“Those Shoes” do you want them or need them?

The book “Those Shoes” spectacularly portrays the modern day pressure of the need to fit in, on a child and then shows how he finds his way and goes beyond to a place of kindness and generosity toward another.

“Those Shoes” written by “ Maribeth Bolelts” and illustrated by “Noah Z. Jones” is about a boy who wants the latest trend of shoes but his grandmother cannot afford the retail price. They find a pair in a thrift store that’s a size too small, yet the boy buys them anyways and never wears them from the pain.

Read this book to find out what he does in the end that makes him happy about not having “Those Shoes” any longer.

Noah Z. Jones’s illustrations, created with watercolor, pencil and ink and put together digitally, perfectly depict how quickly a fad can flood the halls of a school, and how desperately children want to be able to have what others take for granted.

This picture book provides fodder for initiating conversations about fitting in, trends, and the difference in needs and wants.

 

Gopa Trivedi

Artist Mentor

Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail

History might not be the most favorite subject of children, but they all love stories. And in fact, history is nothing but stories.

But it is all about how a story is told. History becomes interesting when we add a bit of our own imagination and experiences to it, otherwise, it will all be about dates and nothing more. It’s the times spent between two dates that tell us the story about people and their lives.

“Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail” written by “Laurence Anholt” is a historical fiction book that offers a glimpse into the life of the famous artist” Pablo Picasso” and a little girl who became one of his models. The story is told from the perspective of the child.

Sylvette first met Pablo Picasso in 1954, when she was a girl in the southern French town of Vallauris. At that time, she was the shyest and dreamiest girl among her friends When Picasso set up his studio in a nearby house, he spotted young Sylvette and was taken immediately by her classical profile and her lovely ponytail. When at last he convinced her to pose for what became the first of more than 40 works of art, the two gradually became good friends.

Picasso’s portraits of Sylvette later became famous around the world.

Author and illustrator Laurence Anholt captures the spirit of this warm-hearted story in words and pictures. In the process, he also introduces several of Picasso’s most famous paintings. Young readers are sure to be intrigued by how Picasso transformed Sylvette’s image into a variety of fantastic and whimsical forms.

Are you a book worm?

The bookworm is a story of a silent little boy, Sesha , who reads all the time and has a little brown book, which no one has seen.

No one had ever seen how Sesha looks, and none had ever heard him speak……. Until one fateful day, when he spoke, things changed for him, as none of the kids could see past, what met their eyes. It took some time for everyone to discover Sesha’s brown book and the magic he could create.

Learn a little more about this wonderful kid and his brown book, in this emphatic story written by Lavanya R. N. and plunge into the world of Sesha through the collages and watercolors by Shilo Shiv Suleman. Shilo’s illustrations add to the magic of the book.

 

Be careful what you wish for….

What would life be without friends and friendship?

Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni is a story about Alexander who is a mouse full of adventure. He isn’t like your ordinary mouse. He is a mouse that wants love and affection. He becomes a resident in a young girls house and befriends another mouse named Willy. Willy isn’t just any ordinary mouse; he is a wind-up mouse. Throughout the story, Willy and Alexander talk to each other and tell each other the amazing stories about their days. While Willy and Alexander become friends, Alexander wants to become a wind-up mouse like Willy. Alexander finds out about the Magic Lizard who can change animals into another animal.

What do you think Alexander will wish for?

Will he change, or embrace himself?

Find out in this wonderfully illustrated book, filled with compassion and friendship. Alexander helps teach life lessons that may not always be clear. He shows that having a big heart is all that matters.

 

Say Cheese :):):):):):):)

There are many things that are contagious, and we are always told to be careful.

But there some contagious things that are good too!

Wondering what could that be?

What about a smile 🙂

Is it not one of the best things in the world?

It makes you look good and feel good too 🙂

This is what happens when you read “Niloufer’s Smile” written by” Akhram Ghasempor” and Illustrated by “ Naseem Azadi”.

Where Niloufar is in search of something…her SMILE!

She is worried because she looks incomplete without her smile. Nothing in the world feels right without it.

She looks under the bed, in the corners; in her drawing book… she can’t seem to remember where she left it.

Read this book to find out where Niloufer finds her smile, and in the process she would find your’s too if you have lost it somewhere.

Beautiful and heart warming crayon illustrations will surely strike a cord or too in your heart.

 

Where there is a dream hope can grow…

Can an idea turn rain into sunshine?

Can a dream make plants grow?

 The Tin Forest written by Helen Ward and beautifully illustrated by Wayne Anderson.

Is a story about a lonely man who lived in the middle of a junk yard, but always dreamt of a beautiful place full of lush green plants.

One day an old lamp in the garbage reminded him of a flower, so he begins to build a forest from the garbage. He even builds animals and birds.

A bird comes to visit one day, but leaves, and the man, so lonely, makes a wish.

What is the wish?

Will the bird come back?

Will his tin forest become a real forest?

Find out in this magical book.

The rich, detailed illustrations and lyrical text of The Tin Forest carry an important message of imagination and hope.

 

Truly a Magical Garden:)

Laurence Anholt, author of “The Magical Garden of Claude Monet, is a british writer and illustrator. This story is about a young girl Julie that lives in Paris, but always seeks country life. Her mother takes her to Giverny, Claude Monet’s house and gardens, where she befriends Claude Monet himself. This book gives students the opportunity to gain perspective on this famous place. It gives children the opportunity to travel to a place far away that they may not otherwise ever experience. They are also able to learn about Claude Monet’s paintings as well as view them throughout the story.

Anholt does a magnificent job weaving Monet’s painting into the story and illustrations. The use of color in the illustration is quite eye-catching too!

This book is intended for all children. In addition to offering children a look at Giverny in Paris, they are able to study Monet’s art. They are also able to learn more about Monet from the short biography at the back of the book.

It is a must for all the little creative beings 🙂

Discover what happens in the Amazon Rain Forest :)

The cycle of life and survival is like a Domino; no mater how diverse and different we are from others our life is dependent and linked in a very complex manner to every entity on this planet.

A dynamics this complex is difficult to explain, but this is what writer and Illustrator “Lynne Cherry” has achieved marvellously in her book “ The Great Kapok Tree: A tale of the Amazon Rain Forest ”.

When a man is sent into the Amazon rain forest one day, under instructions to chop down a kapok tree, many eyes watch him nervously. It’s not long before he grows tired, though, and the “heat and hum” of the rain forest lulls him to sleep. While he sleeps, the forest residents, including a child from the Yanomamo tribe, whisper in his ear about the importance of trees and how “all living things depend on one another” . . . and it works. On waking up he realises that why is the tree not just a Kapok tree but “The Great Kapok Tree”.

Cherry’s lovingly rendered coloured pencil and watercolour drawings of all the “wondrous and rare animals” evoke the lush rain forests.

 

Gopa Trivedi/Artist Mentor

So you think you know it all ?

Have you ever seen or met, A leap of leopards? A cartload of monkeys? A mischief of mice? A stand of Flamingoes?

Discover these and many more in the book “ The alphabets of animals and birds” written and illustrated by Prabha Mallya .Turn the pages of this beautiful and charming book that brings together alphabets and funny collective nouns of animals and birds.

 

Watch the Murder of crows

Crash of ____________?

____________ of Snails?

Ostentation of ________?

 

If you do not know what to fill in the blanks, grab this book with amazing illustrations and collective nouns, which will delight everyone.

She says “I am going to be an Artist”

 

“Through Georgia’s Eyes” written by “Rachel Rodriguez” and illustrated by “Julie Paschkis”, has successfully conveyed the contemplative beauty at the heart of Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings and life. The prose is simple and reflective, mimicking the rhythms of the natural world: “A canyon calls her. From the bottom at dusk she sees a long line of cows above, black lace against a dusky sky.” The illustrations, cut-paper collages, mimic the vibrant intensity of O’Keeffe’s works with the simplicity and wonder of a child.

This picture book biography describes some of the influences on painter Georgia O’Keeffe, touching briefly on her formative years and her family’s wishes that she become a teacher. Despite those wishes and the trends of those times which dictated roles for women, Georgia followed, and perused  her dream to paint, which led her to New York City and the wide spaces of New Mexico.

Both the text and the extraordinary cut-paper collage illustrations help readers understand the personality, determination, and brilliance of this vibrant woman with exceptional talent.

 

By

Gopa Trivedi

Artist Mentor