Once I was a Giant by Zeno Sworder

"I never lost my sense of wonder for trees."

At the beginning of this book, we hear the voice of the pencil. "The picture book maker takes me out every night and dances me across a piece of paper. We rush from page to page ... " until the author runs out of ideas. Luckily the pencil has an important story of her own and the means to share it and so he begins with the words "once I was a giant."

Turn the page and we have an origin story which begins with a tiny plant reaching for the sun. We discover the young tree has shared her life journey with a tiny forest being. The tree names him The Wanderer. Seasons change, birds and insects enjoy their habitat in, below and under the tree. The tree itself grows to a majestic size. A considerable period of time passes ...  but then disaster strikes.

"Machines are coming ... they are a day away."

"Last to leave was the wanderer. He gently touched his forehead to my bark."

Stop now and look around you. How many things in your room, or house, or street are made from wood. Where did this wood come from? I often think about towering telegraph poles and how they too once were trees. Our pencil narrator was once a tree, once a giant, but now, with all the work to write his story she is just a stub. That word stub nearly broke my heart but this is not the end. 

Image source: Thames and Hudson

Trees are part of the cycle of nature. The Wanderer knows exactly what to do with that pencil stub. The final end paper will restore your hope and faith in the power of nature.

Tonight, I am attending an event at a city bookstore with Zeno Sworder. I am so excited to finally meet him! Will I be brave enough to ask a few questions such as:

• Why did you decided to dispense with the usual title page format? Was it difficult to convince your publisher Thames and Hudson that your book should break with the usual convention of picture books?
• What do the letters on your pencil mean? I have been pondering this all week especially after I saw the giant pencil from the book as part of a display in a local chain bookstore.
• Who is The Wanderer?
• Can you explain the decisions you made to compose the title? Once I was a Giant - past tense? Yet at the end there is so much hope that this giant can return.
• Your first book This small blue dot was based on your experiences in your own family with your young child. My Strange Shrinking parents focused on your own migrant family and your relationship with your own parents. This third book takes a wider focus exploring nature and our human impact on our precious world. SO where to next?

This is a book to add to your library collection, and it is one you will want to share with your reading companion or larger group. In an art class, after reading this book slowly, and pondering the deeper meanings, Once I was a Giant is also a wonderful example of highly skilled art and page design. 

You already know I am not entirely a fan of endorsements on the covers of books but the publisher has cleverly enticed the famous Shaun Tan to share his reaction to Once I was a Giant:

"A magical blend of ancient and modern storytelling, reminding us that all things are deeply connected in ways both known and unknown."

And Zana Fraillon said:

"A beautiful, wholly original story of hope and the more-than-human world. Once I was a giant is a stunning blend of language and imagery that sits in the mind long after reading. This is the work of a master picture-book creator."

My friend, who is a former Hans Christian Andersen judge, used the words enigmatic, wise, challenging, deep and breathtaking when I asked her for her reaction to Once I was a Giant. I will share the details of her review when I update this post next month. 

With older students it would be good to research Daoist beliefs that "every living thing holds an essence, a mystery; that cannot be measured or counted or sorted." This is called bianhua. And you could also research the Buddhist idea of pratityasumutpada - the belief that the "relationships that hold together the world are based on interconnection and non-separation. Life is interwoven. We breathe in because trees breathe out." Here are some outstanding teachers notes written by Zeno Sworder.

I love this quote from the teachers notes:  It is impossible not to feel a strong sense of empathy and connection with both the pencil that was once this magnificent tree and her small friend, the wanderer. The book elicits in readers a moment to pause and view the world through a different lens, one that carefully regards, respects and notices nature.

From Zeno: This is a book where the tree is the protagonist and hero. As we all tumble towards an increasingly digital, atomised and urbanised world I wanted to make a story about the natural world that touches on ideas of interdependence, metamorphosis and impermanence. Trees make all of our lives possible but they are often absent from stories because we tend to only care and feel for characters that are like us. This story aims to bring trees alive for young people by telling an imaginative story rooted in recent scientific discoveries about the social lives of trees and their abilities to communicate, learn and feel. The story covers the entire span of an individual tree’s life and the intimate relationships it shares with the forest and the creatures that it nourishes and houses.

With incredible drawings and a graphic style illustrating the natural world in all its glory, this powerful story reminds us of humanity’s connection to nature. Portraying the life of a tree from a little seed through to a giant forest elder, Once I was a Giant explores the theme of the cyclical nature of all life, with examples such as eggs in a nest hatching into hungry chicks. By the award-winning author of My Strange Shrinking Parents, this picture book is truly a work of art to pore over again and again, each time discovering new wonders. You’ll never look at a pencil in the same way again! Readings Melbourne

I have followed the career of Zeno Sworder with great interest intensified by my years as a CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Picture Book of the Year judge 2021-23. In 2023 My Strange Shrinking Parents was the winner. Read my thoughts here. Kirkus said these words which could also apply to his newest book: This deceptively simple tale is laced with profound, beautifully wrought truths. I am certain Once I was a Giant will feature in the CBCA awards in 2026. 

When you share Once I was a Giant with a group of younger students you could talk about Pencil Day 30th March. Here is a post from Kinderbookswitheverything with lots of books about pencils. Of course, Once I was a Giant does have much deeper themes but I think it could be fun to focus on pencils with your lower primary groups. Again, this is way too simplistic but (spoiler alert) when the wanderer plants the tiny piece of pencil I thought of that wonderful story of imagination from decades ago - The Lollipop Tree. 

Reading Once I was a Giant I thought of these books - picture books and a novel:

Tanglewood

(Zeno suggests this in his teachers notes along with The Red Tree by Shaun Tan)

Once I was a tree 

The tree at number 43

One tree

Toby Alone

(This is a novel for older readers translated from French)

I am also very keen to see this 2025 Korean wordless book. Read the Kirkus star review.

Finally in the teachers notes Zeno Sworder references Silver People: A Tale from the Panama Canal (UQP) by Margarita Engle as a text to share with high school students. I am a huge fan of Margarita Engle (I met her at an IBBY Conference). I have shared several of her books in this blog. 

Wondrous Rex by Patricia MacLachlan illustrated by Emilia Dziubak

 

We can find magic in the sunrise,

the full moon, a kindness,

someone's laughter, and

even in a dog who doesn't talk.

Aunt Lily is a writer but her desk is a mess and she is struggling with new ideas so she advertises for an assistant. 

"A writer of books needs an assistant, a coach, a helper, for inspiration and some magic!"

Grace, her niece, comes to visit her aunt and discovers the new assistant has arrived - a Labrador retriever called Rex. Grace watches, amazed, as Rex immediately goes over to Lily's desk where he carefully sorts and straightens her messy papers. Then he does something even more amazing. He sits at the computer and types in the words - "If you find a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." Toni Morrison.

What a discovery! Rex can write, Rex can use a computer and Rex and read. Lily is inspired and she takes over the keyboard and writes and writes. His other wondrous talent is his ability to know when to act like a dog and when to reveal his magic. And maybe this magic can spill over to Grace.

"Dogs know secrets. Dogs keep secrets."

When I saw a new Patricia MacLachlan book (2020) in my local book store (Beachside Books) I grabbed it with both hands.  

Wondorous Rex is a tiny book (86 pages) with a big heart and it contains many of the themes you will know from previous books by this award winning author such as dogs, writers, and magic. You can listen to the first chapter here. I highly recommend this tiny gem of a book for readers aged 7+.

Sweetly magical. Kirkus

Newbery Medal-winning author Patricia MacLachlan has written a magical and funny tale about the joy found in using words, sharing stories, and loving a wondrous dog named Rex. Children's Books Heal

I have mentioned Emilia Dziubak in a previous post. Here are some other books by Patricia MacLachlan:

My Father's Words
The Truth of Me
White Fur flying
Waiting for the Magic
The Poet's Dog
Just Dance
Fly Away
Sarah, Plain and Tall

Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen by Deborah Hopkinson illustrated by Qin Leng

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen is one of our greatest writers."

So begins Deborah Hopkinson's picture book biography about Jane Austen. 

The blurb continues:

"... before that she was just an ordinary girl. In fact, young Jane was a bit quiet and shy, if you had met her back then you might not have noticed her at all. But she would have noticed you. Jane watched and listened to all the things people around her did and said and locked those observations away for safekeeping. Jane also loved to read. She devoured everything in her father's massive library, and before long she began creating her own stories. In her time, the most popular books were grand adventures and romances, but Jane wanted to go her own way ... and went on to invent an entirely new kind of novel."

There are so many amazing biographies published for young children. Take a look at this Pinterest collection from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything. She has a list of over 450 Picture book biographies on a wide range of people from around the world.

You may already know that Qin Leng is one of my favourite illustrators. The book Shelter is one of my top ten all time most precious picture books so I went hunting for more of Qin's work and I found this biography picture book of Jane Austen.

The story is beautifully complimented by Qin Leng’s evocative illustrations: the soft pen and watercolor spreads are reminiscent of Quentin Blake, and bring life and depth to the story.  This is a well-composed volume which is sure to bring pleasure to readers both young and old. Children’s Book Review

Leng beautifully captures the Georgian era and Jane’s multifaceted personality. Quill and Quire

Realistic vignettes, single-page illustrations, and double-page spreads of Jane and her family accompany and expand the text;generous use of white space and delicate line work give the pictures an airyfeel. Kirkus

Here are a set of teachers notes from the publisher useful for a number of picture book biographies featuring talented women. This is the perfect book to introduce young readers to Jane Austen. The subtitle reads: The story of Six Novels, Three Notebooks, a Writing Box, and One Clever Girl.

Here is an interview with Deborah Hopkinson and more art from the book on Qin Leng's web page. 

The Horribly Haunted School by Margaret Mahy illustrated by Robert Staermose

I am a huge fan of Margaret Mahy and she doesn't disappoint with this junior novel.  Brilliant language, a laugh aloud plot, perfectly shaped storytelling and a very satisfying conclusion.

Monty Merryandrew is a conventional boy, well sort of, but he has very unconventional parents.  His mother is a champion jigsaw contestant and his father works as a government philosopher at the Department of National Despair.  In their backyard is an old car inhabited by a ghost called Lulu.   I love the way Margaret Mahy leads the reader into the realisation that Lulu is a ghost.  Listen to this scene.

"I'm never hungry"
"I miss the idea of breakfast"
"I loved eating when I was alive"
"It's so boring haunting a car that's never going to be driven ever again."

His mother does not believe in ghosts and she is sure sending Monty to a new, more sensible school, will cure him of this idea.  That very day Monty arrives at the Brinsley Codd School for Sensible Thought.  As he enters the office of the school principal - Ms Margiold Principal, he begins to sneeze. This is a sure sign there are ghosts in this school but of course no one believes him.

After a disastrous morning with his new and awful teacher, the aptly named Mr Sogbucket, Monty finally meets the ghost.  It is none other than school founder Brinsley Codd.  Brinsley sets a task for Monty.  He wants to know the fate of three precious school students.  Scrunley Filcher, Avery Crispins and Jessica Frogcutlet.  These naughty children were sent to him to be punished but instead "I would talk to the naughty children in a sympathetic but sensible way, and then I would ... tell them to pretend to cry, so everyone would think they had been punished for their misdeeds."

Here is a Kirkus quote :

Along with a crisp pace, an abundance of silly words and silly names, and a cast of children who save the day by showing more sense than the adults can muster,

Here are some of the wonderful words :

squidlets, sausosnack and nipkin - these are foods
Prang Street, Impact Drive and Bowled-over-backwards Boulevard - street names near Monty's home
Triumph Podmore and Neroli-Pompas - vintage cars
gillygaloo
gongoozler
gallynipper
gyasctus
Firkins of Jigjag Fizz "a wholesome drink much loved by jigsaw puzzle champions"


I was pleased to see the word horrakapotchkin.  Margaret Mahy uses this delicious word in her book The Three Legged cat.

Here is an alternate cover for a newer edition of The Horribly Haunted School but (yes you have guess this) of course this marvelous book is out of print!

Stella by Starlight by Sharon M Draper

"Red fire. Black cross. White hoods. They're here. Now,' ... It was 1932, in the little town ... Every negro family in Bumblebee knew the unwritten rules."

I love the name Bumblebee North Carolina - there is no such town but I felt compelled to check - when you read Stella by Starlight you will feel as though you have visited this small community in 1932 so vivid is the writing of Sharon M Draper.

Every aspect of Stella's life is affected by the racial discrimination of this time.  There is only one African American doctor for example.  Tony, the son of Dr Hawkins, observers : "It's hard to live like there's a boot in your back every second of your life." The white doctor even has a sign on his door WHITE PATIENTS ONLY.  When Stella's mother, Georgia, is bitten by a snake he refuses to help and Stella's mother almost dies.  These are scenes towards the end of the book and I actually had to stop reading because I was so afraid for Stella's precious mum.

Stella loves to read and wants to write but feels she lacks the skill.  Another unfair aspect of life in 1932, Stella is not allowed to visit the public library but she does have writing all over her house.  Her mother papers the walls with newspaper articles.  Her father reads three newspapers each day "Gotta know what's goin' on in the world,' he reminded Stella when she'd ask why one paper wasn't enough." But Stella is an observant child and she notices "colored people were rarely mentioned in those ... newspapers."  When she and a friend look through the Sears and Roebuck catalog she says "Did you notice - I don't see eve one single person who looks like us in this big old book."

Apart from the horror of the Klan and the extreme fear felt by the citizens of color in this community another aspect of this book relates to rights and in particular the right to vote.  If you are working on a unit about democracy you might like to use chapter 22.  Three men from the town, including Stella's father, travel to Amherst to register to vote.  Stella goes along with them.  The men are ridiculed by the town official and then told to take a fifteen minute written test. They even have to pay for this privilege.  Meanwhile some white men walk into the same office and all that is required a simple signature on a form.  Stella is enraged. Then the men from Bumblebee are told to come back in a week.

"Mr Spencer sat down on the floor. After a moment, Stella's father and Pastor Patton joined him." They sit on the floor of the office until their test is graded.  The consequence of this action is truly awful - the Klan burn down the Spencer home and endanger their thirteen children.  You will cheer, though, when you read how the whole town including some of the white citizens unite to assist the family.  Stella is called a hero when finds six year old Hazel who has run away in fear and the Spencer's give her a typewriter which came with the donations given to the family after the fire. Using a typewriter gives Stella the motivation to keep working on her writing.

All through this book we see Stella's writing progress but she is full of self doubt. I love the words of encouragement from Stella's mother :

"I'm a dunce?' Stella said, fear clutching her chest.
'Quite the opposite. You are an amazing thinker - a gemstone hiding inside a rock."

Stella is a very talented writer.  Here are some samples from her work :

"I've got thick black hair, and bushy caterpillar-looking eyebrows. When I look in the mirror, I don't see pretty, I just see me."

"At the mill ... they take sawdust and turn that into paper. Those big old trees become books and notebooks and newspapers. Dust becomes words. I like that."

"My papa voted. He is a pebble. Lots of pebbles make a landslide, right? His vote counted."


Watch this video where Sharon explains her family inspiration for this important story which is a snapshot of history.  Click here to listen to an audio sample from Chapter 17.  Here is a thoughtful review which will give you more plot details.  The author web site will give you further insight into this important and award winning book.  Here are a set of teaching notes.  If I have not convinced you that Stella by Starlight is a special and important book - read this review from the Nerdy Book Club - now!!

After or even before reading Stella by Starlight I recommend you read the picture book Goin' someplace special by Patricia McKissack and the novels Kissy Ann Stamps, Mississippi bridge by Mildred D Taylor and Walking to the bus rider blues by Harriet Robinet.

Stella by Starlight is not at all like Sharon's earlier book Out of my mind but you will want to read this one too I am sure. It was one of my top books this year.

Draper expertly creates a character filled with hope, dreams and ambition in a time when such traits were 

dangerous for a girl of color.

Some Writer The story of EB White by Melissa Sweet

When I read a pretty line

A little flame goes down my spine,

That when I see the morning sun

I laugh to think the world's begun

Extract from a poem by EB White published in 1922.

Melissa Sweet has collected a wealth of information about EB White from his writing as a little boy right through to the famous children's books, his work for the New Yorker magazine and through collected letters which were published in 1976.

Martha White granddaughter of EB White "My grandfather once wrote about letters, 'The visitor to the attic knows the risk he runs when he lifts the lid from a box of old letters. Words out of the past have the power to detain."

This book Some Writer (have you made a connection from the title and Charlotte's Web?) certainly had the power to detain me.  I sat and read the whole book in an afternoon and I think I smiled the whole way through.  Of course we know EB White through his children's books such as my favourite The trumpet of the swan.

"Anyone who writes down to children is simply wasting he time. You have to write up, not down. Children are demanding. They are most attentive, curious, eager, observant, sensitive, quick and generally congenial readers on earth  ...  I throw them hard words, and they backhand them over the net."

EB White did so much more writing over his life time in magazines, adult books, poetry and newspaper articles.

"A sentence should contain on unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences ... This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell."

Melissa Sweet : "The thing about White that comforts and fascinates me (and challenges me) is how he manages to make his words matter more.  It is is as if he is able to make one word do the work of ten."

On reading for the audio book of Charlotte's Web EB White said "It's ridiculous, ... a grown man reading a book that he wrote and being unable to read it aloud because of tears."

Charlotte's Web - the inspiration was his own barn and farm in Maine.  EB White also saw a spider spinning an egg sac and deposit her eggs.  He put the sac in a box and several days later his office in New York was swarming with tiny spiders.
Stuart Little - EB White had a dream on a train about a mouse who was 'fully dressed in dapper clothing with a hat and cane."
Trumpet of the Swan sprang from an article in the NY Times about trumpeter swans.  EB White wondered what if one of these rare swans was born without a voice.

Melissa Sweet chronicles the life of EB White from birth to his death in 1985.  As a young man he and a friend decided to set off in an old Model T roadster.  Earning money while on his grand trip west across America was not easy but two items caught my eye "Supplied the last line in a limerick contest and won $25."  He also picked peas in an orchard for 30 cents an hour!  Somehow Melissa even prints a copy of the winning limerick.

The letters of EB White published in 1976 are quoted throughout the book. In one he described skating with a friend in 1917.  He wrote "We didn't talk much ... we just skated for the ecstasy of skating - a magical glide. ... I remember what it was like to be in love before any of love's complexities or realities or disturbances had entered in, to dilute its splendor and challenge its perfection."

This is a book for all ages.  For children who have enjoyed his classic books and for adults who remember the books and wonder about their creator.  It is also a perfect book for teachers and teacher-librarians who love sharing these classic stories with their classes.  Using Some Writer your lessons will be so much richer.

One of the things that fascinated me was the way EB White had so many different names.

Elwyn Brooks White
En - his name as a young boy
Andy - his college nickname based on the name of Cornell's first president Andrew Dickson White
EB White the name he put on all his writing from a very young age

You will also see his handwriting and editing and you can read how White struggled to find the perfect beginning for Charlotte's Web.

Here are some lines I love (from the end) of this famous book :

"You have been my friend,' replied Charlotte. 'That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you.  ... By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle.  Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that."

Listen to an interview from NPR "All things Considered" with Melissa Sweet and see some of the wonderful illustrations.  Read the Kirkus review - it has a star!  Here is the Nerdy Book Club review and you can also see more pages from this book. View a trailer with Melissa. I heartily agree with the School Library Journal reviewer who says:

"Drop everything and share widely."

Finding Serendipity by Angelica Banks

It has taken me a long time to actually get my hands on this book. Last year we had a week of competitions in our library for Book Week and one of our talented students modeled her answer on this book Finding Serendipity.  Since then it has been out on loan constantly.

Essentially in this tale we explore the mystical idea - where do writers get their story lines and inspiration. Tuesday's mother Serendipity is a very famous author but one night it seems she has disappeared. Tuesday follows her through an open window. To do this she takes hold of some sliver threads that have appeared while she was writing using her mother's typewriter.  Luckily her dog Baxterr is able to travel with her.  She arrives in a strange land where she meets a boy called Blake Luckhurst and a wild girl, who is a character in her mother's books, called Vivienne Small.   Blake takes Tuesday to meet the librarian.  She is the custodian of stories and it is her job to make sure all authors reach 'the end'.  Tuesday is convinced her mother must be at 'the end' and so she embarks on a wild adventure involving danger, pirates and her dog.  She also makes a terrific friend in Vivienne and perhaps changes the ending of the book her mother is writing.

Here is a lovely description of mothers and special night time rituals :

"They will pull your covers up over your shoulders if it's cold, or fold them at the bottom of your bed if it's hot.  They will turn your light down, or off, and pick up that pair of shoes you've left lying in the middle of the floor.  For the briefest moment, they will watch you sleeping.  They might stroke your cheek, or kiss your head, or whisper a good dream into your ear.  Or perhaps they just stand there and think how lovely you are, and blow you a kiss, and leave you to your sleep."

Here is a web site for the author who is in fact two people.  This link also contains news of the sequel.  You can read more of the plot here.  If you click here you can read some quotes from this book just like the one shown below.  I have also included the US cover which looks quite unappealing to me.

I did not race through Finding Serendipity but it is a gentle story of love and determination.  If you enjoy Finding Serendipity you might also like Inkheart by Cornelia Funke and The Voyage to Verdada.