LULLABY FOR THE KING by Nikki Grimes: A Picture Book Review and ARC Giveaway

The calendar tells me it's October, but before you know it, December will be here and it'll be time for the holidays. I'm getting ahead of the game with today's book review. Many of you are familiar with the multi-talented award-winning children's author Nikki Grimes. I've featured her books in verse for middle-grade students and young adults many times: Ordinary Hazards, Garvey's Choice, and Between the Lines to name three of them.

LULLABY FOR THE KING  (Beaming Books: 2023) is textually and visually very different from the previous books I've read by Nikki. It's certainly not her first picture book though! Click on this link and you'll see the great variety of books that Nikki has published.  

REVIEW

Each stanza of this fanciful depiction of the animals who come to honor the birth of Jesus Christ is accompanied by vibrant illustrations by Michelle Carlos.

The lyrical story opens with a beautiful sunrise celebration:

One magnificent morning in Israel,

when the sun warmed the Great Salt Sea,

word spread to every living creature:

The Holy One has, at last, been born.

A season of celebration can begin!

On the next few pages, we follow a "caravan of creatures" wending their way to Bethlehem--each with their own unique gift for the newborn King.

In an allusion to the wise men bringing gifts, an Antelope has an alabaster flask filled with myrrh, a Hawk has an incense stand of purest gold, and a Jackal carries frankincense along with a linen sash. But the similarity to the Biblical gifts ends there. Fanciful creatures--not people--fill these pages: a camel draped in crimson carting a cedar chest, a Hippo "lumbered heavily" carrying jugs of oil strapped to his girth, and a Stork "carefully cradled a bundle of wildflowers, scenting the air as she flew." Notice all of the wonderful alliterations!

As they turn pages together, both young and old readers will enjoy the variety of animals and the gifts they bring. Imagine in your mind the pictures that these words convey:

Sparrow--as always, silent and shy--

skimmed the wind, a silk sash round her wee throat,

holding grains of mustard and saffron--

all a small bird could hope to tote.

 

Tortoise, awhile, the Royal Prince of Slow,

trudged up from Tiberias

with a tambourine in tow.

At last, after traveling through the wilderness for "hours that spun into days" the colorful caravan arrives in Bethlehem. 

The first gift presented was Nightingale's hum,

which swelled into a glorious, sky-piercing chord

that reverberated through the stable

and startled the sleeping Lord.

As the animals bow before the Babe, the angels join them with a new lullaby:

Rest, sweet child from on high,

apple of your Father's eye.

We humbly honor you, O King.

Please bless each gift we bring you.

The brilliant watercolor illustrations will invite readers to explore every page. But remember: Nikki Grimes' words came first. She carefully constructed each image-filled phrase. 

GIVEAWAY

If you're interested in winning my ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) please leave me a comment by October 11. If you sign up to follow my blog or share this on social media, I'll put your name in twice. Make sure you leave your email address if you are new to my blog or send me an email. U.S. address only. 

Congratulations to Greg Pattridge who won Brook White's book, Cookie Cat and the Tagalongs. Greg plans to share the book with his students.

Avi, Auxier, Life after Death, and "Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard" Giveaway

Congratulations to Connie Saunders who won CALL ME SUNFLOWER from last week's blog.

This week I'm taking on a difficult topic: life after death. I have recently read two middle grade books which include references to eternal life. Although not the central theme of Avi's THE BOOK WITHOUT WORDS or Jonathan Auxier's SOPHIE QUIRE, protagonists in both books experience the death of important secondary characters. 

THE BOOK WITHOUT WORDS

In Medieval England Sybil, a young servant girl, is in bondage to Thurston, an alchemist determined to make gold and procure eternal life. In his quest, he creates green stones that give him magical powers and eternal life when swallowed. After swallowing the first stone, he "dies" but then comes back to life 20 years younger. In fact, he dies three time. 

"I must live because I don't want to die," he says. Each time Thurston thought he had outwitted death and was enabled to live life all over again. In an almost contradictory note, the narrator concludes that there is no magic because magic takes away what it gives, but life gives what it takes. 

SOPHIE QUIRE AND THE LAST STORYGUARD

Auxier provides a rich sequel to PETER NIMBLE AND HIS FANTASTIC EYES, which I listened to and enjoyed. Sophie Quire, a twelve-year-old bookmender is enlisted by Peter Nimble to save the world from the imminent destruction of all its storybooks. The Herculean quest on which Sophie and Peter proceed is layered with literary allusions, beautiful imagery, and the importance of books--often with inside jokes that writers will enjoy. 

I smiled at this reference to the hero's journey:

She had read enough stories in her life to be familiar with the trope in which heroes make a great show of being reluctant when told they must embark on a dangerous quest. They often refuse the call to adventure, only to change their minds at the very last moment. This had always bothered Sophie, who thought that such dithering was both unrealistic and unheroic. But now that she was the hero and she was being told she must embark on a dangerous quest, she suddenly understood just how difficult it was to take that first step. (p. 159)

But like THE BOOK WITHOUT WORDS, after important secondary characters die, magic brings them back to life.

LIFE AFTER DEATH 

In these novels for boys and girls, both Avi and Auxier are grappling with a huge truth: death happens. In my mind, they unveil the universal fear of one's own mortality. People don't want to die and would rather imagine they can live forever. 

Most young people don't think about death as a fact of life, unless confronted by the death of a close friend ore relative. How should writers who are writing for the children's or young adult market take on this subject?

Avi and Auxier chose to provide magical answers. To the question of what happens after death they've answered, "Magic can allow you to live forever." In my estimation, there is only one author and book that doesn't shy away from this tough subject and doesn't offer magic as the answer. 

In the gospel of John, there is a record of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Just prior to this miracle Jesus tells Lazarus' sisters, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die." (John 11: 25-25, New King James Version)

Jesus went on to demonstrate his power over death by rising from the dead, a miracle that was witnessed by the disciples on several occasions (Matthew 28: 16-17, Luke 24: 13-16, John 20: 1-2, 19, 24, by Paul (Acts 9: 3-5), and by 500 people (1 Corinthians 15:6).


I think that layered underneath Avi and Auxier's magical portrayal of characters coming to life is a fear of death itself. The author of Hebrews (most likely Paul) writes, 

"Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (Hebrews 2: 14)

There is life after death--but it's not obtained through magic. 

GIVEAWAY

For those of you who are my friends or faithful blog followers, you know that I don't often reference my faith in my book reviews or on this blog. I had such a strong reaction to both of these books that I felt compelled to write a response from a Christian perspective.

If you are interested in receiving my hard copy of SOPHIE QUIRE (provided by the publisher, Abrams) please leave me a comment by May 6th with your email address if you think I don't have it. I look forward to your comments about this post or  your thoughts on other children's books which have tackled this difficult topic of death.