little shrew

I recently went to visit some of my niblings in Iowa (IOWA?!), and one of my favorite parts of preparing for the trip was shopping for picture books to read with them. With a kiddo cuddled up on each side, I read at least a dozen books (several multiple times each!) – and loved absolutely every minute of it, even when my voice went a little hoarse. One of those hit picture books was a picture book/chapter book hybrid, Little Shrew, written and illustrated by Akiko Miyakoshi, and translated by the Kids Can Press staff. It. Is. So. Great. Little Shrew’s slice of life story is understated, beautiful, and delightfully charming. It’s going in every holiday stocking this winter!

 

Little Shrew is diligent in all parts of life. He’s a hard worker and follows a strict schedule from morning to night. But even a life that runs like clockwork can be filled with unexpected pockets of joy, such as solving a puzzle for the very first time, enjoying the scent of freshly baked bread, seeing the vast beauty of a shimmering blue ocean or delighting in a visit with friends.

This collection of three short stories – perfect for emerging readers – is illustrated in Miyakoshi’s signature soft monochrome palette with pops of color. The charming tales celebrate enduring friendships, dreams for the future and the little pleasures that make everyday life more meaningful.

Little Shrew lives a disciplined life in the human world – he lives in a small and neat apartment, he takes the same train every day to his job, and he lunches with a colleague named Tom in the cafeteria. Little Shrew looks forward to simple pleasures, like the smell of warm bread from the bakery he stops by after work, solving his Rubik’s Cube, and visits with a couple of animal friends that live far away and visit once in a long while. The book’s three short chapters offer a slice-of-life look into Little Shrew’s world, and the simple charm of his scheduled and ordinary life will appeal to readers of all ages, but perhaps particularly young children who can’t imagine a life without, well, children in it, or what unpartnered adult life looks like at all. Little Shrew is an animal of course, but he is an anthropomorphized one, and his routine may offer an unexpected window into the lives of others.

Little Shrew is an unusually sized book – chapter book-sized, but with sparse text and lots of illustrations – some which are quite small and go right with the text, and others which take up most, or a whole page, or even a two-page spread. This variety in illustrations, paired with a small font size and some more advanced vocabulary, make it both a good read-aloud for those with stamina, and also mean it will be a hit with emerging readers who have graduated a bit beyond picture book pacing but still want to see pictures. In that way, it reminded me a bit of Arnold Lobel’s (of Frog and Toad fame) books. My niblings, aged three and a half and almost six, sat quietly for the whole book at least three times and loved pointing out the tiny details (and where Little Shrew was) in the illustrations. My adult brother laughed out loud at some of the subtle humor in the text that the kiddos didn’t pick up on – so I can say that it is a people-pleaser across the board.

Speaking of those illustrations! Miyakoshi’s art transitions between charcoal black and white illustrations with lots of texture, shadow, and light, and the full-color brightness of pencil and acrylic gouache paints. Tiny objects are illustrated in loving detail, while larger scenes, such as the morning train ride, have a more blurred appearance for a dreamlike and hazy feel. The mix of art feels… artful, for lack of a better word. There’s plenty of detail and repeated features or items to focus on and appreciate in multiple reads, but there are also unexpected moments and pops of color that appear just once. Overall, the objects in this book are (and this hurts me to say it) historical – the telephones are landlines with long, curling cords, for example – but this lends charm and a bit of timelessness to the story. They also lend a bit of a fantastical and cozy feel to a story where a tiny shrew already works a desk job at an airport!

In all, Little Shrew is an absolutely lovely and cozy sort of book, about an unassuming life that is nevertheless full of small moments of wonder and contentment. 

Recommended for: read alouds for children ages 3+, and for independent readers ages 6+ who haven’t outgrown their love for pictures in books (and who has, at that age! or any age!). Also for fans of picture books in translation, and beautifully designed and illustrated books, period.

a flash of color and light: a biography of dale chihuly

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, with an art history major mom, and as a result I visited a lot of museums and learned about Northwest artists. Dale Chihuly was arguably our most famous local living artist, so I saw a LOT of his glass installations. I have to say that as a younger child they were a bit lost on me – you couldn’t touch or play with them, and they were often mounted far away, or behind plexiglass. As an adult, I’m very proud of Chihuly’s glass, and I recognize it immediately, anywhere I see it around the world – thanks mom! When I saw that there was a picture book biography about Chihuly out from a Seattle publisher, I knew I had to take a look. Author Sharon Mentyka and illustrator Shelley Couvillion's nonfiction picture book A Flash of Color and Light: A Biography of Dale Chihuly is one of the most visually vibrant and beautiful picture books of the year.

 

The first-ever picture book biography of world-renowned glassmaker Dale Chihuly—with stunning watercolor illustrations that reveal the history of the art—for aspiring artists ages 5-9.

Travel along with Dale Chihuly on his life’s journey full of curiosity, discovery, teamwork, and perseverance as he overcomes challenges to become a glass artist of international acclaim.

Dale Chihuly’s early life presented many challenges, such as tragic losses in his family at a young age and an accident that left him blind in one eye, yet his resilience, hard work, and optimism taught him life-long skills that became inseparable from his body of work—incomparable glass creations that provide rich material for the book’s gorgeous illustrations.

In this picture book biography, Mentyka covers the formation, education, and career of Chihuly throughout several decades, and showcases his artistic evolution. She makes a case for Chihuly’s greatness by discussing his artworks, the school he co-founded, and his worldwide fame. However, as you’d expect in a book for children, there is a substantial focus on Chihuly’s younger years, family life, and his first attempts at art. Mentyka’s biography highlights three elements: an ordinary life broken by tragedy, Dale’s fascination with water, and his dedication to glass. In the final pages, Chihuly’s types of glass artworks are identified, a more in-depth biography and family photo from Dale’s childhood and a glassmaking glossary are included, and finally, there’s a timeline of Chihuly’s life events from 1941-2012. The story itself is basic, but the back matter will give young readers a strong starting point to understand one of America’s most talented craftsmen/artists. 

As an adult reading a picture book, I was impressed most by those final pages (after the story concludes), which went into further detail about Chihuly’s life and contribution to art. These pages also prompted me to read more on Chihuly’s own website, and look up photos of his artworks for reference. For children, this book’s art alone will undoubtedly inspire their own curiosity and creativity, but delving into the back matter (perhaps with an adult guide) in depth will prompt questions about art-making and Chihuly – it is that intriguing!

And that art – it is especially stunning and attention-grabbing, almost neon in its vibrancy. It feels as though artist Couvillion (who I didn’t realize was someone I followed on Instagram??) understood the assignment deeply, and dove right into a psychedelic rainbow of color. Her medium of watercolors and pens (that’s a guess on the last one) perfectly washes the sky, sea, and land, along with details of architecture and indoor interiors – but the star of her art are the renditions of glass. It’s there in a true kaleidoscope of brights – all bleeding one into the other in layers just like Chihuly’s glass does. In contrast, Couvillion’s figures are flat and slightly boxy, with textures (Chihuly’s curly hair looks like so many waves, or perhaps pasta!), stylized features (look at the hands!), and skillfull shadow and light work. The art alone is worth pouring over again and again and again. Bravo!

 

Note: One page mentions that Dale lived in an Israeli kibbutz for a few months and that it was a formative experience in his young adulthood. The kibbutz movement was and is a Zionist project. Dale himself is not Jewish. Given the state of the world, this is an authorial choice that deserves more context and interrogation.

 

In all, A Flash of Color and Light is a celebration of color, light, glass, and Dale Chihuly’s enormous contribution to the field of glassmaking and art.

Recommended for: young ones ages 4+ and the adults who read to them, those interested in picture books about art and biographies of artists, and anyone who appreciates absolutely gorgeous illustrations.

 

A Flash of Color and Light: A Biography of Dale Chihuly will be released by Little Bigfoot (Sasquatch Books) on October 15, 2024.

Fine print: I read an advanced digital copy of the text on Edelweiss. I did not receive any compensation for this post.