Brave Ballerina

The Story
of Janet Collins

Henry Holt and Company
(Macmillan Publishing)
(pub. 1.8.2019) 
32 pages

A True Tale with
A Cherry On Top   

A uthor:  Michelle Meadows

 and illustrator: Ebony Glenn
 
C haracter: Janet Collins

O verview: 
     "Janet Collins was a graceful, talented girl. She wanted to be a ballerina in the 1930s and '40s, a time when racial segregation was widespread in the United States. Janet pursued danced with a passion, seeking private lessons after being excluded from discriminatory dance schools. 
     When she was accepted into the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as a teenager on the condition that she paint her skin white for performances, Janet refused. She continued to go after her dreams, never compromising her values along the way. 
     From her early childhood lessons to the height of her success as the first African American prima ballerina in the Metropolitan Opera, Brave Ballerina is the story of a remarkable pioneer as told by Michelle Meadows, with fantastic illustrations from Ebony Glenn."

T antalizing taste: 
     "This is the girl who danced in the breeze to the swoosh, swoosh, swoosh of towering trees.
      These are the costumes her dear mama made. Costumes for lessons - that's how they paid.
      These are the pointe shoes, shiny and pink, small quick steps - plink plink plink ...
     This is the dancer who found her way in, but learned she would have to lighten her skin.
      This is the girl with a broken heart. But she bounced right back and made a new start."


And something more: The Author's Note explains that "a man named Zachary Solov, who was ballet master at the Metropolitan Opera House, saw Janet perform and was blown away. He arranged for her to be hired by the general manager... Janet is best known for becoming the first African American prima ballerina with the Metropolitan Opera House in 1951, but she was  a versatile, award-winning performer who also excelled at modern and ethnic dance. She had many talents; she was a painter, choreographer, and teacher, and was devoted to helping others."

Fallingwater

The Building of Frank Lloyd Wright's
Masterpiece

Roaring Book Press
(MacMillan)

(pub.10.17.2017)

40 pages

A True Tale with
A Cherry On Top   

A uthors: Marc Harshman

                  & Anna Egan Smucker

      and art: LeUyen Pham

C haracter: Frank Lloyd Wright

O verview from the jacket flap: 

     "In the wooded heart of Pennsylvania a house perches atop a waterfall. The water's tune echoes through its sunlight-dappled rooms and the facade blends effortlessly into the rock and forest behind it. This is Fallingwater, an architectural masterpiece born from the marriage of meticulous research and unbounded imagination, the legacy of the lauded American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

     This stunning picture book ... guides readers through Wright's process designing Fallingwater, from his initial inspiration to the home's breathtaking culmination. It is an exploration of the creative process; a celebration of potential and the vision required to unlock it. Graceful prose and rich, dynamic illustrations breathe life into the story of Wright and Fallingwater, a man and a home utterly unlike any other."

T antalizing taste:        

 

"Now concrete wings

and long, flat roofs
step up the hillside.

In the thundering water,
scaffolding spreads its spindly legs.

Like branches extending 
from a tree,
the house stretches out over the falls."

 

and something more: I was intrigued by the illustration process described in the Artist's Note written by LeUyen Pham: "I have long been an admirer of the architecture of Frank Lloyd wright, but my favorite among his buildings has always been Fallingwater. Of all those he designed, it is the one that best connects the structure to the environment.  
       While visiting, I spent hours going over each of the rooms of the house lingering on the terraces for as long as I was permitted, sketching on site as much as possible, and memorizing details of the exterior where cameras weren't allowed. I also spent days going over architectural drawings piecing together one level to another... 
       Wright was a controversial figure... [R]everence for his art, however, remains intact. It was his amazing sense of design, inspired greatly by his love of Japanese prints, that most influenced how I painted these images. His devotion to simple lines and clean treatment of materials - stone, glass, metal - has kept his buildings alive decades after their construction."

Antsy Ansel

Ansel Adams:
A Life In Nature

Christy Ottaviano Books
(Henry Holt and Company/Macmillan)
(published 9.6.2016)
32 pages 

A True Tale
with A Cherry On Top 

A uthor:
Cindy Jenson-Elliott
      and Illustrator:  Christy Hale

C haracter: Ansel Adams

O verview from the jacket flap

    "As a child, Ansel Adams just couldn't sit still. He felt trapped indoors and never walked anywhere - he ran. Even when he sat, his feet danced. But in nature, Ansel felt right at home. He fell in love with the gusting gales of the Golden Gate, the quiet whisper of Lobos Creek, the icy white of Yosemite Valley, and countless other remarkable natural sights.
     From his early days in San Francisco to the height of his glory nationwide, this book chronicles a restless boy's path to becoming an iconic nature photographer."
    
T antalizing taste
    
    "When Ansel was fourteen, his aunt gave him a book about Yosemite Valley. Ansel begged for a visit. The trip took two days by steam engine train and open-air bus.
     At Valley View, Ansel got his first glimpse of Yosemite Valley - the ripple-rush-ROAR! of water and light! Light! Light!
     It was love at first sight.
     One morning during the trip, Ansel's parents gave him a camera.
     He was off -
     Run-leap-scramble - SNAP!
     Rapid-rumble-tumble - RACE!
     Swoosh- flutter-flit - FLEE!
     Ansel's photos became a journal of everything he saw.
     From then on, Ansel went to Yosemite, camera in hand, to hike the High Sierra
     in summer light,
      icy white,
        glowing dawn,
          breathless height,
            danger by day,
              sparkling night,
                worlds of wonder - snap! -
                  in black and white."

and something more: I was excited to learn that ANTSY ANSEL was published by Christy Ottaviano Books, the incredible editor/publisher of my upcoming picture book biography MAYA LIN : ARTIST-ARCHITECT OF LIGHT AND LINES. I reached out to the author and illustrator of ANTSY ANSEL and asked if they would share some thoughts about their wonderful book. Thank you very much, Cindy and Christy! So much fascinating information!

Cindy Jenson-Elliott: 
"Here's my Antsy Ansel story. I am a teacher, environmental educator and garden teacher. Many of my books have to do with nature, or are designed to inspire families and teachers to head outside with children.  A few years ago, I went to an inspiring lecture by Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. The lecture focused on his second book, The Nature Principle, in which he talks about how people of all ages have been saved by their contact with nature. He mentioned Ansel Adams, how he had been, by his own reckoning, hyperactive, and how his father had taken him out of school and let him run around outside as part of his education. Immediately the words "Antsy Ansel" popped into my head. I was so inspired by his story that when the lecture was over, I went home and began to research his life.

As I read Ansel Adams's autobiography --  full of  gorgeous language -- I felt an overwhelming urge to let his life inspire others. As I wrote, I tried to create Ansel's experience of the world -- how his attention flitted from one thing to the next, and how sensory stimuli bombarded him wherever he went. I tried to capture how trapped he felt indoors and how free he felt outside. I wanted readers to be with Ansel as  he felt the pounding roar of the waves at the beach, and the calming flicker of nature in his own backyard at Lobos Creek. I wanted them to feel what he felt. I had two mentors who helped me shape and reshape the story with this in mind -- Joy Chu, a book designer who had a good sense of how a story can support visual elements, and Andrea Zimmerman, a children's book author who worked endless hours with me to help me get it right.

Another connection I have with Ansel Adams is a mutual love for Yosemite. We both went to Yosemite for the first time when we were 14 years old. I spent an unforgettable week with my junior high school class at the Yosemite Institute. It was really life changing for me to hike in the spring thaw, see wildflowers begin to unfold under the melting snow, feel the spray of waterfalls and smell the bay laurel growing by streams.  As an adult, I return to Yosemite yearly. Every summer --  since my children were very small,  my family has spent a week camping in the High Sierra in Tuolumne Meadows. As I researched Ansel, I realized that many of the places my family goes are featured in his photos. So that has been a  wonderful connection, too. I love Yosemite's high country, and I feel so lucky that I am able to share that love with others through this book."

Christy Hale:
" Here are a few of my many research discoveries as I worked on the illustrations:
·     Young Ansel had a calico cat named Tommy. Tommy is featured in the second scene. 
·     A friend and I took a walk through Ansel’s boyhood neighborhood in San Francisco. We saw the outside of his childhood home (unfortunately being renovated). We also walked by Lobos Creek and down to Baker Beach. In Ansel’s day he did not see this, but the view now includes the Golden Gate Bridge. Of course the neighborhood is very much changed from when Ansel was a boy, but it was fun to try to imagine his world.
·    I was able to peek inside Ansel’s boyhood home via the Ken Burns documentary on Ansel Adams. I tried to be true to the style of fireplace and furniture, as well as the positioning of the window in the living room.
·   I attended an exhibit marking the 100-year anniversary of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, 1915. I photographed a scaled model of all the buildings and grounds, so once again I tried to imagine being Ansel and walking through the World’s Fair.
 ·    I found actual footage of Ansel climbing Half Dome as a teenager."

Flying Solo

How Ruth Elder Soared
into America's Heart

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Roaring Brook Press

(Macmillan Publishers)

(pub.7.23.2013) 32 pages

A True Tale with 

A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Julie Cummins
           and Illustrator: Malene R. Laugesen

    

C haracter: Ruth Elder

O verview from the jacket flap: 

    "In 1927, women were supposed to stay at home, mostly in the kitchen, with their feet planted firmly on the ground. But one woman proved that she could do anything a man could do - even fly an airplane. Before Amelia Earhart made her name crossing the Atlantic Ocean, Ruth Elder set out to beat her to the record. She didn't make it, but she flew right into the spotlight and America's heart.

     This is the story of a remarkable woman who chased her dreams with grit and determination and whose appetite for adventure helped pave the way for generations of female flyers."

T antalizing taste: 

     "By nature, spunky Ruth wasn't easily cowed, but during the race she had a standoff with real cattle. On the second day, temperatures climbed to 120 degrees, causing extreme turbulence. The strong wind blew her maps over the side of the plane, and she landed in a farmer's field to get her bearings and fill her water bottle. As luck would have it, cattle were grazing in the pasture ... 

      But the farmer's wife was a bigger threat. Washing clothes outside in a washtub, she marched over to the plane and yelled at Ruth for scaring the cattle. Ruth didn't dillydally; she just swung the plane around and took off!"

and something more: I particularly liked that Flying Solo features a woman, Ruth Elder, who sought to be the first to cross the Atlantic and win the Powder Puff Derby. She wasn't the first or the winner, but she's recognized for trying and for what she did accomplish which was for a woman to be "flying airplanes [at a time when it was considered] not just daring but outright shocking." 

       The lovely dedication in Flying Solo by the author, Julie Cummins says it all: "To the young women who see the horizon of their dreams and soar toward it - fly, girls, fly!"  

Papa Is a Poet

A Story About Robert Frost


This post joins other
kidlit bloggers on the
Nonfiction Monday Roundup

and also joins It's Monday!

What are you reading?

at Teacher Mentor Texts

Christy Ottaviano Books (Macmillan)

(pub.10.15.2013)  40 pages 

A True Tale with 
A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Natalie S. Bober

           and Illustrator: Rebecca Gibbon

    

C haracter:  Robert Frost - poet 

O verview from the back cover: 

      "When Robert Frost was a child, his family thought he would grow up to be a baseball player. Instead, he became a poet. His life on a farm in New Hampshire inspired him to write 'poetry that talked,' and today he is famous for his vivid descriptions of the rural life he loved so much.
      There was a time, though, when Frost had to struggle to get his poetry published. Told from the point of view of Lesley, Robert Frost's oldest daughter, this is the story of how a lover of language found his voice."

T antalizing taste: 

      "Papa thought that any book worth reading twice was worth owning. So instead of buying desserts, we bought books.
     Papa told us to reread stories we remembered with pleasure. He wanted us to enjoy books so much that we would be lonely without them. And he told us to memorize poems in order to know them by heart...
     Papa did things his way. He decided to milk his cow at midnight so he could stay awake and read Shakespeare and write poems in the hush of a sleeping household."

and something more: What a wonderful idea for a book about Robert Frost -- to focus on Frost's choice to pursue a life as a poet, and thereby take a road "less traveled by...that has made all the difference."
      I was curious as to why the author, Natalie S. Bober, chose to write Papa Is A Poet from the first person perspective of Frost's oldest daughter, Lesley. The Author's Note explains that "Lesley and her father had a close relationship and very early on he taught her to read and write. In 1905, when she was not quite six years old, he encouraged her to keep a journal of her 'travels and adventures' around and near the farm. She kept the journal until she was ten. Much of what Lesley says in this story has been adapted from that journal and from [Bober's] biography, A Restless Spirit: The Story of Robert Frost, written some years ago for young adult readers."
     The book includes a lovely Robert Frost quotation: "A poem is a momentary stay against confusion... a voyage in discovery [that] begins in delight and ends in wisdom. The figure is the same for love."