I’m not quite sure what it says about me that whenever I need to have a go-to Children’s Literary Salon I inevitably make it about ethics in nonfiction for kids. I think, technically, I’ve done this topic three times and each time it just gets more and more interesting. Case in point, this past Saturday’s Children’s Literary Salon in beautiful Evanston, IL. I hosted Barbara Rosenstock, Sally M. Walker, Candace Fleming, and Judith Fradin. And baby, we covered everything. Faux dialogue, what happens when the illustrations are inaccurate but the text is dead on, the world of nonfiction after A BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR GEORGE WASHINGTON, the works!
Now I recorded the whole thing but I recorded it as a Google Hangout. That means the audio is a bit more digitized than I’d like. You can make it out, but it’s tricky. So, y’know. If anyone wants to make a transcript you shall earn my undying love and quite possibly a chocolate chip cookie to boot.
In the meantime, enjoy:
Winnie: The True Story of the Bear That Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh
By Sally M. Walker
Illustrated by Jonathan D. Voss
Henry Holt (an imprint of Macmillan)
$17.99
ISBN: 978-0805097153
Ages 4-7
On shelves now
I worked in close proximity to the real Winnie-the-Pooh for five years. From 2006 to 2011 he was a daily delight. To clarify, I was working alongside the original Winnie-the-Pooh toys owned by the real Christopher Robin, son of A.A. Milne in New York Public Library’s Central Children’s Room. We had Piglet, Tigger, Kanga (no Roo), Eeyore, and Winnie himself. Though ironically I never read his books as a child, in my time as a children’s librarian working in the Children’s Center at 42nd Street I became well versed in his story. Winnie was purchased at Harrods for Christopher Robin who eventually named him “Winnie” after some bear he’d seen in a zoo. If pressed to conjure up facts about that zoo bear I might have been able to tell you that its name was Winnipeg, but that was about as far as my knowledge on the matter went. Sometimes it takes a children’s book to learn about a children’s book character. Winnie: The True Story of the Bear That Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh relates the true history of a man and his bear. Illustrated with aplomb by Jonathan D. Voss, the book’s charm is the true measure by which you can assess how well it lives up to its namesake. Accuracy and adorableness in one small, furry package.
There are many things Harry Colebourn could have purchased as his troop passed through the small train station, but what did he end up with? A baby bear. A baby black bear, if you want to be precise about it. Good natured and orphaned, Harry promptly names her “Winnie” after his company’s hometown “Winnipeg” and she becomes the darling of his troop. When WWI calls his company across the wide ocean, Winnie comes along. But killing fields are no place for a baby bear so it’s to the London Zoo that Winnie goes. Once there, Harry promises her that when the war is done he’ll take her back to Winnipeg. It’s a promise he doesn’t keep. Upon his return Harry sees that Winnie is not only happy but a star of the zoo. She’s so gentle that children everywhere come to see her. Even a boy by the name of Christopher Robin . . . Copious photographs of the real Winnie and Harry grace the front endpapers while Christopher Robin graces the back. There is an additional Author’s Note on Harry, Winnie, and black bears as well as a Bibliography of sources.
As I began reading the book I wondered if the story of Winnie would be akin to other military animal tales out there. Would Winnie aid the Allies much in the same way as Voytek in Poland or was she more of a mascot like Stubby? Neither, as it happens. Though Winnie did make it onto a boat headed for France, her keeper was smart enough to recognize that while some bears would thrive in a war zone (see: Voytek), Winnie was not one of them. Really she was just a baby and after seeing her playing and cuddling with Harry the thought of her existing in a place where bullets would fly is terrifying. This is a sweet wartime tale, perfect for reading to younger children who take things on face value and aren’t aware of what WWI really entailed.
The art of Jonathan D. Voss caught me by surprise. With just a half glance at the cover I initially though the illustrator was Amy June Bates (who illustrated the somewhat similar Christian, the Hugging Lion back in 2010). An understandable mistake but once I actually went so far as to, oh I dunno LOOK at the book, I could see that Voss has a crisper line as well as a sure and steady grasp on the material. This being the first picture book that he has illustrated, he does a good job of making some really iconic images. The view on the cover of Harry hugging Winnie to his chest, as one might cuddle an infant, is downright heartwarming. Likewise the image of Winnie asleep under Harry’s cot as his long arm drapes down, his wrist bending in sleep, works. And if the four shots of Harry playing with Winnie were a YouTube video they’d get more hits than any other cute animal video to date. There is the occasional misstep, I’m afraid. A boy riding Winnie later in the book bears the slack-jawed look of a very small grown man and not a little boy. Indeed Voss appears to be most comfortable when Winnie is his focus. There’s not a single image where that bear doesn’t feel 100% authentic. One suspects the artist spent a great deal of time studying baby black bears and how they move. He also does a decent job of rendering the stuffed Pooh accurately. The arms are admittedly a bit long but the stance and nose are on target.
One objection I’ve heard to the story is that there isn’t enough Christopher Robin / real Winnie-the-Pooh info included in this story. I can see where this critic is coming from but I respectfully disagree. To my mind, Winnie’s story is fascinating in and of itself regardless of what famous literary character she ended up inspiring on some level. Hers is a story of tragedy turned to great good luck. Few orphaned bears in the WWI era would have found such a caring owner, let alone one that let them travel to Europe. Her life was notable at the time and makes for no less an interesting story today.
For my part, the book gets into tricky territory when we view the quoted dialog. Now Ms. Walker is a known entity. She does this stuff for a living. Wins big nonfiction awards like the Sibert for Secrets of a Civil War Submarine and the like. So when we get to a section where Harry is quoted saying “I’ll feed her condensed milk. She can stay with me in camp. Winnipeg can be our mascot,” then we have to naturally assume that the quote comes from one of the listed sources Walker provides at the back of the book. The quotes are not sourced but since Harry’s diary is one of those aforementioned sources, there’s a strong likelihood that the quotes come from there. I’m giving the book the benefit of the doubt in this matter, since faux dialog is the bane of the modern nonfiction picture book.
Read this book and few will wonder that after seeing Winnie in person, Christopher Robin wanted a bear of his very own. Indeed, the vast majority of children who are read Winnie may think to themselves (or say out loud) at some point, “When do I get my own?” Sorry, kids. If it’s any consolation you can see the Winnie-the-Pooh toys in the main New York Public Library location anytime the building is open. Maybe it won’t be the same as getting to ride a sweet bear in the zoo, but it’s still a part of this story on some level. Cute, not saccharine, and pleasing to boot, this is one story-behind-the-story kids will definitely appreciate. Lovers of Pooh welcome but not required.
On shelves now.
Source: Final copy sent from publisher for review.
Like This? Then Try:
Interviews: Julie Danielson interviews Sally M. Walker about the book over at BookPage.
Misc: For more interior illustrated spreads, go to Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.
Video: Forgot a movie was made out of this story as well, didn’t you? You’re forgiven. It came out in 2004 and was made for TV after all. That said, it had some big name cast members. Michael Fassbender starred. Stephen Fry shows up. David Suchet. And someone put the whole thing up on YouTube so if you’ve an hour and a half to kill . . .
Their Skeletons Speak: Kennewick Man and the Paleoamerican World Sally M. Walker
We're almost done looking at the long list for YALSA's Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. Sally Walker had two books on the list this year-- big congratulations to her!
Like her Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland, Walker looks at the history and science and significance of several sets of remains. This time, she focuses on the oldest skeletons found in the Americas.
The book mostly focuses on 9,000 years-old Kennewick Man, how we was discovered on a riverbank in 1996 and how much we have discovered about where we came from.
I'm a huge fan of Bones and so I love of Walker shows us how the reconstruction and renderings work in real life. I find such things fascinating. I also like how Walker looks at a range of finds and how they all relate to each other in forming a unified theory of early human life in the Americas. I hope Walker continues to write books on using forensic science and history-- wonderful stuff.
Today's Nonfiction Monday round up is over at Stacking Books. Be sure to check it out!
Book Provided by... the publisher for awards consideration.
Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.
Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917 Sally M. Walker
As regular readers may remember, last year I was on the committee for the Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. In addition to our winners and finalists, the committee also publishes a list of vetted nominations (what I like to call the "long list.") I'm in the process of highlighting these titles during Nonfiction Monday.
In December 1917, war was raging in Europe. In Halifax Harbor, two ships were on their way to the action, one on it's way to pick up relief supplies, the other full of munitions. The two ships collided, causing a fire. As the munitions ship drifted, fire on its deck, it crashed into the pier and exploded, leveling most of of the harbor area and creating a shockwave that blew out almost every window in Halifax proper. 2000 people died, 9000 more were injured. Rescue and relief efforts were further dampened when a blizzard blew in the next day and dumped over a foot of snow on the area.
Until the advent of nuclear weapons, the Halifax explosion was the largest man-made explosion ever.
Walker tells this story (one that's very well known in Canada, but not so much in the US) through the eyes of children who lived around the harbor at the time. Children getting ready for school, running errands, and going about their day. She weaves these daily accounts in with the context of shipping lanes and traffic, and what was happening in the Harbor. Walker also covers the communities on the other side of the Harbor who were affected by the explosion, resulting shock wave, and tsunami. The book is also very good at detailing what happened after the explosion to everyone.
Fun fact: The Halifax coroner's office had a tested system in place to deal with a mass casualty event like this. It had been developed 2 years earlier, when they brought in the bodies from the Titanic.
Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is over at a wrung sponge. Check it out.
Also check out today's YA Reading List post, in honor of Yom HaShoah.
Book Provided by... the publisher, for award consideration
Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.
BLIZZARD OF GLASS: THE HALIFAX EXPLOSION OF 1917, by Sally M. Walker (
Henry Holt 2011)(ages 10+). In December 1917, the Belgian relief vessel
Imo collided with the munitions carrier
Mont-Blanc in Halifax Harbor. The resulting blast has been called the largest man-made explosion before the invention of the atomic bomb. Two towns were flattened and nearly 2000 people were killed. And the day after the accident, a blizzard dumped a foot of snow on the devastated area...
BLIZZARD OF GLASS offers a thorough and compelling look at a little-known disaster, with interviews of survivors and hair-raising accounts of the event and its aftermath. Altogether, it's a gripping tale of horror, survival, and hope.
So, the Cybils shortlists are out, which includes the shortlist for
Middle Grade and Young Adult Nonfiction, which I was privileged to help put together. While there are many nominated titles that I haven't reviewed yet (and they are coming) there was only 1 from the short-list that I hadn't actually reviewed yet.
Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland Sally M. Walker
So, I was sick over the holidays and spent a lot of time on the couch watching TV, where I became addicted to
Bones. But even better? When they were doing all their medical mumbo-jumbo (the bones haven't fused yet, so this was obviously a younger person who...) I knew what they were talking about, just because of this book.
Yes, I'm a little partial to it because, for me, it's local history (and I learned SO MUCH that I didn't already know!)
Walker follows around a team of forensic anthropologists as they look at up colonial remains and try to discover who these people were, how they lived, and how they died.
There is one major missing factor in this, and it's one the author addresses up front-- the information is only about the colonists (both European and African.) There is nothing on the lives of the Native Americans who were already living here. This is because of cultural and religious concerns of several Native American tribes about the handling of remains. As Walker says in the introduction, "This choice [to not include Native Americans] is meant not to diminish the importance of Native Americans in the history of the Chesapeake region, but rather to respect the desire of their descendants to see their remains treated in a manner that respects cultural customs."
But, what it does cover is how scientists excavate remains and what different clues tell us. When Walker talks about how you can tell if it's a child or adult by fusing of the bones, she gives the readers pictures so we can see what fused and unfused bones look like. There's a picture of a female and male skull, which arrows pointing out the differences.
We learn about the science of forensic anthropology, as well colonial history-- burial customs, work customs, diet, and all sorts of other things.
Parts of it are not for the squemish, but it's a great book for your science kids and your history kids. I kept telling Dan what I was learning and showing him the pictures. A fantastic book in a year of fantastic nonfiction for younger readers.
Round up is over at Whispers of Dawn!Book Provided by... the publisher, for Cybils consideration
Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.
When I get to read books like these two, it reminds me how much I really enjoy Non-fiction titles. I never used to be a big fan, not in the children's genre at least, and now, after seeing so many great ones this year...I love them wholeheartedly.
Lucy Long Ago: Uncovering the Mystery of Where We Came From is written by Catherine Thimmesh. Literally a step-by-step "story" of how a paleontology team uncovered a skeleton in Ethiopia, leading to a very cool process of discovery. "Lucy," as the skeleton became affectionately called appealed to many different times of scientists, all searching for answers as to who she "was." Did humans descend from Lucy? Did she walk on two feet?
Accompanied by beautiful photography (the cover is awesome), the text is written simply, easy for kids to read, and is very interesting, never dry. Not only does the reader learn about Lucy, but also about the different jobs of archeologists, paleontologists, anthropologists, etc. A great glossary is included, as well as a list of different sources, websites, and an index.
This is a fantastic book for libraries (middle school and high school)... fun to read and incredibly educational!
Lucy Long Ago: Uncovering the Mystery of Where We Came From
Catherine Thimmesh
64 pages
Non-fiction
Houghton Mifflin
9780547051994
May 2009
Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland, is written by Sally M. Walker and takes us on a slightly different path of discovering our ancestors. With this book, we already know there is no question about these people landing on our continent and setting up lives...this is just a deeper look into what their lives were actually like and how it influenced us as a country.
Again, anthropologists uncover skeletons, and are thus able to learn about specifics in their lives. What they ate, what work they did, how they died, and their ancestry. Included are amazing photographs, diagrams, maps, and other cool learning tools, alongside the text. The back provides a timeline, sources, recommended reading, and websites.
The writing in Written in Bone is slightly more advanced that Lucy Long Ago, making it more appealing to your older kids, probably 7th grade and up. The info is more detailed, but very interesting. The forensic anthropology is definitely going to intrigue kids into picking this one up, and learning more about our ancestors is always a plus.
Another great title for libraries!
Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland
Sally M. Walker
144 pages
Non-fiction
Carolrhoda Books
9780822571353
February 2009
To learn more about either of these titles, or to purchase, click on the book covers above to link to Amazon.
Related is this fascinating Guardian article looking at how different cultures consider the divide between fiction and nonfiction (http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/mar/24/fiction-nonfiction-english-literature-culture-writers-other-languages-stories?CMP=share_btn_tw)
(Enjoyed what I could hear of this — well remember the salon you on a similar topic at NYPL:)
Huh! I was thinking of writing a similar piece on children’s literature. I’ve been getting a lot of translated nonfiction titles, but often they don’t really stand up to U.S. scrutiny (recent scrutiny, I should add). Maybe I can tie this piece in. Thanks!
Thanks so much for live streaming this. It was such an interesting conversation.