A story about perseverance for budding--or flourishing--engineers, both big and small. Engibear sets out to create a "Bearbot" to help him get his work done. The book counts through the various prototypes and why each doesn't work until the engineer finally is successful with Bearbot Type Ten. Benjamin Johnston's illustrations feature design schematics, diagrams, blueprints, and colorful workshop scenes that children will delight in looking at again and again.

In fact, it's the illustrations that pulled me to the book (I'd seen some of Benjamin Johnston's portfolio images online somewhere and remembered them) and they give it a five star ranking (reserved only for books that I would like to have as part of my permanent collection).  The images are gorgeous combinations of science, comedy, and explosions with a touch of graphic novel mixed in.  Their complexity is what gives repeat readers a new experience again and again. Just the end pages could require a half hour of pursuing to see all the details. 

Cathy, guest reviewer at Children's Books Daily, says about reading the book with her 5 year old son, "We read that Bearbot’s legs are made of 'carbon-fibre segmented flexible cable with internal stabilisers'. There’s no way that the junior engineer understands this, but they are the kind of words that are sheer pleasure to roll around in his mouth. They will inevitably be incorporated into the next Lego project. Then one day he may even figure out what they mean." This is a book that has the ability to grow, with different ages pulling different information and messages from it.  And it has a sequel!  How awesome is that?  (Cathy's review also links to an interesting interview with the author, so follow the tangent, it's fun to see photos of the original inspiration.)

I just didn't get this book. Maybe because I'm over the age four and just couldn't get past the factor that having others steal your underpants to wear them is more along the lines of creepy and illegal rather than cute.  

Claire Freedman's first page packs a wallop when it comes to getting the key story information out there. In the first four line stanza (each spread features four rhyming lines) we discover that not only do aliens love undies, but that there aren't any undies in space. It leaves us with the suspenseful line "So here's a big surprise" as a cue to turn the page and enter the story.

The text is, for the most part, smooth and easy to read aloud.  There are some fun lines:

Mum's pink frilly knickers

Are a perfect place to hide

And Grandpa's woolly long johns

Make a super-whizzy slide.

But I didn't really feel the pull to read it again and again. Sorry, aliens. Once was enough.

One thing I do really like about this book is Ben Cort's illustrations. The characters (human and extra-terrestrial) are in cute, active, and expressive poses. The illustrations remind me of Guy Parker-Rees illustrations in the colors used and the "glow" they seem to feature, but Cort's backgrounds are simpler (textured brush-strokes) and the painting rougher and more textured. The aliens themselves remind me a bit of Dr. Suess' creatures. They are cute and a bit kidney-bean or insect like in a fluffy sort of way. One unusual thing Cort did is a vertical spread midway through the book that requires turning the book so it's oriented like a calendar to fully appreciate.  

Today's RhyPiBoMo book is My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch by Graeme Base.  An imaginative celebration both of Australian animals and eccentric relatives, it's a fun, poetic read which would probably be better if I spoke with an Australian accent.  

I realized that out of the ten or so children books I have in my current study pile, they all start with a double spread.  Page one therefore is on the left-hand side of the page, an inner title page to its back.  This A4 size book of Graeme Base's is no different.  It starts with double-page spread ink drawing of a lively grandmother, song-bird on her shoulder and map in the background accompanied by four stanzas explaining where the narrator's grandmother comes from and that there isn't much to make the place famous--except his grandmother.  This is followed by wordless, full-color, double-page spread painting that connects to the narration.  The entire book follows this pattern.  A monochromatic ink drawing with 3-5 stanzas followed by a related wordless, colorful, detailed two-page spread.  Whether stippled ink or full color, the pages have a white border less than a centimeter wide with parts of the illustration bleeding past the border and off the page.  Because of the fairly unusual A4 size, the book seems slightly more narrow and tall than your typical children's book.  (A4 is a standard international copy paper size--slightly taller and narrower than the standard U.S. 8.5 x 11 inch paper) 

Angie Karcher's Rhyming Picture Book Month (RhyPiBoMo) starts April 1st and one of the tasks is to read a rhyming picture book and a children's poem daily.  Yesterday I put some holds on some library books in preparation, and what do you know?  This morning about half of them were waiting on the library's shelf for me.  

Yoda: You must not read ahead!

Me: But I'll have to turn them in unread if I don't.

Obi-Wan: You don't know that.  Even Yoda cannot see their fate.

Me: But I can read them!  I feel the Force!

Obi-Wan: But you cannot control it.  This is a dangerous time for you, when you will be tempted by the Dark Pull of the Shelf of Library Books.

So in case you were wondering how my jedi resistance was holding out, how about I jump into Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees?  I will be good and save discussing the rhyme until April.  (Fingers crossed.)

GIRAFFES CAN'T DANCE - THEMES

Giraffes Can't Dance is a lively book, from the action filled rhyming text to the colorful watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations.  There's a plot, there's a message, but mostly it's just very entertaining to read.

The main character, Gerald the Giraffe, is presented as a bit awkward in the beginning of the book--especially when it comes to dancing.  When he is essentially ridiculed off the dance floor, he slinks sadly off into the forest. A cricket appears and tells him "...sometimes when you are different you just need a different song", gives him a bit of a pep-talk, and starts playing the violin for him.  Suddenly Gerald has the ability to dance spectacularly and all the other animals adore him and are clambering to know how he learned to dance like that.  The book concludes with the idea that "We all can dance when we find music that we love."

What's nice is that there is a story.  Take the rhyme away, turn it into prose, and there is still a story.  Interpreted loosely the idea is that we all can be successful when we find the activities we love, but I invite you to pay attention to the differences in the learning / performance culture between the clearing with the cricket and the jungle party.  Instead of chaos, there is quiet.  Instead of dances with set moves and timing structures like the Scottish reel, waltz, or tango, he is doing improvisation.  Instead of music being played for the masses, here the illustrator has shown one musician, the cricket, accompanying him. Following the dancer's lead, if you will, at least in terms of location but by extension most likely also playing off the dancer's lead in terms of timing, intensity, etc.  It isn't necessarily that Gerald needed a different song or music he loved--it's more that he was actually in a situation where he was comfortable, didn't have the pressure of everyone watching him, wasn't being made fun of, and had a supportive helper, all of which combined together to allow him to feel successful about dancing.  (I won't get into the possible psychological game a teacher can create through crafting the illusion that different music, etc. will imbue a student with abilities he or she didn't have before.) 

A theme teachers frequently pull from the book is that of true friendship vs. fair-weather friendship, with the cricket displaying the characteristics a true friend would display (helping, being supportive) vs. the other animals (who appear to like him solely based on his new-found skill) but the support for true friendship within the story is relatively weak since there is no lasting relationship between Gerald and the cricket.  They appear to meet during the story and the encounter is that of a mentor/teacher and a student.  It's nice to think they become friends, but there is nothing written into the story or illustrations to prove it.  

 GIRAFFES CAN'T DANCE - ILLUSTRATIONS

As a separate project that's unrelated to RhyPiBoMo, I've been collecting a pile of picture books to draw out storyboards from.  It's a good exercise for studying layout and design. Random things of note:

- Giraffes Can't Dance has 11 double-page spreads and 7 single page illustrations.  The style is rich, vivid watercolor with thin ink outlines.  Many of the illustrations have a "glow" feeling to them due to all the warm colors.

- There's lots of previewing motifs that will latter have a bigger role and hidden animals.  For example, in the first double page spread there is a round-headed bear-like animal hiding in the grass and some of the monkeys that will appear later in the story.  Still using the first page as an example, the right-side edge shows the ends of vines and spiky leaves, a hint that the book is moving toward the jungle.  At the end of the story the animals shower him with flowers which appear in various prior spreads. If you look closely you can find the cricket and the red, yellow, and blue beetles on every single double page spread (great for stretching out re-reads with the kids!)

• - Pretty much all of the illustrations are from a horizontal perspective or from a slightly downward but still pretty much horizontal perspective.  Two fun exceptions: a straight down view toward the end of the book prominently featuring Gerald's head and below that an airplane worthy view of the jungle trees, birds, bats, and creatures far below and dramatically curved fish-eye camera-lens view while he is listening to the cricket.

- The tips of leaves or leafy fronds poking inward from the edge of pictures allows the illustrator to keep the main viewing area of several spreads fairly plain while still making the location clear.  

- Poses are fairly dynamic. The ratio of dramatic poses to "standing and looking / standing and stretching poses is approximately 3:2 but among the standing and looking poses sometimes we only see parts of his body, the direction / size of Gerald varies, and the expression varies.   Dynamic poses include running, falling, being splat on the ground, walking dejectedly, dancing, somersaulting, flying, balancing on one leg, leaping, posing dramatically, and bowing.

- Blue is noticeably used for shadows throughout but a particular shade of periwinkle blue seems to be tied to particularly "sad" or "upset" pages like where he runs and goes splat and where he freezes thinking he's useless. 

- There's quite a variety in the actual illustrations themselves, however it is notable that four illustrations feature his head--and pretty much only his head as pretty much filling an entire page (although sometimes his head is split between sides of the gutter).

- For the edition I am working with, the 15th anniversary edition, the end pages feature dancing giraffes in orange and white against an orange background and the inner title pages do not feature Gerald, instead featuring monkey's doing the cancan, lions tangoing, and warthogs doing some kind of warthog dance.