Worth a Thousand Words by Brigit Young

You can see Tillie (Matilda) with her camera. Tillie is an observer and through this she has become almost invisible to her classmates until they need things found. The kids have labelled Tillie "Lost and Found". She can find lost objects and her camera sometimes helps when she reviews the images she has captured through the day. Lost objects, are easy to find, and safe but what about a lost person? At times this story feels like a detective or mystery television program. Tillie and Jake gather clues, visit places linked with Jake's dad, and Tillie takes heaps of photos but then she takes one of Jake's dad in a compromising situation and this whole lost and found adventure becomes very serious. Tillie is about to lose her first and only friend since her serious accident but it seems impossible to tell Jake what she has seen.

The kids in this book uncover some adult behavior - the kind of behavior I don't think I have ever read about before in a middle grade book.

I have a suggestion of how to book talk Worth a Thousand Words with your readers aged 10+. Read the blurb. Talk about how Tillie loves her cameras, she has four different types, and talk about how they have helped her cope with her now complex relationship with her father who feels enormous guilt over the accident that left her with a painful disability. Now read chapter 18 - it will break your heart to read the scene where Tillie smashes all of her precious cameras. This scene should leave your library group with a heap of unanswered questions and make them keen to dive into this book.

You can hear an audio extract from Chapter One here.

Publisher blurb: Ever since a car accident left Tillie Green with lasting painful injuries, she's hidden behind her camera. She watches her family and classmates through the lens, tracking down misplaced items and spotting the small details that tell a much bigger story than people usually see. But she isn’t prepared for class clown Jake Hausmann’s request: to find his father. In a matter of days, Tillie goes from silent observer to one half of a detective duo, searching for clues to the mystery of Jake’s dad’s disappearance. When the truth isn’t what Jake wants it to be, and the photographs start exposing people’s secrets, Tillie has to decide what—and who—is truly important to her.

There are some hilarious scenes mixed in with some quite serious and scary ones!! Tillie is a smart and courageous young girl who, although hiding behind her camera lens, finds her inner self once she steps away from it. A great story of family and friendship for all ages!! Miss Mahee's Library

Worth a Thousand Words was published in 2018. I am not sure how I came to have my copy but it probably came from a recent charity bookfair. Worth a Thousand Words was a debut novel for Brigit Young. You can read Chapters One and Two here. I think the ebook might still be available. 

Companion books (I read both of these decades ago):

Half a Chance

Reassemble by Tatsuya Tamaka

Begin with this video where you can see Tatsuya Tamaka at work and marvel at his studio. This will be the best two minutes of your day! Now click here to see more of his work.

Publisher blurb for Reassemble: Miniature workers are busy at work, disassembling and reassembling familiar everyday objects. At first, they just look like discarded parts of something we may or may not recognize. But how about when the workers put everything together? Don't the reassembled parts resemble something else you know? Join the miniature workers in this trip through the familiar yet new world of Tatsuya Tanaka's miniatures. Although a picture book, this book is not just for children, but is also aimed at adults interested in Miniatures, art, photography, and people interested in Japanese culture. The perfect coffee table book or gift for everyone.

Tatsuya Tanaka is a miniature photographer and Mitate artist born in 1981 in Kumamoto, Japan. In 2011, he started “Miniature Calendar,” an art project in which he reimagines, from the miniature perspective, everyday objects as something else. Since then, he has been presenting his creations every day on the Internet. ...  Over 3.8 million people follow his Instagram account (as of June 2024). Mitate is Tatsuya Tanaka's unique art of reimagining everyday objects as something else.

I have followed Tatsuya Tanaka on Instagram for many years. His clever photographs make me smile, laugh and marvel. Now I have seen his new picture book which I know will be a hit with readers aged 6+. The ideas here might even inspire your young reading companion or class at school to try adapting everyday objects into creative photos.

Here are some of his other books (for adults) and you could look for his calendars too.

You can row a boat made of chili. You can enjoy an easy morning stroll among asparagus trees. You will be excited alongside the racetrack, which is actually the surface of a vinyl record. In this miniature world life looks ordinary - yet from a different perspective. Japanese photographer Tatsuya Tanaka started posting miniature pictures every day in in 2011, calling it "Miniature Calendar."  In this book (Small Wonders) you can find more than 100 works created by utilising everyday objects, tiny figures, and an immense amount of imagination. You will be amazed by the ideas found in the ordinary things around you that bring back the curiosity you used to have in childhood.

When you go to Tatsuya Tamaka's web page be prepared to be amazed and also to spend a long time there. If you scroll to the bottom there is a theme list - it is a bit like a pandora's box but if you click on a theme you can see even more tiny imaginative creations by Tatsuya.

Image source: Calendar products Tatsuya Tamaka

On his web page you can also select a date from the archive of calendar images - there are hundreds to explore. 

I picked a random date September 23rd 2017 This is Grape Picking

Image source: Miniature calendar

This book reminded me this inventive vegetable book:

The images and creativity behind the work of Tatsuya Tanaka also reminds me of another wonderful Japanese illustration - Mitsumasa Anno.

Anno's Alphabet

The Apprentice Witnesser by Bren McDibble

Once again Bren MacDibble takes us to a dystopian future world - this time set in Queensland. We have wrecked the world. There is no electricity and no cars and worse there are now diseases. Blame comes from both sides - the sides in this book are women versus men. This disease seems to affect men more than women so in this divided world women live a subsistence life in make-shift villages and men have been sent into the mountains. If baby boys are born, they are dressed up as girls so they can stay in the community. Bastienne, a young girl, has been rescued by Lodyma. Lodyma's own son has been banished from the community following the death of her older son and husband. 

"Both Lodyma's own kids were boys. When the sickness spreads it always takes the men. Lodyma says women and girls got different immune systems better able to put up with the sickness .. "

Bastienne Scull is nearly twelve years old, and she lives a simple life as an apprentice to the Witnesser of Miracles in a small village mostly populated by women and girls. Basti knows that miracle-hunting is a lot like mystery-solving, and her little world is full of wonder and intrigue and unexpected adventure. Lodyma is a witnesser. 

"She's witnesser of miracles. People want to think she's special. ...  We have markets here three nights a week. That's a lot of miracles we gotta hunt down on the other four days. Lodyma's been witness to more that a hundred miracles, so she can get through them over and over."

The 'miracles' are not really miracles, but Lodyma is a brilliant storyteller and so people 'pay' for her performances with produce and occasional coins. Basti keeps the crowd together and she sells peanuts from a local farm, and these also bring a few coins. Lodyma 'proves' her miracles with photographic evidence. I enjoyed the references to 'old tech' in this story. Lodyma has an instamatic camera. She has a limited amount of 'film' but Basti has the task of recording any 'miracles' they encounter. Basti is a very observant girl, so even though she should not waste this precious resource, she takes other photos too - photos of precious interactions between people - photos that show love. 

"I don't say nothing about the other photos tucked away in my bag. The one where the fruit vendor gave those two little kids a memory they'll keep in their hearts forever, and hopefully the one of Lodyma in the shade, along with some other special photos I've taken."

Here are descriptions of the landscape:

"Far as I can tell, the collapse was when the climate got hotter, the cities washed into the sea and pollution and diseases took out most of the people."

"Over the hills, the streets are a mess. Abandoned trucks, dumped tyres, wire fences fallen down, warehouses torn open and bits and pieces pulled out and scattered everywhere. Rusty hunks of machinery things, I dunno what. Plastic contains that's cracked and faded, bits of piping and taps and sinks and old cupboards left out in the weather to swell and collapse."

Someone is selling plastic shoes at the market and then two young boys arrive and summon Lodyma to another distant settlement. Lodyma and Basti make an amazing discovery about the factory that makes the shoes but more importantly, in the monastery at Ravenshoe, they find a young wild girl. Her eyes match the strange pattern of Lodyma's - is it possible that she is the daughter of her lost son? 

So now we have a group of three and Basti is no longer sure of her place - will Lodyma really want an apprentice? Perhaps Basti will need to resign herself to tedious work at the peanut farm. She becomes deeply unhappy and angry (but she holds her anger inside). Meanwhile caring for little Raveena is a full-time job. This little girl, aged five or six, is such a wild spirit and her life story is a mystery which Basti is determined to solve. As it says in the blurb below - finding this little girl will change all their lives. Is she the real miracle?

Publisher blurb: Bastienne Scull is a young orphan who lives with the local Witnesser of Miracles, Lodyma Darsey, who investigates 'miraculous events' and spins them into stories she tells at the night markets. After Lodyma's husband and elder son died of a sickness that continues to sweep the land, she sent her teenage son Osmin into the hills to live with the mountain men. That was ten years ago, and Lodyma doesn't know if he's alive or dead. And she's taken Bastienne as an apprentice to fill the void of her lost family. One day, two young boys arrive in town asking Lodyma to go on a mysterious mission to a monastery. And when Lodyma and Bastienne arrive, what they discover will change their lives.

I do enjoy books where the author makes you work hard to fill in the gaps and also books where at the end things come together - not in a saccharine, we all live happily ever after way, but in a very satisfying way, allowing a character whom you have come to care deeply about to have the promise of a better life. And I did care very deeply about Basti. The final chapters of this book are especially wonderful. If I was 'hand selling' this book to a reader in my library (or even in a bookshop) I would explain that readers do need to stick with this story because the ending will make your heart melt with happiness. I recommend this book for all fans of Bren MacDibble aged 11+. Congratulations to the publisher Allen and Unwin and the cover designer/artist Julie Hunt - this book has such an arresting cover which is sure to grab the attention of readers. Take a look at the labels I have assigned to this post - suspicion, survival, and belonging. There is also the issue of the best ways to express love in a family. There are tiny moments in this story when you deeply feel the way Basti just longs to be loved by Lodyma. 

Huge thanks to Three Sparrows Bookshop who let me read the advance reader copy of The Apprentice Witnesser. It will be published on 30th April 2024.

Here is an audio book review from New Zealand. 

How to Bee

The Dog Runner

The Raven's Song

Across the Risen Sea

Breathing Underwater by Sarah Allen

In September last year I compiled a blog post with the title "This book made me cry". I listed books I had read (and cried over) and also books that other people suggested on Facebook.  One of the books suggested by someone was Breathing Underwater.  This is moving story but it didn't make me cry. I found the plot a little repetitive and the ending was more or less predicable. 

This book was one of my mystery bargain purchases. Why was this book so cheap? One of our big bookstore chain stores has been culling their shelves. Originally this book was priced at AUS$23 and it was added to the store in August, 2022. I paid AUS$5 in July, 2023. 

Publisher blurb: Olivia is on the cross-country road trip of her dreams, complete with her favourite aunt and uncle, National Geographic magazines, and her big sister, Ruth. Once they reach San Diego, they have a plan to uncover a time capsule they buried when they moved away three years ago. Olivia can't wait to take pictures of the sights, adventures, and memories—but what she wants most is to make her sister happy again. Ruth has depression, and it seems to Olivia, who knows Ruth's signs, that things are getting worse. But as the road winds on and they get closer to their old home, she'll realise that love, not fixing, is all she can give. Breathing Underwater is the second novel from Sarah Allen, a big-hearted exploration of sisterhood, dreams, and what it means to be there for someone you love.

Olivia's sister Ruth is clearly very unwell so it seemed strange to me that she is sent on this road trip with her relatives and sister. No one seems to put much effort into talking to Ruth or making sure she is eating. Olivia is very young but at times her voice and naive outlook actually annoyed me. I did like the way she used her camera to record the tiny moments from their trip but I needed more background information about their time capsule. Why they buried it, what it contained and where? I did relate to Olivia's need to heal her sister and her anxious monitoring of her sister's mood but this book just didn't grab me.  Kirkus disagree - their reviewer enjoyed the voice of Olivia and the sisters heartfelt relationship. 

Here is an interview with Sarah Allen where she talks about Breathing Underwater.

This is another book where a young girl has to cope with the mental illness of their sibling. 

Everywhere Blue (Verse novel)

Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop

Publisher blurb: 1910. Pownal, Vermont. At 12, Grace and her best friend Arthur must leave school and go to work as a “doffers” on their mothers’ looms in the mill. Grace’s mother is the best worker, fast and powerful, and Grace desperately wants to help her. But she’s left handed and doffing is a right-handed job. Grace’s every mistake costs her mother, and the family. She only feels capable on Sundays, when she and Arthur receive special lessons from their teacher. Together they write a secret letter to the Child Labor Board about underage children working in Pownal. A few weeks later a man with a camera shows up. It is the famous reformer Lewis Hine, undercover, collecting evidence for the Child Labor Board. Grace’s brief acquaintance with Hine and the photos he takes of her are a gift that changes her sense of herself, her future, and her family’s future.

Here are a few text quotes to give you a flavour of this writing by Elizabeth Winthrop:

"Arthur Trottier is my best student. He could be a teacher or a manager or even a lawyer someday. As long as you leave him be. Because we both know the only way he will ever come back to this school is when your machine spits him out."

"The mill owners own everything in town - the store, the school and our houses."

"The river doesn't seem to mind. Borrow my water it says. Long as you give it back. Trouble is when the mill spits the water back out, it comes out all dirty and it smells queer."

"Every girl in the mill has to have her hair bound up so it don't get caught in the machines."

"But now I'm here to work, not play. The air in the mill is stuffy and linty and sweaty at the same time 'cause all day long water sprays down on the frames from little hoses in the ceiling... you don't breathe too deep for fear of what you might be sucking down your throat."

"You've got to pay attention in the mill or else those big old bad machines, they'll snatch up any loose piece hanging off a person and gobble it up."

"Maybe the screaming is coming from me and maybe it's coming from Arthur, but all I know is he's gone and put his fingers in that place between the sprockets and they're chewing his hand all to bits. ... I'm the only one who knows Arthur was fixing to do whatever he to so's he could get out of the mill."

Read more plot details here. Sadly Counting on Grace is now out of print (first published in 2006) but I was able to read a ebook version. Listen to the story of the photo on the cover of this book. And read more here.  Audio sample. 

Addie never knew that her face ended up in a Reebok advertisement or on a postage stamp issued 100 years after her birth, or that Hine's glass plate negative resides in the Library of Congress. Addie Card LaVigne never knew that she had become a symbol.

Solid research and lively writing make this a fine historical novel Kirkus

Imaginative, plucky, and both smart and smart-mouthed, Grace is a heroine who leaves the reader confident that she will fulfill Miss Lesley’s hopes for her – and ours. Hisorical Novel Society

I have read and really enjoyed other books with a mill and factory worker setting such as Lyddie by Katherine Paterson and later her book Bread and Roses too. Then I watched the television adaption of North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.

Bread and Roses too

Meet the photographer, author and illustrator April Pulley Sayre

Wonder-full in every way. Kirkus Star review

Up until a couple of days ago I had not heard of April Pulley Sayre then, my friend from Kinderbookswitheverything, shared the sad new that this very talented picture book and non fiction author had sadly just died. Here is her post about April from 2011. 

April Pulley Sayre created more than 80 books for young readers.  Here are some of her non fiction titles designed around her beautiful photography:

Kirkus Star review: A celebration of flowers in poetry and photographic imagery. Sayre’s latest feast for the eye and ear focuses on blooming plants, showing their emergence, their growth, their beauty, and their profusion in certain places and times, especially spring.

Kirkus Star review: The excellent photography—with sharp images that join the text in provoking humour, interest, and reverence—attests to the author’s note about spending a good deal of time observing frogs at a nearby pond.

Kirkus Star review: Aside from one small shot of birds on a wire, there are no images of people or human-made objects. The effect—whether read silently or aloud—is mesmerising and reverent.

The photographs are top-notch depictions of flora, fauna, landscapes, and seascapes, 

laid out carefully with the sparse text. Kirkus

And here are some other books by April plus one with the amazing Steve Jenkins:

Going well beyond (but including) the standard apple, orange, banana, grapes and berries, she entices readers with such exotics as tamarillo, kiwano, guava, rambutan, currant, 

durian and the wonderfully named dragon fruit. Kirkus

Sayre delivers another peppery blend of upbeat, celebratory rhymes and photos taken 

at local grocery shops and farmers markets. Kirkus

In 2022 a new book by April (working with her husband Jeffrey) will be available:

Here is a quote from the Simon and Schuster page: April Pulley Sayre (1966–2021) was the award-winning author of more than fifty-five natural science books for children and adults, including her photo-illustrated Being Frog and Best in Snow. Sayre’s books received an abundance of starred reviews, been dubbed ALA Notable Books (Raindrops Roll; Rah, Rah, Radishes) and won a Geisel Honor (Vulture View). 

I picked up Raindrops Roll (2015) from the library this week. The photography is breathtaking. And the language is lyrical.  Here are a few text quotes:

"They gather. They glob together. Raindrop spangles mark angles"

If I had seen Raindrops Roll back when I was working my school library I would have paired it with these:

Pony by RJ Palacio

 Begin with the book trailer from Random House Kids - it's exquisite. 

Silas Bird and his father Martin Bird, or Pa as Silas calls him, live in a remote part of Ohio. Martin Bird is a highly intelligent man who has tried and succeeded at various occupations including boot making. His latest enterprise is photography which, up until now, has consisted of daguerreotypes but Martin has developed a new form using paper soaked in a solution of iron and salt. This process is called the collodion process. The author notes at the back of Pony give more details about the various forms of photography which were used during the 1800s. 

Late one night three armed men arrive and demand Pa and Silas ride with them to meet Roscoe Ollerenshaw. They claim he has a lucrative business proposition. Later we discover this involves counterfeiting. The men have two extra horses with them one of which is a small pony. This is clearly a very dangerous situation and at first Pa refuses to go but as things escalate he agrees to set off with the men but he refuses to take his son. 

Silas is left alone in this remote place. Well actually he is not entirely alone because he has his friend Mittenwood. Who is Mittenwood? 

The next day the pony appears in the yard.

"He was not as small in the daylight as he had seemed in the dark. Maybe the other horses around him had been especially big. I don't know. But now, grazing by the charred oak, the pony seemed of average height for a horse. His coat gleamed black in the sunlight, and his neck was arched and muscular, topped by that bright white head, which made for a most peculiar spectacle."

Silas knows his father has ordered him to stay home assuring him he will return in seven days but to Silas the arrival of the pony is a sign. Mittenwood (I am not going to tell you about him here) cautions against setting off but Silas knows his father is in danger and so their long and dangerous journey begins. 

Colby Sharp loved Pony which is why I put it on my shopping list. I am guessing he loved the survival aspect because he always says his own number one book (from when he was young) is Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Colby also likens the writing in Pony to Holes by Louis Sachar. Oddly, it is the aspect of survival that concerned me the most in Pony but there are lots of tiny threads in this story which RJ Palacio neatly sews into a perfect pattern which feels very satisfying when you reach the final page.

Colby Sharp - "It's mind blowing ... when you read it the second time you see all of these clues that the author leaves for readers ... It's just a masterpiece ... It is really amazing. 

The journey undertaken by Silas is very long but he seems to go for days with no food and no water and even worse, while he clearly loves Pony, we never read about him taking the horse to a river or lake to drink nor does he complete the basic horse care I have read about in other books such as rubbing Pony down, giving him enough rest, and making sure Pony has food each day. Kirkus agree: "Among other horse-related slip-ups, novice rider Silas manages a 12-hour day without either himself or the pony dropping from exhaustion."  This will go part of the way to explaining why I gave Pony four stars. I truly enjoyed this book (as evidenced by the way I read 272 pages of very small print in one day) but I kept wanting someone to offer food to Silas and I did worry about Pony. Luckily at the end, Silas does find a new family and there is a brief mention (page 243) of eating pudding and smelling freshly baked bread but I was hanging out for a feast of delicious treats. 

This book is sure to appeal to readers aged 11+. The final gun fight scenes are utterly gripping and I mentioned tiny threads. One of these is the violin Silas takes on his journey. You are sure to wonder about this. Another is the mysterious Mac Boat and of course Marshal Farmer who guides Silas through the so many dangerous landscapes. Colby Sharp is writing teaching notes to go with Pony - they don't seem to have been published yet but I add the link here when they appear. 

The Wall Street Journal begins their review with the word 'perfection' going on to say "Ms. Palacio interleaves her chapters with antique daguerreotypes, and she evokes the journeys of Odysseus and Telemachus, as well as other classical tales, to create a brilliant story of love and courage."

R. J. Palacio spins a harrowing yet distinctly beautiful coming-of-age story about the power of love and the ties that bind us across distance and time. With the poignant depth of War Horse and the singular voice of True Grit, this is one of those rare books poised to become an instant classic for readers of all ages. Penguin Random House

In this beautifully crafted story, we meet strangers, loved ones, those dedicated to the law, and those dedicated to honor, integrity, loyalty, friendship, and above all, love.  Some of them you want to see in jail and others you wish you could make a part of your own life because the power of the connections is so amazingly wonderful and that is what really matters after all. A Book and a Hug

Here are some more review comments.

You will know RJ Palacio from her previous books including Wonder. As I read Pony I kept thinking about a book I read a long time ago - Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman. My memory is that it had similar themes of a boy alone, travelling vast distances to find his father and the promise of lost millions.

Talking to the Moon by SE Durrant

Talking to the Moon is a very sad book BUT it is also an uplifting story. Mimi is beginning to lose her memory. Everyday tasks are becoming difficult and she is making mistakes. Iris has moved in with her grandmother (Mimi) because her room at home needs repairs and home often feels like chaos since the arrival of her twin siblings. Iris loves Mimi and she loves living in her house but the strange things that Mimi does are so confusing and Iris is terrified her high pressure action doctor mother will swoop in and take over. She might even move Mimi to a care home. Iris is determined to keep Mimi safe but as each day passes this is becoming increasing difficult. 

Iris has started to write a list of helpful hints for Mimi.

1. The girl sleeping in the next-door bedroom is called Iris. She is your grandaughter. Rena is Iris's mum (your daughter)

2. Iris doesn't like jam on her eggs.

14. Don't put peas in chocolate cake. Carrots go in cakes sometimes but not peas.

17. The boy next door is called Mason. Though if you give him cake and model kits he won't mind what you call him.

23. Don't wear slippers to the beach. It's too cold.

Mimi loves to talk to the moon - hence the title and Iris loves to talk to the seagull that perches outside her window. Iris is a numbers girl. She likes to count the calls which always number exactly twelve. Iris is also trying to solve a family mystery. Mimi has a photo of her young cousin aged two. Mimi tells Iris that young Coral died in a tragic family boating accident over seventy years ago but at the local museum Iris and her new friend Mason discover a film which clearly shows a young girl who looks exactly like Iris (red hair) and who is wearing a special bracelet (Mimi has one too). The girl in this film is not two years old she is ten and the film was made in 1954.

I don't remember how I came to add this book to my shopping list but after two days of glorious reading I am very glad I did. This, as I said, is a sad book and at times I did need to take a break - watching Mimi unravelling is heartbreaking but:

"Whilst an emotional read, it is also very sweet and with continuous moments of tenderness throughout which lifts this from a tearjerker to a heartwarming yet bittersweet story of love and understanding." Lillyandthefae

I really appreciate publishers (thanks Nosy Crow) who give books matching covers. The full set of these three books by SE Durrant will look so appealing on your library shelves. You can hear the first chapter of Talking to the Moon here on the Nosy Crow web site.

I recently read the term 'companion reads' so I going to adopt this when I list other books to read that link with my focus book.  Here are several companion reads to explore after reading Talking to the Moon:

Don't Breathe a word

Pearl verses the World

The ABC with Honora Lee

Heartbeat

If you are looking for picture books on the topic of dementia or Alzheimer's disease here are two links to explore:  Kinderbookswitheverything and One Photo.