Carnival of the Clocks by Nick Sharrett

"It is a dark winter's evening. Lessons finished long ago. And something odd is going on in the playground ..."

The air is full of clocks, or is it? No these are not floating clocks they are clock-shaped lanterns and every child in the class has made a different one. Some are simple. Some are fancy. One is an alarm clock and one has a digital display. Every clock shows a different time, but this is not about the time it is about the date. The 21st December is the shortest day of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere).

"Every year, to celebrate this special day, the children of the town make clock lanterns. ... And when darkness falls on the shortest day, the children parade through the town with their clock lanterns."

But where are the children going as they parade through the town? And what will happen to all of those lanterns?

Read the first chapter here.

Take a look at Nick Sharratt's web page - he is such a vibrant and UK prolific illustrator. I love this series for very young children:

Carnival of the Clocks is from the Little Gems series - please consider adding these to your school library. These gems are just perfect for newly independent readers. The colour illustrations are so appealing, there is only a small amount of text on each page and each of these books contain a very satisfying story.

There really is an event like this created by a charity and held in Brighton, UK. It is called The Burning of the Clocks. See lots of photos here. 

Of course, 21st December is not the shortest day of the year here in Australia which happens in June but that is not a reason to dismiss this terrific little book. After all we don't have snow at Christmas and Easter is not the beginning of Spring. 

Australia from Dawn to Dusk by Brentos

Beginning at 5am in Byron Bay, New South Wales, this book takes the reader on a journey around Australia. You will discover landmarks, animals, birds and plants. Here are a couple of text quotes:

"7.45am, Sydney NSW, Gadigal Country. A swamp wallaby hops through coastal scrub for a tasty berry breakfast while rainbow lorikeets tear through flowering gum canopies above."

"1.45pm, Whitsundays, Qld Ngaro Country. Green turtles cruise ancient ocean currents as the waters of the Great Barrier Reef explode with colour, life and energy."

"8pm, Rottnest Island, WA Whadjuk Noongar Country. It's dusk on Rottnest Island and curious quokkas are waking up, ready for the night as the last rays of sunshine kiss goodbye to another perfect day in Australia."

The soft colour palette, bold illustration outlines, and eye placement giving each animal a distinct personality are all the things that combine to make a visually very appealing book. I love the way the first page is purple as the sun rises and the last page is a darker shade of purple as the sun sets. The end papers are subtle and clever. The landscapes are done so well making them easy to recognise. I have mentioned previously that I am a huge fan of lighthouses and so you will find one in this book at Byron Bay. The tiny surfer koala on each page also adds a layer of extra delight. 

Australia from Dawn to Dusk was shortlisted for the CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) New Illustrator award. I was a judge for this 2021-23 round, and we certainly were sent some amazing work. This book Australia from Dawn to Dusk should be in every Australian school library and it would be a terrific gift to send to your friends in other countries as a showcase of our landscapes, flora and fauna.

Who is Brentos? He is a Northern Beaches artist who grew up in the Sydney suburb of Terry Hills. His work can be seen all over this part of Sydney on murals and at bus stops. His work has also been used three times for the cover of a local magazine called Tawny Frogmouth. This is the cover of the September 2023 edition.

His actual name is Brent Turner. You can see more of his art here. 

Here are the notes Brentos submitted to the CBCA:

As a millennial I’ve grown up with technology and have a background in graphic design. So when Apple released the iPad, I naturally took a liking to this new creative innovation and quickly fell in love with the process of creating digital art. The iPad and broad selection of drawing apps have come a very long way and it’s now possible to emulate any style of illustration or painting in any medium – from watercolour, acrylics, oil even to aerosol, the iPad allows digital illustrators the power to push their creativity beyond traditional limitations. For my particular style of illustration, I use simple linework and flat colours in pastel tones, and I can create my illustrations as digital ‘vector’ artwork – This means the artwork can be sized up indefinitely without losing any image quality, so if we wanted to wrap something as big as Sydney Opera House, it would be possible.

My illustrations always start out as a quick composition sketch to decide where elements should be placed, where the source of light is and how the elements will interact with each other. This usually involves sketching up the initial composition in a lighter blue colour on the iPad surface in one layer, and then once happy with a sketch, I’ll begin drawing each individual element in the illustration to form the final composition. If an illustration requires a lot of detail, such as an underwater reef scene or a tropical rainforest scene, this process can take some time, but the end result is really special.

The illustrations for Australia From Dawn to Dusk were digitally hand-drawn onto an iPad surface using an app called ‘Adobe Fresco’. This medium allows me to get a very accurate illustration as close to a pen and paper sketch as possible, but it allows for incredible flexibility, allowing me to resize elements, easily erase sections I’m not happy with, re-arrange elements to create beautiful compositions and choose a brush, pen or pencil stroke that best pairs with my illustrations without having to need physical tools on hand. On top of the initial sketch, working with the iPad allows me to easily work with my colour palette and colour my illustrations with efficiency and speed, making it the perfect medium for the illustrations in Australia From Dawn to Dusk. CBCA Awards judges database.

Brentos will publish a new book in November called Australian Animals: from Beach to Bush. It will be an exploration of habitats around Australian along with the conservation status of each animal. 

Companion books to read with Australia from Dawn to Dusk:

Dirt by Sea

Mallee Sky

Australia: Colour of Country

Are we there yet?

If the World were 100 Animals by Miranda Smith illustrated by Aaron Cushley

Here we go again - another groundbreaking fantastic nonfiction book with an idea that is fresh and original and so appealing. This is a book that is certainly going to spark the curiosity of your young reading companion or class of students. AND as a bonus, if you work with a group of older students, do take time to look at the very extensive reference list included at the beginning of this book - this could be such a brilliant way to talk about referencing and using websites with the right level of authority and also the importance of deep research. You will see websites such as CSIRO, Save the Koala, UNESCO, National Geographic and World Wildlife Fund.

There are 20,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 20 quintillion or 20 billion billion individual animals on earth but if you think of this as just 100 then ... 

6 are vertebrates; 94 are invertebrates = 100

Let's look at the vertebrates 23 are birds; 11 are amphibians; 9 are mammals; 14 are reptiles; and 43 are fish = 100

Drill down further to the Mammals 94 are placental; 5 are marsupials; 1 is a monotreme = 100

YES, those Monotremes are ours - one platypus and four species of echidna.

And what about pets? 33 are dogs; 6 are birds; 23 are cats; 12 are fish; 26 are other animals = 100

Image source: Bookwagon

Other topics explored in this book are deadly animals (81 are mosquitoes); extinct animals (90 are extinct); animals in danger (54 are fish) and the final double spread explores the big questions.

Big Questions:

• What can we do to stop the animals' habitats and ecosystems being destroyed?
• What can we do to reduce our use of plastic and recycle plastic that already exists?
• How do we make people think about the connections between animals and the food on their plates?

Now for the really amazing news - this book from 2022 is only AUS$20. It is a book that should be added to every school and public library. If the World were 100 Animals is also a NSW Premier's Reading challenge title Years 3-4 (903350). Make sure you spend time exploring all the animals on the end papers. 

Other books by Miranda Smith and books illustrated by Aaron Cushley (he is from Belfast) from this series:

Due for publication in November, 2023

News from New Zealand

 

Image Source: Beck Wheeler

I live in Australia but New Zealand is our neighbor and so I do take an interest in their books and awards. It is terrific that our Magpies Magazine includes reviews and articles about New Zealand books each issue.

I have talked about The Lighthouse Princess in a previous post. It has now won 'Best First Book' in the 2023 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. The Lighthouse Princess, was also selected as the winner in the 2021 Storylines Gavin Bishop Award for Illustration.

Other winners are:

Picture book award

Duck Goes Meow (Juliette MacIver, illus by Carla Martell, Scholastic NZ)

Blurb: Woof! says Dog. Moo! says Cow. Cluck! says Hen, and Duck Goes ... Meow. 

A little yellow duckling is amongst animal friends who are all sure of the sounds they make: hiss, neigh, moo, cheep, cluck and oink. But when Duck goes ‘meow’, the other animals say no, that is wrong, 

try again ... then Duck’s mama arrives, and boy, do they get a surprise!

Esther Glen award for junior fiction 

Below (David Hill, Puffin)

Blurb: When Liam dares his classmate Imogen to come on a forbidden tour of the railway tunnel being drilled through a nearby mountain, he hopes she’ll quit protesting about it damaging the environment — his dad is an engineer working on the tunnel, after all. Just as they reach the huge tunnelling machine everything goes horribly wrong. When the rocks stop falling and the dust settles, they are trapped, kilometres below ground, in the dark. Water is trickling in and beginning to rise. And nobody knows where they are. Can they stop arguing and start working together to escape before time runs out?

Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize: Artists re-imagine The Witch in The Cherry Tree

Original book illustrated by Jenny Williams

To enter the prestigious prize, artists are given a Mahy book to interpret, and enter with a set of illustrations.

You probably already know, if you are a long-time reader of this blog, that I adore all books by the late New Zealand author and Hans Christian Andersen winner - Margaret Mahy.  I love that there is a competition to bring back her picture books with new illustrations - not that the originals were not wonderful but of course so many are now out of print.

The Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize is one of New Zealand’s pre-eminent illustration prizes, offering a unique opportunity for an unpublished New Zealand-based illustrator to illustrate Margaret Mahy’s classic stories. It was launched in 2019 to celebrate and honour the 50th Anniversary of Mahy’s A Lion in the Meadow.

In the Witch in the Cherry Tree (1974), David and his mum are making small cakes and it is the smell of the baking that lures a witch into the cherry tree. A few cakes are burnt and these are useful to throw at the witch. David knows the witch is dangerous but he can also see she wants some cake. In the original version quite oddly this book has a recipe for gingerbread in the back - I wonder if they included a recipe in the new edition? You can see the art of several of the illustrators who submitted entries for this award. 

Here is a part of an illustration by Jenny Williams and one from Jessica Twohill.

Here are a couple of text quotes:

"She perched there like a wicked black parrot and sniffed at the smell of baking."

"The witch pranced on the lawn with frenzy, fury and fiery wickedness."

Previous winners:

The Boy who made Things up

In my previous post I said "I wonder which book will feature for 2023 and beyond. If I could talk to the organisers of this illustration competition, I would loudly proclaim it should be The Pumpkin Man and the Very Crafty Creeper originally illustrated by Helen Craig. This story is such a joy to read aloud and it had sadly been out of print for too long!"

One more piece of New Zealand news. If you have not yet discovered Gecko Press take a few minutes to explore their website. I am very keen to see this new book for babies. It is in the form of a leporello.  

Blurb: A concertina board book of big bright faces to place around baby on the floor at tummy time—by multi-award-winning author/illustrator Gavin Bishop. Babies will love tummy time or learning to sit up surrounded by this beautiful two metre fold-out, wordless board book illustrating faces and toys in bright colors. This safe and sturdy concertina book is a perfect new baby or baby shower gift, with compelling illustrations of the things babies love. Friendly faces from the whole family combine with familiar toys and objects, drawn in bold lines with a striking minimalist color palette. Choose your cover and which direction to read this fully reversible book. Accordion-fold books are perfect for babies to strengthen core muscles at tummy time with the saturated colours, simple lines and open faces that babies are hard-wired to enjoy. As the baby grows the strong simple images are perfect for introducing first words and concepts, with family faces to name—including the dog—and objects that babies love to hold and explore—soft toys, ball, keys, an enticing pair of spectacles and more.

Boxes are fun

 

My Pinterest "Boxes can be fun".

I have talked about boxes and books that feature boxes used for imaginative play in previous posts. This week I borrowed a terrific book from a school library - Box by Min Flyte illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw Nosy Crow (2015) - sorry to say, though, this book is now out of print. 

Bookseller blurb: When four toddlers find some toys in cardboard boxes, they play with them for a while. But, before long, the friends' interest in the toys wanes and their attention turns to the boxes themselves. What could they do with SO many boxes, they wonder?

Thomas has a box. A lovely little box. What do you think is inside his box? 
(lift the flap) It's a drum. Can you guess what he'll do with his drum?

My friend has a tiny new nephew living in London - I do wish I could send the family Box which I thought of after watching a fun family video where this little boy climbs in and out of a box giggling every time he 'surprises' the attentive adults. 

Further evidence that, for young children at least, boxes are gifts that keep on giving. Kirkus

If you work in a preschool boxes and books about boxes could provide weeks of fun for every child. I do hope you might explore this idea. My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything has an enormous collection of books about cardboard boxes. Check out her Pinterest. 

A Feather on a Wing by Maria Speyer

"You're a flower and we're linked together in a daisy chain. You're a raindrop in a shower, and we need each drop of rain."

"You're a stitch along a scarf, and every stitch keeps out the cold. You're a branch in a treetop and this tree is big and old."

This book feels like one an adult or grandparent might gift a child. There are a lot of these “wisdom” books on the market right now but this one is a good addition to that cannon. I like the song/lullaby on the final pages. The idea of being important but also a small part of everything is beautifully expressed especially with the idea of stitches in the knitting and one voice in a choir. The underwater page is especially appealing – the treasure in the open box appears to shimmer. Several pages look quite ethereal and certainly match the lullaby tone of the text. 

The colour palette here works so well to create a lovely night-time effect and dream-like quality. Although the back of the book tells us that this is about a little girl and her sister, the text has much more of a universal appeal – this message could be being told from parent to child or sister to brother.  

The rhythm and rhyme here are gentle and are essential in creating the lullaby tone. Together the words and images combine to make a beautiful bedtime story.  There’s also a wonderful sense of movement created – the journey across the ocean, the flight across the sky – contrasted perfectly with some gorgeous moments of utter stillness (especially that final sleeping image). 

It is such a bonus to have the musical score and a link to hear the lullaby. 

This is Maria Speyer’s first book in English. The publisher site has a link to some useful teachers notes. 

Maria Speyer is a Danish-born artist, illustrator and author who lives with her husband and daughters in Sydney, where she draws, paints and writes in her studio at home. She has presented papers on imagistic thinking and the phenomenology of drawing and published and illustrated a number of Danish children’s books.

Read this interview with Joy Lawn at Paperbark Words. You can see inside the book too. Maria Speyer says: A Feather on a Wing is about making kids feel included. It’s about how we imagine ourselves in the context of the world and how we encourage others to imagine themselves. It’s natural, of course, that we want our kids to be strong and independent, but I think it’s equally important to reassure them (and ourselves) that we don’t have to do everything alone.

With a Scandinavian feel, each double page spread image is filled with loose sketches in soft water colour that creates movement and comfort. The siblings are identifiable in their turquoise and coral and Speyer has added subtle details that add to the joy of the story. Storylinks

And so it was Book Week Part Two

Huge congratulations and thank you to Joanne O'Mara (Associate Professor in Education, Deakin University) for her article in The Conversation about Book Week and dressing up and reading - YES reading!

Here are a few of her points that I really want to champion - especially the parts I have presented in bold print.

• In the scramble for costumes, which can add to the work of already stressed parents and carers, the point of Book Week – for kids to fall in love with reading – can get lost.
• In fact, a vast body of research evidence shows what’s crucial to building a love of reading is allowing children the time and freedom to read what interests them.
• Extensive research shows reading for pleasure improves young people’s overall reading skills, as well as test outcomes.
• Creating a culture of reading in school can help children fall in love with reading, where children read books they choose themselves for their own pleasure.
• Some schools provide a time and place for silent reading as part of the school day, but sadly this is not always the case.
• Providing time for sustained, self-selected reading is important, as many children do not read for pleasure outside school time.
• Finding a book they love, with help from another child, a teacher, or librarian, can help a child to develop the habit of reading. (I would add Teacher-Librarian to this list)

In my first post about Book Week 2023 I talked about an opinion piece in our Sydney Morning Herald. Then this lates one appeared in my social media feed.  I have been talking about the issues raised by Joanne O'Mara on this blog since I first started in 2008. Here is a recent post I wrote in response to an item in our Sydney Morning Herald earlier this year. And here is one from 2022. 

TIME (Joanne O'Mara uses this word five times)

CHOICE (if you have a school library filled with books readers will have so much choice)

A READING CULTURE (and a school library with a Teacher-Librarian)

SUSTAINED SILENT READING TO DEVELOP READING STAMINA

ACCESS TO BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS AND ADULTS WHO READ THEM TOO

Read more about Donalyn Miller here. Read more about raising a reader here. 

Joanne O'Mara concludes: So this Book Week, don’t stress about the costume, and don’t worry about what the other mums or dads are sewing or buying.  Just let your kid read what they want and enjoy it together.

Milly and the Mulberry Tree by Vikki Conley illustrated by Deb Hudson

"One day Milly planted a tree."

It was a mulberry tree. And Milly's first pets were silkworms - mulberry leaves and silkworms - a perfect combination. Milly names her new friends Silky, Milky and Wilky. At the end of the process, where the silkworms turn into moths, Milly is left to marvel over their empty cocoons. Meanwhile her tree keeps growing and giving. The purple mulberries are delicious, and they also make a terrific dye. The tree has strong branches perfect for a swing. As we turn each page there is a birthday party under the tree and we see Milly growing up. Eventually Milly heads off into the wider world and she discovers silk fabrics made from those cocoons of long ago. After years away mostly in Asian countries, Milly returns home with two surprises - her new partner and a beautiful silk dress. You may have guessed the final happy family scene under the mulberry tree. 

I completely misjudged the trajectory of this story – when dad said “it will always keep us together” I anticipated losing dad. Happily, this didn't happen. 

Children in schools often collect silkworms and so they will relate to this story, but the very best part is seeing the actual silk in the context of dress making especially a wedding dress. It is also good to see the life journey of the young girl from child to adult. The end papers are subtle and a perfect way to show the silkworm life cycle. I wonder if mulberry trees do grow as quickly as this one did?

The nursery rhyme reference is delightful and will surely mean Preschool and Kindy teachers will revisit this rhyme and hopefully other nursery rhymes. The bright pink cover will appeal to younger children. I have seen so many books lately decorated with butterflies (it is in the clip art collection of many digital art programs) - but for this book the moth on the cover does relate to the story. 

This is a heartfelt story about growing up. The memories from Milly’s childhood continue into her adulthood. The mulberry tree of her childhood has an impact throughout her life. We discover so much about Milly – the things she loves, the choices she makes. Relationships with others are part of the narrative but are not central to it; instead, this is about Milly’s connection to nature – to the tree, the berries, the silkworms and their cocoons – and the influence these things have on her. Although there is a lovely conclusion to the story, there is also the definite sense that this is just part of Milly’s journey and readers are left to wonder, imagine and predict what might come next for her. 

This book will also help readers appreciate where things come from in our overly manufactured world – and the wonder that nature can be transformed into so many different forms. Mulberries give food to silkworms who give us silk; you can eat the mulberry fruit, and Milly even drinks tea made from mulberry leaves. 

Here are some teachers notes and a trailer from the publisher. 

A lovely, hopeful and gentle book about the ties that bind and the ways that we can create and nurture traditions in our own families - while keeping home close to our hearts.  Kids' Book Review

The story is written from the heart, and is full of figurative language in short, accessible sentences for primary learners. Reading Time

With the feeling of an autobiography, Conley has created a story about growing up, changing and sharing your home world with your new family. Storylinks

Quickly! Quickly! by TM Clark illustrated by Helene Magisson

Crafty crows camped on the corners of the field.

Monkeys mined for mealworms and munched mangoes.

Bongani beat his drum and shouted, 'Get away from my crops.'

Bongani is not old enough to go to school, but he is old enough to help with planting the crops. He sees crafty crows ready to eat the maize and monkeys munching on his mangoes. Somewhere along the way Bongani has heard the word scarecrow. He thinks if he can catch a crow then he can make a 'scared crow'. His grandmother and mother have been out in the field with Bongani and his grandmother explains a little about scarecrows. But Bongai is sure if a crow sits on the shoulder of a scarecrow the other crows will stay away. 

His grandmother weaves a large round basket and they put some corn inside. She explains: When a crow steps under the basket you have to be fast - quickly quickly - pull the string. But the crow flies away. Then the tables are turned and it is the crow, sitting on the tiny homemade scarecrow (you can see it on the cover), who shouts - get away from my crops. Oh no and now the elephants have arrived. 

This story has a folk tale feel and the alliterative repeated refrain means this text will work really well as a read aloud to young children. Helene Magisson gives her characters warm personalities. I love the rich colours of their clothes. The setting feels like an authentic African village. The twist at the end will make readers smile.  

I love the relationship between Bongani and his grandmother and her gentle patience and encouragement. There are so many details to notice in the illustrations such as the oxen working their land, the bare feet of the grandmother and Bongani, the babies held by their mothers while they work in the fields, the grandmother weaving the basket which they use for the trap and the iconic baobab tree. This book explores themes of family, community and culture.

The author says:

Bongani has grown a little, but has accepted that he is still too small to attend school just yet. But when he has to help protect the crops from animals, he decides he needs a better plan. He needs to catch a crow! With the help of his grandma, he learns how to be quick and cunning enough to catch a crow. Working together, the pair try and catch a crow. Like before in Slowly! Slowly!, Bongani is learning new things. Having grown since the first picture book, Bongani continues to teach children different and important values as well as show them a beautiful glimpse of African culture and stories. With good teamwork and the willingness to listen and learn from those around him, Bongani pursues his goal.

This is (another) successful blend of art and story that is a pure joy to experience. Embracing the importance and power of patience, tenacity, family and working with nature rather than against, Clarke and Magisson have suffused the essence of African village life into a humorous engaging tale. And with the elephants afoot in Bongani’s village, I wonder how long it will be until he attempts his next important job. Kids' Book Review

Quickly Quickly is the sequel to Slowly Slowly:

Bongani wants to go to school but he is too young. To prove to his family that he is big and strong just like his cousins, he tries to catch a monkey. Slowly, slowly, he must go. Luckily his family is there is to school him in the lessons of patience and compassion.

Here is the web page for the illustrator Helen Magisson. 

Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall

 

This book is a lyrical love letter to the past and to an old house that saw children grow and change until the house itself grew too old to stay standing. While this broken old house could not be rescued by Sophie Blackall, I love that she was able to retrieve so many fragments from the history of the house and then painstakingly incorporate them into her delicate collage illustrations. 

Her voice is so authentic recounting the lives of the family with twelve children who lived long ago in this house. There is a beautiful sense of completion when we meet the final and youngest child, now an old lady, who takes her last look around the house before leaving it to nature and tempest. While it is sad, it is also good to see the raw and messy state of the house fifty years after the last family left. From the artist page illustration where we see Sophie Blackall with her materials there is a feeling that even though the house is now gone its spirit will live on. 

The author note at the back of the book is essential reading and heartbreaking with those words “a roaring excavator would come and extend its long neck and open its wide jaws, bite through the beams, push over the walls, crunch up the parlor organ … “. I love the way Sophie scattered seeds on the land after the house was gone. 

The design of Farmhouse is scrumptious – the embossed cover, the wrap around image on the dust jacket, the view of the inside of the house, a little like a dollhouse, found under the dust jacket, the front-end papers with all the patterns and textures and objects from the house, and the photos at the back of those twenty-one dresses looking like ghosts from the house and along with the old organ. I wish I had a button that was once a shell in the sea - that is the perfect refrain. 

This book is sure to delight readers of all ages. The story telling is rich and nostalgic. There is a very strong sense of time and place. The illustrations can be revisited over and over again and each time the discovery of new details will delight children and adults alike. I also love the pace of the illustrations. We move from pages with so much detail and then turn to a quieter page such as the barn milking scene and the apple tree. To my eye those pages and the one where we see the surrounding farmland feel like places where a reader can take a "visual" breath - these are quieter pages.  

The rhythm and meter of the narrative is perfect. It undulates and weaves in and out of the family's little life in a playful and surprising way, drawing the reader in to 'eavesdrop' on the life of the family before sending the reader out to explore details gently dropped into the tale such as the button that was once a shell. It made me reach for my own grandmother's button jar to see if I had a shell button like this. IF I had been able to read this book with a group of children my button (like this one below) would have been my starting point. 

Image Source Etsy

It has taken me a while to talk about this book because I had to wait until after the CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) announced their award winners for 2023 - this waiting is part of being a judge. Farmhouse was shortlisted for the picture book award. The judge's comments were partly written by me, so they do overlap with my comments here. 

Here are some review comments:

A lovely, tender reimagining of people in a long-past time and place. Kirkus Star review

Maybe that’s the thing about this book I like so much. Picture books about old houses or old cars or other old structures view natural decomposition as something to be fought and fixed. Farmhouse respectfully disagrees. The tragedy at work here is that the stories that took place in this house might not get told again. They might fade in the memories of the people who knew them. So rather than refurbish and restore the house, Sophie refurbishes and restores the family and their lives in book form. And maybe there will be a child that reads this book and begins to wonder about old photographs in their own homes. Maybe they’ll ask for stories about their own ancestors and, if they’re lucky, maybe they’ll hear some they never heard before. We can’t help but wonder about the people who came before us. Isn’t it nice when someone like Sophie Blackall is able to give them a little gift, in appreciation for coming before? A lovely, moving, thoughtful book, full of children, life and death, and the turning of the years. Fuse 8 Betsy Bird SLJ

I loved watching Sophie Blackall share her process and art creations for this book on Instagram. Here is one moment.  Sophie Blackall talks to the Horn Book magazine. IBBY President Dr Robyn Sheahan-Bright has prepared some outstanding teachers notes. Here is another interview with Sophie by Parnassus Books in Nashville. 

There are hundreds of decisions to be made on every page of a picture book. In this book, in this family, there are twelve children, and they all have chores and I want it to be historically accurate, but I also want to give the characters depth and not lock them into gender roles.

The perfect comparison text is The Little House.

The Little House

I also suggest looking for these:

The Hidden House (and) House Held up by trees

A House that once was