ish written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

ish

written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

This delightful little book serves as an encouragement to young and old alike.  It doesn't matter if your art, poetry, feelings...whatever...are like anyone else's. Be yourself.  The artist dedicates his book to "Doug Kornfeld, my art teacher, who dared me to draw for myself and find my voice."

Ramon is frustrated by imperfections in his drawing after his brother Leon sneers, "What is that?"  Ramon continues to draw, but because nothing looks quite like what he is "supposed to be" drawing or painting, he crumples up all of his work, finally giving up on art all together.  Ramon's little sister, Marisol, is disappointed because she enjoys watching him draw.  Grabbing his final crumpled up work, she runs to her room and opens the door.  What Ramon sees there inspires him to pursue his favorite pasttime once again.  His work is "ish," not perfect but "ish," and "ish" is just fine with Marisol.  Ramon is "energized." He draws, paints, writes poetry, and just basks in the wonderful feeling that his works are ... ish!

EQ:  Are we, as teachers, encouraging creativity and individuality in our students; or are we squelching their creative endeavors by insisting on perfection and doing things our way?

The Singing Bones by Shaun Tan

The Singing Bones

by Shaun Tan
185 pages

The Singing Bones is an amazing work of art.  Those of you who know me well know that I love Shakespeare, CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, art, fairy tales, and mythology, each of those topics being bound to the others with silken threads of delight.  Well, this book furnishes delight for the eyes and the mind!

Shaun Tan weaves sculpture, photography, and the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm into an amazing tapestry of color, horror, enchantment, darkness, and whimsy.  He whittles 75 of the Grimm fairy tales down to their verbal core, and using simple materials, sculpts the heart of the tale before photographing the sculpted tableau.  

I saw the book and fell in love...book lust...whatever you want to call it, but I had to own this book! No waiting for my turn to borrow, read, and evaluate the book...I ordered it on Amazon the night I saw it!

What makes this book so fascinating?  In his foreword to The Singing Bones, Neil Gaiman says that Tan's sculptures "do not look like moments of the stories; instead, they feel like the stories themselves."  He goes on to say, "Shaun Tan makes me want to hold these tales close,...inspect them from unusual angles,....makes me wonder...how badly I could hurt someone if I hit them with a story."  Not that any of us would actually want to hit someone, but what a mental jolt some of these stories and sculptures produce!  Tan himself indicates that he is seeking to portray the concept of the story rather "than a detailed likeness," and his sculptures seem to be "odd objects resting in the dark galleries of our collective subconscious." Think about what true fairy tales are...or were before they became sanitized for modern consumption.  They speak to our inner light or darkness, making us take a long look at ourselves to examine who we truly are...hero, villain, or the reluctant bystander who must choose a path.

My particular favorites from the book are:

    "The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage" because it speaks to work ethic, and I love the intricacies of the scupture;

    "The Singing Bone" because of the stark, realistic image portrayed;

    "The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids" because I love the images, and it's always great for the good guys to win;

     and my most favorite, "The Elves," because this was one of my favorite stories growing up, and the sculpture is so happy and whimsical.

For more information about Shaun Tan and his projects, check out his fascinating site.  http://www.shauntan.net/
This is a link to a flyer I recently made promoting Shaun Tan's books. https://www.smore.com/wr963
Oh!  I am also in love with his charming little red fox!  Where can I get one??!!

EQ:  Why have modern versions of fairy tales been sanitized?  Did the older, more harsh versions harm us?  They have been sanitizing more of the darkness from these stories since the late 60s.  Has this improved society?

Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell

written by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell

illustrated by Rafael López

The work of muralist Rafael López inspired this story about a little girl named Mira who wants to bring color and happiness to her cold, grey city.  She paints beautiful, colorful pictures and hands them out to people in her culturally diverse neighborhood.  After Mira decides to hang one of her bright, cheerful pictures on a shadowy wall, she sees a man with paintbrushes looking inspired by her effort to brighten up her city.  He sees, "Maybe...something beautiful." He paints, and Mira joins him.  They pass out paint and paintbrushes to the entire block; and, soon, not only is their corner of the city brighter but the neighbors are united.  

Painting on walls in the cities used to be considered vandalism; however, graffiti artists are becoming legitimized as their efforts brighten up dark and forbidding corners of our cities, sometimes making statements and sometimes just cheering up the silent walls. I've seen areas of Atlanta transformed by the bright, positive "graffiti" painted on dreary neighborhood walls.  

Here's Rafael's site: rafaellopez.com/

Check out the artwork on this site: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/09/tribute-to-graffiti-50-beautiful-graffiti-artworks/  

Think about getting involved.  Even if you feel that you can't produce a work of art, support those who do. Organizations like Backstreet Community Arts which uses art as therapy for those with PTSD and makes art materials available for those who just want to create. https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/09/tribute-to-graffiti-50-beautiful-graffiti-artworks/ 
Another group working for communities is GraffitiHeArt. http://www.graffitiheart.org/

EQ:  How can you help brighten your corner of the world?

Thirteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why

by Jay Asher

288 pages

Although I believe that this book would be very beneficial and appealing to teens, as an adult, I had a difficult time reading Thirteen Reasons Why.  

Written as a series of audio tapes interspersed with the thoughts of the listener, the book follows the high school experiences of Hannah, who has chosen to kill herself.  She leaves behind a series of audio tapes, addressed to each, in turn, of the persons who intersected with her decision to end her life.  Some are more guilty than others, but all play an integral part in her choice.  Clay, the listener whose thoughts we are allowed to share, is probably the least "guilty"; however, he ends up feeling extremely at fault.  Instead of growing bitter or angry at others, he allows that feeling to better guide his actions in the future in hopes of preventing another such tragedy.

While some of Hannah's "reasons" may appear, at first, to be trivial to the reader, they all "snowball," as she says, ultimately causing multiple tragedies resulting in ruined or damaged lives.  Adults who feel that she may have overreacted to small slights need to keep in mind that teenagers have a vastly differing outlook on life, and what we may have learned to brush aside may have devestating effects on the younger mind.  Teens reading the book need to take heed to the warning and guard their words and actions, even the tiniest ones, as words may be life-shattering, and our actions show the world who we are inside.  As a former victim of bullying as child, teen, and adult, I can give testimony to the fact that this form of abuse, indeed, can cause a person to contemplate suicide.  I chose to move on, as Hannah's teacher advised. Unfortunately, some follow through.

Although, in many ways, I could identify with Hannah through my past experiences, my difficulty in reading the book was an adult mind difference. Since teens text, read memes, visit social media constantly, and get their news from the radio or short social media blurbs, they would probably not have a problem following the relatively short passages as the author switches between Hannah's audio tapes to Clay's thoughts.  As a more mature reader, used to digesting longer, more complex passages, I found the brief entries and constant switch distracting and hard to follow.  I read very rapidly, so that probably caused part of my issue.  Students will read much more slowly, so they may not have the disconnect I experienced.  If you read this one, it's worth it; but slow down your reading speed.
EQ: What can you do to prepare yourself to help if you are approached by a student or friend who is contemplating suicide?
Helpful link:  Jason foundation.com