Two Destinations, Two Picture Books, Two Reviews, and Two Giveaways

Today I have two more lovely picture books courtesy of Sleeping Bear Press. If you're hankering to get a glimpse into Michigan or the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, you're in the right spot.

REVIEWS

OUR MICHIGAN!

Our Michigan! We Love the Seasons is written and illustrated by Gijsbert Van Frankenhuzen, who has illustrated 34 books for Sleeping Bear Press-- many about Michigan--Sleeping Bear's home state. Each season is shown through the author's paintings accompanied by brief, sensory descriptions.

Spring in Michigan is walking near a pond and hearing croaking frogs, running through daisy meadows, and...

Summer in Michigan is seagulls at the water's edge,

riding a ferryboat,

and counting stars in the summer night.

Autumn in Michigan is... 

"hearing dry leaves scrunch under foot," and watching the beautiful sunset "over green-gold hills."

Winter is foxes tracking through snow, "smelling the smoke from a wood fire," and...

*****

Lulu & Rocky in Rocky Mountain National Park

My blog readers will probably recognize Lulu and Rocky, stars of this adorable series written by Barbara Joose and illustrated by Renee Graef. In this fifth book, the two fox-boxing cousins explore Rocky Mountain National Park along with their sidekick Pufferson. (I blogged about their trip to Indianapolis here, and to Milwaukee here, ) If you are new to this series, each book includes a map showing where the characters visit. The stories include interesting facts which will inform children (and adults!). 

Every Lulu and Rocky book begin with an invitation from Aunt Fancy. Although we never get to meet her, she's a silent planner behind every trip. This is the image before the story begins:

"A purple envelope arrives...'Are you ready for an adventure?'" Aunt Fancy writes. Immediately, Rocky starts packing.

He meets his cousin Lulu and their guide Henry at the Stanley Hotel. The next day they hike, find a squabbit (a type of squirrel that looks like a rabbit because of its long ears) and set up camp. The next day they hit the trail again, this time on horses.

Their adventure includes learning about the Junior Rangers program, singing around a campfire with the coyotes, and 

They watch bighorn sheep nibble on grass, applaud a shooting star show, and "bump over switchbacks and hairpin turns in the thrills-and chills roller-coaster ride of a lifetime!

At the Alpine Visitor Center they buy souvenirs and leave the park how they found it--which is what Junior Rangers pledge to do.

The book ends with the author's signature finale. As the friends say goodbye to all they've seen and done, they "shout goodbye to the Rockies..." 

Which is such a wonderful way to end their adventure.

BACK MATTER

Both books have additional information at the end of the book. 
Our Michigan! has two pages of craft activities. Lulu and Rocky in Rocky Mountain National Park includes two pages of definitions. 

GIVEAWAYS

If you prefer one book over the other, please let me know in the comments. And PLEASE leave your email address if you are new to my blog. Continental U.S. addresses only. The giveaway ends Friday, September 24 at 6 PM, so enter now!

Congratulations to Gail Hurlburt who won WITHOUT SEPARATION from last week's blog.

Summer of the Tree Army: A Picture Book Review and Giveaway

 I'm happy to share another new release by Sleeping Bear Press, Summer of the Tree Army: A Civilian Conservation Corps Story written by Gloria Whelan (who is still publishing books at 97!) and illustrated by Kirbi Fagan. 

REVIEW

This is a fictional account of a young boy, Charlie Brightelot, who encounters the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) building cabins in the woods near his Michigan home.

When he asks his parents about the cabins, his mother says they are young men who need jobs because of the depression. His father clearly states his disdain for the CCC. "From what I hear, all they do is eat three meals a day, sleep, and sit around."

Over the summer, Charlie found the young men planting trees in a place where "dead tress rose like skeletons" from a forest fire.

Charlie meets a young man wearing the CCC uniform who is lost in the woods and seems scared.

Charlie invites Luke to fish with him  and a friendship blossoms. He brings Luke home for a home-cooked meal and although Mr. Brightelot isn't very welcoming, Charlie's mother knows a hungry boy when she meets one.

The next day, a forest fire breaks out nearby. Charlie's father decides to go help the "city boys" and although Charlie is warned not to follow, he's a boy. So, of course he hops a ride without his father's knowledge.

When they get there, the CCC men are in the middle of fighting the fire by digging trenches. By mid-afternoon the fire dies away. 

Despite himself, Charlie's father has to admit, "Those CCC boys earned their keep. The folks around here owe them a huge thanks."

The story ends with Mr. Brightelot affirming Luke's work and a sweet statement about the boys' great summer. 

This book takes place in a time when boys could spend hours in the woods; Kirbi Fagan's Norman Rockwell-like illustrations reflect that time period. Both the author and illustrator call Michigan home and the book, a part of the Tales of Young American series, reflect their love for the state. This book will be a fine elementary school resource for home and classroom libraries.

GIVEAWAY

If you're interested in winning my copy of this book, please leave me a comment by 6 PM on May 7. Leave your email address if you are new to my blog. For additional chances, share this post on social media or start following my blog--just let me know which you do in the comments.

Two Nature Picture Books and Two Giveaways!

Congratulations to Jan Brent for winning the ARC of Jo Hackl's debut novel, SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF MAYBE.

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NATURE'S FRIEND: The Gwen Frostic Story

Like myself, you might not have heard of Gwen Frostic, a 20th century Michigan artist. Author Lindsey McDivitt and illustrator Eileen Ryan Ewen have produced a beautiful tribute to a woman who would not allow her physical disabilities to keep her from the art she loved (Sleeping Bear Press, 2018). 

As a baby, Gwen contracted a disease similar to cerebral palsy. Although it left her with slurred speech and she frequently fell down, she worked her hands extra hard just to learn how to write. "She sketched and scribbled. She doodled and drew. Gwen's grip grew stronger and stronger."

Throughout her childhood, "Nature felt like a friend, pulling her out to play." In high school she signed up for mechanical drawing--"learning to use rulers and compasses to draw machines--and the men squawked like angry blue jays." 

In art school Gwen discovered how to make prints from blocks she carved out of linoleum. Eventually she launched Presscraft Papers stationary company which is still in business today. Drawn to the outdoors, she relocated to Lake Michigan's Betsie Bay so she could capture nature in her artwork.  

Nature's Friend is a lovely tribute to a woman who once said, "Love this earth, love its waters...care enough to keep it clear." 

AN EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY MOTH

In another lovely nature picture book, Author Karlin Gray and illustrator Steliyana Doneva, team up to bring young readers a story in rhyme celebrating an ordinary moth (Sleeping Bear Press, 2018). 

Although the moth feels like it's not as massive as an Atlas moth, as beautiful as a butterfly, or as graceful as a Luna Moth, a young boy is delighted when he finds it:

"A moth! A moth!"

a boy then screams.

He's running up to me.

I freeze and blend in with the wall.

Maybe he won't see.

But when his twinkling eyes shine bright...

his smile grows wide with pure delight...

His happy face is such a sight...

I move forward toward his joyful light. 

I enjoyed the moth's "metamorphoses" at the end -- not into another insect-- but rather into an appreciation of itself. This last poem reminds me of Miriam Franklin's debut novel, EXTRAORDINARY.  

So how 'bout that?!

I'm someone's FAVORITE!

Little, grayish me--

proof of how

EXTRAORDINARY

Ordinary can be.

GIVEAWAYS

I am giving away these books, both excellent curriculum supplements with activities included, through the summer issue of Talking Story on "The Great Outdoors."  Leave me a comment here (including your preference) and I'll add your name to the list. Leave a comment through Talking Story and your name will go in twice. Don't forget to leave your email address if you are new to my blog. Giveaway ends July 23. 

AND JUST BECAUSE...

Since to my knowledge a book that I've featured has never been on a billboard before, I have to share this picture that I grabbed from Eileen Ryan Ewen's Facebook page!

Behind the Scenes with Monika Schroeder and an Autographed Book Giveaway

Congratulations to Sandra Warren who won my ARC of  BE LIGHT LIKE A BIRD. In this week's post, Monika Schroeder provides some behind the scenes information about writing her newest middle grade novel AND offers an autographed copy as a giveaway.

CAROL: I’m curious about the backstory behind this book. It’s very different than your previous books and I’m wondering how you got interested in the topic of landfills. Why Michigan? Do you have a personal connection to the area or the topic? 

MONIKA: My husband is from Michigan and we inherited a cabin that his father built on an island in the Upper Peninsula. (We actually got married there.) Here is an excerpt of my answer regarding the setting I gave for an interview with School Library Journal:

"I often start a book with setting. The 'seed idea' for Be Light Like a Bird came to me the first time I saw a landfill. My husband and I had cleaned out the cabin my husband inherited from his father in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I couldn't believe it when he drove all the stuff to a landfill nearby, a big hole where people bury unwanted items. In Germany we recycle or incinerate most of our garbage, so it left an impression on me when I saw a guy dropping a vacuum cleaner, a book shelf and an entire carpet into this landfill...a cemetery for junk.

I learned more about this landfill and read about the people in the community who had fought its expansion. Then I asked myself a "What if...?" question: What if there were a girl who loved birds and whose bird watching was threatened by the expansion of the landfill? Once I had that girl in my mind I found myself asking more and more about her life. How did she get to Michigan's Upper Peninsula? And why was birding so important to her? I learned that her father had recently died and that her mother had more or less dragged her up north. She was grieving and lonely and once she arrived in Upper Michigan she came up with a plan to make her mother stay. From there the story of Wren developed."

CAROL: How did you come across the turtle and Native American connection? I assume that is true? It definitely adds another dimension to the book. 

MONIKA: In my research I found articles that mention the ceremonial use of turtle shell rattles among Chippewa Indians and several archaeological sites around the Great Lakes contained fragments of turtle shells. I did, however, not find any written evidence of the excavation of a Native American burial site on the Upper Peninsula with such rattles. I had read stories in the paper about constructions sites for road building in the area having to be stopped after possible Native artifacts or remains were found.

I called the former head of the Sault Tribe Office of Cultural Repatriation in Sault Ste. Marie, MI and asked him about the shell. He said in our phone conversation that turtle rattles were used for many purposes but they also were burial gifts and under the right soil conditions they could survive and be found. 

The article the librarian finds and uses in the council meeting remains fictional, but I think that is okay, given the possibility of such findings.

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If you haven't already, you can read my review of Be Light Like a Bird on last week's blog. Plus, Monika is generously giving away an autographed copy; leave me a comment by October 20 for a chance to win. If you are new to this blog or share this on social media, I'll enter your name twice. Please, let me know what you do and leave your email address if I don't have it. 

Monika with Frank, the dog she and her husband
adopted when they were in India.

Be Light Like a Bird: A Review and ARC Giveaway

Congratulations to Connie Saunders and Karen White who won copies of AIM from last week's blog. Thanks to everyone who left comments.

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In August I featured Susan Campbell Bartoletti, a faculty member at Highlights Foundation Summer Camp. Her keynote was so packed with information that it was impossible to give you everything she said. In this blog post I use more of her points to review Monkia Schroeder's latest middle grade novel, BE LIGHT LIKE A BIRD.

Major Dramatic Question

In that previous post, I quoted Susan as saying that every book should have a MDQ--A Major Dramatic Question that can be answered yes or no.

In BE LIGHT LIKE A BIRD, Monika poses this dramatic question for Wren, the protagonist: Will she and her mother resolve her father's death? The answer to that question drives many scenes and is raised again at the climax of the book. 

Key Scenes

Susan offered a working description of key scenes which Patti Gauch shared while helping her with her first novel. You might not want to use it as a writing formula, but it’s a helpful approach to analyze your work as well as other writers' novels. 

A Scene that Incites: Wren's father's plane crashes and his remains are never found. We read,

After the search-and-rescue people called, there was an explosion in my brain, and a cloud appeared, spreading out over everything. The cloud pressed down on me like overstuffed down bedding, the kind you want to push away so you can breathe. Except there was nothing I could do to lift it. The cloud made all my thoughts seem as though they came through a fun-house mirror, like the one Dad and I had stood in front of at the county fair last year, laughing...It made it hard to think. 

It was because of the cloud that I didn't notice at first how much Ma had changed. I didn't remember her often being angry before... (p. 9)

The cloud over Wren and her mother's anger trigger their reactions. Wren's mother goes from town to town in a seeming random effort to escape their past. She refuses to talk about Wren's father, leaving Wren angry, confused, and the two estranged from one another. They end up in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan and for the third time within a few weeks, Wren starts attending a new school. 

A Scene that Agitates: Wren's new teacher asks the students to find a controversial topic for a class presentation. She mentions that the township plans to expand the landfill. In this snippet, we meet Theo, the dorky kid in class who is a loner, like Wren. 

"They've already started to survey the area, I blurted out. "I saw it. It's so sad!"
"There's nothing wrong with it," Carrie piped up. "My dad runs the landfill. They just need more space."
I frowned. Why did I not know that about her?
"Who cares about that swamp anyway?" Carrie added.
"Pete's Pond is not just a swamp," I said quietly. In my mind I added, There's actually a wetland surrounding the pond with very exciting bird life.
"Sounds like this is already controversial here in our classroom," Mrs. Peters said with an encouraging smile. "Theo what do you think?"
Theo was the master of pauses. He didn't seem to mind that a gigantic silence spread out, hovering in the middle of the conversation. He just sat there, thinking about an answer. "I wonder why we need that space to bury garbage," he finally said. "The town hasn't grown very much."
Mrs. Peters gave us a big smile. "Looks like you've already figured out why this is an interesting issue." She wrote our names and the topic on her chart. 
After school Carrie and Victoria left the building together, giggling as if they had known each other forever, just like a pair of turkey hens." (p. 62-3)

A Scene that Confuses and A Scene When the Character Faces Choices. Wren is at recess with Carrie and Victoria, the two girls who she hopes will like her. Wren has been doing Carrie's math homework in an attempt to win her friendship. Victoria is reading through a quiz in Miss Magazine that determines if you're compatible with a friend. Victoria asks, 

"If you had to spend a week on a deserted island and could only take three things what would you take?"
"That's easy," Carrie said. "I'd take my gel pens, my journal, my pink sweater."
"I'd take my photo album, my favorite quilt, and my pink jacket," Victoria said.
If I had to spend a week on a deserted island, I would take matches so I could make a fire. I'd take my binoculars to observe birds or watch for a boat to come. I'd also need a pocket knife. But I knew I couldn't say what I really thought.
"I would take..." I began slowly.
But Victoria was already reading the next question.  She looked at me, and when I didn't finish my sentence she said, "Okay you can come back to that one." Then she read the last question: "What is your favorite hobby?"
Carrie spit out her answer. "Playing tennis."
Victoria nodded eagerly. "Mine is playing tennis too!"
They both looked at me. "What's yours?"
I didn't want them to roll their eyes when I said I liked watching birds. Maybe I should tell them I liked to read. That was also true and much safer. But before I could give an answer, the bell rang, and I was glad we had to go back to class. It was easier to avoid answering than to be true to myself. (p. 72-3)

A Scene that Confronts. Wren and Theo decide to collect signatures to petition the town to preserve Pete's Pond. At lunch Carrie confronts her,

"I heard you're exhibiting your bird photos at the library and collecting signatures for a petition against my dad's landfill."
"We're just collecting signatures," I said. "It's not a big deal." I was thinking about Ma and didn't have any patience for Carrie's hysterics.
"I can't believe you're doing this to me," she said. "Making my dad out to be some evil destroyer of nature." 
"I'm not doing anything to you." I looked at her and added. Not everything is about you." (p. 140-1)

A Scene that Shows Strength or Courage. (this is continued from the previous scene)

Carrie inhaled sharply and glared at me. "You probably just want to hurt my dad because you don't have one."
Suddenly the kids at the tables near grew quiet. Everyone was watching.
I didn't know how Carrie had found out about my dad. I was mad at her for saying that, and at the same time, I was scared to what I felt the need to do next.
Then I heard Dad's words again: You are braver than you think you are.
I slowly got up, not saying a word. But before I left, I paused and looked down at Carrie. My voice was calm when I said, "I don't think I want to have anything to do with you anymore." (p. 141)

A Scene that Resolves. Wren's mother tells her daughter that after her husband died, she discovered that he was having an affair and this was why she has refused to talk about him. Wren is shocked, denies it, and decides to take a bus to Chicago to confront his girlfriend. Her mother finds Wren walking along a road holding a dead dog she wants to return to its owner. 

"Oh, baby," Ma said. "I'm so glad I found you."
"I was going to Chicago," I said. "I wanted to talk to that woman. I don't believe what you said about her. I don't want to think of Dad having done something like that. I just don't want to." Suddenly there wasn't enough space inside my chest and I could only take small breaths. "And now... now I have to tell these people that their dog died. But I can't do it. I can't. It's too sad."
"You don't have to go to Chicago," Ma said, holding my shoulders. "And I'll go with you to meet Corey's owner."
[Wren asks her mother why she hadn't told her about the affair and hears her mother's explanation.]
..."Oh, Wren, I've made so many mistakes. I hope you can forgive me."
I was startled for a moment. No one had ever asked me for forgiveness. I looked up at her. "Of course I'll forgive you. But it's still so hard to believe that Dad did this. I don't how to...how to..."
"I know, Ma said. "It means we have to forgive him for what he did and mourn him. I don't know how to do that by myself either. But maybe we can do it together."
I fell into her arms, and Ma held me tight as I buried myself in her jacket. I could feel her lips on my hair. We stayed like that for a while, and I felt good and warm.
When I looked up at her, Ma gently pushed a strand of hair from my forehead. "Come on, baby. We'll bring Cory home." (p. 211-213)

Although this isn't the end, you can see how the MDQ has been raised and answered. 

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For a chance to win my ARC, please leave me a comment by October 13. If I don't have your email address, please make sure you include it. 

Come back next week when Monika will share some of the backstory of BE LIGHT LIKE A BIRD and you'll have a chance to win an autographed copy. 

This review originally appeared on litchat.com.