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31Oct

Polka Dot Parade

Posted by: annettepimentel@gmail.com Categories: Uncategorized
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Cover of book shows a photographer pointing his camera directly at the reader.Halloween to me means dressing up. It’s all about choosing the exact right outfit. Polka Dot Parade is a picture book biography that celebrates that urge to dress up, but in everyday life, not just the exceptional holiday.

Polka Dot Parade tells the story of Bill Cunningham, a ground-breaking fashion photographer who pioneered the use of candid street shots. He was fascinated by what people choose to wear and traveled around New York City on his bicycle, snapping photos of fabulous outfits, regardless of who was wearing it and where they were. His focus was squarely on clothes and fashion. In one instance, related in the book, he discovered that he had taken a candid photo of Greta Garbo. He hadn’t realized he was snapping a photo of someone famous, just that he wanted a picture of her fantastic outfit.

The book talks about how Cunningham approached his art and his tendency to shun publicity.

The art, watercolors by Masha D’yans, focuses, just as Cunningham would have, on the fabulous fashion rather than on the people wearing it. It’s a beautiful book to look at.

Polka Dot Parade: A Book about Bill Cunningham by Deborah Blumenthal, illustrated by Masha D’yans. little bee books: 2018.

Picture of children surrounding a globe

Alyson Beecher hosts the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge at kidlitfrenzy.com. Visit there for more great nonfiction picture books!

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29Aug

Fairies

Posted by: annettepimentel@gmail.com Categories: Review
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Cover of book shows an old photo of two girls with fairies.In 2012 I read a middle grade nonfiction book that bowled me over: The Fairy Ring: Or Elsie and Frances Fool the World  by Mary Losure (Candlewick: 2012). It was the true story of how two girls faked photos that tricked many adults, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, into believing that fairies are real. I had never imagined a nonfiction book could so compellingly capture such a strange and fascinating story. It expanded my idea of what nonfiction for kids could do.

Earlier this year I started seeing mention of a new book about the same topic, Fairy Spell: How Two Girls Convinced the World that Fairies are Real. I immediately assumed it was another middle grade book. After all, it took chapters to explain why they set up the fake photos, how they did it, and the aftermath. Eventually, though, it worked through to my brain that this new book was a picture book. How could you tell the same story in a picture book format?

Nobleman does a good job of it, and some of the differences between the book help show basic differences between picture books and longer nonfiction. He keeps the focus tight on the two girls’ emotions and their reasons for setting up the photos. He doesn’t go into a lot of detail about how they made the photos. And he definitely doesn’t dive into other people’s heads, as the longer nonfiction does. This is very much a book about the two girls. The art in the picture book also helps keep us focused on the girls. It wordlessly conveys much of the emotion that is briefly described in the book as the root source of the photo scam.Cover of book is a detail of a black and white photo of a girl looking at a fairy.

It was a pleasure to read again about this strange historical event. And now I want to reread Losure’s book, too.

Fairy Spell: How Two Girls Convinced the World that Fairies Are Real by Marc Tyler Nobleman, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler. (Clarion: 2018).

Picture of children surrounding a globe

Alyson Beecher hosts the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge at kidlitfrenzy.com. Visit there for more great nonfiction picture books!

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