SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: A Face Is a Poem
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://juliemorstad.com/
CITY: Vancouver
STATE:
COUNTRY: Canada
NATIONALITY: Canadian
LAST VOLUME: SATA 232
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Canada; married; children: Jake, Henry, Ida.
EDUCATION:Attended Alberta College of Art and Design.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, illustrator, designer, and animator. Sold independently designed garments after art school; freelance illustrator for publishers and periodicals. Exhibitions: Work exhibited at Atelier Gallery.
AWARDS:Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award shortlist, and Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, both 2007, both for When You Were Small by Sara O’Leary; Alcuin Society Award, and ForeWord magazine Book of the Year Award finalist, both 2008, both for Where You Came From by O’Leary; Marilyn Baille Award finalist, Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award shortlist, Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award finalist, and Chocolate Lily Award shortlist, all 2011, all for Singing Away the Dark by Caroline Woodward; Governor General’s Award for English-language children’s book illustration finalist, 2013, and Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, 2014, both for How To; Governor General’s Award for English-language children’s book illustration finalist, 2014, for Julia, Child; Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize, and Governor General’s Award for English-language children’s book illustration finalist, all 2022, all for Time Is a Flower.
WRITINGS
Also illustrator of ABC flashcard set.
SIDELIGHTS
Evoking the same muse as twentieth-century illustrator Edward Gorey, award-winning Canadian artist Julie Morstad weaves a subtle surrealism into her detailed pen-and-tint renderings. Paired with texts by writers that include Sara O’Leary, Kyo Maclear, and Kate DiCamillo, Morstad’s listless, dreamlike human characters encourage close examination and often appear to morph into birds, animals, and trees in the pages of her picture books. In addition to her work for other writers, Morstad has collected her drawings of slightly off-kilter children, flowers and trees, animals, and other objects in the art books Milk Teeth and Others and The Wayside.
[open new]Morstad was raised in Canada, where the Anne of Green Gables books and Canadian-produced TV show were favorites. She found early artistic inspiration in an art-nouveau volume her aunt and uncle gave her for Christmas at age twelve, The Art of Illustration for Advertising. When a baby cousin was born, Morstad illustrated The Child’s Garden of Verses as a present. Her father laminated the pictures, helping Morstad imagine herself as a creator of books for the first time. Emerging from high school, Morstad looked toward pursuing studies in illustration at the Alberta College of Art and Design. Her plans shifted when she gave birth to her first child at age twenty and most everyone advised her that illustration would be too demanding. Instead she earned a degree in textile design, which enabled her to occasionally sell pieces she fashioned to shops across Canada. Meanwhile her drawing habit and interest in visual art persisted, and in taking her young son to the library for picture books, she rediscovered the likes of Margaret Wise Brown, Gyo Fujikawa, and Maurice Sendak. As Morstad’s art trended in fairy-tale directions, her presence in the Vancouver art scene led to her discovery by publisher Dimiter Savoff of Simply Read Books, who invited her to provide artwork for a story of O’Leary’s. Morstad thus made her debut as an illustrator in 2006 with When You Were Small.
Morstad’s first self-illustrated picture book is How To, published in 2013. Each of the book’s spreads features the title words and something to be done, whether “go fast,” “make a sandwich,” “make new friends,” or “stay close.” Many of the illustrations lend a clever spin to the phrase, such as sandwiching kids and cushions or drawing stick-figure friends on the sidewalk. A Publishers Weekly reviewer observed that the “design and typography are straight out of the ’60s,” with “timeless,” tech-free circumstances that make for a “nostalgic” reminder of an era when children were free to idly roam. Appreciating how the children’s “delicate features exhibit an absorption in their activities that simultaneously signals the seriousness and satisfaction of concentration,” a Kirkus Reviews writer hailed How To as a “book of quiet joy.”
Following a similar verbal pattern with elegant, award-winning results is Morstad’s Time Is a Flower. The book revels in one metaphor after another, depicting time as a seed, slowly changing to a flower; a spiderweb, hard to perceive; a song, whether moving quick or slow; a sunbeam, sliding across a room; and many other aspects of the temporal world. Booklist reviewer Maryann Owen enjoyed how “the pictures change in shape, sizes, and colors, creating a fascinating way to think about the passage of time.” A Kirkus Reviews writer declared that Morstad’s “lyrical language is perfectly paced” and concluded that “this exuberant vehicle will expand the thinking of those just beginning to comprehend clocks and calendars.”
Meditating on the vast range of worldly countenances is Morstad’s next self-illustrated title, A Face Is a Poem. The illustrations depict a wide variety of faces, in styles varying from realistic to surreal, to meditate on all the features and aspects and how they differ and express feelings. Enjoying the “whimsical” art, a Kirkus Reviews writer affirmed that Morstad’s “poetic exploration unfolds in a loving and inventive way, inviting thoughtful appreciation and conversation.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer hailed A Face Is a Poem as an “untethered session of wondering, a look at the way bodies and countenances can change and endure.”[suspend new]
O’Leary’s quirky story for When You Were Small, Morstad’s first illustration effort, finds a little boy named Henry sitting with his father in the living room and asking for stories about “when I was small.” The question inspires his dad to begin a nonsensical journey into a magical past wherein Henry was small enough to live in his father’s slipper, ride on the back of the family cat, and be carried about in his father’s shirt pocket. The author/artist collaboration continues in Where You Came From , as Henry’s curiosity prompts questions about where he came from. To avoid a serious discussion of the birds and bees, his parents answer with a range of whimsical possibilities: Henry may have been delivered in the mail, discovered in the window of a local pet shop, left by aliens, delivered by the fairies, or purchased on sale at a nearby department store.
Expanding on O’Leary’s text, Morstad’s “whimsical, crosshatched line illustrations, washed with gently shadowed colors, appear to float on white pages,” noted Booklist reviewer GraceAnne A. DeCandido in appraising When You Were Small, while a Publishers Weekly critic noted the “midcentury” effect achieved by the artist’s contribution of “homespun sketches” interspersed with larger pen-and-ink drawings with “drop caps, delicately tinted … and airy with negative space.” Reviewing Where You Came From, Madeline Walton-Hadlock wrote in School Library Journal that the book’s “whimsical pen-and-ink drawings with watercolor accents and a lovely minimalist design complement [O’Leary’s] simple, poetic text.”
Praising Morstad’s illustrations for Lawson’s poetry collection Think Again, a Kirkus Reviews writer noted that her “spare grayscale drawings curiously stitch … a narrative thread through the volume,” and Booklist contributor Daniel Kraus concluded that the artist’s “wistful line art” helps make Think Again “an ideal book for wandering, wondering romantics.”
[resume new]Morstad drew on her childhood enrollment in ballet classes in illustrating Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova, by Laurel Snyder. With the text following the Russian dancer from youth to fame, Katie Bircher observed in Horn Book that Morstad’s “delicate mixed-media illustrations are perfectly suited to Anna’s grace, capturing her expressiveness with abstracted swan imagery.” Morstad was able to bring professional savvy to her illustration of Kyo Maclear’s Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli. The title figure left her aristocratic Italian milieu to pursue a fashion career with pink as her signature color. In Booklist Sarah Hunter remarked that Morstad’s “delicate watercolor illustrations do a great job of depicting Schiaparelli’s designs,” while “subtle hints” evoke how Schiaparelli’s worldview “shaped her artwork.” A Kirkus Reviews writer deemed Bloom “gorgeous,” as Morstad’s “delicate, detailed mixed-media illustrations masterfully expand on the text.”
The author of Anne of Green Gables is the subject of House of Dreams: The Life of L.M. Montgomery, by Liz Rosenberg. With the volume treating the orphaned Montgomery’s emotional difficulties and problematic married life, Resource Links reviewer Myra Junyk noted that Morstad’s “black and white line drawings at the beginning of each chapter are intricate and detailed, showing the isolation of a world-renowned writer struggling with depression, throughout her life.” One of Morstad’s greatest creative inspirations is the subject of Maclear’s It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way. A Japanese American whose family was interned during World War II, Fujikawa overcame publishers’ objections to produce one of the earliest multicultural children’s books in Beginning with Babies (1963). Carolyn Phelan affirmed in Booklist that in her artwork, “created with liquid watercolor, gouache, and pencil crayons, Morstad uses line, color, and texture with finesse.”[close new]
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 1, 2006, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of When You Were Small, p. 93; March 15, 2010, Daniel Kraus, review of Think Again, p. 40; October 15, 2014, Jeanne Fredriksen, review of Beyond the Laughing Sky, p. 46; December 15, 2015, Amina Chaudhri, review of When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons, p. 41; October 15, 2017, Sarah Hunter, review of Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli, p. 44; October 15, 2019, Carolyn Phelan, review of It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way, p. 52; September 1, 2021, Maryann Owen, review of Time Is a Flower, p. 84.
BookPage, May, 2015, Julie Danielson, review of This Is Sadie, p. 30.
Horn Book, September-October, 2015, Katie Bircher, review of Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova, p. 132; March-April, 2016, Susan Dove Lempke, review of When Green Becomes Tomatoes, p. 103; November-December, 2019, Katrina Hedeen, review of It Began with a Page, p. 115; November-December, 2020, Katie Bircher, review of Girl on a Motorcycle, p. 128.
Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2010, review of Think Again; September 1, 2012, review of When I Was Small; April 15, 2013, review of How To; August 15, 2014, review of Beyond the Laughing Sky; May 1, 2015, review of Swan; December 15, 2017, review of Bloom; June 15, 2018, review of The Dress and the Girl; August 15, 2020, review of Girl on a Motorcycle; July 15, 2021, review of Time Is a Flower; September 1, 2023, review of The Puppets of Spelhorst; February 15, 2024, review of A Rose, a Bridge, and a Wild Black Horse; July 15, 2024, review of A Face Is a Poem.
Publishers Weekly, May 22, 2006, review of When You Were Small, p. 50; August 20, 2012, review of When I Was Small, p. 62; April 8, 2013, review of How To, p. 64; March 9, 2015, review of This Is Sadie, p. 70; January 8, 2024, review of A Rose, a Bridge, and a Wild Black Horse, p. 44; June 10, 2024, review of A Face Is a Poem, p. 85.
Resource Links, April, 2006, Lori Lavallee, review of When You Were Small, p. 8; October, 2014, Tanya Boudreau, review of Julia, Child, p. 5; June, 2015, Karyn Huenemann, review of Sometimes We Think You Are a Monkey, p. 8; June, 2018, Myra Junyk, review of House of Dreams: The Life of L.M. Montgomery, p. 22.
School Library Journal, October, 2006, Wendy Woodfill, review of When You Were Small, p. 120; October, 2008, Madeline Walton-Hadlock, review of Where You Came From, p. 117.
Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 2018, Pamela Thompson, review of House of Dreams, p. 79.
Week Junior, December 2, 2023, review of The Puppets of Spelhorst, p. 22.
ONLINE
Avery & Augustine website, https://www.averyandaugustine.com/blog/ (November 20, 2016), “Today + Five Questions with Julie Morstad.”
B.C. and Yukon Book Prizes website, https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/ (February 17, 2023), “Julie and Julie: A Conversation between Julie Flett and Julie Morstad.”
Julie Morstad website, https://juliemorstad.com (February 2, 2025).
L.M. Montgomery Institute website, https://lmmontgomery.ca/ (February 2, 2025), “Q&A with Liz Rosenberg and Julie Morstad, Author and Illustrator of House of Dreams: The Life of L.M. Montgomery.”
Picturebook Makers, https://blog.picturebookmakers.com/ (November 17, 2015), Julie Morstad, guest post.
Publishers Weekly, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (September 26, 2019), Antonia Saxon, “Q&A with Kyo Maclear and Julie Morstad.”
Quill & Quire, https://quillandquire.com/ (March 4, 2015), “Artist Julie Morstad on Finding Inspiration for Her Illustrations”; (October 1, 2024), Inderjit Deogun, “‘I’m interested in ideas that are right in front of you, but you want to take a deeper look,’ Says Julie Morstad.”
Vancouver Mom, https://www.vancouvermom.ca/ (November 23, 2011), Heather Maxwell Hall, “East Vancouver Artist and Mom Julie Morstad: Art, Kids and Inspiration.”
Julie Morstad is an award-winning illustrator living with her family in Vancouver, B.C., the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory and traditional lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.
Inquiries regarding Illustration for books:
please contact Emily Van Beek : emily@foliolit.com
Available prints : see shop link
For other inquiries please use contact form.
Select clients:
Abrams
ANTI records
Candlewick
Chronicle
Drawn and Quarterly
Harper Collins
Penguin Random House
Simply Read Books
Tundra
Viking
Roaring Brook Press
Julie Morstad is an award-winning author, illustrator, and fine artist known for her surreal, whimsical work. She is the illustrator of numerous children’s books, including Time Is a Flower, Girl on a Motorcycle by Amy Novesky, The Dress and the Girl by Camille Andros, It Began with a Page by Kyo Maclear, House of Dreams by Liz Rosenberg, Bloom by Kyo Maclear, Today, When Green Becomes Tomatoes by Julie Fogliano, This Is Sadie by Sara O’Leary, Julia, Child by Kyo Maclear, Beyond the Laughing Sky by Michelle Cuevas, and her own How To among several others. Julie has exhibited her work in galleries, animated two music videos with her brother, filled up stacks of sketchbooks, and made countless pots of soup and many loaves of bread. She lives in Vancouver with her family.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Julie Morstad is a Canadian writer and illustrator of children's books.
Career
After coming to the attention of Simply Read Books publisher Dimiter Savoff through her work in the Vancouver arts scene, Morstad was asked to illustrate Sara O'Leary's When You Were Small in 2006. Morstad made her authorial debut in 2013 with How To, published by Simply Read Books.[1]
Awards and nominations
Morstad illustrated When You Were Small, which won the 2006 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award.[1] She is a three-time nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration, receiving nods at the 2013 Governor General's Awards for How To,[2] at the 2014 Governor General's Awards for Julia, Child,[3] and at the 2022 Governor General's Awards for Time Is a Flower.[4] How To and Time is a Flower also won the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award.[1][5] In 2019, she won the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award for Bloom.[6] It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way was nominated for the 2020 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award.[7]
Personal life
Morstad has a brother named Paul.[8] At age 20, she gave birth to her first child.[1]
Works
When You Were Small (2006) – Illustrator, written by Sara O'Leary
Milk Teeth (2007) – Illustrator
Where You Came From (2008) – Illustrator, written by Sara O'Leary
When I Was Small (2011) – Illustrator, written by Sara O'Leary
The Wayside (2012) – Illustrator[9]
The Swing (2012) – Illustrator, written by Robert Louis Stevenson
How To (2013) – Writer and illustrator
Julia, Child (2014) – Illustrator, written by Kyo Maclear
This Is Sadie, (2015) – Illustrator, written by Sara O'Leary[10]
Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova (2015) – Illustrator, written by Laurel Snyder
Sometimes We Think You Are a Monkey (2015) – Illustrator, written by Johanna Skibsrud and Sarah Blacker[11]
Today (2016) – Writer and illustrator
When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons (2016) – Illustrator, written by Julie Fogliano
Singing Away the Dark (2017) – Illustrator, written by Caroline Woodward
Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli (2018) – Illustrator, written by Kyo Maclear
The Dress and the Girl (2018) – Illustrator, written by Camille Andros
House of Dreams: The Life of L. M. Montgomery (2018) – Illustrator, written by Liz Rosenberg
It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way (2019) – Illustrator, written by Kyo Maclear
Show Me A Sign (2020) – Illustrator, written by Ann Clare LeZotte
Girl on a Motorcycle (2020) – Illustrator, written by Amy Novesky
Time is a Flower (2022) – Writer and illustrator[12]
Other:
Cover art for Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories (2006)
Cover art for Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (2006)[8]
East Vancouver Artist and Mom Julie Morstad: Art, Kids and Inspiration
by Vancouver Mom
November 23, 2011
Julie Morstad Vancouver artist children's book illustrator
Read Next
What to do in Vancouver: Celebrate Family Day
Written by Heather Maxwell Hall.
Julie Morstad is an award-winning illustrator and fine artist known for her surreal, whimsical work. She’s one of my favourite local artists and the children’s books she’s illustrated are among my son’s favourites, including When You Were Small and Where You Came From. Julie’s work is shown in galleries and she’s animated music videos with her brother (like this amazing one they did for Neko Case). She lives in East Vancouver with her family.
I asked her a few questions about what it’s like to be an artist and mother of three.
How would you describe what you do?
I draw. I illustrate and write children’s books, do editorial illustration and show in galleries. I also sell prints of my drawings through my site. I can sometimes be found at Emily Carr teaching a class in the Illustration Program.
How many kids do you have and how do you manage the balance between being an artist and a mom?
I have three kids: Jake is 15, Henry is five and Ida is three.
I have a rad husband who is super supportive in general and makes it possible for me to get stuff done. He is also an artist and teaches high school art.
My brother (another artist) and I trade childcare hours with our daughters while my sons are in school. It’s complicated, busy and chaotic most days around here but in a good, functional and (mostly) fun way! I work from a studio in my house so that means I can fit things in here and there. I do usually feel like I’m behind in everything, though.
What’s been inspiring you lately?
I have always been inspired by the illustrations in children’s books. Some of my favorites are Mary Blair, Gyo Fujikawa, Alice and Martin Provensen, Barbara Cooney, Tove Jannson, Bruno Munari, and of course, Maurice Sendak. My daughter is named after his character, Ida, in Outside Over There.
Also, right now I’m really into textiles from the Bauhaus, mid-20th century Eastern European graphic art and animation, and folk art. I’m inspired by the very remote chance that I might someday have time to design textiles and weave tapestries. I need a clone.
Do you find that having a family has changed your work as an artist (or its focus) in any way?
I have actually had a child for pretty much my whole adult life as I had my first child at 20, so that’s a tough question. There has definitely never been much time to slack. It makes one pretty determined to make a go of things. I suppose my younger kids renewed my interests in the possibilities of children’s books.
What are some of your favourite kid-friendly things to do in Vancouver?
Collage Collage, bike rides to Third Beach and Spanish Banks, Trout Lake.
What’s next for you?
I have a book coming out this month called When I was Small. It’s the third book in a series by author Sara O’Leary. I will also have three more books coming out in the next year.
To discover more of Vancouver artist Julie Morstad’s incredible work, and maybe pick up a few prints, check out her website at www.juliemorstad.com.
Artist Julie Morstad on finding inspiration for her illustrations
Julie Morstad art 1 spotlight on kids' booksIt would be safe to say 2014 was a good year for Julie Morstad. How To (Simply Read Books), the Vancouver artist’s 2013 authorial debut, won the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, and Julia, Child (Tundra Books), written by Kyo Maclear, was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award for children’s illustration. With two books slated for release in the coming months – This Is Sadie (Tundra), written by long-time collaborator Sara O’Leary, and Sometimes We Think You Are a Monkey (Puffin Canada), co-written by Sarah Blacker and Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Johanna Skibsrud – 2015 is shaping up to be a good year as well.
Julie Morstad art 2 spotlight on kids' booksThe success is welcome, especially given that Morstad’s career in kids’ books almost didn’t happen. When she gave birth to her first child at age 20, Morstad allowed herself to be talked out of her plan to pursue illustration at the Alberta College of Art and Design*.
“Everybody was saying, ‘You won’t be able to handle it,’ and I listened,” she says.
So she went into textile design, thought to be less demanding, but never stopped drawing. Motherhood turned out to be a boon rather than an impediment to her ambitions. Reading to her son (and, later, her daughter) and watching them play inspired her.
Julie Morstad art 3 spotlight on kids' booksThrough the Vancouver art scene, Morstad came to the attention of Simply Read Books publisher Dimiter Savoff, who approached her with a picture-book manuscript by O’Leary. When You Were Small, the first of the duo’s Henry books, was published in 2006, and went on to win a Marilyn Baillie award the following year.
“It was all kind of a dream come true,” says Morstad, whose pen-and-ink drawings have evoked comparison to Edward Gorey. In a review of Morstad’s 2007 illustration collection, Milk Teeth (Drawn & Quarterly), critic Jeet Heer referred to the images’ “subdued, languid creepiness.” Morstad contends that her work is less macabre than reflective of reality. Her intention is “to show how hard it is to be a kid, how powerless you feel and how small you are.”
Following in the footsteps of illustrators she admires, including Gyo Fujikawa and Ezra Jack Keats, Morstad strives to present cultural diversity, noting that it has always seemed natural to her to portray the world as it is.
Julie Morstad art 4 spotlight on kids' booksFamily life continues to inform Morstad’s illustrations; the heroine of This Is Sadie was inspired by her young daughter’s active imagination.
“The kind of drive to play and make things – it’s exhausting as a parent,” says Morstad. “[But] if I can relate to her on that level, it’s amazing to watch and be part of.”
*Correction, March 5, 2015: An earlier version of this story stated that Morstad attended the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design.
today + five questions with julie morstad
November 20, 2016
What will today bring? In her latest book TODAY, in her natural and effortless way, Julie Morstad shows us the beauty of the quotidian, its moments of whimsy and its potential to surprise us with something extraordinary. But how? She helps us revel in the possibilities of today. What should we wear? What should we eat for breakfast? Porridge or pizza? Where should we go? For a walk in the woods or to the museum? How will we get there? By bike or dancing our way there? She reminds us that each day is remarkable in its own right.
Julie's work resonates with children and adults alike. Hers are the stories full of wonder that you read to your kids at bedtime and are the same ones that you want to sit down with on your own and linger over, during those last quiet moments of the long day, well after your kids have drifted off to sleep.
Julie graciously stopped by to chat for a bit and answer five questions for us.
How do you come up with ideas for the books that you author and illustrate?
A lot of ideas come from my kids and the other kids I know. The way they see things. I also get inspired by everyday things like leaves on the ground, or the moon … random thoughts, art and textiles.
Which illustrators or artists have most influenced your work?
How can i choose? Hmm....Alice and Martin Provensen, Gyo Fujikawa, Kenojuak Ashevak, Maurice Sendak, Remy Charlip, Roger Duvoisin, Miroslav Sasek, Ingrid Vang Nyman, Tove Jansson, Evaline Ness, Sonia Delaunay, Saul Steinberg, Paul Klee, Tomi Ungerer, my kids’ drawings.
What drew you to illustrating picture books?
I have alway loved picture books as a medium. I had a son quite young and we spent a lot of time at the library. I learned a lot about illustrators by hunting through the library sale tables…treasure!!
What’s a day in the life like for you?
1. Get the kids to school
2. Get down to work! I work from home so I have to try hard to stay focused in my house!
Any new projects that you're working on that you can tell us about?
I’m working on a new book with Kyo Maclear (we made Julia, Child together). It's a picture book bio about Elsa Schiaparelli, the great 20th century fashion designer. It's super fun.
Thank you, Julie, for stopping by! You can see Julie’s beautiful work on her site and keep up with her latest on Instagram.
Q&A with Liz Rosenberg and Julie Morstad, author and illustrator of House of Dreams: The Life of L. M. Montgomery
The biography House of Dreams: The Life of L. M. Montgomery, written by Liz Rosenberg and illustrated by Julie Morstad, is advertised as "the first for young readers to include revelations about [Montgomery's] last days and to encompass the complexity of a brilliant and sometimes troubled life." Here, Rosenberg and Morstad discuss their creation process.
Liz Rosenberg is a poet, best-selling novelist, professor, and writer of numerous acclaimed books for children. She has edited several poetry anthologies for young readers, including Light-Gathering Poems, winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Prize. She lives in Binghamton, New York.
Julie Morstad is the illustrator of numerous books for young readers, including When Green Becomes Tomatoes by Julie Fogliano and Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova by Laurel Snyder. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
First, Rosenberg chatted with me about what it was like to write and research the biography.
Michaela Wipond (MW): What compelled you to write a biography of Montgomery specifically for young readers?
Liz Rosenberg (LR): As a young reader myself, I adored reading biographies of famous women—Clara Barton, Florence Nightingale, and especially, Louisa May Alcott. I still have that biography, Louisa May Alcott: Girl of Old Boston. No idea how many times I've re-read that book. Maybe as an avid reader and hopeful young "scribbler," as Maud would say, I needed to know that young girls had grown up to become the authors I adored. Since I'd also always adored L. M. Montgomery, that was an easy transition. And hopefully young readers today will love biographies as much as I did.
MW: You tell the story of Montgomery's life through a close third-person narrative. What made you choose such an intimate point of view?
LR: What a great question! The third person limited narrative wasn't a conscious choice. But as a biographer, I wanted to lean in as close as possible to Maud's own point of view, while still maintaining objective distance. The close third person allowed me to move in and out, depending on what was happening, and how much information we had about Maud's point of view. Luckily, she left behind many volumes of those beautiful blue journals and daybooks she kept—many gorgeous letters to family and friends—so we know quite a lot about her. She destroyed almost all of her earliest writings, stories, poems and journal entries composed before the age of fifteen. You can't help but wish we still had those. Maud herself later wished she hadn't burned them! But we still have quite a lot of material.
MW: Which research materials proved most useful to the biography's composition?
LR: Which leads to this question. Of course, the L.M. Montgomery Institute is an invaluable resource! It is simply amazing what you have—everything from the famous big spotted china dogs Maud collected, reminders of her father's fanciful stories, to samples of her embroidery; her day dresses; her journals; swatches of fabric from her wedding trousseau—the list goes on and on. I was also blessed to be guided and befriended by the amazing Mary Rubio, who wrote the definitive Montgomery biography for adults, and has contributed so abundantly to the Montgomery archive of knowledge. So many brilliant researchers, scholars, and biographers came before me. It's impossible to express how grateful I am to them all, and to the Montgomery family as well for allowing me such generous access to source materials.
MW: Alexander and Lucy Macneill are portrayed with a level of complexity in the biography that is lacking from even Montgomery's own journals. What attracted you to these characters and how did you approach their depiction?
LR: It's interesting that you ask about the Macneills. I have to say that, for me, nearly every book I write begins with a question. What if such-and-such happened? In the case of biography it's more like: Who was so-and-so, really? My initial question was, Who was Marilla, really? Who is this older woman who adopts Anne and comes at last to truly, deeply love her? I had a feeling maybe there was a darker story behind her. I was expecting to find a meaner real-life Marilla in Maud's own story. Instead what I found was two aging grandparents—one prickly, the other unable to express her affections openly—who devotedly and with great dedication raised this last child they were never expecting to raise. Their youngest daughter was nearly grown by the time Maud's mother died and her father left her behind to find work and a life elsewhere. Alexander Macneill was the failure in his own family, I suspect—the others had gone on to political power, wealth and position. He was simply a farmer and ran the local post office. He was also a grouch and a great story-teller. Lucy Macneill, his wife, was a rather buttoned-up person. But in her own way she was fiercely dedicated. She worked hard to earn extra household money, she helped her husband run his post office, she volunteered at church, and she set about to educate Maud far beyond what was expected at the time. If you see her photograph you feel you are LOOKING at Marilla. But I think Maud graced her with a sense of humor and a warmth that she didn't possess. It was a perfect fiction, the rescue she created for Anne—very different from her own. Maud never dedicated a single book to her grandparents. But without them, she could never have become the author we all love. That's quite a paradox. And great material for a biographer!
MW: The biography is described as "the first for young readers to include revelations about [Montgomery's] last days." Why was it important to you to address these revelations and how did you tackle such a difficult and sometimes-controversial topic?
LR: Maud's last years were difficult. They were fraught with troubles of all kinds: money troubles, family troubles, personal troubles. I find it astonishing that one of her very last acts was to send a book off to her publishers. Did she die from suicide, or was her death an accidental overdose? We may never know. But we do know that L. M. Montgomery struggled intensely with depression and anxiety, and her husband also suffered from mental illness, and, very likely, so did her eldest son, Chester. The Montgomery family was brave enough to unearth all that many years after Maud had passed away. So I wanted to be brave enough to write about it too, even in a book for young readers. Many children's books gloss over the difficulties in a person's life. As a young reader I myself struggled with periodic depression, from about the age of seven on. No one ever wrote about this in any children's book I ever read. But I knew there should be such stories. So I'm hoping that this biography will say to young people, if you suffer, too, you are not alone, some really great and brave people have suffered as well—great statesmen and women, authors, artists, sports figures, all kinds of people. I wanted to focus on the positives in Maud's life, to let the biography be, as she once said "an emissary of light." But I also wanted to tell the truth. It was my honor and joy to write for young people a book about an author who meant so much to me when I was young. I still have the first copy of Anne of Green Gables that my mother gave me, with its green cloth cover. I still treasure it.
Next, Morstad told me about the illustrations she created for House of Dreams.
MW: What was your initial reaction to being approached with the project?
Julie Morstad (JM): Excitement! I loved Anne of Green Gables as a child, and I had been reading the book with my eight-year-old daughter at the time so it was nice to learn about her as we read the book together.
MW: How familiar were you with Montgomery and her work before accepting the project?
JM: I knew basically nothing about Lucy Maud before I read the manuscript. I grew up with the original Canadian TV series of Anne, which became lodged in the imagination. It was fascinating to learn about the similarities and differences between LMM and the character she created.
MW: Was there a universal message or theme you wanted to convey through all of the illustrations?
JM: While I didn't have a theme exactly, I did want the drawings to bring a certain lightness to Montgomery's life story, which of course was pretty heartbreaking at times.
MW: How influential was the real PEI to your illustrations of it?
JM: I wish I could say I’d been there - it looks like such a magical place. I had to rely on photos. But luckily her life was pretty well-documented so there was a wealth of material to draw from.
MW: How closely did you and Liz Rosenberg work together?
JM: Alas, We actually haven't met! I worked closely with Heather McGee in Candlewick’s design department.
If you're interested in House of Dreams, it's available on both Amazon and Indigo--or check your local bookstore!
HOUSE OF DREAMS: THE LIFE OF L.M. MONTGOMERY. Text copyright © 2018 by Liz Rosenberg. Illustrations copyright © 2018 by Julie Morstad. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.
Julie Morstad is an illustrator, artist, animator and designer, whose clients include Chronicle Books, Drawn & Quarterly, HarperCollins, Random House and Warner Bros. Records. Julie won the Alcuin Book Design Award and the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, and she was nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award.
In this post, Julie talks about the creation of ‘Swan’. This exquisite picturebook biography about the world-renowned Russian prima ballerina, Anna Pavlova (1881–1931) was written by Laurel Snyder and published by Chronicle Books.
Visit Julie Morstad's website
Julie: When I first read the lovely manuscript for ‘Swan’ by Laurel Snyder, I nearly jumped for joy.
I had been interested in Pavlova from the time I was a young child in ballet classes. I had not yet done a picturebook biography and was so excited (and a bit nervous) to take it on.
'Swan' – by Laurel Snyder and Julie Morstad, published by Chronicle Books.
Illustration by Julie Morstad from 'Swan' – written by Laurel Snyder, published by Chronicle Books.
In addition, I immediately had very strong visual images spring to mind for the text. When that happens it’s a good sign for me, in terms of the process of visualising a story. The writing was very evocative in that way.
Development work by Julie Morstad for 'Swan' – written by Laurel Snyder, published by Chronicle Books.
Development work by Julie Morstad for 'Swan' – written by Laurel Snyder, published by Chronicle Books.
Development work by Julie Morstad for 'Swan' – written by Laurel Snyder, published by Chronicle Books.
Development work by Julie Morstad for 'Swan' – written by Laurel Snyder, published by Chronicle Books.
There are so many beautiful photographs of Pavlova, both formal and candid, so the research was really a delight.
Photographs of Anna Pavlova
Because her life spanned some very beautiful periods of fashion, I was able to completely indulge in my love of early 20th century costume and fashion, pattern and textiles.
Illustrations by Julie Morstad from 'Swan' – written by Laurel Snyder, published by Chronicle Books.
Also, the interiors and architecture of the time period (1880–1930) were exciting to depict.
Illustration by Julie Morstad from 'Swan' – written by Laurel Snyder, published by Chronicle Books.
Illustration by Julie Morstad from 'Swan' – written by Laurel Snyder, published by Chronicle Books.
Illustration by Julie Morstad from 'Swan' – written by Laurel Snyder, published by Chronicle Books.
The drawings were challenging and went through many, many drafts. I wanted to keep a sense of gesture in them, as it felt important to the subject of dance – but I also felt that they needed to be strong and bold (like Anna!) but delicate at the same time. Who knows if you ever achieve what you set out to do with these things or if the drawings take on a life of their own in the process, but that was my initial impulse when setting out.
Development work by Julie Morstad for 'Swan' – written by Laurel Snyder, published by Chronicle Books.
Development work by Julie Morstad for 'Swan' – written by Laurel Snyder, published by Chronicle Books.
Development work by Julie Morstad for 'Swan' – written by Laurel Snyder, published by Chronicle Books.
In terms of composition, I tried to evoke the limited depth or flatness of a stage set to reference her life spent on the stage.
I used a mixture of graphite, coloured pencils, gouache, ink and digital layering.
Illustration by Julie Morstad from 'Swan' – written by Laurel Snyder, published by Chronicle Books.
For this book I was very inspired by the drypoint and aquatint prints of Mary Cassatt,[1] Édouard Vuillard’s lithographs,[2] Blair Lent’s version of ‘The Little Match Girl’,[3] and Clare Turlay Newberry’s ‘April’s Kittens.’[4]
Julie Morstad's inspiration for her illustrations in the picturebook, 'Swan'
The final art went through a few versions before landing where it is now, and it was definitely one of the more challenging books I have illustrated – due in part to the need for things to be historically accurate and biographically correct, but also because, well, it’s sad. Depicting Anna at the moment of her death: that was tricky to find the right tone. But I wanted to try to bring something else visually to the images – something light.
Q & A with Kyo Maclear and Julie Morstad
By Antonia Saxon | Sep 26, 2019
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Kyo Maclear (l.) and Julie Morstad.
Artist Gyo Fujikawa, who died in 1998 at the age of 90, gave U.S. children’s publishing a quiet jolt in the segregated 1960s by drawing babies of different races playing together on the same page. When her publisher objected, she held firm. The child of Japanese Americans interned during World War II—her entire California community was uprooted—she remembered many times of feeling “unseen and unwelcome,” and used the small, roly-poly figures of children in her books to create a world in which difference was embraced. Kyo Maclear and Julie Morstad, collaborators on two earlier picture biographies (Julia, Child, and Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli) explore Fujikawa’s story in It Began with a Page. They spoke with PW about finding Fujikawa’s family, what it’s like to illustrate a book about an illustrator, and how they work together.
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Where did you first encounter the work of Gyo Fujikawa? Did you have her books as a child?
Maclear: I did have the books as a child—Little Babies, and Oh, What a Busy Day. I didn’t know who made them, but I loved them. They were like Richard Scarry, with a galaxy of characters all doing different things, and with some images and illustrations that looked a bit like me—although I wouldn’t have been able to articulate that at the time. When I had children, they also read the books.
Morstad: I read the books as a kid. Then I saw them later when I was 20, and they stopped me in my tracks. I was so drawn to the way she used line and color.
How did you go about finding out more about her?
Maclear: Well, information was sparse, and a lot of it was inconsistent. I came across a discussion group about Terminal Island off San Pedro, Calif. [the fishing community where Fujikawa’s family lived before the war]. There was a comment about the executive order that led to the internment of Japanese-American citizens, and someone named Danny Fujikawa had corrected it. I pursued that as a lead; I coldcalled him and asked, “Are you related to Gyo Fujikawa?” And he said yes! He’s her great-nephew, I think. I asked if there were archives, and he said, “Yes—they’re six feet away from me in boxes.” He was quite concerned, because there had been flooding in Santa Monica and he had just been wondering how to safeguard them.
I made a trip there on my own, then Julie and I went together. It was amazing to meet [Fujikawa’s] family, to talk about her life, and to dig through some of their papers. That helped get things started, and to give the story shape.
Morstad: I found a drawing of hers on the internet, a portrait of her in the 1950s, and I had it photocopied and pinned up—and I saw the original drawing in her stock of things! It felt so lucky to have the family open up all their albums to us. It was an honor.
Had they shared the archive with other people, or were you the first?
Maclear: We were definitely the first. Her name is mentioned a lot by illustrators as an influence, but people often think she’s from Japan, or that she’s a man. The family were surprised that there was any interest at all—surprised and honored and happy. They were really forthcoming.
I was aware of her boldness. And there was no We Need Diverse Books at the time—there was no program. She was an iconoclast. And she’s not saccharine, either! She’s not sugar and spice and everything nice.
Morstad: The kids are sometimes pulling each other’s hair! There’s conflict between the kids even though the style is delicate and sweet.
Julie, what it was like to make a book about an illustrator?
Morstad: It was very daunting. Fujikawa is one of my idols. I had a lot of moments of doubt. I knew that my work was already influenced by her, and I wanted my drawings to have their own style—to blend my own drawings with hers. There was the question: Should we scan her drawings and put them in? We just had iPhone photos of things, and we didn’t have permission to do that. So I decided to draw like her. I don’t know if that was weird, but it was fun! To do her little faces and bodies, and the outfits, and the hair andeverything. I was actually very anxious a lot of the time when I was making this artwork... but that’s not unusual [laughs]. I wanted to make sure that I did justice to her legacy and her artwork.
Maclear: Even though you did lots of research about [traditional Japanese woodblock artists] Hokusai and Hiroshige, it doesn’t feel like the pages are wearing it heavily. It isn’t laden with research and information.
Morstad: I definitely wanted to get things as right as I could. In the section when she’s in Japan, she’s in a woodblock studio. I found references, images, how you would sit when you’re carving, those kinds of details. That’s important to me, and I also think kids love that. Nothing gets past them, I find.
Maclear: It’s also that Julie saves me a lot of work describing things. I can cut them out. The scaling back of the text is really exciting to me. Literally, the furniture keeps moving until the very end, until we go to press, as we sharpen things against each other, image against the text.
Courtesy of the family of Gyo Fujikawa
Gyo Fujikawa painting a mural.
How did you decide which facts in her biography to focus on?
Maclear: I went in with questions... it’s like a silty pond. If you move too much, you can’t find anything, but if you let the water settle, you can find what you’re looking for.
Morstad: What a fantastic image. I love that!
Maclear: There are certain moments that were turning points in her life, and those are the ones that I decided to hang the story on. And Julie’s gift is to find the heart and heat of those moments, to find the visual metaphors that capture the heart of it. A lot of the emotion is being carried by the art.
Was there anything that didn’t make it into the final version?
Maclear: Her relationship with Disney [Fujikawa worked for Disney for several years in the 1940s, producing advertising material for the movie Fantasia], which went on a whole different tangent. There was a long section about the internment, but I felt it was bogging things down. How much is too little, and how much is too much? It’s basically a century—how do you do a century in 40 pages?
What does working together look like for you?
Morstad: Because we’ve done books together, Kyo will write and I’ll do sketches. In some cases the words and the images seem Velcro’ed to each other, and other things just fall away.
That’s a pretty nice metaphor, too.
Maclear: I trust her as much as I trust any editor. I feel she’s got the heart of the story in mind, and she can understand how the images will be carrying the story. There’s no silo-ing, where the words are on this side, and the images are on that side. I don’t work with anyone else like this.
Morstad: [warmly] I don’t either.
Who was your editor, and how did they fit into the process?
Maclear: There were two: Jill Davis, from HarperCollins, and Tara Walker, the Canadian editor from Tundra. It a U.S.-Canadian co-edition. We did Julia, Child with Tara Walker. We had a really lovely experience working with her, and we’re friends with her as well.
I sent everything to both of them. They gave us a lot of freedom without close attention or scrutiny to find the story ourselves.
Was there a lot of back and forth further on?
Maclear: I would tinker even after we had final pages. It’s this chronic dissatisfaction. Everything feels like a pebble in your shoe.
Morstad: Yes, with the artwork as well!
Maclear: Mainly it was Jill who was the lead editor, sorting out the nuts and bolts of making the book. Tara offered verbal comments, but she wasn’t the line editor. The images were pretty much perfect from the beginning.
And what about the designer?
Maclear: There were two of those, too. Tundra’s designer is John Martz, and the American art director is Erin Fitzsimmons. We have two different covers for the [two] markets. There are some interior differences as well.
What’s next?
Maclear: I have a book called Storyboat coming out in February, illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh. She’s Persian, with a long history of publishing in Iran. It’s a story about imagination and these two refugee children, but it’s not tied to an actual narrative of migration. I have two other picture books coming out. One has just been assigned to [illustrator] Matthew Forsythe.
Morstad: I’m working on the final art for another picture book biography, about Anne France Dautheville. She’s this glamorous woman who rode a dirt bike around the world in 1973. And I just actually wrote a book in the spring that will be published by Tundra.
Will you travel together for this book?
Maclear: I don’t think so. Sometimes I’ll end up in Vancouver and we’ll go to bookstores or signings...
Morstad: ...and I often go to Toronto to visit Kyo and another friends.
Maclear: It feels like we’re in the same room when we’re working together even though we’re across the country.
It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way. Kyo Maclear, illus. by Julie Morstad. HarperCollins, $17.99 Oct. 8 ISBN 978-0-06-244762-3
Julie and Julie: A conversation between Julie Flett and Julie Morstad
Feb 17, 2023 | News, Uncategorized
Julie Flett and Julie Morstad are the creators of many beautiful and enchanting picture books. Their books have been winners and finalists for the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize, including in 2022 when Julie Morstad’s Time Is a Flower won the prize and On the Trapline, written by David A. Robertson and illustrated by Julie Flett was a finalist. The BC and Yukon Book Prizes asked Julie and Julie if they would have a chat with each other and share some of what inspires their work. This was their conversation:
Julie Morstad: Lately I have been thinking about what it is that makes me want to make a book.
When I have a genuine inquiry about something, and I want to work it out, I tend to get really excited, and feel like this is the best point for me to start from when making my own books.
With Time is a Flower, I felt time was passing so quickly. It was pretty existential honestly! My kids growing up, and also getting older myself, made me want to almost pick time up like an object and look at it from every angle I could think of. I needed to dig in. Are you able to see any patterns in the things that excite you into leaping into an idea?
Julie Flett: When I started working on kids’ books, I was learning about the languages that my grandparents had spoken, and I thought this was something I could share with kids and something I could contribute to my community through picture books. The first few books were introductory language books. As it went along, I realized that I was telling stories with pictures, almost haiku-like. “Three aunties laughing and eight uncles fishing” for the Cree counting book – and so many others. And from there, a lot of family stories started emerging. And I would say the theme of connection between people and the land and animals; landscapes, space and expansiveness seem to factor in, and as that goes along, it seems to go deeper into people’s inner lives as inspired by people in my life (my son and nieces, family and myself). I love what filmmaker Agnes Varda said, “If we opened people up, we’d find landscapes.”
JM: Yes! Her work is so inspiring.
What makes a good work space for you? Are there things that make you more productive or less so? Or inspired?
JF: We were talking about this the other day and I think we agreed, we both like working close to the kitchen and food. And just everything I need to make the day work, an extra sweater, or little inspirations all around. Home is my favorite place to work when I’m illustrating, and for writing it varies, the library, my sofa, the river (one of the stories was written at the river this summer) and anywhere while waiting for my son (a few of them have been written this way).
JM: Agreed. I like working from home for so many reasons.
It’s nice to be able to wake up early on a Saturday and work on something before everyone gets up, and it’s not even light out yet… it’s cozy. Not to mention the close proximity to snacks, endless cups of tea and the very occasional nap.
What would your dream studio be if money or any other constraints were no object?
JF: Big windows, lots of windows, and a big worktable, a few work tables, three, or one long one. Windows that look onto trees. Lots of different materials to play with. I would love to build things and play more with materials. Oh, and an area to make animation. Of course, close to home or in my home, and with a kitchen.
JM: It would be so nice to spread out. My studio is a tiny room and I’ve had to become tidier to make it work but I really crave spreading out on multiple surfaces, and to just make a huge mess experimenting. But I do have lots of light so I’m grateful for that.
I used to work in a bigger office type space here in Chinatown that only had one small skylight on which pigeons and seagulls were always walking around. That was fun but I’ll take light over space if I have to choose!
If you and I could go draw together anywhere in the world for fun, where would you like to go?
JF: Baker Lake, Nunavut and the south of France.
JM: Yes! Imagine the great light for drawing…
What is your relationship to drawing these days? Does it come easily, does it give you joy, is it tedious sometimes?
JF: It’s all of this, it brings a lot of joy, I feel so lucky to be doing this work. I still feel challenged and still have a lot to work on and develop. It can also be tedious at times, some detailed work can be meditative, and some detailed work is just so hard that it becomes tedious, there are some long days where I push and push and sometimes the drawing doesn’t work and it’s hard on the spirit. But there’s always the next day (or days) and that’s often when it turns around and it’s such a relief.
JM: I agree. I also feel lucky to be doing this for a living. I find drawing quite hard some days – I get rusty but also too hung up on the result and I get sort of stage fright (paper fright?).
When you develop an idea, do the words come first or the images, or some combination of the two?
JF: It’s a combination of both. These days I start with the idea, and can see the images in my mind, and once I start getting the images down on paper, it changes a little and the words and story start to emerge more clearly.
JM: What materials are you working with these days? And how has it changed over time?
JF: I used to work less with drawing materials and more with collaged materials.
Right now, I love working with pastels, but I do work with other materials, a bit of water colour, pencil crayon and pencil, and then I transfer everything over to the computer and collage everything together.
I’m still learning as I go and have a lot more to learn. I often feel limited, but I also love learning new ways of drawing or working. I’m working on a book right now about skateboarding and have to draw bodies in intricate action, it’s been a challenge but it’s great, a lot of crumpled up drawings and making myself laugh but I’m working on a new drawing muscle and glad for this. What materials are you working with these days?
JM: I started making watercolour paints last year and so I’ve been more into incorporating those into the book work. I have been doing a lot of monoprint and rolled textures and then also learning how to incorporate my pencil line and procreate into all of it… so I guess it’s mixed media all the time basically. I’m always after texture and seem to get myself into increasingly complicated layers and processes to get that… I wish I could be simpler or more straightforward in my process, but it often feels like I’m putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Sometimes it’s exhausting and sometimes it feels like magic.
I definitely have made things more complicated over time in my quest for texture and layers. I used to draw in pen and ink and light watercolour more… now I’m all over the place!
JM: Who inspires you Julie F?
JF: I was raised around artists and makers of all ages. Lots of musicians, potters, painters, printmakers, and filmmakers. I didn’t train as an illustrator, but I did go to art school and studied film, painting/studio, and textiles. I tend to be drawn to artists who work in these fields, filmmakers, textile artists, printmakers, and painters. Some of the artists who come to mind are Annie Pootoogook, Kenojuak Ashevak, Agnes Varda, Allen Sapp, and Ruth Asawa to name a few. Connected to your first question and the patterns that show up, I love and relate to what Ruth Asawa said of her own work, “Art is doing. Art directly deals with life.”
As for contemporary picture book makers, there are so many, Taro Gomi, Kazue Takahashi, Germaine Arnaktauyok, and Nahid Kazemi to name a few!
JF: Oh Allen Sapp! I can see the shared sensibility there! Such beautiful work.
I know you and I have a lot of overlapping inspiration. Kenojuak Ashevak, and Ruth Asawa both seemed to have been able to seamlessly weave motherhood and art into one thing. I’m sure it was always tricky for them too, but I love seeing the imagery and footage of them working with babies crawling around them. I’ve always been in awe of that and could also relate, although now it’s juggling art with raising teenagers…
Some more of my all time favourite art/book makers are Pitseolak Ashoona, Paul Klee, Jaqueline Ayer, Gyo Fujikawa, Ezra Jack Keats, the Provensens, Evaline Ness, Roger Duvoisin… ah, there’s so many. Oh, and contemporary illustrators – there’s so many good ones. The tenderness and fun, but also technical excellence and colour sense in Catia Chien’s work always blow me away.
***
Julie Flett, a Cree-Métis author, illustrator, and artist, has received numerous awards for her work, including a Governor General’s Award and the American Indian Library Association Award. She is the author of many books, including Birdsong (Greystone Kids, 2019), winner of the 2020 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, an American Indian Youth Literature Honor Book and Boston Globe Horn Book Title. Flett lives in Vancouver, Canada.
Julie Morstad is an award-winning author and illustrator. She has written the picture books Today and the Governor General’s Literary Award finalist How To. Her beautiful illustrations can be found in numerous books such as It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way; Julia, Child; This Is Sadie and, most recently, Girl on a Motorcycle. In 2018 she designed a permanent stamp for Canada Post. Julie lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with her family.
Julie Morstad
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Author Profiles
“I’m interested in ideas that are right in front of you, but you want to take a deeper look,” says Julie Morstad
Julie Morstad is an author and illustrator of numerous children’s books, including House of Dreams: The Life of L.M. Montgomery, Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli, and When I Was Small. The Vancouver-based creator won the 2022 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award for her solo project Time Is a Flower, which was also a finalist for the 2022 Governor General’s Literary Award for Young People’s Literature. Her latest picture book, A Face Is a Poem (Tundra Books, out now), explores Morstad’s fascination with faces.
What sparked your interest in illustration?
When I was about 12 years old, my aunt and uncle gave me The Art of Illustration for Advertising for Christmas, which depicted art nouveau. I was like, “illustration, wow, that’s an amazing thing to do.” Around the same time, my little cousin was born, and I had illustrated The Child’s Garden of Verses for her as a Christmas present. My dad had it laminated. So, I feel that was kind of when I started to think about illustration as something you can do. When I had my first child, it was a way for me to stay connected with art even while I was raising a kid. I was a single mother with this little kid, and I was going to art school, so our biggest entertainment was going to the library. We would often get books from the discard pile, and there were always so many good mid-century works, like books by Margaret Wise Brown and Maurice Sendak. That introduced me to a lot of illustrators and writers that I probably saw as a kid but didn’t remember. I got really interested in the history of illustration and children’s books, and, of course, just enjoying them with my son informed a lot of what I did at art school. Even though I wasn’t necessarily making books, a lot of my art was sort of fairy-tale inspired.
It sounds like from the outset a part of you always knew you wanted to illustrate children’s books.
I always wanted to be in art and design. I thought I might be a fashion designer. Actually, in art school I did a textile degree, and I would make one-off pieces on the side, which I sold to shops across Canada. I had a few different interests, but illustration and figurative drawing anchored all of it.
Who or what has been a major influence on your illustrating style?
It’s definitely been a mixture of different things. A lot of 20th-century art forms my foundation, such as Gyo Fujikawa, Maurice Sendak, Leonard Weisgard – there’s really so many.
As an author/illustrator, what comes first, the story or the art?
When I’m working on my own books, I start with an idea more than images, which is interesting because I’m usually an image-based person. But when I think about ideas I’d like to illustrate, it tends to be more like a concept I want to investigate and invite a child to investigate with me. The images tend to come quickly afterwards.
Do you recall what inspired A Face Is a Poem?
I just love people’s faces. I’m sort of obsessed to the point people think I’m staring, but I just love looking at human faces and animal faces, but human faces in particular. I love seeing how a mother, a parent, or siblings look like each other. It fascinates me, and I think it’s something so important to us as humans because it’s how we see each other. And it’s also such an everyday thing. I’m interested in ideas that are right in front of you, but you want to take a deeper look.
What is your medium of choice?
I really like watercolour and ink, and I usually have a strong line in my work whether it’s with pencil or ink. I do tend to mix up the way I work from book to book. I don’t have a specific set of tools that I use; it’s more an exploration, depending on what I think the book wants. With A Face Is a Poem, because there’s so much difference and variety in faces, it made sense to have a variety of ways to draw or handle them.
What do you do to nurture your passion for illustration?
I read a lot. I like to have something on the go that’s creative aside from my illustration practice. So, last year, I started learning how to knit, and I’m trying to relearn some dyeing techniques that I learned a bit in art school.
Have any of the things you’ve done on the side found their way into your books?
I started making watercolour paints a couple years ago, mixing the paint and making palettes. I would make palettes for my friends, naming the colours so they had a specific meaning for each person’s personality. I really got into making so much paint that I used it in my drawings, paintings, and illustrations.
What do you hope young readers will take away from A Face Is a Poem?
It’s an invitation to look closer and to notice. Notice things that you love. I prefer my books to be more of an invitation to think about things rather than a message to take home. I think noticing is probably one of the most important things we can do, and it’s a big part of being a creative person, being a caring person.
If you could illustrate any classic children’s book, which would it be, and why?
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland would be so fun because there’s so much you could do!
Read Q+As with Salini Perera and Bridget George.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Correction, October 28: This story has been updated to reflect Morstad was referring to Gyo Fujikawa not Fujikasa Satoko.
When I Was Small
Sara O'Leary, illus, by Julie Morstad. Simply Read (Ingram, dist.), $16.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-897476-38-3
In earlier offerings by this team, When You Were Small and Where You Came From, Henry's parents told their son about life when he was "literally" small, walking his pet ant and sleeping in his father's slipper (this duo has Marcel the Shell beat by several years). "Tell me about when you were small, too," Henry now asks his mother. "When I was small," she begins, "my name was Dorothea. But because the name was too big for me, everyone called me Dot." Twentysome solemn primary-school students appear opposite in a class photo; one is a girl in a red dress no bigger than a potted plant. Readers might miss the tiny figure, but they'll catch on within pages: "I went swimming in the birdbath," Henry's mother continues. "I played jump rope with a piece of yarn." The humor in Morstad's pen-and-ink drawings lies in their seriousness; she draws the cocktail umbrella Henry's mother stands under and the mitten she sleeps in with the care of a botanical illustrator. "Adorable" is a word to be used advisedly, but it's applicable in this case. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
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"When I Was Small." Publishers Weekly, vol. 259, no. 34, 20 Aug. 2012, p. 62. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A300721623/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=cdaadd56. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
O'Leary, Sara WHEN I WAS SMALL Simply Read (Children's Picture Books) $16.95 9, 29 ISBN: 978-1-897476-38-3
The third of the Henry books (When You Were Small, 2006; Where You Came From, 2008) continues the adorable journey but doesn't veer from the path. Henry wants to know about when his mother was small. She responds by telling him her name was Dorothea, but "because the name was too big for me, everyone called me Dot." The picture on the facing page shows a class of really cute children inked in black and white, an equally cute teacher and Henry's doll-sized mom in bright red. She went swimming in the birdbath, could "feast on a single raspberry" and wore a daisy for a sunhat. The text for each spread floats on a pure white page, and on the opposite page Morstad's beautiful, clear drawings characterized by the spot use of color float on the same white space. The endpapers are full of similarly fanciful images of tiny Dot standing under a toadstool, leaping over a daisy or sporting butterflies as headgear. "In stories we can be small together," his mother says, ending this quiet mother-and-son idyll. Winsome. (Picture book. 4-7)
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"O'Leary, Sara: WHEN I WAS SMALL." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2012. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A301262593/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=00fb1faa. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
How To
Julie Morstad. Simply Read (Ingram, dist.), $16.95 (36p) ISBN 978-1-897476-57-4
Morstad (When I Was Small) continues her celebration of childhood innocence, painting children whose dreamy but often somber expressions give them a particularly doll-like quality. Fragmentary captions ("How to go fast"; "How to feel the breeze") are matched with pictures that show children providing examples, crossing the page on scooters and stilts or zooming downhill on a bicycle. The best moments occur when the captions are interpreted in distinctively childlike ways: "How to make a sandwich" is a pileup of children and sofa cushions. "How to make new friends" shows a boy drawing a group of shock-headed stick figures in chalk on the blacktop. And "How to wash your socks" accompanies children dancing in a puddle in their stocking feet. The design and typography are straight out of the '60s, and the children's classic clothing and timeless circumstances--no cars, no cell phones, no schools, no parents--will draw nostalgic adults as well as children. Intentionally or not, it's a reminder of an era when children were permitted time just to stand and stare. Ages 4-8. Agent: Emily van Beck, Folio Literary Management. (May)
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"How To." Publishers Weekly, vol. 260, no. 14, 8 Apr. 2013, p. 64. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A326130981/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=89366b43. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Morstad, Julie HOW TO Simply Read (Children's Picture Books) $16.95 5, 1 ISBN: 978-1-897476-57-4
Smart, clean design and a text built around unpunctuated phrases offer room to pause, ponder and discuss in this book of quiet joy. Ample white space foregrounds a multicultural cast, whose patterned clothing, props and minimal, but visually exciting, settings take center stage. In the opening spread, "how to go fast," readers consider options as eight youngsters whoosh by, one riding a scooter, another navigating stilts, a third sporting butterfly wings. The parade's leader is nearly off the page. "How to see the wind" prompts conversation about the kites, grass and hair shown at various angles--and the metaphysical question itself. Morstad explores topics of interest to children, from "staying close" (two girls sharing one braid) to disappearing--a scene in which meaning comes first from the curtained image; the text is nearly invisible. She intersperses colorful backgrounds, as well as single- and double-spread compositions for an overall effect that elicits anticipation at every turn. As in this Canadian's illustrations for the work of other authors (Caroline Woodward's Singing Away the Dark, 2010; Sara O'Leary's When I Was Small, 2012), the characters' delicate features exhibit an absorption in their activities that simultaneously signals the seriousness and satisfaction of concentration. The "be happy" conclusion portrays unself-conscious movement--including that initial runner, leaving the book. In these inventive scenarios, children will recognize themselves and find new ways to be. (Picture book. 2-6)
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"Morstad, Julie: HOW TO." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Apr. 2013, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A325986239/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6d9e9c08. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Julia, Child
Kyo Maclear, author
Julie Morstad, illustrations
Tundra Books
1 Toronto Street, Suite 300, Toronto, ON, Canada M5C 2V6
9781774094497, $17.99, www.randomhouse.ca
"Julia, Child" is a refreshing children's book that focuses on the savoring of every morsel, by a child in love with French cuisine named Julia. Julia and her friend Simca loved to shop for food at the market, collect new recipe ideas, and to experiment with cooking. Even though their results were not always what they expected, they kept learning and trying and practicing their cooking. Although Julia and Simca were not always in agreement, they did agree on the most important things: "Some friends are like sisters. You can never use too much butter. It is best to be a child forever!" Growing up was not an inviting goal, instead, Julia and Simca tried to fix recipes for foods and tastes that helped people grow young. They carefully set a marvelous table and prepared perfectly delectable food, which attracted many grown up samplers and nibblers. At first the guests appeared to be having a wonderful experience, but then things started to degrade. Julia and Simca decided that too many grownups did not have the proper ingredients. So the girls adjusted their dessert recipes for little chocolate almond cupcakes and served smaller portions with flair and style, announcing that there was plenty for all. This helped the grownups to behave a little better, but Julia and Simca still needed to finish writing a cookbook titled "Mastering the Art of Childhood" to help them remember how to behave graciously, and to remember to share. "Julia, Child" is a magnificent story with French flavored illustrations and style, that conveys a timeless moral: To savor the moments of life, remember to become a child again, and to always share the best bites and bits with kindness. The whimsical illustrations convey a wonderful sense of French essence of taste and style in this masterful children's book.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 Midwest Book Review
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"Julia, Child." Children's Bookwatch, Aug. 2014. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A381407991/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d2590a04. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
MACLEAR, Kyo
Julia, Child
Illustrated by Julie Morstad. Tundra
Books, 2014. 32p. Illus. Gr. K-3. 978-1-77049-449-7. Hdbk. $19.99
Julia and Simca are just kids, but they know how to make grow-ups feel young again. At first, they practiced their skills in their own kitchens. Then they took classes with professionals. When they were ready, they discovered how to cook "extra slowly to bring out the flavour of not hurrying" and they could use "delicate spices so that worries would disappear and wonders would rise to the surface". Soon, busy adults followed the rainbow coloured smells and the Joie de Vivre sign to a table the best friends set with fresh flowers, cheese souffles, crusty baguettes, and fresh peaches. Julia and Simca are happy when their guests begin to sound like happy children like themselves; however, when the adults begin to act like rowdy children, the young cooks go back into the kitchen to stir up one last recipe. When they perfect the recipe that makes the grown-ups "a little less beastly and a little more generous", they include it in their Mastering the Art of Childhood cookbook.
MacLear (Spork) obviously was inspired by Julia Child when she created this story, but as she states in the foreword, the story contains "no true knowledge" of the world famous chef. Morstad's (When You Were Small) illustrations, rendered in gouache, ink and Photoshop, turn the average kitchen into a magical place. Butterflies come out of steam, grocery shopping is done on roller skates, and ingredients are labelled wonder, imagination, sweetness and slow down. French words are scattered throughout the text and the artwork (some of which is in black and white). A pair of cats stay close to Julia and Simca throughout the story. Although there are no recipes in this book, children and adults may be inspired to be a little more adventurous in the kitchen or at mealtime.
Thematic Links: Cooking; French Foods; Youth; Friendship
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 Resource Links
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Boudreau, Tanya. "Julia, Child." Resource Links, vol. 20, no. 1, Oct. 2014, p. 5. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A390327827/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d713fa72. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Cuevas, Michelle BEYOND THE LAUGHING SKY Dial (Children's Fiction) $16.99 10, 2 ISBN: 978-0-8037-3867-6
Nashville, who has qualities both human and birdlike, feels compelled to follow his avian destiny. The storytelling is folksy, poetic and seductive, beginning, "Nashville and his family lived in a house perched in the branches of the largest pecan tree in the village of Goosepimple." Little by little, readers learn how Nashville, unlike his adoring younger sister, Junebug, was hatched from an egg. He has a beak and feathers but, alas, no wings. Morstad's illustrations support the funnier details, including the dinner-table "perch swings" that Nashville's mother has installed "to make Nashville more comfortable" as he eats his seeds while his family eats typical human fare. The deadpan humor of Flat Stanley is invoked when Nashville's parents take him for his annual physical examination--at the veterinarian's office. In added playfulness, said vet is Dr. Larkin; the village teacher is Miss Starling. This allegory of growing up and finding one's figurative wings is told sweetly and without great angst, despite inclusions of such subjects as school bullying and Nashville's empathetic but highly illegal pet-store shenanigans. Yet there is an underlying melancholy throughout, somewhat mitigated by the possibility of future communications from the appealing bird-boy. "There's things you've seen and things you may not have, but there ain't nothing that's impossible, sugar," says a village widow; readers will end the book with a new sense of possible. (Magical realism. 8-11)
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"Cuevas, Michelle: BEYOND THE LAUGHING SKY." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Aug. 2014, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A378247309/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=446beb9d. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Beyond the Laughing Sky. By Michelle Cuevas. Illus. by Julie Morstad. Oct. 2014.160p. Dial, $16.99 (9780803738676). Gr. 3-6.
Ten-year-old Nashville is part boy, part bird, hatched from an egg that his dad found. Despite having parents and a sister, Junebug, who love him, he feels lost in his tiny hometown of Goosepimple. He dreams of doing only one thing: flying with the birds. Nashville and Junebug spend their days together exercising and stretching their imaginations as naturally as breathing, dreaming up all manner of stories and magical possibilities while taking joy in the smallest bits of the world around them. But then Nashville starts middle school, which means a new school with new teachers and students. He knows he is different, so it's up to him to make the first move while trying to figure out how to fit in--or if he can, simply take to the skies. With sharp yet fanciful imagery and prose magical enough to make readers feel that they, too, can fly, Cuevas weaves a story that illustrates how we all have the power to become what we are meant to be. Perfect for fans of Kate DiCamillo.--Jeanne Fredriksen
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 American Library Association
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Fredriksen, Jeanne. "Beyond the Laughing Sky." Booklist, vol. 111, no. 4, 15 Oct. 2014, p. 46. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A388966042/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f3e7d911. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
This Is Sadie
Sara O'Leary, illus. by Julie Morstad. Tundra, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-77049-532-6
As in previous collaborations like When You Were Small and Where You Cavie From, O'Leary and Morstad put forth a playful, imagination-first portrait of childhood, introducing a girl named Sadie who is equally at home in the expanses of her mind as she is in the outside world. Striking an irreverent tone from the first page ("This is Sadie. No, not that. That's a box. Sadie is inside the box"), O'Leary follows her raven-haired heroine as she sets sail in the aforementioned cardboard box, spends the day with friends ("Some of them live on her street, and some live in the pages of books"), and inserts herself into the stories she reads. "She has been a boy raised by wolves," writes O'Leary as Morstad shows Sadie and a small pack of wolves howling on the jungle floor. Throughout, the warm, understated writing and rich, mixed-media illustrations emphasize that Sadie can be anything or anyone she wants--a snail, the Mad Hatter, a fairy-tale hero--and that, by extension, every reader wields the very same power. Ages 3-7. Illustrator's agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (May)
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"This Is Sadie." Publishers Weekly, vol. 262, no. 10, 9 Mar. 2015, pp. 70+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A406052522/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ed20fa4d. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
THIS IS SADIE
By Sara O'Leary
Illustrated by Julie
Morstad
Tundra
$17.99, 32 pages
ISBN 9781770495326
Ages 3 to 7
PICTURE BOOK
Author Sara O'Leary and illustrator Julie Morstad invite us into a day in the life of Sadie, an imaginative young girl who loves diving into stories. In the opening illustration, Sadie is hiding inside a box, her head barely peeking above the top, but, as she tells readers, she's actually on a giant boat, crossing the ocean.
Sadie has learned to be quiet while engaging in her grand adventures, because "old people need a lot of sleep." Her room is the type of inspiring, chaotic mess that can only come from a child exploring the robust and active world of the mind. She's not only crossing the wide sea, still in her pajamas--she's also a mermaid; a wolf-child, a la Mowgli; and the "hero in the world of fairy tales." (Refreshingly, she isn't the damsel in distress; she's the seeker on the horse, armed with a bow and some arrows.) Morstad sets off Sadie's fantasies with lush full-bleed spreads, where white space takes a back seat to color and drama.
Sadie also has wings; they're just "very, very hard to see." Maybe readers have them, too. "Have you checked?" we read. These chummy moments where the narrator breaks the fourth wall are engaging and enjoyable. In a story all about one child's whimsy, both author and illustrator manage to keep things from getting too cloying, and these moments of direct ad dress are part of that charm.
Sadie's days are never long enough, and readers may feel the same way about this story: It doesn't overstay its welcome, and every moment is a pleasure. And don't forget to remove the book jacket to see the surprise waiting on the cover.
Here's hoping for more of Sadie's adventures in the future.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 BookPage
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Danielson, Julie. "This is Sadie." BookPage, May 2015, p. 30. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A418983075/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=26ea6616. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova
by Laurel Snyder; illus. by Julie Morstad
Primary, Intermediate Chronicle 48 pp. 8/15 978-1-4521-1890-1 $17.99
In this exquisite introduction to ballet great Anna Pavlova (1881--1931), the impressionistic text begins the night young Anna goes out into the big city to see The Sleeping Beauty performed. Like the dancer onstage, Anna is awakened; consumed, she "cannot sleep. Or sit/still/ever." Anna auditions for ballet school, is rejected, and auditions again two years later. This time she is accepted, and "the work begins." Subsequent spreads follow Anna through her training; her roles, particularly her iconic Dying Swan; her growing fame; and her determination, as she tours the world, to make ballet accessible to everyone, everywhere. The rhythmic text lends her life the fairy-tale feeling of the ballets in which she performed. Delicate mixed-media illustrations are perfectly suited to Anna's grace, capturing her expressiveness with abstracted swan imagery that matches the text's lyricism. A muted palette gives the art a slightly vintage quality befitting the historical setting. An author's note provides more straightforward biographical information, including the circumstances of Pavlova's birth and death and the lengths she went in order to overcome the limitations of her frail build, weak back, and severely arched feet; it also highlights her legacy as an artist of the people. A bibliography encourages further reading about this remarkable prima ballerina.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Bircher, Katie. "Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 91, no. 5, Sept.-Oct. 2015, p. 132. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A427758519/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ca435911. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Snyder, Laurel SWAN Chronicle (Children's Picture Books) $17.99 8, 1 ISBN: 978-1-4521-1890-1
A poor Russian girl enchants the world with her romantic ballet performances. Pavlova was born in Czarist Russia, the daughter of a laundry woman. When her mother took her to a ballet performance, she was spellbound. After waiting two years to be accepted, she rose through the ranks of the Imperial Ballet School despite having what was considered an imperfect body. She excelled in the great 19th-century romantic roles and made "The Dying Swan," with music from The Carnival of the Animals, by Camille Saint-Saens, her signature piece. Pavlova traveled around the world sharing her gift and teaching, passing up 20th-century ballets choreographed to modern music and always enchanting audiences with her incomparable style. Snyder writes in the present tense in a delicate and poetic voice that mirrors Pavlova's onstage persona. Morstad's art, a combination of ink, gouache, graphite, pencil, and crayon, evokes beautiful Russian cityscapes, while scenes set in a dance studio effectively make use of a white background to showcase a solitary dancing beauty. Falling snow and images of flowers and feathers reappear through the pages as motifs of Pavlova's childhood, her passion for dance, and her too-young death. Young ballet lovers will be smitten with the story. (author's note, bibliography, quotation sources) (Picture book/biography. 6-9)
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"Snyder, Laurel: SWAN." Kirkus Reviews, 1 May 2015. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A411371453/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=33b719fd. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
When Green Becomes Tomatoes. By Julie Fogliano. Illus. by Julie Morstad. Mar. 2016. 56p. Roaring Brook/Neal Porter, $18.99 (9781596438521). 811. Gr. 1-4.
This slim book provides a nuanced look at a familiar theme: poetry for the seasons. Taking a diary-like approach, the text begins and ends with the spring equinox, offering poems for different days throughout the year. A bluebird's song starts things off, "poking / a tiny hole / through the edge of winter / and landing carefully / balancing gently / on the tip of spring." Verse by verse, day by day, the snow melts, April showers fall, magnolias bloom, berries ripen, warm rivers beckon swimmers, fireflies twinkle, a new school year starts, leaves turn, and winter returns. The poems stand on their own as solidly as they connect to each other, inviting multiple readings to experience the details. Fogliano's (If You Want to See a Whale, 2013) descriptions are laden with imagery, evoking the sensations felt by a change in temperature or the flavor of a blueberry. Complementing the poems are Morstad's gouache and pencil-crayon illustrations, which range from effectively simple (a firefly glowing in the dark) to tantalizingly detailed (spot the inchworm or the ladybug in the shrubs). A multiracial cast of children relishing the delights of the seasons adds to this title's appeal. Pair with Paul B. Janeczko's Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems (2014) for another poetic look at the seasons. --Amina Chaudhri
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 American Library Association
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Chaudhri, Amina. "When Green Becomes Tomatoes." Booklist, vol. 112, no. 8, 15 Dec. 2015, pp. 41+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A439362632/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a2ae08a0. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons
by Julie Fogliano; illus. by Julie Morstad
Primary, Intermediate Porter/Roaring Brook 56 pp.
3/16 978-1-59643-852-1 $18.99
This collection of nearly fifty seasonal poems begins and ends on "march 20" with a blue bird on a flowering tree branch. The poem is the same each time, too: "from a snow-covered tree/ one bird singing/each tweet poking/a tiny hole/through the edge of winter/ and landing carefully/balancing gently /on the tip of spring." A little girl appears wearing the same boots, hat, and warm cozy sweater (different gloves; those always get lost!) to observe the coming spring. The girl, with straight black hair, dark eyes, and brown skin, is in most of the pictures, sometimes with other children, almost always interacting with nature. In summer she goes to the beach and appreciates the joys of a sandy picnic ("nothing in the world/ could possibly be more delicious/ than those plums/and those peanut butter sandwiches/a little bit salty/ and warm from the sun"); makes a leaf pile in October ("because they know/ they cannot stay/they fade and fall/ then blow away"); and imagines herself as a snowflake. Morstad's gouache and pencil crayon pictures and Fogliano's poetry are delicately precise, gracefully and economically expressed, and filled with the wonder of genuine childhood experience untainted by sentimentality.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Lempke, Susan Dove. "When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 92, no. 2, Mar.-Apr. 2016, p. 103. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A445751493/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=91db85be. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
SKIBSRUD, Johanna, and Sarah Blacker
Sometimes We Think You are a Monkey [P]
Illustrated by Julie Morstad. Puffin Books,
2015. Unp. Illus. Gr. Preschool--K. 978-0670-06712-1. Hdbk. $19.99
Julie Morstad's illustrations in Sometimes We Think You are a Monkey are delightful, the textured patterns of colour ranging from soft and welcoming to dramatically active. The main text on the pages--outlined letters filled with stripes, in complementary colours--invites the reader to engage with the images and the story. There is no plot, and none required; rather, the adult narrators (obviously two parents) almost teasingly point out the number of different creatures they think the child listener might be, turning the page to reveal each animal and a sweet and valid comparison. We can almost hear the giggles of adults and child as they move through the list; monkey, bird, kit ten, butterfly, bunny, turtle, seal, owl, puppy ...
In the end, though, the narrators proclaim "You are a perfect new baby," and here is where I have a problem. The structure and intent are wonderful, but the disconnect between the age of the subject ("a perfect new baby") and the listener suggested by the diction (about a three-year-old) seems problematic. Three-year-olds, I think, are unlikely to be interested in the relationship between fictional parents and a new baby, especially when presented as "you." Children like to see themselves in the story; if the concept of Sometimes We Think You are a Monkey were adapted such that the "you" of the story were the same as the "you" being read to, this would be a far more successful book.
Thematic Links: Animals; Babies
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 Resource Links
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Huenemann, Karyn. "Skibsrud, Johanna, and Sarah Blacker: Sometimes We Think You are a Monkey." Resource Links, vol. 20, no. 5, June 2015, p. 8. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A421624336/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e7d7f3f1. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Sometimes We Think You Are a Monkey
Johanna Skibsrud and Sarah Blacker, authors
Julie Morstad, illustrator
Penguin Random House
320 Front Street West, Suite 1400, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 3B6
97800670067121, $17.99, www.penguinrandomhouse.ca
Imagine the most charming tribute to the wonder and miracle of a tiny new human being, and place that tribute in a context that includes a list of other beautiful baby animals: This is "Sometimes We Think You Are a Monkey." Page after page of tender, pastel portraits of puppies, kittens, turtles, butterflies, and even an owl and a baby seal all share similarities with the mysterious new baby creature. The sensitive illustrations have texture, expressiveness, and beautiful composition. One almost wishes that the baby could be a seal, or owl, or butterfly, or whatever the animal is. But every page's narrative ends with the refrain, "But you are not a (kitten, puppy, etc. etc.). Of course any parent and perhaps any child will know that the story is about a real human baby, but the gently suspenseful comparative portrait is hypnotic and reassuring in a lullaby fashion. The final page reveals an adorable pajama clad baby with gold and green rays streaming out like an earthly halo: "You are a perfect new baby more beautiful than we ever could have imagined, more wonderful than all of the animals in the kingdom." "Sometimes We Think You Are a Monkey" is an exquisite bedtime lullaby story for young children age infant to 4.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Midwest Book Review
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"Sometimes We Think You Are a Monkey." Children's Bookwatch, Oct. 2016. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A469849473/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=86a6e85a. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli. By Kyo Maclear. Illus. by Julie Morstad. Feb. 2018.40p. Harper, $17.99 (9780062447616). 746.9. K-Gr. 3.
With beautiful, richly colorful, and playful artwork nicely evoking the character of its subject, this lyrical biography of Elsa Schiaparelli offers picture-book readers an enlightening introduction to the wildly inventive and influential fashion designer. Beginning with her staid childhood, Maclear and Morstad draw a sharp comparison between her family, rendered in grays and browns, and the explosive colors of flowers Elsa preferred, which appear in bold pinks and reds, sometimes growing out of her skin. As she leaves the formality of the Italian aristocracy behind and strikes out on her own, her lively imagination and surreal sense of style eventually take the fashion world by storm, particularly when she invents her signature color, shocking pink, which (unshockingly) is heavily featured in the palette of the illustrations. Morstad's delicate watercolor illustrations do a great job of depicting Schiaparelli's designs, but subtle hints--pink flowers composed of dresses, shoes, and gloves, for instance--emphasize how Schiaparelli's view of the world shaped her artwork. Little ones who "dare to be different" will be inspired.--Sarah Hunter
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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Hunter, Sarah. "Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli." Booklist, vol. 114, no. 4, 15 Oct. 2017, pp. 44+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A512776187/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=5d7aad77. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Maclear, Kyo BLOOM Harper/HarperCollins (Children's Informational) $17.99 2, 6 ISBN: 978-0-06-244761-6
An exuberant fictionalized rendering of designer Elsa Schiaparelli's early life.
Maclear and Morstad (Julia, Child, 2014) again join forces, here exploring what sparked the firecracker of creativity in "Schiap" (pronounced "Skap"), an indomitable little white girl from Rome who went on to become one of the 20th century's most influential and radical fashion designers. Maclear's intimate, first-person, present-tense account begins with how the young Schiap internalized her parents' affection for her beautiful older sister and their palpable disappointment in their less-attractive second child. It centers on an episode made famous in Schiaparelli's autobiography--namely, when, around age 7, she was inspired to try to make herself more beautiful by planting flower seeds in her "ears, mouth, and nose" that then had to be removed by "two doctors." Says Schiap: "My plan flops, but a different kind of seed is planted... / ...a seed of wild imagination." Here, as throughout the story, Morstad's delicate, detailed mixed-media illustrations masterfully expand on the text, showing a full-page close-up of the doe-eyed Schiap's face dwarfed by a dazzling garland of flowers, some of which are pointedly colored in what the adult Schiaparelli would later re-create as "shocking pink," which set the 1931 fashion world "spin[ning] with panic and delight."
Not only a gorgeous portrayal of this 20th-century creative genius, but an empowering tale encouraging readers to "dare to be different." (author and illustrator's note, endnotes, bibliography) (Picture book. 4-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Maclear, Kyo: BLOOM." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2017, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A518491291/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c3d39f33. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
ROSENBERG, Liz
House of Dreams--The Life of L. M. Montgomery
Illustrated by Julie Morstad.
Candlewick Press, 2018. 352p. Illus. Gr. 6-10. 978-0-7636-6057-4. Hdbk. $19.99
(Reviewed from Advance Reading Copy)
L. M. Montgomery is the much loved author of Anne of Green Gables. Liz Rosenberg's biography, House of Dreams--The Life of L. M. Montgomery, examines the writer's childhood, lengthy writing career, struggles with depression, and difficult married life. Using information from the writer's personal journals, Rosenberg reveals Lucy's emotional struggles and shocking details about her final days.
Lucy Maud Montgomery was born and raised in Prince Edward Island. She was very proud of her island heritage, and it became a prominent feature in her most famous novel, Anne of Green Gables, as well as many subsequent novels. She was raised in Cavendish by her maternal grandparents who were reclusive and stern; however, her grandmother provided both moral and financial support for Lucy for many years. After her grandmother's death, Lucy married the fragile Presbyterian minister, Ewan Macdonald, and moved to Ontario. Lucy's life was full of both great literary success, and emotional turmoil. She was raised as a lonely only child, but enjoyed wonderful friendships with her cousins and her schoolmates. Eventually, Lucy became a teacher, but her real passion was writing. Anne of Green Gables was her first novel published by L.C. Page publishing company in Boston. Although it brought her great fame, the publisher took advantage of her lack of experience and gave her a very low royalty for her work. She eventually sued him to free herself from the unfair contract. As her writing career progressed, so did Lucy's bouts of depression. Her marriage was turbulent. Her husband suffered from mental breakdowns, and their oldest child, Chester, was a continual concern for Lucy. The family bought a house in Toronto where she died, but it was not until 2008, that her family released the details of her final days. Liz Rosenberg's text is full of interesting details about the life of a Canadian literary icon. Julie Morstad's black and white line drawings at the beginning of each chapter are intricate and detailed, showing the isolation of a worldrenowned writer struggling with depression, throughout her life. Readers will be shocked by the details of Montgomery's final days. Lucy was famous and popular, but she faced a personal life full of anguish and disappointment in her imaginary "house of dreams."
Thematic Links: Biography; Writing Process; Publishing; Family Relationships; Marriage; Friendship; Depression; Suicide
Myra Junyk
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Resource Links
http://www.atcl.ca
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Junyk, Myra. "ROSENBERG, Liz: House of Dreams--The Life of L.M. Montgomery." Resource Links, vol. 23, no. 5, June 2018, pp. 22+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A547267531/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=58cb8605. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Andros, Camille THE DRESS AND THE GIRL Abrams (Children's Fiction) $17.99 8, 7 ISBN: 978-1-4197-3161-7
Around the turn of the last century, a Greek village girl wears her beloved red dress as she goes about her daily life only to be separated from it when the family emigrates.
The child and her dress lead a seemingly idyllic, nature-filled life under blue skies, among whitewashed buildings, but they long for adventure. For unexplained reasons, the family boards a ship, where girl and dress play and go to school as before, details that subtly convey the length of the passage. Upon arrival at Ellis Island, the family is separated from the trunk in which the dress is now packed. The trunk, unclaimed, circles the globe in search of its rightful owners, eventually landing in a secondhand shop. Now grown, the girl spots her dress in the window and buys it for her own daughter. Morstad's (House of Dreams, 2018, etc.) clean illustrations expertly evoke the era through a nostalgic color palette and the (unnamed) locations through carefully chosen details. The opening and closing spreads echo each other, reinforcing the theme of connection. Immigrant stories are perennially relevant, and the rarely seen 20th-century Greek setting is refreshing. However, the dress--while attributed human feelings--never generates enough emotion to create dramatic tension, and readers are not shown the impact on the family of starting a new life without most of their worldly possessions.
A gentle tale well-suited for family-history and creative-writing units. (Picture book. 4-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Andros, Camille: THE DRESS AND THE GIRL." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2018. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A543008958/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=87e1d91f. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Rosenberg, Liz, and Julie Morstad. House of Dreams: The Life of L.M. Montgomery. Candlewick, June 2018. 352p. $17.99. 9780-7636-6057-4. Table of Contents. Timeline. Source Notes. Biblio. Illus.
4Q * IP * J * S * NA
This detailed biography of the beloved writer of Anne of Green Gables, Maud Montgomery, is well researched and filled with information from Montgomery's own journals and diaries. As a child, Maud loved stories, books, and pretending. She was a lonely girl raised by stern, elderly grandparents. Deeply religious and die-hard "homebodies," her grandparents rarely ventured outside their home. Lonely, Maud began naming everything in and around the house, even naming trees Little Syrup and Monarch of the Forest. Imaginative and playful, Maud began to think of writing stories of her own. Because she was an orphan, Maud was treated as a "charity case" when she began to attend school, even by her peers. The author describes her childhood as being "heart hungry." This revealing biography, which makes abundant use of Montgomery's own words, details her marriage and describes her children, as well as the loss of her second child.
For decades, little has been known about Montgomery, except for her birthplace on Prince Edward Island and her pen name, M.L. Montgomery. The dedicated research of Rosenberg provides young readers with a well-rounded biography of an iconic author. This is recommended for large collections and magnet schools for fine arts. --Pamela Thompson.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
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Thompson, Pamela. "Rosenberg, Liz, and Julie Morstad. House of Dreams: The Life of L.M. Montgomery." Voice of Youth Advocates, vol. 41, no. 2, June 2018, p. 79. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A545022990/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=41ac440c. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
The Dress and the Girl
Camille Andros, author
Julie Morstad, illustrator
Abrams
195 Broadway, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10007
www.abramsyoungreaders.com
9781419731617, $17.99, HC, 40pp, www.amazon.com
A little girl and her favorite dress dream of an extraordinary life. They enjoy simple pleasures together on a beautiful Greek island. They watch the sunset, do chores, and pick wildflowers on the way home. One day, the dress and the girl must leave the island and immigrate to the United States. Upon arrival, the girl is separated from the trunk carrying her favorite dress, and she fears her dress is lost forever. Many years later, the girl (now all grown up) spots the dress in a thrift store window. As the two are finally reunited, the memories of their times together come flooding back. While the girl can no longer wear the dress, it's now perfect for her own daughter - - and the new journey of a girl and her dress begins. Featuring lush illustrations created by the artistry of Julie Morstad, "The Dress and the Girl" is a simply stunning picture book by Camille Andros about memory and the power of the items we hold most dear. While unreservedly recommended for family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library collections for children ages 4 to 8, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Dress and the Girl" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/index.htm
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Andros, Camille. "The Dress and the Girl." Children's Bookwatch, Oct. 2018. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A562049998/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=5d62914d. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way. By Kyo Maclear. Illus. by Julie Morstad. Oct. 2019.48p. Harper, $17.99 (9780062447623). K-Gr. 3. 305.
Growing up in a Japanese American family in California, Gyo Fujikawa enjoyed drawing. Each day, "she started with an empty white page ... and filled it with pictures." Though lonely at her first school, she found friends after her family moved to an island where many Japanese Americans lived. She studied art in college, traveled to Japan, and worked for Disney Studios in New York before beginning her freelance career as an artist and picturebook illustrator. Disheartened during WWII, when her family was sent to an internment camp, she continued working. Beginning with Babies (1963), her first racially inclusive picture book, she insisted that children shouldn't be segregated on the page, and she prevailed. An appended note provides information on Fujikawa's career, her passion for social justice, and her role as a trailblazer. Written and illustrated with clean, spare lines, the book reveals emotions in an understated manner. When her family was interned, the text includes phrases such as "no pictures would come" and "her heart would not mend." In the artwork, created with liquid watercolor, gouache, and pencil crayons, Morstad uses line, color, and texture with finesse. This beautiful biography offers a fitting tribute to an artist with a lasting legacy in American picture books.--Carolyn Phekn
Phelan, Carolyn
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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Phelan, Carolyn. "It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way." Booklist, vol. 116, no. 4, 15 Oct. 2019, p. 52. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A604896050/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f67618b9. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way
by Kyo Maclear; illus. by Julie Morstad
Primary Harper/HarperCollins 48 pp.
10/19 978-0-06-244762-3 $17.99
"In early 1960s America, a country with laws that separated people by skin color," Japanese American artist Gyo Fujikawa (1908-1998) helped break the color barrier in picture books with her now-classic Babies. Author Maclear lucidly outlines a remarkable life of art and creativity, of struggle and perseverance. Growing up in California, Fujikawa excelled at drawing but "sometimes still felt invisible among her mostly white classmates." This feeling of isolation would continue into adulthood and an art career in New York City, and especially during WWII when her West Coast-based family was incarcerated in internment camps. The telling makes smooth transitions between stages in Fujikawa's life, culminating in the publication of Babies in 1963: "At the library and bookshop, it was the same old stories ... a world of only white children. Gyo knew a book could hold and do more." Morstad's illustrations--in liquid watercolor, gouache, and pencil crayons--effectively vary in style and coloring to match events. In a WWII scene, a simple black line drawing shows the Fujikawa family looking fearful before an armed guard. During scenes of Babies's creation, the art capably mimics Fujikawa's own, with a diverse cast of frolicsome tots dotting an open layout, "welcoming kids in from the edges, from the corners, from the shadows." An appendix includes a photo-illustrated timeline, notes, and sources.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
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Hedeen, Katrina. "It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 95, no. 6, Nov.-Dec. 2019, pp. 115+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A610418946/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f5044aa0. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Novesky, Amy GIRL ON A MOTORCYCLE Viking (Children's None) $17.99 9, 8 ISBN: 978-0-593-11629-6
“She dreams of wandering the world.”
Striking, light-filled illustrations with the look of mid-20th-century monotone prints and informative, evocative text tell the true story of Anne-France Dautheville, a White journalist who left her home in Paris in 1972 to embark on a decadelong, international motorcycle journey that she depicted in a series of articles and memoirs. While her writing is mentioned, the focus here is on the travels themselves, told with realistic, dreamlike detail from the perspective of a lone woman imbued with a sense of awe and freedom. Obstacles involving falls from and repairs of her bike are included, and the surprise and respect she received from girls along the way help depict the view and position of women during the time period. The use of the word girl in the title is a misnomer as Dautheville was 28 when she began her travels, though this may be a translation issue (the title echoes that of Dautheville’s 1973 memoir, Une demoiselle sur une moto); more disappointing is the use of the word girl throughout the book, from both a feminist perspective and a factual one. Still, word choice aside, this is an exhilarating story of an independent Frenchwoman who challenged prevailing beliefs to follow her heart, to travel, and to observe and describe different cultures and countries (Canada, India, and Afghanistan are highlighted) from a unique, outsider’s point of view. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 67.8% of actual size.)
A poetic, visually stunning depiction of a young woman’s travels via motorcycle with dated descriptors. (biographical note, author’s note) (Picture book/biography. 6-10)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Novesky, Amy: GIRL ON A MOTORCYCLE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Aug. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A632285469/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=eb1379a9. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Girl on a Motorcycle
by Amy Novesky; illus. by Julie Morstad
Primary, Intermediate Viking 48 pp. g
9/20 978-0-593-1 1629-6 ? 17.99
e-book ed. 978-0-593-11630-2 $ 10.99
This picture-book biography of the first woman to complete a solo motorcycle trip around the world begins in 1973 Paris. Wishing to see and write about "Elsewhere," the titular "girl" (French journalist Anne-France Dautheville, unnamed until the back matter) flies with her motorcycle to Montreal. From there, she rides to Anchorage; flies to Tokyo and then Bombay; rides until her bike breaks down and then takes a train to Delhi; and so on until, tens of thousands of miles and four months later, she returns to Paris. Novesky's lyrical text, frill of lush sensory detail, emphasizes the character's wonder but also her determination: "Ribbons of dust unfurl behind her. Dirt stings her eyes. Sun burns her skin. Air vibrates with heat, she falls often ... But she always gets back up." The retro 1970s palette and travel-poster aesthetic of Morstad's pencil, ink, and digital illustrations capture the very different types of beauty the motorcyclist encounters in bustling cities, welcoming villages, and wide-open landscapes. One particularly breathtaking spread portrays the womans small form floating in a luminous teal pool far below the vast, jewel-toned swirls of the aurora borealis. Based on Dauthevilles own writings (especially Une demoiselle sur une moto, 1973), this is a lovely tribute to both the pioneering motorcyclist and the joys of the open road.
g indicates that the book was read in galley or page proof. The publisher's price is the suggested retail price and does not indicate a possible discount to libraries. Grade levels are only suggestions; the individual child is the real criterion.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
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Bircher, Katie. "Girl on a Motorcycle." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 96, no. 6, Nov.-Dec. 2020, p. 128. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A641263799/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9c659253. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Morstad, Julie TIME IS A FLOWER Tundra Books (Children's None) $18.99 9, 21 ISBN: 978-0-7352-6754-1
A series of thoughtful metaphors and diverse characters takes viewers through the manifold dimensions of time.
In how to (2013), Morstad playfully portrays concepts both invisible (the breeze, bravery) and discernible (washing socks). In this companion volume, she tackles time. Like a spiderweb, time is difficult to see; like cut hair, it disappears after growth. Minutes move slowly at school and speed by as a wave knocks over a sand castle. Morstad’s lyrical language is perfectly paced: “Time is a song. / Dancing you quick!” These lines are paired with three solitary figures in dresses, each superimposed on itself several times in variations of movement and tonality. Across the gutter, the text reads: “Or pulling you, / long and stretching, / slow and low, / to the sound of a cello.” Here a Black child is shown in an interlocking sequence of nine steps, each iteration contributing to a rainbow effect. Assorted colors (with a cheerful magenta playing a prominent role), sizes, and patterns create visual pleasure and make the abstract concrete, while solid, spacious backgrounds prompt contemplation. The spread showing that “Time is a sunbeam…” contrasts a sleeping cat in the warm shadows cast by plants at a sunlit window with the facing page’s black silhouettes and a repositioned animal absorbing changed light.
This exuberant vehicle will expand the thinking of those just beginning to comprehend clocks and calendars. (Picture book. 4-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Morstad, Julie: TIME IS A FLOWER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A668237605/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e92eb4e4. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Time Is a Flower. By Julie Morstad. Illus. by the author. Sept. 2021. 56p. Tundra, $18.99 (9780735267541). PreS-Gr. 2.
Time is a difficult concept to explain, but Morstad uses a variety of apt descriptions and illustrations to define it in a manner comprehensible to children. Beginning with "Time is a seed. Sleeping, waiting in the dark," the author/illustrator shows a plant progressing through the life cycle from seed to flower, then demonstrates how the loss of its petals signals the end of its life. She elucidates how time can seem to move slowly, as when a spider weaves its web, when preparing and baking a deliciously anticipated loaf of bread, or when waiting for the school day to end or enduring a time-out. Other times it can feel that time advances more swiftly, as when the earth rotates and shadows change shape and length, or when the progression of a sunset becomes visible. Two pages of Norman Rockwellesque illustrations portray faces in stages of transition from childhood to adult as time moves on. Over displays of the passages of time, caterpillars become butterflies and mountains break down to become small rocks. Time can be frozen when captured by a camera, but otherwise it moves inexorably on. The clever illustrations are done in pencil, markers, colored inks, and pastels with digital assistance. The pictures change in shape, sizes, and colors, creating a fascinating way to think about the passage of time. --Maryann Owen
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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Owen, Maryann. "Time Is a Flower." Booklist, vol. 118, no. 1, 1 Sept. 2021, p. 84. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A675268210/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=3dc7271d. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
DiCamillo, Kate THE PUPPETS OF SPELHORST Candlewick (Children's None) $17.99 10, 10 ISBN: 9781536216752
Puppets yearn for greater things.
In a toy store, a lonely old sea captain named Spelhorst spies a puppet who reminds him of a lost love. He tries to buy her but is told he must purchase the full set--a king, a wolf, an owl, and a boy--as these puppets "are in a story." The captain agrees, and that night, he mourns and writes a mysterious letter before dying in his sleep. Sold by the rag-and-bone man, the puppets eventually find their way to two sisters. While the older sister begins writing a play for the puppets, misadventures befall them; each engaging escapade is relevant to the story arc of the puppet in question. For instance, some of the wolf's teeth are yanked out by the younger sister, and after the maid tosses the puppet out, a fox absconds with her--the first devastates the wolf, as her teeth were her pride, yet traveling through the wild woods fulfills her deepest wish. Gentle tension builds as the puppets wonder if they will be reunited. After exploring their desires and identities, the recovered puppets put on the older sister's play, a story that, though she couldn't have known it, has beautiful symmetry with the puppets' adventures. Theatrical language prevents the parallels from becoming too heavy-handed. The vaguely Victorian characters present white in charming drawings that set the mood.
A quiet, comforting fable of identity and belonging. (Fantasy. 7-10)
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"DiCamillo, Kate: THE PUPPETS OF SPELHORST." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2023, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A762668834/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=fab38ec5. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
IN THIS ISSUE / BOOK OF THE WEEK
The Puppets of Spelhorst
by Kate DiCamillo.
Illustrated by Julie Morstad
(Walker Books)
A king, a wolf, a boy, a girl and an owl. These five puppets are shut up in an old trunk by a sea captain with a secret. The puppets bicker, they boast, comfort each other – and dream of the freedom and adventure they hope might await them. Before long, a series of unexpected events takes them on a journey from the old man’s bedside, to the cart of a musical rag-and-bone man, to the claws of a bird and the den of a fox. At last, they find themselves in the home of two sisters, who have ambitious plans for them. The first book in the Norendy Tales series, this clever, charming fairy tale has beautiful black-and-white pencil illustrations by artist Julie Morstad. Full of warmth and wisdom, it makes a wonderful story to read aloud, to give as a present, or to enjoy sharing with your family.
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Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 The Week Junior
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"The Puppets of Spelhorst." The Week Junior, 2 Dec. 2023, p. 22. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A775418923/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=25d25138. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
A Rose, a Bridge, and a Wild Black Horse
Charlotte Zolotow, illus. by Julie Morstad.
Cameron, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-951836-74-0
In a palette of sunset pink, orange, and lilac, Morstad (The Puppets of Spelhorst) creates new illustrations for this creation by the late Zolotow (William's Doll), reenvisioned by Crescent Dragonwagon as a string of extravagant promises made by a girl to her mother. Portrayed with black hair and skin that generally reflects the white of the page, the two snuggle on a blanket, the child gazing at her parent with love. "When I'm grown up," the younger announces, "I'll break rocks in half for you with my bare hands." Morstad draws the girl, now older, in a martial arts-style pose, her eyes closed as a large geode near her cracks open. Her plans range from the epic ("I'll climb mountains and bring you a stone from the top") to the mundane ("I will do all your arithmetic for you"). On another page, "I'll fight anyone you don't like and win" becomes an act of peacemaking as the girl offers a shadowy monster a cup of tea. The girl's final promise imagines a day of leave-taking, but, she vows, she will leave her mother with a friend; it's an expression of boundless love that has lost none of its fresh specificity--a freshness that's reflected in the new illustrations, too. An afterword adds biographical context. Ages 5-7. Author's agent: Edite Kroll, Edite Kroll Literary. Illustrator's agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Jr./Folio Literary. (Mar.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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van Beek, Emily, and Edite Kroll. "A Rose, a Bridge, and a Wild Black Horse." Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 1, 8 Jan. 2024, pp. 44+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A781166317/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=87505116. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Zolotow, Charlotte A ROSE, A BRIDGE, AND A WILD BLACK HORSE Cameron Kids (Children's None) $18.99 3, 26 ISBN: 9781951836740
The late Zolotow's 1964 classic is stylishly updated by her daughter (author Dragonwagon) and illustrator Morstad.
"Guess what I'll do," a girl tells her mother. As the mother reclines on a picnic blanket, observing her daughter, the child proposes a range of activities: "I will do all your arithmetic for you." "I'll fight anyone you don't like and win." "I'll capture a wild black horse and tame him for you to ride." "I'll pick the pinkest rose for you to smell." The original edition centered on an older brother talking to his younger sister. Changing the characters to a mother and child gives the book a special poignancy, particularly when it ends with, "I'll leave you a friend to keep you company, while I explore the world." Morstad's black-eyed heroines often appear expressionless, as when the girl states, "I'll build you a bridge that is bigger than any bridge in the world," and the two stand back-to-back, their faces unsmiling. Yet by and large, there is real affection between these characters. Morstad even incorporates some mixed media, amusingly utilized when the girl breaks whole rocks apart for her mom. The result is a deep and abiding love that still acknowledges that someday the child must depart. Dragonwagon's afterword ties the book's mother-daughter connections together further. The characters have paper-white skin.
Themes of familial ties and inevitable separation make for a marvelous reinterpretation of a beloved picture book. (Picture book. 4-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Zolotow, Charlotte: A ROSE, A BRIDGE, AND A WILD BLACK HORSE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A782202732/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e3b801e1. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
A Face Is a Poem
Julie Morstad. Tundra, $18.99 (48p)
ISBN 978-0-7352-6756-5
In delicate digitally finished multimedia drawings, Morstad (A Rose, a Bridge, and a Wild Black Horse) meditates on faces--as seen in crowds, clouds, and elsewhere ("Even a potato/ has eyes!"). Each detail draws the viewer in: "The soft and smooth/ or crinkly skin,/ the just-so nose,// the delicate/ scratchy hairs/ and all those/ one-of-a-kind-marks." Images blend the real and the dreamlike, sometimes in black-and-white, sometimes in gently tinted wash. On one page, a group of people examines a huge sculpture of a head; on another, a starry constellation makes up a visage ("A face is a poem/ with all the parts put together,/ adding up to someone/ you love"). A grid of thumbnail-like portraits depicts beings young and old from arrayed angles--gazing up two nostrils, looking closely at a pair of lips. Other pages imagine faces traded ("to see through someone else's eyes") and survey expressions and imaginative features. "A face is to love," concludes this unte-thered session of wondering, a look at the way bodies and countenances can change and endure. Individuals are portrayed with various abilities and skin tones. Ages 3-7. (Sept.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 PWxyz, LLC
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"A Face Is a Poem." Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 23, 10 June 2024, p. 85. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A800405317/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=7c8e9261. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.
Morstad, Julie A FACE IS A POEM Tundra Books (Children's None) $18.99 9, 24 ISBN: 9780735267565
An ode to the visage.
"Have you ever stopped and looked, / really looked / at a face?" This spacious text offers many opportunities. Various human and a few nonhuman faces with different skin tones, shapes, and features are splayed across the pages in black and white and in color. Some look out head-on; others are sideways or tilted back. The faces are portrayed in crowds and alone, talking and silent, boxed in and expansive, even scattered across the stars. Morstad's whimsical art evokes cubism and surrealism, while her spare narration poses questions and muses in aphorisms. "A face is a poem / with all the parts put together, / adding up to someone / you love." Each face presents a character, and Morstad has taken care to depict a diversity of ages and identities. This poetic exploration unfolds in a loving and inventive way, inviting thoughtful appreciation and conversation. Vibrant depictions of flowers and butterflies add elegant texture, underlining the idea that faces are part of a larger, wondrous world. A full-bleed spread showing dozens of kids with different expressions in auditorium-style seating feels particularly vivid. The final illustration, depicting adults kissing a baby, all with warm, richly rendered complexions, ends the journey of discovery on an intimate note.
Certain to speak to young hearts and minds.(Picture book. 2-6)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Morstad, Julie: A FACE IS A POEM." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A801499622/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e07f457e. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.