Kyo Maclear

Spork doesn't fit anywhere. Most cutlery don't mix - and they're not interested in finding a place for Spork, even though his parents think he's special. Spork tries to fit in. He tries to be more round for the spoons, more pointy for the forks...but it doesn't work and he finds himself back in the lonely world of unmatching utensils. Until, suddenly, a new creature arrives and Spork discovers he can be useful after all and find a place at the table.

I like this book for several reasons. It show more deals with sensitive issues in a thoughtful way, but isn't heavy-handed. It's funny and light and the illustrations are intriguing and amusing. I especially liked that the Spork didn't just decide he was special and having his parents think he was perfect was not enough - he found his place when he became useful and contributed. While this would be a good book to read with a biracial child who's dealing with bullying or emotional issues, it's also a fun book to read to kids anytime. Sporks are just inherently funny, you know?

Verdict: Recommended for fun and educational purposes! I've read this with preschoolers - the text is a little lengthy for younger ones, but easily abridged and they got a big kick out of it. Older kids appreciate the subtle humor more though. show less

The Cover:
Simplistic in its beauty, Birds Art Life has a cover that is just meant to stand out. The doodles of birds – black and stark against the pure white – pop out even more than the brightly colored words. I usually pass on white backgrounds but for this, it is absolutely perfect.

The Review:
This book is beautiful. Incredibly well written, thought provoking and interesting. Kyo Maclear takes us on a journey throughout a year’s time, where she is set to learn the understandings of show more bird watching. We travel with her and her friend, lovingly referred to as The Musician throughout, as Maclear becomes more knowledgeable in her studying of birds.

This should be expected from the title, of course. But there is so much more. We are introduced to her family history. We are introduced to her art. We are introduced to her reading. She is able to take these parts of bird watching and use what she learns from these birds and what it takes to watch them and make it relatable to her life.

I found this to be a quick read. It was really enjoyable and incredibly well written. And I felt, afterward, as if I actually knew Maclear – which, I suppose, really is the hope when writing a memoir.

We learn of multiple parts of her – as a daughter whose father’s health is failing; as a mother of two children; as a wife to a loving husband; as an artist; as a writer. She is incredibly honest within these 240 pages. You are able to join her as she discusses feeling stuck, of feeling like she has lost her creative spark. I read this at a time when I was going through something similar; watching her grow throughout her year was inspirational.

If you are a fan of memoirs, read this. If you are a fan of watching others overcome, read this. If you have a slight interest in birds, read this – I personally do not have an interest in bird watching but found the information spread throughout incredibly interesting. show less

Canadian author/illustrator team Kyo Maclear and Julie Morstad, whose previous collaborations include Julia, Child and Bloom: A Story of Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli, turn to the story of Japanese-American artist and picture-book creator Gyo Fujikawa in this biographical story for young children. Born in 1903, Fujikawa was the daughter of first generation Japanese immigrants. She grew up and attended school in California, and in the 1920s she became one of the first Japanese-American show more women to go to college, where she studied art. Living on the east coast at the outset of World War II, she was spared internment, although her parents and brother were imprisoned along with the rest of the west coast (and Hawaiian) Japanese-Americans. After the war, she began working on children's books, and in 1963, after some resistance from publishers who thought books depicting a diverse range of children wouldn't sell well, her groundbreaking Babies was published...

I'm somewhat chagrined to admit that although well familiar with her name, I have never picked up any of Fujikawa's books, and this despite my interest in children's literature. That said, I have enjoyed other titles from both Maclear and Morstad, so when a friend recommended this one - thank you, Kathryn! - I immediately sought it out. It is a powerfully told and beautifully-illustrated book, offering a storytelling narrative that gives the broad strokes of the story, and an afterword that fills in more information. I was moved by Fujikawa's life story, and by her principled stand for diversity in children's books - she was definitely a groundbreaker - and after reading It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way I do intend to track down some of her work.

My only critique of the book, and it is something I have noticed with a number of other works devoted to pioneering figures, is the false claim on the front dust-jacket blurb that a picture-book featuring an international set of babies, babies of all races and backgrounds, had never been done before Fujikawa's Babies. As someone who greatly enjoyed the lovely Small Rain: Verses from the Bible, which was published in 1943, won a Caldecott Honor for illustrator Elizabeth Orton Jones, and likewise featured small children of all races, I know this claim to be untrue. In this respect I'm reminded of the similarly misguided Balderdash!: John Newbery and the Boisterous Birth of Children's Books, which made the erroneous claim that Anglophone children's literature began with the mid-18th-century publisher John Newbery. I don't really understand why authors and book promoters do this. Is it ignorance? A wish to impress with a claim of being "first?" Isn't is enough to state that the figure in question was highly influential, or that they were one of the first to do something? Do they have to be the first (or only one) to have done something, for it to have meaning? I certainly don't think so, and I don't think that the existence of Small Rain: Verses from the Bible takes away from Fujikawa's accomplishment, so it bothers me that unnecessary claims of singularity or being first are often made in this regard, and that the result is a flattened, simplified view of history.

Leaving that issue aside, I did greatly enjoy this one, and would recommend it to picture-book lovers of all ages, as well as to young would-be artists in need of a little inspiration. show less

This is a gorgeous book, probably better appreciated by children who are ready to start thinking about the more complex ideas offered by longer books. At heart, it's an ode to spontaneity, an appeal to welcome unexpected experiences that inspire new questions and ideas. The mysterious stranger who arrives at the doorstep of a family of devoted list-makers reminds me of Tove Jansson’s mysterious wanderer characters who tend to upset the balance of things a little, leading to adventure and show more introspection. The story is a quick read, but you can get lost for ages in Julia Sarda’s lush, beautifully intricate illustrations. show less