This Picture Book Life

louise loves art + black and white and red

02.17.2015

Louise Loves Art by Kelly Light (2014).

Yup, Louise loves art alright. It’s her thing. Her passion.

“To be a great artist, you have to notice everything.”

The one thing Louise doesn’t notice? Her brother. Who is cleverly named Art as well.

(click image(s) to enlarge)

But Louise does love the other Art, her brother Art too. How do we know? Because when she finally notices he’s been drawing all over and transforming her “pièce de résistance,” yes she gets upset. But she’s pretty quick to come around. To see that her little brother just wants to be like her. To notice him. To connect.

One special thing about this book is the cat. That cat pays great attention to what’s going on (perhaps he’s an artist too!) and he tries to alert Louise. But she doesn’t notice him. (This cat has a similar function as the dog in Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, no?)

The cat is kind of the narrator of this picture book. The reliable one. The visual one. (Visual narrator. Is that a term?!) In fact, inside the front cover, we see that cat sort of opening the red curtain on Louise drawing. He’s our silent emcee. And watching his emotions, beautifully conveyed by way of eyebrows and ear-grabs and a straight up in the air tail are wonderful. (If you’re a kid who asks Kelly in person, she’ll even tell you his secret name!)

Chuck Jones is an influence of Kelly Light’s and and one place that especially shines is with the cat character:

“Chuck Jones had a way of making very specific characters with very specific personalities. He would assign very clear personality traits.. The sly smile, the wiggle of an eyebrow… the glance out at the audience, the breaking of the fourth wall… all of this influenced me.”

—Kelly Light

The denouement is Louise and Art together. Making art. (So our cat narrator can finally relax.)

What struck me first about this book was the color palette. Black and white and red (mostly). It’s the strongest palette there is. The boldest. And it’s a classic. In fact, Kelly Light’s included lots of classic stuff in these pages. Louise’s red glasses. Her Converse-like shoes. Her black and white striped shirt.

I asked the author/illustrator about her use of these three colors and here’s what she said:

“I wanted to keep a spare palette so that the line work would really show. This is a book about a girl who loves to draw, done in drawings. The red was Louise’s glasses from the very first sketch of her. Red is a strong color and Louise is a strong personality. She has passion.

Then I thought about red as an important visual clue to the story. Louise says, “To be a great artist you have to to notice everything…” Her eyeglasses highlight what she sees. The red on her little brother, Art, keeps the reader’s eyes on him…and his crayon and the scissors.

The red leads the reader through a multi-leveled story. There is what Louise is doing, what little Art is doing that Louise is not noticing, and the cat trying to let Louise know what is going on. I tried to bring the red through the pages as a guide.”

—Kelly Light

And guess what? There will be more installments of Louise!

“I will add another color for each new Louise book. The next book features a new character and blue…I think the third book in the Louise series will have yellow. Without calling it out, the first three books are the primary colors on the color wheel.”

—Kelly Light

Thanks to Kelly Light for talking with me and for providing images! West Coast peeps: she’ll be in California in March.

Here are black, white, and red or otherwise Louise-related images that came to mind as I read this book:

Barbara Kruger‘s work.

Andy Warhol‘s Campbell’s Soup Cans.

Picasso in stripes.

Audrey Hepburn in stripes.

Classic Mickey Mouse.

i don’t want to be a frog: on dialogue

PICTURE BOOKS +

02.12.2015

There’s a brand new picture book in town (with a debut author). I Don’t Want to Be A Frog written by Dev Petty, illustrated by Mike Boldt. And it is a funny one!

Why is it so funny? So many reasons, but the main one, I think, is because the whole book is told through dialogue. (Even the title is spoken from the main character’s mouth.)

Two characters are talking, with a surprise one at the end. And their interaction is priceless; the tone is just right.

(click image(s) to enlarge)

Kid Frog and Dad Frog are having a conversation about how Kid Frog doesn’t want to be a frog. He’d like to be a cat or a rabbit (he can hop!) or an owl, but not a frog. Frogs are wet and slimy and stuff.

Here’s what’s so stellar about the talking that takes place.

KID FROG: CHILDLIKE VOICE

Kid frog’s voice is spot on. It’s fed up. It’s full of questions. It won’t take no for an answer. It’s a little bit complainy, but endearing and we like it. Plus, it’s relatable. Who hasn’t wanted to be something else entirely at least once? (And who hasn’t talked to a child who must pursue an inquiry for a very long time…)

DAD FROG: ADULT-LIKE VOICE

Oh, Dad frog in the giant glasses. His voice is great too. It’s exasperated. It’s logical. It’s long-suffering and willing to keep the conversation going. It’s pedagogical while understanding and compassionate. Validating. Good natured. Like, you know, a good parent.

WOLF: OUTSIDER’S VOICE

It’s slightly menacing. It’s truthful. And it’s exactly what the Dad needs to help prove his argument. I love that the wolf comes in to save the day in this way. A wolf! Sometimes, kids just won’t hear it from their parents. They need an outside source in order to believe something. Like that lima beans are okay to eat. Or that it’s okay to be a wet, slimy frog and not a cat or an owl even though owls are really cool.

And let’s not forget how Mike Boldt’s illustrations enhance the dialogue! The colored speech bubbles with long tails. Their sections and back and forth. (How they’re shaped sort of pollywoggy.)

The kid frog’s gaping mouth.

The way we further know how the Dad is saying something by the particular way he fidgets with his glasses.

And the way we hear from the third character in a speech bubble before we see him on the next page. Great opportunities for pre-page turn guessing abound!

Thanks to Dev Petty for images!

newsflash: picture book critiques on fiverr

DISPATCH FROM DANIELLE

02.11.2015

I want to share with you the platform my picture book critiques now call home:

Fivver!

where

I offer

a mini-critique

for just 5 bucks.

(If you want more in-depth feedback, you can get that too.)

I’m really enjoying the variety of manuscripts I get to see and that the service starts at a price most people can afford.

Check out my profile with a video describing my approach.

And read my reviews!

Here’s what one person who received a mini-critique said:

Danielle Davis took my picture book manuscript to another level with her suggestions. She really knows her stuff. Highly recommended!

And one more:

Danielle seemed to ‘get’ what I was trying to achieve…Her comments will be very useful.. in revising my manuscript.

So, if you’ve got a picture book manuscript that needs a fresh set of eyes, I hope you’ll come by! (I offer services for Middle Grade and Young Adult manuscripts too.)

three books from a recent library stack that made my heart go pitter pat

PICTURE BOOKS +

02.10.2015

I have my own special hold shelf at the local library. They had to give me one to house all the picture books I perpetually have on hold. What a wonderful thing to get all those books delivered for me to take home and borrow for free! Thank you, library and librarians!

These three really struck me as extraordinary in a recent stack.

Come see and I’ll tell you why!

Little Bird by Germano Zullo, illustrated by Albertine (translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick of Enchanted Lion Books, who published it).

Spare, graphic, spacious illustrations. And same goes the text.

A road. A red truck. A man. A bursting bunch of colorful birds and one black one left behind.

A friendship. A shared sandwich. A change. All because of a small bird and a man who noticed.

“…little things are not made to be noticed.

They are there to be discovered.”

“There are no greater treasures than the little things.”

That line is the theme of this book. But it goes further with the illustrations. Little things are a treasure because of the rewards they contain. And sometimes those rewards are wild and big and magical.

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet.

This is one of those masterful examples of author and illustrator collaboration. It’s a perfect pairing of subject matter and visual style.

This picture book is a portrait of a young mind obsessed with lists, with cataloging things, with finding THE RIGHT WORD. An obsession that continues his whole life.

And the illustrations! Mixed media collage doesn’t describe or contain their wonder. Each illustration is like a box of kept treasures itself. Some have such a depth as to feel completely three dimensionally real.

Botanical. Astronomical. Little notes and watercolor portraits and big ideas.

Breathe by Scott Magoon.

This one is sweet serenity. We follow a baby whale as it plays and swims and breathes. Beautifully, majestically breathes.

The “Breathe” spreads make you take a breath yourself. Stop. Go still. Appreciate. My favorite other page is:

“Listen to the sea. Sing.”

There’s a hint of drama, but mostly one lovely day punctuated by deep breathes above the surface (we could all learn a lot from this little whale!).

It’s a perfect bedtime book with its blue hue, wide expanses of whales and sea, and a slow transition to a dark, serene night.

hearts by thereza rowe + paper airplane valentines

Picture Book Crafts

02.03.2015

hearts-by-thereza-rowe HEARTS by Thereza Rowe (2014).

This is put out by TOON Books, a very cool publisher of comic picture books that kids can read on their own. On their own! Even at three years old. Why? Because they’re told visually and with minimal, simple words.

And YET. This book is not simple at all. It invites readers to come up with their own narrative interpretations. It’s kind of a wild ride! And the art is impeccable thanks to Thereza Rowe‘s bold, beautiful, graphic creations.

I like how this book is about love, one’s heart, but it’s really about the friendship kind of love. Penelope the fox’s best friend takes off in a rocket (of course!)—but at least she’s got a stack of books with her. Penelope’s heart is broken in two with the loss. And then, oops, she drops her heart in the ocean!

From there, it’s an adventure story of Penelope chasing after her heart with dolphins, seagulls, armed guards, a helpful horse, and more along the way.

One sweet part of the backstory is that the story emerged when Thereza Rowe lost one of her cats. “…it was like half of my heart was ripped out. As I was wallowing in my own misery, suddenly came a wee voice: ‘Whatever happens, never lose your heart…”

Keep that newspaper airplane in mind for craft time!

You’ll appreciate hints of Alice in Wonderland, superheroes, fairy tales, mid-century modernism, elements of Mary Blair, along with all things whimsical.

(If you’re an educator, TOON’s got resources for you here. And Paper Darts has a nice interview as well as some of Thereza Rowe’s other work here.)

Images via Thereza Rowe and TOON Books.

This book was immediately my pick for a Valentine’s Day craft. And why, you ask? The paper airplane made from newspaper that carries Penelope’s heart! In the sky, over the trees, and into a castle.

It’s super simple. Make a paper airplane and put a heart in it to be carried away. (I love the idea of kids launching these around a room at each other!). You can keep it simple or make it as fancy as you want.

We lined our airplanes with another paper for a pop of color or pattern on the inside. Then we made exhaust tails out of whatever was on hand—pretty tissue paper, blue accordion ribbon. Cut out some hearts in whatever color you like, write a message (preferably aviation or postal related) and voila! Your valentine is ready to send!