Neighborhood Sharks

By: Katherine Roy

          I have always been simultaneously fascinated by and terrified of sharks, so I decided that an informational book on Great White Sharks would be an interesting fit for me.  Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands is an informational picturebook that received a Robert F. Sibert Honor.  This book is framed with the narrative story a great white shark trying to have a meal of seal, while the middle of the book is filed with more informational chunks of text detailing the great sensory strengths of great whites when hunting.  

          Katherine Roy studied many great white sharks in the Farallon Islands prime hunting location to learn about their patterns of life.  As detailed in the book, the Farallon Islands shark hotspot is about 30 miles away from the Golden Great Bridge, as depicted by an absolutely stunning front end page that shows Roy's mastery of painting and artistic abilities.  Within her paintings, Roy also plays with motion and perspective by changing the focus of each illustration to create a sense of drama.  For example, in the beginning narrative when the shark is starting to hunt, the illustrations show clam waters and peaceful scenes until the shark attacks the seal suddenly by jumping out of the water with teeth barred.  This sudden change in perspective and motion send the reader into shock at the unexpected silent attack of the the shark.

          While much of the book details the shark's killer body build, warm blood, high-definition vision, sharp and numerous teeth, and projectile jaw, the text still draws upon the idea of sharks being susceptible to humans.  Roy states that "white sharks have circled the oceans for 11 million years- 10.8 million years longer than people have walked on the earth … can they survive another 200,000 years of humans?"  By turning around the common perspective of sharks as evil and terrifying enemies of people, Roy points out that humans often cause significant harm to sharks.  She then uses this change in perspective to draw upon reader sympathy and to serve as a call to action and information.

           Roy inserts a detailed author's note, a discussion of what she choose not to include great detail of (ex: shark sense of smell), and an bibliography that she continues to add to on her website.  I really enjoyed this book, because I believe that the brief narrative aspects of the shark's hunt for its seal connected beautifully with the illustrations to create an interesting, cohesive whole.  Additionally, all of the information seems accurate, and was presented with great (but not overwhelming) detail.  I would recommend this book for elementary schoolers and any students that are interested in ocean life, and sharks specifically.  There is a lot of information in this book, including Roy's other suggestions for shark books, which could be implemented in the classroom through various themed activities or classroom backpack activities.

For more information on great white sharks: http://ocean.si.edu/great-white-shark

Parrots Over Puerto Rico

Written by: Cindy Trumbore

Illustrated by: Susan Roth

          Parrots Over Puerto Rico is an informational picturebook that received the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal.  This picturebook weaves the history of Puerto Rico through various rule and inhabitants (beginning before 5000 BCE and continuing into today) with a discussion of the rare Puerto Rican parrots, and describes the impact of history and people on the lives of the parrots.  The book delves into the detrimental impact that humans have had on Puerto Rican parrot numbers, and offers information on what we can do to help save these beautiful birds.

          Cindy Trumbore incorporates various Spanish phrases (Ex: "Iguaca!") throughout the text to add language fluidity and increase the authenticity of the Puerto Rican setting.  Additionally, there are pronunciation guides present at the bottom of each page that features one of these vocabulary words.  Through the depth of text on each page, and extensive "Afterward" section filled with real photographs of parrots in El Yunque Rain Forest, a detailed historical timeline of Puerto Rico, and commentary on the author and illustrator's visit to Puerto Rico together for research purposes (back flap), there is a lot of support for the authenticity with the amount of research conducted to make this text seem accurate and reliable.

          Susan Roth utilizes a unique illustrative style throughout this entire book through intricate paper and fabric collages, which work to create depth and texture on each page.  The book itself features a unique layout as well, in that the book is read vertically, by opening each two-page spread to depict full-bleed collages in a vertical manner.  By having the book read in this manner, the reader sees the story as humans would see the parrots in the forest, with great distance between them (on the ground) and the parrots flying high above.  Roth pays great attention to color choice within her collages, as she depicts clever images, such as the camouflaged parrots at the start and end of the book.  When paired with the text, "if you look up from the forest, and you are very lucky, you might catch the bright blue flashes of flight feathers," as readers can with their own brief flashed of bright feathers in the illustrations.

          This would make a great book for any students interested in birds, Puerto Rico, habitat studies, or the impact of humans on animals.  The illustrations are very engaging and will draw readers into the story, as well as the search to find the Puerto Rican parrots!

For more information on Puerto Rican parrots: http://www.fws.gov/southeast/prparrot/

Too see an interview with the author and illustrator: https://www.leeandlow.com/books/2835/interviews

Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors? The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell

Written by: Tanya Lee Stone

Illustrated by: Marjorie Priceman

          Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors? is a biographical picturebook of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in America.  The book details her struggle to enter the medical profession through various naysayers and 28 medical school rejections, but Blackwell's resilience eventually pays off.  Through hard work and passion, Blackwell succeeded in changing the medical field and contributed to changing gender roles throughout history.

          Tanya Lee Stone presents the text with an engaging tone filled with conversational language to immediately draw readers into the story.  For example, the books starts with: "Well, you might find this hard to believe, but there once was a time when girls weren't allowed to become doctors."  This idea draws upon readers' prior knowledge of the medical profession today and brings in shocking claims to transport readers to the 1830s setting.  Additionally, Stone also utilizes humor throughout the depiction of Blackwell's childhood antics, which would make this story a fantastic read aloud!

          Many powerful ideas are presented within the text that remain relevant to readers today, despite their historical context within the book.  One of these quotations is, "some people are afraid of anything new and different."  I loved reading this quote, because it connects readers to Blackwell and the history by drawing on common experiences and struggles to face together.  Furthermore, authenticity of the text is built up with historical references and the "Author's Note" included at the end of the work to provide further information on Blackwell's life, as well as a list of sources to refer to.  There is even a real photograph of Blackwell at the end of the book along with commentary on how Stone is inspired to write about many "women who push boundaries" in history, like Blackwell (back flap).

          Marjorie Priceman's bright goache illustrations add to the text by depicting Blackwell's life with vibrancy and exuberance.  Her illustrations also make the text increasingly engaging for young readers, as the paintings are cartoon-like in many ways to familiarize children with the content.  The illustrations, in conjunction with the text, also play with gender roles and expectations, such as on one two-page spread in which Elizabeth considers becoming a doctor "during sewing circles" and "over tea."  By taking these traditionally prescribed female gender role settings and infiltrating them with this radically feminist idea of becoming a female doctor, the pair works to challenge gendered assumptions. Additionally, Priceman masterfully manipulates line and perspective to depict the various stages in Blackwell's life along with her emotions.

          I think this is a very engaging book for young readers to learn about women in the medical profession, and more specifically, the life of Elizabeth Blackwell- the female doctor that sparked it all!  The content of this book would fit well with scientific studies, career units (doctors), or any study of important women in history.  As stated earlier, I think the text lends itself well to read alouds, and would be especially effective for students in 2nd grade and above.

For additional biographical information on the life of Blackwell: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_35.html

Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night

Written by: Joyce Sidman

Illustrated by: Rick Allen

        Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night is a Newbery Honor collection of 12 poems of various forms that are brought together to explore the idea of life in the dark night.  Each poem details the lives of different animals or plants at night, and is accompanied by a stunning illustration and informational blurb on the right side of the page to introduce new vocabulary and additional details on the subject of the poem.

        Joyce Sidman demonstrates her mastery of language and artistry within every poem in this book.  She uses a wide variety of poetic forms (i.e. ballad, concrete, uni sunt, etc.) to offer a broad introduction to poem structures.  Additionally, each word is carefully placed to create vivid sensory depictions and to play with the sounds of lines and language flow through rhyme, repetition, alliteration, line breaks, and so much more.  Each poem strings words together to create distinct lines that contribute to readers' understandings to each of the characters presented; with such a wide variety of animal and plant subjects, ranging from oak trees to "dark emperor" owls, Sidman demonstrates the fluidity of poetry to create new experiences and perspectives for any subject.

         The opening stanza of the first poem, "Welcome to the Night," immediately draws readers in:

"To all of you who crawl and creep,

who buzz and chirp and hoot and peep,

who wake at dust and throw off sleep:

Welcome to the night." (p. 6). 

I love this stanza because Sidman utilizes vivid sensory language through onomatopoeia to transport readers with all of the sounds of life in the woods, while the action words connect readers to the movement of life and invite readers into the story.  I also think that the alliteration, rhyme, and repetition of the final line, "Welcome to the night," to close each stanza within the poem make this a great read aloud by allowing children to participate in reciting the poem.

            This book would not have been complete without the intricate illustrations that Rick Allen created.  According to Allen's website, he spent almost two years completing the extensive process of making the linoleum cut prints that accompanied the poems.  This unique illustrative medium, in combination with the dark color palette that Allen used to reflect real the night setting, drew my eyes to the darkness within each illustration.  I found this attraction to the darkness strange because my eye is usually drawn to any and all colors, but the skill of both Allen in his art and Sidman in her text trained my mind to focus on the elements of night.  Additionally, the intricate line within each print created a rich texture and depth to each illustration.

            There are two full-bleed illustrations within the book- on the first and last pages.  The first one depicts dusk, as readers are entering their nighttime journey, and the final one shows dawn and the end of night's reign.  One aspect that immediately caught my attention was the presence of the the eft within each illustration (except for the final full-bleed to close the book).  In an entertaining Where's Waldo-like adventure, I found myself searching for the eft as I moved along the story, and was incredibly excited to read the poem that featured the "wandering eft" itself.  As mentioned earlier, the final full-bleed illustration is the only page missing the eft, which I think demonstrates the end of night and the camouflaged status of all the animals, except the owl, at dawn.  Additionally, by zooming out with respect to the perspective presented to readers, the reader grows distant from the night setting as day comes.

             I am not well-versed in poetry, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  I think the text aligns beautifully with the illustrations to create a book that would make a great addition to any elementary units on nocturnal animals and habitats, or even just as a way to expose students to quality poetry in the classroom.  I also loved that this book exposes children to various forms of poetry and remains interesting through all of the different perspectives presented, and think it would be great to share aloud to students!