# 41- My Tattoed Dad (2009)

My Tattoed Dad (2009)

Daniel Nesquens

Illustrated by Magicomora

Translated by Elisa Amado

"Reading his tattoos is more fun than reading any book ever written."

This collection of stories shared between father and son is beautifully illustrated with tattoo-like art. On the front cover, the main character's father is drawn, adorned with many images. The back cover shows a view of the tattoos on his back. Pages inside tell the story of the relationship between father and son, each chapter revealing a new connection between one of Dad's tattoos and a story. These inventive tales are accompanied by vignettes of related tattoos and full page illustrations.

The details in this story challenge many stereotypes. For example, the father is described cooking samosas and is often absent for periods of time. His mother explains to the main character that his father has "ants in his pants," and the close relationship between father and son is evident throughout the stories. This book may also call into question stereotypes of tattoed people.

Readers will want to examine the detailed illustrations closely and appreciate the winding serpents, magical birds, firecrackers and other images pictured. I'm interested in reading the Spanish version of this text.

# 40- Time Flies

Time Flies (1994)

Eric Rohmann

Caldecott Honor

Rohmann's wordless picturebook takes readers through an experience rich with imagination. The realistic paintings start out in dark tones, taking the reader into an elegant museum with dinosaur skeletons on display. A white bird swoops through the museum, witness to the startling changes that transform the pages. Readers will want to take their time on each painting and follow this small guide, representative of modern fowl, throughout the journey in the following pages.

The bones become flesh and blood dinosaurs that wander into a prehistoric landscape of mountains surrounding a lake for several full page spreads. This bright green landscape is eventually replaced by the somber tones of the museum, and the skeletons return to their places.

After many field trips to museums with prehistoric skeletons, I am glad to have come across this book. Next time we visit a museum, I will pull this book out and share Rohmann's sense of wonderment with students.

# 39- I Love My Hair

I Love My Hair (2001)

Natasha Anastasia Tarpley

Illustrated by E.B. Lewis

This story about embracing oneself is beautifully depicted with surreal scenes balanced with realistic images of family. Keyana, the African American girl in the story echoes her mother’s words throughout the text. Her mom tells her that “you can wear any style you choose,” and soon after the book is taken over by surreal images that appear to be from the child’s imagination. Her mother says she can “spin her hair” into fine thread, and the image depicts the little girl sitting before a spinning wheel with her hair connected to it in a long thread. Her hair becomes part of the scenery in a garden depicting corn rows on another double page spread. Lewis has created a set of surprising images to accompany the empowering narrative.

The narration includes the “clicky-clacky” sound that Keyana's beads make as she moves, and the girl proclaims that she can “let my hair be free, do what it wants.” Endpages feature images in primary colors of the combs, clips and rubber bands used to style hair.

# 38- Uptown

Uptown (2007)

Bryan Collier

Collier uses collage in this book about Harlem, which he published and illustrated. Using collage, he portrays scenes in the neighborhood with highly textured images. The newspaper that a man holds out is made with a cutout of actual newsprint, and small photo cutouts are framed and hung on a wall in the main character’s home. The Apollo theatre, Savoy ballroom, barbershop and brownstones that look like chocolate bars to the boy narrator show up on some of the pages.

The narrative depicts the sense of pride and belonging that the main character feels, and images in the illustrations elaborate on the simple phrases. References to jazz in the narrative are echoed by the piano and sheet music in the illustrations.

# 37- Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride

Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride (2009)

Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney

This vibrantly illustrated book echoes the voice projected by historical figure Sojourner Truth, following her from her early days as a slave named Belle to a vocal feminist with her own name.

Illustrations are sketches that portray movement and intimate close-ups with the main character. In each scene Sojourner’s posture mirrors the confidence that the narrative describes. She lifts her arms up expressively before a crowd on one page. The warm yellow palette and sound effects highlight the force with which Sojourner shares her ideas with her society. This story’s narrative also echoes African American dialect of the period, as well as including some of Sojourner’s famous quotes. She proclaims, “Ain’t I a Woman,” and the narration gives this powerful statement context that can be interpreted by children.

Students will enjoy learning about Sojourner Truth’s beaming personality and the injustices she suffered in this picturebook. Teachers can introduce or contextualize the word “abolitionist” using this text. Particularly interesting is the portion about how Olive Gilbrert documented her story, which was published in 1850 as “The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, A Northern Slave.”

# 36- A Library for Juana: The World of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

A Library for Juana:

The World of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (2002)

Pat Mora

Illustrated by Beatriz Vidal

After appreciating the poetry of Sor Juana as a college student, I was ecstatic to find this book. Mora tells the story of the inquisitive Juana as a child, always reading and questioning her world.

On the first page, young Juana is pictured surrounded by books, with images from her books floating above her. Like many picture biographies, the story tells an overview of the poet’s life. Juana “cared more about her books than her looks,” as a child, spending her time reading and writing plays, songs, riddles, and rhymes. Mora includes a glossary of Spanish terms and an author’s note with additional information.

Vidal does an excellent job of portraying this artist’s life in a bright palette using watercolor and gouache. The book mentions that the technique is similar to that used for illuminated manuscripts more than 100 years ago, a detail that gives more authenticity to the story and links it with the time period. Illustrations are framed by a white border, portraying the story of the social world that surrounded Sor Juana. One full page spread, also on the back cover, shows a crowd in a marketplace or plaza full of movement and vendors selling everything from fruits and vegetables to calla lilies. Another page shows Juana as a young woman, seated at a tremendous round table with male scholars who asked her questions to prove her intelligence. The pages with text alternate from verso to recto and include elegantly drawn vignettes that add to the narrative.

This is an important story that brings up issues of justice. Though Sor Juana’s poems may be difficult for children to interpret, Pat Mora and Beatriz Vidal have created a biography that younger readers can appreciate.

# 23- Diego Rivera: His World and Ours

Diego Rivera: His World and Ours (2011)

Duncan Tonatiuh

Tonatiuh’s collage illustrations in his version of this famous Mexican muralist and painter’s biography bring the pages alive with texture. Starting with the opening, readers will want to notice how the hair on Diego’s head is a glossy cutout of a photograph of real hair, the way the books on the shelf shine, and how the pants he wears are cutouts of green tweed. Other examples throughout the book abound, each outlined boldly in black marker.

The faces of the people in this book are all profiles, drawn in the likeness of Mayan and Aztec hieroglyphics. I thought of the illustrations of the Popol Vuh. Scenes like the struggle of Mexican independence and an eclectic combination of modern and traditional activities that take place in Diego’s native country are featured in this book, brilliantly relating to modern day life. One double page spread pictures a paper airplane zooming through the air, roller skates, remote controlled cars and planes, and a laptop computers. Like the text, they challenge the reader to imagine what the artist would paint if he were alive today.

Children will easily relate to these engaging illustrations, especially the scene of the Lucha Libre men in the ring and a scene with aliens in outer space.

There is also a glossary of words and references and a more detailed author’s note about Rivera, as well as an image of “The Great City of Tenochtitlán” that was the inspiration for some of the illustrations.