One of the things I'm most looking forward to is meeting Qin Leng for the first time. It's a very funny thing making books with people--I always say to Julie Morstad that it's like we have all these children together even though we've only meet IRL a handful of times. And this really goes to the heart of what this post is circling around which is how both books and families are made. I'll be meeting Qin for the first time that day and yet I already feel that she and I are family in a way. I hope she won't made me saying so!For this edition of our Bookmarkers series, we’ve invited award-winning author Sara O’Leary and award-winning illustrator Qin Leng to read from and talk about their latest children’s book, A Family is a Family is a Family. When a teacher asks the children in her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different in many ways – but the same in the one way that matters most of all. Plus: cartoonist Jonathan Rotsztain will also be joining our Bookmarkers conversation, featuring an intergenerational comics project with grandparents and grandkids.
Here is a lovely depiction by Qin of a child's idea of how she sees herself...this detail is so funny and joyful and full of life! The purple hair! The winning smile! A big part of what this book is about for me is exactly that--how children see themselves. My lovely publisher Groundwood has a page on their website called Windows & Mirrors that talks about issues of representation and inclusion in children's books. Here's one little bit of that: "Groundwood is committed to publishing books for and about children whose experiences of the world are under represented elsewhere." And it's for just that reason that I wanted to make a book with Groundwood and with its brilliant publisher Sheila Barry. I wanted this book to be in the world for children who wouldn't necessarily see themselves or their own home situation reflected in the pages of the picture books available to them. And, just as importantly, I wanted the book to be there for children who need to see that there may be other configurations and permutations to family than what they have grown up with. Windows and mirrors. Love is love.
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As author Sara O’Leary configures her many delightfully diverse familial units, artist Qin Leng – with her signature style so overflowing with whimsy and charm – imbues each member with individual identity and unique personality, all brought together with enveloping warmth and unbreakable bonds. The message is powerfully simple: no one gets to define a family but the members themselves. Audacious and obvious both, Family is already a well-deserved bestseller on our northern neighbor’s various lists. That said, this Canadian import undoubtedly belongs on bookshelves everywhere.
In this warm, nondiscriminating narrative, O’Leary removes limiting definitions and labels like “adopted,” “fostered,” or “divorced” and instead presents a tale that is innocent and wise. Leng’s ink and digitally rendered watercolor illustrations are light and airy and complement the text by capturing the thoughts and purity of a child’s perspective. The classroom is a beautiful blend of children of different races, genders, and body types. VERDICT Parents, caregivers, and educators will appreciate the message that this story offers for one-on-one sharing and for discussion with small groups. A sweet and tender tale that shows that families are composed of love regardless of how they may be configured.
The response by readers on Goodreads has also been very positive. I'm particularly heartened to see favourable notices from those who may find themselves slightly outside their own comfort zone but willing to join in with a the celebration of all kinds of families.O’Leary does not lecture about families here. Rather she shows the wide variety that there are in families and how each of those is based on love. There is no need to be didactic, as every child will see themselves in the pages of this book. It is a wise way to look at families, since each is just as special and marvelous as the one before. The emphasis here is on love itself, the care that is given to children in each of those families no matter their structure. Leng’s illustrations add so much warmth to this picture book. The illustrations are full of details and invite readers to look closely. Each page zings with energy from the mothers singing under the night sky to the child who lives with both her father and mother, just at different times. There is a playfulness on the pages too, which makes each family come to life.
That's a tricky question, there were so many books I loved when I was little. More than anything, I would love to spend my days reading...I loved to read at the mall when my mom was shopping, at the library, in my bed, during the day, at night under my covers (which, I think, is partly why I've needed glasses since I was 8!). I think my all time favourite, which still remains a huge source of inspiration to this day, are the Petit Nicolas series by Jean-Jacques Sempé. The illustrations were drawn with such spontaneity and the lines kept so simple, it's always something I strive to achieve in my own work.
I love inventing worlds and characters. I grew up as a really shy kid, but I was very observant, and the best way for me to express myself was through pictures. Even now, I love people watching and taking in stories I hear around me. On beautiful days, I like to go out and sit at a café or a park and looking at passers by and imagine what kind of characters they are and what lives they lead.
I am always working on multiple projects at once. I dislike long breaks, it makes me anxious and I feel like I am wasting my time...I constantly want to be accomplishing something! I just wrapped up a new picture book with Comme des Geants, written by Céline Claire, called "L'Abri." I am really excited about this one, because it was entirely done with ink and watercolour, no digital painting (which I normally do). So that was a challenge I really enjoyed. I am also currently illustrating the 5th chapter book in a series written by Ellen Potter called "Piper Green and the Fairy Tree: Pie Girl," for Random House.Then there's a new picture book with Harper Collins about the childhood of Jane Austen. It's called "Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen" and is written by Deborah Hopkinson. Finally, I'm working on a board book of Dennis Lee's bedtime poems for HarperCollins Canada. And for the next coming year, there are a few more things in my agenda, such as the very first picture book I am going to write AND illustrate!
Qin is represented by Shannon Associates.
A few more notices for our little Family.From the child whose parents won’t stop kissing to the family with so many kids, the family with split custody, the blended family, the single parents, two dads, and the child who lives with her grandparents (“Because I live with my grandmother, people sometimes think she is my mother. She’s not. She’s my everything.”)—O’Leary’s story paints a varied and celebratory picture of the many ways there are for a family to be. Leng’s illustrations add richness and texture to the simple prose, with their action-packed and cluttered scenes that suggest a marvellous mess of abundance (which, of course, is love).Great perspective from teacher/librarian/parent at Front Porch Librarian.
What I love – and what sets this book apart from some of the other family books out there – is the child’s initial nervousness. Unsure what the other students will make of her family, she quickly realizes that all of her classmates have different sorts of families – there is no standard, no one kind of family. Tapping into that childlike insecurity of oh, no, what will everyone else think makes this story so real. Concluding it with the understanding that all of us are unique, as are the families in which we belong, makes this story so authentic.
As always, I'm very grateful to writers like Kerry, Mary, and Helen who take the time to talk about children's books with such care and attention.Though I know, and children do too, that not all families are perfect or happy or supportive, Sara O'Leary's book celebrates families in all their forms–big, small, alike, different, blended, separated, adopting, fostering–as worthy of note, eclectic as they may be. Her narration is a universal one of acceptance and appreciation for families of all kinds. The sweetness of her message is matched page by page with Qin Leng's illustrations of children and parents of assorted colours and shapes, economic backgrounds and interests. The lightness of Qin Leng's lines and the whimsy of her colour and shape help portray a diversity of families that are as fluid as they are depicted.
Chatting with the lovely Shari Okeke on CBC Radio's All in a Weekend here.
A blogpost about teachers and how a class can also be a family here.
Included on this great list via 49th Shelf: "Picture Books You've Got To Read This Fall" by Kerry Clare.
A really wonderful write-up by Kid Lit Reviews here.
Celebrating three things in our household: the first day of September, the publication of A Family Is a Family Is a Family (out today in Canada and then September 13 in the US), and finally, an absolute peach of a review by Bernie Goedhart of The Montreal Gazette.
Each spread shows a distinctive child (easy to find in the classroom scene) with equally distinctive parents and siblings. A little boy has two moms who “like to sing really loud,” while another has two dads who “both give good hugs” as they tuck him in at night. One girl spends one week with Mom and the next week with Dad; “Fair’s fair,” she says. One boy’s mom, who is confined to a wheelchair, told him that “before I was born I grew in her heart.”
In every case, the scenes are filled with joy. The narrator needn’t have worried about her family being different; each family in this book is unique. (Adults reading the book aloud to their offspring will likely find some comments especially touching. The little girl who lives with her grandmother, for example, says “people sometimes think she’s my mother. She’s not. She’s my everything.”)
And the narrator? It turns out she’s a foster child. By the time her turn rolls around, she knows just what to tell the class. She talks about the time someone asked her mother which of the three children with her in the park are her real children. The mother’s response is O’Leary’s writing at its best! And Leng’s triumphant final spread says it all.
It's traditional to praise the intelligence of reviewers who like your work, but I truly am consistently impressed with the calibre of Goedhart's reviews and her ability to contextualize new children's books (I've just been off googling Bob Graham, whose work I was sadly ignorant of). I am also very pleased to live in a city with a newspaper that boasts a dedicated children's book reviewer.
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| photo: Summer Hall/Appyreading |
This is Sadie is coming to the stage. The New York City Children’s Theater will produce a stage version of Sara O’Leary’s story of a little girl with a big imagination, set to premiere in 2018. The book has garnered universal praise for the gorgeous illustrations by Julie Morstad, its lovely text, and spirited protagonist.It's thrilling news, particularly as NYCCT has such an excellent mandate.
Our mission is to promote children’s literacy and social development through professional theater productions and arts-in-education programs. We reach children and their communities with a wide range of programming, including full-scale productions, small touring shows, interactive workshops and in-school residencies, and engage with them in traditional theater spaces, school auditoriums, classrooms and cultural venues in their neighborhoods.There have been lots of lovely surprises since This Is Sadie was published last spring, but this may be one of my favourites so far. Really looking forward to seeing the production.
