A Review of Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge

The July/August Horn Book Magazine features the ALA awards winners and their acceptance speeches. I was especially touched by Caldecott winner Erin E. Stead's speech and her husband Philip C. Stead's article about his wife. It turns out Erin is painfully shy and has experienced periods of extreme self-doubt about her abilities as an artist. As Erin put it in her speech:

Philip always knew I should make books. I did not. I thought I was too serious, my pictures too tiny and quiet to hold their own on a bookshelf. This was a career I deeply admired and respected but felt I did not deserve. And maybe couldn't handle.

I was reminded just a little of Erin E. Stead when I read Laura Lee Gulledge's graphic novel, Page by Paige. Actually, it's closer to being a graphic journal than a novel, and I definitely don't mean that in a Diary of a Wimpy Kid way.

Introspective teen Paige has just moved to New York City from Virginia, and she is struggling to adjust. She is also struggling with her desire to define herself as an artist. This book is a record of her journey. (All done in black and white, by the way.)

What's really nice is the way Gulledge has Paige mix visual metaphors into her storytelling. For example, when Paige says, "I've been giving myself a lot of pep talks in my head lately," we see in the next drawing that the sign over the high school entrance says "BE AN EXTROVERT" instead of the school's name. On the next page, as Paige goes up the hall, she sees a hand-lettered sign on the wall reading, "Psst, Paige, You Belong Here." Below, as Paige writes, "I tell myself that everyone else feels alone, too," we find a drawing of a lake with dozens of teens paddling around in very small boats, each isolated though surrounded by others. These images ebb and flow nicely as Paige goes about finding her way in a new place.

The detailed depiction of Paige's worries and self-analysis might strike more confident readers as self-absorption, but I'm guessing many teens (and adults!) will relate to her self-consciousness. Paige's conflicts with her well-meaning but intrusive parents are another plot thread that will feel familiar to a lot of young readers. This relationship is not unrealistically one-note, though: At one point Paige shares a joke and a hug with her dad, and her parents are fairly sympathetic characters as they try to understand how their daughter is doing.

Happily, Paige falls in with a great little group of new friends who not only help her to feel less isolated, but who support her blossoming as an artist. With Jules, Longo, and Gabe cheering her on, Paige starts up an art blog and even designs some guerrilla street art projects. For example, at one point she and her friends leave a bunch of plastic Easter eggs around town, each filled with a message or a small token like a Hershey's Kiss or a feather.

Paige's friends are appealing individuals in their own right: Jules, the lesbian singer whose lyrics combine things like vampires and robots; her brother Longo, a goofball and, like Paige, a closet artist; and Gabe, a quiet boy and a writer.

This is not a rowdy book, but the low-key humor adds dimension. For example, as the four compare backgrounds and we find out with Paige that Gabe is Japanese-American and Jules and Longo are Italian-Latino, our English-Scottish-Irish-German-Swiss girl remarks, "Wow, you guys are so exotic! Me, I'm just like if all the pale countries got together and had a big orgy."*

Paige continues to struggle with self-doubt in the face of setbacks, but mostly she quietly grows more confident both as an artist and as a person. Her budding romance with Gabe is especially lovely: their kindness to each other is what you really want to see in a teen relationship, or in any relationship, really. Paige's joy in her new boyfriend and in their tentative kisses is, of course, depicted in part by more symbolic drawings.

Paige also works things out—to a reasonable extent—with her parents. This book is basically a coming-of-age story, as Paige goes from a place of fear to a place of becoming her promised self. Each section of Paige's sketchbook begins with a "rule" Paige assigns herself as she tries to be more adventurous, more confident, and more open about her artwork. For example, Rule #3 is "Shhh... quiet... listen to what's going on in your head." Here's a complete list of Paige's art/life rules all in one spot.

I would especially recommend Page by Paige for shy, thoughtful, and creative teens.

Note for Worried Parents: This is a Young Adult book. I don't think younger children would be particularly interested in the quiet angst of a girl artist. There is some kissing between Paige and her very nice boyfriend. The orgy joke above is about as off-color as it gets.*

Check out Laura Lee's blog, which should give you a hint that the book is fairly autobiographical, at least when it comes to art, self-doubt, and depression. Gulledge is also involved in doing some very cool community art. We've got a "motion comic" book trailer for Page by Paige, body painting (PG-13), new drawings, and live mural painting—and that's just mid-July through mid-August! That's more of a blog for grown-ups, though, actually; another one is aimed strictly at teens and other people interested in this YA graphic novel (and future projects for YA readers).

A Review of Sparrow Road by Sheila O'Connor

Raine O'Rourke has no idea why her mother has dragged her off to spend the summer at an artist's colony, and she's not happy about it. For one thing, she misses her grandpa. For another, it seems strange that her mother has volunteered to be the cook, and apparently Raine shouldn't be there at all—at least according to the most cranky of the artists. But the other artists take Raine under their wings and she begins to have fun, even if her mother is acting particularly nervous and doesn't want Raine to go into town at all, ever.

This book has a colorful cast of adult supporting characters, beginning with Viktor, who owns and runs the place. He is silent and seemingly cold. One rule of the colony is that no one is allowed to speak during the day so that the creative types can concentrate. Of course, this is not an easy rule for Raine to follow. Fortunately, Viktor makes an exception for Raine and poet Lillian, who is a little senile and clearly used to live at Sparrow Road when it was an orphanage, perhaps as a teacher.

Diego is a painter who incorporates found objects into his work. He encourages Raine to dream and takes an interest in Raine's mother.

Writer Eleanor is a curmudgeon who complains a lot about Raine, providing a counterpoint to the other artists' kindliness.

Quilt-maker Josie is a huge, loud personality who quickly befriends Raine and brings the girl out of her shell with her sheer enthusiasm. She takes Raine into the forbidden town for treats and invites the town out to Sparrow Road for an art show. Here's Josie:

Suddenly Josie marched into the kitchen, her long, sure steps reminding me of the cowboys in the westerns Grandpa watched. Except in place of cowboy boots, she had on men's black work boots, big and clunky, with heavy silver buckles that jangled when she walked. Her dress looked like a patchwork sack of scraps. A nest of neon braids framed her freckled face.

"You've come home!" Lillian said.

"I'll always come home, Lilly." Josie smacked a kiss on Lillian's head. "Oh boy," she said. "I'm beat. Two days of watching clouds drift really wore me out." She gave a great big laugh.

"We have a brand-new orphan," Lillian said.

"Fabulous," Josie cheered. "We need more orphans at this place." A wide gap flashed between her two front teeth. She gave my hand a forceful shake. "So you must be the long-awaited Raine O'Rourke."

As for Raine's mother, Molly, she is keeping secrets. For one thing, Raine's mom used to sing and play guitar: why did she stop? And how did she meet Viktor in the first place?

Raine is determined to uncover her mother's secrets, and the secrets of Sparrow Road, too. The orphans have left a few signs of themselves behind. A picture drawn by a boy named Lyman inspires Raine to make him into a sort of imaginary friend. As she talks to him about his lack of parents, her own missing father becomes a more important figure in the plot.

Inspired by her new friends, Raine is infused with her own sense of artistry and ends up writing a piece about Lyman which she reluctantly reads at Sparrow Road's First Annual Arts Extravaganza. I found myself wondering whether Lyman was Raine's alter ego. Though I have to say, I would have liked to hear more about Lyman the orphan. He deserves his own book.

Despite the lack of overt magic, there's a bit of a magical realism feel to O'Connor's tale. That is, there's something a touch surreal about Sparrow Road. The setting reminds me of Mary Lennox' secret garden or that magical attic where Sara Crewe discovered that after all of the horrible things that had happened, someone still loved her.

Little by little, Raine flourishes in this odd setting, finding the answers to most, if not all, of her questions. Raine learns to dream herself into someone else's world and even to forgive the ones who need it most. Like Raine, I'll think you'll be happy to spend some time in the town aptly named Comfort, particularly in that cozy nest of an artist's colony, Sparrow Road.

Note for Worried Parents: There's some talk of alcoholism and an (implied) unwed mother in this book, but it's all handled with grace and wisdom.

Check out Sheila O'Connor's Sparrow Road page on her website for some rave reviews.

A Review of My Best Friend Is as Sharp as a Pencil by Hanoch Piven

My Best Friend Is as Sharp as a Pencil: And Other Funny Classroom Portraits is an art book and a poetry book at the same time. It's also the kind of book that makes elementary school teachers light up like pinball machines ringing with the words, "Cool lesson plan! Cool lesson plan!"

Which only makes sense, since artist Piven has traveled around teaching kids to create the same kinds of portraits he gives us in this book, the kind of artwork that has also appeared in major magazines and newspapers. My Best Friend is one of several Piven picture books along these lines, two of the others being My Dog Is as Smelly as Dirty Socks: And Other Funny Family Portraits and What Presidents Are Made Of.

Piven has a young girl telling us her grandma asks her about her class and her teacher. The girl says, "I'll show her!" And means it literally. For example, an early spread reads:

Now, Grandma, let's see. You asked about my teacher, Mrs. Jennings.
Mrs. Jennings talks in a voice as sweet as candy (except when she is very excited).
She can spell anything without making one mistake!
And she smells soooo lovely—as lovely as flowers.
But you gotta be careful: she notices everything, just like a pair of glasses.

Next to each description is a photo of a real item: candy, a small loudspeaker, plastic alphabet letters, buttons shaped like flowers, and a pair of bifocals. (The girl herself is a drawing.)

Then on the next page, we have these words on the left: "Mrs. Jennings, I am giving you an A+!" While on the right is a portrait of the teacher incorporating the items show on the previous page. Her hair is made of alphabet letters, her eyes are the blue flower buttons, her mouth is the candy, and so on. Piven surprises by not always incorporating these elements in the places where you would expect them, e.g., he doesn't use the buttons as buttons. And check out the portrait on the book's cover, where a microscope has been used to capture the shape of a nose!

The descriptions as well as the art are thoughtful and positive without being schmaltzy. I believe they will inspire children to think more carefully about their own friends and relations, especially if kids work on creating their own portraits.

From a poetry standpoint, I have to say that the metaphors are also effective, initially for their efficacy as images and further as symbols of personality characteristics. Jack, for example, is a sciency kid, "as curious as a magnifying glass and as precise as a microscope." Portraits of a school librarian and an art teacher are marvelous, as are portraits of other classmates. "My favorite teacher is as mysterious as dark glasses." Another friend is "as graceful as a ballet slipper."

Without good models, young writers are apt to create clichés when using metaphoric language. Piven's written images are strong and fresh, showing kids that a great comparison can be apt as well as surprising. Besides its obvious use for an art lesson, this book would lend itself to a poetry unit focusing on metaphors and similes. But even if you're not a teacher, I think you and your child will enjoy experiencing this book.

I often worry over the lack of originality in children whose play seems to be scripted by toy companies and television programming. My Best Friend is as Sharp as a Pencil is one antidote, a way of waking up the creativity in kids who will really like seeing their world through new eyes, ones made of library cards or seashells or nuts and bolts or jellybeans.

Spidery Creativity

I just want to make sure other people catch this article from NPR. Yes, a couple of very creative weavers made a tapestry using actual spider silk, of a type which in quantity shows as golden. Link through to see how beautiful it is. You can also learn the process used, how much the project cost, and how many spiders "helped"! Don't worry, the spiders weren't harmed, although they may have been a little miffed.

Happily, this tapestry will be housed in a museum, at least for the next few months. I love the way humanity dreams up new art forms, especially ones as out there as this is...

My Picture Book Gallery

Before I put up my regular post this weekend, I want to refer you to an annotated Listmania list that I’ve posted on Amazon (and just updated by adding Bob Graham’s How to Heal a Broken Wing) called Simply Beautiful Picture Books. Fuse #8’s wonderful Top 100 Picture Books of All Time poll reminded me that many of you, like me, are over-the-moon in love with children’s books. (That would be the moon from Goodnight Moon, of course.) While I come from the writing side of things, I feel my picture book collection is also the equivalent of an art gallery. This list is my homage to some of that tremble-inducing beauty!