Category Archives: picture books

Not Just “For the Birds”

Posted on August 1, 2017 by rosinskynatalie

Saying something is “for the birds” is an old-fashioned put-down. It means “not worth much” and actually refers to the horse droppings on city streets that birds once ate. (So my saying that President Trump’s policies are “for the birds” … Continue reading →

Posted in biographies, graphic novels, picture books | Tagged Annette LeBlanc Cate, anxiety, Audubon On the Wings of the World, Audubon Society, bird-watching, birds, Birds Art Life, Birds of America, book collaboration, claire ligne, climate change, Depression, Etienne Gilfillan, Fabien Grolleau, French immigrant, Jerem Royer, John James Audubon, Kenard Pak, Kyo Maclear, Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Back Yard, ornithologist, The Fog | Leave a comment

Bigger Than Life? Tall Tales and “Fake News”

Posted on June 1, 2017 by rosinskynatalie

We Minnesotans love tall tales—especially ones about Paul Bunyan. Kids read about how his huge feet supposedly stomped out our 10,000 lakes and how the giant chopped down thousands of trees with one ax stroke. The communities of Bemidji and … Continue reading →

Posted in graphic novels, picture books | Tagged "fake news", American folk lore, Audrey Wood, Bemidji, Brainerd, Carrie McIntie, Cathy Malkasian, David Shannon, dreams, Eartha, epitaphs, fairy tale, Kevin O'Malley, legendary heroes, Lucette Diana Kensack, Maine, Marybeth Lorbiecki, Minnesota, Ojibwe, Paul Bunyan, Paul Bunyan Day, Paul Bunyan's Sweetheart, Paula Bunyan, Phyllis Root, picture book, President Trump, quest, Renee Graef, social media, tall tale hero, tall tales, teen readers, The Bunyans, tween readers, tweets | Leave a comment

Going Nuclear

Posted on March 1, 2017 by rosinskynatalie

Going nuclear? A recent, award-winning picture book; another acclaimed, older picture book; and some classic and in-progress graphic novels remind us just how terrible this military choice has been. These works center upon the World War II atomic devastation of … Continue reading →

Posted in biographies, graphic novels, manga, memoir, picture books, Uncategorized | Tagged A Cartoon History of Hiroshima, atom bomb, atomic power plant, Barefoot Gen, Caren Stelson, comics, Depression, Fukushima nuclear power plant, Hiroshima, Ichi-F: A Worker's Graphic Memoir of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, Japan, Japanese Prime Minister Abe, Junko Morimoto, Kazuto Tatsuta, Keiji Nakasawa, My Hiroshima, non-violence, nuclear arsenal, nuclear disarmament, nuclear melt down, nuclear power plant, nuclear war, peace, Peace Garden, President Trump, Raina Telgemeier, Sachiko Yasui, Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story, Silbert Honor Award, United States, World War II | Leave a comment

Emancipation and Inauguration–Days Old and New

Posted on February 1, 2017 by rosinskynatalie

Three award-winning picture books are my focus today. Read on. Life-altering changes brought by the stroke of a pen or the tick of a clock—the beginning of African-American History month brings many thoughts to mind. One is how the official … Continue reading →

Posted in biographies, graphic novels, picture books | Tagged African-American History Month, American Library Association award, Andrew Aydin, Ashley Bryan, business documents, business practices, Carole Boston Weatherford, civil rights, Congressman John R. Lewis, Emancipation Day, Fredi Williams Evans, Freedom in Congo Square, Freedom Over Me, Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, immigration, inauguration, Jonah Winter, Juneteenth, March Book Three, March Trilogy, music, My Name is James Madison Hemings, Nate Powell, National Book Award, New Orleans, President Trump, Presidents Day, protests, R. Gregory Christie, Sally Hemings, slavery, song, Terry Widener, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life, Thomas Jefferson, U.S. laws | Leave a comment

Vantage Points: Staring into 2017

Posted on January 1, 2017 by rosinskynatalie

Two new graphic works have helped me deal with my thoughts and feelings about the recent presidential election. How could so many people have voted for Donald Trump, when so many more of us are dismayed and frightened at his … Continue reading →

Posted in comics, graphic novels, picture books, Uncategorized | Tagged Arch Dale, Brendan Wenzel, cartoon fad, Donald Trump, Dr. Seuss, echolation, Harrison Cady, holiday cartoons, inauguration, Johnny Gruelle, Jonathan Barli, magazine illustrations, new year' day, newspaper cartoons, point of view, President-elect Trump, presidential election, sight, The Gaze of Drifting Skies: A Treasury of Bird's Eye Cartoon Views, They All Saw a Cat, vantage point, ways of seeing | Leave a comment

More or Less Grimm

Posted on December 1, 2016 by rosinskynatalie

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, and other festive occasions . . . . Two recent, compelling fairy tale volumes would make excellent gifts this holiday season. Matt Phelan’s Snow White: A Graphic Novel (2016) and Shaun Tan’s The Singing Bones … Continue reading →

Posted in graphic novels, picture books, sculpture, Uncategorized | Tagged 1920s, 1930s, Adelita, Christmas, Cinderella, Depression era, Ed Young, fairy tales, Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm, Grimms' Fairy Tales, Hansel and Gretel, Hanukkah, holiday gifts, Inari Kiuru, Inuit art, Jack Zipes, Jacob Grimm, John Steptoe, Kwanzaa, Little Red Cap, Lon Po Po, Matt Dembicki, Matt Phelan, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, Neil Gaiman, New York City, papier-mache, Philip Pullman, photographs, photography, pre-Columbian art, sculpture, Shaun Tan, Snow White: A Graphic Novel, the brothers Grimm, The Singing Bones, three-dimensional art, Tomie de Paola, Wilhelm Grimm, Winter Solstice | Leave a comment

Lively Looks at the Day of the Dead

Posted on October 1, 2016 by rosinskynatalie

A spirited crowd welcomed author/illustrator Raina Telgemeier to the Twin Cities the other week. Tweens in family and class groups filled a large university auditorium, excited to meet the popular, award-winning cartoonist, on national tour to promote her brand-new graphic … Continue reading →

Posted in graphic novels, picture books | Tagged award winner, Aztec heritage, Braden Lamb, calaveras, California, cystic fibrosis, Day of the Dead, death, Dia de Los Muertos, Dia de Muertos, Duncan Tonatiuh, engraving, etching, Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras, Ghosts, Halloween, holiday celebrations, humor, Jose Guadalupe Posada, lithography, Mexican-American, Mexico, Raina Telgemeier, satirical art, sisters, skeleton, skull, supernatural | Leave a comment

School Days vs. Labor Days

Posted on September 1, 2016 by rosinskynatalie

Is that alarm clock set to go off for school or work? And how do the young people in your life feel, come September, when they answer that question? Here in the U.S., Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end … Continue reading →

Posted in biographies, picture books | Tagged Ana Malaspina, Bangladesh, child labor, Christina Lamb, Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith, Doug Chayka, elementary school readers, I am Mala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World, Iqbal Masih, Iqbal: A Brave Boy from Pakistan, Islam, Islamic zealots, Jeanette Winter, Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor, Kids on Strike, Labor Day, labor laws, Lawrence Migdale, Malala Yousafzazi, Malala: A Brave Girl from Pakistan, Migrant Worker: A Boy from the Rio Grande Valley, Muslim children, Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan, new school year, Patricia McCormick, photographs, Russell Freedman, Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Taliban, work, Yasmin's Hammer, young readers | Leave a comment

Teachable Moments

Posted on June 1, 2016 by rosinskynatalie

Now that it is summer vacation time in North America, more of our young people’s teachable moments will take place outside of school. Graphic works can play a part in the lessons they learn—especially in areas often given shorter shrift … Continue reading →

Posted in graphic novels, hybrid books, picture books, Uncategorized | Tagged all ages, animal transformation, Banksy, Birdsong: A Story in Pictures, brothers and sisters, cross-dressing, E. Eeero Johnson, early readers, empathy, gender fluidity, gender identiy, high school students, humor, James Sturm, K-1st grade, Kamishibai, Kirstin Cronn-Mills, life lessons, Minneapolis, Original Fake, peformance art, sexual orientation, storytelling, summer reading, teenagers | Leave a comment

Ten Plagues and Two Graphic Novels

Posted on May 1, 2016 by rosinskynatalie

For a few days in spring, before cable TV and streaming media, actor Charlton Heston once dominated North America’s television airwaves. Sometimes on the same weekend, Heston’s rugged features and sonorous voice would bring Biblical times to life at Passover … Continue reading →

Posted in graphic novels, picture books | Tagged A. David Lewis, Aaron, Ben Hur; A Tale of the Christ, Ben-Hur, Bible, Bob Dacey, Cecil B. DeMille, Charlton Heston, David, Easter, Egypt, Exodus, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Fran Manushkin, Goliath, Israelites, J.T. Waldman, Jennifer Rodgers, Jesus Christ, Judaism, King David, Lew Wallace, Megillat Esther, midrash, midrashim, Miriam, Miriam's Cup: A Passover Story, Moses, movies, mpMann, Passover, Pharoah, Pharoah Ramses, Philistines, Punk Rock Jesus, Queen Esther, Ramses, Ridley Scott, Sean Murphy, ten plagues, The Lone and Level Sands, The Ten Commandments, Tom Gauld | 1 Comment

Category Archives: picture books

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