To Dance by Siena Cherson Siegel & Illus by Mark Siegel

This is a lush and elegant look at the world of dance from a teen ballerina's perspective. 

Siena Cherson Siegel was part of the New York City Ballet and her husband is an artist. So together, they created something to charm anyone who dreams of ballet or who loves a well crafted graphic novel. 

Running on the beaches of Puerto Rico where she was born. 

The endpapers at the front. Which come full circle to the endpapers at the end. Which is so nice and symmetrical. 

Siena was a dancing child, loving movement and rhythm. However, doctors said that with her flat feet there was really no point in her taking dance lessons. However, her mum was no dummy and let her take dance classes anyway. 

After seeing a performance of The Swan, Siena was completely captivated. It was all she could talk about, how the ballerina entered so completely into the performance that she was the swan, dying unwillingly. 

With that performance spurring her onward, she dove into ballet with all her energy. 

Her passion and talent began to be noticed. Finally she was offered an audition to train with the New York City Ballet.

Intimidation in the form of Madame Tumkovsky. 

In the rarefied world of ballet, all the important people were Russian. And wore black. 

Ballet took even more of her life now. But there were rewards. Like finally getting her first pair of toe shoes. 

Oh the delight of those toe shoes! 

So much to do and so much to learn. Like how to wear Japanese robes while wandering around backstage. 

Loving ballet as she did, she would stand backstage to watch the dancers even when she wasn't dancing, learning as she watched how to be the principal ballerina. 

Across the stage, also standing in the wings, was Mr. B, George Balanchine, the director of the NYC Ballet. 

Life went on, with a few speed bumps in the form of arguing parents and friendships. 

But always, always ballet.

Being seeped in ballet so much helped her see ballet all around her. Even in football games in Florida with her father. 

But there were times of normalcy, being a teenagers in the 1980's in New York City. 

After an ankle accident at eighteen, her ballet career was chopped short. She had to shift her life focus completely, but eventually she began to dance again, not professionally, but because dancing "...fills a space in me." 

And then the endpapers at the back, as she is dancing across the beaches again with her baby and husband in tow. 

Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer & Illus by Ekua Holmes

This beautiful book is about the big bang. How that works as a topic for a picture is hard to imagine, but Bauer and Holmes make it work! 

Euka Holmes does the most amazing work. 

She layers paper collage for these super detailed and subtle images. 

Like woah!!

Seriously. This is a beautifully illustrated book about physics for kids. 

There was talk about this one for a Caldecott last year. That didn't happen, but it did win the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration. 

The ash of those dying stars gathered into planets....

So much movement and suppressed passion in these pictures!

All of the universe was preparing and waiting for YOU. 

You took a big breath 

of the same air 

once breathed 

by woolly mammoths.

 You cried tears

 that were once salty seas. 

Your hair 

once the carbon in a leaf. 

I love this spread!!

All of us, the stuff of stars. 

New Kid by Jerry Craft

This awesome graphic novel highlights what it is like to be the new kid in a school where you don't truly feel you belong with people who don't really get you. 

Jordan Banks is not quite sure about life. 

This is how I feel every single day of my life, like I'm falling without a parachute.

His mom and dad have decided that Jordan needs to go to a better school. His mother is a little in love with this new school. Jordan just wants to draw. 

Every couple pages, Jordan's illustrations show up, which is great!

The first day of school, Jordan is picked up by another father taking his son to school. Jordan impresses him with his super strong handshake and climbs in next to a sleeping schoolmate. 

Not the best way to start a new school.

But, Liam, the sleeping schoolmate wakes up enough to give Jordan a tour. The school is just as impressive and beautiful as his mother said it would be. 

Most of the kids are white, but then, Jordan spies Maury, another kid who looks like him. 

And then Drew walks in, both of them standing out to each other due to their non-whiteness. 

Eventually, Liam, Drew, and Jordan become a squad. 

How everyone feels in a new cafeteria. Just as he is making friends through his art, the sophomores let them know they sat at the wrong table. 

I love this cafeteria hierarchy! 

The transformation from the school neighboorhood back to his own turf. 

Trying to maintain old friendships while going to different schools....

Going over to Liam's house (mansion) is an education in itself. 

Striking up a friendship with Alexandra, who wears a puppet on her hand all the time. 

Drew runs afoul of one of the teachers, who is always calling him the name of a different black kid. This teacher is calling him out for something everyone else does all the time. 

Jordan isn't too sure about this. He understands where Drew is coming from, but... to tell a teacher they were wrong!! 

Jordan's perception of books for African American kids. I honestly think this is slowly but surely changing for the better. 

Drew finally helps the teacher understand the difference between him and DeAndre. 

Mrs. R is just not a favorite. She reads Jordan's private journal and finds out some unpleasant things about herself. 

At the end of the year, things are pretty good. 

It wasn't an easy year, but Jordan found his people and made peace with this new school. 

Even his art gets accepted. As the cover of the year book. 

This is a great book discussing typical middle school things, race, and being true to yourself while letting yourself grasp a new opportunity. 

Frankencrayon by Michael Hall

The crayon monster lives.... 

My kids enjoyed this nosensical book. From the get-go, the publisher makes sure you know THIS PICTURE BOOK HAS BEEN CANCELED. But somehow, there is a book. So what is up with that? 

So while the pencil wants to just tell everyone to go home, nothing to see here, the crayons want everyone to know what happened. 

So the stage is set....

And suddenly a screaming scribble rents the page! 

Consternation in Crayonland. But that's okay, the cleaning crew will take care of it. 

Except the cleaning crew just makes it BIGGER. So everyone tries to help push it off the page.

But the scribble was out of control!

So everyone had to leave and the book was cancelled. Except.....

...nobody told Frankencrayon who had been told to wait on page 22. 

Frankencrayon gave the scribble a mouth so he could figure out what was going on.

And then we get to the lessons learned--

1. Don't forget to tell everyone when a story has been canceled! 

2. Don't try to unscribble a scribble by scribbling on it.

3. Even a messy scribble can be a lovely  thing.