Meet the illustrator Jarvis

 

I saw this book mentioned on a Facebook page (it was published in March 2023) and it made me curious about the UK illustrator/author Jarvis. A second Bear and Bird book will be released in October.

Here is an interview with Jarvis from 2017. He has written and illustrated seven books and illustrated another six books for other authors.

• Alan's big scary teeth
• Mrs Mole, I'm Home!
• Lazy Dave
• Tropical Terry
• Follow me, Flo
• This Little Piggie: A counting book
• The boy with Flowers in his Hair

Alan's big scary teeth was shortlisted for the Red Dot Book Award (2017-218). Alan is an alligator (alliteration). He enjoys scaring all of the jungle creatures with his snap snap and grrr grrr!

"After a long day of scaring the jungle animals, Alan would head back home to the swamp, relax and finish off the crossword in the Jungle Times and ... "

Pause here - what will come next - is Alan lonely, does Alan really enjoy frightening everyone, NO - he can do some thing very surprising in the comfort of his own home - he can take out his false teeth!

Then Beaver discovers Alan's secret and he takes the teeth. 

"Alan slunk back to the swamp. He had never been more embarrassed. ... What would Alan do now?"

When you turn the next page you will get another surprise. Alan begins to cry. This is a book you could use to talk about expressing our emotions. The jungle animals feel sorry for him but they make a bargain - no more scaring. Alan now has to find other things to do - gardening, hairdressing and he even becomes a dentist.

My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything recently talked about other picture books featuring False Teeth. 

Morris Mole has had a long, hard day at work and is finally ready to go home, but he's lost his glasses. He can't find them anywhere, so decides to set off home without them. Yet every time he thinks he's found home, he pops up into a different family's dinner. When all looks lost, Morris is able to find his way back by following the smell of his wife's worm noodles.

David is the boy with flowers in his hair. He’s sweet and gentle, just like his petals. But when David’s flowers begin to fall – a single petal at first, then every last blossom – his best friend never leaves his side. And through kindness and creativity, he even finds a way to give David his colour back…

I am keen to see Together with You by Patricia Toht because Jarvis has a very different art style in this book and in others by Patricia Toht.

Nobody's duck by Mary Sillivan

One of the most popular parts of every school library, in my experience, are the joke books. Nobody's duck reads like an extended joke - a joke every young child is sure to "get". Their laughter will be infectious - you the reader parent and child can be assured that reading this book everyone will be laughing at the end. Oh and do make sure you look at the back cover which shows the next scenes from the story.

Duck meets another fellow.

"Whose duck are you?"

"Think think think ... I'm nobody's duck!"

His new friend is not satisfied with this answer and so the pair head off, in the style of "Are you my Mother?", to unearth the truth. At the library he asks a giraffe; at the movie theatre box office he asks the pig ticket seller; at the go-cart track he asks an elephant; finally at the sky diving both they ask the dog attendant. This duck does not belong to any of these characters.

Exasperated the new friend asks the duck again: "Whose duck are you?"

"I am your duck." comes the reply.

"So, if you're MY duck, am I your alligator?"

"I thought you were a crocodile."

As with all the "best" picture books you do need to take time to explore all the tiny details in the illustrations. Alligator observes Duck painting her toe nails, sleeping and playing with a chatterbox.

Duck empties her bag searching for an answer to the crucial question. You will see hats, undies and a bowling pin come flying out. Duck puts on her thinking cap. It even has a light bulb on the top. At the library notice the book that Duck is reading. It surely is the perfect choice for a library:

The pair buy movie tickets to see "Dogzilla: Monster from the pond". It is a 3D movie (you can see their special glasses). In 2014 Mary Sullivan talked to KidLitTv.

Here are some other titles by Mary Sullivan:

Ball by Mary Sullivan received a Theodor Geisel Honour in 2014.

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Applet

As the title suggests the setting for this story is a swamp in the east Texas bayou.  Sugar Man swamp is home to a number of animals but of importance in this story are two raccoons, a rare bird that mayb even be extinct, some alligators, dangerous rattle snakes and the Sugar Man himself. He is a bit like a yeti or a Sasquatch. Growing in the swamp are various wonderful tall trees and some very special sugarcane. From this cane you can make muscovado sugar.  Paradise Pies Cafe use this sugar to make delicious fried pies - fresh baked each morning.  Also waiting to be found in this swamp is an old car.  It is a 1949 Sportsman DeSoto

The true blue scouts of the title are two racoons named Bingo and J'miah. The live in the old car and when lightning strikes, the radio in the car springs to life with words of wisdom, warnings and a weather update. Right now, though, the most dangerous thing in the swamp as far as Bingo and J'miah are concerned is a large group of hungry wild hogs who are heading straight for the sugarcane. Our scouts need to warn the Sugar Man but how do you do this when he is asleep and likely to be real angry if woken too soon.

For the humans who live near the swamp there is another danger:

• Who is the enemy? Sony Boy Beaucoup who wants to drain the swamp.
• Who is the hero? It is Chap (full name Chaparral) who plans to save a boat load of money to pay off this vile man. It is Chap who plans to find that missing car, and the missing rare bird (Ivory-Billed woodpecker) and hopefully prove the Sugar Man is not a myth. But maybe this last part might not be such a good idea?

I adored, I am going to say that word again - adored reading this book.  I had read The Underneath by Kathi Appelt so I was very keen to experience another of her books. Oddly it has taken me almost a year to do this.

Can you imagine in taking 2 or 3 or 4 or even 5 story lines and tossing them all up in the air. I am sure you are visualising this as a huge tangle. NO Kathi Appelt does this with the ease of a consummate circus performer. Some how she blends all these story threads and gives her reader an utterly splendid story set in the swamps of Texas.

I knew from the beginning, from the very first chapter, I was going to enjoy this story. I read the whole book in one go while sitting on a train travelling to southern NSW. I think Kathi had me hooked with words and phrases such as:

nosiree
falderal
'Houston we've got a problem'
'It was glory hallelujah, get out the biscuits, my-oh-my-oh-my.'
'He was clearly up the tree without a parachute.'
'Those pies kicked their stripy booties.'

This book gives you such a strong sense of place and the people and it is so funny yet poignant too. Here is a description of Sonny Boy Beaucoup the man who plans to sell the swamp and turn it into a Alligator World Wrestling Arena and Theme Park.

"... the man was all decked out in a fancy blue and white seersucker suit with a red bow tie. He wore white wing tip shoes, with the thinnest socks Chap had ever seen. The socks were so thin, Chap could see the light-colored hairs of the man's legs through the sheer knit. How would they ever protect his ankles from the biting fleas that lived in the swamp?"

If you read this book with a group (and I'd suggest this would be a terrific thing to do) here are a set of Book Discussion questions from the publisher. You can listen to an audio sample of the first chapter here.

In a honeyed dialect, the omnipresent narrator directly engages readers, ricocheting between the hilarious human and critter dramas to a riotous finale.  A rollicking, ripping tall tale with ecological subtext. Kirkus Star review

As I sunk into the marshy land of the swamp, it was Appelt’svoice, that honeyed drawl, that I heard as if she were sitting beside me whispering into my ear, “All will be well, sister.”  And indeed, it was. Nerdy Book Club

There’s rollicking humor and wild adventure and zesty danger here, as well as a thread of poignancy to anchor us. There’s a marvelously complex web of folks and their enterprises, all unknowingly barreling towards one grand mash-up. And there’s a swamp to save, with its rich habitat hanging in the balance. All of this is told in a delightful, folksy, storyteller’s voice, with short (at times very, very short!) chapters that pop in on one scene, then switch to another locale, keeping us turning those pages to find out more. Orange Marmalade Books

Elizabeth and Larry by Marilyn Sadler illustrated by Roger Bollen

Tuesday Treasure

Elizabeth, aged 62, meets Ed who is 'pushing forty' when he arrives in a box of oranges from Florida. There is no mention in the text that Larry is an Alligator so I suggest reading this book without showing the illustrations perhaps.

There is a beautiful tone to this book:
"Elizabeth met Larry for the first time many years ago. He was delivered to her by mistake with the box of oranges she ordered from Florida. Elizabeth decided to keep Larry, and she gave him a room above the garage. She put the oranges in the refrigerator."

Larry loves his new home but he some problems with the size of the swimming pool. The pair settle into a comfortable life but there are problems, when they go out, with people staring at Larry and even throwing things at him.

"This was the first time Larry realized he was different. Up until then he had assumed he looked like Elizabeth."

The feelings of displacement come to a head when a large group of Elizabeth's relatives arrive. They all look exactly like Elizabeth.  Larry becomes despondent. Elizabeth knows he needs to go back to Florida so she buys him a one way plane ticket home. Over the coming days Elizabeth begins to feel sad. She knows she needs to be with her friend Larry so she buys herself a one-way ticket to Florida. Now the friends can continue to live happily together playing card games - poker and old maid,

This is a sweet story about a special relationship. There are themes of kindness, belonging, acceptance of difference all told with gentle humour. Here is a set of teaching ideas and questions. Roger Bollen is the illustrator of over fifty books including another series that I also adore by Marilyn Sadler, who was his second wife, about a boy called Alistair.

Here is the sequel to Elizabeth and Larry.  When you read this one you may need to talk to a group of children about the terminology associated with playing golf so that they understand the puns in this story which continues the relationship of Larry and Elizabeth but with the complication of a new, and very demanding friend called Ed. Sadly both of these books are now out of print but you might be lucky and find them in a school library.

Swimming against the storm by Jess Butterworth

According to a Cajun legend, loup garous wander around in forests and swamps of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana. These creatures have a man’s body and a wolf’s head... 

I do enjoy survival stories and oddly I also really enjoy books set around swamps. Swimming against the Storm fits the bill perfectly. Grab your wet weather gear and your courage - you will need both when you enter this book!

Eliza, her sister Avery and their mum and dad live in Coteville, Louisiana. Their backyard is the bayou. Mum and dad make their living from shrimping. As this story opens Eliza has turned twelve. This is the day Eliza can go shrimping. Her sister is only ten and so she is left behind. Avery is deeply disappointed and upset.

 Eliza has imagined this day for years but she is not prepared for the reality of the by-catch. There are crabs, fish of all sizes, plastic debris, shrimp of course and a beautiful sea turtle all caught up in the nets. Eliza is distressed to see the turtle is hurt and while her parents do gently put him back many of the beautiful fish are left to die on the floor of the boat. Eliza had no idea shrimping also meant the death of so many precious sea creatures.

The sisters have a great relationship but jealousy over the shrimping outing is a real threat. Avery tells Eliza she and her friend Grace have found something mysterious and interesting on a small island in the swamp. After the disaster of the shrimping outing Eliza is keen to reconcile with her sister so the two set off. First they travel in a small motorboat and then jump into a pair of kayaks. Avery leads her sister across a small island to a footprint.

There is a legend in the bayou of a creature called a Loup-garou. Have they found evidence this creature really exists?

Meanwhile an oil company are advising all residents to leave the area and find a different place to live because the land is subsiding and sea levels are rising. Leaving the area will mean the end for this small, close knit community.

This area is also famous for wild hurricanes. Eliza, Avery, Grace and their friend Huy decide to investigate the mystery of the Loup-garou. If this creature does live in their swamp then maybe they can save their home. This is an action packed atmospheric story. You will feel the wild wind lashing at your hair, the mosquitoes biting your exposed skin and the mud of the swamp sticking to your clothes and hair. I loved final scenes which are filled with tension as the hurricane rages and the kids race home ready to reveal the truth. The title is perfect. There is the real storm, the storm of corruption by the oil company and the storm between the two sisters which Eliza is desperate to heal.

Swimming against the Storm will be available in April this year. I would follow this book with titles by Carl Hiaasen such as Chomp and The Explorer by Katherine Rundell.

I also very keen to read these two earlier titles by Jess Butterworth:

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt

Memorable, controversial, wonderful.

Elizabeth Bird SLJ Fuse 8

It's beautiful. It's simply beautiful. Like a love letter to the English language. Appelt's poetic style suits this prose novel achingly well. Becky's Book Reviews

I am not going to retell the plot of this book. If you click the review links above you can read them for yourself.  Instead here are my random thoughts about this book - a book I loved reading.

This book made me think of a series of threads which might begin as separate strands. Gradually a skilled person joins them together in a pattern. One thread, however, is short and disappears into the design very early. Another thread is totally wrong. It is the wrong texture, wrong colour and feels rough and damaged. It cannot be part of the pattern and yet it is now tangled and will be difficult to remove from the final design. One thread also feels wrong but by the time this weaving it finished the maker sees that it is just perfect adding an important dimension to the whole effect.

"The world is made of patterns. The rings of a tree. The raindrops on the dusty ground. The path the sun follows morning to dusk." (Chapter 65)

When you read this book I hope my thread analogy makes sense. To start you off the Calico Cat is the short thread.

Major Characters:
Calico Cat - her life is short but she is essential to the rescue of Ranger
Her twin kittens Sabine and the aptly named Puck
An old hound dog called Ranger
The man named Gar Face whose life is fueled by revenge and hate. "Hatred, like sweat, coated his skin. ... Do not cross his angry path. Do not."
Grandmother Moccasin the old snake trapped for a thousand years "a creature even older than the forest itself, older than the creek, the last of her kind."
The Alligator King - he is patiently waiting for the man to make a mistake.

I adore all the references to trees in this book. "Trees are the keepers of stories." Here are some which I love the sound of. Coming from Australia nearly all are unfamiliar to me. As Elizabeth Bird says through this beautiful writing:

"We hear the wind in the pines and the smell of the water."

Loblolly Pine
Tupelo
Blackjacks
Water Oaks
Sumacs
Longleaf Pine
Weeping Willow
Mulberry
Ash
Sugarberry
Juniper
Maple
Beautyberry
Chestnut

Kathi Appelt is also so skilled with her words on the actions of cats.
Sabine sees her brother step into the sun.  "She had awakened just in time to see her brother step into the sun's dim light, see him roll onto his back, see the beams of sun float onto his tummy. She had seen him smile up at the lovely light, seen his coat glow in the shimmery gold."

Puck is given a freshly killed mouse by the hawk. "Even though the mouse was already dead, he decided to kill it again, just to make sure. So he fluffed up his fur as much as he could ... arched his back to its full kitten height, and pounced on the lifeless body with all four paws. He battered it from side to side and tossed it into the air."

Sabine : "Soon she was completely absorbed in her personal bath, concentrating fully on licking every strand of her silver fur. She cleaned her paws, including between her toes. She reached over and licked her narrow back. She tucked her head and cleaned her soft-as-velvet belly. And every few minutes, she stopped and licked Ranger's long ears. He loved it when she did that."

One aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was all the tension Kathi Appelt created. I knew it would all be resolved and I could hardly wait to find out how.  One tiny example is when Puck finds himself on the wrong side of the river. His fur is coated with mud which hardens in the sun. Finally after many adventures Puck falls into the river. He can swim. He is okay. He sadly finds he is still on the wrong side of the river. "The only good thing to come out of his experiment in sailing was this: The cold water had loosened the last of the old mud, and his coat, though completely wet, was now completely clean."

I volunteer in a small library at a city Children's Hospital and last week I discovered I am allowed to borrow their books. I spied The Underneath by Kathi Appelt and I remembered reading her book Keeper. I am late in my discovery of The Underneath. It was first published in 2008 and won a Newbery Honor but I am very happy to report it is still available. One important point - make sure you read this book yourself first before giving to a young reader. As you can see from my set of labels it is violent and some scenes with Gar Face and his treatment of Ranger and the kittens are extremely cruel. I would suggest this book is for readers aged 10+. You can listen to part of Chapter one here.  Read this review for more story details and a different perspective. Here is the trailer.

Here is a very detailed review by Middle Grade Ninja. I was interested to read the way his review likens the story line to juggling plates. Here is an excellent interview by Uma Krishnaswami author of The Book Uncle and me.

The Underneath, as I said, is a violent story but it is also a love story and a story about loyalty, perseverance and promises. I would follow or pair this with Sounder by William H Armstrong, Shiloh by Phyllis Naylor Reynolds, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls and for a book with a similar setting look for Chomp by Carl Hiaasen or Skink no surrender also by Carl Hiaasen. The evil of Gar Face reminded me of Zozo from Ollie's Odyssey.

Here is one more beautiful phrase from this book:
"And then, as if the lightning were a zipper in the clouds, it opened them up and let the water out. Buckets and buckets of cold rain, sheets of it. Rain that had traveled for thousands of miles."