Asking Questions – Unleashing Readers

Drawn Onward by Daniel Nayeri, Illustrated by Matt Rockefeller

October 22, 2024October 22, 2024 by Kellee

Drawn Onward
Author: Daniel Nayeri
Illustrator: Matt Rockefeller
Published October 8th, 2024 by HarperCollins Children’s Books

Summary: In this enthralling and emotional palindrome picture book by Daniel Nayeri and Matt Rockefeller, a young boy grieving the loss of his mother embarks on a lushly fantastical adventure that illuminates what remains when our loved ones are gone.

All alone

He was not so brave…

His heart needed to know

The answer.

This lyrical, heartfelt story a young boy who’s lost all hope braves the dark forest to ask, “Mom, were you glad you were mom?” Gorgeously illustrated, Drawn Onward gently guides readers through the depths of grief and provides comfort and hope to those who seek answers when it feels like all is lost.

Praise:

⭐“Magnificently illuminated, video game–like spreads by Rockefeller feature stone ruins, menacing dragons, and ornaments that give the pages a book-of-hours feel. Printz Medalist Nayeri, meanwhile, distills an experience of grief, imparting the importance of seeking time alone to relive moments of shared love.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

⭐“A touching triumph of artful collaboration between wordsmithing and world building. Nayeri’s text is sparse but heartrending, sparking large questions that drive readers forward and allowing Rockefeller ample space to construct an evocative fantasy world.” — Booklist (starred review)

⭐“A grieving young boy goes on an impossible adventure and returns, healed. The illustrations are so filled with detail that they demand repeat visits, which will prompt little ones and their grown-ups to delve into the ellipses and explore both text and subtext further.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

About the Creators:

Daniel Nayeri likes to read things backward even when it doesn’t make sense to do so. He is the author of Everything Sad Is Untrue (A True Story), winner of the Printz Award, the Christopher Medal, and the Middle Eastern Book Award. He loves letter-unit palindromes, like “toot” and “God’s dog,” and word-unit palindromes, like “Never say never” and “Fall leaves after leaves fall,” and if he didn’t say how much he likes and loves his wife and son, he wouldn’t be Daniel Nayeri.

Matt Rockefeller is a visual storyteller inspired by adventuring in the mountains, interpretive dancing with friends, and pondering the many wonders of the universe. In addition to drawing and writing comics, he creates artwork for TV and film animation. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his family including a little dog that may or may not be a fox.

Review and Educators’ Tools for Navigation: This sparsely-worded text has so much to say. It has so many beautiful layers that readers can dive into. Nayeri’s storytelling is clear, even with little text, and Rockefeller’s illustrations are reminiscent of video games and epics. Drawn Onward is perfect for lessons on visual literacy as the text gives some guidance to the reader but the story is most clear through images. Students could could even write their own narrative to add to the images! And I also would love to hear a conversation of readers discussing the symbolism and theme of the book.

Discussion Questions:

What is the theme of the story?
Why do you think the author chose to title the book a palindrome?
How was the story symbolic of a palindrome?
What do you think the forest symbolized? The sword? The dragon? The dark? Did you notice any other symbols?
What strategies did the illustrator use to portray the narrative and emotions through the images?
How does this book reflect a hero’s journey?
How does the tone and mood of the book change from beginning to middle to end?

Flagged Spreads:

Read This If You Love: Journey by Aaron Becker, Zelda

Recommended For:

**Thank you to HarperCollins for providing a copy for review!**

Cross-Curricular Educators’ Guide for Above the Trenches by Nathan Hale

July 16, 2024 by Kellee

Above the Trenches (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #12): A WWI Flying Ace Tale
Author & Illustrator: Nathan Hale
Published: November 14th, 2023 by Abrams Fanfare

Summary: In Above the Trenches, author-illustrator Nathan Hale takes to the skies with the flying aces of World War I to reveal another Hazardous Tale in American history in the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel series.

“Yippee! We’re going back to World War One!” said nobody ever—except maybe the Hangman.

When the Great War began in 1914, America had plans to stay out of it. But some young men were so eager to fight, they joined the French Foreign Legion. From deep in the mud and blood of the Western Front, these young volunteers looked to the sky and saw the future—the airplane.

The first American pilots to fight in World War One flew for the French military. France created a squadron of volunteer Americans called the Lafayette Escadrille (named after the great Marquis de Lafayette).

This book is about that volunteer How they got into the French military. How they learned to fly. How they fought—and died. And how these American pilots would go down in history with other legendary flying aces like the Red Baron and his Flying Circus.

Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales are graphic novels that tell the thrilling, shocking, gruesome, and TRUE stories of American history. Read them all—if you dare!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation and Discussion Questions:

Please view and enjoy the cross-curricular educators’ guide I created for Abrams for Above the Trenches:

You can also access the educators’ guide here.

You can learn more about Above the Trenches on Abrams’s page.

Recommended For:

Exclusion and the Chinese American Story by Sarah-Soonling Blackburn

June 27, 2024 by Ricki

Exclusion and the Chinese American Story
Author: Sarah-Soonling Blackburn
Published: March 26, 2024 by Crown Books for Young Readers

Summary: Until now, you’ve only heard one side of the story, but Chinese American history extends far beyond the railroads. Here’s the true story of America, from the Chinese American perspective.

If you’ve learned about the history of Chinese people in America, it was probably about their work on the railroads in the 1800s. But more likely, you may not have learned about it at all. This may make it feel like Chinese immigration is a newer part of this country, but some scholars believe the first immigrant arrived from China 499 CE–one thousand years before Columbus did!

When immigration picked up in the mid-1800s, efforts to ban immigrants from China began swiftly. But hope, strength, and community allowed the Chinese population in America to flourish. From the gold rush and railroads to entrepreneurs, animators, and movie stars, this is the true story of the Chinese American experience.

Review: I am so glad that this book exists. It tells the Chinese American experience from the very beginning—more specifically, from the first moment that a Chinese person came to America and the racism that Chinese Americans have experienced for centuries. The chapters are dense and filled with incredibly important information. I read a chapter each night to help me digest and think about each one of the topics and time periods covered. I especially appreciated the questions at the end of the chapters. This book is important for readers of all ages.

Tools for Navigation: I wish more books like this one were taught in history classrooms. It’s imperative that young people don’t get a white-washed, sanitized version of US history. The Race to the Truth series (and this book, in particular) allow young people to read from many different perspectives to understand the truth about our country.

Discussion Questions:

Which information did you find most surprising? Most interesting?
How has racism evolved across the centuries for Chinese Americans?
How can you use what you learned to share truths with others?

Read This If You Love: History books, conversations about equity, nonfiction

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Barbara at Blue Slip Media for sending me a copy of this book for an honest review**

Else B. in the Sea: The Woman Who Painted the Wonders of the Deep by Jeanne Walker Harvey, Illustrated by Melodie Stacey

June 11, 2024 by Kellee

Else B. in the Sea: The Woman Who Painted the Wonders of the Deep
Author: Jeanne Walker Harvey
Illustrator: Melodie Stacey
Published June 4th, 2024 by Cameron Kids

Summary: Else B. in the Sea is a poetic picture book biography about a daring and pioneering woman artist that combines themes of art and science from author Jeanne Walker Harvey and illustrator Melodie Stacey.

Else Bostelmann donned a red swimsuit and a copper diving helmet and, with paints and brushes in hand, descended into the choppy turquoise sea off the coast of Bermuda. It was 1930, and few had ventured deep into the sea before. She discovered a fairyland six fathoms below the surface—fantastic coral castles, glittering sunbeams, swaying sea plumes, and slender purple sea fans. And fish! Flashy silverfish, puckering blue parrotfish, iridescent jellyfish.

Else painted under the sea! She painted what she saw with her own eyes, and, back on land, she painted the never-before-seen deep-sea creatures described by world-renowned scientist William Beebe on his momentous 1930s bathysphere expeditions for the New York Zoological Society’s Department of Tropical Research. It was a daring and glamorous adventure and a dream come true for Else B., who shared this new, unfathomable world with humankind.

About the Creators:

Jeanne Walker Harvey is the author of many picture books, including Boats on the Bay, as well as the well-received picture book biographies Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas (winner of the 2022 Northern California Book Awards – Children’s Literature Younger Readers and Jane Addams Children’s Book Award finalist), Dressing Up the Stars: The Story of Movie Costume Designer Edith Head, and Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines (a NSTA Best STEM Book of the Year). She lives in Sonoma, California. For free downloadable activities and more, visit her website, jeanneharvey.com.

Melodie Stacey is a fine artist and illustrator whose work can be found in the picture book Beautiful Useful Things: What William Morris Made. She lives in Brighton, UK.

Instagram
Jeanne Walker Harvey: @jeannewharvey
Melodie Stacey: @melodiestacey
Cameron Kids/ABRAMS Kids: @cameron_kids and @abramskids
Blue Slip Media: @blue_slip_media

Twitter/X
Jeanne Walker Harvey: @JeanneWHarvey
Melodie Stacey: @Melodiestacey
Cameron Kids/ABRAMS Kids: @abramskids
Blue Slip Media: @blueslipper & @barbfisch

Pinterest
Jeanne Walker Harvey: @JeanneWalkerHarvey

Review: I love learning about new people (to me) from history that expand my knowledge of the world. Else is such a cool character and to know she is a real person makes it even more intriguing and amazing. Else is definitely a person whose story should have already been told, and I am so glad that Harvey and Stacey are telling it now.

Like Harvey has done in all of her picture book biographies that I’ve read by her, she expertly mixes narrative and nonfiction to ensure the book not only teaches the reader about the person but also entertains and keeps attention along the way. This is so important to ensure that readers will gravitate towards hearing this story with a side effect of learning about an amazing person, in this case Else.

Stacey’s illustrations take Harvey’s words and make them sing off the page with illustrations that range from full page to small additions, keeping the eyes from ever wanting to stop exploring the art, just like Else explored the sea.

Tools for Navigation: There is so much to do in conjunction with this book in the classroom! After reading the book aloud, I would then make sure to read the author’s note and dive deeper into:

Deep sea creatures and what has changed in our knowledge of them since Else’s time.
How color changes when light is removed, including the underwater color spectrums.
Why women scientists were excluded normally during Else’s time and how including them affected how others viewed the expeditions that Else was part of.
How paint and salt water interact and trying to paint under water!
Other woman who took first steps that need to have their story told.
The science behind bioluminescence.
The math of the ocean.

Discussion Questions:

How do you think Else’s childhood and roadblocks early in her life affect her?
What does Else’s idea to practice painting the “ocean firsthand” and “descending as far as she could by herself” tell you about the type of person Else was? How about her ability to learn to paint underwater?
How has scuba gear changed over time?
Why did William Beebe have to kill animals to allow them to be studied/painted? What are your thoughts on this?
How did Else’s paintings of Beebe’s discoveries give “people a way to escape their worries”?
Why do you think Harvey wanted to tell Else’s story?

Flagged Spreads:

Read This If You Love: Picture book biographies, Science, Ocean creatures

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Barbara at Blue Slip Media for providing a copy for review!**

The Dinosaur in the Garden by Deb Pilutti

May 28, 2024 by Kellee

The Dinosaur in the Garden
Author & Illustrator: Deb Pilutti
Published May 21st, 2024 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Summary: After waiting millions of years, a T Rex thinks a curious girl might just find the clues he left behind, making his story part of hers.

It’s been millions of years since this dinosaur has been so excited. There’s a girl—a curious girl—exploring the land right where he used to live!

Will she be the one to find the clues he left millions of years ago?

Could she be the one to bring his story back to life?!

This lyrical picture book captures the vastness of geologic time while also showing how close the traces of the distant past can be—as long as we are curious enough to look.

Praise: “The author of 2020’s clever and engaging Old Rock (Is Not Boring) tackles the theme of geologic time from another angle. . . [The book] ends with an enticing invitation to join in dinosaur research and study. . . An engaging suggestion that hints of the past are there for the finding, if we will but look.” —Kirkus

About the Author: Deb Pilutti wrote and illustrated Old Rock (is not boring), Ten Rules of Being a Superhero, Bear and Squirrel Are Friends, and The Secrets of Ninja School, and illustrated Idea Jar by Adam Lehrhaupt. Deb lives with her husband and their border collie, Wilson, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Follow her on Twitter @dpilutti.

Review: Deb Pilutti, like she did in Old Rock, does a great job giving voice to things that may not usually be heard. I think we often hear from dinosaurs living in their own time, but not often do we hear from a dinosaur from the past; this is how the creator takes her book to the next level–this isn’t just another dino book! She also is great at creating really entertaining picture books with a scientific element, and although the messages of the book are clear, she does this without turning the book into a didactic narrative. Another really fun read by Deb Pilutti!

Tools for Navigation: This is a wonderful interdisciplinary text! It will make a great read aloud and will lend itself to amazing visual literacy analysis, but it also is a jumping off point for a lesson about dinosaurs!

First, I would use the book to have students look at different characteristics of the dinosaurs introduced and why the characteristics are what they are.

Second, I would have the students see if all of the dinos included are from the same time period and make a timeline of when they lived.

Third, I would change the conversation to talking about fossils and paleontology, utilizing some of the author’s notes in the back. (Also, it would be fun to look at if there are any fossils that have been found in your area!)

Fourth, I would would use our unnamed protagonist to start a conversation about what each student wants to be when they grow up (and maybe have them find a book connected to that career).

Discussion Questions:

How does the creator show you in the images when the dinosaur is alive versus when it is not?
What other clues do you pick up in the images that aren’t in the words?
Which dinosaur in the book is your favorite?
How are the dinosaurs the same? Different?
How did the dinosaurs become extinct?
How did the fossil in her backyard influence our protagonist?

Flagged Spreads:

Read This If You Love: Dinosaurs, science

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Aubrey at Penguin Young Readers for providing a copy for review!**

Review with Educators’ Guide for The Incredible Octopus by Erin Spencer

May 21, 2024May 21, 2024 by Kellee

The Incredible Octopus: Meet the Eight-Armed Wonder of the Sea
Author: Erin Spencer
Published: April 16th, 2024 by Storey Publishing

Summary: Packed with mesmerizing undersea photography, this book invites kids to explore the fascinating behavior and intelligence of this remarkable creature of the deep.

The Incredible Octopus combines amazing photos with in-depth facts to get kids aged 7 and up excited about octopuses and the underwater world in which they live. Readers are introduced to the fascinating biology of the octopus, from its 3 hearts and 9 brains to suction cups and how they work, and learn all about what it’s like to be an octopus: how they use camouflage and ink, what they eat, and how they reproduce (nests and eggs!). The book also explores the intelligence and playfulness of this animal—and, of course, the famous stories of octopuses who escaped their tanks. Readers will meet 13 different species of octopuses and find out what makes them unique, from the most venomous and best disguised to the deepest and coldest. They’ll also get a glimpse into exciting octopus research, technology inspired by octopuses, and ways to help conserve our oceans.

About the Author: Erin Spencer is the author of The Incredible Octopus and The World of Coral Reefs. She is a marine ecologist and National Geographic Explorer whose articles, photos, and videos of marine life have been featured in National Geographic, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning, and in publications of Ocean Conservancy. She is an avid public speaker and has presented to National Geographic, the World Bank, MCON, and TEDx, as well as many school groups. Originally from Maryland, she now lives in South Florida where she studies great hammerhead sharks and their prey for her PhD.

Review: The octopus is truly incredible, and this book is a fantastic introduction to everything about these amazing animals. The book really does touch on a little bit of everything you’d want to know about octopuses with a text structure that makes sense: going from the biology of the octopus to their life, specific examples, and people & octopuses. I also think the author was very smart with their writing as well–while much of it is traditional informational nonfiction, the author included narrative elements, text features, and interviews to make the reading interesting in a whole other way.

I learned so much about octopuses, and they really are fascinating. I was sitting at my son’s karate dojo while I read, and I kept sharing facts with my husband and friend because I just was blown away by so many things in the book. I think a nonfiction book making me want to share things is one of the greatest compliments you can give!

This nonfiction book is a great one to read from front to back but is also one that can be perused by your nonfiction skimmers.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation and Discussion Questions:

Please view and enjoy this curriculum guide from the publisher.

You can also access the educators’ guide here.

Flagged Spreads:

Recommended For:

The Wonderful Wisdom of Ants by Philip Bunting

March 19, 2024 by Kellee

The Wonderful Wisdom of Ants
Author & Illustrator: Philip Bunting
Published March 19th, 2024 by Crown Books for Young Readers

Summary: Take a peek under the rock, and discover what we can learn from the world of the ant, in this delightful blend of nonfiction and inspirational humor by author-illustrator Philip Bunting!

There are ten quadrillion ants in the world, and yet I bet you never thought they could teach you anything. But these tiny creatures can do big things when they work together–just like people!

With his signature humor and graphic illustrations, Philip Bunting delivers facts, laughs, and heart all in this special book that teaches that the answers to many of life’s biggest questions can be found in your own back yard (once you’re ready to look).

★ “This overview of ants combines cleverly designed graphics and a funny text to convey major concepts about the familiar insects.” —The Horn Book, starred review

About the Author: Philip Bunting is an author and illustrator whose work deliberately encourages playful interaction between the reader and child, allowing his books to create a platform for genuine intergenerational engagement and fun. Philip’s books have been translated into multiple languages and published in over thirty countries around the world. Since his first book was published in 2017, Philip has received multiple accolades, including Honors from the Children’s Book Council of Australia and making the list for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2018. He lives with his young family on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Visit his website: philipbunting.com.

Instagram:
Philip Bunting: @philip.bunting
Random House Children’s Books: @randomhousekids
Blue Slip Media: @blue_slip_media

Facebook:
Philip Bunting: N/A
Random House Children’s Books: Random House Children’s Books
Blue Slip Media: @blue-slip-media

Twitter/X:
Philip Bunting: N/A
Random House Children’s Books: @randomhousekids
Blue Slip Media: @blueslipper & @barbfisch

Review: This book is a joy! Anyone who has read a book by Philip Bunting knows that his work excels at bringing play into the reading to make the book a bit silly, interactive, and full of informational magic. The Wonderful Wisdom of Ants is the same. I loved the little jokes throughout the book that will definitely get readers giggling, the illustrations are just so playful and perfect for the book, and I learned so much about ants! It definitely is a multi-purpose book, for pleasure and for learning, which will be a winning read aloud!

For more about the book and to hear from the author, visit his interview, “Using Well-Placed ‘Humour’ as a Trojan Horse for Information,” on Fuse 8.

Tools for Navigation: There is so much in this book that is PERFECT for science which makes it an amazing cross-curricular tool. My first though is I think it would be awesome to see students use this book as a mentor text to create their own book about another insect which would include research, science, creative writing, and visual art.

The vocabulary in this book is wonderful as well, both when it comes to science and just tier 2 words such as nuptials, mandibles, reproduces, fragrant, and more.

Oh, and math, there is something here for you too! When looking at the number of ants, it compares human vs. ant weight which would be a fantastic math problem!

Discussion Questions:

If there are ten quadrillion ants in the world and 8 billion people in the world, and they weigh about the same, how much do each set weigh?
Do you think the queen is the most important ant in the colony?
Why are ants so important for the world?
What can we learn from ants?

Flagged Spreads:

Read This If You Love: Informational books with humor

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Blue Slip Media for providing a copy for review!**