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• Zee Grows a Tree by Elizabeth Rusch, illustrated by Will Hillenbrand.  Candlewick Press, Somerville, Massachusetts, 2021.

“One morning, little Zee Cooper arrived in the world. The very same day, a Douglas-fir seedling emerged from the soil at Cooper’s Christmas Tree Farm.” Zee Grows a Tree, much like Butterflies Belong Here,  is a fictional story packed with facts about evergreen trees. The facts are in smaller print than the storytelling on each page. Back matter has an index that challenges the reader to look up the pages, for example about seeds, branches, buds, etc.… It instructs the reader to remember to look up both kinds of words—both big and small.

As little Zee grows, her tree grows also. At first, while she is a baby, the fir tree spends its life in a nursery, where it is protected from insects, animals, and diseases. On this page Mom and baby are in a greenhouse. Mom is leaning over the seedlings with little Zee in a sling across Mom’s chest.

“After just a few years, Zee was ready to start preschool—and her tree was ready to start life outside the nursery.”   While Zee is learning new things and making new friends at school, her little tree is meeting animals and experiencing changes in the weather for the first time.

On Zee’s fourth birthday her father measures her. She is smaller than the other children in her class. Her tree is small too, but she reassures it, like her father reassured her, “Don’t worry…everyone grows at different rates.”

The rest of the story marks time as Zee goes to kindergarten, first and second grade.  A very hot summer with little rain causes her tree’s needles to turn brown. Some of them fall off. The author points out that on a tree farm, most farmers don’t water their trees and any damage from drought usually disappears once it starts raining again. But Zee waters her tree, even sharing her freezer pops with it.

When she turns eight, her tree is finally large enough to become a holiday tree. But the family leaves the tree in the ground and decorates it outdoors. Zee is now tall enough to reach the top.

This is a lovely book about a little girl and her special tree. The mixed media illustrations depict a family working together to nurture a very special little tree. The youngest child will delight in the story, and older readers can use the information for research.

The back  matter discusses how to care for a living tree and lists other resources for further study. I would shelve this with Butterflies Belong Here in the non-fiction section of my classroom library.

Zonia’s Rain Forest by Juana Martinez-Neal. Candlewick Press, Somerville, Massachusetts, 2021

“Zonia lives with those she loves in the rain forest, where it is always green and full of life.” So begins the story of a small girl whose family lives in harmony with the natural world. The first illustration is of Zonia looking on, while her mother nurses her baby brother.

The next pages show Zonia greeting the various creatures of the rain forest. She first encounters the Blue Morpho Butterfly, which follows her throughout the story. All of the creatures she meets are identified in the back matter. The illustrations reflect the subtle hues of nature, but with the occasional vibrant coloring such as the butterfly, the Andean Cock-of-the-rock, and the giant Amazon Lily.

After greeting all her animal and plant friends, Zonia heads home to see her mother and baby brother.

“On her way home, Zonia comes across something she has not seen before.” A large piece of the forest is gone. Zonia is pictured standing among the only greenery left as she gazes at the wreckage. The blue butterfly perches on top of one of the tree stumps left behind by loggers. She rushes home to tell her mother that the forest needs help.

“’It is speaking to you,’ says Zonia’s mama.”
“’Then I will answer,’ says Zonia, ‘as I always do. We all must answer.'”

The final page shows a small, determined girl intent on saving her friends of the rain forest.

The back matter explains that Zonia is Ashaninka, the largest Indigenous group living in the Peruvian Amazon. Today, they are fighting to protect their land from development. “At times, the Ashaninka use plant-based paint on their faces or bodies to complement their actions or abilities.” On the final page of the story, Zonia is shown with this red type of face paint which signals strength and determination.

There is information about the importance of saving the Amazon and the many threats to its existence on the final pages. In the acknowledgments, the author/illustrator thanks “…the women paper artisans of Chazuta who hand-made the paper used to paint the illustrations in this book.” The use of mixed media, including linocuts and woodcuts, on banana bark paper invokes a feeling of being in the forest with Zonia. The simple text, along with the engaging illustrations, will engage even the youngest child.

A perfectly stunning book.

Butterflies Belong Here by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Meilo So. Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2020

“Last Spring, we took a class picture. That’s me in the back. I was a little like a caterpillar then: quiet and almost invisible. I didn’t like to stand out or be noticed.”

Like the migrating butterflies, the shy girl made “…a long, long journey…” from another country. When she first arrived in America, she didn’t speak English, so the school librarian picked out picture books for her. She became fascinated with one that was all about butterflies. When summer comes and she doesn’t see any monarchs, she worries and wonders.

“I wondered if monarch butterflies belonged here. Sometimes I wondered if we did, too.”

She learns that monarchs need milkweed to live, and its habitat is threatened, but she also learns that people are planting monarch way stations. When she spots a sunny, vacant spot outside the library window, she tells the librarian that would be a good place for a way station. The librarian suggests “It takes just one person to get things started.” But the little girl doesn’t think she’s that kind of person.

With the librarian’s encouragement, the shy girl decides to do her research project on monarchs. During her presentation, the class gets enthused to build a way station. She shows them her plans on how to do that, along with supplies needed and the cost.

Plans begin and she says, “I could feel myself growing and changing little by little.” Just like the caterpillars.

Although this is a fictional story, the storytelling is inter-mixed with so much information about butterflies that I would shelve it in the non-fiction section of a classroom library. The back matter includes: a guide to making a way station; miscellaneous monarch facts; books for young environmental activists; books for grown-ups and internet resources.

This book was brought to my attention in April of 2021 when it won the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award (SONWA) from Northland College. On Sigurd Olson’s birthday, April 4, Northland College announces its choices for the best in nature writing for the previous year. SONWA categories include adult nonfiction and children’s literature.

    See: https://www.northland.edu/sustain/soei/sonwa/ for this year’s winner and a list of all past award winners.)

Butterflies Belong Here is an excellent resource for the elementary classroom.

Who Is Singing? By Janet Halfmann, Illustrated by Chrissy Chabot. Pen It! Publications, LLC, U.S.A 2021

“Cheer-o-lee, cheer up! Who is singing? Take a Bow, Robin, hopping on the ground hunting earthworms. Cheer-o-lee, cheer-up!”

The first page of Who is Singing, depicts a robin singing on a branch and then pulling an earthworm out of the ground. Each full-page spread is another familiar – and not so familiar – bird. Young children may see cardinals, blue Jays, goldfinches, and chickadees in their yard or a nearby park, but catbirds, killdeer, and ovenbirds may be new to them.

The vibrant colors of the illustrations are sure to attract young children. One enthusiastic five-year-old said, “I like the pictures!”

Who is Singing is a delightful first bird guidebook for the little ones. The  colorful pictures are sure to attract preschoolers and the simple text with bird sounds will add to the fun of reading. Notes at the end of the book are educational for adults and children alike. Did you know that some scientists think birds dream about singing and may even silently practice while sleeping? A final note points out that the sounds in the book may not be the way the reader hears birds. Halfmann suggests, “This book uses fun words and sounds for bird songs to make them easier to recognize. But not everyone hears bird songs the same. Try coming up with your own words and sounds for the bird songs you hear.”

Janet Halfmann has been prolific in writing books that are perfect for the youngest children. She has also written non-fiction picture books for older kids that showcase little known or overlooked heroes of history. Small business Saturday is comig up November 27th. Look for her books at your favorite independant bookstore.

Is It Over? by Sandy Brehl, illustrated by Rebecca S. Hirsch. Pen It! Publications, LLC, USA, 2021.

Is It Over by Sandy Brehl is a quiet little gem of a book. “Clouds tower! Waves crash!” A storm is coming up and a little girl runs to daddy, “Make it stop!” Daddy responds, “I wish I could.” What the reader will notice is that Daddy is missing a leg. The storm goes on, gets louder and one blast of thunder shows both parent and child frightened. The little girl realizes her daddy is scared too. He tells her when he was little, he liked storms because he would look at the clouds and imagine all sorts of things in their shapes. “Skies were stages for my imagination.” Here we see a collection of clouds looking like members of a marching band. She asks him to tell her a story. He replies that his stories won’t help because they changed when he was a soldier. Here, his feelings are depicted by angry looking, beast-like clouds.

This sensitive portrayal of a frightened child and a father with his own fears depicts how a child overcomes her fears by comforting her father. When the storm is finally over, she says, “Already?”

I love so-called “quiet” books and I believe they don’t get enough attention. Editors tell us action has to be on the first page, and there is here, but that is not the most important aspect of this book.  Is It Over ? explores important feelings–emotions of both the parent and the child. Children can understand more than we give them credit for and especially now, we need good books where complicated feelings are shown, so the adult reading can have a discussion with the child who is listening.

I haven’t posted here since July as my back has been acting up all summer and I can only sit at my computer for thirty minutes a day. I’m hoping to catch up on my book reviews, but it will be a slow process. Stay tuned!

I recently interviewed Sheri Sinykin by email. We talked about her latest middle grade novel, Calling Cobber.

S.L.: Hi Sheri, it’s so nice to talk to you again. When we last spoke in this space, in 2013, you had just won the Elizabeth Burr/Worzalla Award from the Wisconsin Library Association For Zayde Comes to Live. At that time, you said you really weren’t writing anymore. How did Calling Cobber come about?

Sheri: I wrote Calling Cobber more than twenty years ago and tried to market it traditionally.  Publishers’ consensus was that my book was too Jewish and too quiet.  I put it away until I saw a notice in a March 2017 SCBWI listserv that PJ OUR WAY was looking for Jewish novels for middle grade boys.   So, I dug out my computer file and submitted it.  The editor there and I worked on the manuscript over a two-year period until their acquisitions committee finally approved it.  The next hurdle–unbeknownst to me at the start of the process–was that I needed to find a trade publisher FIRST before PJ OUR WAY could buy sub rights.  Amazingly, the editor was able to place the book in short order with a London publisher, Green Bean Books.  To my surprise, PJ OUR WAY released in May 2020 to their book club–well ahead of Green Bean Book’s release in December 2020– with kids able to select it from their website but only for a ten-day period. I didn’t even know it had been published until my grandson Elon said he’d seen it in the PJ OUR WAY catalog and ordered his copy!

S.L.: You say in the Author’s Note that this novel began with a haiku you wrote after  “…a conference speaker’s challenge to write ‘about your own culture.’” Tell me a little about that.

Sheri: The conference was on the university campus in Madison, WI.  The speakers’ discussion about writing out of culture prompted a lot of audience response.  I myself scribbled a quick haiku in my notebook, basically wondering what my own culture was and how I could write about it.  That haiku survived pretty much intact through several final edits of Calling Cobber.  My character, Cobber, is assigned by a guest author to write about who he is, what makes him special, and he comes up as blank as I did.

S.L.: As someone who lost a parent, when I was a child, I appreciate how you handle the subject in your books.  I’ve found in your writing that you understand what the child is going through when trying to process grief. You have written three books that deal with death: Giving Up the Ghost, Zayde Comes to Live, and now Calling Cobber. Why do you think you keep coming back to this subject? Have you studied the subject, or have you experienced death as a child? What informed your writing?

Sheri: I didn’t experience death as a child, although I do have a memory of my parents asking me to sit with our next-door neighbor after her husband died following his Thanksgiving dinner.  I was maybe ten at the time, and somehow, I intuitively knew how to BE with her.  Later, when my mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 endometrial cancer, I trained and served as a hospice volunteer for several years.  I wanted to make sure I was emotionally equipped to support her during the most significant loss of my life.  My beloved maternal grandmother died when I was at a nearby college, and I was totally unprepared for her death.  I remember being inconsolable and people wanting to medicate me to “calm me down.”  No one talked about my feelings, and I had no outlet for my grief.  Recalling those emotions has perhaps made me sensitive to children’s needs, which I believe are very much the same as an adults’.

When I was studying for my MFA in Writing for Children at Vermont College, I read many children’s novels that explored death and grief.  They formed the basis for my critical thesis, Good Grief: Making Death and Bereavement Authentic for Middle Grade Characters and Readers. To my surprise, one of the most lauded children’s novels, A Bridge To Tarabithia in my view,  in terms of authentically portraying grief and bereavement, in children, fell short. My experiences as a hospice volunteer directly inspired my novel Giving Up The Ghost, and my only picture book, Zayde Comes To Live.

S.L.: Cobber’s father works a lot and when he is home, he’s emotionally unavailable.  Cobber comes up with rituals to make him feel safe. I did the same thing after my father died. What inspired you to give Cobber rituals, such as lining up his pencils, so they came out even?

Sheri: Children handle their anxiety in various ways–overeating, compulsive video game playing, acting out, withdrawing.  With all Cobber’s worries, it seemed natural that he would have some obsessive-compulsive behavior.  When I was writing a classroom scene, Cobber just started sharpening and lining up his pencils.  The kids made fun of him, and the behavior felt authentic.  I needed to go back and infuse it in earlier scenes.

S.L.: Cobber doesn’t tell his dad that Papa Ben is getting forgetful because Papa Ben makes Cobber promise not to tell. Cobber doesn’t want to break a promise because his best friend Boolkie had promised not to become a bar mitzvah and now he has broken that promise. He’s carrying a lot of worry. When he visits his rabbi, he suggests that Cobber is taking on too much responsibility. Could you elaborate on the idea that kids can carry a lot of worry and grief just as adults do?

Sheri: I believe that our emotions from childhood to adulthood never really change.  We just get more sophisticated–or not–in hiding or expressing them. Anger is anger; fear is fear.  It just seems natural to me that kids can carry a lot of worry and grief.  The hope is that they have perceptive parents or other adults who can pick up on that and support them.  Unfortunately, Cobber did not have that in his father.  Papa-Ben, the rabbi, and Boolkie’s mother do provide some counterbalance, though. 

S.L.: You said your inspiration for Papa Ben was your paternal grandfather. Was he an immigrant? Immigrants are in the news a lot today, but we forget that the vast majority of us have immigrant ancestors.

Sheri: Yes, my paternal grandfather, Harry Cooper, was a Russian immigrant, from an area now known as the Ukraine.  He came with his father as a young boy soon after the Statue of Liberty was completed near Ellis Island, the New York immigration port. Though Pop learned to speak English, he never learned to read or write it.  All his life he worked in the garment district and did piece work.  On a recent PBS ancestry show, I learned that Dustin Hoffman’s family came from the same little Ukrainian town, Bila Tserkva, in the Kyiv region.  We celebrated Pop’s 100th birthday in 1996,  and he died two months later.

Sheri: Calling Cobber is available on Amazon, as well as on the Barnes and Noble website.

My Take: I highly recommend Calling Cobber. It’s authentic portrayal of a child’s grief, years after his mother’s death would be enough to recommend it, but Cobber also has so much humour. His best friend Boolkie talks Cobber into signing up for the school talent show. Cobber is afraid he will literally “lose his lunch” like he did in third grade when he had to do a class presentation. But Boolkie is peristent. When he and Cobber decide to make Shabbos it is a comedy of errors and maybe the most interesting challah ever is prepared.

My review of Zayde Comes to Live can be found here: https://golowd.com/2014/01/

Fry Bread A Native American Family Story  by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal. Roaring Brook Press, New York, NY, 2019.

Kevin Noble Maillard’s debut children’s book is a joyful romp that uses the making of fry bread to represent the culture of Indigenous America. Juana Martinez-Neal’s illustrations in acrylics, colored pencils and graphite, bring to life a kitchen filled with children and adults. Each page has a heading, followed by a short poetic description of the page. “Fry Bread is Food” headlines the first page:

“Flour, salt, water

Cornmeal, baking powder

Perhaps milk, maybe sugar

All mixed together in a big bowl.”

In the extensive author’s note in the back of the book, each page of the book is explained in detail. For “Fry Bread is Food,” the author explains how he makes fry bread and how “Fry bread is a food of inheritance and family.” Different tribes make it different ways. Families pass down recipes. He uses cornmeal which many will think strange. “If there is one thing that all Natives can agree upon about fry bread, it’s that everybody else’s version is wrong.”

“Fry Bread is Shape” points out that fry bread comes in all different shapes. In the author’s note, he says: “Just like people, there is no one shape, body type, or shoe size that makes anyone better than anyone else.”

Because of the extensive author’s note, which includes a recipe, this book could definitely be used with older children who want to dig deeper into Native American culture. Kids will learn that “…there are some Natives who strongly oppose fry bread because it exacerbates existing health problems.” But there is a larger problem here. Natives were “…forced to deviate from a traditional Indigenous diet.” Living in food deserts, many have no access to healthy foods. He tries to make his fry bread a little healthier by using unrefined coconut oil but admits there really is no healthy fry bread. “…fry bread is like birthday cake or Halloween candy: a special treat to be cherished and savored.” It is not meant to be a daily part of a diet.

Elementary teachers need this delightful book on their shelf. The illustrations will appeal to the youngest child because they are just so adorable. I know that last word is overused, but it perfectly describes the illustrations, particularly the red-haired baby that gets passed among family members. The different skin and hair color (and styles) of the family members portray the diversity of Native People. From the author’s note: “Most people think Native Americans always have brown skin and black hair. But there is an enormous range of hair textures and skin colors.”

“Fry Bread is Color

Golden brown, tan or yellow

Deep like coffee, sienna, or earth

Light like snow and cream

Warm like rays of sun.”

We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Michaela Goade. Roaring Brook Press, New York, NY, 2020.

First, let me say the illustrations in We Are Water Protectors are breathtaking and well worth the purchase price of the book, but that makes sense as it won the 2021 Caldecott Award for best illustration of a children’s book. The book tells of a story told long ago:

“My people talk of a black snake that will destroy the land…They foretold that it wouldn’t come for many, many years.”

Grandmother tells the young girl that water is the first medicine. It surrounded her before she was born. All life depends on water. Clean water. But the black snake is going to come and poison the waters. Indeed, the black snake is here now. As depicted by Michaela Goade, the black snake is an oil pipeline with the head of a terrifying snake. It winds its way through tiny plants and animals.

The illustrations, in watercolor and mixed media, are simply gorgeous. Butterflies and hummingbirds, deer, bear, and a majestic white bird all are shown as dependent on the flowing, sparkling river.

The young girl shouts, as she rallies her people: “Take courage! I must keep the black snake away from my village’s water.”

The final page depicts a protest rally of many indigenous people holding signs proclaiming, “Water is Life.” Michaela Goade says she was “deeply inspired by the solidarity”  at Standing Rock and she “…wanted the illustrations to convey kinship and unity, while also representing a diverse group of Indigenous Nations and allies.” Lindstrom is Anishinaabe/Metis and Goade is of Tlingit descent.

This book would be an important addition to a teacher’s environmental/outdoor education collection. I, personally, could sit and look at the illustrations over and over, but more importantly, it can be used as a call to action. A running theme and poem that is repeated throughout the book says it all:

“We stand

With our songs

And our drums.

We are still here.”

But without action, not only plants and animals could disappear, but people as well.

If the environmental crisis facing us today seems all too overwhelming, here’s a site that suggests simple things we all can do. Pick one. Each small gesture can make a difference.

10 Ways To Keep Plastic Out of the Ocean | Turtle Island Restoration Network (seaturtles.org)

Follow Me Into the Woods by Amy Laundrie, illustrated by Abira Das. Published by Pen It! Publications, LLC in the U.S.A, 2020.

Paris is hesitant when Oliver suggests they hike into the woods. She’s afraid of snakes and wonders if there could be a mountain lion nearby. But Oliver reassures her that it’s safe: “Granddaddy knows where we’re hiking, and it won’t get dark for a couple hours yet. I’ll grab a picnic supper and the binoculars. We’ll need them for the surprise.”

Encouraged by the promise of a picnic, Paris consents to the adventure. When they discover a garter snake, Oliver reassures her there are no rattlers. Paris also worries about possible hunters and jumps when she hears a woodpecker. But Oliver is patient and explains what every noise is. She is pleasantly surprised when a chickadee nearly brushes her shoulder.

In the end, Paris spots something she wants to share with Oliver and now she is the one saying, “Follow me.”

Into the Woods is a sweet introduction to nature for the young child. The illustrations are kid friendly and will undoubtedly encourage little ones to point out details in the pictures. Amy, a retired teacher, has created a final page, Fun Facts About Woodland Creatures which has some simple facts about the animals mentioned. She also has a rich assortment of activities and several different author visit opportunities for all ages, including adults at her website. It is definitely worth a visit whether you’re a parent or a teacher.

The Clothesline Code by Janet Halfmann, illustrated by Trisha Mason.  Brandylane Publishing Inc., Richmond, VA, 2021.

“Dabney stared up the hill, captivated by the Union soldiers waving red-and-white flags. Two soldiers took turns holding a long flagpole and waving the flag to the right and left, over and over again, with dash and flourish.”

Lucy Ann and Dabney Walker, along with their teenage daughter, Sarah, had escaped from slavery about a year earlier and were living and working in a Union camp in Virginia. Dabney had just been assigned to the intelligence unit of the camp and he was eager to learn how best to help the Union army. He asked the soldier with the flag what he was doing. The soldier showed him how the troops sent messages over long distances by using flags—waving them certain ways to represent letters of the alphabet that ultimately spelled words.  Dabney and Lucy Ann got an idea. They could send messages using laundry on a wash line—if they could get inside the enemy camp. Lucy Ann was the laundress of the Union camp, so they thought she could infiltrate the Confederate camp that was just across the river, pose as an enslaved person and use the wash line over there to send messages back to the Union camp. But Dabney hesitated. It was a dangerous plan and Lucy Ann would be in the most danger. She could be hanged if she were caught. But the couple had already endured hardship and danger when they escaped to freedom and Lucy Ann would not listen to Dabney’s objections.

Lucey Ann and Dabney had been forbidden to learn to read and write when they were enslaved, so they had to develop a system not based on the spelling of words. So, they came up with a different system. They chose a different colored shirt for each Confederate leader: Gray for General Longstreet, white for General Hill and red for Stonewall Jackson.  “Lucy Ann and Dabney plotted how they would move each general’s shirt to show a movement of his forces. Removing the gray Longstreet shirt from the line would signal that his troops had moved nearer to Richmond, Virginia. Moving Hill’s white shirt up the clothesline would mean his unit had moved upstream…and on and on.”

In order to get across the river, Lucy Ann posed as an enslaved person belonging to a Confederate woman going across to visit friends. She was successful. Once in the Confederate camp she blended in with the other enslaved men and women and used her skills as a laundress to accomplish her goal as a spy. The Walker’s plan worked like clockwork, until one day when Dabney did not hear from her. Several days went by. Had she been caught? Or worse, hanged?

This non-fiction picture book for older readers will fascinate any child interested in codes. But more importantly, Janet Halfmann is dogged in her pursuit of finding stories about real people who have been overlooked by history (she calls them her “Hidden History” stories) and making them accessible to children. This book, along with her books about Robert Smalls, reviewed here and Lilly Ann Granderson reviewed here do just that and are perfect selections for Black History Month.