*Mr Archimedes’ Bath (1980)

* Mr Archimedes’ Bath by Pamela Allen (1980) is a brilliant book. There’s very little text and it’s in a large font. That’s ok because the pictures tell the story. Mr Archimedes puts “just a little water in the bath, as he always did, and this time he measured the depth.” He’s wondering why water spills out of the tub when he and his animal companions climb in. When they all climb out of the tub, the water level drops. Each animal takes turns not joining the others in the tub, and yet, the water still rises. He finally figures out that they are the ones making the water level rise and fall. “The friends had so much fun that night, jumping in and out, making the water go up and down, that they made more mess than ever before.” This is the Arcimedes’ principle.

The Tower of Life (2022)

 The Tower of Life: how Yaffa Eliach rebuilt her town in stories and photographs by Chana Stiefel (2022) is a true story. At the beginning of the book, we meet Yaffa as a young girl living in a small Jewish town called a shtetl. Life is good. Yaffa’s grandmother is one of the town photographers who took photographic portraits of many residents. “And on the eve of each Jewish New Year, people from all over Eishyshok would mail their treasured photographs to their families around the world with greetings for good health and happiness.” Then the German tanks and motorcycles arrived. Yaffa and her family escaped. Eventually, she married and moved to America where President Jimmy Carter asked her to help build a memorial for the Holocaust. Yaffa traveled the world searching for photographs of the former residents of her town. At back of the book is an illustration of Yaffa’s “Tower of Life “ in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum with references. Susan Gal’s illustrations present Yaffa’s story in somber colors that capture the seriousness of history. 

Patrick Gets Hearing AIDS (1994)

 Patrick Gets Hearing Aids by Maureen Cassidy Riski and Nikolas Klakow (1994) looks to be a self-published book. There is no ISBN. Riski dedicates the story to her brother, Patrick, who is hearing impaired. Her brother inspired Riski to become a pediatric audiologist. All the characters in this book are animals. Patrick is a rabbit. He doesn’t play with friends because he doesn’t understand what they are saying. He listens to the television at a very high volume. After getting a hearing test, he gets hearing aids and his life improves dramatically . He’s amazed by all the sounds in his environment. “Patrick was surprised at the songs coming from the birds! And the noisy cars! There was so much to hear." The colorful illustrations mimic the text. They do the job of illustrating life before, during, and after hearing testing. 

Mapping Sam (2021)

 Mapping Sam by Joyce Hesselberth (2021) at first glance looks like a book Sam the cat's night time  travels. And it is, partially. It's really about maps. It's a narrative introduction to many kinds of maps. After Sam's family is asleep, this tabby slips out the back door. We see her leap over a fence, trot through grass, roll across a yard, and climb her favorite tree. Turn the page and we see a top-down diagram of where's she's been, a map complete with compass and scale. Turn the page and there's a two-page spread of Sam's skeleton and internal organs, a map of Sam. Sam doesn't just smell a flower; this flower is labeled: stamen, petal, pistil, and so on--a map of the plant. The illustrations continue this theme to measure the depth of water, a water molecule, the earth, solar system, and so on. The illustrations contrast Sam's bright orange coat against shades of blue and green and fill every square inch of the pages. The final page has a glossary featuring thumbnails and descriptions of each map in the story. 

*Frank and Lucky Get Schooled (2016)

 Frank and Lucky get Schooled by Lynne Rae Perkins (2016) surprised me with its educational content. The story begins when Frank adopts a happy canine companion named Lucky. "Lucky could always help Frank with his homework, because Luck did a lot of learning on his own. For example, Lucky was very interested in Science." After Lucky wonders about ducks and so goes swimming, wonders about squirrels and deer and bees and porcupines, and rain, and mud. . .Frank learns bout Botany. Frank leans about the burdock and dog ticks that cling to Lucky's fur. Frank learns about Chemistry when experiments with products that will wash  skunk smell out of Lucky's fur. Here's a math puzzle: "Let's say a dog comes in from outside and gets one bisuit, but therea re three people in the living room. How many more biscuits should the dog receive?" This is such a fun book. And then Perkins ties up all her lessons into a brilliant bow at the end. 

Letting Swift River Go (1992)

Letting Swift River Go (1992) is another of Jane Yolen’s superbly crafted stories. It begins with an author’s note, “The Quabbin Reservoir is near my house.” Thus begins a very personal recollection of childhood by a now grown-up Sally Jane. She felt safe in her valley town. She walked to school, fished the Swift River, picnicked in the graveyard, and slept outside with her friends. Then “everything began to change.” Boston voted to “drown our towns that the people in the city might drink.” Barbara Cooney’s illustrations contrast the beautiful landscape of the Swift River Valley prior to its destruction with the vast barrenness required to create a reservoir. She finishes with the immense body of water that covered the towns of Dana, Enfield, Prescott, and Greenwich. As an adult, Sally Jane looks back and recalls her mother’s words, when a city girl visited with mason jars to capture fireflies. My resource focuses on the people who lived in the valley, not the construction of the Winsor Dam and Goodnough Dike. This story is read aloud online by Denver DiMarzio. 

My Picture Book Talk resource for this story is here.