PICTURE BOOK - The World is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid by Jeanette Winter

Illustrated by the author

2017 Beach Lane Books
(Bosler Memorial Library)

HC $17.99

56 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.2 - 447 ratings

My rating:  5

Endpapers:  Pale, plae, pale green

1^st line/s:  "In Iraq, rivers flow throught green marshes.
Wind swoops across sand dunes and through ancient cities.
Zaha Hadid sees the rivers and marshes and dunes and ruins with her father
and imagines what cities looked like thousand of years ago."

My comments:  It's no secret that I adore anything and everything that Jeanette Winter writes and/or illustrates,  but what I really appreciate is the diversity of people that she chooses to research and share with kids!  This book highlights another amazing woman in our world and will inspire kids (and architecture buffs!) in many, many ways.  Bravo!

Goodreads:  A Washington Post Best Children’s Book of 2017
Parents’ Choice Recommended
          Get to know Zaha Hadid in this nonfiction picture book about the famed architect’s life and her triumph over adversity from celebrated author-illustrator Jeanette Winter.
          Zaha Hadid grew up in Baghdad, Iraq, and dreamed of designing her own cities. After studying architecture in London, she opened her own studio and started designing buildings. But as a Muslim woman, Hadid faced many obstacles. Determined to succeed, she worked hard for many years, and achieved her goals—and now you can see the buildings Hadid has designed all over the world.

Illustrator Spree - Jeanette Winter

Birthday: October 6
Lives:
Family

I love her illustrations, the way her books "look," and always, always enjoy her subject matter.   I love the folky feel to Jeanette Winter's illustrations. I love all the clever touches she includes. Yup, one of my top five artists of all time.

She wrote AND illustrated these books:

Angelina's Island (2007)
Beatrix (2003)
Biblioburro:  A True Story from Colombia (2010)

Calavera Abecedario, A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book (2004)
Jeanette Winters's art, her illustrations, the way she depicts this happy Mexican celebration, evoke really good feelings for me. Lots of blacks and fiesta colors. Black-backed illustrations framed to the edge of the page with yellows, pinks, purples, aquas, greens.....
          The first nine pages tell of a family in Mexico City that have made calaveras (paper mache skeletons) for generations. Then the alphabet begins. Angels, witches, doctors, farmers, musicians, bride and groom, shoemaker, unicorn, chemist, queen.... all are depicted as calaveras using the SPANISH name. The translation for each is in the back as well as a bit of information about the day.

Christmas Tree Ship,The (1994)
Cowboy Charlie: The Story of Charles M. Russell (1995)

Elsina's Clouds (2004)  This book is about the "Basotho women of southern Africa." My research shows that Basotho is a part of South Africa, perhaps in and around the area of modern-day Lesotho. I'll have to look into this a little more.
          Jeanette Winter shares the custom of the Basotho women painting their houses as messages to their ancestors to bring the rain. A nameless young girl paints the addition to her family abode that will house her soon-to-be-arriving baby sibling. She goes to bed at night and dreams about the rain coming to moisten her mother's crops.
          This is the third time I've read that it's the WOMEN who plan, plant, care for, and sow the crops in many parts of Africa.

Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World (2002)
Follow the Drinking Gourd (1988)
Henri's Scissors (2013)
Hey Diddle Diddle (1999)
House That Jack Built, The (2003)
Itsy-Bitsy Spider, The (2000)
Josefina (1996)
Kali's Song (2012)
Klara's New World (1992)

Librarian of Basra, The: A True Story from Iraq (2005)
Simply told, beautifully illustrated, here is another version of the bombing of the central library in Basra, Iraq. Ensconced in rich purples and yellows and blues, Winters' recognizable artwork accentuates the story beautifully. A great companion book to Alia's Mission.







Magic Ring, The (1987)
Malala, a Brave Girl from Pakistan/Iqbal, a Brave Boy from Pakistan: Two Stories of Bravery (2014)
MAMA, A True Story, In Which a Baby Hippo Loses His Mama During a Tsunami, But Finds a New Home and a New Mama (2006)
Mr. Cornell's Dream Boxes (2014)

My Baby (2001)  There are THREE reasons why this book is a "5" for me (the illustrations, the bogolan cloth, the great author). And there are THREE different reasons to read it:
          One: The story. Nakunte learns the art of painting bogolan cloth from her mother. Years later she paints a special cloth for her baby that will come when the rains come. As she paints, she speaks of all the creatures that live in her African village.
          Two: The culture. Mali, Africa. You get a feel for the place.
          Three: The painting of the cloth. I have some of this beautiful black cloth, myself. To see how it starts with white cloth, then specially prepared mud is painted on, leaving the lovely white design, is a treat.

          When, as a young adult, Nakunte begins her painting, the borders of the illustration become strips of the bogolan cloth she's working on. The colors are bright and cheerful, different colored borders on each and every page, with very little white. And, Ms. Winter is a lyrical writer: "Listen, my baby, do you hear mama crocodile creeping across the savanna on her short legs? Will she find the water she is looking for?"

My Name is Georgia: A Portrait (1998)
Nanuk, the Ice Bear (2015)
Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan (2009)
Nino's Mask (2003)
Rock-a-Bye Baby (1999)
Sebastian: A Book about Bach (1999)

September Roses (2004)  This is a lovely book that memorializes this terrible occurrence with a connected story.  I now use it in my classroom each year, but fourth graders now, 13 years later, don't yet know much about this day.  So I have to talk to them about what happened before I share the book  I keep it simple.  After reading the book we talk about gratitude.  Nine year olds have enough time in the future to talk about the nitty gritties of the day as well as the repurcussions, but I've found this gentle, simple book is a really nice way to talk about this day with my kids.




Tale of Pale Male, The: A True Story (2007)
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (2000)

Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa (2008)
When Wangari returns from six years of schooling in America, she realizes that a huge amount of Kenya's trees have been cut down. She starts by planting and nurturing nine seedlings. And then she begins to give them away to the village women to grow, care for, and protect. "The women spread out over their village, planting tiny trees in long rows, like a green belt stretching over the land." She protects old growth threes and is even arrested. But she does not give up. "The umbrella of trees returns."
          Excellent author's note. Wangari won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and is now a member of the Kenyan Parliament! Wonderful storytelling.


Watcher, The: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps (2011)

The World is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid (2017)
It's no secret that I adore anything and everything that Jeanette Winter writes and/or illustrates,  but what I really appreciate is the diversity of people that she chooses to research and share with kids!  This book highlights another amazing woman in our world and will inspire kids (and architecture buffs!) in many, many ways.  Bravo!





She illustrated thes books but they were written by someone else:

Changling, The (Selma Lagerlof) (1992)
Cotton Mill Town (1993)
Day of the Dead (by Tony Johnston) (1997)
Diego (by Jonah Winter) (1991)
Eight Hands Round (by Ann Whitford Paul) (1991)
Fruit and Vegetable Man, A (by Roni Schotter) (1993)
Once Upon a Time in Chicago (by Jonah Winter) (2000)
Secret Project, The (by Jonah Winter) (2017?)
Secret World of Hiildegard (by Jonah Winter) (2007)
Shaker Boy (Mary Lyn Ray) (1994)
Snow (by Steve Stanfield) (1995)
Tortilla Cat, The (by Nancy Willard) (1998)
Witch Goblin and Ghost in the Haunted Woods (by Sue Alexander) (1981)
World's Birthday, The, A Rosh Hashana Story (by Barbara Diamond Goldin) (1990)

September Roses - Jeanette Winter

Illustrated by the author

2004 Farrar, Strauss, Giroux

HC/ $14.00

32 pages )book is small: perhaps 5" x 6")

Goodreads rating: 3.87

My rating: 4/I like it more with each reading

Endpapers:The rose motif she's used throughout the book, in black on white

Title Page: a 2 x 2 inch square painted with the motif roses in color

Prologue:  "At 8:50 am September 11, 2001, I looked up from my drawing table and saw in the distance an enormous plume of smoke rising high above and beyond the Empire State Building.  I soon learned that the smoke covering the city came from the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
          After a few days, I went to Union Square - to be closer to the communal outpouring of anguish in the city.  I saw the roses, and learned how thy came to be there.  Relying on memory and imagination, I wrote and illustrated September Roses the following spring."

1^st line:  "Far away in South Africa, he said, across the ocean, over mountains, beyond the desert, two sisters lived together and grew roses." (Spread over three pages with four illustrations)

My comments:  This is a lovely book that memorializes this terrible occurrence with a connected story.  I now use it in my classroom each year, but fourth graders now, 13 years later, don't yet know much about this day.  So I have to talk to them about what happened before I share the book  I keep it simple.  After reading the book we talk about gratitude.  Nine year olds have enough time in the future to talk about the nitty gritties of the day as well as the repurcussions, but I've found this gentle, simple book is a really nice way to talk about this day with my kids.
I wrote a review last year, BEFORE sharing the book with my class.  It's a bit different.....Read it here.

(I wrote this last year):  This is a simple book, based on a true story that took place on 9/11. I'm going to share it in school with the kids today - kids that were born three years after that fateful day. It's been 12 years. It was a day that not only affected American greatly, but changed the way that we live and think each and every day. That said, the book itself doesn't flow smoothly enough for me. The words and illustrations are wonderful, but seem somewhat disjointed..... I'll see what my fourth graders think.

Goodreads: A tribute to the memory of September 11
          On September 11, 2001, two sisters from South Africa are flying to New York City with 2,400 roses to be displayed at a flower show. As their plane approaches the airport, a cloud of black smoke billows over the Manhattan skyline. When they land, they learn of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. All flights are canceled; the sisters cannot go home, and they are stranded with boxes and boxes of roses.
          In the days that followed September 11, Jeanette Winter was drawn to Union Square and saw, among the hundreds of memorial offerings, twin towers made of roses. In the pages of this small and vibrant book, she tells a moving story.

September Roses - Jeanette Winter

Illustrated by the author
Frances Foster Books, Farrar Straus Giroux, 2004
32 pages - compact size
Hardcover $14.00
I own this one - she's one of my favorite illustrators
Goodreads 3.88
cag
endpapers: white background with 1/2-inch simple black "roses"
title page: a simple box (reminds me of a zentangle box) with simple roses in two colors - these are the roses that are drawn throughout the book

I just realized how much Jeanette Winter's illustrations remind me of Zentangling.  She's been one of my favorite illustrators for years, and I have found myself so drawn to Zentangling  - it all makes sense to me now.  This is a simple book, based on a true story that took place on 9/11.  I'm going to share it in school with the kids today - kids that were born three years after that fateful day.  It's been 12 years. It was a day that not only affected American greatly, but changed the way that we live and think each and every day.  That said, the book itself doesn't flow smoothly enough for me. The words and illustrations are wonderful, but seem somewhat disjointed..... I'll see what my fourth graders think.

Goodreads Summary: On September 11, 2001, two sisters from South Africa are flying to New York City wiIt jroses to be displayed at a flower show. As their plane approaches the airport, a cloud of black smoke billows over the Manhattan skyline. When they land, they learn of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. All flights are canceled; the sisters cannot go home, and they are stranded with boxes and boxes of roses.

In the days that followed September 11, Jeanette Winter was drawn to Union Square and saw, among the hundreds of memorial offerings, twin towers made of roses. In the pages of this small and vibrant book, she tells a moving story.

The Mitten Tree - Candace Christiansen

Illustrated by Elaine Greenstein Fulcrum Publishing; Golden, CO, 1997, 2009 Paper $7.95 32 pages Rating: 4 "Old Sarah" (okay, let's stop right now and say I hate that that's her name) watches the neighborhood children play. She misses the time when her own children were young. One day she notices a boy standing to the side, watching the kids make a snowman. His hands are shoved in his pockets and she realizes that he has no mittens to wear. Sarah hunts through her house for her old supply of leftover yarn and begins knitting a pair of mittens. She works all night and then hangs them on a tree near the school bus stop for the boy to find....which he does. She begins to knit more and more mittens for the neighborhood kids, leaving them anonomously hanging on a big decidious tree (thus: the mitten tree). And when she runs out of yarn , a big basket of yarn appears at her door. No one's paid any attention to her, so the book ends with this small, wonderful, mystery. Who's been watching her and who cares enough to do this? Cool book. I just bought five copies and I've been knitting mittens like crazy for the last couple of days. I've also found a fleece mitten pattern that looks pretty easy, and fleece is pretty inexpensive. So as my list of new nieces and nephews begins to add up, I'm happily creating this year's Christmas present for all of them - a book, and two very different pairs of mittens! My favorite Christmas story when I was a kid was "Granny Glittens and her Amazing Mittens." Maybe I'll find a copy of the story and include it. I really loved that story! I'm not even sure why.

Elsina's Clouds - Jeanette Winter

Frances Foster Bks, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004
O-O-P, found in the library
32 pages
Endpapers: Four squares coming out of each other, filled with colorful African designs

This book is about the "Basotho women of southern Africa." My research shows that Basotho is a part of South Africa, perhaps in and around the area of modern-day Lesotho. I'll have to look into this a little more.

Jeanette Winter shares the custom of the Basotho women painting their houses as messages to their ancestors to bring the rain. A nameless young girl paints the addition to her family abode that will house her soon-to-be-arriving baby sibling. She goes to bed at night and dreams about the rain coming to moisten her mother's crops.

This is the third time I've read that it's the WOMEN who plan, plant, care for, and sow the crops in many parts of Africa.

As always, I love Jeanette Winter's bordered, colorful, simple-yet-detailed illustrations. The story in this book, however, was a little too simple. I wanted more....more information....more about the symbolism of the painting, more about the paints themselves. Oh well. Can't have it all every time.

This would make a good companion book to Gugu's House by Catherine Stock, which is also about an African woman who paintis her house with decorations and waits until the rain washes it away so she can begin again.

Wangari's Trees of Peace - Jeanette Winter

2008
Rating: 5
$17.00

Jeanette Winter''s recognizable artwork, framed by her signature rich color to the edge of tghe page is in itself a great reason to read this book. But the story --- and the way she tells it --- are both rich in language and information.

When Wangari returns from six years of schooling in America, she realizes that a huge amount of Kenya's trees have been cut down. She starts by planting and nurturing nine seedlings. And then she begins to give them away to the village women to grow, care for, and protect. "The women spread out over their village, planting tiny trees in long rows, like a green belt stretching over the land." She protects old growth threes and is even arrested. But she does not give up. "The umbrella of trees returns."

Read the text.

Excellent author's note. Wangari won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and is now a member of the Kenyan Parliament! Wonderful storytelling. 

The Librarian of Basra - Jeanette Winter

A True Story from Iraq
Published: 2005
Rating: 5
Endpapers: Aqua

"In the Koran, the first thing God said to Muhammed was 'Read' " (NYT 7/27/03, from the book's preface.

Just to open a Jeanette Winter book brings a simple joy to me. You see orderliness and color and terrific illustrations - framed boxes and no white. Really tugs at my anal heart.

Simply told, beautifully illustrated, here is another version of the bombing of the central library in Basra, Iraq. Ensconced in rich purples and yellows and blues, Winters' recognizable artwork accentuates the story beautifully. A great companion book to Alia's Mission.

My Baby - Jeanette Winter

For: Preschoolers
Published: 2001
Rating: 5
Read: Today
Endpapers: Deep lavender

There are THREE reasons why this book is a "5" for me (the illustrations, the bogolan cloth, the great author). And there are THREE different reasons to read it:

One: The story. Nakunte learns the art of painting bogolan cloth from her mother. Years later she paints a special cloth for her baby that will come when the rains come. As she paints, she speaks of all the creatures that live in her African village.

Two: The culture. Mali, Africa. You get a feel for the place.

Three: The painting of the cloth. I have some of this beautiful black cloth, myself. To see how it starts with white cloth, then specially prepared mud is painted on, leaving the lovely white design, is a treat.

I love the folky feel to Jeanette Winter's illustrations. I love all the clever touches she includes. When, as a young adult, Nakunte begins her painting, the borders of the illustration become strips of the bogolan cloth she's working on. The colors are bright and cheerful, different colored borders on each and every page, with very little white. And, Ms. Winter is a lyrical writer: "Listen, my baby, do you hear mama crocodile creeping across the savanna on her short legs? Will she find the water she is looking for?"

I've always enjoyed Jeanette Winter's illustration...it's time to collect a few of her books, I think!

Calavera Abecedario - Jeanette Winter

A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book
For: The multitudes that know little about El di de los muertos
Published: 2004
Rating: 4.5
Read: Every October since 2004
Endpapers: B & W calaveras holding candles
A festive celebration!

I've chosen just one of my Day of the Dead books to mention this morning. I have a couple by Jeanette Winter-her art, her illustrations, the way she depicts this happy Mexican celebration, evoke really good feelings for me. Lots of blacks and fiesta colors. Black-backed illustrations framed to the edge of the page with yellows, pinks, purples, aquas, greens.....

The first nine pages tell of a family in Mexico City that have made calaveras (paper mache skeletons) for generations. Then the alphabet begins. Angels, witches, doctors, farmers, musicians, bride and groom, shoemaker, unicorn, chemist, queen.... all are depicted as calaveras using the SPANISH name. The translation for each is in the back as well as a bit of information about the day