Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall

On the highest rock of a tiny island

at the edge of the world stands a lighthouse.

It is built to last forever.

Sending its light out to sea,

guiding the ships on their way.

From dusk to dawn, the lighthouse beams,

Hello!

  . . . Hello!

          . . .Hello!

           Hello, Lighthouse!

So begins Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall, the story of the life cycle of a lighthouse and its last keeper. Starting with the arrival of a new keeper, the lighthouse weathers it all. Blankets of fog, carpets of ice (and three friendly seals!), as well as the arrival of the keeper’s wife alongside the tender bringing pork and beans. In stormy weather and peaceful weather, the lighthouse beams hello, especially with the birth of a new baby.

Life goes on inside and outside the lighthouse, and after a few years, the keeper receives a letter with the news that a new light will be installed. A light without a lamp or a wick--a lighthouse without a keeper. And so as the story ends, so too, does the keeper’s time at the lighthouse. But it is a new beginning for both the little family and the lighthouse, and the lighthouse continues to beam its light out into the world, calling, “Hello! Hello! Hello!”

Sophie Blackall’s beautiful ink and watercolor illustrations give the book a timeless feel. Her circular imagery repeated throughout the book, emphasizing the cycle of life, the passage of time, of beginnings and endings, is particularly well done. Hello Lighthouse joins a canon of classic books such as Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton, or The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown. With each reading of the book, the reader will discover a new detail in Blackall’s illustrations, and always, there is a feeling of home that pervades her stories and her art, and Hello Lighthouse is no exception.

Looking for a signed copy of Hello Lighthouse?

What we can all learn about LOVE from Matt de la Peña's newest picture book

You will linger over the words on each page of Matt de la Peña’s (Last Stop on Market Street) newest picture book, Love. Illustrated by Loren Long (creator of the Otis the Tractor series), this is an ode to kindness, to the forms of love we share in our families and in our communities that are not celebrated on a Hallmark card. This book shows love’s many and varied journey through the world. The narrative voice in this book speaks to the child and leads the young reader by the hand to show examples of love that a child may not recognize. The images de la Peña uses to describe love are from the child’s point of view. The very first illustration is from the child’s vantage point in a crib looking up at his/her parents, with the words,

In the beginning there is light

and two wide-eyed figures standing

near the foot of your bed,

and the sound of their voices is love.

The narrative voice goes on to call the music in the back of the cab driver’s cab, the color of the sky at sunset, and after playing in summer sprinklers, the narrator says to the child, “the echo of your laughter is love.” 

And yet, love is not just in things seen or heard in the natural world, but most importantly, the selfless actions of one human for another. The turning point of this picture book is where Loren Long shows two young boys, perhaps brothers, the elder holding out a piece of toast to his younger brother, where a figure outside the window walks in the snow towards the bus. Accompanying that illustration are the words:

And in time you learn to recognize 

a love overlooked

A love that wakes at dawn and

rides to work on the bus.

A slice of burned toast that tastes like love.

The full effect of this book is magnificent. Matt de la Peña’s words shine through his gift for lyricism, his finger on the pulse of those small moments that often go unseen, but are, indeed, love.

Nothing Rhymes with Orange by Adam Rex

Finally, Adam Rex has addressed the truth of the matter in a hilarious picture book called Nothing Rhymes With Orange. Maybe, you too, have tried to rhyme orange before, with little success? But does Rex succeed?

The book starts off with the rhyming line “Who wouldn’t travel anywhere to get an apple or a pear?” On the second page, the rhyme continues, “And if that chum hands you a plum, be fair and share that treat!” Stage left, an orange wearing boots peeks around the corner of the page.  Then, he asks, “Hey, are you going to need me for this book?” But all the other fruit ignore him, and carry on singing the refrain found throughout the book, which is “Fruit! They’re healthy happy colorful and cute!” And the way Rex illustrates the fruit (by drawing eyes, mouths, arms, and legs onto a photograph of real fruit, they do indeed look cute and happy). But poor orange is left out of the singalong.

The book takes an odd turn featuring a rhyme of “peachy” with “Friedrich Nietzsche,” as if to emphasize the ridiculousness that Nietzsche gets some prime-time space in a picture book for children, but orange is still being ignored! When the pear turns into a pearwolf, the orange says, “This book’s sorta gone off the rails.” But that’s what I love about it.

At the end of the book, the reader sees orange, alone on the white page, looking downcast and glum. Before long, the other fruit find him, singing, “But the fruit are feeling rotten, ‘cause there’s someone we’ve forgotten!”

Of course, it’s orange. But I’m not going to tell you if he rhymes with anything!

*Advisory: Laughter may ensue

We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen

Two turtles. One cowboy hat. Who will wear the hat? We Found A Hat is a picture book told in three parts in the desert, in the style of a silent Western Film that introduces the upcoming scenes. Klassen is the master of sly humor. How can one turtle's eyes convey so much expression? Nevertheless, without them saying much, the readers can imagine what the turtles might be thinking. The text of the turtle that is speaking appears on the same page as the illustration of the turtle. 

What are you dreaming about?
I will tell you what I am dreaming about?

This is Klassen's third book about hats, following I Want My Hat Back and This Is Not My Hat. Klassen won the Kate Greenaway Medal in the UK and the Caldecott Medal in the United States in 2012 for This Is Not My Hat, and he is the only person to have won both medals in the same year.

As the sun sets in the desert in We Found A Hat, the turtles both try on the hat and try to forget that there is only one hat, and two of them. When one turtle says to the other, “What are you thinking about,” the other turtle replies, “Nothing.” His eyes slide to the left in slow-motion, where he is clearly eyeing the hat on the opposite page.

With pared down text, this conversation between two turtles is the perfect bedtime story to read aloud. Which turtle will wear the hat in the end? Read this book and find out! 

Author and Illustrator Jon Klassen

Interview Session: Gilbert Ford, author of The Marvelous Thing That Came From A Spring

Today I’m interviewing GILBERT FORD, the author and illustrator of THE MARVELOUS THING THAT CAME FROM A SPRING: The Accidental Invention of the Toy that Swept the Nation

You may recognize his artwork on the front of some book covers in your bookstore...and these are just to name a few. You can see more covers on his website.

Gilbert and I both grew up in Jackson, MS, so it is a pleasure to interview him on what is possibly one of his most groundbreaking books to-date! He now lives in Brooklyn as a shut in, writing and illustrating from home.

Here, Gilbert answers some questions about what got him started as a writer/illustrator, his incredible illustration process for this book, and how he decided to write a picture book about the invention of the slinky.  

Author and Illustrator Gilbert Ford

When did you get your start as a writer/illustrator? How long have you been writing and illustrating?

I got my start when I was hired as a junior graphic designer at a small giftware company called Galison. They saw that I was creative so they transferred me to Mudpuppy, the kids’ division that they were trying to rebrand. At first, it was just my boss (Lorena Siminovich) and me. We had to come up with products and Lorena allowed me to write and illustrate an activity book. It did well and that gave me an appetite for writing and illustrating more books. That was 12 years ago.

What were some of your favorite books as a child? Authors, illustrators, you name them.

For middle grade it was Roald Dahl books illustrated by Quentin Blake. I still love them.

For picture books, Chris Van Allsburg’s serious and mysterious stories and artwork inspired me. But I also loved the more playful and goofy stories of James Marshall.

Who are some of your favorite authors and illustrators that inspire you today?

Oh wow. There are a lot. I’m friends with a bunch of illustrators and writers in New York City who inspire me, give me career advice, and cheer me on. In fact, there’s so many of us that Peter Brown hosts a kidlit meet up every month in Brooklyn. Last time I went, I talked to Samantha Berger, Paul Zelinsky, Caron Levis, Michael Buckley, Dan Yaccarino, Angela Dominguez, Mike Curato, and Joyce Wan. I know I’m forgetting people and there are others all over the country that I keep in touch with through Facebook.  So I’ll just name a few whose work I like but I haven’t met: Neil Gaiman, Tomi Ungerer, and Miranda July.

Interior Illustration of Inventor Richard James from
The Marvelous Thing That Came From A Spring

Describe, in your own words, why you decided to create a picture book about the history of the Slinky and its inventor, Richard James.

I have a Slinky on my desk. If I’m not pacing around my apartment brainstorming, then I’m holding the slinky in my hands, hoping the magic idea will come to me. So that’s what sparked my interest.

What I liked about the story was that Richard and Betty James were able to change people’s perception of what appeared to be a common torsion spring into a marvelous plaything. At first, the stores laughed at them when they tried to sell it.  It took just the right name and presenting it in just the right way to change the world’s perception of what it was.

So I wanted the book to inspire children to become inventors, too. With most bios, the invention is usually something completely out of reach for a child to do at their age. I understand that discovering electricity or inventing the telephone is something to aspire to, but the Slinky isn’t super complex, yet it was wildly successful. My hope is that after a read, the child will look at everyday objects with a sense of wonder and think of new uses for them. Anyone can do this simple gesture and become an inventor!

Interior illustration from
The Marvelous Thing That Came From A Spring

Describe your unique illustration process. This book in particular has amazing dioramas. What compelled you to work in 3-D?

Because I knew what the takeaway was, I had to be inventive with the artwork to reflect the story. The process for creating the dioramas was involved and used a lot of the current desktop publishing technology. I’m not sure if there is anything quite like it on the market. I’ll include the video for reference:

http://gilbertford.com/news/?p=3432

In every illustration, I tried to invent a new use for a found object in the diorama, to get the child thinking. So I used a washrag to represent a neighborhood lawn. I used a chalkboard to represent a starry night, a match to represent a pencil, and a Cool Whip cap to represent a trashcan. Discovering what was repurposed in these illustrations will be half the fun for the parent and child when they read the book a second time.

Note the washrag used as the lawn in
The Marvelous Thing That Came From A Spring

When creating a picture book, do you have the words in mind first, or the pictures?

I used to draw the pictures first and come up with the writing later and it never worked. It’s better to come at it by finding just the right story to tell, writing it in just the right way, and then illustrating it.

That lightbulb moment in The Marvelous Thing That Came From A Spring

What do you love about creating picture books for children (and adults)?

I love telling stories. I love to write, and I love to create artwork. When I’m able to combine all three, it’s more satisfying than Black Russian Cake, topped with a Kahlua glaze, sprinkled with bacon—all of that without any guilt!

Interior illustration from
The Marvelous Thing That Came From A Spring

What is next for you? Any future projects for us to look forward to?

Soldier Song (by Debbie Levy), an 80 page picture book about how music was used in the Civil War, comes out in February of 2017. In fall of that same year, another book I’ve authored and illustrated hits the shelves. It’s called How the Cookie Crumbled and it’s a nonfiction picture book about the invention of the chocolate chip cookie.

That cookie book sounds DELICIOUS! I can’t wait! 

Thanks for stopping by Twenty by Jenny, Gilbert!

Buy a signed copy of THE MARVELOUS THING THAT CAME FROM A SPRING here!