by Sam Juliano
The following is a transcript of a discussion between children’s literature Professor Elaine Painter and an undergraduate, Melanie Rodriguez, a major in education at Jersey City State University recorded on December 18th, 2017 during a class session conducted at Rossi Hall at the close of the fall semester. All sixteen students enrolled were assigned a project to propose a book they felt deserved consideration for the 2018 Caldecott and Honor book citations. A short interview, where the student speaks about the book and its artistry conducted as a one-on-one with the instructor will represent a major grade for the fall semester. The basic aim of the interview is for the student to talk about the book he or she has chosen to “sponsor” for the Caldecott Medal.
Professor Painter: Greetings Melanie! As per our discussion at the end of last week’s class, I gather you understand the mission of today’s interview. I’ll begin by asking you to identify your chosen picture book, the author, illustrator and publisher, and any facts connected to the book you’d like to open with.
Melanie: My chosen title is Full of Fall by April Pulley Sayre, released by Beach Lane Books. It is the most recent in a series Ms. Sayre has published that showcase the seasons. The book is non-conventional when compared to the vast majority of the books that are eligible and are being scrutinized over the course of the year by the real Caldecott committee.
Professor Painter: Melanie, you state that Full of Fall is “non conventional” when compared with 2017’s picture book crop. Can you elaborate on that?
Melanie: Yes of course Professor. Full of Fall, like the creator’s previous seasonal works was not illustrated, but rather, photographed. Though many of the spreads in the book bear a remarkable resemblance to illustrations, they were all created by the camera much like the photos taken for the artist’s previous and exceedingly beautiful Best in Snow and Raindrops Fall.
Professor Painter: Melanie, have you verified the eligibility of a photographed picture book for Caldecott recognition? And if you have is there a precedence of such a work actually ending up in the winner’s circle?
Melanie: Professor, I have investigated and found out at The Horn Book and some other children’s book blogsites that this medium conforms to the Caldecott specifications, though incredibly so far no book of this brand has managed to win either a Medal or Honor citation. There have been instances where photography was used in the illustrative process or for background on some of the pages. The Caldecott Honor book Frida by Yuyi Morales was one, another the Caldecott Medal winner Smoky Night by Eve Bunting and Daniel Diaz. I feel the Caldecott committee is long overdue to bestow honors on an illustrative style too often taken for granted.
Professor Painter: Why would you suppose no book of this kind has ever won? And have you encountered other outstanding books employing this medium?
Melanie: Professor, first off this is a specialized kind of art, one that in its own way is just as precise and as painstaking as the conventional mode of illustration . It requires a sharp eye for light, for textures, for color composition and uniquely observational timing. Some people have a grossly erroneous notion that it is far more difficult to produce art by hand, even with today’s digital manipulations. The poet Helen Frost and photographer Rick Lieder have collaborated on several books examining the insect and mammal world. The most recent is this year’s Wake Up!
Professor Painter: Can you explain what you mean by “observational timing?”
Melanie: Of course. It seems like a redundant phrase, but it has to do with the photographer (in this case April Pully Sayre) having to keep close watch on the seasonal changes, the exact moment to obtain the captures, to document all the wide varieties desired for the book which may require a specific time of the day, or one where natural light best showcases a camera’s capabilities. I can’t claim to be all that familiar with the process, but it is clear that it requires a great deal of patience, and like a director on a movie set a large number of re-shoots, until the photographer/artist like the director feels success has been achieved. It is conceivable that it could take weeks or even months to find the right area and seasonal progression to document the desired canvas in terms of color, texture and conformity (in this case) to the phases that are meant to trigger and unite language with image.
Professor Painter: How would you describe what Ms. Sayre intended in Full of Fall? Was it a botanical study with an appeal to young readers with a scientific slant?
Melanie: Oh no. Nothing like that at all (showing the book’s cover, then thumb flipping through pages) Full of Fall aims to convey an autumnal experience armed with the authenticity of its presentation, which is to aesthetically explore tree leaves, the most identifiable and sensory symbol of the season. Full of Fall weds poetry with an anatomy of leaves, how lower temperatures cause them to change colors, fade and decompose after the most resplendent show nature has in its arsenal.
Professor Painter: Can you talk briefly about your favorite pages or spreads in the book:
Melanie: Sure. (displaying book in a show and tell mode) The “Meet the Trees/Their shapes emerge” double page canvas may well be the book’s most magnificent statement: green- yellows, burnished orange and deeper reds, making for a captivating line-up of color change one envisions during that short time window before branches are bare and the receptacles of beauty are on the ground rapidly decomposing. Many picture books have been made about the season, some like several by Lois Ehlert are interactive, and one released this past year – In the Middle of Fall by Kevin Henkes, with illustrations by Laura Dronzek, but nothing can quite match a camera’s telling report, and the explosion of autumnal shades at the very peak of their visual allure. Likewise the green-yellow canopy caught from a camera focused upward reminded me of the movie Tree of Life, this big symbolic tree trunk framed by leaves both light and dark, gives off a metaphysical aura, and a hankering for introspection.
With “Limbs and Layers” and “Leafy Lanes” Sayre hails deciduous omnipresence as passionately as Joyce Kilmer once did in a canvas populated by tree branch overlap, fallen leaves and the filtering of daylight. The “Margins, Midribs, Sunlit veins inspects a leaf’s anatomy in its final stages before they crumbled and sent spinning by the wind. The process continues with “They Drift and Dry” and “Their edges curl” strikingly showcasing disintegration in yellow and then in red as the leaves curl. In the follow-up panels different colored leaves are shown floating just before they are water saturated are set to sink as others get caught and “snag and swirl.”
Professor Painter: Splendid Melanie. Would you like to highlight other pages in your analysis and appreciation?
Melanie: I would in fact. The “So many leaves! The forest glows.” is perhaps the most illuminating capture as the golden hue of the leafy menagerie transcribes light far better than the multicolored leaf shows. In the “Leaves fade, and brown, and decompose” the reader is treated to crystal clarity that makes every vein and water particle razor sharp. I think “Fall is ending” may well be the most spectacular tapestry in the entire book. Representing autumns’s last goodbye, it is celebratory – a stunning orchestration of how the season’s emblematic colors work best when they merge. Brown-orange, red-yellow, all under a rusty pall forge a scene to rival a Fourth of July fireworks display. No illustration attempting to replicate fall’s unique phantasmagorical mix can match what the camera has observed and captured for posterity. And none could nail the multi-dimensional depth of this realistic tableau. The “Goodbye leaf show, Winter is coming” features trees just before their leaves drop and immigrating birds overhead. The “Oh, hello, show!” is a flaky ushering in of the winter, and another beautiful canvas in the book. Though I read nothing but the highest praise for the book, one outlet thought Sayre was better off not intruding on the autumnal experience by having Winter arrive at the end. I thought a resplendent entry worthy of Frost. This is an instance when a reader is brought to terms physically, emotionally and psychologically with its subject in an immersive way in tune with A.E. Housman when he famously wrote “I love no leafless land.”
Professor, I’d like to add that Ms. Sayre concludes with a fascinating glossary explaining each of her photographs from a scientific and geographical perspective. I doesn’t overcrowd the presentation with needless complication, rather it expands the conversation filling in some factual gaps. And it is perfect for teaching units on the book and the autumnal season. The book’s cover, a close-up of an orange leaf is wholly arresting.
Professor Painter: Splendid! Melanie I would like to ask you directly if you think Full of Fall is as deserving as some of the year’s most acclaimed picture books done in the traditional, commonplace style?
Melanie: I do Professor. After examining the Caldecott guidelines, it appears to conform gloriously. The spare poetry is so well integrated with the photos, exploring the continuing life cycle of a tree, which before hibernating for the winter spends a few weeks wearing the most beautiful clothes ever beheld in the outdoors. I’d like to add the underlining, if unintended sadness surrounding the book though. With climate change the autumnal window has shifted in the Northeast and no doubt just about everywhere. There seems to be less time in the fall season and more of quick segue from summer to winter. According to my parents this began a number of years ago, perhaps a decade or two, but with the summer lastly longer, the cooler temperatures are delaying the metamorphosis of the leaves. As a result the beauty we see is there for a shorter time. I love that Full of Fall is a permanent reminder of how and why this season is so special, and how we need to hold on to it as long as we can. Sayre’s book is a true work of art.
Professor Painter: Thank you Melanie! You’ve made quite a case for Full of Fall, and in fact for all books featuring photographed illustrations. Perhaps the committee is thinking along these lines as well. From what I can see here this is one of the most resplendent autumnal books I’ve ever laid eyes on.
Melanie Rodriguez: And thank you Professor! As winter is still three days away, I wanted to share my weekend baking session with you to honor the end of the fall season. I have a homemade pecan pumpkin pie for you.
Professor Painter: Oh Melanie, a big favorite of mine! Maybe a too sweet but a wonderful treat! Thank you so much!
Note: This is the twenty-fourth entry in the 2017 Caldecott Medal Contender series. The annual venture does not purport to predict what the committee will choose, rather it attempts to gauge what the writer feels should be in the running. In most instances the books that are featured in the series have been touted as contenders in various online round-ups, but for the ones that are not, the inclusions are a humble plea to the committee for consideration. It is anticipated the series will include in the neighborhood of around 30 titles; the order which they are being presented in is arbitrary, as every book in this series is a contender. Some of my top favorites of the lot will be done near the end. The awards will be announced in mid-February, hence the reviews will continue until around the end of January or through the first week of February.
This whole exchange is so dynamic and thoughtful! Hooray for April’s book!!!
Thank you so much Jamie!! This is quite a ravishing work!
What a feast for the eyes! Always full of surprises Sam. So spontaneous that you almost had me believing it actually happened. Terrific way to examine a book!
Ricky, I was hoping you would believe it! lol. Thanks so much, the book is an eye filler for sure!
Sam. your dialogue is masterful in its bid to maintain photography as capable of “a metaphysical aura.” The photos with the black branches and yellow leaves; and the uncanny squirrel composition are “non-conventional’ for the ages1
As always your commentary adds so much to the matter in focus, and yes those two captures your highlight came about by uncanny timing. Thank you so very much Jim!
Sam — I loved reading the interview! And you don’t see many books these days, children’s or otherwise, that feature photographs as opposed to illustrations. From this reader’s perspective, it makes FULL OF FALL exquisite!
Aye Laurie, photographic art still needs to be appreciated on the grand scale it so deserve. Thank you so very much!
As I said on the FB link, this is a fantastic way to explore a work, thorough and entertaining. I do think it time for this type of book to win in some capacity.
Celeste, I have my fingers crossed! Thank you so much!
This “interview” had me hooked from the introduction to the pumpkin pie offering. It is a shame photographed books are not treated on the same level as illustrated books. Maybe with this beauty it will change.
Karen, there are a good many people who are looking at this book as one to break the ice, and I’d be so thrilled if it happened. Thank you so much for the very kind words!