentence:

“It was night, and the rain fell; and falling, it was rain, but, having fallen, it was…”

So I thought … a flood. A flooded zoo to be exact. I know, always with the stretching I am.

Anyway, wish me luck!

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This one's pretty old but it seems to fit...

Writer Ian Malone and I have been working on our own brand of humour cartoons focused on and around South African wildlife: Opera Savannah.

This particular strip I've always liked because of it's universal physical humour :)

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