Over the Rooftops Under the Moon by JonArno Lawson illustrated by Nahid Kazemi

A few weeks ago I was asked to explain my love of picture books. I said:

"I adore picture books with the interplay of art and text. I especially appreciate Picture books which can be read across many levels. Books that can be enjoyed by the youngest children and books that also generate deeper thinking and conversations with older students and adults too. The process of writing any book is a complex one but when an illustrator takes the words of an author it can feel miraculous. The words of a Picture Book author may have arrived on a single sheet of paper then the illustrator gets to work opening their mind to visuals that depict and, in the best books, go beyond the written words and then there is the huge and important issues of when to turn the page and what to put on the end papers and how to make an appealing cover. A Picture Book is a truly special object."

Applying these comment to Over the Rooftops Under the Moon take a look at this text extract by JonArno Lawson and then think about how this was sent to Nahid. 

You can be far away inside, and far away outside. With others, but still on your own when suddenly you feel something that gets you moving and wondering about life. All of it. 

You have just read the first fifteen pages of this 46 page picture book. Every image and every page turn is significant in the best picture book.  There are also ten wordless pages in this enigmatic book. 

Here is the image for the words "when suddenly you feel something."

Over the Rooftops Under the Moon is a philosophical text you could share with older students from upper primary to High School. The bird feels separate. He does not fit in. He flies over different environments and seasons eventually finding his way back to a familiar place. He has found himself, his flock and now he feels as though he does fit in. The blurb says this book is "a journey towards self-understanding."

Children beginning to understand that they are separate from those who surround them will sense the emotional truth that underpins both pictures and text even if they cannot yet articulate it. This metaphor for the construction of self offers much to thoughtful readers. Kirkus

The bird moves through seasons of change, floats wordlessly across landscapes of possibility, alighting at last to a vastly different world — more colorful, more alive. Brainpickings

I am collecting books from around the world - from places where English is spoken or books translated into English. Take a look here to see other art by Iranian illustrators. 

JonArno Lawson (Footpath or Sidewalk Flowers) is a Canadian author who lives in Toronto and Nahid Kazemi was born in Iran, moved to Canada in 2014 and currently lives in Montreal. She has illustrated over 60 books.  You can see samples of the art from Over Rooftops Under the Moon here. 

Here are other books illustrated by Nahid: