Powerful Picture Books

I had fun analyzing some powerful picture books this week from my public library. The first book that I reviewed was My Two Border Towns by David Bowles. Ericka Menza’s illustrations are watercolors with bright hues of blue, pink, red, yellow, and green, which accurately reflects the setting of the book, the Mexican-U.S. border. The color scheme of the book reminds me of Mexican blankets, papel picados (banners), and traditional Mexican women’s dresses. The illustrator’s use of dividing lines such as the Rio Grande River reinforce the theme of the challenges of life at the Mexican-U.S. border. I would share this book with 4th graders or older children because of the book’s complex topic of immigration.

Bowles, D., Fabela, O. E., & Meza, E. (2022). My Two border towns. Findaway World, LLC.

In Hundred Years of Happiness by Thanhha Lai the illustrations with their muted colors reflect the nostalgic mood of this book. Almost all of the pages have winding gac vines that tie the whole book together through the theme of gardening and cooking with family. For example, in the middle of the book, An and Ong (An’s grandfather) pollinate gac flowers, and they will use the gac fruit to make sticky rice for Ba, An’s grandmother. The curvy lines in the book represent the connections between generations and the circle of life. I would share this book with 3rd graders and above as a hook for a unit on family or identity. In the author’s note, Lai includes a family recipe for gac sticky rice. 

Lại, T., Quang, N., Liên, K., & Dinh, E. (2022). Hundred years of happiness. Library Ideas, LLC.

In the innovative picture book, Out of a Jar, some pages have text with illustrations and other pages have comic book panels and text. Marcero uses watercolors and pencil to create the illustrations, which perfectly reflect the theme of the story. The theme is the importance of feeling your feelings rather than stuffing them. The colors within the book reflect the main character's emotions throughout the story. The first pages discuss the adorable bunny Llewellyn’s fears, which are represented by black trees. Llewellyn’s other emotions are represented by color: red is anger, blue is sadness, green is disappointment and so on. Marcero uses hatch marks and lines to create shadows, depth and dimension across most of the pages. I would share this book with all ages because we all have emotions that we must learn to handle. I absolutely love how all of the colors (emotions) merge together at the end to create a flowery landscape and sunset.

Marcero, D. (2022). Out of a jar. G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

Charly Palmer uses deep, dark hues and layers of paint to create textured illustrations that remind me of impressionist paintings. In Palmer’s illustrations, the lines from the bristles of his paintbrush are apparent, and he uses the paint to create impressions of figures and objects. Palmer’s brushstrokes create quite a bit of movement and strong emotion in his illustrations. D. is feeling “scrunchy” throughout the story, and there is a dark cloud over his head, representing his negative mood. I would use this picture book with kids ages eight and up to start a discussion about dealing with strong feelings, bad days, and keeping your head up despite life’s challenges.

Neil, K. A., Palmer, C., Butler, P., & Neil, K. A. (2021). Keep your head up. Library Ideas, LLC.

Madelyn Goodnight uses gouache painting to create the opaque illustrations in Powwow Day. In the story, the young girl, River, is afflicted by an illness and attends her tribe's powwow. The bright, bold color palette of Goodnight’s illustrations highlight the bright colors of the traditional tribal clothing and the strength of the ties between the members of River’s tribal community. The illustrations of the character’s actions and facial expressions depict the care and concern they have for River, and they enhance the theme of the book which is the power of community for healing. Goodnight effectively uses lines and patterns to express movement throughout the book, especially in the powwow and dancing scenes. I would use this picture book with second graders and above to discuss topics such as community, family, and identity. As an added bonus, the back matter contains information about powwows and the healing Jingle Dress Dance.

Sorell, T., Flyte, C., & Goodnight, M. (2022). Powwow day. Findaway World, LLC.