People who heard his presentations and met him at the Kaigler Book Festival concluded that prolific artist illustrator Wendell Minor never sleeps. That would explain the three books I describe here that came out so close together, two brand new and one a reissue of an old favorite.
America the Beautiful is a reissue of the illustrated song by Katharine Lee Bates. Wendell’s paintings take the reader from “sea to shining sea” with the places noted on the map in the back matter. Short bios of Samuel Augustus Ward who wrote the music and Katharine Lee Bates who wrote the verses, a handwritten copy of the poem by its author, and blurbs about each of the paintings in the back matter add to the pleasure of the beauty of the paintings.
Southwest Sunrise pairs Wendell’s illustrations with the incomparable poet Nikki Grimes. Their story and pictures take a young boy through the emotions of hating to move from his beloved city in New York to discovering that the desert is much more beautiful than he expected.
Robert Burleigh’s nonfiction text in Tiny Bird takes a hummingbird on its migration journey. Wendell captures the trip from the summer zinnias and sunflowers in New England, down through southern fields and purple coneflowers, and across a stormy ocean until he finds his winter home in Mexico.
Knowing a couple of boys who needed these books that were coming out, I added a bonus with an issue I care about – supporting independent book stores. I ordered my copies from the Hickory Stick Bookshop (don’t you love the name?) in the little town of Washington, Connecticut. Right in the midst of this coronavirus, they have a safe system figured out to get the books to and from Wendell for signatures, and I got signed copies. In case you have someone worthy of these wonderful signed books, you can find them at www.hickorystickbookshop.com. I admit that I held and enjoyed them a few days before I gave them to the grandsons!
When I gave these books to the boys, I covered the illustrator’s name with a post-it note to see if they could guess who drew the pictures. Benjamin immediately said, “The one who did the pumpkin book.” He was right. Wendell wrote and illustrated How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? As you can see, it didn’t take long for him to be absorbed in the new book!
