Kobi Yamada

In this beautifully written and whimsically illustrated book, a little boy has an idea that he acknowledges, likes, pushes away, nurtures, falls in love with, and then realizes.

The idea is represented as an egg. At the end of the book, the egg transforms into a bird flying along with the boy.

This book is beautiful on several levels:
1. The message: You have the power to make your dreams become reality. You have the power to change the world. Don't ignore the voice inside you that says you show more can't.

2. I adore how the author, Kobi Yamada, uses language in this story. The idea is a living thing; this is evident in how the idea is talked about and the words used. For example, the idea follows, wants attention, is a friend, it's "different, weird, and a little crazy", it is protected and cared for, is fed "good food"...it grows and it is loved. In other words, this idea is precious to the boy.

3. The pictures are gorgeous. Mae Besom seems to have used colored pencils? charcoal? to draw the pictures. The idea is the only thing that is in color in the beginning, but the world around the boy is black and white mostly. As the boy grows to like the idea, as the idea takes hold, more color is in his world. There's a page where the boy questions the existence of the idea, wonders if he will be made fun of, etc. The world goes darker again. Then as the boy embraces the idea and feeds it and cares for it, as the idea grows and grows, the pages begin to fill with color. The climax of the story is when the idea bursts into the sky. The two page spread bursts into color and liveliness.

So there is this theme of the idea being alive and needing attention, just like anything precious. There's also a theme of time in this book, as evidenced by clocks with Roman numerals that appear on several of the pages. I am thinking this is a representation of ideas taking time to grow...

I love this story and immediately thought of one of my students. She has told me before about how she wants to change the world and has "some ideas". I left this book on her desk one day after school with a note to go find a quiet place to sit that next morning and enjoy the story. She adored it. She shared it with several friends at school who also enjoyed it.

I want to read this book aloud to my whole class. It would be good for a brainstorming assignment at the beginning of the year of projects they want to take on that they've always been interested in. But I also think just studying the author's words/language and talking about how that adds to the theme as well as discussing how the illustrations add to the theme would be very worthwhile for my students. They would be very interested in this and would be highly engaged. show less

TRYING, written by Kobi Yamada (@livethegoodstuff) and illustrated by Elise Hurst (@elise.hurst), is a beautifully told and gorgeously illustrated story celebrating the power of failure. A young sculptor is frustrated by their apparent lack of talent as they look on to an experienced sculptor’s work and almost gives up on their dream. The experienced sculptor convinced them to keep trying, that each perceived failure is actually taking them one step closer to achieving their dream, as they show more learn something new from each failure.

As someone who suffers terribly from imposter syndrome, this story spoke volumes to me. Just like the young sculptor in the story, I often want to give up on learning something if I’m not perfect at it from the beginning, whether or not I’ve ever tried it before. Needless to say, this is one of those “children’s” books that can teach adults something too.

Elise Hurst’s illustrations are *stunning* and I found myself pouring over each, taking in the detail. Cover to cover, this is a spectacular book for anyone to read who struggles with trying something new. @compendiumliveinspired

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Author Kobi Yamada and illustrator Mae Besom, who previously collaborated on What Do You Do With an Idea? and What Do You Do With a Problem?, return with this third picture-book exploration of the emotional challenges facing young (and old) people. The boy-narrator here reflects on some of the chances, depicted as golden birds/paper planes, that have come his way, and how he has neglected to seize them, due to fear. Eventually he finds that the more he ignores his chances, the fewer there show more seem to be. Deciding that he must conquer his fear, he resolves to seize the next chance that comes his way...

Like its predecessors, What Do You Do With a Chance pairs a simple but perceptive text exploring some of the stumbling blocks people experience, in realizing their full intellectual and creative potential, with gorgeous artwork that perfectly captures the ideas presented in the narrative. I enjoy Mae Besom's illustrations in their own right - they are always lovely - and I appreciate the way they use color to depict the changing reality around the main character. Recommended to anyone who has read and enjoyed the previous two books, or who is looking for picture-books addressing opportunity, and the courage necessary to grab onto it. show less

One Word - WHOAH!

Author Kobi Yamada and Illustrator Mae Besom put together a powerful book that talks about dealing with our problems. The story is told in 1st person - a little kid who one day realizes that he has a problem. He had no idea where the problem came from or why it was there, but it was a dark cloud that he just could not deal with. As the story progress, the character begins to fear and neglect his problem. The more he fears the problem, the bigger the problem gets. The show more illustrator did a really cool job by drawing this huge ominous cloud over the character - in the beginning, the cloud was small and faint, but it grows larger and darker until he decides he has had enough of running from his problems! So one day he goes to face his problems and discovers something beautiful, hidden within those dark clouds, and he embraces it! (I just about cried). Now the skies have turned bright and he is sailing in a literal sea of opportunity!

I don't want to limit this book to just children, because as an adult this book resonated with me in a form of a reminder. A reminder to be brave, to embrace my fears in order to move forward. I imagine for children this book would give an insight on how to deal with their problems both big and small, while also giving them something to relate too. I think the overall theme of this book is that if we continue to neglect or fear our problems, they will only grow bigger. But if we face our problems, we allow ourselves to grow and have more opportunities. show less