Updated: Apr 11, 2022
Mae is a girl. Bear is a bear. But over the course of one life-changing, slightly nerve-racking train ride, they find out that this might be the only thing they don't have in common.
Pick by Daniel Miyares, Hope at Sea:
COURAGE HATS
Written by Kate Hoefler and illustrated by Jessixa Bagley
Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 22, 2022)
Can you tell me the origin story behind Courage Hats?
KH: "I started writing Courage Hats when I needed courage myself. It was during a focus fellowship at AIR SFI – a wonderful surprise allowing me time to get away from everyday life to go into a small wooded community in Georgia to write. I had never just picked up and gone somewhere (for an extended period of time) on my own, and especially not to a place where I didn’t know a soul.
So really, the story came out of a place in my own chest where both fear and courage were doing their dance. And while I didn’t wonder if I would be eaten by bears in a 'bear place' or people in a 'people place' (like Mae and Bear in the story), I DID wonder other things – like if I was good enough, if I could even drive 11 hours on my own, if I could settle in, if I would be lonely, if I would…I don’t know, 'disappoint.'
So Courage Hats became a story about the unknown while I was also sitting in an unknown. And I began to see how, at least in my own experience, I never have all the courage I think I need up front to do anything I’m afraid to do. I have only a little courage – almost like something I’m temporarily trying on (like a hat). But it grows. It grows while I’m already doing the thing I’m afraid of. And that really opened my world – once I understood that. Sometimes courage doesn’t lead; it follows.
I didn’t want the story to be about whether a fear is valid. Fear is quite often irrational. But fear just IS. We live with it. I wanted Courage Hats to be a story without judgement about fear. Just a story about the little ways we get through it – and all the beauty on the other side of it.
(Beauty that kept coming through during that fellowship, too)."
For those who love Courage Hats, can you recommend a few other titles you think they might also enjoy? "There are so many lovely books about courage that I adore. And there are different kinds of courage. Here are some off the top of my head:
Books about warming up to courage (and 'trying on' courage): Lenny & Lucy by Philip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead, Wolf Girl by Jo Loring-Fisher, Mole in a Black & White Hole by Tereza Sediva, and A Song in the Mist by Corrinne Averiss and Fiona Woodcock.
Books about the courage to be who we are: Keith Among the Pigeons by Katie Brosnan, Jerome By Heart by Thomas Scotto and Olivier Tallec, Zero Local by Ethan Murrow and Vita Murrow, Bird Boy by Matthew Burgess and Shahrzad Maydani.
Books where it’s lovely to ask a reader, ‘what kind of (beautiful) courage is this?’: Something Good by Marcy Campbell and Corinna Luyken, Everyone Walks Away by Eva Lindström, Over the Shop by JonArno Lawsom and Qin Leng, and I Dream of a Journey by Akiko Miyakoshi."
I imagine language is something you pay particular attention to in picture books given your background in poetry. What are some picture books you turn to over and over for their rhythm, or for the beauty of their words? "So many! These days, I’m very much drawn to economy – books doing a lot with no waste, no excess – each word holding a lot of muscle. That’s what I keep finding stunning. Here’s a list off the top of my head (in no particular order) that serve as lanterns to me, and guiding lights for that kind of beautiful economy: Small in the City by Sydney Smith, A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead, I Am A Bird by Hope Lim and Hyewon Yum, The Lion and the Bird by Marianne Dubuc, The Dreamer by Il Sung Na, The Invisible Bear by Cécile Metzger,
The Way Home in the Night by Akiko Miyahkoshi, The Bear and the Moon by Matthew Burgess and Cátia Chien, The Tree in Me by Corinna Luyken, Once I Was a Bear by Irene Luxbacher, The Old Truck (and The Old Boat) by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey, and The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles by Michelle Cuevas and Erin E. Stead. Two 'older' books that continue to swim in my chest for their rhythm are I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis and Alison Jay and The Stars Will Still Shine by Cynthia Rylant and Tiphanie Beeke."
Join a cat and puppy pair through their day―the ups of being fed and romping through grass, and the downs of days that are too short and things that don't go as planned―as they realize that sometimes the very best thing that can happen is just being together.
Max's Boat Pick:
YES & NO
By Elisha Cooper
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (April 13, 2021)
What inspired Yes & No? It feels like a companion book or sequel to Big Cat, Little Cat. Did you envision it as such? EC: "Yes, it’s similar in that I used a painted black ink line. No, in that I added watercolor (and all of the animals in the book live!). When I was researching Yes & No I was fascinated by some paintings up at the Met, first some French Impressionist paintings and then Chinese mountain paintings. I tried to put this artistic exploration into my illustrations. I suppose the inspiration of the book – if we can ever know that moment of inspiration – was the feeling of being told as a boy to come inside, that the day was done. I hated that. I still hate that. So the puppy is me, and all of us, I think."
You've written books for adults, and books for children. Which do you find more difficult? More enjoyable? "The writer William Maxwell once said that he was trying to write for an intelligent twelve-year-old. I’ve always loved that line. A good book should leap across divisions. I’m thinking of a book like Charlotte’s Web. So I’m just trying to write good books for humans. Sure, there are differences (my essays might be a little hard for a four-year-old!), but sometimes I wonder if age distinctions are dreamed up by marketers. We are less different than we think."
You're known for your simple, perfect line (with words and with paint). Which do you agonize over more--the words or the pictures? "I don’t agonize. Not much, at least. And when I do, I get another coffee or go for a run along the river. I try not to overthink. I’ve spent my life painting and writing and now it just pours out. That doesn’t mean I’m not often wrong, or don’t make mistakes or struggle to find the right word.
Maybe I’m hung up on the word 'agonize'? Because making art is a joy and I’m lucky to do it. Again, I don’t mean to say it’s never difficult. But agony? No."
What did you love reading to your daughters when they were 3 and 5? "Tolstoy."
What's your favorite bookstore and/or library?
"Okay, what I really read to my daughters were picture books (but my Tolstoy joke wouldn’t land
if I didn’t leave it there!). There was a whole range of books we shared, from Asterix to Sendak to Munro Leaf. I got them books at Three Lives & Co., the most beautiful bookstore in New
York (corner of West 10th Street and Waverly in the Village). Or we went to our local library,
Jefferson Market Library. We went so often I painted huge painting murals on the walls. And I
painted their wood signage. Also, an NYPL bag."
There was a cat who lived alone. Until the day a new cat came . . . And so a story of friendship begins, following the two cats through their days, months, and years until one day, the older cat has to go. And he doesn’t come back.
Pick by Jessixa Bagley, Boats for Papa and The Pumphrey Brothers, The Old Boat:
BIG CAT, LITTLE CAT By Elisha Cooper
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (March 14, 2017) Buy now
Can you tell me how Big Cat, Little Cat came about? Was it strictly inspired by your cats? There was one spread where I couldn't help but think of a long married couple. Was that intentional, or my odd reading of it? EC: "When our daughters were young we got two kittens. Then one of the cats died. My daughters were devastated. I was too, but having grown up on a farm, surrounded by a lot of life and death, I knew things would eventually be okay. We got another cat. I wrote this book with that cycle-of-life mind.
And yes, there’s a certain long-married-coupled-ness when two animals live with each other, though I wouldn’t want to anthropomorphize it too much. Could it be love? Our two boy cats spend their days chasing and biting each other in the head, then curl up in a ball and sleep together. Hmm, am I saying that’s marriage? Maybe."
How are Bear and Mouse doing these days? "Cats being cats, and life being short, the older cat — Bear — died a few years ago and we have a younger cat now. His name is Panda and at the moment he’s sitting at my feet with his chewed rabbit toy, asking me to throw it for him. He thinks he’s a dog."
For those who love Big Cat, Little Cat, can you recommend a few other titles that you think they might also enjoy? Mina by Matthew Forsythe. It just came out, and it’s so good. The pacing, the wordplay, the narrative turns. And there are cats in it! Other recent books that have jumped off the shelf for me: Town is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz and Sydney Smith (I love what he does with light). Watercress by Andrea Wang and Jason Chin, I Am the Subway by Kim Hyo-eun, A House by Kevin Henkes. And I’m looking forward to the next Barbara McClintock!"
Are there other picture books you admire for their exploration of love and loss? "I’m sure there are other wonderful books out there that explore loss. One of the reasons though, that I wrote this book, is that many children’s books seem to shy away from hard subjects like grief. When they do, they’re a little proscriptive. Which says more about adults than it does about children. Children are curious."