*Alphabet City (1995)

*Alphabet City by Stephen T. Johnson (1995) is a collection of paintings! The only text is an introduction. “Building Alphabet City required self-imposed guidelines. All letters had to be capital letters, found in their natural positions, out-of-doors or in public spaces such as the subway, readily accessible to anyone who looks carefully at our urban world at various times of day, and during the cycle of seasons. There are not right or wrong solutions to finding letters in a city, only pleasurable ones.” Johnson painted images in which he perceived capital letters of English. There are no identifying marks in the paintings that highlight the letters Johnson perceives. The painting of a fire escape on the side of a building does not have a brightly colored red overlay of the letter Z. No text directs our attention. Johnson thus demands that we discover the letters ourselves! What a delightful exercise! 

Inside Outside Who We Are (2006)

Inside Outside Who We Are by Steve Tiller (2006) celebrates diversity in its many manifestations. It does so in rhyme. The first line sets the stage: "When I look at you It isn’t hard to see, You really do not look Very much like me!” The rhyme mixes in skin color, hair style, body types, abilities and disabilities, likes and dislikes. It’s the philosophy I recall advocating for in my own family and social circles. “We disagree On lots of stuff, But how we feel Is close enough. We think different . . . But our feelings Are the same we find. Inside our hearts We all feel love, For friends and family And things above!” Now, in 2025, the illustrations by Harry Teague  have the feel of a dreamscape. In 2025, this poem reads like a delusion, an unfulfilled wish. Was it naive to think our differences would somehow still allow all the human race to get along? This respect for differences is now being erased from the government anything. 

*If You Plant a Seed (2015)

*If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson (2015) is a gorgeous book that illustrates the difference between selfishness and kindness. This award winning author/illustrator has created a meaningful work of art in this book. It’s a story with a moral that somehow avoids coming across as preachy. A rabbit and mouse plant tomato, carrot, and cabbage plants. As they munch on the fruits of their labor, along come some neighbors. Five different kinds of birds would like to share the feast. We see the results of two choices: sharing and not. The story is read aloud here

This story reminds me of  The Hare Who Wouldn’t Share by Steve Small (2024) 

Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa (2005)

Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa by Veronica Chambers (2005)is a lovely story of an artist with persistence. Celia Cruz “sang like a bird” at a young age. Her beautiful voice attracted neighbors outside her home in Cuba as she sang lullabies to her younger siblings. In high school, she sang in school shows and local clubs. Her father encouraged her to train to be a teacher, but Cruz attended Cuba’s National Music Conservatory after high school. Despite her natural talent, a career in music was not easy to find. When she was hired by a popular band, its fans were furious. But the band kept Cruz and “rewrote the history of Cuban music with new arrangements and a fresh, innovative style.” Cruz left Cuba in 1960 and politics dictated that she could never return. Although she found fame and love in the United States, leaving Cuba was “a heartache she carried her whole life through.” Julie Maren’s illustrations reflect the text with little embellishment. This book has a two-page author’s note, glossary, and bibliography. 

*Thelonious Mouse (2011)

*Thelonious Mouse by Orel Protopopescu  (2011) is a joyful story for the very young music lover. Thelonious Mouse “had too much music in him to stuff into a mousehole. He had to let it out.” This mouse tap-dances and prances. He claps and slaps the walls in a home of a cat. While his parents and siblings shake at the prospect of waking the sleeping feline, Thelonious skitters and twitters on a table singing “Nibblety dribblety cheeit! Icky ticky old fleabit!” Fat cat chases Thelonious more than once in this story. When Thelonious discovers a tiny, toy piano, he doesn’t hear the cat coming. All he hears is the sound of the piano keys. “A click-a-keys, a lick-a-cheese, a jingling, tingling sends me in a swoon.” And yet, his musical genius saves the day, and the future. This is a brilliantly written story illustrated by Anne Wisdorf .

*The Aritist Who Painted a Blue Horse (2011)

*The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse  is my favorite book by Eric Carle (2011). The multicolored title promises that brightly colored content awaits inside the book. That promise is fulfilled. Eric Carle’s animals fill large two-page spreads. The text’s only mission is to label the pictures. First, we meet the artist standing at a canvas. “I am an artist and I paint . . .a blue horse and . . .” Each page is magical. The blue horse canters across the pages, brown mane and tail flowing. A red crocodile bears sharp teeth in an enormous open mouth. A yellow cow shines brightly against a night sky with stars. A pink rabbit, green lion, orange elephant, purple fox, black polar bear, and polka-dotted donkey all remind us that an artist sees the world in a special way. Eric Carle validates the artist on the last page: “I am a good artist.” 

The most significant part of this book is the back matter. Eric Carle shows us Blue Horse I, (1911) by Franz Marc! There's a one-paragraph biography of Franz Marc and an explanation of why Eric Carle created this book. When he was a young painter, his art teacher at the time defied the Nazis by showing him forbidden “modern impressionistic or abstract art.” Carle is quoted, “‘My green lion, polka-dotted donkey and other animals painted in the ‘wrong’ colors were really born that day seventy years ago.’”

My First Thanksgiving Book (1984)

 My First Thanksgiving Book by Jane Belk Moncure is the kind of story I read in childhood.  Moncure's illustrations give the story a fairytale feel. Her colors are lovely and her simplified style quite pretty. The book has single page chapters with headings in bold type. The first vignette is The Mayflower. Moncure shows the Mayflower in full sail carrying passengers in Pilgrim costume. Pilgrims arrive on shore, and in Plymouth they build homes. During the First Winter, Indians come with corn and bread. After a several pages about the happy establishment of a Pilgrim community, the story jumps to modern day. "Thanksgiving Today" begins with A Family Time, generations sitting at a dinner table. A contemporary Thanksgiving has Pumpkin Pies, giving thanks, sharing, and fall colors. Families still celebrating a traditional Thanksgiving story will love this book. It's gentle, well organized, and beautiful.