More-igami

by Dori Kleber, G. Brian Karas (Illustrator)

Overview

“Encourages patience, practice, and sharing creativity and finishes with a simple origami lesson for readers to try. A gem.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Joey loves things that fold: maps, beds, accordions, you name it. When a classmate’s mother turns a plain piece of paper into a beautiful origami crane, Joey’s eyes pop. Maybe he can learn origami, too! It’s going to take practice — on his homework, the newspaper, the thirty-eight dollars in his mother’s purse. . . . Enough! No more folding! But how can Joey become an origami master if he’s not allowed to practice?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536227970
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	02/01/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Dori Kleber was an award-winning journalist and business writer before she began writing children's books. More-igami is her picture-book debut. She lives just outside Atlanta.

G. Brian Karas has illustrated more than ninety children’s books, including two books about Ant and Honey Bee by Megan McDonald, Tap Tap Boom Boom by Elizabeth Bluemle, and the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book Are You Going to Be Good? by Cari Best. G. Brian Karas lives in the Hudson Valley of New York.

About Me
My whole grown-up life, I’ve been a writer. Today, I write children’s books. But before I became an author, I wrote lots of other things.

My first real job was as a reporter at a small newspaper in North Carolina. Later in my career, I wrote speeches, reports, press releases, and websites. I’ve written about scientific research, home-theater systems, lost-and-found puppies, and lots more. In all of the different writing jobs I had, I enjoyed meeting people, hearing their stories, and learning new things.

It took me a while to figure out that I was meant to be a writer. When I was a kid, I thought I might become a veterinarian or a lawyer. When I left for college, I had my heart set on becoming a sportscaster. That’s why I went to journalism school, which is how I became a reporter. After I left the newspaper, I tried a few other jobs. Every time I started somewhere new, it wasn’t long before my bosses shuffled me into a position where I spent most of my time writing. Eventually, I realized that writing was what I was meant to do, not just because other people saw a talent in me, but because – like all writers – I did my best thinking by putting words down on paper. I was a writer at heart, even if I had spent all those years not knowing it.

I live in the Atlanta area with my husband and two children.

About My Work
I got the idea for More-igami while I was trying not to trip over an origami book that my son had left lying on our stairs. The idea of a child who loved origami kept running through my mind. So I wrote the story down. Then I rewrote it and changed it and polished it until it was ready to become a book.

Three Things You Didn’t Know about Me
1. I have met Big Bird.
2. I hate flying on airplanes.
3. I love chocolate-chip cookies.

Editorial Reviews

03/21/2016
From collecting snow globes to inventing palindromes, unusual passions and interests abound among humans young and old. The hero of Kleber’s debut, a brown-skinned boy named Joey, is obsessed with all things folded. When readers first see him, he’s staring dreamily at a neatly folded taco; he also loves maps and the accordion, and he even sleeps in a folding bed (one that doesn’t like to stay unfolded, not that Joey appears to mind). After a Japanese student’s mother introduces origami to Joey’s class, he dives headlong into practicing, using whatever he can get his hands on—homework, his sister’s sheet music, and money from his mother’s purse. With the family fed up, Joey heads to his favorite Mexican restaurant, where the table napkins give him an idea. Smart design decisions—including a square trim size, origami-patterned end pages, and subtle fold marks that divide Karas’s (A Poem in Your Pocket) images into vignettes—create a graceful visual underpinning to the theme, and an origami project is included for readers. It’s a quiet but effective reminder of the value of practice. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Kleber uses simple language but gives young readers great credit for understanding multiple concepts conveyed at once, and the story is all the better for it. Karas' soulful illustrations depict Joey with brown skin and cropped, textured hair, with other characters drawn to show other ethnicities. His art shows his hand, the textured pencil, and pastel strokes evident on the page, which gives the book a gentle, handmade feel. It's an excellent companion to Kleber's story, which encourages patience, practice, and sharing creativity, and finishes with a simple origami lesson for readers to try. A gem.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Smart design decisions—including a square trim size, origami-patterned end pages, and subtle fold marks that divide Karas’s (A Poem in Your Pocket) images into vignettes—create a graceful visual underpinning to the theme, and an origami project is included for readers. It’s a quiet but effective reminder of the value of practice.
—Publishers Weekly

Warm characters, gentle humor, and sweet illustrations convey the challenges of learning new skills without making them feel insurmountable. A title for all collections.
—School Library Journal

Karas’ gouache-and-pencil illustrations clearly convey Joey’s fascination with folding, and the frustration he feels at not being able to practice. The cast is wonderfully multicultural: African American Joey learns about origami from a Japanese American parent, and is given a place to practice by a Mexican American restaurant owner. With engaging text, charming illustrations, and bonus instructions for an origami ladybug, this is a winner.
—Booklist Online

Karas’s gouache and pencil illustrations show a cheery multicultural neighborhood and an entertaining array of origami attempts made out of many types of paper. Young readers can also share in Joey’s hobby if they try out the clear instructions at the end for making an origami ladybug.
—The Horn Book

More-igami is Dori Kleber's picture-book debut, and she tells her story with both gentleness and wit, and plenty of playful repetition for storytime. G. Brian Karas (Muncha, Muncha, Muncha!; Tap Tap Boom Boom) reflects her clean style with winsome, expressive gouche and pencil paintings. In a brilliant design coup, some of the pages have faint fold marks. Children who catch origami fever can fold their own ladybug using the step-by-step instructions in the back, and more and "more-igami" is sure to follow. Masterful.
—Shelf Awareness for Readers

From the Publisher

04/01/2016
K-Gr 2—Joey loves anything that folds (road maps, accordions, foldaway beds). When Sarah Takimoto's mother gives his class an origami demonstration, he finds his passion. ("Joey's eyes popped. His jaw dropped. Mrs. Takimoto called it origami.") Origami does not come easily for Joey, but he heeds the counsel of Mrs. Takimoto: "If you want to be an origami master, you'll need practice and patience." Heartfelt and amusing illustrations done in gouache and pencil on paper show Joey's many efforts to make a crane from homework, sheet music, newspapers, and even paper money littered throughout the house, until his mother can take no more. Fortunately, at the Mexican restaurant next door, he finds solace in the fajitas, encouragement from Mr. Lopez, and an enormous supply of napkins on which to practice his folds. He manages the elusive paper crane just in time to impress a girl walking in, and he begins to teach her the finer points of practice and patience. Backgrounds use color and geometric lines to mimic paper folds that cleverly break up sequences of spot art and bring out the idea of origami throughout. For readers with Joey's enthusiasm for folding, the story ends with easy-to-follow instructions for making an origami ladybug. VERDICT Warm characters, gentle humor, and sweet illustrations convey the challenges of learning new skills without making them feel insurmountable. A title for all collections.—Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA

School Library Journal

★ 2016-01-20
Joey loves things that fold, like maps, his accordion, and even his foldaway bed, so when he sees a classmate's mother folding an origami crane, he's captivated. Mrs. Takimoto explains that she can teach Joey the folds, but the only way to become an origami master is with "practice and patience." He takes the instruction seriously and practices with every piece of paper he can find, including his sister's sheet music and his mother's dollar bills, before being asked to stop. His neighbor friend Mr. Lopez sees Joey's dedication and lets him fold the napkins in his restaurant in progressively more complicated shapes until the little boy finally masters the crane. On seeing the crane, a little girl is captivated. Joey offers to teach her but warns that it takes "practice—and lots of patience!" Kleber uses simple language but gives young readers great credit for understanding multiple concepts conveyed at once, and the story is all the better for it. Karas' soulful illustrations depict Joey with brown skin and cropped, textured hair, with other characters drawn to show other ethnicities. His art shows his hand, the textured pencil, and pastel strokes evident on the page, which gives the book a gentle, handmade feel. It's an excellent companion to Kleber's story, which encourages patience, practice, and sharing creativity and finishes with a simple origami lesson for readers to try. A gem. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews