Big and Small and In-between by Carter Higgins illustrated by Daniel Miyares

 

I have coveted this 2022 book since I first saw it many months ago, so when one of our best Sydney bookshops (Gleebooks) announced their 20% sale prior to moving to new premises I was able to grab this book for less than $30. 

There was a competition recently for the best end papers. Big and small and in-between could certainly be a strong contender. These end papers are different front and back, the front ones have a sunrise hue and the back ones night is falling. These pages are filled with the big and small objects from the book such as a chipped tea cup, a key, shells, coins, a cassette tape, dice, a whistle, a feather and a skipping ripe. 

Publisher blurb: This lovely, lyrical book collects the world by size. Divided into three chapters with three specially paper-engineered separations, every page encapsulates one precious moment that perfectly represents both a size and an experience. A beautiful, giftable meditation on what it means to be a kid - and what it means to be a human. This book has a beautiful blend of lyrical text and interpretive illustrations. The big, small and in-between things all lend themselves to deep conversations.

The three chapters in this book are big, in-between and small. Let's Talk Picture books explains the paper folds:

But perhaps the most exciting part of the book's design is the different paper folds we see on the section headers. Decreasing in intricacy and size as they go, they perfectly build up to the bonus surprise chapter and gatefold at the end of the book. The impact of the gatefold is amazing after all that!

I love all the pages in this book but especially these:

BIG - the trophy you got for the jump-rope contest because your feet remembered the pattern.

In-Between - the leftover balloons that are losing their oomph but not all the way droopy.

SMALL Things - the PLIP of a raindrop and the PUDDLE where it falls for a butterfly to sip.

I would be tempted to share this book very slowly with a class of older students (Grades 4-6) and only reveal one page each day. This book might not survive multiple library borrowers because of the paper engineering but it is one you could gift to a teacher or a special friend or perhaps it might be a gift to celebrate the arrival of a new baby. 

Truly a book that soothes the worries and congratulates the soul for being here and celebrates the amazing thing we are living - together - called a life.  These are magical moments that connect us.  These are sad and happy things we all share because we are human beings living side by side on this planet.  What an amazing celebration of being alive and here today. A Book and a Hug

Here are some other books illustrated by Daniel Miyares:

I previously talked about Bring me a Rock!

A Swallow in Winter - A Christmas Miracle by Timothée de Fombelle illustrated by Thomas Campi

"Sitting in his van for hours, he would brood over the great unrest of our times, how everything had gone to rack and ruin, invaded, unrecognisable."

"This call, Gloria sensed, was intended for her alone and for her freedom. Somebody was waiting for her, up north."

"Gloria was determined to understand everything. Sorrow, loves, wars, even children's games. During her long voyages in springtime and at the summer's end, Gloria roamed battlefields and burnt-out residential blocks. She followed wedding processions and families taking to the road in search of peace."

Every so often I read a book that just makes me sigh with happiness and marvel at the power and wonder of storytelling. With a book like this one - A Swallow in Winter - I want to rush out and buy a handful of copies to keep in my bag - why? Because I would love to thrust this book (and others such as Wishtree by Katherine Applegate and Captain Rosalie also by Timothee de Fombelle) into the hands of adults who challenge my love of children's books, who scoff at my passion for reading, almost exclusively, books written for children. At nearly every social occasion, especially over Christmas, I endure this kind of censure and I guess you can tell it annoys me.

I have listed this book as a French picture book but really it is a novella. It is a small, almost hand-sized volume with full colour and full page rich illustrations. A Swallow in Winter was written in 2019 in French and translated by Sarah Ardizzone into English in 2022. The French title is Quelqu'un m'attend derrière la neige. Take a look here to see inside this book. 

There are three narrative threads in this story. The swallow from the title has decided not to follow her instinct to fly south and instead she has headed to the North on this cold snowy winter night. Her decision has come following an accident many years ago where she crashed into the coloured window of a church. Later we discover her name is Gloria.

The second narrative thread is where we meet a man who drives an ice cream van. Freddy d'Angelo has worked for the gelato company - Pepino & schultz for thirty-seven years. It is Christmas Eve and he is driving from Genoa to London. His van contains six hundred tubs in two flavours - almond milk and chestnut. 

"Freddy had been counting. It would soon be a hundred days since anybody had spoken to him properly."

So we have a tiny bird flying through the cold night. We have a lonely man in his truck who has never even tasted the ice cream he delivers. But what of the third narrative thread? Sorry dear reader but I am not going to share this with you. I will only say the ending of this story is sure to surprise, delight and shock you. At the end of this small volume Timothee de Fombelle will take you to an extraordinary story destination. 

Thomas Campi is an Italian illustrator. One critic said "Delicately put into images by the Italian cartoonist Thomas Campi, who produces almost every two pages of superb illustrations in warm and rich colours, this text proves to be as unclassifiable as its heroes."

This might be a spoiler but take a close look at this illustration:

In this short French video, Timothee de Fombelle reads from his book - and you can hear a soft sound track of Frank Sinatra which Freddy, the truck driver, plays on his old cassette player all year round.

When the three destinies meet, it seems their search for hope, belonging and kindness has finally ended. An atmospheric and heart-warming story, perfect for this very special time of year. Reading Zone

Christmas 2022 book selection

 

I've posted my Christmas book choices over recent days. This year I didn't try to have a theme - I just gathered a random selection of Christmas books to share here on my blog. Some are old, some are new, some are long out of print, a couple are Australian, and hopefully nearly all of them will still be in a school or public library. I found a few of these at a recent charity book sale and others I borrowed from a very well stocked school library. 

A Small Miracle

The Snow Angel

Christmas Magic

A House for Christmas Mouse

Strega Nona's Gift

Merry Christmas, Blue Kangaroo!

The Polar Bear who Saved Christmas

The Polar Express

The Animals' Christmas Carol

Green is for Christmas

e-mail Jesus @ Bethleham

The First Noel

Emily Brown and Father Christmas

Grace and the Christmas Angel

Dasher

Check my past Christmas books by clicking Christmas on my sidebar. 

Dasher by Matt Tavares

"You might be surprised to hear that there was a time, long ago, when Santa's sleigh was pulled not by a team of reindeer but by a single horse, named Silverbell."

So how did Santa come to find his reindeer? How did this happen?

The reindeer family part of the J.P. Finnegan Travelling Circus and Menagerie. They were not very well cared for and all of them longed to live in a better place with crisp cold air, cool white snow and freedom. Mama tells her stories every evening to Dasher under the light of the North Star. Dasher likes the way the children are kind to the circus animals but one night, when the gate swings open, she does not hesitate. Out she goes looking for snow and freedom with the North Star as her guide.

You have probably guessed she stumbles upon Santa and Silverbell. The sleigh is so heavy because there are so many children in the world who believe in the magic. Dasher steps forward and offers to help but little does she realise she will be pulling the sleigh up in the sky. 

At the end of the magical night Santa asks Dasher if she has a wish.  

"I love it here ... but I miss my family. I wish we could be together."

"Late that night, as Santa and his new team of reindeer soared around the world, he called them by name for the very first time. 'Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen. On, Comet! On Cupid! On, donner and Blitzen!"

I visited a very large (chain) city bookstore this week and I was shocked to discover they did not have a huge display of children's picture books celebrating Christmas. I did find the shelves of Christmas books (two of them jam packed) but it was in a different part of the store not near the other picture books but instead hidden in another section where they keep the children's non fiction books and graphic novels for younger readers. Such a missed opportunity or is this political correctness gone mad?

When I buy I book I love to look at the book shop price sticker because they often include the date a book arrived in their store. Dasher has been languishing on the shelves since November 2020. Of course we were buried in COVID for the 2020 Christmas but I cannot help wonder if this book had been put out on a Christmas book display surely it would not have sat around for 2 years! Kirkus agree:

Gorgeous illustrations make this one sure to fly off shelves 

“like the down of a thistle.”

You can see inside Dasher on Matt Tavares web page. In this interview with Nerdy Book Club, Matt Tavares talks about his book. 

I did some searching to see what other book stores in the city were offering in their Christmas Picture book range.  I discovered this new book illustrated by Bernadette Watts - it looks like a wonderful (248 pages) book to read each night with your family.

And here a few others that I might find next Christmas:

Matt Tavares has two other Christmas books:

 

Grace and the Christmas Angel by Lucinda Riley and Harry Whittaker illustrated by Jane Ray

Bookseller blurb: It's Christmas Eve. The tree is decorated, the presents are wrapped and it's a big day for Grace. She is singing a song in the nativity show, and her fisherman daddy has promised to be back in time to watch her. But when a storm blows up at sea, Grace walks out on stage to find Daddy is not there. She's very worried. But luckily, Grace has someone watching over her. Will Hope, the Christmas Angel, be able to help Daddy get home safely for Christmas morning?

Grace and the Christmas Angel was published in 2021. This book is the first in a planned series entitled Guardian Angels. The two covers above are the paperback and hardcover editions. 

The illustrations by Jane Ray are truly special in this longer format picture book which will be enjoyed by readers aged 8+. It would make a beautiful family read aloud book.

Read more about books by Jane Ray here. 

Here are two other books I enjoyed where children take part in a Nativity play:

Angel Mae

Shine

Emily Brown and Father Christmas by Cressida Cowell illustrated by Neal Layton

Father Christmas has no idea just how much he needs the common sense and enthusiasm of little Emily Brown and her toy rabbit friend called Stanley. 

Father Christmas thinks it is time to be modern! First off no sleigh - he is using the very latest climbing equipment. When he gets horribly stuck Emily Brown has to come to the rescue with her enormous suction device. 

Emily Brown suggests Father Christmas should stick with dropping down chimneys in the old way - much safer. 

Then Santa gets into more trouble. He has added a turbo whatsit to his sleigh and now he is stuck on the roof. Again Emily Brown comes to the rescue and suggests a team of reindeer will work way better. So now Father Christmas has his sleigh and his reindeer but he has no idea where all the presents need to go. His technology of iphones, why-phones, screens and buttons are no help. And to top everything off Father Christmas now has a dreadful winter cold.

Emily Brown knows the presents can only be delivered by magic. She tucks Father Christmas under a warm rug with a mug of hot chocolate, leaves him home beside the fire and she and Stanley set off to do all the deliveries in the sleigh with the team of reindeer. 

"Because being king and helpful to others is what Christmas is ALL about."

If you want to add a terrific Christmas book to your shopping list (perhaps for next year as it is only 2 sleeps until the big day) I highly recommend this one. 

There are lots of books in the series about Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell. You might recognise her name from the How to Train your Dragon series and The Wizards of Once books. Over time the covers of the Emily Brown books have changed. The first book in the series published in 2006 was That Rabbit belongs to Emily Brown and you can see two different covers below. 

The five-picture book Emily Brown series, illustrated by Neal Layton, follows Emily and her toy rabbit Stanley as they go on "intrepid adventures" to help others. "Along the way they demonstrate the unbreakable bond between child and favourite toy, and that kindness, determination and a sense of humour can overcome almost any obstacle.'