September 30 – National Pet Tricks Day

About the Holiday

National Pet Tricks Day was established in 2020 by professional dog trainer Joe Nutkins of Ardleigh, Essex, in the UK. Nutkins loves connecting with dogs and other animals by spending time with them teaching them tricks. Nutkins has enjoyed success and and even a bit of celebrity—appearing on Britain’s Got Talent in 2029 and 2023—with her expertly trained pets, including dogs, cats, hamsters, parrots, and even ducks and chickens. To celebrate today, why not begin spending some encouraging and fun one-on-one time each day to teach your pet a special art. And, of course, don’t forget the treats!

Thank you to Flamingo Books for sending me a copy of this book for review!

Henry Is an Artist

By Justin Worsley

Many dogs know tricks, but Henry has a calling. “Henry is an artist.” Each day when he goes for a walk, Henry admires the street art he passes, “but sculpture is his real passion.” Henry is no stranger to the creative impulse, every day producing a new, unique sculpture of his own. Even though Henry “is proud of his work,” it is not universally embraced. In fact, its public impact is fleeting and usually trashed.

One day, however, in a moment of distraction, Henry’s creation is left behind. Left behind, but not disregarded. “Someone has fallen in love with his artwork.” The tiny bug flies off to “tell all their friends.” The news travels fast, and soon “Henry’s sculpture is a sensation!”

Henry’s sculpture is so valued, in fact, that the bugs carefully transport it to a place of honor. Henry is invited to view its new home: “the grand lobby of the Bug Hotel!” He’s hailed as a celebrity, and returns home a very happy pup, indeed.

Funny, thought-provoking, and an ode to all the unsung creatives among us, Justin Worsley’s story makes readers laugh while encouraging them to find inspiration in the most unlikely places.

Worsley’s delightfully smart and inventive illustrations endear Henry to kids as he walks through the park admiring the public sculptures and trying to install his own. Henry’s facial expressions as he interacts with his owner, the reactions of other dogs, and the appreciative reception of an observant toddler and bug community all add depth to the story.

Henry Is an Artist would be a fun and often-requested addition to home, classroom, and public libraries. Its short sentences make it a perfect choice for new and beginning readers to read or grow with on their own.

Ages 4 – 8

Flamingo Books, 2025 | ISBN 978-0593695043

About the Author/Illustrator

Justin Worsley is an illustrator, author, and toy designer. After nearly thirty years of designing toys, he decided it was time for a change and followed his long-held dream of becoming a children’s book illustrator and graduated from Cambridge School of Art in 2023. When he’s not working, he’s usually riding his bike or walking his dog, Percy.

National Pet Tricks Day Activity

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-paw-print-magnet-smaller

Paw Print Magnet

Your pet’s paw print makes a cute magnet for your fridge or locker to give you a paw…I mean hand… holding those important messages and pictures. Here’s how to do this easy craft with your dog or cat.

Supplies

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup water
Cookie cutter (optional)
Bowl
Wax paper
Strong multi-surface glue or hot glue gun
Strong magnet, available at craft stores
Paint (optional)

Directions

Mix the flour and salt in the bowl
Slowly add the water and mix the dough, kneading it until it is smooth and soft. Add more water if necessary.
Roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick
Place the dough on the wax paper
Carefully press your pet’s paw into the dough.
Place the cookie cutter over the print and cut out
Bake the paw print at 250 degrees for 1 to 2 hours depending on thickness of dough
If desired, paint the print, the background, or both
Attach the magnet with the glue
Display your magnet

You can purchase Henry Is an Artist from these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop (discounted books and support for your local independent bookstore)

Picture Book Review

August 29 – Happiness Happens Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Happiness Happens Month reminds us that happiness doesn’t have to be something we plan for or spend money on. In fact paying attention to those little moments during each day, going on spontaneous outings with friends or family, or taking time to do a favorite activity may be all you need to feel happier every day! With summer coming to a close and school starting again, it’s a great time to reflect on the fun you’ve had over the past months and all the memories that are about to be made as another year of activities, education, new friendships, and excitement unfolds. Happiness really does come to you if you look for it and let it happen!

An Abundance of Light: a Story of Matisse in Morocco

By Lauren Stringer

As Paris endured a cold and rainy season, Henri Matisse suffered. How could he paint light and colors when he was surrounded by gray? His friend Albert Marquet suggested he visit Tangier, Morocco, “where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea.” There, he said, “the sunlight was abundant!” Henri packed up all of his supplies and made the trip. But it seemed Henri had brought the rainy weather with him. He tried to paint colorful irises and a basket of oranges and lemons, but he still felt gloomy and trapped.

Then one night while Henri slept, the rain stopped. In the morning he woke to ” . . . an abundance of light. A luminous light. A dazzling light.” Henri took his sketchbook and hurried into town, where color shimmered from the pink mosque to the vibrant Grand Socco market to the Casbah gateway to old Medina. Everywhere he looked he saw the vividness of life. Brightly patterned rugs and painted pottery reminded him of the art his grandparents and mother created in their drab town. “Henri felt a glimmer in the cloudy and dark.”

Henri found a large garden to paint in and began painting the lavender branches, green acanthus, blue periwinkles and “pink-tomato sky” he saw. Despite his “bright and bold” colors, he still felt something cloudy and dark. Then one day, following the music of fiddles, flutes, and drums that filled the air. Henri found a cafe, “where men in long robes gazed at goldfish in round bowls.” Henri was mesmerized by the reds and golds of the fish as well.

When Henri left the cafe, “he saw an abundance of shadows.” In fact, the dark shadows accentuated the light. Finally, he understood that light and color and dark could work together. In his new paintings he surrounded his colorful subjects with colorful shadows. He interpreted light itself into brilliant color. And in a painting completed from his hotel window, Henri painted shadows of such a dark blue that he realized “he could paint light and color, even in the dark.” At home when Henri displayed his paintings in a gallery in Paris, they were a sensation. Now, whenever the skies turned gloomy and rainy, Henri remembered the abundance of light in Morocco and painted.

Back matter includes a short biography about Henri Matisse’s childhood, a discussion of Matisse and his time in Tangier, and a note from the Lauren Stringer about her trip to Tangier that inspired her story. She also includes an illustrated glossary of terms found in the book.

Celebrated author, picture book illustrator, and painter Lauren Stringer immerses young children in a particular time in Henri Matisse’s life and reveals how he overcame obstacles to create some of this best-known paintings. His struggles and search for enlightenment are simply and honestly portrayed, lending to his eureka moment deep joy and surprise. The enthusiastic reception for these paintings, Matisse’s newly discovered ability to find light and color even during dark days, and the lessons his artistic parents demonstrated are all reminders that light shines from within.

Stringer’s striking pastel, charcoal, gouache, and digital media illustrations entice readers to join Henri Matisse on his journeys both internal and artistic. Her realistic depictions of Matisse’s circle of famous friends, and the sights of Tangier will entice readers to learn more. As Henri breaks out of his artist’s block, Stringer portrays him with a sprightliness of step, a perceptive eye, and a deft touch with the brush. Readers will be especially fascinated by the side-by-side models and paintings that reveal how Matisse transposed reality to canvas.

An Abundance of Light is a must addition to school and public libraries collections and is highly recommended for art-loving and artistic children. The book would also make an impactful resource for art classrooms and creative projects.

Ages 4 – 8

Beach Lane Books, 2025 | ISBN 978-1534493629

About the Author/Illustrator

Lauren Stringer has illustrated many celebrated picture books, including Deer Dancer by Mary Lyn Ray; The Princess and Her Panther by Wendy Orr; Scarecrow and Snow, both written by Cynthia Rylant; as well as her own Winter Is the Warmest Season, When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky, The Dark Was Done, and An Abundance of Light. She lives with her family in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Visit her at LaurenStringer.com.

Happiness Happens Month Activity

CPB - Happiness typography

Happiness Is… Game

Happiness is all around you! Grab one or more friends to play a game that reveals what things make you happy.

Like the “Geography” game: the first player names something that makes them happy, the next player must think of something that starts with the last letter of the word the previous player said. The game continues with each player continuing the pattern. Players drop out as they cannot think of a word. The last player left is the winner.

You can purchase An Abundance of Light from these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop (discounted books and support for your local independent bookstore)

Picture Book Review

July 1 – National Watercolor Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Today, I’m celebrating World Watercolor Month with a biography of a woman artist born in 1861 who not only worked in watercolors but brought the delicately blended beauty of the art form to the solid medium of glass as the creator of iconic Tiffany designs. World Watercolor Month was begun in 2016 by Charlie O’Shields, the creator of Doodlewash®, host of the Sketching Stuff podcast, and founder of a social artist movement dedicated to promoting and connecting watercolor artists from all over the world. The holiday also raises awareness of the global importance of art and creativity. Everyone from amateurs to professionals are welcome to participate—and if you’ve never painted with watercolors before, now’s a great time to try! If you’d like prompts to inspire your work and other ways to enjoy the month and take your love of watercolor painting into next month and beyond, visit Doodlewash.

Thank you to Peachtree and Barbara Fisch of Blue Slip Media for sending me a copy of this book for review!

Making Light Bloom: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Lamps

Written by Sandra Nickel | Illustrated by Julie Paschkis

As a young girl, Clara Driscoll grew up surrounded by glorious gardens blooming with morning glories, apple blossoms, and wildflowers and shimmering with the dragon flies they attracted. Clara often sketched the gardens, and when she grew older, she enrolled in art school, hoping to turn her talent for drawing into a job that could help her financially struggling family. After graduation, Clara moved to New York City and took a job working for glassmaker Louis C. Tiffany.

Clara’s task was to choose and cut pieces of glass for the craftsmen to join together with metal ridges to make beautiful stained glass windows. She used her creative eye to “‘paint’ robes, halos, and great wings of angels” with “dappled and streaked, shaded and shimmering” glass. It didn’t take long for Louis to recognize Clara’s talent, and soon she was overseeing her own group of women known as Tiffany Girls. Missing her gardens back home, Clara had the idea to make a lamp from the delicate glass that would bring the beauty of a garden inside.

She and the Tiffany Girls cut small pieces of glass to make butterfly wings, and then “together with the craftsmen, she formed the butterfly wings into a lampshade.” Once the kerosene wick was lit, “light bloomed as never before.” Next, Clara wanted to bring the brilliance of dragonflies to her new creation. But cutting and forming the glass into the intricate wings of a dragonfly was time consuming, and one of the managers said that “she could never make another.”

That, however, was before Louis Tiffany saw the lamp and asked Clara “to make another to display at the World’s Fair in Paris.” At the fair, Clara’s lamp won the bronze medal. The lamp’s success “astounded” Louis. He put Clara and the Tiffany Girls in charge of making lamps and windows representing the beauty of natural landscapes.

Feeling shut out, the craftsmen announced a strike unless Louis fired the women. But Louis knew the value of Clara’s imagination and work, so he compromised with the men: Clara’s workshop would not get bigger, but “Clara would be in charge of lamp-making from that day forward.”

Elated, Clara began creating new designs inspired by the gardens she’d sketched at home as well as nature she found within the city, all informed by her meticulous research. In the basement storage room, she searched for pieces of glass that were just the right hues to bring to life each petal, flower, leaf, and stem. In one astonishing design, she recreated wisteria with 2,000 tiny petals.

While Clara’s work was recognized inside the studio, because her lamps were only known as “Tiffany lamps,” no one else knew they were Clara’s creation. It was only after both Louis and Clara passed away and Clara’s letters to her sisters were discovered that people learned the truth about how Clara made light bloom “throughout the world.”

Back matter includes an Author’s Note that goes into more detail about Clara’s letters home, Louis C. Tiffany’s reaction to her initial idea, and Clara’s long, intricate process for designing each lamp; a list of museums where you can see Tiffany Lamps; and the names of two archives where Clara’s letters can be read; a bibliography; and dates and quotes for references found in the book.

Sandra Nickel’s fascinating and eye-opening story about Clara Driscoll, one of the world’s most innovative artists, is both inspirational and uplifting. Nickel’s heartfelt, straightforward storytelling about Clara’s early years allows readers to see how youthful experiences and interests can influence their later endeavors—creative and otherwise. Nickel also emphasizes Clara’s remarkable vision for ways to expand the use of stained glass in the 1890s as well as her advocacy for herself and her ideas, making her an excellent role model for all children. And while Clara was not recognized for her work during her lifetime, art lovers can be grateful that Louis C. Tiffany knew brilliance when he saw it and valued her contributions—another aspect of Clara’s story to celebrate.

Julie Paschkis’s dazzling, folk-style illustrations bring the intricate and delicate beauty of stained glass to the page, telling Clara’s story visually in a way similar to the windows she often worked on. Taking kids into the Tiffany studio, Paschkis demonstrates how Clara, the Tiffany Girls, and the craftsmen chose, cut, and pieced together to create complex scenes that glow with life still today. Paschkis faithfully recreates Clara’s iconic dragonfly lamp, an image that will wow kids.

A vibrant biography of a visionary artist, Making Light Bloom: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Lamps is an inspiring book to share with creatives of all types at home, in the classroom, and for art and crafts programs. The book is a must addition to any library collection.

Ages 7 – 10

Peachtree, 2025 | ISBN 978-1682636091

About the Author

Sandra Nickel is an award-winning author of picture books and has two new books out this Spring: Seven, A Most Remarkable Pigeon, an uplifting tale that celebrates differences, and Making Light Bloom, Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Lamps, in which Sandra continues her mission to celebrate extraordinary individuals who have been nearly forgotten by history. She is honored to be the winner of a Christopher Award, the winner of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Crystal Kite Award, a finalist for the Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction for Younger Readers, a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection honoree, and a Charlotte Huck Award Recommended author. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults and has presented workshops on writing for children and young adults throughout the United States and Europe. Visit her at sandranickel.com. You’ll also find her on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X.

About the Illustrator

Julie Paschkis is an award-winning illustrator of more than 25 books for children. A graduate of Cornell University and the School for American Craftsmen at Rochester Institute of Technology, she taught art to grade school children for a number of years before turning her full attention to painting, textile design, and creating illustrations for her books. Visit her at juliepaschkis.com to see more of her work and download whimsical and nature-inspired coloring pages for kids and adults. You’ll also find her on Facebook.

World Watercolor Month Activity

Tiffany Window Coloring Page

Create your own brilliant vision with this Tiffany Window Coloring Page!

You can purchase Making Light Bloom: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Lamps from these booksellers.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop

Picture Book Review

November 8 – National STEM/STEAM Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

November 8^th is National STEM/STEAM Day. This holiday was founded in 2015, and the date was partially chosen for its secret play on words: “NOV 8” can be read as (in)novate! On this day, we highlight the importance of science, technology, engineering, art, and math in education and society at large. This holiday is also meant to uplift voices and perspectives that are often given less representation in STEAM careers and fields of study.

On this National STEM/STEAM Day we review a biography of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Father of Neuroscience. Despite many people discouraging him along his journey Ramón y Cajal found ways to merge his love for art and observation with his scientific background to create new and important discoveries.

Reviewed by Dorothy Levine

Santiago Saw Things Differently: Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Artist, Doctor, Father of Neuroscience

Written by Christine Iverson | Illustrated by Luciano Lozano

Santiago always had a passion for creating and exploring. As a child in Spain, he spent time creating music and inventing toys with any scraps he could find, drawing elaborate charcoal scenes across neighbors’ walls and racing around his grandfather’s loom shop. There, as “he twirled and tangled woolen thread…. Dust sparked and soared in a kaleidoscope of motion.” Unfortunately, not everybody understood the magic of his creations. Neighbors, and particularly Santiago’s father, believed Santiago’s public displays of art were more bothersome than intriguing.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-santiago-saw-things-differently-drawing-on-wall

Image copyright Luciano Lozano, 2024, text copyright Christine Iverson, 2024. Courtesy of MIT Kids Press.

As Santiago’s father ushered him through many different schools, aiming to leave room for no “distractions” from study, Santiago held on to his artistic practice and passion for exploring the natural world in secret. When once admonished for drawing on the margins of his paper, Santiago was forced to spend time in his school’s dark basement. But, in a stroke of luck, “The room was lit by a wisp of light leaking through an old shutter—just enough for drawing.” Another time, stuck in a classroom with no paper, Santiago used his pencil to unlock the door.

As he grew up, Santiago developed a specific fascination for the human body. At medical school, Santiago observed the way blood vessels in our bodies mirror the canals of the Ebro River near his university. “He saw the human body as a work of art,” a work that replicates in nature and is connected more broadly to the world at large.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-santiago-saw-things-differently-graveyard

Image copyright Luciano Lozano, 2024, text copyright Christine Iverson, 2024. Courtesy of MIT Kids Press.

Years later, when scientists were focused on working out how the tiny connectors (or nerve fibers) in our brains worked, Santiago was able to use his microscope and drawing skills to sort out that the fibers spread in a similar fashion to the young trees he had spent so much of his time drawing and observing. With the help of ink stains, study, and lots of drawings of his observations, Santiago drew new conclusions about neurons and cells that helped scientists across the globe to understand the human brain better.

All because “Santiago saw things differently” he was able to unlock new ways of understanding the brain, gaining him a Nobel prize and the eventual title of the Father of Neuroscience.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-santiago-saw-things-differently-microscope-view

Image copyright Luciano Lozano, 2024, text copyright Christine Iverson, 2024. Courtesy of MIT Kids Press.

Iverson writes a detailed lyrical account of the life of Santiago Ramón y Cajal that is accessible for a wide range of readers. For interested older audiences, the book includes extensive back matter on the Anatomy of a Neuron, more biographical information on Santiago Ramón y Cajal and an explanation of the science behind one scene in the story.

Interwoven with quotes and images from Ramón y Cajal’s original works are Lozano’s masterful swirling illustrations of Santiago and his environment as they both grow and change. Throughout the story, Lozano inserts details for readers to observe and make their own discoveries, such as the dog who follows Santiago throughout his childhood. Lozano illustrates the story mainly in blushing pinks, sky blues and light-yellow browns with accented vibrant greens and darker colors signifying location changes and key turning points in the story. There is a subtle humor helping to lighten the darker parts of Santiago’s life. The tale closes with the image of Santiago face-to-face with a cartoon-like human skeleton (filled with neurons) smiling back at him.

Santiago Sees Things Differently is a celebratory account of innovation, perseverance and appreciation for the often-interdisciplinary nature of outside-of-the-box thinkers. The title page opens with a poignant quote from Santiago Ramón y Cajal himself, encouraging “young investigators” to keep exploring the vast unknown of the natural world and to remember that what is left undiscovered is always larger than what has been already found. Santiago Sees Things Differently provides readers with the empowering knowledge that new perspectives are necessary for new discovery. And that while difference is often looked down upon, it is, often, in fact a superpower.

(This book is available in both Spanish and English versions)

Ages 5 – 9

MIT Kids Press, 2024 | ISBN 978-1536238334

About the Author

Christine Iverson is a physical therapist with a strong interest in neural pathways. She holds a BS in history from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a doctoral degree in physical therapy from Baylor University, and an M.Ed. with a focus in children’s literature from Pennsylvania State University. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia. Visit her at christineiversonwrites. com.

About the Illustrator

Luciano Lozano is a Spanish author, illustrator, and graphic artist. He is the creator of several picture books, including Mayhem at the Museum: A Book in Pictures, and the illustrator of many others, including I (Don’t) Like Snakes by Nicola Davies. He lives in Spain. Visit him at lucianolozano.com.

STEM/STEAM Day Activities

Neuroscience Coloring Pages

Follow Santiago’s footsteps by coloring pictures of different parts of the brain and scientific tools used in the story with these coloring pages from the University of Washington. You’ll also find brain games, plus loads of printable puzzles, worksheets, bookmarks, and even treasure hunts here too! (Coloring pages available in English and Spanish!)

Build a Hands-on Model of a Neuron

Have fun and learn about neurons by making a model! You can use almost any kind of material you like—clay, perler beads, bread dough, or even candy—to make it. So put on your thinking cap and get creative! You’ll find lots of ideas on this page from The University of Washington’s Neuroscience for Kids Page.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-santiago-saw-things-differently-cover

You can purchase Santiago Saw Things Differently at these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop (to support your local independent bookstore)

November 1 – National Author’s Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Today’s holiday was instituted in 1928 by Nellie Verne Burt McPherson, president of the Bement, Illinois Women’s Club. An avid reader, she established Author’s Day to thank writer Irving Bacheller—author of 31 novels and founder of the first modern newspaper syndicate—who sent her an autographed story in response to her fan letter. The day was officially recognized in 1949 by the United States Department of Commerce. McPherson’s granddaughter, Sue Cole, promoted the holiday after Nellie’s death in 1968. To celebrate, people are encouraged to write a note of appreciation to their favorite author.

Thank you to Knopf Books for Young Readers and Barbara Fisch of Blue Slip Press for sharing a copy of As Edward Imagined with me for review consideration. All opinions on the book are my own.

As Edward Imagined: A Story of Edward Gorey in Three Acts

Written by Matthew Burgess | Illustrated by Marc Majewski

Edward Gorey’s artistic life began early—very early—and built on itself, bit-by-bit, experience-by-experience just like a play, and so it is fitting that Matthew Burgess’s biography is divided into three acts. In Act One readers meet Edward Gorey as a precocious preschooler, creating his first drawing at a year and a half and learning to read at three and a half.

As a voracious reader, he devoured books from his father’s library, including Dracula before he was six. It didn’t take long before he was writing and illustrating his own stories. One was “titled ‘Hand of Doom,’ in which a skeleton’s fingers crept from page to page.” But Edward didn’t consign his “delightfully peculiar” personality to the page, “he [dared] to live the life he imagined.”

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-as-edward-imagined-fathers-library

Image copyright Marc Majewski, 2024, text copyright Matthew Burgess, 2024. Courtesy of Knopf Books for Young Readers.

In Act Two, Edward has graduated from college and is living in New York, where he took the subway to attend nearly every performance of the New York City Ballet, dressed in his singular look: a fur coat, tennis shoes, and “plenty of clinking rings.” While working as a book illustrator, he also wrote, illustrated, and published his own stories, and little by little people began to take notice of “his stylish drawings, his outlandish poetry, and his deliciously sinister sense of humor.”

This popularity earned him an invitation to design the costumes and sets for a Broadway production of that classic he had read long ago—Dracula. The play was a smash, and Edward was nominated for Tony awards. Eschewing the limelight, however, Edward watched the ceremony and his own win from the comfort of his home and surrounded by his six beloved cats.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-as-edward-imagined-city

Image copyright Marc Majewski, 2024, text copyright Matthew Burgess, 2024. Courtesy of Knopf Books for Young Readers.

His success on Broadway brings readers to Act Three, and his purchase of an old captain’s house on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, drew, wrote, and collected. “Teddy bears, sea stones, skeletons of all sizes and shapes, and books by the thousands” became his companions and his inspirations. He also worked with local actors to bring his original plays to theaters. Here, Edward was happy living “his life precisely as he wished.” For readers today, he lives on in his one-of-a-kind characters and inimitable stories.

Back matter includes an Author’s Note, a Bibliography, a photograph of Edward Gorey and one of his cats, and a Chronology of his life that fleshes out experiences from his childhood, during which he once owned a baby alligator, to his higher education and military service to his publishing career and animations for PBS’s Mystery! series to his time living on Cape Cod.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-as-edward-imagined-mr-earbrass

Image copyright Marc Majewski, 2024, text copyright Matthew Burgess, 2024. Courtesy of Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Matthew Burgess’s charming storytelling highlights the quirky ingenuity of Edward Gorey’s stories, plays, and illustrations. Cleverly divided into three acts, his biography emphasizes how Edward remained true to himself throughout his life, finding jobs that complimented his skills and pastimes that fed his imagination. Inspirational and celebrating the individual, Burgess’s breezy and uplifting text will engage children and encourage them to listen to and stay true to their own unique voice.

Marc Majewski’s enchanting and atmospheric illustrations will captivate readers with their combination of realism and whimsy that give them a tour through Edward Gorey’s childhood home, New York City haunts, Dracula sets, and Cape Cod comfort. Kids and adults alike will enjoy dawdling over each page to discover the themes of and influences on Edward’s life as well as his eccentric decor and characters and, of course, to point out all the cats.

A fabulous introduction to a truly unique talent and individual, As Edward Imagined: A Story of Edward Gorey in Three Acts will not only fascinate kids but also spark their creativity and an appreciation for the happiness that comes from following their own path. The book would be an often-asked-for favorite on home bookshelves and for public libraries and offers many applications for school libraries and creative arts programs. Pair with readings of Edward Gorey’s books to acquaint young readers with his endearing characters.

Ages 4 – 8

Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2024 | ISBN 978-1984893802

About the Author

Matthew Burgess is the author of Enormous Smallness: A Story of E. E. Cummings, and The Unbudgeable Curmudgeon. He has been a poet-in-residence in New York City elementary schools through the Teachers & Writers Collaborative since 2001. His work has appeared in various magazines and journals, and he recently received an award from the Fund for Poetry. He teaches creative writing and composition at Brooklyn College and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit Matthew at matthewjohnburgess.com.

About the Illustrator

Marc Majewski is a French author-illustrator based in Berlin. After obtaining a degree in literature and arts, he studied illustration and painting for two years. His picture books include, Does Earth Feel?, and Butterfly Child. Visit Marc at marc-majewski.com.

National Author’s Day Activity

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-the-doubtful-guest-cover

**Watch The Doubtful Guest by Edward Gorey**

To celebrate today’s holiday listen to this reading of Edward Gorey’s The Doubtful Guest, a short, eccentric and slightly eerie tale of an uninvited guest. Then check out your local library for more books by Edward Gorey.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-as-edward-imagined-cover

You can purchase As Edward Imagined: A Story of Edward Gorey in Three Acts at these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop (to support your local independent bookstore)

Picture Book Review

May 18 – International Museum Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

International Museum day was created in 1977 by the International Council of Museums to raise awareness that “museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.” The theme for this year is “The Power of Museums.” Museums are not just repositories of the past. They are vital and active members of the communities they serve and as such can be leaders in tackling some of society’s biggest issues. This year the International Council of Museums aimsto “explore the potential of museums to bring about positive change in their communities through three lenses: the power of achieving sustainability, the power of innovating digitalization and accessibility, and the power of community building through education. To learn more about these initiatives, visit the ICOM website. Celebrate International Museum Day by visiting a museum near you – or visit many world-famous museums through today’s book.

The Ultimate Art Museum

By Ferren Gipson

A blurb on the cover of this astounding book sums up the lofty goals it achieves: “40,000 years of the world’s most amazing art in one dream museum!” Indeed, once readers open the cover and accept the “ticket” offered, they can peruse the museum map that lays out the three wings, 18 galleries, and 128 rooms, plus a cafe and garden, that await them. An note from author Ferren Gipson introduces readers to the range of ways art can influence and reflect their times and the people who lived during different eras.

Gipson’s conversational style follows visitors to this unique museum from page to page, prompting them to look, consider, understand, and make connections. On some pages, a question or comment marked by an eye sends readers to another gallery or room to compare artworks, subjects, or themes across time and cultures. Some of these give a page number to consult, while others allow readers to study a room or gallery to find the artwork referred to.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-the-ultimate-art-museum-galleries

Wing 1, appropriately, presents “treasures from the world’s earliest civilizations and the earliest art ever made.” Here, children and adults will find cave art; figurines carved from ivory, bone, and stone; treasures from ancient empires, carved reliefs, the painted, sculpted, and gilded wonders of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The intricate art of the Byzantine, early Islamic, and Medieval worlds demonstrate important aspects of these cultures as do works from ancient East Asia well as South and Southeast Asia. Readers then cross the Atlantic Ocean to discover the pottery, sculptures, and fabrics created by Native societies of North and South America. Each artwork is accompanied by a paragraph that will draw children in with clear, concise, and fascinating descriptions of the artwork, what it means, and, sometimes, even secrets that it holds.

Time for a break? Turn the page and enter the Café, where the “menu,” consisting of “Snacks, Mains, and Dessert” offers delectable choices depicted in paintings and sculpture. Refreshed, readers can step into Wing 2, where the galleries hold treasures from the 1200s to the 1800s created in Asia, including book illustrations, a palepai cloth, a puppet, scholar paintings, porceline, folding screens, carpets, and even the Taj Mahal.

The Renaissance comes to Europe with an impressive display of curiosity and learning that resulted in many changes to society and art. “Artists came up with better ways to mix oil paints and began to paint on canvas for the first time. And what scientists learned about the human body helped them paint and sculpt people who looked very real.” The subjects of artworks expanded too to include “portraits, mythology, and everyday life.” Dragon lovers can take up the challenge to compare two dragons – one created by an Italian master and the other found on a Chinese vase from the Yuan Dynasty.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-the-ultimate-art-museum-miniatures

From 1600 – 1850, dramatic and lifelike paintings became popular. Dark shadows and highlighted areas gave paintings an atmospheric feel that invited viewers to look closely. In one of Diego Velázquez’s famous Las Meninas painting, all of the people portrayed seem to be looking out from the canvas at you. But who are they really looking at? The answer can be found reflected in a mirror on the back wall. In addition to realistic family and town life, landscapes also became popular during this time.

Moving to another room, readers will find that the art of the Pacific Islands is distinctively different in its depictions of “images of gods, spirits, and ancestors of the people who lived there.” Those works created from stone and wood have survived through the ages while “others, such as objects made from delicate spider webs or flowers, have disappeared.” Art from the continent of Africa is up next. With its many unique kingdoms and communities, Africa has produced unique artworks that “celebrate leaders and tell the stories of Africa’s great empires and civilizations.” Clay, wood, metal, ivory, and cloth have been used to “create art with spiritual and practical purposes.”

Ah! Time for a walk through the garden. Which path will you take? The one past Georgia O’Keefe’s “Red Poppy” or one where you can see a moth and a caterpillar on the branch of a citrus tree? Perhaps you’d like to stroll through a hurricane with a tiger on your trail with Henri Rousseau’s “Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised)” or maybe you’d like a fragrant walk through Gustav Klimt’s “Flower Garden.”

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-the-ultimate-art-museum-neo-classical

Wing 3 takes readers to modern times, when “almost anything is possible in art!” In this wing, visitors will see “art that does not have a set purpose.” Instead, the artists represented here “created works that were experimental and personal. They used unusual materials and tried exciting techniques.” In these rooms, readers will encounter the Impressionists, who were interested in capturing a moment in time, and Post-Impressionists, who experimented with color, techniques, and subject matter. Readers will no doubt recognize paintings by Mary Cassatt, Vincent Van Gogh, and Georges Seurat.

American realist painters took city scenes, sports events, tender moments between family members, and many other topics. The Cubist period began when some artists experimented in showing their subject from a variety of angles at one time. Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, and Georges Braque are just a few of the famous artists who “chopped up and rearranged images” to make a new style of art.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-the-ultimate-art-museum-map

Visitors will also learn about the Dada movement, Expressionism, and American Regionalism. Photography took center stage as cameras became lighter and easier to use. The art of the Harlem Renaissance by Black Americans is reflected in a painting of Harriet Tubman by William H. Johnson, a bronze bust of a boy by Augusta Savage, and a quilt by Harriet Powers – one of only two that still exist.

After visiting a room of modern works from India and Mexico, readers enter the dizzying world of the Surrealists. Surrealism “shows real objects but in a completely fantastical way. It explores how dreams, imaginations, and the inner workings of the mind can be shown in art.” A train emerging from the “tunnel” of a fireplace, a fur teacup, saucer, and spoon, and Salvador Dali’s “drooping” clocks are a few of the works you’ll find here.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-the-ultimate-art-museum-cubism

In Wing 3, readers will also learn about Collages, Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, Conceptual art, and Op art that boggle the eyes and mind with their optical illusions. Pop art, Installations, contemporary sculptures large and small as well as Alexander Calder’s mobiles and artwork created from light stand side-by-side with Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s outdoor wrapping installations, Aboriginal Australian art, Feminist art, Chicanx art, performance art, video art, contemporary art, and so much more. If you’re a fan of selfies, you’ll want to stop at the Hall of Selfies and see how four artists anticipated and/or reflect this very modern art form.

Helpful maps accompany each wing and gallery change to show readers where the art in that gallery comes from or its influence. A smaller map inset often orients readers to where the region represented is situated in the world at large.

Back matter includes an Author’s Note, a map of 54 major museums around the world, a glossary of terms found in the text, and an index.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-the-ultimate-art-museum-selfies

Ferren Gipson is the “cool” docent every visitor wants as their tour leader on a trip to a museum. Full of enthusiasm for art and its impact, gifted with a wealth of knowledge, and quick with a fun fact, a humorous aside, or an intriguing nugget of perspective, Gipson will wow kids and adults alike with her love of all kinds of art. Open The Ultimate Art Museum to any page and readers will immediately be absorbed by whatever style of art or time in history they’ve hit upon and will eagerly wander from gallery to gallery, room to room, page to page to learn more.

The Ultimate Art Museum has applications for strong cross-curricular study for teachers and homeschoolers, expertly connecting history, art, changing societies, and more visually and textually. Gipson’s entertaining and thorough treatment of her topic will get kids excited about visiting museums of all kinds, and arm-chair travelers will wile away many happy hours wandering its pages.

The Ultimate Art Museum is a must for classrooms and school and public libraries and would be a much-loved addition to home bookshelves or coffee tables.

Ages 8 and up

Phaidon, 2021 | ISBN 978-1838663780

Discover more about Ferren Gipson, her books, work, and podcast “Art Matters” on her website.

International Museum Day Activity

Create a Museum Exhibit

Every item has a story. Maybe there’s a funny anecdote behind that knick-knack on your shelf. Perhaps your favorite serving dish holds sentimental value. How about your child’s best-loved toy or a drawing or craft they’ve made? A fun and educational way for kids to learn family stories and interact with their own history is to create a museum exhibit of objects in your home.

For teachers this can be a fun classroom activity that incorporates writing, art, and speaking as well as categorizing skills. Students can use objects in the classroom or bring items from home to set up museum exhibits. This activity can be done as a whole-class project or by smaller groups, who then present their exhibit to the rest of the class.

Supplies

A number of household or classroom items
Paper or index cards
Markers
A table, shelf, or other area for display

Directions

To get started help children gather a number of items from around the house to be the subjects of their exhibit. An exhibit can have a theme, such as Grandma’s China or Travel Souvenirs, or it can contain random items of your child’s choice, such as toys, plants, tools, even the furniture they see and use every day.
Using the paper or cards and markers, children can create labels for their exhibit items. Older children will be able to write the labels themselves; younger children may need adult help.
Spend a little time relating the story behind each object: where it came from, how long you’ve had it, when and how it was used in the past, and include any funny or touching memories attached to the item. Or let your child’s imagination run free, and let them create histories for the objects.
When the labels are finished, arrange the items on a table, shelf, or in a room, and let your child lead family members or classmates on a tour. You can even share the exhibit with family and friends on social media.
If extended family members live in your area, this is a wonderful way for your child to interact with them and learn about their heritage.

**You can find The Ultimate Art Museum at these booksellers**

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

To support your local independent bookstore, order from

Bookshop | IndieBound

Picture Book Review

July 28 – Beatrix Potter Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

On this date in 1866, one of the world’s most beloved children’s authors was born – Beatrix Potter. Her twenty-three books about Peter Rabbit and his friends have enchanted children for generations, and the tale of how The Tale of Peter Rabbit came to be is as full of twists and turns as any good story – as you’ll see in today’s book. To celebrate today, why not go to your bookstore, library, or maybe even your own bookshelf at home and enjoy spending some time in the garden with Peter.

Saving the Countryside: The Story of Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit

Written by Linda Elovitz Marshall | Illustrated by Ilaria Urbinati

At home in London, young Beatrix Potter loved drawing and painting pictures of her pet rabbit, Benjamin Bouncer and other woodland creatures. Beatrix and her brother didn’t go to school but were taught at home under a strict daily timeline. “Then came summer and … freedom! During the summer, Beatrix’s whole household—pets included—moved to a country house where there were ducks, chickens, cows, and a garden.