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Showing posts sorted by date for query textless. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Friday, February 21, 2025

One Little Bag by Henry Cole


One Little Bag is a wordless book - these are sometimes referred to as textless books and IBBY call them Silent Books - but of course they are far from silent. This one for example contains a really complex and very satisfying story about the creation of a paper bag beginning with a tree in the forest and then moving from the factory to the grocery store. This is not the end, however, because this bag is used and reused over and over again and even becomes a part of the generational story of one family. 

"On the very first Earth Day my entire school celebrated. ... That day ... my lunch was packed in a small paper bag. On that first Earth Day, however, I did not throw my bag away after lunch. Instead, I folded in and slipped it back into my back pocket. ... The next day I used that same little bag to carry my lunch to school again. And the next day. And the next day. For three years. ... It looked a little weather beaten with all the stapes and scotch tape I used to keep it together. I figure that bag was used about seven hundred times."  Henry Cole

This book needs to be added to your school library BUT here in Australia it is way too expensive. This book was published in 2020 and while it is still available it now costs AUS$53+. Back in 2021 the library where I borrowed this book paid AUS$32.

Here is the blurb by Henry Cole: From a tall tree growing in the forest-- to the checkout counter at the grocery store-- one little bag finds its way into the hands of a young boy on the eve of his first day of school. And so begins an incredible journey of one little bag that is used and reused and reused again. In a three-generation family, the bag is transporter of objects and keeper of memories. And when Grandfather comes to the end of his life, the family finds a meaningful new way for the battered, but much-loved little bag to continue its journey in the circle of life.

In this video Colby Sharp talks about reading this book to his class. Take a look at the Kirkus Star review. Here is the webpage for Henry Cole. 

Cole beautifully shows how small acts of reusing something can become tradition in a family. The book never seems like a lecture, always just showing and demonstrating how reuse is possible and its great potential as well. The paper bag in the story if remarkably resilient for so much use by generations, but I think we all have items in our families that survive despite being used by everyone, to be handed to the next generation. Told in images only, the book is filled with fine-line drawings that shine with light. The paper bag is the only color on the page, its brown color becoming all the more warm and glowing and the red hearts popping with color. A truly great wordless picture book. Waking Brain Cells


I previously talked about Nesting by Henry Cole.

Friday, July 14, 2023

Curiosity

 



Inquisitive Interested Inquiring

How, why and what? Who? Where? When? So many questions! All. The. Time.

 Little Miss Curious just wants to know everything.


My friends and I were talking yesterday about how children seem to have lost their curiosity. Sadly I think this might be one of the negative consequences of mobile phones and other devices. So many opportunities for conversations that spring from young children's questions about their world and the people they meet are being lost as parents seem too distracted to talk and instead they thrust devices into the hands of the youngest children.

If you agree this is an issue I have a few picture books to suggest that might reignite your child's curiosity, their questioning and their interest in the world around them.

The Children's Library Lady lists these outcomes when we foster curiosity. Children become:

  • Interested in what they see around them
  • Motivated to learn more and find the answers to questions
  • Passionate about certain topics and researching all they can about it.
  • Proactive in asking questions, socially and in the classroom
  • Enthusiastic about new discoveries
  • Interested in reading and learning new things
I also found this list - you read more about each of these points here;
  • Model interest in the world around you. ...
  • Follow your child's lead. ...
  • Answer questions simply and clearly and according to your child's development. ...
  • Use the library! ...
  • Stimulate your child with open-ended questions. ...
  • Create an interesting environment. ...
  • Redirect, don't discourage.
When you visit the library make sure to pick up one or two non fiction books - these can be a wonderful way to inspire curiosity. My sidebar has non fiction as a search term. 

For example I mentioned this amazing book recently:




Mindfulness can foster curiosity as can STEM activities. You could also hunt out picture book biographies which often feature people who discover new things because they were/are curious. 

Stories that I call "grass is greener" which feature characters heading off to explore their world beyond the comfort of home are also examples of curiosity in action. Look at Daisy; Once upon a small Rhinoceros; Veronica; Wendy; Louise the Adventures of a Chicken.

Don't forget borrow wordless or textless books - these are terrific conversation starters. The link on my sidebar says Silent Books (this is the term used by IBBY). 


WORDS RELATED TO CURIOSITY
inquisitiveness interest eagerness investigation questioning searching


Here are some books from this blog or books that I have read and enjoyed that you could also explore. These are just the 'tip of a huge iceberg' - there are hundreds or perhaps thousands of books you could share with a child that will foster their curiosity.  














I am very keen to see this new poetry book which will be published later this year;


Monday, January 23, 2023

Sunshine by Jan Ormerod


"With an economy of line and colour, she captures and shares an intimate and familiar morning routine, complete with early morning light you can almost feel and the burning of toast you can almost smell. Jan portrays the essence and comedy of situations and characters with elegant simplicity."  Freya Blackwood Foreword to the 2022 reprint of Sunshine.

"Sunshine is a masterpiece of design and pacing. ... Then at the hilarious pivotal moment, the regular layout is tosses aside, parents rush about readying themselves while the child looks out at the reader with an acknowledging smile." Freya Blackwood Foreword to the 2022 reprint of Sunshine.

In 1982 Sunshine won the Australian Children's Picture Book of the Year award. I was not working in a school library, that didn't happen until 1985, but I was studying librarianship and my passion for children's books had begun. Sunshine was one of the very first picture books I purchased for myself - not for a child, not for a gift, not for a library - just for me! 1982 is over forty years ago, but I think Sunshine was probably the first wordless book I had ever seen or read.  Recently I spied this new copy and so, as a celebration of my own two years as a CBCA Picture book judge I decided to purchase this book all over again. Sunshine is still my most favourite wordless or textless or as we call them in IBBY, silent book. When I put on layers of clothes in winter I often think of the little girl putting on her vest, rights, skivvy, pinafore, and shoes. I also love the special moment when dad bends down and touches her nose with his nose before he rushes out the door. And what a pity she has to leave her orange-haired rag doll at home when she heads out the door with mum. 

In 2022 Sunshine turned 40 and Harper Collins printed an anniversary edition. It is a slightly larger format (thank you) and every page is just as vibrant as the the original. Here is a video/audio presentation which explores one series of illustrations in detail. 



As her parents settle in to reading the paper and dozing, the child gets ready for the day – involving a truly exquisite sequence of dressing herself, getting lost in her singlet, pulling on an obstreperous pair of tights and finally putting shoes on the wrong feet. Perfection. ... Detail and delight abound in this work that feels fresh and contemporary. Even with it’s wind-up alarm clock. Kids' Book Review

Jan Ormerod (1946-2013) produced some very special picture books both as an author/illustrator and as an author with different illustrators such as Freya Blackwood who provided the Foreword to this new edition. Freya herself illustrated a wonderful wordless book in 2021 - The Boy and the Elephant. 


Here are some other books by Jan Ormerod - many of these are sure to be in your local or school library.  The sequel to Sunshine, Moonlight was also reprinted in 2022.












I have mentioned Sunshine in several past posts here on my blog - take a look:

I was a little surprised to see these three different covers and titles for The Swap illustrated by Andrew Joyner:






Saturday, October 29, 2022

Oscar's Tower of Flowers by Lauren Tobia


The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again - Charles Dickens

On the opening end paper we are given a cross section view of a city apartment building. A lady in a yellow sweater is waving to someone in the street below. On the title page mum has some luggage and her young son is pressing the buttons in the lift. In a set of small frames mum greets the lady in the yellow sweater. Lauren Tobia (illustrator of the Anna Hibiscus books) explains on her web page that this lady is Nana. Please don't turn to the back end papers until you have read the whole book then the wonderful surprise will be sure to delight you.

Blurb: Oscar’s mum has to go away for a little while, so Oscar is staying with his nana. He likes being with Nana in her apartment building, but he still misses his mum. One day, Nana has an idea, and together they carefully sow seeds—lots and lots of seeds! They water them and wait . . . and then the seeds start to grow and the flowers begin to bloom and there are plants everywhere. Luckily Oscar has a great idea for what they can do with the blossoms—share them! This brightly illustrated wordless picture book is full of graphic panels and sweeping spreads that evoke the urban bustle of a busy high-rise apartment and shows how each person can contribute to the spirit and vitality of a community.

Do you have a collection of wordless or textless (IBBY call them Silent Books) in your library? This one is quite perfect and will be enjoyed by your youngest students. You should also look at this book if you need titles for your preschool book collection or library. 

Warm and wonderful. Kirkus Star review

It’s an emotionally resonant story that will speak, in particular, to any child who has had to temporarily say goodbye to a caretaker. Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Share this warmhearted story with any preschooler experiencing separation from a loved one. Horn Book

The illustrations, a combination of graphic panels and spreads, take readers step-by-step through the simple story. The artwork is bright, expressive, and detailed. Emotion is expertly conveyed through facial expression and body language, and some parts of the story really tug on the heart, such as Oscar and Mum’s painful farewell and Oscar lying awake at night. Reading Time

Oscar's Tower of Flowers is a perfect book to add to your collection of stories about greening the community and the joy of watching tiny seeds turn in to glorious plants. It is also the first book I have ever seen where mum leaves for an extended period (we don't know why) and a young child is cared for by another family member for longer than a day.  Here are a few others books about gardens and greening the community. Type the titles into my search bar:







Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Picture Book Month Day 10


It is day ten - so I am one third of the way through my thirty picture books. Today my featured book has no words. YES I said no words. I do hope you are familiar with this form of storytelling. Some people call these books 'textless' while IBBY use the term Silent Books. The name we might apply to these books is quite problematic because these books do contain stories so in a way they are not textless - the text is just expressed in a different way through the pictures and these stories can be noisy, emotional, complex and powerful - not exactly 'silent'.

Read more about Wordless books:

Seven Reasons Why Wordless Picture Books are so Powerful

How to read Wordless Picture Books - Parent tips

IBBY Silent Books Project Lampedusa

There are so many Wordless books or Silent books I could add here for my month long picture book celebration but I decided to share Stormy: A story about finding a forever home, which was a recent discovery as I prepared a talk for IBBY Australia. I have over 200 others in this Pinterest Collection. Stormy is the perfect book to share with your young reading companion especially if they love dogs. The patience shown by the young girl as she works to gain the trust of this lost pup and her gentle kindness towards her new friend is sure to melt your heart. This is a book to own, to treasure and to enjoy with each re-reading. AND there is a wonderful surprise under the dust jacket!



Sunday, April 11, 2021

I walk with Vanessa: A story about a simple act of kindness by Kerascoet

 




Begin with the subtitle - a simple act of kindness. The act of kindness in this book is not simple, it is brave, it is powerful, it is heroic, and it is wonderful AND there are no words in this book!

Vanessa is new. She sits alone during play time. She sets off for home alone. But along the way she is confronted by the class bully. He shouts at her and hurls abuse (keep in mind there are NO words in this book). When the bully walks away little Vanessa is left in tears. BUT this incident has been observed. Her young classmate watches Vanessa heading home then she heads back to tell her friends exactly what she witnessed.  That night both girls can be seen in their rooms. You are left to imagine that poor little Vanessa still feels upset but more importantly her classmate is thinking and thinking hard about the action that needs to be taken. 

The next morning she knocks on Vanessa's door and invites her to walk to school. As the pair of new friends walk through their neighbourhood other children join them. The crowd grows bigger and bigger as everyone steps up to walk with Vanessa.

A wonderfully illustrated, hopeful book that can help caregivers tackle an emotionally fraught subject with even very young... Kirkus Star review

Kerascoët’s perfectly constructed wordless picture book powerfully demonstrates the feeling of being overlooked and ignored, the emotional toll of being bullied, and how an act of bullying affects even those not directly involved. Celebrate Picture Books (A very detailed review well worth reading)

What can one person do after all? But there is something one person can do. One person can bring together lots of people, and together they can really bring about change. Looking Glass Review

Silent, wordless or textless books should not be "read" on a video but in this production the images are simply accompanied by music. My only small criticism would be the page turns come a little too quickly. 

About the authors:  Kerascoët is the joint pen name of the French illustrators Marie Pommepuy and Sébastien Cosset. A married couple, they met while attending art school. They chose their pen name in 2000 after the hamlet of Kerascoët in Névez, Brittany where Pommepuy grew up.

Take a look at my Pinterest collection of picture books about Kindness.  And my collection Say No to Bullies. Here are a couple of Kindness titles I have talked about recently:





Saturday, March 20, 2021

IBBY Silent books 2019 Part Four

 한국의 조용한 그림책

Silent Picture Books from Korea

I was curious to discover more about the books from Korea selected for the IBBY Silent book collection because they have nine titles. Italy also have nine titles. 

Kim Jungmin, Happy backpack, Book Good Come, Seoul, 2018

해피 백팩

A boy is going home after school. For some reason, his backpack feels heavy today. It's so heavy he can’t carry it. The boy tries to get rid of his bag using a gigantic balloon, but the balloon pops. Then the boy throws his bag in the trash, but the backpack won’t stop following him around! How will he get away? 


Lee Seou, Cracks, Book Good Come, Seoul, 2018

균열

The South Pole is a world of snow and ice where emperor penguins live.  One day, an emperor penguin chick was left all alone. What will become of the penguin out in the middle of the vast ocean? Cracks is a textless picture book that illuminates the value of life and the environment through the adventure of a penguin chick. This is an original and brilliant story. Cracks won the 2017 Creative Illustrated Books Challenge co-administered by NAVER Grafolio and Wow Book Culture and Art Center.


Kyung Sik Choi, A blue fountain, Sakyejul Publishing, Paju-si, 2016

푸른 분수

Cool blue imaginations elongated from old fountains are common in apartments or parks around the fountain. When the water flows out during the summer season, the fountain becomes a playground in the blink of an eye. But when the water stops, interest in the fountain disappears. Seeing an old fountain without a drop of water, the artist leads us to a cool imagination. The powerful imagination gives a thrilling sense of freedom. It is a picture book that makes you feel like you have been playing with a splash of water in a fountain.

See some art from this book here. The trailer shows the power of this story.


Noh In-Kyung Breathing, Munhakdonge Publishing Group, Paju-si, 2018

호흡

Here is a review of Breathing (you will need to select translate). Here is a YouTube trailer for this book which some translators call Breath.

The 'breath' is not only a miracle and a mystery given to us, it becomes a world in itself. The breath bubbles that the child exhales take on various forms of life and fill the screen. A space that is mysterious, beautiful, and constantly changing dynamics. This is the world that Nyeong-gyeong wants to give to his child and the world he wants to make.



Jin-ho jung, Stars and me, Bir publishing, Seoul, 2017

The animated trailer is very special

“Stars and Me,” contains a vivid contrast of the night sky when the bicycle light is on and off. The protagonist, who is forced to run with the lamp off due to the breakdown of the lamp, is fascinated by the beautiful starlight in the dark night sky. And sooner or later you realize that you can run without a bicycle light in the beautiful starlight. The artist encourages us to slightly twist our gazes and actions that we take for granted in our daily lives ... "


Suzy Lee, Lines, Bir publishing, Seoul, 2017

Here is the ISBN for the English edition of this book: 9781452156651

A lone skater gracefully dances across these snow white pages leaving lines in their wake. The figure twirls and glides happily, until they suffer a stumble, prompting the penciller to scrap everything. But this action leads to a new idea, and in slides another skater, and another… The once-white pages become a pencil-smudged rink, with many skaters etching their lines into its surface. Pencil crayons (used in the winter gear) add a lovely splash of colour to the different grey tones produced by the pencils. While the book is completely wordless, the lines themselves, in their loops and swirls give the impression of a musical sound, dictating our pace and our feelings towards this story. Lee’s work is an absolutely elegant study in line, space, movement, and form, and it’s one of the most beautiful picture books out there right now. Good Reads review - Rachel

Jo A-ra, Do you hear my mind, Hansol Soobook Pubnlishing, Seoul, 2017

내 분 들리니

There is a child who walks deeply in thought with heavy steps, a story of healing wounds and loneliness through'life and art are one' music . When a child arrives at school, he or she is bullied by large children, and the child's school life is lonely. A bird flies over the head of a child sitting on the playground. It becomes a leaky note and begins to comfort the child. The music gradually reaches its peak, and the child's gestures become louder and more colourful. The cats and mice seen from the first scene are what makes the child's reality come back. The birds also return to their place and the child returns to their normal routine, but how has the child's inner life changed?


Beck Ji-won, I meet you, Bombom publishing, Seoul, 2017

난 당신을 만나고

This book has been translated into English. It now has the title Lost and Found.

Here is the blurb from Book Depository: In the snowy Alaskan landscape, a young indigenous girl crosses paths with a weak and hungry polar bear. But rather than retreating in fear, she chooses to approach the bear with tenderness by giving him all that she has to offer, a blanket and fish from her morning excursion. And although the girl's blanket is too small and the gesture is large. After feeling nourished and refreshed, the two new friends head out to play and frolic in the snow. When a snowstorm hits, the bear has a chance to return the girl's kindness and safely shepherds her home. Before each reunites with their parent they share one last embrace - creating a lifelong memory of their unique bond born of mutual respect and open hearts.


Regina Park, It's you, Gloyeon, Seoul, 2018

너야

Read more about this book and see inside here.

Unless specified differently, the blurbs quoted in this post come from YES24.com.