Love What You Do!

       

 
        Meet the Wonderful Children's Literature Author and Illustrator, Ed Young!

An Author Study by Joanna

Ed Young was born on November 28^th, 1931 in Tientsin/Tianjin China.  The Young family lived in Tianjin until Ed was three years old (around 1934).  The Young family moved to Shanghai and lived in Shanghai until Ed was ready to begin high school (around 1947).  Ed attended high school in Hong Kong.  When Ed Young finished high school he had the opportunity to go to the United States on a student visa for college (around 1951 at the age of 20).  

What was going on in China during the years Ed grew up?

1937-1945 

The Second Sino-Japanese War:  A misunderstanding led to a Chinese soldiers firing on Japanese soldiers stationed at the Marco Polo Bridge; this began a sequence of battles between China and Japan that ended with Japan in control of Tianjin, Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai.  The war was fought guerilla warfare style, but China did not have enough military power to keep Japan from entering and taking over some of their territory.

1939-1945

WWII began in 1939.  China declared war on Japan, Germany, and Italy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Pearl Harbor also brought the United States into WWII.  There was tension in China between the Communist and the Nationalist.  The U.S sent an atomic bomb into Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan. Japan had been weakened to the point of surrendering.  Shortly after WWII had ended, Japan was no longer in control of the major Chinese territories, the British forces returned to Hong Kong, and the friction between the Communist and Nationalist increased.

1949

The Communist defeats the Nationalist and the People’s Republic of China was founded.

1950-1953

The Korean War:  Korea was spilt into North and South Korea.  China agreed to back the Soviet North (communist).  The U.N along with the U.S did not want Korea to become communist so they backed South Korea.  This caused tension between the United States and China.  Vietnam followed the end of the Korean War beginning in 1955 and did not end until 1975.

What was it like for Ed Young when he moved to the United States?

Ed Young attended the City College of San Francisco for one year majoring in architecture.  He continued his college career at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana Campus) as an art student.  He graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles in 1957.  He attended Grad school at the Pratt Institute.  He then worked at a New York advertising agency and continued to draw during his free time.  An editor, Ursala Nordstrom, recognized Ed’s sketches and asked if he would be interested in illustrating Children’s Literature.  Ed had taken a chance and found that he had a real passion, as well as talent, for illustrating picture books.  Ed Young’s first illustrated works published was in 1962.  Ed Young worked as an art instructor/teacher, as an instructor/director at a Tai Chi school, as well as an illustrator.  Ed had not spoken to his family back in China due to China’s closed door policy during the war.  When he told his family about his accomplishments they were very proud of him.  In 1978 Ed had published his first work as an author/illustrator.  To this day he is still writing/illustrating picture books, and he and his family live in Westchester, New York.

What kind of stories does Ed Young write?

Ed Young has retold many folktales and fables from different cultures.  He is a very expressive and creative person and I find his works to be extremely poetic.  He has written personal works that were impacted by his own life experiences, and all of his works teaches a lesson to his readers.  When Ed Young begins a project he makes an emotional/physical connection with his works before he mentally commits to it.  When he commits to a piece of work he makes sure that he researches his topic to gain accuracy in order to teach his readers properly.

What kinds of illustrations does Ed Young create?

Ed uses many types of media:  pencil, marker, oil pastels, water colors, as well as raw materials in his collage work (actual branches etc.).  I observed that his illustrations overlap or are layered and that Young will use contrast colors like bright vivid colors surrounded by darkness.  Ed seems to be inspired by nature.  His works are expressive or symbolic and lend themselves to deeper meaning.  His work truly creates a mood that can be felt without the assistance of words.

See link below for list of Ed Young’s work:

 http://www.biographicon.com/view/4n509/Ed_Young_illustrator_

See link below for list of awards granted to Ed Young:

http://edyoungart.com/awards.html 

My Rational for choosing Ed Young for my author study:

I chose Ed Young because I find him intriguing.  When I read his stories and look at his illustrations I feel moved.  There is always one thing that just tugs at my heart strings so to speak when I look at his work.  Sometimes it is the dedications that get me, or a phrase found in the story, or the moral of his work combined with the emotions of his art work.  I did not know much about Ed Young, but the more research I performed the more endearing I found him to be.  I find his philosophies on life to be realistic and inspiring at the same time.  It is important to find authors who inspire us.  Now I wish I were able to conduct an actual interview with Ed Young because I truly find him to be an amazing person!  As for my favorites… add Ed Young’s collection of works to the list!  A few of my favorite things… more like a ton!       

Websites to look at:

http://edyoungart.com/about.html

http://www.author4kids.com/edyoung.html

http://www.vickiblackwell.com/lit/lonpopo.html

http://www.leeandlow.com/p/young.mhtml

http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2005/12/authorillustrator-interview-ed-young.html

http://www.biographicon.com/view/4n509/Ed_Young_illustrator_

Poetry in Motion: Just Put it in Your Pocket!

  

 

Title:  Pocket Poems

Selected By:  Bobbi Katz  

Illustrator:  Marylin Hafner

ISBN:  0525471723

Publisher:  Dotton Children's Books

Genre:  Poetry

Guided Reading Level: Varies; Youth

I enjoy reading poetry with children.  Last year my second grade class and I put together an anthology of poems all about water.  We had a blast!  I was not aware of how much fun poetry could be in the classroom until I met a wonderful teacher named Mrs. Campbell.  I was working with Mrs. Campbell as a teaching scholar in a first grade classroom.  Mrs. Campbell had a way of teaching literacy that made reading and writing seem more fun than going on a field trip!  Every morning Mrs. Campbell would introduce the class to a new poem.  I learned how precious poetry is in the classroom that year and ever since I have been collecting poetry that I would like to use in my own classroom.  Unfortunately, I also learned that finding great poems can be hard at times.  I found that a book of poetry may contain a few great poems, but then there are also some poems that I would never use in the classroom.  The same is true for Pocket Poems, an anthology of poems selected by Bobbi Katz.  Inside the pages of this collection I found my favorite poem, “Dragon Smoke”, by Lilian Moore.  The poem is short, but fabulous.  On the first cold day of winter, when the air is so cold you can see the vapor form with every breath, read this poem with your class.  When you are finished reading the poem you will have every child in the class running out to, “Breath dragon smoke” that day.  How wonderful it is to see poetry effect children so! 

Within the same pages of this collection you will find a poem titled, “That’s The Way to Do It”: this poem is a take on “The little old woman that lived in a shoe”, but ends with the woman getting advice from a friend that tells the woman to ‘fry’ her children with ‘onions’ “and eat them for lunch!”.  Poetry is supposed to feed the readers senses not frighten them.  I remember growing up with rhymes about babies falling from a tree top or a farmers’ wife butchering some mice, but I find it hard to believe that in today's books I would find poems as vulgar as those that originated so long ago.         

I may dislike some of the poems in this book, but it would have been foolish of me to toss this book to the side after reading one bad poem.  In fact, I would recommend this anthology to someone looking for short and cute poems for beginning readers.  The book opens with a wonderful poem that would be great to start ‘poetry in your pocket week’ with because it is about how much fun it is to carry a poem in your pocket.  In conclusion, when it comes to finding fun and wonderful poems one must search hard and long.  There will be many poems that may make one wonder why they ever started looking, but in the end the benefits of having one’s own collection of useful poems for his/her classroom is priceless and one hundred percent worth it!  I am still searching for poems to fatten my binder with, and I hope you will start one too!

P.S.  I love the following poem!  Since my blog is about some of my favorite things I decided to add it to this entry so that you can share in one of my favorite poems, enjoy!

Dragon Smoke    

Breathe and blow

white clouds

            with every puff.

It’s cold today,

             cold enough

to see your breath.

Huff!

      Breathe dragon smoke

                Today!

Lilian Moore           

 

Many Cultures... Much in Common!

Title:  Whoever You Are

Author:  Mem Fox

Illustrator:  Leslie Staub

ISBN:  0152007873

Publisher:  Voyager Books

Genre:  Multicultural Picture Book

Guided Reading Level:  H

* I may have many favorites, but this is my absolute favorite!  In my heart, I have always believed that people are no different from me.  Our experiences might be different, but our emotions are not!  Even if we handle our emotions differently; pain is pain and happiness is happiness.  I am glad that Mem Fox has put this to print so that we can recognize the importance of our differences and the closeness of our similarities.     

A great multicultural picture book should rejoice in both the similarities as well as the differences of many cultures.  Being that New York is considered as the great melting pot of the world and there are so many ethnicities that formed our very own local culture I have had the privilege in learning about many different cultures through friends and family.  My family has grown in size quite a bit over the years as my siblings began to get married and start families of their own.  As we grew in size we grew in languages adding Hebrew, Spanish, and Creole.  I began to experience different traditions, superstitions, beliefs and (my favorite part) food.  Unfortunately, I have also experienced the ignorance that some people have towards people that are different from them.  When I first read Whoever You Are, by Mem Fox I fell in love!  Mem fox takes you around the world to look at people of different color, language and tradition.  Then she explains that the emotions of people are no different from one person to the next in order to show how similar people are regardless of their differences.  There are bad people in the world, but it is not their color that makes them bad it is their lack of care for others that allows them to do bad things.       

Mem Fox was inspired to write Whoever You Are after reading about the actions of an eighteen year old girl during wartime in Bosnia.  The girl turned against a boy that she had recently been in school with.  Mem Fox felt that the girl never should have seen the boy as an enemy, but rather as a friend who was the same as her.  Mem Fox also used rhyme, rhythm and repetition in her writing which helps children to read this wonderful story on their own.  This book is great for lesson’s on compare and contrast which can help children to further comprehend the meaningfulness of the story.  The illustrations are warm, colorful and inviting to readers.  The illustrator, Leslie Staub, draws the narrator travelling from place to place throughout the story.  Children will find it fun to point out the whereabouts of the narrator in each illustration.  Teachers can ask the class to find the narrator in the illustrations which will help further hold the student’s attention.  Most of all, the children will learn that the world is one which we all share so we should learn to understand one another and treat each other with respect.  This story brings me back to the old saying, “One should treat others as they would like to be treated” which can be a hard concept for young children since they are still developing their social skills.  This book helps children learn to consider others’ feelings by relating the emotions of others to their own.  It seems that children are not the only one's that could learn from this story, but at least we can teach them to learn from our mistakes.                           

A Lovely Twist on an Old Tale

Title:  Stone Soup

Author and Illustrator:  Jon J. Muth

ISBN: 043933909X

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Genre:  Folk Tale

Guided Reading Level: M

* Stone Soup, by Jon J. Muth is one of my newest additions to my growing list of favorites!

 

While looking for a quality children’s picture book for this week’s blog I remembered a story that I was told to read called Stone Soup.  I decided to search for Stone Soup and found many versions of the story by different authors.  I stumbled across Stone Soup by Jon J. Muth and I knew I had found my book!  Jon J. Muth retell’s and illustrates the old folk tale in such a unique and humble way that I fell in love with this story.  Muth sets the story in China and incorporates Chinese culture into the story through his art, symbols as well as elements from other Chinese folklore.  The characters Hok, Lok and Siew are familiar characters in Chinese folklore known for being deities that represent health, wealth, and prosperity.  In this story, Hok, Lok and Siew are monks who come across a village filled with villagers that had lost their sense of community and trust due to famine, flooding and war which fell upon them.  The three monk’s trick the villagers into helping them prepare stone soup in order to help the villagers remember how important community and the love and joy one feels when he/she shares in being a part of something bigger really is.  The traditional European version shows three hungry travelers that trick a village into giving them ingredients to make soup in order to cure their hunger.  Muth turned this old tale into a selfless and compassionate tale of human kindness and need for relationships/friendships. 

Muth’s artwork is brilliant!  The story begins with Hok, Lok and Siew walking in almost all white through a snow covered trail that hides the Great Wall of China and near completely camouflages the three monks.  The village is painted with bland colors until we see a vibrant red tree that helps the viewers’ eye to find a young onlooker wearing a bright yellow coat.  Once we meet the young child the colors grow stronger from page to page as the courtyard fills with more and more people.  It is as if color is added to the pages as life comes back to the community.

This story is great for teaching multiculturalism in the classroom, comparative studies on folklore, and teaching the importance of community and sharing.  I enjoyed meeting tricksters who wanted to do good for others and not for personal gain.  I felt the mood change as the villagers became more open and trusting.  I was not expecting to find this book, but I am sure glad I did!  Stone Soup, by Jon J. Muth has been added to my growing list of favorites and I implore you to pick up a copy and let the story work its’ way into your heart too!           

 

Picture Book: Let the Ilustration's Tell the Story!

Title: Good Dog, Carl

Author and Illustrator:  Alexandra Day

ISBN: 9780689807480

Publisher: Little Simon      

Genre: Wordless Picture Book   

Guided Reading Level: Ages 3-8
A wordless picture book since 1985

*I was first introduced to this book while student teaching and it has been a favorite of mine ever since!

Alexandra Day is the pseudonym of Sandra Louise Woodward Darling.  For Sandra, art was a part of her everyday life growing up.  There were many artists in her family. She learned of her own love for art at a young age, while watching her father’s drawings come to life.  It is of no wonder that Sandra would create a picture book where the illustrations tell the story.  Sandra illustrated Good Dog, Carl, which was published in 1985.  She used her Rottweiler named Toby to paint Carl.   Her own granddaughter Madeleine was the inspiration for the baby in the story.  The characters are not given names in this picture book, but it is understood that the three characters in the story are Carl, Madeleine and Big Mistress.  While Big Mistress runs errands, Carl watches over Madeleine.  The two have a ball of a time. When their fun comes to an end, Carl gets Madeleine all washed up and ready for bed.  The task is completed just in time for Big Mistress to return to a peaceful and quiet home.

I know that the story lends itself to many fantastical ideas, but this is partially why it has become a favorite of mine.  Alexandra Day created a story as imaginative and creative as those who are intended to view this lovely picture book.  Lesson upon lesson can be taught through this book; reality verses fantasy (dog safety and dogs are not babysitters); sequencing; how important detailed illustrations are in telling a story (writer’s workshop).  This picture book can be used prior to reading a picture book with a higher level of reading difficulty to facilitate the idea that since the illustrations tell a story that the illustrations can be used to assist in decoding unfamiliar words.  This picture book is nearly wordless, but it takes you on an adventure that is absolutely hysterical to the little eyes that view its’ wonderful watercolor illustrations. 

 I chose this wordless picture book because I have found it to be very useful in a classroom with emergent readers and new writers/illustrators.  It is nice to watch the children laugh and tell the story in their own words.  I find it amusing myself!  This story came out of a daydream that Sandra once had.  I wonder how many mothers closed their eyes for a few seconds and imagined someone else taking care of everything around the house while they attended to adult-things. I have one final comment before this entry comes to a close.  If you choose to bring this picture book into the classroom you might want to have a reminder talk with your class about the appropriate noise level for your classroom because Good Dog, Carl is sure to unleash a barrel of laughs out of the little ones!