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13 months - January 2008 - January 2009

"My children are in college now and just begining to prepare to leave the nest. When I sent them your calendar I was quite surprised at what they told me. 'Mom, this a magnificent moment in history to be breathing and feel so alive. This election is for us and our children. It is our time to plan our destiny.' Now, at home, I look at your calendar and recall how I felt in the seventies when I knew I had a destiny that was very much determined by the right to vote. Your work is much appreciated." Sarah, homeschooling mom, Charlottesville, Virginia

Open Letter to
Parents and Teachers

 

In this handsome picturebook, Puybaret’s atmospheric paintings, all gently curving lines and scrupulous precision, give new life to the old Peter, Paul and Mary song. Honalee (originally inspired by a cave in Hawaii) is a magic land of fairies, drifting mist, flat blue seas and impossibly slender trees. There are elegant castles and viaducts on the tops of its hills and the rocks and plants have faces. Puff, who combines a sweet cartoon expression with the delicate poise of Ucello’s famous dragon, plays with dolphins in sailor’s stripes and mortar boards (suggesting intelligence), pirates influenced by Peter Pan and potentates from the Arabian Nights. The pictures temper the theme of loss as Jackie Paper grows up and leaves the island by depicting a happy coda – a new friend for Puff in the next generation, Jackie’s daughter. The book comes with a CD of the song and other tunes, mellowly performed by Yarrow and his daughter Bethany. For ages 2 - 5

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How did you get involved with writing and illustrating?

I had just graduated from college and was living in the mountains of Colorado and pursuing a lucrative career in ski instruction. Anyone who has ever worked in this field or any of the ski related service industries knows the deal. Get rich quick, and get out. But despite this early success I was still exploring my creative options figuring I’d need something to occupy my time during my early retirement. I’d been doodling a little hairless, earless character named Max and began writing him into stories where he gets ready to go skiing or skating or drag racing or something.

He had a little sidekick named Pinky that resembled a pig only he didn’t have legs… or a body… or a neck. Just a tail out of the back of his head. A shuffling pig head? Adorable! Now that I think about it, my characters always seem to be missing significant body parts and facial features, because it was another year before Pinky had legs and Max had ears. And they still don’t have more than dots for eyes! Where am I? Anyway, Pinky started working his way into the stories and pretty soon they were a pair. And blah, blah, blah, they’re published!

In their finished form, Eaton's sketches are illuminated with the kind of bright, simple colors that you see in Sunday morning comics. Eaton is colorblind, but with the help of a computer — and an art director at Knopf — he was able to find just the right palette for Max and Pinky's adventures! by Brian Mann, NPR

It isn't often you run across a story for children that has much more to it than meets the eye. Cheryl Block's Rainbow Web is not only delightful if you know what a rainbow is, but it is also full of discovery as she subtlely lays out some of nature's ways for a child.

Cheryl shifts the lens a bit by giving a small spider the ability to see beauty in a web that is sparkling in the bright sunshine with morning dew drops. Cheryl takes this one idea and weaves in wonderful connections between the spider's experiences and nature's ways that run below the surface of each page. Her invisible warp and woof is what forms the fabric of discovery for her young readers. It is these connections that give Rainbow Web its power; it allows nature's ways to be accessible to a young mind. Rainbow Web is a book a child will pull off the shelf over and over to enjoy the connections between the spider's own rainbow web and his survival.
 

A STORY for All

David Shannon is a talented illustrator and writer of children's stories. His sensitivity is way beyond the norm when it comes to how children perceive the world. After reading A Bad Case of Stripes, you find yourself thinking about little Camilla and how she desperately wants to have friends. That desperation leads her, as it leads many of us, into a world of pain and frustration. After you read this story you realize you know children who do this, adults who do this. Desperation is a glacial sized emotional roller coaster. And if you stop and think a moment, children are especially prone to this kind of behavior because they are helpless in the face of a bossy parent or guardian or a bossy classmate. David Shannon has addressed a huge problem within our population. A Bad Case of Stripes is a must read of the important children's books that are now making their rounds in libraries and bookstores across this country.

David Shannon has written and illustrated such books as:
No, David!, by David Shannon (Scholastic Inc.)
David Goes to School, by David Shannon (Scholastic Inc.)

The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza, by David Shannon (Scholastic Inc.)
A Bad Case of Stripes, by David Shannon (Scholastic Inc.)
The Bunyans, by Audrey Wood (Scholastic Inc.)
How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball, by David Shannon (Scholastic Inc.)
The Rain Came Down, by David Shannon (Scholastic Inc.)

 

There isn't a book that makes a point to a child so simply and non-threateningly as A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon. Do you recall trying to please someone when you were a child ? Trying g to please your father? Your mother? A teacher? Your friend? Or, do you recall watching a friend of yours who was always trying to please his father, mother, teacher? When you do recall this kind of behavior you will also remember the associated stress, the physical sicknesses that appeared in this kind of relationship. Perhaps it was asthma, constant indigestion, rashes, inability to sleep through the night, fear attacks, and on and on.

Trying to please another person is always stressful, especially if that person never approves of you and will never approve of you. It is a losing battle. In A Bad Case of Stripes David Shannon allows a child to watch another child reap the consequences of this kind of behavior. And he skillfully accomplishes this through a story line that is non threatening and very believable. The accompanying illustrations are exceptional. Shannon's use of strong strokes of color portend the dangers in such behavior.

Little Camilla tries to please other children. They hate lima beans, so she decides she hates lima beans too. That way, she reasons, other children will like her. She would do anything just to be liked. She becomes ill with a bad case of stripes. You watch her body change as she is examined by Specialists, Experts and psychologists, herbalists, allergists who all voice their conclusions that she is suffering from various infections or maladies. First stripes appear all over her body. Then these stripes fade into fuzzy little virus balls which change into squiggly little bacteria tails. She is mentally trapped into this unforgiving mind set of desperately wanting to please others until an old lady comes to her door and coaxes her to try some lima beans, the food she really likes. She tries them, listening to her real self. This is the cure to a happy Camilla without A Bad Case of Stripes.

A good book is like a good song. You take it with you throughout your day, thinking about its meaning, especially during the mundane moments of your day. This book is a powerful book. Every child would benefit from this story. I would strongly suggest talking to your children about this kind of behavior. Do they have any friends who act like they want to please their parent, teacher, friend? How do they feel about this kind of behavior? Do they think this kind of behavior is good? Are your children aware that those who want to please some other person are often sick; they have more colds, flu, rashes, than normal? If your children comment about another child missing so much school take a moment and ask your children about this other child's behavior: Does he want to please the teacher a lot? Does he want to please his father or mother all the time? Be perceptive, parent! This is a very common condition children live with today. It's a natural reaction for a child who lives with an aggressive parent or has an aggressive teacher to "try to please this bossy person."

Find a great reveiw of David Shannon at: http://cbcbooks.org/cbcmagazine/meet/davidshannon.html

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Jim Thurman, a Physical Therapist at Valley Physical Therapy, has one important message for his patients: GROW STRONG

This is what we all want in a book store. Peace and quiet comes to mind first. Plus, this bookstore/cafe is very cozy. Sit and have a quiet moment witih a cup of tea and a special treat to nibble on while you look over a new book or visit with a friend. The staff is very helpfyul and polite.

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