The Snow Lion by Jim Helmore illustrated by Richard Jones

"Where did you come from?' Caro asked. 

'Oh, here and there,' said the lion."

Caro and her mum have moved. The new house is white - very white. In fact, it is so white that when the lion stands beside the wall he disappears. On that first glorious day the new friends enjoy many games of hide and seek. Caro sees other kids playing outside - boys playing with a kite. She is too shy to wave to them but later the lion suggests a visit to the park (the slide there is great fun) and when she gets there, she meets the kite boy. His name is Bobby. With encouragement from the lion Caro gradually gains courage and is able to make a new friend. They even share a chocolate cake! But there is a twist. Mum decides to paint all the walls in their white house in bright colours. What will happen to the snow lion? Can Caro survive without her wonderful friend? Does he really need to go? Wait until you see the final page!

A well-crafted tale about healthy adaptation to new environs merges with superb artwork. Kirkus Star review

What makes this book extra special is the way in which the text and illustrations work together. The darkness of the opening pages as Caro and her mother arrive in the night and then the stark whiteness of the house in the first days help to convey the feelings of the characters so well. When the lion arrives he stands out on a page of warm orange. The Snow Lion himself although kindly and reassuring has a quiet dignity and authority about him too; a little like a wise and thoughtful parent. Book Bag

One of our large book chain stores has pulled all the 'old' books off their children's books shelves. You probably know I love to think about the extra details on book price stickers. The Snow Lion has 'languished' on their shelves since July 2018. I do wonder why. It is a paperback book, and the full price was only AUS$15. I was lucky of course to pick this up for 50% off. This is a very special book to share with a young child. The story has a gentle 'message' about making new friends and courage and the illustrations are truly special. 

The best books always use every opportunity to add to their story. Take a look at the title page from The Snow Lion - so much of the story can be anticipated here.

Here is an interview with Jim Helmore about his book and you can also see other pages. Here is his web page. I am also a fan of his Stripy Horse series. His first book was Letterbox Lil - a collaboration with his wife Karen Wall. And here is the web page for Richard Jones. I am very keen to see his new book - Quiet. The Iron Robin looks good too. 

I have already talked about and read many other books illustrated by Richard Jones:

Little Bear

Whale in a Fishbowl

The Seed of Doubt

Bird Builds a Nest

Bird Builds a Nest by Martin Jenkins illustrated by Richard Jones

The preamble to this book says:

"This is a book about forces. A force is something that makes an object move, stop moving or change direction. We can apply a force by pushing or pulling."

Bird needs to pull a worm up from under the soil. "When you pull something you are applying a force towards you."

Now that she has had her worm Bird needs to build her nest. "The more something weighs, the more force you need to lift it."

Using push and pull Bird completes her nest - pushing a twig into the side and pulling it through. Oh no she has dropped a twig.

"Things fall to the ground because of a force called gravity."

Confession time. I studied physics in senior high school and nearly every part of the subject puzzled me. I almost failed the final exam even though I had a personal tutor employed by my parents. If I had seen this book as a young child I think some of the concepts of physics may have been less confusing. This is a brilliant book and one that you should consider adding to your school or preschool library. The paperback edition of this book has been published and it is a very good price at AUS$17. Here is a review by Dr Sam Lloyd (Children's Books Daily). Here is the website for Richard Jones and some books my Martin Jenkins:

There are three books in the Science Storybook series:

Little Bear by Richard Jones

 

Many years ago a Kindergarten teacher asked me for books to share with her class that used the days of the week as a story device. I began to collect them, I added "days of the week" as a subject heading in our library database catalogue and I started a Pinterest of these titles. I have now added Little Bear and I do wish I could share this perfect book with that teacher from all those years ago. (perhaps she reads this blog).

Your youngest reading companions are sure to exclaim over the cover of this scrumptious book - little - that bear is not little - the boy is little - the bear is huge.

Turn to the first page and enormous bear fills the whole page in the same way the bear fills the front cover. Turn the page and we see his real size. This change in perception reminded me of "I'm coming to get you" by Tony Ross. (see cover at the bottom of this post)

On Monday, I found a polar bear in the garden.

He was so small, I held him in my hands.

Preschool children love stories with patterns. In this book, alongside the story device which uses days of the week to advance the plot, we also have the issue of a growing bear. At first the boy can hold the bear in his hands, then he moves into a pocket. By Wednesday he has outgrown the pocket and is placed in a comfortable hat. It is now clear this bear needs to go home. 

You are sure to have read a similar heart-warming story involving the journey of an arctic animal in the wonderful book Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers. In that book the pair of friends, penguin and boy, travel to Antarctica but in this one they need to go to the arctic because that's where Polar Bears live.

The boy and the polar bear climb aboard a small sailing boat but each day the bear gets bigger and so eventually the boy climbs onto the bear's back. Their arrival is a joyous one with a partner for the bear and several young polar bear cubs. The boy is sure his friend is now home and so he says goodbye and sails away. Is this a happy ending? Yes but it is also tinged with a layer of sadness. 

This is a large format, hardcover book and I amazed to say it is not very expensive. I highly recommend you add this book to your school library or preschool library/bookshelf shopping list. Don't hesitate - you need this book now!!

There is joy in their friendship and the scenes are playful and happy even when goodbye is inevitable. A Library Lady

As satisfying as a warm blanket or a cup of cocoa. Kirkus  " Joyous art, celebrating freedom and the beauty of the sea, matches the text in tone and quality."

Very strangely in the US this book has a completely different title and cover illustration - I can hardly believe this is the same book!

I have previously talked about three other books illustrated by Richard Jones (I need to add his name to my list of favourite UK illustrators)

The Proper way to Meet a Hedgehog

Whale in a Fishbowl

The Seed of Doubt

When you want a terrific book to talk about or experience perception of size try to find this one (it is very old).

And as I mentioned Lost and Found will be the perfect companion book.

Lost and Found

I have also added two more books illustrated by Richard Jones to my "to read" list:

The Seed of Doubt by Irena Brignull illustrated by Richard Jones

A young boy lives with his father on the farm. He dreams of the wider world. "A world where he could do anything and be anyone." The boy plants a seed and it grows into a huge tree. But as the tree grows so do the boy's fears and doubts. His beautiful optimism about the future dwindles into pessimism and a deep reluctance to take any risks. Luckily his father is kind and wise. 

"Doubt is like a seed. It starts off tiny but it sure grows fast." BUT you need to "remember what I've always told you? You can do anything, anything you want."

Image Source: Painted Mouse

There is a fine line in picture books between having something an adult (author) would like to share with children or something an author thinks might assist them - some words of wisdom and other authors who write books that are laden-down, burdened with didactic messages. Books that are so heavy with good intentions that any joy that should come from reading, any beauty that can come from an exquisitely told tale - is lost. 

Didactic: intended to teach people a moral lesson; something that is didactic is intended to teach people something, especially a moral lesson.

Luckily The Seed of Doubt is not a heavily didactic story. It is a gentle fable of hope, love and the importance of a positive attitude. 

This is not a book about climbing trees even though that might be your impression from the cover. Instead this is a book about:

• Following your dreams
• Giving yourself permission to take risks
• Belief in your own abilities
• Courage
• Parental love and guidance
• Patience
• Goal setting

When you read through this list and then read this book I hope you will agree this is a book to share with a group of older Primary students - they are sure to be inspired. It could even be a book to read at the start of a new school year.

Publisher blurb: A little boy dreams of a world beyond the farm where he lives – a world full of mountain ranges, oceans and cities, where he could do anything. But one day he plants a seed from which doubts start to grow. Instead of thinking of all that he could do, he thinks more of what he could not. Can he overcome his fears and chase his dreams?

Read an interview with the author.

Movingly told is this beautiful story of a boy’s journey back to self-belief, equally movingly illustrated by Richard Jones. ...  It’s all too easy to let those small seeds of self-doubt take root and this book is a lovely starting point for talking about faith in oneself, determination and positiveness either at home or in the classroom. Red Reading Hub

Here are two other books illustrated by Richard Jones:

The Proper Way to meet a Hedgehog

Whale in a Fishbowl

The illustrations in The Seed of Doubt are very special. Thinking about the importance of illustrations in a picture book here are a few quotes from Evaluating Illustrations in Reviews of International Picture Books  Cheri Anderson, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona:

Illustrations create a depth of meaning within picture books that are essential to the reading experience for that book.

Through skilful use of visual elements, such as colour, line, space, and perspective, the illustrator engages the emotions of the reader and directs the reader’s attention. 

... we believe picture books involve an exquisite weave of both words and images

The Proper way to meet a Hedgehog and other how to poems by Paul B Janeczko illustrated by Richard Jones

Read the title again - The Proper way to meet a Hedgehog!  When I was shown this book at my favourite school library a couple of weeks ago I just couldn't resist borrowing it - the title is so delicious. I love hedgehogs even though we don't have them here in Australia.

Paul B Janeczko sadly died in 2019. He was the author of some very significant and wonderful poetry anthologies many of which are sure to be found in Australian school libraries.

This book contains 33 poems by twenty-five poets including: 

• Kwame Alexander
• Margarita Engle
• Douglas Florian
• Helen Frost
• Charles Ghigna
• Nikki Grimes
• Karla Kuskin
• Irene Latham
• Christina Rossetti
• Robert Louis Stevenson
• April Halprin Wayland

Here is one of the poems that I enjoyed:

How to Bird Watch by Margarita Engle

be very quiet

and amazingly patient

until finally

a shy dove thinks your green shirt

is part of a shady tree

The Proper way to meet a Hedgehog also contains one of my favourite poems - I taught this to my first ever third grade class back in 1984!  

Rules by Karla Kuskin.

Do not jump on ancient uncles.

Do not yell at average mice.

Do not wear a broom to breakfast.

Do not ask a snakes advice.

Do not bathe in chocolate pudding.

Do not talk to bearded bears.

Do not smoke cigars on sofas.

Do not dance on velvet chairs.

Do not take a whale to visit Russell's mother's cousins yacht.

And whatever else you do do 

It is better you 

Do not.

The Proper way to meet a Hedgehog and other poems is a beautiful anthology filled with art images by Richard Jones. I was surprised to read he and Paul never met. This is a book to own and to share and it should be added to every library collection too. Read this Kirkus star review.

Whale in a Fishbowl by Troy Howell and Richard Jones

Looking at a whale in an aquarium causes me distress. In this book the feelings are amplified when we see the huge whale, named Wednesday, alone, trapped in a small tank, in the middle of a bustling city. Her name is Wednesday because "like the day of the week, ... was smack in the middle of everything."

In the distance Wednesday can see a tiny glimpse of blue. This causes her heart to leap but she does not know why. To see the sea, Wednesday needs to leap up in her tank. This delights the crowds. They think she is doing a wonderful trick. Leaping makes Wednesday happy but is also makes her sad. One day a small girl arrives and she communicates directly with Wednesday:

"You belong in the sea!"

Things get worse for Wednesday. She cannot sleep or eat and she no longer wants to leap but she aches to see that glimpse of blue. Finally one day, out of utter despair, she makes one final leap. What happens next will astonish and delight you.

This is a book that SHOULD be added to every school and public library collection. Here are two words from Whales in a Fishbowl that apply to the book itself - glorious and breathtaking!

Hauntingly beautiful. I love these sorts of stories for children because the story itself is clear and easily-followed, but it allows for multiple interpretations as to its meaning. Is it a lesson in believing in your dreams? Following your heart? Having the courage to explore the unknown?The Baby Bookworm Blog

Whale in a Fishbowl is a really important children’s book.It is an advocate for keeping wildlife in the wild and teaching children the importance of seeing beyond the leaps and applause to the fact that these animals should be in their own habitats and not inside the glass walls and cages that their parents pay entry fees to visit. W is for Whale

 Take a look at other books illustrated by Richard Jones. In this blog post Troy Howell talks about his book. You can see the whole book here.