14 minute read
INTERVIEW: JULIE FLETT
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT Julie Flett
Julie Flett
Julie Flett (Cree-Metis) is the author and/or illustrator of 18 children’s books, including Birdsong and The Girl and the Wolf (written by Katharena Vermette), both named best picture books of 2019 by Kirkus. Her latest work is We All Play/Kimêtawânaw (Greystone Kids, May 25); Kirkus said its “simple text and bold, graphic illustrations celebrate our interconnection with the creatures who share our world.” Flett answered our questions by email.
What inspired you to create this book? I’ve always loved drawing animals, and they seem to show up in my work whether they’re specifically a part of the story or not. I think when you’re working on books over the years, recurrent themes come up, and one of them for me is stories within stories, or nested stories—often animals, birds, or insects doing something in the scene or kids interacting with animals or insects in the background (a bear waiting to sneak the bannock [flat bread] away, a pheasant squawking at a coyote). The theme of play felt like a good place to start. And the name of the book came from the Cree translation of play.
What was it like having a book come out in 2021? How did you connect with children in this socially distanced year? We were lucky to have launched We All Play through the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. David Feinstein, the Literacy Director of the ECM, did a live reading on Facebook, and it was pretty extraordinary. Lots of parents listening in with their kids, and the comments were a lot of fun to read.
I’ve also done some virtual visits and letter writing. The B.C. and Yukon Book Mail project created a program for readers to write letters to [poet] Joy Kogawa and me. It was such a beautiful way to connect with kids. Their questions and observations are always so thoughtful—and often philosophical (and inevitably, whether in person or by letter, someone always asks how old I/we are). Some of the letters were pictures, and they made my day.
Who is the ideal reader for your book, and where would they be reading it? I would say the ideal reader would be kids and kid-hearted people. And the fun thing about this book, I think, is that it can be read anywhere, from bedtime to parktime. As long as there’s room to move around a little, or a lot.
What qualities, in your opinion, make for a standout picture book? I think the most standout pictures books are heartfelt stories and stories that help us understand ourselves and each other, to see ourselves. I also love picture books in which the words and stories work together to build on each other.
It’s story hour at the library. If you could have anyone in the world present your book to the kids, who would it be? My dad. If I could, he would be the one.
What children’s book most dazzled you this year? This is hard to pare down; here’s a few of the dazzlers: Nina: A Story of Nina Simone by Traci Todd, illustrated by Christian Robinson; I Sang You Down From the Stars by Tasha SpillettSumner, illustrated by Michaela Goade; All That I Am by M.H. Clark, illustrated by Laura Carlin.
Interview by Tom Beer.
the sour cherry tree
RISSY NO KISSIES
Howes, Katey Illus. by Jess Engle Carolrhoda (32 pp.) $17.99 | March 2, 2021 978-1-5415-9798-3
A young bird, warm and lively, can’t
bear kissing.
Rissy is a solid, roundish, colorful lovebird with three siblings, one mother, and one father who are all also lovebirds. They’re an affectionate bunch, as are their friends and relatives. Rissy’s on board for holding wings, “sky-high hugs,” tumbling, and roughhousing, but she can’t bear kisses (giving or receiving). She heads them off admirably—“ ‘No kissies!’ Rissy chirrup[s] with a most emphatic squeak”—but it’s stressful for her. Miss Bluebird accuses her of confusion, Grandma Lovebird of rudeness; schoolmates “think Rissy’s being mean.” Why? “We know lovebirds all love kisses,” they parrot. “ ‘Am I mean, Mom?’ Rissy wondered, / ‘or confused or rude or sick? / Are you certain I’m a lovebird? / Are you sure that I’m your chick? // Kissies make my tummy icky. / I feel worried, weird, and wrong. // If I can’t show love with kissies, / then I’ll never quite belong.’ ” Mom’s bolstering of Rissy’s boundaries and reassurance that she’s a lovebird family member are cheerworthy; now Rissy can explain her preferences more fully, with greater assurance than before, secure in her family and identity. Howes’ rhyming verse is both rollicking and steady, which offsets Rissy’s vulnerability without undermining it. Engle’s wonderfully stocky lovebirds are multicolored, with watercolor hue gradations and expressive beak shapes. This is an artistic gem for consent discussions, sensory-processing contexts, and anyone who champions children’s agency and bodily autonomy.
Radiant. (note to kids; note to caregivers) (Picture book. 2-8)
THE SOUR CHERRY TREE
Hrab, Naseem Illus. by Nahid Kazemi Owlkids Books (32 pp.) $18.95 | Oct. 15, 2021 978-1-77147-414-6
With ample emotional subtext, a young girl recalls everyday details about her beloved grandfather the day after his
death.
The child bites her mother’s toe to wake her up, wishing that she could have done the same for her baba bozorg, her beloved grandfather, who had forgotten to wake up the day before. She kisses a pancake that reminds her of her grandfather’s face. Her mother, who had been admonishing her for playing with her food, laughs and kisses the pancake’s forehead. Returning to Baba Bozorg’s home, the child sees minute remnants of her grandfather: a crumpled-up tissue, smudgy eyeglasses, and mint wrappers in his coat pockets. From these artifacts the narrator transitions to less tangible, but no less vivid, memories of playing together and looks of love that transcend language barriers. Deeply evocative, Hrab’s narrative captures a child’s understanding of loss with gentle subtlety, and gives space for processing those feelings. Kazemi’s chalk pastel art pairs perfectly with the text and title: Pink cherry hues, smoky grays, and hints of green plants appear throughout the book, concluding in an explosion of vivid green that brings a sense of renewal, joy, and remembrance to the heartfelt ending. Though the story is universally relevant, cultural cues and nods to Iranian culture will resonate strongly with readers of Iranian/Persian heritage. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A beautifully poignant celebration of memories of a loved
one that live on in those that remain. (Picture book. 4-8)
CAN YOU SEE ME? A Book About Feeling Small
Irten, Gökçe Kids Can (46 pp.) $18.99 | Sept. 7, 2021 978-1-5253-0837-6
A journey into the world of big and little and a nudge to think outside the box.
This whimsical, quirky, and engaging picture book, a Spanish import by a Turkish creator, takes readers on an Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland–type exploration of perceptive relativity. What is little to one may be big to another; if readers were as strong as ants, they could lift rhinos; if they could jump as high as fleas, they could reach the top of the Eiffel Tower—these are just some of the thought-provoking ideas presented. The narrative (appealingly hand-lettered) is accompanied by collaged illustrations that are just as whimsical and that cleverly build as the story unfolds. “If your foot could grow as fast as a caterpillar can during its life cycle… / …your foot would be 3 times larger after just a few days. / It would keep growing until…it would not fit in a school bus. Like this elephant.” Huh? Readers may ask. But the introduction of the pachyderm leads to the idea of an elephant’s big footprint—which, if it filled with water, could be habitat for 60 different species. While the story unfolds in what appears to be a rather dizzying array of free-form thoughts, it holds itself together—just—although readers will want to go through it more than once to grasp all the clever connections. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A thought-provoking way of looking at the world, and
imaginative kids will love it. (Informational picture book. 6-9)
i see you see
I SEE YOU SEE
Jackson, Richard Illus. by Patrice Barton Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum (32 pp.) $17.99 | Feb. 16, 2021 978-1-4814-9200-3
Siblings dream up extraordinary sights while walking their dog.
When Mom asks Maisie to walk their dog, Tinker, sibling Jonah—who uses a manual wheelchair and wears leg braces— asks to come along. So, the text rhythmically relates, “dog pulling, / Maisie pushing, / they set off.” But it’s not long before the rambunctious pup runs off after a cat. As Maisie wrangles Tinker, Jonah points out some unexpected sights. A tree becomes a “tree of cats” as feline faces take shape in the leaves; puffy orange flowers become a “popsicle garden.” The typeface jangles with a “bong, bong, bong” as Jonah pulls the dangling leaves of a “bell machine” tree, and it fades as they enter an “echo-y-y-yy-y” tunnel of hanging laundry. The frazzled Maisie slowly joins in Jonah’s play, pointing out dinosaur-shaped clouds walking on “stilts” made of pointy trees. As they return to their starting point, Jonah wonders what Tinker sees. As Jonah blows on a just-picked bouquet, Maisie replies, “Oh, the goldfish… / … the goldfish snowing,” and they laugh beneath an orange flurry of fish and flower petals. Reality and imagination subtly intertwine in Barton’s bright, soft-edged illustrations. The children’s smiling faces are inviting, and Tinker’s mischievous antics add a humorous note. Though simple, the plot feels comfortably lived in; Maisie and Jonah’s interactions are delightfully ordinary, and refreshingly, Jonah’s disability requires no explanation. Maisie and Jonah present White. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A warm, quiet ode to imagination. (Picture book. 4-6)
SOMETHING’S WRONG! A Bear, a Hare, and Some Underwear
John, Jory Illus. by Erin Kraan Farrar, Straus and Giroux (40 pp.) $18.99 | March 23, 2021 978-0-374-31388-3
A chatty bear causes a stir in the forest by leaving the house in an embarrassing pair of white underwear.
When Jeff the bear runs down a checklist of things to do before leaving the cottage in the morning, one big item is forgotten: taking off the tighty whities that Grandma sent. As Jeff encounters pal after pal (none of whom wear underwear, nor indeed any human clothing), the bear has a sense that something is very wrong. But what could it be? Finally, after many animals break the fourth wall to ask readers, “Why is that bear wearing underwear?” Jeff goes to a rabbit friend named Anders who explains. And while there’s a huge moment of awkwardness when all the animals show up, Anders and Jeff are able to seize the moment. The underpinnings of this charming picture book are already strong (underwear is inherently funny), and the babbling small talk Jeff engages in while trying to figure out what’s wrong adds a lot to the increasingly silly situation (“Am I right or am I right? I think I’m right”). John’s text perfectly pitches the jokes to a strong conclusion at just the right pace while Kraan’s energetic illustrations, with hardly a straight line in the entire book, add to the sense of ultimately harmless cringe. The book is also a clever primer on handling embarrassment and how it can sometimes be dealt with by simply changing the perspective of what’s happening. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
This underwear affair is wise, witty, and just brief enough.
(Picture book. 3-6)
THIS IS STILL NOT A BOOK!
Jullien, Jean Phaidon (38 pp.) $16.95 | April 7, 2021 978-1-83866-274-5
Playful illustrations challenge young readers to think outside the box.
Following on his 2016 not-book This Is Not a Book, Jullien presents a new set of illustrations that play with the book format to represent other objects that are definitely not a book. Pages open up to become a wide-open mouth with a tongue sticking out or a flip phone—young readers may not recognize this one, but adults will remember. Turn the page, and a foot will come out of its footprint to uncover bugs adhered to both sides. A toilet lid opens to reveal a goldfish in the bowl. Fold-out flaps become a dinosaur-decorated shirt. Children will puzzle over another fold-out page and laugh in delight when they finally see the two elephants sharing a trunk. Will they dare turn the page if it means closing a trap over a mouse? And just who—or what—is under that sheet? The playful illustrations in bold saturated colors are heavily outlined in black, and the people depicted have a range of skin colors. The wordless format encourages children to come up with their own explanations and interpretations. It is also an invitation for children to look around them and see familiar objects in a new light. How many objects will they see that open like a book yet are not a book?
Delightful, witty, and imaginative. (Novelty board book. 3-5)
ROOM FOR EVERYONE
Khan, Naaz Illus. by Mercè López Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum (40 pp.) $17.99 | Oct. 26, 2021 978-1-5344-3139-3
There’s a lot to love about Zanzibar, and so much of it is squeezed into this short trip but big (and crowded!) adventure.
As the daladala—a type of minibus common in Tanzania— heads to the beach, sibling passengers Musa and Dada are initially overwhelmed by all the strays the driver picks up along the way. A bicyclist, a goatherd, vendors, farmers, and all their accompanying wares all need a helping hand, and though Musa protests, Dada, who’s older, continually insists that there’s always space to provide that help. This lovely sentiment literally doesn’t sit well with Musa, as he’s pushed to the daladala floor and must negotiate space with animals, produce, ornate kitenge umbrellas, and eventually even a gaggle of deep-sea divers. There’s a lot of fun to be had as lyrical rhymes and mixedmedia illustrations—including acrylics, inks, graphite, and digital pieces—make the growing menagerie of passengers feel both vibrantly stylized and realistically depicted. East Africa is presented richly and distinctly in López’s dynamic artwork, but the overall experience of riding and building community on the daladala is not only accessible, but easily familiar to much of the world in this charming story. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Khan and López take readers on a uniquely East African journey toward a global sense of compassion and inclusion.
(glossary, note) (Picture book. 3-8)
I AM THE SUBWAY
Kim Hyo-eun Trans. by Deborah Smith Scribble (52 pp.) $18.99 | Aug. 3, 2021 978-1-950354-65-8
A mass-transit vehicle conveys the life of a metropolis from dawn to dusk.
In this picture book, a subway train shares intimate stories while ferrying passengers around Seoul. Its mechanical, rhythmic, motion—“ba-dum, ba-dum”—echoes the city’s heartbeat, pulsating through a collective memory and quotidian history. Together, readers encounter myriad travelers and glimpse individual lives: Mr. Wanju rushing to and from work, yearning to be with his daughter; Granny returning from the sea with the morning’s catch to “cook a feast for [her] girls”; Lee Do-young, 29, jobless, “not sure what’s next.” Watercolor washes establish figures and shapes at once suggestive and formalistic; artful lines and gradations detail features, facial expressions, and hairstyles, defining unique human beings amid a sea of anonymity. Jung Yu-seon—former “cry-baby, sleepy-head, scaredy-cat”— whirls between household chores and child care, maintaining a frenetic pace from which she takes respite in the subway’s “embrace.” As a witness, this anthropomorphized vehicle poetically parallels the cobbler Mr. Jae-sung, because they both can “tell so much about a person just from looking at their shoes” and “guess the paths they might have walked.” Reflective observations, along with the circuitous route, create dynamic tension against the train’s linear trajectory and the passage of time, prompting readers to pause—and perhaps ponder the fleeting encounters with “strangers you might never meet again.”
A contemplative, poignant rendering of everyday jour-
neys. (Picture book. 5-9)
THE SMILE SHOP
Kitamura, Satoshi Peachtree (32 pp.) $17.99 | April 1, 2021 978-1-68263-255-0
Amid a bustling city, a young boy seeks something to call his own. A young boy with pale skin and dark brown hair feels special. For the first time, he has his own money. But what will he buy? Told in the first person, the boy’s narrative features evocative language that conveys his experiences as he takes in the sights, smells, and temptations of the shops. The boy is portrayed in bold primary colors, drawing readers’ eyes with each page turn; around him, a racially diverse crowd rushes about, painted in a fainter palette. Contemplating toys, tasty treats, and more, the boy is bumped by a kid on a skateboard and loses most of his coins down a storm drain. Dejected, the boy goes into a shop with a sign that says “Smile” and asks the brown-skinned shopkeeper if he can afford a very small smile. The boy has previously been mostly on his own, but the shopkeeper interacts with him directly and gives him just what he needs—for free. In doing so, he opens up the boy’s perspective to appreciate the world around him. Simple illustrations brimming with eye-catching details are stylistically reminiscent of Uri Shulevitz with a dash of Tomie dePaola. The classic, subdued palette perfectly complements the boy’s journey, fading to gray at the story’s darkest moment and brightening with the resolution.
A satisfyingly—and deceptively—simple tale about sin-
cere pleasures in hectic times. (Picture book. 4-7)
HOW TO APOLOGIZE
LaRochelle, David Illus. by Mike Wohnoutka Candlewick (32 pp.) $16.99 | May 11, 2021 978-1-5362-0944-0
A primer on contrition.
“Everyone makes mistakes,” opens this guide to accountability. Every page shows a different situation in which someone owes another an apology: when a penguin parachutes into an alligator’s bathroom during bathtime, when student politicians
