‘Tis the season for grown-ups to begin to browse the rows of brightly colored books filling their local bookstore in anticipation of the upcoming holidays. How to choose that perfect book for the child you’re shopping for?
One way to focus the quest is to consider the 10 illustrated books nominated for the 2020-2021 Red Clover Award. Named for Vermont’s state flower, the award was first given in 1995 by Windham County Reads, a Brattleboro-based literacy nonprofit, and more recently by the Vermont Department of Libraries. It’s intended to encourage readers “to enjoy, explore, and discuss the pictorial, narrative, and design elements of the picture book in order to sharpen critical thinking and communication skills; heighten appreciation of literature and the visual arts; and nurture enthusiasm for reading, and promote lifelong learning.”
A committee comprising Vermont literacy experts, including librarians, teachers and authors, selects the 10 nominees from among hundreds of illustrated books published in the preceding year. These books are then read by or to children in kindergarten through fourth grade throughout the state. Any child who has read or heard at least five of the nominated books is eligible to vote for their favorite. Last year, nearly 6,000 Vermont children participated in the voting. This year’s award winner will be announced in June.
I read this year’s nominees in one sitting and intend to return to them with my grandchildren in the coming weeks. Each book was beautiful and inspiring in both word and illustration. They delighted the eye, and they were informative and thought-provoking in their presentation of important social issues: racism, immigration, climate change, loss both of species and of an individual pet, and America’s difficult and complex history of discrimination and promise of a brighter future for all. These books reflect the ideals of what reading can provide young children: joy, learning and the development of social awareness.
Here are the Red Clover Award nominees for 2020-2021:
The Undefeated, written by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, $17.99: Winner of the Caldecott Medal and a Newbery Honor Book, this is a beautifully illustrated ode to Black men and women who, undefeated by the legacy of slavery nor by contemporary discrimination, have made important and heroic contributions to America. From Phyllis Wheatley to LeBron James, from the four young girls who died in the Birmingham church bombing of 1963 to Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and others who have been murdered in recent years, Alexander writes about individuals whose achievements brought honor and recognition to the Black community as well as the wider world and about those who were martyred. Accompanying Alexander’s poem are Nelson’s finely painted portraits. The book’s final pages contain a comprehensive index to the historical figures and events cited in the poem, providing an educational opportunity for both the young listener and the adult reader.
Hummingbird, written by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Jane Ray, $16.99: This book lovingly combines scientific information about this smallest and most colorful of birds with stories of families in both New York City and in Central America. Ruby throats weigh less than a nickel, fly over 2,000 miles to migrate north in the summer and south in the winter, build nests that expand as the nestlings grow and sip nectar from flowers all along the way. An immigrant family’s move to New York and their visits to their grandma parallel the hummingbirds’ trips, providing a delightful connection between people and nature.
Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller, Pura Belpre, written by Anika Aldamuy Denise, illustrated by Paola Escobar, $17.99: Pura Belpre was the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York City and a major influence in the introduction of Spanish books and culture to the New York City Library System. She was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the New York Public Library and with an eponymous award given annually by the American Library Association. Pura’s life, told in simple words and lovely illustrations, is an inspiring testimony to immigration and the human spirit.
It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way, written by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Julie Morstad, $17.99: Accompanied by finely rendered drawings varying from black and white to vivid colors, Maclear tells the true story of Gyo Fujikawa, who was born to Japanese-Americans in Berkeley, CA in 1908. We learn of Gyo’s early interest and ability in drawing and the single-minded way in which she developed her talent. The forced removal of her family to an internment camp during WWII and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s brought her face to face with discrimination. She responded with her groundbreaking book showing babies of all races playing together and went on to design six U.S. postage stamps, murals, books and greeting cards. The final section of the book presents biographies of Gyo that provide the background for this loving and inspiring story.
Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, written by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, $18.99: Interwoven with wonderful illustrations by a Caldecott Honor winner, Fry Bread tells the story of the Native American past and present through the medium of food. Pages with bold headings show how fry bread offers not just sustenance, but also shape, sound, color, flavor, time, art, history, place, nation. In short, it’s everything. Inside the front and back covers are listed the names of the 573 federally recognized Native American tribes, and the story is followed by a detailed history of Native Americans in the U.S. The author’s recipe for fry bread concludes this volume, a superb book to introduce children to the richness and tragedy of Native American history.
Sea Bear: A Journey for Survival, written and illustrated by Lindsay Moore, $19.99: Told in the first person, a polar bear describes how global warming is changing its world. As the climate warms, the sea ice melts and hunting seals becomes more and more difficult. The polar bear compares her patience to that of glaciers which, sadly, are also disappearing. The seals, walruses, narwhals and whales of the Arctic are beautifully illustrated, and an index presents interesting information about each. The reader is left with the fear that the polar bear, despite patience, strength and persistence, may be doomed by man’s inability to address global warming.
Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons, written by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Merce Lopez, $18.99: This is a book full of riddle-kus — poems of the five, seven, five syllable haiku form written in the voice of something non-human that asks the reader to guess who/what is speaking. They are a total joy. The lovely drawings, the rhythm of the haiku form and the riddling all combine to make for a delightful voyage through the four seasons. My favorite is “I’m a yellow train,/carrying thoughts from your brain/to the waiting page.” I was able to guess that the answer was “pencil,” helped by the brilliant illustration showing a pencil racing down a railroad track with the smoke from its stack forming tigers, monkeys, a sailboat and a vivid blue and red macaw. This book is great fun for all.
Small in the City, written and illustrated by Sydney Smith, $17.99: Four pages of gauzy, colorful illustrations welcome us before the first words introduce the story that child-narrator is sharing with us. In what appears to be New York City on a winter day that moves from bright sunlight to deep snowfall, a little girl rides the bus into the city and gives advice on how to navigate the sights, sounds, and scary dangers of the big city. She is speaking to her missing cat, reassuring her that she will be all right and that food and water await in her warm home when she returns. This is a touching story about getting lost and being found.
Crab Cake: Turning the Tide Together, written and illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi, $17.99: In this charming fantasia, Tsurumi presents delightful renderings of the colorful and highly detailed inhabitants of the ocean floor: a full complement of fish, mammals, amphibians and crustaceans. Children will be charmed as they find new details and new creatures with every reading. The idyllic life of these creatures comes to a sudden halt, however, when the sea bed is covered by debris carelessly dumped into the ocean. The crab, whose main activity has been baking cakes, cupcakes, croissants and other dainties that the sea creatures enjoy eating, does not despair and keeps baking, enabling the others to recover, organize and clean up the mess. This tale is a fine introduction to the fragility of our ecosystems and how we need to guard them from pollution and destruction.
Sweety, written and illustrated by Andrea Zull, $17.99: This touching story is dedicated to those among us who feel they don’t belong but who “have accepted their inner oddball.” In this case, the oddball is Sweety, a naked mole rat who has peculiar hobbies and habits. She likes fungi, dances her book reports in school and wears glasses and funky clothes. Her Aunt Ruth, who also didn’t fit in as a young naked mole rat, encourages her, and Sweety eventually finds her special friend who shares her interests and pursuits, even creating their own secret handshake. The story plumbs the challenge of kids who don’t quite fit in as a child, and gives them some encouragement.
If you’re shopping for books for a Vermont schoolchild, the Red Clover Award nominees check a lot of boxes. Young readers can vote for their favorite in the spring and they will encounter important social issues while the books give them hours of pleasure and joy in reading and looking at the illustrations. And you can support your local bookstores. You can also buy and read them yourself for the same benefits — you just won’t be able to vote.
Happy holidays to all.
(Michael F. Epstein is a retired physician who reads and writes in Cambridge, Mass., and Brownsville. His website www.EpsteinReads.com has reviews of more than 1,000 books to help answer the question,”What should I read next?” An earlier version of the column appeared in the Bennington Banner and the Brattleboro Reformer.)