SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: Frostfire
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.theaterclouds.com/
CITY: Owen Sound
STATE:
COUNTRY: Canada
NATIONALITY: Canadian
LAST VOLUME: SATA 378
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Canada; daughter of Steve and Joan Irvine; married Simon MacKay (a woodworker); children: Lily, Koen.
EDUCATION:Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, B.F.A.; Nipissing University, B.Ed.; attended University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Paper artist and author.
MEMBER:Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators & Performers.
AWARDS:Ontario Arts Council grant; Blue Spruce Award nomination, Ontario Library Association, 2014, for If You Hold a Seed.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
The daughter of artists, Elly MacKay was encouraged to express herself creatively from a young age. MacKay was only sixteen years old when she traveled from her native Canada to the United States with her mother, artist Joan Irvine, to attend a meeting of papercrafters. She became fascinated with different forms and techniques, especially Victorian tunnel books (which use an accordion-like structure) and started crafting her own. “I think the biggest influence on my work still comes from the Victorian paper arts I loved as a kid,” MacKay said in an interview appearing on the Writing and Illustrating website. “I was wondering why lighting is such an important part of my work too. It is a bit of an obsession … and I think it is because I grew up in an old converted church. I loved how the shadows of leaves looked behind the green glass windows and how the coloured light filled a room. I started exploring that in tunnel books as a kid. Now, it is the first thing I consider since it sets the atmosphere.”
MacKay “found her popularity selling prints of her vibrant and whimsical paper scenes on her Etsy shop, Theatre Clouds,” explained Ruth Ellen Parlour in an interview with the artist on Parlour’s website. “Both her parents were craft makers and so it felt like a natural progression from her childhood growing up in an old church on the shores of Georgian Bay.”
After her first child was born, MacKay began staging paper scenes within the homemade “theater” her woodworker husband made for her, playing with lighting and camera angles to perfect her images. She began selling the resulting photographs and soon had an idea for her first children’s book, If You Hold a Seed.
Published in 2013, If You Hold a Seed opens with a young boy planting a tree seed; the two grow together until the mature tree shelters the adult man and he shows a seed to his own child. “Glowing paper dioramas are the heart and soul of MacKay’s debut,” a Publishers Weekly writer observed, highlighting how the artist’s “patterned and diaphanous papers add depth and texture” to the story. While finding the text “ambiguous,” a Kirkus Reviews critic observed that MacKay’s artwork demonstrates an “unusual sensitivity to effects of color and light.” In School Library Journal, Roxanne Burg dubbed If You Hold a Seed a “dreamy” work that “will be suitable for quiet one-on-one sharing or perhaps as a bedtime selection,” while Quill & Quire reviewer Gwyneth Evans concluded that “each page promises many rewards through repeated viewings, and the book seems destined to become a classic.”
Discussing the development of her unique form of picture-book art, MacKay told Rob Gowan of Ontario’s Owen Sound Sun Times online that “it is constantly changing and I am discovering new things I can do with the theatre.” She enjoys creating for children, she told Gowan, because “when we are shaping our reality as children, myths and stories and fairy tales blend with reality to create this sort of other-worldly place.”
MacKay’s talents as a paper artist, critics agree, are in full display in Waltz of the Snowflakes. The story is set in the holiday season, when a grandmother and granddaughter venture out into the rain to see a performance of the ballet The Nutcracker. The girl is initially reluctant. The bad weather and uncomfortable formal clothes suggest that the performance will be more of a burden than a delight. While watching the dancers, however, the little girl becomes caught up in the magic of the story, and at the ballet’s end she—and her seat neighbor, the little boy who teased her in the lobby before the performance—applaud with enthusiasm. The protagonist “becomes more than a passive observer,” stated a Publishers Weekly reviewer, “and is never quite the same again.”
Critics praised Waltz of the Snowflakes enthusiastically. “A must-have for any ballet and theater-obsessed young reader,” said a Children’s Bookwatch reviewer, MacKay’s treatment of the classic Tchaikovsky ballet “is the picture book to be shared during the holidays.” “Every page in this wordless story is a surprise,” wrote Booklist reviewer Maryann Owen. “The pictures fluctuate in size and position.” “Bright backlighting makes MacKay’s paper-cut artwork look tangible,” observed Joanna Fabicon in School Library Journal, “as if readers could peel the figures from the book and bring them to life.” “In MacKay’s trademark cutpaper dioramas,” concluded a Kirkus Reviews contributor, “children can imagine themselves seated in the theater and dancing on the stage.”
Comprised of twenty-three rhyming couplets, Red Sky at Night showcases the many changes in weather that a grandfather and two children experience on a fishing trip. Discussing the work with Patricia Oldroyd on the Read Marmalade website, Mackay explained, “I was playing with these old weather sayings. I found them so interesting and the science behind them too.” The titular “red sky at night, sailor’s delight” begins the book as the group sets out early in the morning to go on their trip. As the trio swims, fishes, and camps out on a nearby island, the rhyming couplets narrate the coming changes in the weather. With the couplet “ring around the moon, rain will come soon” the three set out for home to beat a fast approaching storm. On their way home, ominous signs abound that the coming storm will be anything but pleasant. Kay Weisman commented on the artwork in Red Sky at Night in a review in Booklist stating, “The pleasing artwork is comprised of cut paper and ink figures, photographed on a miniature stage, creating a 3-D effect.” Mavis Holder, reviewing the book in Resource Links, noted, “Elly Mackay is a paper artist and the illustrations tell a story that is not in the text and could be the inspiration for many art projects.”
In Hidden Treasure, a girl, her father, and their dog set out for a day at the beach. While at the beach, the girl searches for treasure, though not the type pirates hide beneath an X. She is on the hunt for shells, stones, and feathers—any intriguing items she may come across. Each discovery is handled with care before the girl picks through them to decide which ones to keep. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews said the work “beautifully captures the thrill of finding natural treasures.” Lucinda Whitehurst called Hidden Treasure a “sweet tale” in her review in Booklist. In an interview on the Writing and Illustrating website, MacKay proclaimed, “I want to be making things still when I am an old woman. I want to have a shelf full of books to share with my grandkids. I want to be proud of the books. I guess, the big one is that I want to connect with people—kids and adults. I hope that they will find something in what I am doing that speaks to them or that they enjoy.”
MacKay has also illustrated numerous works by other authors. In Kallie George’s book The Secret Fawn, one day a little girl comes downstairs in the morning only to learn that she has just missed the sighting of a deer. She bemoans that she always misses everything and shuffles outside to see if she can catch a glimpse of the deer. Outside she spies a brown dog and overhears the sound of a squirrel, but alas no deer is in sight. After sitting quietly for a spell, the little girl meets the gaze of a fawn. The pair look inquisitively at one another before the fawn rises to its feet and leaves to find its mother. When the little girl is back inside, her mother asks if she had seen the deer, to which the girl responds she has not. She saw the fawn and decides to keep their shared moment to herself. “MacKay creates unusual, luminous effects using inks, layers of cut papers, and lighting,” wrote Carolyn Phelan in Booklist. In Kirkus Reviews a contributor called The Secret Fawn “sweet and pretty for bedtime or naptime’and validating to little ones all the time.”
[OPEN NEW]
After illustrating the works of other artists, including picture books I Am a Meadow Mermaid and The Enchanted Symphony, MacKay returned to illustrating her own stories with Frostfire. The narrative features siblings Miriam and Celeste, who are portrayed as two foxes walking on a snowy day. Miriam is the older of the two, and she is convinced she knows all there is to know about dragons. Every question that Celeste asks, Miriam has an answer for. After Celeste wanders off on her own, however, she has an adventure that changes everything. MacKay uses her paper art to create gorgeous mixed-media illustrations. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews thoroughly enjoyed this journey, calling it as “contemplative and lovely as a walk in the snow.” They described the illustrations as “whimsical” and filled with “dreamy colors.” They particularly recommended the book for a winter day that is not centered on a particular holiday.
[CLOSE NEW]
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, October 1, 2017, Maryann Owen, review of Waltz of the Snowflakes, p. 89; April 15, 2018, Kay Weisman, review of Red Sky at Night, p. 57; January 1, 2021, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Secret Fawn, p. 82; June 1, 2021, Lucinda Whitehurst, review of Hidden Treasure, p. 89; January 1, 2023, Carolyn Phelan, review of Zap! Clap! Boom!: The Story of a Thunderstorm, p. 55; April 15, 2023, Carolyn Phelan, review of I Am a Meadow Mermaid, p. 58.
Children’s Bookwatch, May, 2016, review of Maya; October, 2016, review of Beach Baby; August, 2017, review of Waltz of the Snowflakes.
Horn Book, November-December, 2017, Katie Bircher, review of Waltz of the Snowflakes, p. 63.
Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2013, review of If You Hold a Seed; March 15, 2015, review of Butterfly Park; February 15, 2016, review of Maya; September 1, 2017, review of Waltz of the Snowflakes; February 15, 2019, review of The Tallest Treehouse; December 1, 2020, review of The Secret Fawn; May 1, 2021, review of Hidden Treasure; August 1, 2023, review of The Enchanted Symphony; August 15, 2024, review of Frostfire.
Publishers Weekly, January 7, 2013, review of If You Hold a Seed, p. 60; March 9, 2015, review of Butterfly Park, p. 71; December 2, 2016, review of Beach Baby, p. 56; September 4, 2017, review of Waltz of the Snowflakes, p. 98; October 10, 2022, review of Too Early, p. 74.
Quill & Quire, March, 2013, Gwyneth Evans review of If You Hold a Seed.
Resource Links, April, 2016, Sharon Armstrong, review of Beach Baby, p. 5; April, 2018, Mavis Holder, review of Red Sky at Night, p. 8.
School Library Journal, April, 2013, Roxanne Burg, review of If You Hold a Seed, p. 136; July, 2015, Heidi Estrin, review of Butterfly Park, p. 64; March, 2016, Gwen Collier, review of Beach Baby, p. 99; May, 2016, Jasmine L. Precopio, review of Maya, p. 79; June, 2016, Jill Heritage Maza, review of A Most Magical Girl, p. 93; October, 2017, Joanna Fabicon, review of Waltz of the Snowflakes, p. 67.
Skipping Stones, October-December, 2017, review of Butterfly Park, p. 33.
ONLINE
Elly MacKay website, https://www.theaterclouds.com (February 10, 2025).
Owen Sound Sun Times, http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/ (October 30, 2012), Rob Gowan, interview with MacKay.
Read Marmalade, https://readmarmalade.com/ (September 7, 2018), Patricia Oldroyd, author interview.
Rrampt, https://www.rrampt.com/ (February 10, 2025), author interview.
Ruth Ellen Parlour, http://ruthellenparlour.com/ (December 2, 2015), Ruth Ellen Parlour, “Author Spotlight and Interview: Elly MacKay.”
Weekend Edition Saturday, NPR, https://www.npr.org/ (September 23, 2023), Rachel Treisman and Samantha Balaban, “A Concert Audience of Houseplants? A New Kids’ Book Tells the Surprisingly True Tale.”
Writing and Illustrating, https://kathytemean.wordpress.com/ (September 17, 2016), “Illustrator Saturday: Elly MacKay.”*
Bio (from Frostfire)
Elly MacKay is an acclaimed paper artist and award-winning children’s bookmaker. She is the author and illustrator of a number of picture books, including In the Clouds and Red Sky at Night, and has illustrated, among others The Enchanted Symphony by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton and I A a Meadow Mermaid and The Secret Fawn by Kallie George. Before pursuing a career in picture books, she taught in schools and was an educator in galleries. Elly lives in the winter kingdom of Owen Sound, Ontario, where she and her family often search for snow dragons in the gardens and fields nearby.
Becoming a Paper Artist:
Elly grew up in a converted church in the countryside with artist parents, Steve and Joan Irvine. Joan wrote books such as How to Make Pop-Ups which introduced Elly to the world of paper art. As a teen, Elly and her mom took a train trip to meet members of the Movable Book Society. They gave her an informal education in papercraft and introduced her to Victorian optical toys, paper theatre and tunnel books. Elly began selling her paper sculptures at a gallery in Toronto called 1st Hand following the trip. She then went to NSCAD University in Halifax and The University of Canterbury in Christchurch for printmaking and illustration. Elly worked for a few years as an educator but after the birth of her first child, was longing to create paper art. Her husband Simon built her a paper theatre for Christmas in 2009. Since then, Elly has been creating miniature worlds out of paper, photographing them and using those photos as illustrations for children’s books.
Why an Artist?
I guess because I just love doing this. I have been making things since I was a little kid surrounded by artists, and I can’t imagine doing anything different.
I love creating, making, and always having a project on the go. I think that as artists we are reflecting back on the underlying narratives that are in our sight, but not necessarily seen, that bubble to the surface, and I like the feeling of tapping into some of these ideas.
I take these ideas floating around and explore them, I enjoy that with my art. I like connecting with other people and so creating my books is a way of connecting, not just with children but with their parents. I think creating picture books is a meeting place for parent and child. And it lets us understand more about ourselves particularity with the things I’m exploring.
I love nature; I love the sense of wonder when getting outside and finding interesting things, and I want to share that interest with others. Having my own children focused that in me. I started creating my books when my kids were really little; I wanted to connect with them in a way, telling them stories at night and some of those stories made their way into my books.
About Elly
Elly MacKay is an internationally recognized paper artist and children’s book author and illustrator. She grew up in a small converted brick church near Big Bay watching her parents, both artists, working and spending her days playing outside in the forest and fields. As a teen she sold her paper-cut-out books in a Toronto Gallery.
She attended NSCAD-U (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University) and The University of Canterbury, New Zealand with a focus on printmaking and illustration, and also has a Bachelor of Education from Nipissing University.
Elly taught both in schools and as an educator at galleries before pursuing a career in picture books. She has written and illustrated eight books with the release of In The Clouds this past April.
She while have illustrated four books with the release of Too Early, written by Laurie Purdie Salas, this fall. Elly’s art is also featured on the covers of Tundra’s classic editions of L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series. She has shown her paper art in solo exhibitions in Canada and the United States and has a permanent piece at the new Washington museum, Planet Word.
Her distinctive pieces are made using paper and ink, and then set into a miniature theatre and photographed, giving them their unique three-dimensional quality. Elly lives in Owen Sound, Ontario with her husband and two kids.
Words and photos by Willy Waterton
A concert audience of houseplants? A new kids' book tells the surprisingly true tale
September 23, 20238:17 AM ET
Heard on Weekend Edition Saturday
By
Rachel Treisman
,
Samantha Balaban
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Transcript
A string quartet played for a Barcelona opera house full of houseplants in the early days of the COVID pandemic. The houseplants that "attended" the Barcelona performance were donated afterward to hospital workers. The event has inspired a children's book called The Enchanted Symphony.
A string quartet played for a Barcelona opera house full of houseplants in the early days of the COVID pandemic. The houseplants that "attended" the Barcelona performance were donated afterward to hospital workers. The event has inspired a children's book called The Enchanted Symphony.
Illustrations © 2023 Elly MacKay
In the latest children's book from mother-daughter duo Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton, a village subdued by a mysterious purple fog finds joy again by serenading an audience of appreciative houseplants.
The protagonist is young Piccolino, whose father is the maestro of the town opera house. Even though the fog is keeping people at home, the pair continue cleaning the empty building. One day Piccolino tinkers with the piano, and notices that the drooping plants in the lobby seem to brighten at the sound of music.
So they embark on a mission, collecting every houseplant they can find and enlisting orchestra members for a special concert. When the day comes, the unsuspecting musicians take the stage and tune their instruments. Then the velvet curtains open to reveal an auditorium full of greenery.
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"The astonished musicians began to play tentatively at first, but gradually building in strength and tempo as the joy of making music again lifted, their spirits and the plants responded in kind, nodding and swaying, their stems standing taller and firmer, the leaves rustling in appreciation," the book reads. "And then the fog itself began to lift."
As whimsical as it looks, and as fanciful as it sounds, The Enchanted Symphony is inspired by a true story.
Barcelona Opera Reopens With An Audience Of Plants
Coronavirus Live Updates
Barcelona Opera Reopens With An Audience Of Plants
In June 2020, after several quiet months, Barcelona's Liceu opera filled its more than 2,000 seats with plants for a string quartet performance that was also live streamed for humans and quickly went viral.
Andrews and Hamilton were inspired by the photos and videos of the event: the red and gold opera house packed with lush green leaves, the announcement asking audiences to silence their cell phones, the way the houseplants seemed to stir with applause at the end.
"We often write books about the arts and about nature, and this seemed to be such a perfect marriage of those two passions of ours," Hamilton said. "So we tried to imagine what might cause an opera house to be filled with plants instead of people. And we came up with the little fable that is The Enchanted Symphony."
The Enchanted Symphony
Abrams Books
Andrews, Hamilton and illustrator Elly MacKay pulled back the curtain on their creative process in a Zoom interview with NPR shortly after the book's release in September — the first time all three had spoken face-to-face.
"I think that a lot of times illustrators and the writers of books don't get enough time to chat and talk to each other, and quite often it goes straight through the editor or the publishers," Andrews said. "But in our case, we love talking to our illustrators. And in this case, it was a delight because Ellie got everything that we asked for and then some."
Performing Arts
Julie Andrews says she's not the squeaky clean lady you might expect
The authors didn't want the book to be specifically about the pandemic. Instead, they were going for more of what Hamilton describes as "a fairy tale with a timelessness to it." That's why they created the fog.
Hamilton said it represents not necessarily the virus but "anything that threatens to distract us from those kinds of simple pleasures that really happen to be the most meaningful in life." And that's one of the messages they hope readers will take away from the book.
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"We hope readers will, first of all, take a new curiosity or appreciation in music and in nature, of course," Hamilton said. "But we also hope that it will invite readers to think about what matters most to them, what values are important enough to be a primary focus in their lives."
Creativity makes the mother-daughter partnership sing (and tea helps too)
Julie Andrews (L) and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton (R) have written more than 30 children's books together.
Julie Andrews (L) and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton (R) have written more than 30 children's books together.
David Rodgers
Andrews and Hamilton wrote the book — one of three they penned during the pandemic — at Andrews' dining table.
Their typical process involves a lot of brainstorming, outlining and writing out loud, a fair bit of "finishing each other's sentences" and copious amounts of tea — always PG Tips English Breakfast.
"If I can say it on public radio, don't ever forget the benefit of a bathroom break or a break to make a cup of tea," Andrews added. "Because quite often we'll be stuck ... And when we come back, one of us will say, 'I got it. I think I know the way out of this.' And it's that tiny break giving your mind the freedom to create on its own without being pushed in any direction."
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Author Interviews
When Mom Is Mary Poppins: Julie Andrews Writes Memoir With Her Daughter
Hamilton and Andrews have written more than 30 children's books together. When they first started, decades ago, they lived on opposite coasts and would spend hours writing over the phone until their necks were stiff. Andrews would begin at 6 a.m. in her nightgown, spritzing herself with perfume to feel more awake.
Hamilton said they work so well together in part because they both come from creative backgrounds, collaborated in mediums like theater and film before they took up writing and have a "shared sensibility about storytelling and creative problem-solving."
Andrew thinks it's also because they have different strengths. She described her daughter as "the nuts and bolts of our books" and herself as "more the flights of fancy."
A little boy falls in love with nature in 'Emile and the Field'
Picture This
A little boy falls in love with nature in 'Emile and the Field'
They say their philosophy in moments of disagreement is "the best idea wins," regardless of who came up with it. And they learn something new with every book.
"I think overall what we have learned most from working together is ... the degree to which being creative casts a kind of a magic spell on our relationship, on our lives," Hamilton said.
They say the time spent problem-solving together, running up against a deadline, takes pressure off other stressors that mothers and daughters typically face, from busy calendars to health concerns to family drama. It distracts from the tensions of everyday life, they say, and also helps them get through them.
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"It's like creative weightlifting," she added. "It strengthens our relationship."
The illustrations look layered. They started as a mini 3D set
In The Enchanted Symphony, a young boy named Piccolino harnesses the power of art, nature and community.
In The Enchanted Symphony, a young boy named Piccolino harnesses the power of art, nature and community.
Illustrations © 2023 Elly MacKay
Andrews and Hamilton said they fell in love with MacKay's work "because of its luminosity."
"We knew we needed to find somebody who could manage to convey both the fog and the world hidden behind, blanketed by the fog," Hamilton said. "But then when we found out about what her particular technique was, we were completely blown away because it completely supported the theme of our story."
MacKay starts by building miniature sets, complete with the scenery and characters. Then she lights and photographs them, giving the images a more three-dimensional quality.
She said this book posed a particular challenge because she had to create a theater inside of her miniature set.
MacKay, who has been interested in set design since she was a teenager, works with miniature sets to get the depth and lighting of her illustrations just right.
MacKay, who has been interested in set design since she was a teenager, works with miniature sets to get the depth and lighting of her illustrations just right.
Elly MacKay
She thought about things like how to layer the houseplants further away from the stage to create a sense of depth and how to filter light through the branches of a tree onto the kids playing beneath it. She also grappled with the balance between the vibrant colors that are so necessary in kids' books and the muted mood of parts of the story.
MacKay, Elly FROSTFIRE Tundra Books (Children's None) $18.99 10, 1 ISBN: 9780735266988
On a quiet winter walk, two fox sisters look for a snow dragon and find magic in the natural world around them.
Miriam and Celeste meander through the glittering, silvery wonder of a snowy day. Miriam, the eldest and a self-proclaimed dragon expert, points out signs that a snow dragon is hiding in their garden. That low, rumbling noise is its roar; a snowbank is its camouflage; and the swirling pattern of frost on a greenhouse window is, in fact, frostfire. Miriam has an answer to all of Celeste's questions: Why doesn't the dragon leave tracks? Where does it go in the summer? Miriam also notes that dragons are sneaky and greedy and that they would love to eat Celeste. Bravely, Celeste marches off alone to confront the dragon. When she finds it, all is not quite as she expected. She returns to her sister, but now Celeste is the one armed with knowledge, and it's Miriam's turn to learn. The sibling relationship is sweetly authentic. Their dynamic has enough mild friction to ring true, with Miriam's slightly know-it-all air and Celeste's tendency to tag along and ask questions, but the sisters' strong bond and mutual trust never waver. Whimsical illustrations feature dreamy colors and soft-focus backgrounds washed out with reflected winter light. This tale is magical anytime, but it's a top choice when seeking a winter story that doesn't center on a holiday.
As contemplative and lovely as a walk in the snow.(Picture book. 4-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
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"MacKay, Elly: FROSTFIRE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Aug. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A804504771/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6eb75bbb. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
* Zap! Clap! Boom! The Story of a Thunderstorm. By Laura Purdie Salas. Illus. by Elly MacKay. Mar. 2023.40p. Bloomsbury, $18.99 (9781547602254). PreS-Gr. 1.551.6.
It's a sunny morning. From a cluster of houses on a hilltop, three children make their way downward, watching puffy, white clouds form above them and listening to the breeze that begins to rustle the leaves. As the clouds grow taller and darker, the wind picks up. Rain begins to fall, and the children run for home, while goats take shelter in a shed. "Thunder rumbles. / When it comes, / it rolls, / it stomps, / it rattles, / drums. // A crackling, grumbling / sound of doom, / then ... II ZAP! / CLAP! / BOOM!" After the storm passes, all is calm and cleaner, fresher. The narrative evokes the sensory experiences of children observing a passing thunderstorm and uses imagery effectively to describe the beauty of nature in its wake: "Diamond drops / dress trees and vines. / Storm is over. // The world now shines." The fluid, rhyming text offers some basic facts about thunderstorms; the well-researched back matter presents a more detailed account. Combining traditional techniques on paper, three-dimensional layering of those images, and digital elements, McKay's illustrations beautifully capture both the changing weather phenomena and the children's reactions. An informative read-aloud choice for home or classroom, this picture book offers several opportunities for kids to chime in on the repeated zaps, claps, and booms.--Carolyn Phelan
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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Phelan, Carolyn. "Zap! Clap! Boom! The Story of a Thunderstorm." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 9-10, 1 Jan. 2023, p. 55. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A735624336/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9ab244b3. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
I Am a Meadow Mermaid. By Kallie George. Illus. by Elly MacKay. June 2023.32p. Tundra, $17.99 (9780735271371). PreS-Gr. 2.
A girl who lives on a farm in the plains proclaims, "I am a meadow mermaid." Using her vivid imagination, she creates an ocean, a suitable location for her adventures, by viewing the meadow's tall, waving plants as a sea and herself as a mermaid swimming among the waves. When she hears a shipwrecked sailor calling, she rushes to help and finds another girl, who introduces herself as Milla, sitting near the road beside her overturned bike. They play together, braving the rippling waves of wheat, hunting for treasure, and eating "cookies shaped like sand dollars." In bed that night, the girl dreams of further adventures with her new friend, "Milla, the prairie pirate." Poetic in an unpretentious way, George's graceful text uses apt imagery and reads aloud beautifully. MacKay's artwork, created by photographing paper dioramas, helps viewers imagine the meadow mermaid's moments of drama as well as her magical surroundings. The meadow, the sea, and even the air sometimes glow with golden light. This enjoyable picture book celebrates the power of a child's imagination.--Carolyn Phelan
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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Phelan, Carolyn. "I Am a Meadow Mermaid." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 16, 15 Apr. 2023, p. 58. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A747135543/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=194a3507. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
Andrews, Julie THE ENCHANTED SYMPHONY Abrams (Children's None) $19.99 9, 12 ISBN: 9781419763199
Actor Andrews and her daughter Walton Hamilton pay tribute to the power of music.
The inhabitants of a small village are happy with "simple pleasures" until they commercialize to attract tourists whereupon a dismal purple mist creeps in and thickens to the point that people stop visiting or even going outside. Then one day little Piccolino, who is helping his father dust the deserted opera house, plinks out a tune on the piano and notices that the palms in the lobby look fresher. The brown-skinned pair proceed to gather wilting houseplants from all over town, park them in the auditorium seats, and call the orchestra members in for a concert. The plants flourish, the fog lifts, and throngs of villagers are drawn out into the streets by the music to dance and sing. Everyone realizes that "if they remained faithful to all that matters most, nothing could darken their days again." In a closing note the authors state that they were inspired by an actual concert played in Barcelona in 2020 to an "audience" of plants--a piece of performance art more likely to stimulate discussion than this trite, sugary mess. The illustrations are one bright spot: MacKay places her gracefully posed, diverse figures in luminously hued scenes of narrow streets and neatly kept buildings perched on a steep hill and threaded with musical staves. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sweet art, cloying storyline. (Picture book. 6-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Andrews, Julie: THE ENCHANTED SYMPHONY." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2023. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A758848886/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8e08640a. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
Too Early
Nora Ericson, illus. by Elly MacKay. Abrams, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4197-4207-1
In shott, conversational verse lines, Ericson (the Dill & Bizzy series) and MacKay (In the Clouds) chronicle a morning in the house of a young early riser. Standing in their parents' bedroom doorway holding a stuffie, a child portrayed with light brown skin, curly hair, and starred pajamas rouses the adults. "Shhhh, don't wake the baby," the mother says, offering sleepy smooches; "Too early," the father groans, before grabbing his robe and shuffling downstairs. Attentive to noises and sensations ("Burble burble goes the coffee pot. Beep beep"), the text captures warmth and affection as father and child head for the front porch, where the moon still shines bright: "Snuggle in, but watch your elbows./ (Careful not to bump the coffee!)." Layered images in shadowy blue hues gradually illuminate, exploring the way the first faint light of dawn steadily grows brighter, changing from dark blues to pinks and, finally, golden yellow. Images of the closely cuddled duo make it clear that though the father grumbles ("You sure do wake up early"), sunrise and a shooting star--and fleeting one-on-one time--represent a gift in the ordinary moments before a day's "rush rush." Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties. Illustrator's agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Jr./Folio Literary. (Nov.)
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"Too Early." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 42, 10 Oct. 2022, p. 74. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A723019803/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8c051295. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.