READING RESPONSE 2 -PICTURE BOOKS

BOOK 1: WITH LOTS OF LOVE Full citation:TORRES SANCHEZ, Jenny. With Lots of Love. illus. by Andre Ceolin.Viking Books for Young Readers 32 p. HMH. Mar. 2022. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9780593205006 

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 In this beautifully decorated book about love and longing, author Jenny Torres Sanchez introduces Rocio, a young girl from Central America who recently moved to the United States. Although Rocio loves her new house, she intensively misses everything about her old country. Rocio especially misses her Abuela. The book is suffused with emotions specific to any immigrant and brings home the reality that gifts are an extension of the love we feel in our hearts. Do the pictures reflect the mood of the story or do they conflict with it: The strongest features of this book are its illustrations. Even though the art is not of great quality, from the cover page down to the very last page, through the face of abuela, to the pinatas, the pictures are not only beautiful, but they reflect the longing mood of this book as well as depicting art patterns specific to Central America. 

Do the pictures have any details that conflict with a textual statement? 

Everything in the text is matched by the illustrations. The bright warm colors are the same as those used in Central America Art. Skin color, hair color, and phenotype of the characters match perfectly with the subject matter. The only detail I would point out on the page below where Rocio’s eyes, according to the text, were “filled with tears” although the pictures do not show tears. 

Do the illustrations extend the text without distracting from it? 

While the pictures are poignant, they do not distract because there is an economy of words in each page. One or two sentences at best. This allows the reader to move from the pictures to the text without distraction.

How does the artist use color? Do they suit or accompany the text? Do they obscure or compliment the lines of the drawing? 

Vibrant colors Central are used very intelligently in this book. Traditional designs are present on the character's clothing (Abuela’s shawl) and hair (Abuela’s braids), on the housings (Terra cotta roof) and on the food (tortillas etc..). There is complementarity between text and pictures.

 Does the artist use line effectively? Does the line express movement or is it static? Does the line give strength to the description by being heavy or cross-hatched? Is the line varied? 

“Lines in an artwork can be used in many different ways. Line can be used to suggest shape, pattern, form, structure, growth, depth, distance, rhythm, movement and a range of emotions”. While there is not much depth to the drawings in this book, the simple lines used to draw the faces of Rocio and Abuela show these characters' emotions. Rocio’s eyes in particular are striking when she is dreaming of her Abuela and cousins and of her house in Central America. 

Does the artist give texture to the illustration? 

“Image texture is the small-scale structure perceived on an image, based on the spatial arrangement of color or intensities. It can be quantified by a set of metrics calculated in image processing. Image texture metrics give us information about the whole image or selected regions.” The author uses image texture particularly to juxtapose Rocio as she is physically in the USA but is mentally experiences life in her Central American house. 

 How are the elements arranged? Element arrangement, also called composition, is according to Matisse “ the art of arranging in a decorative manner the diverse elements at the painter's command to express his feelings.” In this book, the author successfully element arrangement is mostly centered. 

 Do the illustrations avoid stereotypes or rely only on traditional or archaic, rather than modern, depictions? 

No stereotypes are used. Spanish is spoken as it is in Central America. The book permeates love. Is there variety even within the culture depicted or is there a tendency for homogeneous over-generalizations? There is no overgeneralization. Rocio’s hair is jet black and loose. Her mom’s hair is shoulder length in a very professional style. Abuela has two braids. Skin color shade varies as it should in a mestizo culture.

 Is there anything in the book that would embarrass or offend you if it were written about you or the group with which you identify? No 

With which groups would you be willing to share this book? With people of South, Central, Latin America descent living in the USA.

BOOK 2: DRAWN TOGETHER Full citation:MINH, le. Drawn Together. Illus by Dan Santa. 40p. Little Brown Books for Young Readers. 2018.Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781484767603 

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 This book by Author Minh Le epitomizes the expression “actions speak louder than words”. The author uses such few words that our two main characters (Grandpa and Grandson) are nameless. Using powerful imagery, the author recounts the story of two people seemingly kept separated by language, cultural barriers, and culinary differences and their inability to connect with each other. And when, overcome by their inability to comprehend each, they gave up, they found themselves surprisingly reconnected by their mutual love of art. 

Do the pictures reflect the mood of the story or do they conflict with it? Do the pictures have any details that conflict with a textual statement? Do the illustrations extend the text without distracting from it? How does the author use pictures to reflect the mood, support and extend the text without distracting from it? 

Since there are so few words in this book, no distraction is to be feared. On the contrary the pictures seem to scream the words. To extend the few words used, the author uses facial expressions such as smiles and frowns to convey concern, surprise, and joy. In addition, the author uses body language to inform the reader about the feelings of these characters. 

 How does the artist use color? Do they suit or accompany the text? Do they obscure or compliment the lines of the drawing?Does the artist use line effectively? Does the line express movement or is it static? Does the line give strength to the description by being heavy or cross-hatched? Is the line varied? What kind of art are we dealing with? 

The book is illustrated by a highly skilled artist who is using graphic novels like drawing, and just like with the text, the artist economizes his lines. The lines are simple yet efficient. Monochromatic colors together with bright super hero like colors as well as white and black are used to convey the ideas in this book. The author uses disney superhero like features versus Asian dragon like features as well as drawing tools such as color crayons versus an ink pen to signify the two drawing styles of these two estranged and soon to be reconciled characters.

Does the artist give texture to the illustration? Implied texture (also known as visual texture, this is the illusion of texture created by techniques like color, shape, light, shadow, and chiaroscuro) is used all throughout the book. How are the elements arranged?

Element arrangement or the “the art of arranging in a decorative manner the diverse elements at the painter's command to express his feelings” is masterfully done in this book where elements are mostly centered. 

Do the illustrations avoid stereotypes or rely only on traditional or archaic, rather than modern, depictions? Is there variety even within the culture depicted or is there a tendency for homogeneous over-generalizations? 

The variety within this culture is shown through the differences and resemblances between the three characters. The grandchild is the product of our American culture complete with the language (so…what’s new?), surly attitude, and the love of hotdog and fries. The grandfather is clearly from an Asian culture, exemplified by the salute (bowing to one another), the food (ramen and eggs), and the Thai language spoken. Finally, the mother is somewhere in between the two worlds. 

Is there anything in the book that would embarrass or offend you if it were written about you or the group with which you identify? With which groups would you be willing to share this book? There is nothing here to be embarrassed about. Generational gaps happen in every culture and it takes courage and risk to bridge the gap. This book beautifully tells of this process.

BOOK 3: KEEP YOUR HEAD UP Full citation:NEIL King Aliya. Keep your Head Up. illus. By Charly Palmer . 32p. S&S. Sep. 2021. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781534480407 

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 When D wakes up having overslept on a Monday, this is a signal that this will be a day when it will be hard to “keep his head up”. Misadventures follow misadventures and when D tries to control himself, his “Bad day” face can’t be controlled. Things go from back to worst until D realizes that when things don’t go your way, you just have to try to “keep your head up”. Readers will emphasize with D and recognize themselves on days when everything seems to go wrong and in order to “keep your head up” you have to dig deep inside yourself. This book is reminiscent of “Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day” by Judith Viorst. 

Do the pictures reflect the mood of the story or do they conflict with it? 

This is a brightly illustrated book. Emphasis is placed on D’s beautiful dark brown skin. Bright warm colors like blue, red, brown, orange and green are seen throughout. D’s feelings are clearly shown on his face and when he feels “scrunch”, the sky turns purple. 

Do the pictures have any details that conflict with a textual statement? There is no conflict here. As the day goes by and things get more and more disappointing, D’s face and body language show how he feels. 

Do the illustrations extend the text without distracting from it? 

This is actually a case where the illustrations do distract from the text. This gifted illustrator uses colors, light contract and depth in a beautiful way. But the intensity of the pictures distract from the text. 

 How does the artist use color? Do they suit or accompany the text? Do they obscure or compliment the lines of the drawing? 

Vibrant colors are used by the illustrator and when D’s mood worsens, the colors get darker and his “bad day” face slips out. But when D resolves to “just have to want to try”, a bright blue sky shows up. 

 Does the artist use line effectively? Does the line express movement or is it static? Does the line give strength to the description by being heavy or cross-hatched? Is the line varied? 

 The artist uses lines effectively. The lines are mostly static. The line gives strength to the description. The line is varied.

 Does the artist give texture to the illustration? 

There is texture to the illustration. 

How are the elements arranged? 

The elements are arranged with the subject close-up.

Do the illustrations avoid stereotypes or rely only on traditional or archaic, rather than modern, depictions? 

No stereotypes are implied or depicted here. Here is the story of a regular boy having a bad day. 

Is there variety even within the culture depicted or is there a tendency for homogeneous over-generalizations? 

The illustrator clearly intended his audience to be children of African descent. Characters in the book are of a darker shade of skin with strong african american features. Here is a lack of the variety that we generally see in the African American community. 

Is there anything in the book that would embarrass or offend you if it were written about you or the group with which you identify?

 

No. There is nothing here to embarrass anyone. This is just the story of a boy who is having a bad day. 

With which groups would you be willing to share this book? African American children.

BOOK 4: THE ROUGH PATCH Full citation:LIES, Brian. The Rough Patch . illus. by Brian, Lies. 40p. Greenwillow Books/HP. May 2018. Tr $5.99. ISBN 9780062671271

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 In this sober story about loss, grieving and renewed hope, author Brian Lies presents us with Evan and his faithful Dog (nameless) who loved doing everything together, particularly working in Evan’s garden until the “unthinkable happened”. Four pages are dedicated by the author to Evan and his Dog living together and 14 pages to Evan grieving over the “unthinkable”. Evans’ garden, the place he spent the most time with his dog is the place where Evan let the feelings of grief pour out. In the same garden, Evan will give hope another chance until he is ready to give love another chance. Readers will find in this book all five phases of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) which will allow them to speak to children who are dealing with the loss of someone they loved. 

Do the pictures reflect the mood of the story or do they conflict with it? The pictures do reflect the mood of the story. During the happy days that Evan spends with his dog, blue skies against green plants dominate while after the dog’s death, all is darker as “nothing was the same”. 

Do the pictures have any details that conflict with a textual statement? There is no conflict between pictures here. The pictures complement the text showing through body language and facial expressions what the main characters feel. There is a smile on Evan’s face when he is with his dog and sadness when his dog is gone. 

Do the illustrations extend the text without distracting from it? How does the artist use color? Do they suit or accompany the text? Do they obscure or compliment the lines of the drawing?

Illustrations do extend the text. The author made it a point to change the text color from black to white in order to prevent the illustration from obscuring the text. This allows the reader to see better. The artist uses color realistically. The color complements the lines of the drawing. 

Does the artist use lines effectively? Does the line express movement or is it static? The author used effectively to express both movement and static. 

Does the artist give texture to the illustration? There is texture. How are the elements arranged? Elements are centered. Most of them are spread out evenly across. With which groups would you be willing to share this book? Anyone who is dealing with the loss of a loved one.