I Dreamed Of Flying Like A Bird

My Adventures Photographing Wild Animals From A Helicopter

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 
hosted today by Lori Calabrese Writes

National Geographic Children's Books

(pub. 9.4.2010) 64 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top 

A uthor and illustrator: Robert B. Haas

C haracter: Robert B. Haas

 

O verview from publisher: 

      "Climb aboard a helicopter with National Geographic photographer Robert Haas... I Dreamed of Flying Like a Bird takes readers across the globe, from the marshlands of Botswana to the frigid waters of Greenland to the jungles of Brazil. Haas’s stunning color photographs bring to life the awesome beauty and pulsating action of nature’s wildest creatures and the thrill of capturing the perfect image from the air. The author’s dream of flying like a bird provides the perfect vantage point for witnessing unusual drama and adventures from a bird’s eye view. This book is a gorgeous, thrilling experience for adventurers of all ages."

 

T antalizing taste: 

       "Ever since I was a young boy, I have dreamed of flying like a bird.  Aerial photography has allowed my dream to come true.  With a helicopter, I can join a winged creature or an entire flock in flight and photograph it from above or by its side... In the jungles of Brazil, we cruised beside two beautiful hyacinth macaws.  And over the mudflats of Venezuela, a flock of brilliant scarlet ibises passed just beneath ... I hope to capture from the air exactly what I am looking for - a group of special images to bring back and share with my readers."

and something more:  I was drawn to not only the spectacular photographs of wild animals and the photographer Robert Haas' descriptions of his adventure, but also his dedication: "This work is dedicated to dreamers... To children and adults who chase their dreams in life.  When we pursue our dreams, whether to become a schoolteacher or an artist or an athlete, we are living our lives to the fullest.  We are setting a lofty goal and pursuing that goal with persistence and strength, knowing that there will be setbacks along the way.  The world has been changed the most by dreamers ..."
      And I also admire that Robert Haas donates his proceeds to The Humane Society of the United States.  Bravo! 

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Fabulous!

A Portrait of Andy Warhol

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 
hosted today by Check It Out


Christy Ottaviano Books (Henry Holt)

(pub. 5.24. 2011 )  40 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top 

A uthor and Illustrator: Bonnie Christensen

C haracter: Andy Warhol, the artist

 

O verview from jacket flap: 

      "You might recognize Andy Warhol's famous paintings of Campbell's Soup cans and Coke bottles. But do you know about the artist who created these images?
     Andy Warhol was often sick as a child, yet found comfort in reading comic books and most especially in drawing.  Starting with his early days in Pittsburg in the 1930s and progressing to the height of his glory in the 1960s when he blurred the line between commercial art and fine art, this book chronicles an artist's remarkable path to becoming a renowned Pop Art icon."

 

T antalizing taste: 

       "Just out of art school, Andy Warhol boarded a night train in Pittsburgh.  He carried his portfolio of drawings and two hundred dollars.  'You will do something Great! Crazy! Terrific!' his mother predicted...
     'Spot' - the poor, sick, and shy kid from Pittsburgh - ... transformed himself into the Prince of Pop Art.  Art that anyone could recognize and understand."

and something more:  In this picture book biography, Fabulous! A Portrait of Andy Warhol, Bonnie Christensen's artwork and text capture the artist's essence.  Just this week I was studying a self-portrait of Andy Warhol at SFMOMA where I give tours to school groups as a docent.  In this self portrait, half of his face is shaded. I often ask children and teens to tell me why they think he chose to paint himself that way, and one response is that it might represent his public vs private side.  I plan to share this book and the following thoughts from the Author's Note with students: "Very few people know that Andy Warhol attended church regularly, helped serve Thanksgiving dinners to the homeless, lived most of his adult life with his mother, and possibly suffered from dyslexia or Asperger's syndrome... Full of contradictions, both stated and implied."  

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Lost Boy

The Story of the Man Who Created Peter Pan

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 
hosted today by Chapter Book of the Day

Dutton Children's Books (Penguin)

(pub. 8.5.2010)  40 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top 

A uthor: Jane Yolen

     and Illustrator: Steve Adams

    
C haracter: J. M. Barrie

 

O verview from jacket flap: 

      "People around the world know the story of Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up, but not many know the story of his creator; J.M. Barrie.  Barrie's young childhood was marked by sorrow, but also held great adventure. His adult life and relationship with the Davies family brought about a second childhood that helped him to create his lasting triumph. Masterfully illustrated by Steve Adams and using Barrie's own words, Jane Yolen tells the story of the author and the boys who changed his life."

 

T antalizing taste: 

       "In his own estimation he was pencil-thin, inarticulate in company, and with 'manners, full of nails like his boots.'  Nobody but he thought he would make his way in the world.
        'Peter, Peter, you are wasting the faerie dust.' -- from the playlet, Wendy, An Afterthought."

and something more:  Of course, I love reading picture book biographies about children's writers, and Lost Boys is compelling with Jane Yolen's wonderful writing and her selection of Barrie's quotes that connect to the story.  What a wonderful quote -- "Peter, Peter, you are wasting the faerie dust."  So I had to find out more about "Wendy, An Afterthought," the playlet (a term I've never heard before but is just right).  As Jane Yolen wrote, "In 1908, a final scene was added to the play, in which a grown-up Wendy lets her child Jane fly off to Neverland with the still-young Peter to help him with his spring cleaning. It was only used for one performance." 
     I savored these words about picture book writing from Jane Yolen's website:  "There is a subtle dance between art and text which cannot be entirely planned for when the writer begins. A picture book writer needs to remain as supple as a dancer in order to accommodate a partner (the illustrator). It is the book–not just text or art–that has to be whole."  And, Jane Yolen's books epitomize the whole.

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Django

World's Greatest Jazz Guitarist

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 
hosted today by proseandkahn

 

 Roaring Brook Press Flash Point (MacMillan)

(pub. 9.1.2009)  32 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top 

A uthor and illustrator: Bonnie Christensen

    
C haracter: Django Reinhardt

 

O verview from jacket flap: 

      "'When I think about the best guitar players ever, the first name that comes to mind is Django Reinhardt. No one has ever equaled his sound or technique.' - Willie Nelson

     Born into extreme poverty in a gypsy encampment, Django Reinhardt (1910-1953) overcame tremendous obstacles, including a debilitating injury, to become the world's most acclaimed jazz guitarist."

 

T antalizing taste: 

       "Djano doesn't hear the chatter
        Listening to the saxes sigh.
        Trombones moan, clarinets wail
        Jazz riffs curling through the night.

        Jazz Americain, jazz like Django -
                      moving bending
                      changing blending
        Try that rhythm, stretch that measure,
        syncopation.  Twist that line."    

and something more: I recently saw Picasso's Guitars exhibit at MOMA in New York, and was struck by the beauty of his various interpretations of guitars, mostly in a cubist style.  In the exhibit catalog, I read that although he wasn't particularly interested in music, Picasso was drawn to flamenco music -- the guitar music of Spanish gypsies.  And then I found this wonderful nonfiction picture book biography, Django, by Bonnie Christensen about a gypsy guitarist -- isn't it funny how ideas seem to attract similar ideas?  Serendipity!

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HAPPY 4th of JULY

It's a holiday!  And True Tales & A Cherry On Top is taking a holiday from posting.  Hope you enjoy the day!

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All Aboard!

Elijah McCoy's Steam Engine

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday

hosted today by Wendie's Wanderings

 

Tundra Books
(pub. 8.10.10) 32 pages

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Monica Kulling
    Illustrator: Bill Slavin

     
C haracter: Elijah McCoy

 
O verview from jacket flap: 

      "The year was 1860, and Elijah McCoy, the son of slaves, dreamed of becoming a mechanical engineer.  He studied in Scotland, where he learned everything there was to know about engines - how to design them and how to build them. But when he came home to look for work at the Michigan Central Railroad, the only job Elijah could get was shoveling coal into a train's firebox! What Elijah lacked in opportunity, he more than made up for in ingenuity."

T antalizing taste: 

       "The engine huffed and puffed.  Smoke billowed form its stack. The wheels clacked. The train chugged along for half an hour.  Chug! Chug! Chug!
        Everyone wondered when the train would stop. But it didn't. It chugged along for another half hour.  And another.
        Elijah McCoy's oil cup worked!"   

and something more:   I was drawn to this picture book biography, All Aboard!, about a boy who "had come to Canada on the Underground Railroad" and then eventually became an inventor for the railroads. His  parents "saved every penny they could to send Elijah to school.  At sixteen, he crossed the ocean to study in Scotland. Elijah had a dream: he wanted to work with machines.  He wanted to become a mechanical engineer. And he did.  And, as the note at the back states, "He was an inventing marvel.  During his lifetime, he filed 57 patents ...  Most of his inventions had to do with engines, but several did not. Elijah invented a portable ironing board, a lawn sprinkler, and even a better rubber heel for shoes."  And the expression, the "real McCoy" is based on him!  "Other inventors copied Elijah McCoy's oil cup [for train engines], but their drip cups didn't work as well."  I love learning about the derivation of expressions.

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Keep Your Eye On The Kid

The Early Years of Buster Keaton

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday
hosted today by Geo Librarian

 

Flash Point Roaring Book Press (Macmillan)
(pub. 4.1.2008) 
32 pages

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor and illustrator: Catherine Brighton

  

C haracter: Buster Keaton

 
O verview from the jacket flap: 

       "Nobody could take a fall like Buster Keaton ... When he was three, he joined his parents' stage act. Buster's father would throw him across the stage and shout, 'Keep your eye on the kid!'  Years later, the tumbling skills he learned as a child would make him one of the America's most beloved silent-film stars.
     Told from Buster's point of view, this beautifully illustrated biography evokes the streets and stages of early twentieth-century America and brings the remarkable childhood of a timeless comedian to life."

T antalizing taste: 

       "I was a backstage baby.  I sat on frogs' knees and I talked to wooden dummies while Dad and Mom did their act. They were called The Keatons, and I was Joe Keaton, like my dad.
     Then, one morning when I was fooling around, I took a tumble.  Harry Houdini picked me up and gave me my new name. 'Gee, that was some buster the kid took!'  You had to know how to take a fall in our business."

and something more:  Catherine Brighton's wonderful illustrations, particularly the cover of the picture book biography, Keep Your Eye On The Kid, remind me of Maurice Sendak's illustrations in The Night Kitchen.  And when I googled that impression, I found that many other reviewers have had the same thought. This style seems particularly fitting as Buster began his career essentially travelling through the air as part of his family's stage act. And then he became part of an imaginary world -- the world of films where gags portrayed people falling off roofs.  in a 1914 interview with the Detroit News, Buster Keaton talked about his work as essentially a stunt actor.  He said that the secret was to land limp, like a cat.  That comment reminded me of our cat who fell out of our 3rd floor San Francisco apartment and miraculously survived with only a broken toe (which healed in its bright pink cast she wore for a few weeks).  Maybe there's a lesson in that -- try to land limp (and keep smiling) when we feel we're getting tossed around.

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