Beautiful Useful Things - what William Morris made by Beth Kephart illustrated by Melodie Stacey

 

"Inside factories all around Britain textiles and dishes, tables and chairs were being mass produced - one thing looking just like the next thing, ordinary and cheap."

"But in William's workshop each pattern, wallpaper, tapestry, and rug, each stained-glass window was conceived by the heart and made by hand."

William Morris (1934-1896) taught himself the crafts of the Middle Ages. He made wallpaper, furniture, fabrics and carpets during a time called the Arts and Crafts Movement. He was also a skilled book maker working with new fonts and typesetting. 

This new picture book biography is quite interesting but I really wanted to know more. The main focus here is on the way William saw nature in his childhood which he then wanted to include in beautiful objects and decorations.  I almost need the publisher Thames and Hudson to produce book two with more detail about some of his famous designs and examples of the furnishings and wallpaper. You can read more here. And you can see inside this book here. 

The nature elements that appear as motifs throughout the artwork, coupled with detailed close-ups of the processes of whittling, sewing, and bookbinding, reveal just how much Morris’ art was connected to his appreciation of the beauty of the natural world. Kirkus

When I visited London I went in search of a William Morris design that I really like - The Strawberry Thief and that is why I was very keen to see this new book which explores the life and art of William Morris. I own a few things decorated with this pattern and my good friend has a beautiful bed quilt. I found a tiny example in the Victoria and Albert Museum. I found this small sample 60cm X 90cm.  Here is the caption from the display: Morris was inspired to draw this design after finding thrushes stealing fruit in his garden. This complicated and colourful pattern is printed by the indigo discharge method and took a long time to produce. Consequently, it was expensive to buy. Despite this it became one of Morris & Co.'s most commercially successful textiles and is now his most recognisable design.

And the information from the Victoria and Albert Museum goes on to explain: This printed cotton furnishing textile was intended to be used for curtains or draped around walls (a form of interior decoration advocated by William Morris), or for loose covers on furniture. This is one of Morris best-known designs. He based the pattern and name on the thrushes which frequently stole the strawberries in the kitchen garden of his countryside home, Kelmscott Manor, in Oxfordshire. Despite the fact that this design was one of the most expensive printed furnishings available from Morris & Co., it became a firm favourite with clients.

Later, on this same trip to London, I visited the William Morris Society & Museum, Kelmscott House, Hammersmith. There is also another museum - the William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow - which is also dedicated to showcasing this amazing designer.

When I was a child my mother sought out special wall paper designed by Florence Broadhurst. In a similar way to William Morris, Florence wanted to fill homes with beautiful patterns and colours. Perhaps someone will pen a picture book about her work too. Unfortunately no one thought to take photos in my childhood home and most of Florence's work was lost in a factory fire but the intriguing thing about the wallpaper my mum selected was that in one room it was a green leaf pattern on an off white background and in the neighbouring room (the kitchen) it was the same pattern reversed with a dark green background a off white leaves. I do wish I could share it with you.

There are tons of products available today with the Strawberry Thief design - I am not sure William Morris would approve but I am sure he would be amazed and possibly amused:

Phone case

Look Closer: Paint with the Impressionists National Gallery of Victoria

This is a scrumptious art book which was produced for an exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria June to October 2021.  The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston loaned their exhibition - French Impressionism - to the gallery in Melbourne. Here is a teaching resource developed to use with this exhibition. If you have time here is a one hour virtual tour video of the whole display. 

In this book you can see art by a dozen impressionist artists. There are famous names I readily recognise such as Claude Monet; Paul Cezanne; and Edgar Degas. And other names less familiar to me (a non art student) such as Eugene Louis Boudin; Gustave Caillebotte; Berthe Morisot; and Mary Stevenson Cassatt.

There are four themes in this book - subjects; composition; artists who inspire each other; and colour. The final section invites readers to experiment with creating art by attempting a still life.

My favourite page shows how an impressionist artist would paint a tomato using many different colours to show the way light falls on the side of this fruit. You see inside this book here. 

This is an absolutely beautiful book (I was excited to take off the plastic shrink wrap).  Clearly an enormous amount of work has gone into the design of this book. I like the colloquial style of writing and the implied dialogue with the reader when the author asks the reader direct questions. 

The "look closer" pages are an excellent way to draw our attention to the important but sometimes small details in these famous painting. You can see so much skill with the way each page is designed especially through the use of different font sizes.  This book is an example of Australian book publishing and book design at its best.

This is a book that should be added to every Primary school library. I wou also be happy to gift this book to a friend or young artist.

Artful Reading by Bob Raczka

A delightfully delivered message appears on every page of this bright, appealing art book: 

Read! An eclectic selection of paintings in which the subject is reading 

and a melodic text makes a winning combination. Kirkus

A week ago the Art Gallery of NSW announced they plan to create a library within the gallery for young artists. Boy oh boy I wish I could be on the team who set this up!

"On the shelves will be books about artists, by artists and for artists, books about art history and books featuring acclaimed illustrations."

"The books we have selected are ones that we want children to use freely, so we will incorporate some of our rare and older collections in programs and displays, such as books that artists themselves made as children. (but this) is not a borrowing library. ...  This will be a place where, above all, children can be inspired, and look, read, learn ad imagine."

"The library is modelled on the Nolen children's art library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and children's art library at the Islamic Arts Museum in Kuala Lumpur."

In my previous school library we had a truly splendid collection of books like this. One of the senior staff attended a professional development session where the tutor suggested schools should collect art books, books filled with art images and so on. This was before the age of the interactive white board (these make it easy to share art images with class groups) and so we increased our art section from one shelf to over three.

About a week before the art gallery announcement I had another encounter with art and books and reading. Each year I like to purchase a special wall calendar.  On a recent shopping expedition in the city I found one filled with famous paintings depicting women reading books.  I remembered Ursula Dubosarsky had been collecting art depicting children reading books and so I purchased the calendar as a gift to celebrate her work as our Australian Children's Laureate. I am not sure that this is the exact one I found but it gives you the idea. 

When I mentioned all of this to my friend from Kinderbookswitheverything she immediately thought of this book - Artful Reading by Bob Raczka. This book was published in 2008 so I am amazed to report it is still in print.  The images are so special I wanted to share a few here.  Perhaps this offers some optimism for your reading year ahead. 

"The entire book is essentially an ode to readers around the world. Each page consists of various paintings done by world-renowned artists such as Degas, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Vermeer, Renoir, Matisse, Dürer, Picasso, Rembrandt among others." Gathering Books

Here are some of the wise words in this book which contains 23 works of art:

• Read by yourself
• Read with each other
• Read one good book. Then read another
• Read to escape to a place you can dream
• Read by the window
• Read what you want. It's for you to decide
• Read when you're young
• Read when you're old
• Read to a friend
• Read all your life and you'll never be bored

Read in a dress - A young girl reading by Jean-Honore Fragonard 1776 French

Read on the couch - Children's afternoon at Wargemont by Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1884

Image Source: Arts and Culture

Read with each other - Mrs James Smith and Grandson by Charles Willson Peale 1776

Image Source: Smithsonian American Art Museum

Here are two more art books by Bob Raczka that you might find a school or public library:

Paper Son by Julie Leung illustrated by Chris Sasaki

 

Full title: Paper Son: The inspiring story of Tyrus Wong, immigrant and artist.

Take a look at these images from Bambi (Disney films).

"Bambi became a groundbreaking film. Audiences and critics gushed about the art - how it communicated so much by showing so little, how you could almost smell the mossy green of the woods and hear the rushing water of the brook. But in the end, Tyrus was credited only as a background artist."

One of my most favourite discoveries in recent years is the wealth of picture book biographies for young readers. Yes, they are written about famous and familiar people but the best ones allow readers to discover someone unknown.  I knew nothing about the art in Bambi or the artist who did this fabulous work. 

Tyrus Wong travelled to America from China when he was just nine years old. Tyrus arrived in the US at the time of a Federal law called the Chinese Exclusion Act. Tyrus had to change his name and memorise the contents of his forged identity papers. His real name was Wong Geng Yeo but he became Look Tai Yow and then later when he started school in Sacramento he was given a new name - Tyrus Wong. Tyrus excelled at art and so his father, who worked in very lowly jobs, saved enough money to send Tyrus to the Otis art institute. Tyrus did not abandon his Chinese heritage. He studied art from the Song Dynasty and he learned "mountains could look in the distance with a few jagged lines." 

Tyrus eventually found a job at the Disney studio but he worked as an in-betweener which meant the tedious painting of the same scene over and over with only tiny changes. Tyrus heard the studio were making Bambi and he saw a wonderful opportunity. He painted soft watercolour landscape scenes. Walt Disney loved them. Sadly Tyrus was not credited for his work but he never stopped painting - ceramics, silk scarves, murals and menus. He died in 2016 aged 106! In his later years he loved to make kites and you can see images of bright kits on the end papers of this book. Read more here. 

Here is a splendid video of the whole book. I was happy to see this presenter included the end papers and beautiful title page. This book was the winner of the American Library Association's 2021 Asian/Pacific American Award for Best Picture Book! Chris Sasaki is the perfect illustrator for this book. Here are some other books by Julie Leung.

I found another picture book about Tyrus:

Pieces of Georgia by Jen Bryant

I'm trying to remember what it was like six years ago

when we were a family

and Daddy was happy

and you were here.

Open at the first page of this book. Hold on there are 62 chapters! Is this a long book? No it only has 176 pages.  How can there be 62 chapters?  Keep turning the pages.... YES it is verse novel.  You may know how much I adore this format.

Georgia's mum has died. She is okay. Her dad is doing his best. They live in a trailer park and this is okay too.  But at school her name has been added to the 'at risk' list and so once a week Georgia has to spend time with the school counselor. Mrs Yocum can see Georgia just cannot talk about her mum so she has suggested Georgia might like to write down her thoughts in a diary a few times a week.

"Then all of a sudden she asked me if I 
missed you. She never
asked me that before, and I couldn't make the words
come out of my mouth, they seemed to be
stuck in my throat, or maybe they were just tangled up
with the rabbit I seemed to have swallowed
that started kicking the sides of my stomach
desperate to get out."

On the morning of her thirteenth birthday Georgia receives a mystery gift. It is a letter:

"Dear Miss McCoy:
Enclosed please find your annual membership card, which entitles you to all privileges listed below and which expire one year from date of purchase."

What is this all about?  It is a free admission pass to the local museum. Who is it from? The card says 'anonymous."

Why is this significant?  Georgia is an artist, just like her mum. The museum is filled with wonderful art, in particular art by NC Wyeth and Jamie Wyeth. I have added a few at the end of this post and at the beginning of each section of the book there are quotes from these two artists. Georgia does have some free time after school each day because her dad, who is a builder, often arrives home quite late. So Georgia sets off to visit the museum and it becomes her happy place. She doesn't tell her dad.  She writes to her mum in her diary and explains:

"I imagine you went to art museums in Savannah,
and may you even went to some here in Pennsylvania, and
maybe
you even went to the Brandywine River Museum.
And if you did, that would be
another reason Daddy wouldn't like me going there,
wouldn't want one more thing to remind him
that right up to the week you died,
what you liked to do best
was dance your pencil across a blank page
and make something come alive."

At school her art talent has been noticed by Miss Benedetto - she is one of those very special teachers that you just want to hug. Miss Benedetto enters Georgia in a program to foster creative talents. Georgia needs to produce a portfolio of five pieces of her art.

Georgia lives a small life but all around her she finds inspiration. She has her best friend Tiffany who spends too much time obsessing about competitive sports, her beautiful dog Blake, friendship with the men who work with her dad at the building site and her regular job caring for show horses on a nearby farm. All of these things, along with the art in the museum, form the inspiration for her portfolio.

This is a very personal story. Georgia pours her heart out to her mum in her diary and over time Georgia changes and so do the people around her.

Look at the beautiful language used here. Four short lines packed with emotion.

"that sometimes living with Daddy's sadness,
and a hyper hunting dog,
and the ghost of my mother,
and a super-athletic best friend
was just too much."

Waiting for her dad to talk about her mum:

"I have learned to watch him, like you might watch
a slow leak from a faucet. Sometimes it takes forever
before you see a singe drip,
and it you time it right, you can catch it in your had,
but you gotta be quick."

I am not sure I would use this book with a whole class.  It might better suit a small book club group or just an individual reader but I did find a set of teaching themes and ideas on the publisher web site.

Here is some of the art that inspired Georgia:

The Guardians by NC Wyeth

In the Crystal Depths by NC Wyeth

Pot by Jamie Wyeth

Jen Bryant lists all the awards for this book on her web site where you can also find details of her other books including Six Dots: A story of young Louis Braille; A splash of red: the life and art of Horace Pippin; and A river of words: The story of William Carlos Williams.

Her voice is natural and plainspoken and she thinks about things carefully as she moves forward in her life. The moment in which she finds out who gave her the museum membership is moving and lovely and is the perfect signature on this affecting work of art. Kirkus

Collage by illustrators

Last week I attended an excellent lecture by our wonderful collage illustrator Jeannie Baker. Walker Books hosted the event as a way to share Jeannie's new book - Playing with Collage.

This book will be published in June 2019 and will be an essential purchase for all school libraries.

By coincidence I borrowed this book, last week, from the Prep School library which I am lucky enough to visit each week.

The biggest difference between these two books is in the way collage techniques are explained. In Playing with Collage Jeannie gives young readers ideas for collecting materials and ways to use them in designs with practical tips about preserving flowers and leaves and mounting your picture.  From Walker Books: "There are no right or wrong answers in this treasure of a book, it's all about trusting your instincts ... and playing!"

Lois takes a different approach using examples from her own work. She deconstructs her images showing how she has incorporated different scraps - hence the title. Lois says: "My art technique is called collage. I cut out scraps, like pieces of a puzzle, that I assemble and glue into place."

The other important thing about these two titles is that they are written by two famous children's book illustrators and so can be used as a way to explore their work.

I have a small Pinterest collection of work by illustrators who use collage. Here are a few of my favourite titles which use collage including a book by Ezra Jack Keats and one by Patricia Mullins:

Rainbow Bear by Stephen Michael King

This book is a delight from front to back.  Yes once again I am going to talk about end papers!  In rainbow bear they look like pages from a colouring book and this is perfect for the theme of this story. Also I am so thrilled to see the front end papers are different from the back end papers.

On the first end paper we see a polar bear with a satchel walking down a small hill heading towards the city. Where has he been? Where is he going?  On the half title page Bear stands and watches some young artists standing at their easels. The title page shows a busy city scene.  I searched and searched for bear not thinking to look up! There he was - a passenger in a small yellow plane.

Arriving home Bear presents his wife with a dozen red roses (go back and look at the city scene and you will find the flower seller) and a set of crayons for his two cubs. After a joyous day together Bear settles down to sleep. In the morning he is transformed. A refreshing swim restores him but the next night and the next the same thing happens.  Finally one morning Bear sees some tracks in the snow and he traces the mischief makers.

I haven't met Stephen Michael King and yet he feels like a friend. His books and illustrations always make me smile. I love to read and re-read Where does Thursday go (Janeen Brian), The man who loved boxes, Henry and Amy and Mutt Dog.  Like many other books by Stephen Michael King I really hope this wonderful book is included in the 2019 CBCA Notables and from there makes the short list. Here are some teachers notes from the publisher.

One tiny thing to notice. I absolutely do not have a problem with this, but an astute reader will point out, polar bears and penguins do not live in the same polar regions. Rainbow Bear is an imaginative story that celebrates mischief and love in a family. I'm sure the science facts can be put aside for now. I highly recommend Rainbow Bear for school libraries and as a book to treasure in your own collection.

I would pair this book with Elmer and compare the wonderful design work on the grey elephants and while polar bears.

Image source: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-28202506

Iris and the tiger by Leanne Hall

"The piano was the big, glossy concert sort with a propped-up lid. A young woman was bent so far over its keys she appeared to have no head. Sheets of music were spread out in front of her  - and there were black specks swarming all over the cream paper. Iris took two steps forward, her mouth agape. What, what, what? The music notes were moving! ... they weren't notes at all but ants almost as big as her hand."

Iris is sent to visit her elderly relative in Spain - the eccentric and reclusive Aunt Ursula sister of the famous surreal artist James Freer.   Iris does not really understand why her parents are so desperate for her to spy on her aunt.  There is a promise of inheritance but this feels distant and distasteful to Iris.  Aunt Ursula is a larger than life character.  Her home is filled with very strange art and as the days unfold strange things start to appear.  Boots that look like feet pull her around the forest.  She sees the piano mentioned above and the tennis court with huge sunflowers but the thing that fascinates her the most is a painting which has her name - Iris and the Tiger.  Iris was the wife and true love of James Freer but when Iris eventually sees the painting in an art gallery in Barcelona there is no tiger.  This is a mystery she is determined to solve.

Meanwhile developers keep appearing.  They have white vans and surveying equipment and seem determined to turn the estate into a theme park.  Iris and her new Spanish friend Jordi, who lives on the estate with his father, begin their exploration of the special and magic places inside and outside of Bosque de Nubes.  There is also the mystery of Aunt Ursula herself - she keeps disappearing and when Iris looks at a photo taken thirty years ago it also seems Aunt Ursula is not aging.

Here is a review with more plot details.  Here is an interview with Leanne Hall.  Here are some very detailed teaching notes.  Before beginning this book I recommend you listen to an interview with the author on Radio National.  During the interview Leanne also reads one of the scenes that fascinated me - a disused tennis court where enormous sunflowers are engaged in a game of tennis using their huge leaves as rackets.

I took a long time to read Iris and the Tiger.  I did find some of the characters confusing - I wanted to know their motives and sort out who was good and who was bad.  While the descriptions of the paintings are good I also just wanted to see them.  I don't have any real experience of surreal art and I am sure some of my students may find this confusing too.  The illustrator site has a few larger versions of the images on the cover. James Freer is not a real artist but I desperately wanted him to be real.  This book demands some perseverance but the final pages are rewarding.  You might also enjoy The Billionaire's Curse.  If you like the idea of mysterious things arising from art take a look at The Medici Curse.

You can see below Iris and the Tiger won our NSW Premier's literary prize and this is one of the reasons I wanted to share this book with you.  I don't think it will appeal to all young readers but I do know some avid readers will find this book quite different, exciting and engrossing.

The Paper House by Lois Peterson

"Safiyah stodd ankle-deep in garbage near the top of the dump.   Below her lay the Kibera slum, a patchwork of rusty tin roofs.  A thick blanket of cloud and dirty smoke hid the concrete buildings and busy roads of nearby Nairobi. ... Safiyah sold most of the stuff she found at the dump.  It was the only way to make money for a pound of maize or some tea.  Sometimes a breadfruit for Cucu, her grandmother, who loved them so much."

The Paper House is another book that I found during our library stocktake. This is one of those slim volumes (108 pages) with a powerful story.

While Safiyah is digging through the rubbish dump she finds some magazines.  She takes them home and with her friend Pendo she pulls some of her favourite pictures out of the glossy magazines.  As Safiyah looks at these images she can see patterns and a picture forms in her mind.  The hut she shares with her beloved grandmother is draughty and cold.  Safiyah stuffs the cracks in the walls with torn pages from the magazines but then she has the idea of papering the outside.  Her friend borrows some scissors and glue from her school and Safiyah begins to create her murals but her work is suddenly interrupted when Cucu is taken ill and Safiyah moves into the hospital to stay by her side. 

You can read the full details of the plot here but this might spoil the story so I recommend reading this heart warming and evocative tale first.  There is an excellent little trailer here.  This blog will give you some teaching ideas and further links.

A nest for Celeste : A story about art, inspiration and the meaning of home by Henry Cole

This book is beautifully designed.  The paper has deckle edges, the cover is warm and inviting and each of the illustrations inside the book are so tactile you just want to stroke the pages.

A nest for Celeste is another book I picked up while doing our library stocktake or inventory.  If you enjoyed the illustrations in Wonderstruck and The Invention of Hugo Cabret you will want to flip through A nest for Celeste.  Then you will need to settle into a comfy chair and let yourself sink into this wonderful story.

Celeste has come to live in a large plantation house near New Orleans.  Celeste is a mouse and she has created a small home under the skirting boards.  Living in the house with Celeste is the famous bird painter Audubon and his assistant Joseph.  It is Joseph who befriends Celeste and as she accompanies him Celeste is able to see just how Audubon creates the famous illustrations we can see today in Birds of America.  There are only 119 copies of this book still in existence and one sold in 2005 for over 5 million dollars.  While the painting of birds in this book are absolutely amazing, through the eyes of Celeste we discover the brutal truth.  Each of the birds has in fact been killed and then wired into position for drawing.  There are some quite disturbing sections in this book but I still highly recommend it.

"Then they heard the guns.  They were firing from every direction, with blasts of buckshot that bought down several of the beautiful birds at once. ... wave after wave were shot, and the birds fell like hailstones."  One lucky bird, though, is bought in alive and Celeste is able to set him free.

Celeste is a wonderful character.  She is creative - weaving exquisite baskets. She is compassionate, she is so courageous and she is highly intelligent.

The nest referred to in the title is a wonderful old dolls house.
"Through the dim light she saw an enormous four-poster bed covered with a soft, pink blanket. Two satin pillows were trimmed in tiny lace ribbon.  Beside the bed was a small table draped with a lace cloth. Against a wall stood a wooden armoire with flowers and vines painted up the sides and on each door.  A large overstuffed chair sat perched on a small rug ... the bed was stuffed with cotton balls and she sank blissfully into it. ... 'I've found home,' she said to herself.  'There is nowhere else I'd rather be."

All is well in her beautiful new home until a dreadful rat, a past enemy, discovers her new home. Luckily Celeste is able to dispose of this rat Trixie in a most satisfying away.

You can see more art work by Henry Cole on his web site.  You might like to read this review which should convince you to look for A nest for Celeste.  This book would make a good read-aloud to a class of Grade 4 students.  Here are some very detailed teaching notes.

Masterpiece by Elise Broach illustrated by Kelly Murphy

Masterpiece - one boy, one beetle, one BIG adventure made me gasp out loud not just once but several times as our hero Marvin, a beetle, tries desperately to help his best friend James.

James is given a set of artist inks and pens for his eleventh birthday from his dad.  James lives with a very hyperactive mother and stepfather.  His party has been a disaster just as James expected but what James does not know is that Marvin has been watching the whole event.  Marvin lives with his loving family in "damp corner of the cupboard beneath the kitchen sink.  Here a leaking pipe had softened the plaster and caused it to crumble away.  Just behind the wall, Marvin's family had hollowed out three spacious rooms, and as his parents often remarked, it was the perfect location.  It was warm, moist and ... best of all, the white plastic wastebasket that loomed on one side offered a constant littler of apple cores, bread crumbs, onion skins and candy wrappers."

Marvin loves James and so he really wants to give his friend a special birthday present.  Late at night he climbs up to his bedroom and discovers the ink and pen.  He dips his legs into the ink and begins to draw the scene outside the window. His art work is an exquisite miniature.  When James's dad sees this work he insists on taking James to see a special art exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  On display is a tiny work by Durer entitled Fortitude.  It is part of a set of four but the other three have been stolen.  The scene is set for a major art crime.

Ever since I read The Borrowers the idea of little creatures inhabiting our homes has fascinated me. I especially enjoy the way simple human things are adapted for use by these smaller house dwellers. Marvin and his family use an old eraser as their table, a contact lens for a fruit bowl and Marvin him self sleeps on a soft cotton ball.  I love the idea of a tea bag used as a parachute and dried macaroni turned into a tuba.The feasts the beetles enjoy from the crumbs dropped by the Pompaday family are also a delight.

Here is the author web site. Here is the review in the New York Times.  Here is a useful set of teaching notes. You might also enjoy The Medici Curse, Chasing Vermeer and From the Mixed up files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler if art crime, mysteries and museums interest you.  If you are fascinated by little animals or people who might live in the walls of your home pick up Tumtum and Nutmeg,  Bless this mouse or the wonderful book Walter.  For more about Albert Durer look at Run Hare, Run which is a terrific picture book in our library.  The wisdom of Marvin also reminded me of Humphrey.

I have included a different cover design below - which do you prefer?

Carmine a little more red by Melissa Sweet

Before you rush into this book make sure you stop at the end papers (both ends please).  Carmine a little more Red begins with an artists page showing all the 'reds' such as magenta, vermilion, scarlet, fuchsia, sienna, crimson and ruby.  I just noticed how many of these we use as names.  The last end paper has more colour paint samples with letters from the alphabet soup which Carmine and Granny enjoy at the end of her adventures.

Words are a key to this brilliant book.  Lately we have been talking in schools about something called Multi-modal literacy.  Carmine a little more Red certainly fits this idea.  This book is an alphabet book, the story of Red Riding Hood, an art lesson, contains dialogue presented as speech bubbles and it is a book which uses the most amazingly rich vocabulary. This is a book for all ages.  The youngest child will enjoy Red Riding Hood in a new guise while an older child might appreciate the clever storytelling structure using the alphabet.

Here are some of the special words :  (in alphabetical order!)
clutter, cardinal, dilly-dally, exquisite, knoll, lurking, nincompoop, pluck and surreal.

Melissa Sweet produces illustrations that look deceptively simple and always joyous.  Her web site is a real treat - take time to dip in.  Here is an interview with Melissa.  Here is a set of lesson notes.

Here is a terrific review where you will learn a new word abecedarian - it means using the alphabet.

The Calder Game by Blue Balliett

I remember the first Blue Balliett book I ever found was Chasing Vermeer. This is a book I read years and years ago but a memory of a fast paced adventure and fabulous problem solving lingers with me. These same feelings are true for this third title by Blue Balliett where we once again meet Calder, Petra and Tommy.

One exciting thing I must say before going any further with this review something wonderful that occasionally happens when I read is when real life and the story overlap or make a connection. As I was reading The Calder Game last week Google celebrated 113th birthday of Alexander Calder.

Before reading this book I had not even heard of Alexander Calder. His work is so fabulous.

In this latest adventure our three friends have moved up a grade. The new teacher seems most uninspiring especially since these are all very gifted students. She has organised for the whole class to view the latest exhibition of works by Alexander Calder but there are some many restrictions placed on the kids they all feel as though the joy of this day has been drained out of them.

Several days later Calder Pillay and his father head off to England. Walter Pillay is attending a conference and Calder is left to explore the area around Woodstock. In the main square he sees a sculpture by Alexander Calder. Since they share the same name, Calder is fascinated by the work of this artist but as the days unfold this young boy will disappear, a major crime will be attempted and Petra and Tommy will fly to England to help solve this dangerous and intriguing mystery.

If you enjoyed Chasing Vemeer or The Wright 3 then you will want to grab The Calder Game. I am sure you will not be disappointed. You might also like to dust off your set of pentominoes because they play a vital role in this story too and Brett Helquist the illustrator has hidden them all through the illustrations which adds another puzzle for you to solve. Read more about this book, the illustrations and an extract here. Finally you must take a dip into the author web site it is full of information including details of her newest book which we will now need to hunt out for our library!

The Hero of Little Street by Gregory Rogers

It occurred to me today that my earliest memory of reading and enjoying a textless picture book was also a CBCA winner. That book was Sunshine by Jan Omerod which was the winner in 1982 and so it seems we have gone full circle with the CBCA Picture book of the Year for 2010 which is also an amazing textless picture book – this is certainly a story that you need to spend time with. It is The Hero of Little Street a very worthy winner of our prestigious Australian children’s book award.

I am so glad I waited until Book Week to share this book across my school. Perhaps I had a premonition that it would be the winner. Every time we read this book to our classes the children made more and more discoveries. It is now clear that this book is best looked at in conjunction with the two predecessors – The Boy, the bear, the Baron and the Bard and Midsummer Knight It should also be looked at in conjunction with the art of Vermeer and Van Eyck. You can read more at in the teacher notes.

I think children from Grades 2 thought to Grade 6 all found something to relate to in this book - from the bullies chasing our little hero, to the integration of famous art and the wonderful changes of perspective as Gregory Rogers reveals each scene. We also had some interesting discussions about vocabulary – our youngest children asked about china (the special plates of Delft are smashed) and the word butcher! Not one child questioned the lack of printed text though, as our love of Leaf by Stephen Michael King from the CBCA awards last year showed every child books can tell stories even without words!

Reading The Hero of Little Street was made so much easier in our school library because we were able to use the ebook and this new medium also lead to to excellent discussions amongst the students as to the value and purpose of ebooks!

Among my favourite textless picture books are by Peter Collington The tooth fairy, The small miracle, The Angel and the Solider boy and all of these are once again sadly out of print. I would love a copy of The Angel and the Solider boy for my collection. I also love Sunshine by Jan Ormerod. Whenever I put on tights, and layers of skivvies on cool winter mornings I think of the early scenes in Sunshine when the little girl puts on so many layers of warm clothes.

Look for a copy of The Hero of Little Street in your library - it will now have a special GOLD sticker to show it is the winner for 2010 of the Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year award.

The Medici Curse by Matt Chamings

Ever since I read Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliet I have been interested in the idea of weaving art into a story. It is with this in mind that I picked up The Medici Curse by Matt Chamings and I was certainly not disappointed.

This book has alternating stories in each chapter. There is a modern day family on holiday in Florence with Maria the central character who is drawn to the painting of Alessandra. In the alternate chapters we read about Arnaldo the younger painter in Renaissance Florence who is working for Verrocchnio. Arnaldo is an apprentice and a friend to Leonardo da Vinci. Arnaldo is painting the beautiful, young Alessandra prior to her marriage to the very elderly Signor Paolo Orsini. The painting has two canvases linked by a arch of flowers which are held by the subject of each portrait.

This painting is, however, cursed and so when Maria’s father uncovers it under a rather plain landscape that he has purchased on impulse, a series of disasters linked to the curse befall this family. Woven into this story there are also references to the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci especially his experiments with flying and his study of anatomy. Leonardo is working on the portrait of Orsini.

This book is certainly a page turner filled with mystery, intrigue, love, feuds and sword fights. I would highly recommend it to keen readers in Year 6. I found myself reading this book every spare minute I could grab. The historical notes at the end only added to my enjoyment.

Read more at in these teacher notes.