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Kamal’s Kes + collage lotus flower craft
Kamal’s Kes by Baljinder Kaur (2021).
This picture book absolutely blooms, like the flower of the main character’s name and the ones that grace her comb, hair, and surroundings in the pages.
Kes (kay-s) in Panjabi means hair. And this story is about Kamal’s hair.
It blossoms with honesty about Kamal’s feelings about her hair, her difficult but ultimately welcoming feelings. It blossoms with a captivating blend of text and design. It blossoms with evocative artwork, with colors that reflect the earth and flowers. It blossoms with imagination. And it blossoms with a journey toward self-love that kids need to experience.
Like every offering from independent publisher, Saffron Press, it’s made with so much intentionality (and I know from being friends with the founder how much intentionality goes into everything Saffron Press does, truly). From Baljinder Kaur’s dedication (“For every being who inspires me to strive for better”) and lotus endpapers to the gorgeous cover’s mix of gloss and matte and FSC-assured paper to that wonderful journal page at the back, “A letter to mySelf” for kids to reflect and write on, Kamal’s Kes is imbued with care for books and for those who read them.
(click image(s) to enlarge)
Kid readers will recognize themselves in the story as they, too, either face or anticipate the prospect of growing up. Of changing. Of journeying into a different state from childhood and how jarring and painful that can be, especially when they don’t feel accepted for who they are as they change.
Once a source of pleasure and admiration, as it grows and appears elsewhere, Kamal’s hair becomes a sore spot. An unruly thing. A burden she wants to rid herself of because of “the stares” she receives. She begins to see herself in a distorted, disconnected way.
I love how Kamal’s portrayed as a monster, wild thing-esque. The portrayal reflects, to me, the way we feel when we’re lost in the suffering of rejection—from others, from ourselves. The middle of the book is a tumble of color and composition toward this next striking spread that puts us right there with Kamal in her desperation, her separation from herself, a painful place to be.
But Kamal is not there forever. She experiences hope. Acceptance. Self-love. The joy of being her.
“I am beautiful, Kamal whispered, and she dug her toes deeper into the earth, decorating herself with wisdom older than the sun.”
Kamal’s Kes is an incredibly joyful, hopeful, loving gift for children to embrace themselves and, like the earth and flowers, truly bloom.
Big thanks to Saffron Press for interior images!
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I’m so thrilled that Baljinder Kaur, the incredible artist and author-illustrator of Kamal’s Kes!!, is here to share a companion craft for this picture book. It was so kind of her to answer my approach with a yes to the idea of creating something! And that something is is fitting, meaningful, lovely. I hope you and yours will make one too.
Over to Baljinder!
The word Kamal also means lotus flower and has great spiritual significance in Sikh thought as a metaphor for an aspiring state of being. Just as the lotus floats and blooms amidst the murky waters, so can our being in the murkiness of our worlds. In this craft we’ll be making our own lotus flowers to celebrate Kamal’s own blooming in the story. These paper flowers can be used as decoration and serve as a reminder that we can all bloom and rise in our own unique and beautiful ways.
Thank you, Baljinder, for this book and this wonderful companion craft!!
Baljinder Kaur is an illustrator nestled in the middle of England, UK. She is passionate about the power of children’s books and their ability to transcend barriers and transform our social landscapes. She enjoys exploring through themes of the fantastical, the allegorical and the enchantingly ordinary. Her work often, and intimately reflects through the lens of a Panjabi and Sikh diaspora existence.
As a child of immigrants, she’s keen to share stories that help us to connect deeper; stories that celebrate our differences as well as our wonderfully interconnected nature.
Baljinder recently graduated with distinction from Cambridge School of Art with a Masters degree in Children’s Book Illustration. She was also awarded the 2022 CSACBI Illustration for Older Fiction Prize. Her work has been published by Penguin Random House, Saffron Press and Mighty Khalsa.
Follow Baljinder Kaur on Instagram.
And follow Saffron Press.
Don’t Worry, Little Crab + Paper Crab Puppets and Coloring Page from Mayel Creates!
Don’t Worry Little Crab by Chris Haughton (2020).
The title of this picture book is four words we could all use right now.
Not only is it a masterful story illustrated with striking, vivid art, it’s also an exploration of fear and of what it’s like to take little steps through fear. Little Crab shows us that everyone has the capacity to be stronger and braver than they think they are, to take on new challenges, and to experience gratification and growth around navigating waves and charting new waters.
Little Crab’s story is full of hope, and it could also be a way into talking to kids about fears they may have right now as well as the stuff that’s potentially still there in every moment even as there is so much anxiety and unknown and tragedy—little bits of beauty, the natural world, and their own ability to weather the waves.
When Little Crab and Very Big Crab first set out from their tide pool, headed to the ocean, Little Crab is full of confidence. “I can go anywhere!”
But then the first wave comes. “WHOOSH!” Turns out, the sea is very big, a lot bigger than Very Big Crab. And pretty scary, too. Little Crab doesn’t like it.
But Very Big Crab encourages Little Crab. They hold tight. They stick together. They let the wave whoosh and swoop and hurtle over them. They are okay. Little Crab is okay. But still, Little Crab wants to go home. Wouldn’t you? Especially when each new wave is bigger than the last.
There are more waves. There is more holding tight. There is more whoosh and swoop and hurtling. But Very Big Crab tells Little Crab that they’re together. That it will be OK.
And then, they dive under the very biggest wave. The feeling captured is so familiar to anyone who’s had the good fortune of being at the ocean, of diving into and under a wave, of the anticipation and apprehension of not knowing exactly what will happen next. Of hoping that in being swallowed up, you are still somehow safe.
And then, finally, there is the ocean—the down below sea! Little Crab, it turns out, does love the ocean and all the underwater creatures and a colorful game of hide and seek. Little Crab can go anywhere! In fact, Little Crab doesn’t want to stop adventuring in order to go home. Because there are wonderful things to be found at the end of some of the most challenging journeys. And even along the way.
Unlike Little Crab, we cannot go anywhere right now. Quite the opposite, in fact. We can stay home. Or we can go to an essential job with great care. We can go on a walk. Children, especially, cannot just go anywhere. They are more confined than ever. But all of us can always go places—anywhere, in fact—in our imaginations. In our minds. In our ability to, like Little Crab, have courage on the journey to the unknown.
You can take a further peek into the book as well as the book trailer at Chris Haughton’s website.
DON’T WORRY, LITTLE CRAB. Copyright © 2019 by Chris Haughton. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA on behalf of Walker Books, London.
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I connected with Mayel through Instagram (of course!) and am a big admirer of her creations. Her gift with paper crafting makes her a perfect person to pair with Don’t Worry, Little Crab, and she was kind enough to make something amazing for us that you can share with the kids in your life. Behold, her wonderful Paper Crab Puppets and Coloring Craft to match!
Over to Mayel!
Hello, my name is Mayel. I’m an artist, designer, creator of fun things at mayelcreates.com.
I’m so delighted Danielle asked me to do a craft specifically for Don’t Worry Little Crab; it’s a
simple, colorful way to talk about feelings with our littles and how sometimes things are not as we thought. I hope you’ll enjoy the process of making this craft and have fun with the end
result.
Let’s get started!
What you’ll need:
5 sheets of 8.5 x 11 colored paper in different colors. Suggestions would be fuchsia, violet, purple, yellow and orange.
A black marker
A pair of scissors
2 popsicle sticks
Glue stick
Pencil
White paper to print the background on
This PDF with the ocean background
Let’s start with the Big Crab.
Cut pieces of your colored paper to sizes below. Save the scraps for the Little Crab later; you’ll need the same colored paper.
Step 1. The Big Crab’s body.
Cut the corners of your 3 in. x 4 in. paper diagonally with the top corners being slightly bigger than the bottom like in picture A. The cut doesn’t have to be perfect—imperfections add character!
Step 2. The claws.
Take the 2 in. x 4 in. paper and fold in half horizontally (see picture B). Cut a triangle shape in the middle of the open end, away from the folded side, like in picture C. Cut about to halfway of the paper so the claw will look big enough. Tip: If you feel like the claws are too big for the body, you can shape to your desired size by trimming the sides. Lastly, cut the folded part of the paper to make 2 claws, see picture D. Put the pieces aside.
Step 3. The legs.
Take one of the .75 in. x 4 in. papers and fold each one into a “V” shape (see picture E). Do the same to the other piece. Set aside.
Step 4. Now for the eyes.Take the 2 in. X 2 in. square paper and fold in half. Draw a long upside down “U” shape like in photo F. Keep the paper folded and cut the “U” shape out (see picture G). You should now have 2 pieces of “U” shaped paper.
Step 5. Base of the eyes.
Take the .5 in. X 2 in. paper and lay on top of one of the “U” shape papers. Cut to the size of the bottom of the “U” (see picture H). This will be the base of the eyes. Do the same to the other “U” shape.
Step 6. Put it all together.
Lay all your pieces out and make your composition like picture I. Glue the pieces together to make it look like picture J. Tip: Only put a little bit of glue on the edges of the eyes and legs, then glue them onto the back of the body. For the claws, put glue on the edge away from the triangle then attach onto the front of the body.
Step 7. Dot in the eyes.
Now it’s time to draw in the eyes; see picture J. Think of where you’d like the crab to look—are they looking up or looking down? Place the dots where you’d like the big crab to look.
Step 8. Turn it into a puppet.
Grab the popsicle stick and glue onto the back of your big crab. Viola! You have your own crab puppet.
Step 9. The Little Crab.
Now, let’s do the same steps again to create the smaller crab. All you have to do is cut the leftover colored paper, only smaller sizes this time. You can make the pieces about 1 inch smaller than the big crab or even smaller if you’d like. When you get to Step 7, try drawing the eyes at a different spot than your big crab so they can look at each other or at different places.
Step 10. Let’s color the ocean!
For the final touch, let’s get coloring! Click here or go to https://www.mayelcreates.com/papercrabpuppet to download the drawing of the ocean (see photo L) and color your own background as you wish.
Hope you enjoyed this craft activity. I hope that you and a loved one can do it together and use it to talk about feelings during these unprecedented times. Even though some new things could be scary at first, if you keep giving it a try, you might find new and exciting ways to have an adventure.
Mayel Wei is an all around creative person. Once upon a time, she was an Advertising Art Director and Graphic Designer creating campaigns for Hollywood shows, but traded that glamorous life for a quiet one in the burbs: kids, picket fence and all. She creates whatever comes to mind with her minimalistic style and drawings. See more from Mayel on Instagram: mayelcreates, www.mayelcreates.com and on Minted.com.
Huge thanks to Mayel for creating this vibrant, playful, comforting craft!!
in a jar + memory jar craft
In A Jar by Deborah Marcero (2020).
This picture book has illustrations that are pure magic while the story is about the magic of the natural world, of friendship, and of memories—those we treasure and those we share.
(click image(s) to enlarge)
“Llewellyn was a collector. He collected things in jars.”
So simply starts In a Jar. We take in Llewellyn collecting all kinds of things from the world around them and cherishing them, remembering the moments they contained, and still do.
Then Llewellyn and Evelyn meet. They collect things—together. But they’re not things really, they’re snippets, souvenirs, strands of their experiences. And that’s where the magic comes in. Sunsets, the sound of the ocean, snowball fights, seasons. These are the things they collect in jars. It feels like they’re not owning these elements, but honoring them.
Their jars are the language of their friendship, the stuff of it. The bits they’ll keep in the vessels of their minds.
And when Evelyn needs to move away, there is pain, but there is also the joy of sharing new experiences, had separately, and letting friendship hold those too.
Deborah Macero‘s artwork shimmers with color and light, sketched lines and watercolor swishes. She has a special knack for skies, as evidenced in another picture book of hers, Ursa’s Light, and its celestial scenes.
A book for anyone yearning to hang on to moments, to savor and cherish them, and for anyone who loves someone who is separated by the distance of miles, but connected by memories—even new ones still traded and shared.
Big thanks to Penguin Young Readers for the review copy and images!
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Don’t you want to collect your own memories in a jar now? Rebecca Zarazan Dunn from Sturdy for Common Things is the ideal person to make a craft for this book because she is someone with a special way of capturing moments, memories, and seasons in her own life. She’s a former librarian, a maker, a reader, and from what I’ve observed, has a deep connection with nature and people.
Over to Rebecca!
In a Jar is a tenderhearted tribute to friendship and the power of shared experience.
What I found moving about Llewellyn and Evelyn’s story is how the two friends collected their shared experiences. They savored sights and sounds and adventures, bottling them up like prized trophies. I thought to myself how wonderful it would be to capture long shadows on a summer’s eve or a snowy day with a friend.
Recently, two young siblings had an eventful Saturday. From early on it felt special, so as the day unfolded they collected bits and pieces of their day into a mason jar. For moments they didn’t have objects for they wrote a note or drew a picture. Once all the memories were captured in the jar, they made it a label and placed the jar on a shelf– A not-too-high shelf so they can unscrew the jar and recall the day all over again any time they pleased.
Just like friendship or adventures of any sort, you don’t need much to have them. It’s the same with making a Memory Jar.
Here’s what you’ll need:
*A jar. Any old jar. We reused a mason jar. I also found a few more jars at our local thrift store.
*Paper, scissors, tape, and a writing utensil for labeling the jar.
*And most importantly, memories! Little objects or tokens or drawings or words that will remind you of the moment.
A memory jar is a time capsule of an hour, a day, an event, or an entire season. It can be a play date with a friend, a holiday, a new life experience, or a Saturday spent with family. You can make one alone, but like Llewellyn learns in the story, the best memories are made with someone dear to you.
Memory is a funny thing. We store so much information in our brains and beautifully small details often get pushed into a dark corner. Creating a memory jar has the potential of time-travel, resurrecting a once shadowed memory to the light. Time spent with those we love is ephemeral, and capturing these fleeting moments in a jar preserves the love and joy felt, especially if the person we shared it with isn’t always near.
If you enjoy wrangling adventures into jars, you will most likely enjoy other things on Rebecca’s blog Sturdy for Common Things. You can also follow her on Instagram @lovesreading.
Thank you, Rebecca, for sharing this meaningful craft and your reflections on the book and on memories with us!
You might like the post I collaborated on with Kellie at The Secret Society of Books on a few years ago. She made the loveliest bear cookies for Deborah Marcero’s book, Ursa’s Light!
the king of kindergarten + crown craft!
The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes and Vanessa Brantley-Newton (2019).
This picture book veritably bubbles with confidence, joy, triumph, and whimsy and was created by a dream team: Derrick Barnes, best known for the incredible Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut and Vanessa Brantley-Newton, who has many gorgeous books under her belt. (The author and illustrator have collaborated before as well on Ruby and the Booker Boys.)
(Click image(s) to enlarge)
“The morning sun blares through your window like a million brass trumpets.
It sits and shines behind your head—like a crown.”
Using the metaphor of a king going off to their kingdom for the first time, a child embarks on a first day of kindergarten. They’re buoyed by encouraging parents, a friendly teacher, and the knowledge that they’ve got this. And it’s especially nice to see a Black child as the focus of this empowering off to school book.
The King of Kindergarten sets a child’s mind at ease. It says that school doesn’t have to be scary, especially when you’re meant to be there, you have a place, you’re on a mission of soaking it up, of learning, and of kindness too.
The illustrations are as vibrant and reassuring as the words. Kindergarten is absolutely fizzing with fun and color, shapes and swirls. And that sun appears on many pages, shining behind the main character’s head—”like a crown.” Spotting the crown (there from the first spread on the character’s PJ’s!) and sun motifs is part of this delightful experience.
Read this one before school starts to get any young reader “ready to reign” (and play and learn and share and nap).
Big thanks to Penguin for review copy and images!
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The crown, sun, and colorful swirls of the art in this book were our inspiration for a crown craft to match. I enlisted Jen Pino from Vroman’s (who once contributed some picture book gems to this blog) because she is a passionate book person, a super talented craft person, a bookstagrammer, and a friend.
Over to Jen!
Hi! First off, I want to say a huge thank you to Danielle Davis for letting me be a part of celebrating this joyous book! I am a huge Vanessa Bantley-Newton fan and when I heard that Danielle wanted to do a craft around The King of Kindergarten, I immediately had to join in. A little about me: I absolutely adore crafting, but am not the greatest with providing instruction. However, I also believe that there are many different ways to create, so for those who are like me, this one’s for you.
We are going to make a crown worthy of a royal kindergartener.
What you’ll need:
Scissors
Colored paper
Something round
Puffy paint and markers
Glue
Craft twine
Pencil
Tape
To start off, I took craft twine and strung it around the top of my head as a sort of measuring device. I guess you could also use a tape measure. I then cut the twine at the right place and taped it to the table where I was working. From there, I lined up all of my yellow paper, glueing each at the seams, until it appeared that I had enough. A ruler would also be helpful for this process, if you have one on hand. I didn’t and so I drew a line where the twine ended on my paper and folded over the excess to meet that line. Then I was able to draw a straight line up and use that to cut that excess off.
After I had the right length, I drew the outline of a crown and then erased all lines that I didn’t need. Because I didn’t have a ruler, I again used the straight edge of another piece of paper to draw a line where the bottom of the crown should be.Then I proceeded to cut out the crown and the length that would wrap around my head.
Next, I got to work on a sun. Vanessa Brantley-Newtwon illustrates all these gorgeous suns throughout the book and I wanted to make sure I had one on my crown. This would be for the back, so that the crown could be worn on either side. Use any circular object and trace the top to get the base of your sun. Then you can draw some sun flares to cut out as well. After I had everything cut out, I glued all the pieces of the sun together and used my puffy paint and markers to give it a smile and blushed cheeks.
For the front of the crown, I wanted to include lots of swirls and pops of color, like Vanessa Brantley-Newton’s, whenever the characters are thinking or imagining. I drew out some blue swirls and a red blob and glued them to my crown, cutting off all excess paper. Next, I took my gold puffy paint and swirled it over the crown with my fingers (make sure you have something underneath your work!). I then added some white puffy paint details, a rainbow with my markers, some cut-out letters and another green swirl. Finally, when everything was glued down and had time to set (make sure your paint has time to dry), I glued both ends of my crown together.
And that’s it!
Thank you for this royal crown for this royally delightful book, Jen!!
Jen Pino works at the oldest and largest independent bookstore in Southern California, Vroman’s Bookstore. She’s worked there for almost 9 years and loves all things related to children’s books. Currently, she is the Book Buying Department Administrative Assistant and School Coordinator. Check out her bookstagram: Confessions of a Starstruck Bookseller (@coasbookseller), where she shares what’s new at Vroman’s Bookstore, reviews books, features gift guides, and showcases booksellers! Or take a look at her blog!
interview with the creators of Hands Up! + instagram book giveaway!
Hands Up! by Breanna J. McDaniel, illustrated by Shane W. Evans (2018).
I’m delighted to share my interview with both Breanna J. McDaniel and Shane W. Evans with you today. They’ve created this picture book, Hands Up!, which is a brilliant, jubilant book that turns a weighty, disturbing phrase around and celebrates the way the Black main character puts her hands up in everyday, beautiful ways.
It follows one little girl exploring all kinds of occasions on which she puts her hands up—waking, playing, learning, doing new tasks, celebrating, and being part of a family, a school, a team, and the wider community. It’s truly beautiful and the bright, textured illustrations feel seventies-inspired and radiate beams of color and joy. So many spreads, like the one below, truly remind me of music.
First, up, Breanna.
This Picture Book Life: How did the concept of Hands Up! come to you and what were you thinking about when you were first developing it?
Breanna J. McDaniel: I was thinking about disruption when I first started writing. I thought about the many instances where violence is the only response to Black people living and mattering in the US and I wanted to disrupt ideas about who Black children are and who they’re allowed to be. The image of Black people surrendering to others with their hands upraised and their humanity in question disturbs my spirit—especially when there are so many other times I’ve experienced this action outside of protest. I pulled on those experiences to focus on the humanity of those fighting for justice and for the right to live.
TPBL: What is your hope for this book? What impact would you like it to have on its readers?
Breanna J. McDaniel: My hope is that people understand that the children who will read it, children from so many experiences, will see themselves as leaders and helpers and beloved ones. My hope is that adults who read it will see the opportunities in their everyday lives to provide support and love to these children who are our past, future and present all brought together in one. These small moments are gifts and if we treasure them, if we take them in and shower grace and love, then we show that we appreciate and care. Children are our hope.
TPBL: Please tell us about the experience of seeing the illustrations for the first time.
Breanna J. McDaniel: I cried of course. There was no way that I could’ve imagined the joy and grace that Shane was able to capture in the illustrations. It does not matter that I’ve seen and admired his other work, even though I have. What he brought together through texture and fluid movement, is a perfectly timed story and a little girl who jumps off the pages!
TPBL: Did you originally have a vision for what the last spread (“As one we say, “Hands Up!”) would depict or was it left to the illustrator in your manuscript? What was important to you to be conveyed in that last instance of the phrase as it connects to the book as a whole?
Breanna J. McDaniel: I wanted there to be a march with signs that are straightforward and I wanted there to be a clear sense of community and purpose. Originally, they were going to be crossing a bridge and I had all sorts of symbolism in my mind for a spread with that image but this ending is perfect. Unity, collectiveness, connectedness, building together, these were all of the things at the forefront of my mind with that last line but I could only use a few words! “As one” I think brings it together.
Next up, Shane.
This Picture Book Life: You include in the artist’s note that in creating this book, “I stopped being afraid of raising my hands up, and stretching them high felt right.” Can you tell us more about your process creating the artwork for HANDS UP! and how that process has had an impact on you and your work?
Shane W. Evans: Process is more about trusting what it is that one sees within. The response to a word is a reaction and a response is one where one thinks, prays and feels something out. To act on impulse means that all that is around us as people brings us favor and that is and was the process for this book. To bring JOY back to the words that were once a warning yet always a joy is the essence of being and doing what one loves. The impact was getting back to the basic joy of creating, that’s a real joy.
TPBL: What was your response when you received this manuscript?
Shane W. Evans: My response was “I get it!” Meaning I see where we needed to go again with a topic that has been long under-spoken about, how do we prepare for joy.
TPBL: For the instances where the visual might have been up for interpretation, how did you make decisions about what to depict? (I’m thinking about “Stretch high! Almost there, hands up” or “Ready for takeoff, hands up!”) Did you and Breanna collaborate around the art?
Shane W. Evans: I meditate on it for a while then I let the pen or pencil show me ways to see it, try and try again… it usually comes, then be clear about the decision.
If I recall there was some suggestion as to what to draw although if I say “draw a red apple with hands” you will still see 10 variations if you have 10 different illustrators, so we tend to trust the process and let it be what it needs to be, that’s what collaboration is all about.
TPBL: The artwork throughout is so vibrant and joyful (even a cat jumps with its hands up in one illustration!). What inspired you as you worked on these pieces?
Shane W. Evans: The inspiration is trusting my process and all of the years of doing this work has shown me how to get to the best work with over 50 books and likely 1000’s of drawings from since I was a 5 year old I just know what tools to pick up for what jobs.
Thanks so much to both of you for sharing your responses about your experience making this wonderful book and to Dial Books for a review copy and images!
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Good news! I’m giving away one copy of Hands Up! Head over to my Instagram post for a chance to win. (U.S. only.)
