Month: December 2025

All kinds of art

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Making Art by Diana Ejaita (Rise x Penguin Workshop, 32 pages, ages 4-8). “Let’s look around and make some art,” begins this introduction to all different aspects of art. You can make new things or create from old things. It’s important to listen to your feelings, and those feelings can be communicated through your art. It can be difficult (and frustrating) to come up with ideas for your art, but then sometimes inspiration will strike like magic! Works of art can be given away or kept as a gift to yourself. No matter what, art adds beauty to the world, so thank you for your art!

This introduction to art could be used for anyone from a preschool class exploring art for the first time to a group of retirees rediscovering their creativity. The message is simple, yet wise and universal, and invites anyone to use art to express themselves. The illustrations portray a wide range of visual arts, as well as music, dance, and writing.

A Knot Is Not a Tangle by Daniel Nayeri, illustrated by Vesper Stamper (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 48 pages, grades 1 and up). A boy narrates the process of creating a Persian rug with his grandmother in Iran. “All of this takes weeks, but in my memory, it’s one long wonderful day.” In that day from his memory, he and his grandmother wash, card, and spin wool that his grandfather has sheared from their sheep. They dye it and plan the pattern and colors for the new rug on graph paper, then finally start knotting on the loom. The boy keeps wanting perfection, but his grandmother reminds him that the most important part of their rug is that it will become a place for the family to gather, just like the old one that they’re replacing has been. She even pulls one knot out, the “Persian flaw,” symbolizing that that there is no such thing as perfection. Finally, the new rug is done, and the old one gets moved underneath the loom, and “It feels just right to have it there.” Includes an author’s note with additional information on Persian rugs.

Award-winning author Daniel Nayeri has crafted a beautiful picture book celebrating an art form that will be new to many readers. The illustrations do a great job of showing the process of knotting–although, I’ll be honest, I still don’t really get it, but this may whet readers’ appetites to dig deeper. The message about tempering perfectionist tendencies is delivered gently by a wise grandmother who clearly values her heritage and enjoys passing it on to her grandson.

Can You Imagine? The Art and Life of Yoko Ono by Lisa Tolin, illustrated by Yas Imamura (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 48 pages, grades 2-5). Yoko Ono spent her childhood moving between Japan and the U.S. during a time when she felt unwelcome in both places. After enduring wartime hardships in Japan, she moved permanently to the United States, where she studied art and music. Refusing to embrace norms in either field, she explored her own ways of creating art, which often involved audience participation designed to provoke thoughts and ideas. Her greatest fame came after she met and married John Lennon, when racism, misogyny, and the idea that she broke up the Beatles unleashed waves of public hatred toward her. After Lennon’s murder, Ono has continued to create art while working to preserve her husband’s legacy. Includes quite a bit of additional information about Yoko Ono and her art, as well as a bibliography.

I confess I grew up with a pretty negative impression of Yoko Ono, having absorbed the “she broke up the Beatles” message, but my daughter, an episode of the You’re Wrong About podcast, and now this beautiful book have helped me to see her in a completely different light. She had a pretty horrific childhood but instead of being broken by it, she emerged resilient and with a desire to work for peace through her art. It’s pretty clear that the Beatles broke themselves up, and this book focuses on the positive aspects of the Lennon-Oko collaboration. I’m grateful that this talented author-illustrator team continues the revisionist history, although it may be more appreciated by adults than children.

Pioneering women scientists

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Magic in a Drop of Water: How Ruth Patrick Taught the World about Water Pollution by Julie Winterbottom, illustrated by Susan Reagan (Rocky Pond Books, 48 pages, grades 1-5). Encouraged by her father, Ruth Patrick grew up exploring woods and streams, fascinated by what she saw when she looked at her collections under a microscope. She went on to study biology, specializing in diatoms, the microscopic algae found in all bodies of water. Her questions about the effects of pollution on water led her to study both healthy and polluted streams, documenting all the life forms found in each, and discovering that pollution destroyed the balance of life that healthy water had. She became a lifelong advocate for clean water, including helping to write the Clean Water Act of 1972, and continuing to wade into streams and rivers just a few years before her death at age 105. Includes additional information, a timeline, and a bibliography.

Ruth Patrick lived up to her father’s advice to leave the world a better place than she found it, following her passion at a time when women weren’t particularly welcome in the scientific world and making many contributions to our understanding of water pollution and biodiversity. Her story is told in an engaging fashion, and the illustrations do a magnificent job of capturing Ruth’s work and her underwater observations, although I wouldn’t have said no to a slightly larger font for the text.

Through the Telescope: Mae Jemison Dreams of Space by Charles R. Smith, Jr., illustrated by Evening Monteiro (Orchard Books, 40 pages, ages 4-8). A young Mae Jemison peers through the telescope, dreaming of traveling into space. Rhyming text and illustrations explain what she sees: the moon, planets, constellations, and galaxies. As she looks, she imagines floating through space, and the final illustration shows an adult Mae in her astronaut suit standing behind the child. Includes ten facts about Mae Jemison.

This would make a good introduction to Mae Jemison for younger readers, and it includes quite a few astronomy terms and facts which they will find interesting as well. Like Mae Among the Stars, there’s very little biographical information. It would be great to get a longer picture book biography that gives a fuller picture of Jemison’s life.

Poems and spirituals

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Words with Wings and Magic Things by Matthew Burgess, illustrated by Doug Salati (Tundra Books, 128 pages, grades 1-5). This poetry collection is divided into seven sections: Welcome, Wonders, Wild, Wheee!, Whoops and Whallops, Windows, and Whispers & Well Wishes. The poems range from Jack Prelutsky-laugh-out-loud funny to thought provoking meditations. All are illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Doug Salati with a colorful collection of animals and humans, mostly younger ones, with some fun cut-outs on the pages that start each new section. Includes an index.

This feels like a happy throwback to the days when Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein published lengthy collections of poems, with a nice mix that includes multi-stanza stories mixed in with meditative poems just several lines long. The illustrations add a lot to the fun.

When I Hear Spirituals by Cheryl Willis Hudson, illustrated by London Ladd (Holiday House, 40 pages, grades 1-4). Each two page spread features a young girl describing how spirituals make her feel, with the words to different spirituals written on the facing page. The brilliant illustrations portray her singing, dancing, and praying, as well as showing scenes from Black history, when spirituals gave people courage and hope. A long author’s note describes the history of spirituals and her personal connection to them. There’s also a glossary, a list of the historical figures and events shown in the book, and a long lists of resources for listening to spirituals and learning more about them.

This beautiful book should definitely be considered for a Coretta Scott King award, both for the writing and the illustrations. The text reads like poetry and focuses on emotions evoked by spirituals, but there’s also plenty of information and resources for more research and listening.

December holiday stories

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A Dragon Called Spark: A Hanukkah Story by Lily Murray, illustrated by Kirsti Beautyman (Kalaniot Books, 32 pages, ages 4-8). Eva’s adjusting to a new home as Hanukkah is approaching. She sees children playing outside her window and feels lonely, comforting herself that she still has her little dragon named Spark. The first Hanukkah candle is lit and placed in the window, and the next day a neighbor named Charlie comments on it, promising to look for more. The next night, the family takes some latkes and jelly donuts to Charlie’s house, and the kids get to know each other better. Eva tells Charlie about Spark, and Charlie finds that he can see Spark, too! At the park the next day, Eva overhears Charlie telling other kids about Spark and worries they are laughing at her, but Charlie assures her they all want to see the dragon. Eva uses her storytelling talents to help them all find their own dragons, and much to her surprise, by the final night of Hanukkah, she and Spark are surrounded by a new group of friends–both human and dragon. Includes additional information about Hanukkah.

Hanukkah traditions are skillfully woven into this story about making friends in a new place and the power of imagination, play, and stories. Kids can decide if they think the dragons are real or imaginary and look for evidence for either argument in the text and the illustrations. This would make a great companion to A Dragon for Hanukkah by Sarah Mlynowski.

Dasher and the Polar Bear by Matt Tavares (Candlewick, 40 pages, ages 4-8). In her spare time before Christmas Eve, Dasher loves going on adventures. One night she sees the Northern Lights and flies toward them for a better view. When she lands, she encounters a large polar bear named George who scares her at first, but who turns out to be a kind friend who’s intrigued by her flying. When he tries it out, though, he lands with a huge splash in the icy sea. When Dasher gets home, she tells her mother about George, wondering why Christmas magic doesn’t work for everyone. Her mother assures her that it does, just in different ways, and Dasher gets to see what she means on Christmas Eve. After emptying his bag, Santa heads for George’s home, where he offers the polar bear a ride in the sleigh, which George describes as “exhilarating!” and “positively unforgettable!” Back home, Dasher tells her mother that seeing George so happy was her favorite part of Christmas Eve.

This sequel to Dasher and Dasher Can’t Wait for Christmas provides another satisfying holiday tale with amazing illustrations of reindeer, Santa, the Northern Lights, and George, a new character with a hilariously rich vocabulary. Fans of the other Dasher books will not be disappointed.

Winter is here!

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

The Snowball Fight by Beth Ferry, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld (Clarion Books, 48 pages, ages 3-8). Neighborhood friends enjoy a snow day that starts with the creation of two forts armed with plenty of snowballs. After lobbing these at each other for a while, one of the forts gets buried in snow that falls off a nearby roof, creating the perfect conditions for sledding. From there, it’s time to go inside for a cookie and hot chocolate break, but three marshmallows floating side by side in the cocoa remind the friends that they never built a snowman. Back outside they go to enjoy the final hours of their snow day.

This author-illustrator team never disappoints, and their latest creation comes at a perfect time, with 3-6 inches in the forecast here for tomorrow. The rhyming text is simple but catchy, and would be equally fun to listen to or to use for some reading practice, while the simple illustrations perfectly captures the chilly fun of playing in the snow, and the cozy warmth of heading inside.

The Old Sleigh by Jarrett Pumphrey and Jerome Pumphrey (Norton Young Readers, 48 pages, ages 4-8). The Pumphrey brothers are back again with a holiday follow-up to The Old Truck and The Old Boat. The sleigh in this story is used to transport firewood in a small town, a boy and his dad working together to chop it, load the sleigh, and deliver it to the delighted townspeople who use it for warmth and light. But when the town grows, so do the loads of wood until one day, the old sleigh breaks in half. While Dad repairs it, the boy makes his own small sled so that he can continue to bring wood to his favorite customers. Finally, the old sleigh is repaired, and the work continues. The last page shows the old sleigh, now painted the same red as the boy’s sled, with a driver who looks like a grown-up version of the boy, delivering wood in the “small city.”

This deceptively simple story celebrates community, winter, and the circle of life as the town grows, but the boy and his father continue to serve their community, bringing both actual and metaphorical warmth and light with their firewood deliveries. While not specifically a holiday book, this has a definite December vibe, and would make a great gift or read-aloud in the last few weeks of school before vacation.