If you Listen - Zolotow

I had to post this now as it is such a coincidence. Another Zolotow/Vitale now out of print 2002 reissue found its way to our store and will soon go to a home where it is needed. *Other Zolotow/Vitale books are: When the Wind Stops and The Sleepy Book Kim just wrote about.

If You Listen is a calm and spiritual story that
reassures little ones about loss. In Zolotow's spare lyrical prose, a little girl asks her mother, how do I know father loves me if I can't see him or feel his hugs? Through the pages, her mother assures her that if she listens inside herself, "like the rustle of birds in the leaves of the trees or like a boat whistle in the fog, she will feel someone very far away sending love to her."

Recently a friend lost her husband suddenly. They have two little girls who don't yet understand that their father is not coming home. I hope this serene illustrated story will help her show her children that their father is always there inside them sending love to them.

Sleepy Book

There are soooo many different  illustrated versions of this book! Sleepy Book was originally published in 1958 by Lothrop, Lee and Shepherd. It was written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by Vladimir Bobri. My favorite versions are these vintage ones with Bobri's art.

The illustrations  are on black paper and the text in this book is  a hand-cut blockletter by Rudolf Koch, in gray ink on the black pages. It's fantastic! I wish I owned a copy.....
This one's from the library.

Sleepy Book was brought out by Harper& Row in 1988 with pictures by Ilse Plume (Plume cover pictured above)

then reissued a third time in 2001 by HarperCollins with simple, colorful illustrations by Stefano Vitale (the Vitale cover above) .
This timeless classic to sleepiness has long outlived its first publisher and outlasted two name changes on its second. I wonder if yet another future generation will see it differently?

Charlotte Zolotow's  words are soothing and lyrical making it the perfect bedtime book:
"The snowy crane sleeps standing on one long leg like a flower on its stem"..."Spiders when they sleep are like small ink spots in the middle of their lacy webs"..."But little boys and girls, when the night comes and the wind whispers gently in the trees and the stars sparkle and shine, sleep warm under their blankets in their beds."
Visit Charlottes website here to learn more about her timeless classic books.

With The Sun In My Eyes

This morning I woke up to find an email from one of my favorite artists: Morteza Zahedi. Morteza is an artist who hails from Iran and I'm a big follower/fan of his work. His email announced that his new Book: With The Sun In My Eyes (due out in March 2012) published by Groundwood, has just been nominated for Best Books for Children and Youth 2012! The event involved "books of excellent quality, remarkable in style, content and illustration."

Written by Jorge Lujan, Con El Sol en Los Ojos is a poetry book in both Spanish and English. It's about a little boy and girl describing day to day experiences in their world.

The girl loves her little dog, Oliver, the wind blowing in her face and laughter that "explodes for no reason" and the little boy describes newborn chicks "like tiny walking suns."

Sounds lovely and lyrical and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of this wonderful collection of poems for children.

If you'd like to see more of Morteza Zahedi's fabulous art,

visit his blog here.