The words of this book are taken from Ntozake Shange‘s 1983 poem, “Mood Indigo.” And that title is taken from Duke Ellington’s famous song. In the same way, this picture book circles back to the past and brings it forward again.
Which leads us to its title: Ellington Was Not a Street. Ellington was Duke Ellington of course. And Duke Ellington was one of the many influential men who gathered at Shange’s house when she was a child.
The art in this book is by Kadir Nelson, who is a painter’s painter, a master of beautiful realism that draws you in. No matter what’s pictured, it’s the little girl in the blue dress we look for. Her stance. The look on her face. The way she is an observer as well as a part of something bigger.
(By the way, did you guys know Kadir Nelson created Michael Jackson’s posthumously released album cover??)
“it hasnt always been this way/
ellington was not a street”
This book takes us back in time. Back to when the great men of Shange’s childhood weren’t mere remembrances, but were living, breathing, creating, pioneering people. Right in her home as a little girl. I can only imagine the impact such a childhood must’ve had on her. Listening around a corner to conversations about race and struggle. Meeting Dizzy Gillespie at the door.
“du bois walked up my father’s stairs”
“hummed some tune over me sleeping in the company of men
who changed the world”
“politics as necessary as collards/
music even in our dreams”
There is a tinge of sadness to this book because the writer is looking back to a more vital time. She’s asking us to remember, to travel back with her. And Nelson’s illustrations transport us.
I put this book in my “older set” section because there is, of course, a history lesson here. And the glossary at the back with details of the men depicted would be a wonderful starting point to a study of African American history, music, jazz, or civil rights.
There he is at the end of the book, Duke Ellington himself, echoed by the girl on the cover holding his record, her gaze saying, “Come, listen.”
I think it needs to have the stuff we loved about the first, but then a new spin that makes it fresh. It should also be a good book in its own right. For whatever reason, that can be tough to pull off (in any genre). But I think these picture book sequels (or quasi-sequels) do just that.
In the first installment by Kelly DiPucchio with pictures by Scott Campbell, Mortimer is alone until he finally finds true love.
In just out Zombie in Love 2+ 1, Mortimer and Mildred are new parents. Of course! Only having a non-zombie baby is pretty baffling. Until he starts to act more like them (aka shrieking and staying up all night). And then the whole family smiles, like this! (Remember that gag?!)
In honor of this brand new sequel, I give you 16 more spectacular picture book sequels!
It’s astounding how Molly Idle followed up one stunner with another. And Flora and the Penguin is just that. (I guess the only explanation is Idle’s brilliance!)
There have been a lot of Scaredy Squirrel follow-ups and let’s face it: they’re all awesome! Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend is a personal favorite.
I adore the first and admire the second. Yin and Yang, that’s Blackout and Blizzard by John Rocco.
Not an exact sequel, but hats, right?! Also, the same ironic humor, the same visual clues. This is Not My Hat is a favorite.
Pomelo Explores Color is just as fun-loving and sometimes hilariously awkward as the first.
I’m breaking some rules here. While these two aren’t related by character or much else necessarily, they’re just begging to be read side by side! If You Want to See a Whale by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin Stead.
The Loud Book is a perfect complement to the first magical installment. It naturally flows from it and relates to in strategy, specificity, and even the way some loud things are only loud when quiet surrounds them. Just perfect.
Same team, similar theme, and look at those covers. I’m gonna call sequel on fabulous Rosie Revere, Engineer.
Betty Bunny has had a number of installments, but this one might be my favorite. In Betty Bunny Wants a Goal, we get the great stuff about the original—Betty herself, the family characters, the laughs—in a new, inventive situation.
Again, more of a follow-up than a direct sequel, but Chopsticks wouldn’t exist without Spoon. How I love these utensils.
There are three in Stian Hole’s Garmann series and all as engagingly rendered in story and illustrations as one another. Garmann’s Street follows Garmann’s Summer perfectly going from first day of school fears to bullies and people who aren’t what they seem.
Elliot is a tiny polka-dotted elephant. Are you in love yet?
Mike Curato’s dedication is: “For anyone who feels unnoticed.”
Are you in love, now? You must be, right? I know I am.
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Elliott lives in the big city where he goes unnoticed. Even with those charming pastel spots. What a crazy world it is when we don’t notice him.
“Elliot’s design is partially based on a little stuffed elephant that I had as a little boy.
He was white with blue ears, and a wind-up lullaby.
He is also partially based on the polka-dotted elephant from the Island of Misfit Toys in Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
—Mike Curato
To me, this picture book captures the downside of being a child.
“He had to be careful not to be stepped on.”
“He had trouble opening doors.”
Elliot loves cupcakes, but goes unseen when he tries to buy one.
Curatos’ illustrations are realistic, somber, and have a 1940s feel. They perfectly convey retro New York. But not Elliot. He sticks out—his lightness and joy. At least to us attuned readers (and one little girl on a middle spread).
And then, Elliot meets someone even smaller than him. Someone who needs a little bit of help. And that makes Elliot feel like a giant.
Mouse and elephant have found each other. Two small, unnoticeable creatures with a lot in common. Like, for example, cupcakes!
I am so delighted to team up with Sara from illustrated food blog Cake Over Steak (great name, right?!)! Not only has she come up with a perfectly creative cupcake to pair with Little Elliot, but she’s an artist herself. That’s right, she’s a food blogger who ILLUSTRATES her goodies. Plus, she loves picture books! Win, win, win.
Her blog is full of yummy recipes, illustrations of her morning commute (they’re gorgeous), and other cool stuff she shares. (Her podcast post is a favorite of mine. Also, dessert sushi!)
When coming up with a recipe inspired by the book, I clearly had to make a cupcake. I remembered the stereotype of elephants always eating peanuts, which led me to peanut butter. It turns out that’s kind of a myth; elephants will eat peanuts, but they don’t love them or anything. However, they do eat a lot of fruit. I decided to run with the childlike myth of elephants eating peanuts and came up with these peanut butter and jelly cupcakes. Plus, what could be more childlike than peanut butter and jelly? Personally, I ate those sandwiches almost exclusively from age 3 to 19. And, as it turns out, those flavors make a darn good cupcake.
The batter for the cake itself is obnoxiously simple; it’s essentially a quickbread recipe. Mix your dry ingredients together, mix your wet ingredients together, and then combine the two. No stand mixer required – just two bowls, a whisk, and a spatula. You’ll probably want a stand mixer or at least a hand mixer for the frosting, but just dump all of those ingredients in the bowl and let the mixer do the work. Before you frost the cupcakes we’re going to cut them in half, slather on your favorite jam and put them back together like a little cupcake sandwich.
I can imagine that making these cupcakes would be a fun activity to do with small children. And then you could read the book together while you eat one.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
For the cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups (230 g) all purpose flour
3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup milk (preferably whole)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
2 1/2 tbsp tahini
For the frosting:
3 sticks unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 cup smooth peanut butter
3 tbsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
For the filling:
jam of your choice (I used blackberry)
optional:
sprinkles
Prepare the cupcakes:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a standard muffin pan with cupcake liners or parchment (or spray with cooking spray).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, canola oil, vanilla, vinegar, peanut butter and tahini until smooth.
4. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and mix gently with a spatula until just combined and no more flour lumps remain. Do not overmix.
5. Spoon the batter into the muffin pan, dividing it evenly between the 12 cups. They should be basically full.
6. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until lightly golden brown on the edges and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Make the frosting:
1. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the butter, peanut butter, vanilla, powdered sugar and salt. Start on low and work your way up to medium (#4 on a KitchenAid). Stop to scrape down the sides a few times.
2. Whisk until the mixture is thoroughly combined and smooth.
Assemble the cupcakes:
1. Once the cupcakes are completely cool, take them out of their liners and cut them in half from top to bottom. Spread one side with a layer of jam and put them back together like sandwiches.
2. With an offset spatula or a piping bag, top each cupcake with a generous amount of the peanut butter frosting. Decorate with sprinkles. Enjoy!
3. You might have leftover frosting, which would be fantastic on a pan of brownies …
This one is a strange fairy tale, as we know. Dark and dripping with remorse. But its progeny alone is iconic! The Red Shoes film. Dorothy’s ruby slippers! (Kate Bush had her Red Shoes too.)
(And lucky for us, Look At These Gems recently posted loads of pictures from the film!)
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I’ve always thought of this story as about the dangers of desire and vanity. How it can control us.
But in rereading this version, I was struck by how the main character, Karen, wore her first pair of red shoes on the day of her mother’s funeral. Then they were taken away, and when she had the chance again for new shoes, she chose red ones again. They’re the red of a princess’s shoes, so yes, they’re luxurious. But might it also be that Karen’s trying to recreate a memory of her mother? Don’t we all have something from childhood we still long for because it connects us to an important time?
Iwasaki’s watercolors almost resemble cut paper, their shifting weights and tones are so pronounced. They’re mesmerizing and this book really is about those illustrations. Sad and evocative, some spare, some blooming over a whole page. Delicate but bursting.
Aren’t they wonderful?
p.s. There’s an art museum in Tokyo dedicated to Chihiro Iwasaki and since I’ll be there in April, I just might have to visit and report back!!
This is a retelling . There’s still a girl, Karen. And there are still red shoes.
Other original elements appear as well—a princess, an executioner—but they’ve been weaved to tell a different tale. Not one that curses Karen (Fowler omits all of Anderson’s religious themes), but one that celebrates creativity and beauty and self-reliance.
In Fowler’s rendering, Karen’s mother is a shoemaker who’s secretly making the girl lovely red shoes. She makes the connection of the girl to her mother, through the shoes, the heart of the story.
That connection allows Karen to make shoes for a princess after her mother dies, and more shoes after that. She even opens her own shop: “The Red Shoes.” In this version, Karen is a creative entrepreneur! She uses needle and thread to stitch her true calling.
The illustrations are pen and ink, black and white. We must imagine that pop of red, just as Karen imagines her future.
This picture book is the February Tundra Books book club selection. And it’s perfect for dreaming of a springtime in PARIS. (Not that I’ve been to Paris. But I will remedy that, oh yes I will.)
Here are three things I love about this book:
1. The unexpected choice of an ARMADILLO as its main character.
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I mean, an armadillo! Named Arlo! Driving that red car on the cover and exploring Paris just as his grandfather had many years before! Wearing that adorable French-colored scarf around his neck!
The contrast of an armored little Brazilian mammal with the city of Paris is just odd enough to be perfect.
2. The MYSTERY of the Iron Lady.
Arlo’s grandfather’s travel journals tell Arlo where to go in the city and how each relates to the Iron Lady for whom Arlo searches. For a kid reader who doesn’t know who the Iron Lady is, the guessing is so much fun!
Each stop on the journey is a clue: the CAFE named after the architect who designed her; the LOUVRE, which houses the 1889 World’s Fair Exhibit—this mysterious lady was the official greeter at the fair.
Macarons are compared to buttons the Iron Lady possesses. She is said to sparkle like the Luxembourg pond. On and on through all the stops in Paris.
Until…voilà! She is revealed! And she is the Eiffel Tower. (Some of you knew that all along, didn’t you?) And along the way you get to visit many magnifique places in Paris.
3. Kraulis’s ARTWORK.
I especially love the way Arlo himself is rendered: always a pencil sketch. He’s plain and simple and anatomically correct. He looks like a scientific drawing and that’s a very inventive choice. (Not to mention his sweet, shiny eyes.)
He’s surrounded by the colors and people and magic of Paris. Dresses and macaroons and posters and bright yellow trees. Dreamy water and dreamy sky.
Arlo is a little like us, no? Creatures who want to experience something special. Something more magnificent than we are. And that is why we go on adventures.
The book ends with some amazing facts about the Eiffel Tower that explain the allusions from Arlo’s grandfather’s journals. For example:
“The Iron Lady is covered in 20,000 light bulbs that took 25 mountain climbers 5 months to install. She really does sparkle!”
Tundra is also generously providing one copy of An Armadillo in Paris for a reader! Not only that, the package will include a poster with a reading guide as well as a handful of beautiful postcards, ready to send from your next adventure! (Open to N. America only.)
Ellington Was Not a Street by Ntozake Shange, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (2004).
An Armadillo in Paris
