I’ve always loved Halloween, not only for the obvious reasons of spooky fun and abundance of candy, but for the costumes, parties, and Halloween themed parks. I’m a sucker for a good scare. Over the past five years, I’ve brought the Halloween spirit into our house with my window monster tradition, adding a new paper cut-out ghoul or beast each year. (Check out my Instagram for this year’s edition). Although my love for Halloween just about spans my lifetime, I’ve only recently begun discovering spooky Halloween picture books. Several creepy classics come to mind, but my current favorite is Monster & Son by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Joey Chou. If you’re ever in the Eagle Rock area of L.A., stop by Leanna Lin’s Wonderland, an art and gift shop where I find my gifts and unique picture books like this one. Local artists like illustrator, Joey Chou, contribute to the art shows from time to time, so it’s a pretty fun place to check out. The Book Back to Monster and Son- this book is a recent addition to my collection, not only because I’m a big fan of Chou’s, but it’s a more light-hearted take on the monster book, making it perfect for younger kids. Monster and Son shows the heart-warming relationship between a monster and its son, written in fun and minimal rhyme by LaRochelle, making it a delightful bedtime story as well. Art and the Fun Stuff Chou’s variety of monsters, from King Kong to skeletons and swamp monsters are just the right amount of scary and adorable. The artwork was created digitally, and Chou uses this medium to his advantage, working with different textures and color palettes to create each monster world. Chou’s signature style is a refreshing take on picture book illustration, with added patterns and angular shapes to really draw your eye in. The appearance of tiny human beings in the monster world is especially fun to look for too. Kids will love it because… …it’s such a fun and colorful monster book. Monster and Son is the perfect Halloween book for those looking for an entertaining monster book without the big scare factor. These friendly creatures might even inspire a drawing-fest for your little monsters. I know I’ll be looking here for inspiration for next year’s window monster friends. You can find out more about David LaRochelle and Joey Chou in the links below: http://www.davidlarochelle.net/ http://joeyart.tumblr.com/
You can find more of Sarah's musings and drawings here: www.sarahmomoromero.com Facebook: Sarah Momo Romero + Instagram: @sarahmomoromero + Twitter: @sarahmomoromero
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Beautiful Hands, Incredible Colors and Creativity Autumn is officially here! It’s time for sweaters and scarves, pumpkin spice everything, and back to school for the little kiddos and students. I love this time of year, not only because I’m ready to say good-bye to the summer heat of L.A., but for autumn’s cooler, calmer energy: a time right in between all the outdoor fun of the summer and the bustling gatherings of the holidays. I love the thought of all the hands-on projects and creativity for the little ones experiencing a classroom for the first time. This book, Beautiful Hands by Kathryn Otoshi and Bret Baumgarten exactly captures the spirit of new art projects and creativity. What’s the book? The cover for Beautiful Hands, with its rainbow hand in hand print and textural script, brought images of people laughing as they playfully painted with their hands to my mind, and I was immediately drawn to it. This book exudes delightful energy, inviting readers not only to read the story inside, but will inspire them to imagine, create and reach for their dreams. It’s a concept book with a small word count, but I found myself drawn to every page, wanting to touch every finger and hand print. Art and the fun stuff! There are hands and fingerprints and swirls and even a paw print full of color and fun all over this book. It’s clear to see how much fun the artists had creating the images in this wonderfully imaginative book. The best part is learning how collaborative the effort was in making the artwork. Over a hundred family members, both Otoshi’s and Baumgarten’s, took part in the truly unique creation of the images. What a charming and inspiring way to bring people together to spread the message to dream, explore and reach for more. Kids will love it because… the thought of dipping your hands into gobs of paint and creating rainbows of images on a blank, white sheet of paper is oh-so satisfying and delightful. Be ready for numerous requests for fingerpaint sessions. There is nothing more beautiful than the simple expression of creativity made from the handprints of all the people you love, and Beautiful Hands captures this exact sense of wonder for all readers to enjoy. Sarah Momo Romero is a Japanese Peruvian American artist, a graphic designer by day and children's book author and illustrator by night. She’s loved drawing and painting since she was a chiquita and now crafts stories of adventure and wondrous creatures. Sarah is an active SCBWI member who draws inspiration from her life in sunny Los Angeles with her husband/creative partner and dog/infamous escape artist, Peanut. Look out for her first picture book coming out in May 2018! You can find more of Sarah's musings and drawings here: www.sarahmomoromero.com Facebook: Sarah Momo Romero + Instagram: @sarahmomoromero + Twitter: @sarahmomoromero What's new and what's brown?Several picture books with beautiful brown characters have caught my eye recently; they are cute and appealing and the books are populated with POC. Sadly, they are not written or illustrated by POC. While I am pleased to see brown faces in the books, it is disappointing to see that white people continue to be the voice for all people. Green Pants by Kenneth Kraegel (Candlewick Press, 2017) is the story of a young boy with a penchant for green pants. When he is asked to be in a wedding and wear a tuxedo, he needs to do some serious soul-searching. I found the illustrations to be sweet and charming, and I especially enjoyed the natural hair on the bride. I Got a New Friend by Karl Newsom Edwards uses minimal text to tell the story of a girl and her dog. Similarly to Green Pants, race is not mentioned in the text. A brown girl and her dog enjoy their lives together, making messes and cleaning up, doing the things that kids and dogs do. No crisis, no racism, no history. Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall is a beautifully designed picture book about overcoming fear and getting out of one's comfort zone. Jabari jumps off the diving board at the swimming pool with support and encouragement from his father. Jabari is African American and the crowd at the pool is racially diverse. Cornwall uses collage and texture skillfully in this gorgeous book. I love that brown faces are shown in books that are not about suffering and being victims and struggling. I love that these books are set in our contemporary world, not in a historical setting. I am curious about how these Caucasian author/illustrators chose to depict POC in these books; were the manuscripts written with this detail in mind, or is this something that occurred at the urging of an art director or editor? Are brown authors and illustrators so difficult to find that publishers must rely on white people to make these books or is this simply a workaround that is more palatable to the heavily Caucasian publishing world? For next month's post and moving forward, please send me questions and topics that you would like to discuss that involve libraries, books, diversity, and the children's literature community. fifiabuillustration@gmail.com Fifi Abu spends her days surrounded by books that have already been created and the rest of her time writing and illustrating books yet to be born. She looks forward to a day when all children can see themselves reflected in the books they read. Ms. Abu holds a master's degree in children's literature and a master's degree in library science, is an active member of SCBWI and a Children's Book Academy graduate and is represented by Linda Epstein at the Emerald City Literary Agency. She is pleased to announce that she has been elected to the 2019 Caldecott Committee. www.fifiabu.com The power of identification: Latinos in picture books Almost 25% of American children are Latino, but books that depict Latinos comprise fewer than 3% of total books published for children. And out of that 3%, what images are we seeing? And who is creating these images? Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner (Dutton Children’s Books, 2003) has been the focus of many heated debates; he's a cat who fantasizes about being a Chihuahua and speaks in a made-up pidgin Spanish that could be described as mocking Mexican people in the tradition of characters such as Speedy Gonzalez, the Frito Bandito, and the Taco Bell Chihuahua. "Oh, my name is Skippito Friskito (clap-clap) / And I hunt for the dinosaur-ito (clap-clap) / With gigantico ears / That’s been buried for years / Under layers of sediment-ito.” (clap-clap)" Speaking English in an accent borrowed directly from Charo, Skippyjon sings about banditos, rice and beans, fiestas and siestas. This is what the white world of publishing has to offer? Books that depict Latino culture with stereotypical images and tell us that Mexican accents are hilarious?We can do better. Jalapeno Bagels by Natasha Wing, illustrated by Robert Casilla (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1996) does a nice job of depicting a mixed-race (Latino/Jewish) child who is not tortured by his ethnic background. Many books about racially mixed children show the child as teased by others, not fitting into either group, wishing he were one race or the other. Pablo is doing just fine, speaking Spanish and Yiddish and baking breads and pastries from both the Mexican and Jewish cultures that his parents bring to the family. Jalapeno Bagels has real recipes from the Los Bagels Bakery & Cafe in Arcata, California in the back and a wonderful glossary for all of the Spanish and Yiddish words used in the book. The illustrations are a bit staid for my taste, indicating to the reader that this is a serious topic. I would prefer something lighter and more celebratory, as the text is not about conflict, but about happily embracing the richness of the two cultures Pablo comes from. A much more joyful and celebratory book is Tito Puente: Mambo King by Monica Brown, illustrated by Rafael Lopez (Rayo, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2013). A gorgeous bilingual story about musician Tito Puente, Tito Puente: Mambo King truly exemplifies the mirror and window that a thoughtfully created Latino picture book can be. No one is being mocked or belittled, it's just a pure and beautiful story about a talented musician who followed his dream of leading his own band. Dream Drum Girl by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Rafael Lopez (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015) is another incredibly beautiful book about a little Cuban girl who challenged the gender roles in 1930s Cuba and became the first female drummer in Cuba's first all-girl dance band. Stunning illustrations in acrylic paint on wood board show us the beauty of Cuba and the beauty of having a dream. Books like Dream Drum Girl show us that Latino stories are strong and beautiful and valuable and that we all have dreams. Mocking a race and a language dehumanizes and firmly places Latinos in the category of "other," while celebrating the dreams that all people have shows us that we share so much in common with each other. For next month's post and moving forward, please send me questions and topics that you would like to discuss that involve libraries, books, diversity, and the children's literature community. fifiabuillustration@gmail.com
Fifi Abu spends her days surrounded by books that have already been created and the rest of her time writing and illustrating books yet to be born. She looks forward to a day when all children can see themselves reflected in the books they read. Ms. Abu holds a master's degree in children's literature and a master's degree in library science, is an active member of SCBWI and a Children's Book Academy graduate. www.fifiabu.com Mixed Messages: the depiction of racially mixed families in picture books Interracial marriage was not fully legal in the United States until 1967. A mere six years later came Arnold Adoff's groundbreaking picture book Black is Brown is Tan (1973, HarperCollins, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully). When Arnold Adoff (Caucasian) married his wife Virginia Hamilton (African American) in 1960, their union violated segregation laws in 28 states. Black is Brown is Tan is a straightforward poem addressing the various skin tones in the family and has the refrain "This is the way it is for us, this is the way we are." The book was reissued in 2002 with new illustrations, also by Emily Arnold McCully. One thing that stands out to me about these illustrations is that the parents are not depicted as being physically close to each other. Only one image has them touching, and even when they are in bed, there is enough space between them to place another adult. Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match (Children's Book Press, 2011, illustrated by Sara Palacios and written by Monica Brown) is a bilingual book about a little girl who is Peruvian-Scottish-American. The story depicts her as someone who combines things in ways that other people do not, like making a burrito with peanut butter and jelly. Her own brother criticizes her mismatched clothing, although, presumably, he shares the same biological parents as Marisol. He is depicted as looking more typically Latino, while Marisol has dark skin and red hair, making her "mismatched." Because of the comments that people are making to Marisol, she tries to match. This is boring and makes Marisol unhappy. She decides to go back to her old ways and is once again happy. The conclusion of the story has Marisol adopting a puppy, seemingly a mixed breed puppy. "He's mismatched and simply marvelous, just like me." she says. I find the comparison of a biracial child to a mixed breed dog unsettling, paralleling the word mulatto. Mixed Me! by Taye Diggs (2015, Feiwel and Friends, illustrated by Shane W. Evans) is the story of a biracial child with an African American father and a Caucasian mother. It echoes many of the sentiments that were expressed in Marisol McDonald; kids tell Mike that his parents don't match. He introduces himself as "mixed-up Mike" at the beginning of the story and talks about people staring at his family. Being biracial is presented as a problem. At the end of the book, Mike says "I'm not mixed up, I just happen to be mixed." While I'm glad that he no longer sees himself as "mixed up," the messages delivered by Mixed Me! are quite negative and awkward. Lisa Brown's The Airport Book (2016, Roaring Brook Press) is the shining star out of this group of books that feature interracial families. It's very clearly a book about traveling by airplane, not a book about race. The racially mixed family is revealed on the title page, gracefully and unselfconsciously. We see a Caucasian mother, an African American father, and two brown children, packing for a trip. The entire book is filled with a wide variety of people, all ages, races, disabilities, body types and sexual orientations. It is one of the most flawless examples of inclusivity and diversity in recent publishing history. Race is not the subject, race is not the problem. There is no sense that Lisa Brown is being "charitable" by including these characters, these characters seem to exist organically. Obviously, Ms. Brown made all of the decisions about who to depict in The Airplane Book; it is not organic in the literal sense. The tone of the book and the depiction of a wide variety of people feels natural and beautiful and accurately reflects the diversity of people in our world. For next month's post and moving forward, please send me questions and topics that you would like to discuss that involve libraries, books, diversity, and the children's literature community. fifiabuillustration@gmail.com
Fifi Abu spends her days surrounded by books that have already been created and the rest of her time writing and illustrating books yet to be born. She looks forward to a day when all children can see themselves reflected in the books they read. Ms. Abu holds a master's degree in children's literature and a master's degree in library science, is an active member of SCBWI and a Children's Book Academy graduate. www.fifiabu.com |
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