At the Mountain's Base by Traci Sorell ill by Weshoyot Alvitre

Sorell's cumulative verse begins beneath a hickory tree at the base of a mountain. The scene zooms in to reveal a cabin beneath the spreading branches of the tree. Stepping inside the cabin, readers see a simple yet welcoming home. Generations of Cherokee women watch as a grandma picks up fibers and weaves a pattern. She is intertwining more than strands of colored wool. She is weaving together a family, bound by love and tradition.  Her threads extend beyond the walls of the cabin and encompass a family member far away. A pilot flying far away in war-ravaged skies senses the influence of her grandma's songs and prayers. It is a prayer is for peace and a safe return. An Author's Note explains that while this story fictional, it is based on the service of one Native American woman, Ola Mildred "MIllie" Rexroat an OgLaLa Lakota pilot.

The Art of Weaving

Cumulative Verse

The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell

Nobody can fashion a tale quite like master story-spinner Katherine Rundell. ​ ​Her previous books have taken her readers to Africa, Paris, Russia, and the Amazon rainforest. Now she turns her considerable storytelling skills to North America. The Good Thieves is set in New York City during the 1920’s, an era of speakeasies and bootleg liquor. It was a time rife with crime and corruption, when mob bosses could shamelessly pay their way into influencing government officials. Much of the action takes place at familiar city landmarks: Central Park, Plaza Hotel, Main Library, subway, the Bowery. Vita and her mother travel to America to rescue her grandfather. Due to a fraudulent scheme perpetuated by crime lord Victor Sorrotore, Grandfather has lost the family home, a magnificent old castle. The swindle has left him destitute.

Meet the Author

More Magical Storytelling

King Alice by Matthew Cordell

How does one follow up after an award-winning wordless book? Matthew Cordell ventures in a completely different direction, introducing readers to King Alice, a precocious girl who is filled with opinions, stories of her own creation, and ideas. Lots and lots of ideas. She does not want for words. It's a snow day, which means that everyone in the household is homebound. For one regal young lady, its a day filled with possibilities: make-over for dad, tea party, writing a story, watching the TV show "Unicorn Buddies," creating a unicorn stampede.  ​ Inevitably, Dad reaches his breaking point. The antics are too much. Alice is sent to time out. ​The King apologizes. ​Dinner. Bath. Bedtime stories. Peace restored. ​​ ​Dad and King Alice are the main attractions in this day's escapades, but a mother, infant, and cat have cameo roles.

More Matthew Cordell 

Hansel and Gretel by Bethan Woollvin

Bethan Woollvin has done it again! A well-known fairy tale is turned it on its ear. This time the story’s surprise element is evident at the onset: two spoiled and mean-spirited children, Hansel and Gretel encounter the home of a kindly witch named Willow. Because she is a good witch, she returns their boorish behavior with kindness. When the twins commence to eat her home (which is made of gingerbread) she responds by preparing a delicious meal. When the children refuse to help her tidy up the forest, she overlooks their thoughtlessness. "Willow did not get angry, because Willow was a good witch"

Gingerbread Goodness

Make some fragrant playdough

Gingerbread recipe

Step-by-step directions for creating your own  ​Gingerbread House

More Woollin Fairy Tale Retellings

Smoke and Mirrors by K. D. Halbrook

Weaving a tale of wonder filled with pain, regret, resolve, hope, and a generous dose of magic is difficult. K. D. Halbrook's words seem to flow effortlessly, creating an illusion that is enchanting, while simultaneously heartbreaking.   Sasha and Toddy are children of Cirque Magnifique performers. From infancy, their lives have revolved around the wonder of daring aerial acts and dazzling costumes. People come from afar to marvel at these performances. Everyone, that is, except for the residents on the other side of the island. They will have nothing to do with this strangeness Sasha is devastated when their parents decide that the siblings must attend school with the island children. She believes that she won't fit in. She doesn’t. ​The Cirque kids were color in a gray world, they were many languages and strange accents, they were children of bizarre grown-ups who didn’t have normal jobs or wear normal clothes or carry the same tired expressions in their eyes, like the other island parents did.

You remember every nice thing that's happened to you. The people who hugged you when you were sad. The ones who invited you to their birthday party and gave you nicest piece of cake. You think about the most beautiful sights on the island.

The Lifters by Dave Eggers read by Dion Graham

Gran, short for Granite, and his family have moved to Carousel, living in his great grandfather's old home. Everything seems lonely and a bit off balance. No one at school speaks to him. It's as if he doesn’t exist. One day he comes upon classmate Catalina entering a hidden door in the ground. Gran is intrigued and follows her. He discovers a series of subterranean tunnels, crisscrossing the earth beneath the town. He watches as Catalina labors underground, propping up the tunnels with all manner of items to keep the town from sinking. The two join forces, working to defeat The Hollows, powerful winds which sense sadness and threaten to tunnel deep underground, blowing away the foundations of Carousel.

Listen Up

Bonus

Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier

Welcome to the world of Victorian England’s chimney sweeps. Jonathan Auxier has created a tale that is part historical fiction, part fantasy, part social commentary, and pure magic. ​Nan Sparrow has only known life as a chimney sweep. From infancy she was nurtured by a man she calls the Sweep. Together they did more than simply survive a grubby, demanding life of toil and deprivation. Instead he taught Nan to find joy in what others might deem a joyless existence. ​The Sweep had never understood how a person could sleep through the sunrise. 'It's like Heaven itself is offering you a gift you're too lazy to open,' he used to say. Then he'd wink and add, 'Ah, well. More for us.'

​And yet, here in the dusty crawl space, she held a miracle in her hands.

"A sage or rabbi--​ that is, a Jewish priest— forms a body out of mud or clay and then brings the creature to life with a sort of magic word called a Shem"...
"In your stories, why did the rabbi make his golem?"
"Why does a person create anything? Out of necessity... The golem is made to help people who fear for their lives.”

Stories to Tell. Stories to Share.

Sometimes on nights when there was no food to eat, the girl and her Sweep used to make Story soup. The girl would fill her pockets with trash she found on the streets - scraps of paper or trampled strings or bits of colored glass. At the end of the day, she would present these things to The Sweep. “Make Story soup!” she would tell him.’
​”Oh-ho!” The Sweep would always exclaim, rubbing his belly with both hands. ‘You’ve brought us ingredients for a right feast!’

​It's a very private thing to open a present and a person deserves to do it on his own way.

Bonus: The Wit and Wisdom of Sweep

​What is a year?
A year is a bunch of days put together.
Oh, it's much more than that! ...A year is a little lifetime.

The Book Tree by Paul Czajak ill Rashin Kheiriyeh

Imagine a world without books. Paul Czajak invites youngsters to visit the fantastical world of Arlo, a boy who loves to read. One day, while nested in the branches of a tree with his book, misfortune strikes. The volume slips from his hands and lands upon the head of the mayor. Furious, the mayor immediately calls for the destruction of all books, as he deems them dangerous. Arlo is bereft  when all books are torn apart and the pages float away. He is not the only one missing books. There are no more stories for children at nap time. Meals become dull, as there are no cookbooks to consult. The theater ceases to perform as there are no scripts to enact. Arlo determines that perhaps he can create stories of his own. His writing germinates a torn book page, buried deep within the earth. A book tree begins to grow, nourished by the stories Arlo writes and shares. Eventually the book tree is filled with books and the town springs back to life.

Meet the Author

​"​When it comes to science people have this idea that it is all numbers and equations, but in fact science is filled with creativity.  Go look at a picture of the Hadron Collider and try to tell me that didn’t take some serious imagination."

He is the author the Monster and Me series.  Monster Needs Your Vote might be an appropriate selection to read during this national election cycle. ​Paul has created coloring pages, which may be downloaded from his website.

Meet the Illustrator

Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico
by David Bowles

Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico stitches together a remarkable tapestry of Mesoamerican mythology. David Bowles begins by amplifying and enriching the saga of well-known brothers: Feathered Serpent, also known as Quetzalcoatl, and Heart of Sky, also known as Hurricane or Tezcatlipoca, with fascinating details gleaned from his extensive research.  His poetic language is rich and evocative. Feathered Serpent burst from the cosmic sea and took flight through the endless sky, his long bodyrippling with bright red, green and blue plumes. Heart of Sky swirled to life in the heavens before dropping to waters and spinning like a violent cyclone, dark smoke curling from the black mirror on his forehead. The narrative continues in roughly chronological fashion, recounting the five ages of the world. The fifth age includes stories of the gods Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca in human form, as well as retellings taken from Mayan and Aztec lore.

The book concludes with the arrival of the Spanish in 1519. Importantly, this account is presented from the point of view of the conquered indigenous people of Mexico and provides much needed perspective and understanding to this period of history. One of the most compelling aspects of this work is the inclusion of bold and fearless women. Brave Erendira loved the earth and her mother country.  She desperately tried to rally her people to fight the invading armies. Riding a captured white horse, she was a symbol of hope.  Princess Donaji was destined to serve her people and eventually give her life for them. She was beheaded and from her severed head blossomed a lily of exquisite beauty. Her likeness is memorialized on the city of Oaxaca's coat of arms.

In the early 1940s the former St. Augustine temple was turned into a public library.  Juan O'Gorman painted a graphic history of Michoacán right where the altar used to be. Princess Eréndira is riding the white horse on the left side of the painting. Wikkipedia

Page Fright by Wade Bradford ill Mary Ann Fraser

​Bradford offers a refreshingly different riff on the time-honored classic tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and in the process breaks the fourth wall in a unique fashion. Characters move off script and step outside the book’s pages. At the outset, a charming but slightly self-absorbed young Goldilocks welcomes readers into the volume containing her story. Unfortunately Papa Bear, who inadvertently becomes the story's main character, becomes flustered and can't deliver his scripted lines.

Bears Times Three

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems

Somebody and the Three Blairs by Marilyn Tolhurst ill Simone Abel

Goldilocks and the Three Bears by James Marshall