Carter Higgins
Carter Higgins is the author of many books for young readers, including Everything You Need for a Treehouse, an NPR Best Book of the Year, This is Not a Valentine, a Kids' Indie Next List selection, and a new chapter book series, Audrey L & Audrey W: Best Friends-ish. Circle Under Berry is her first book as both author and illustrator. Carter is a creative storyteller who designs playful experiences around visual literacy and believes the wit of kids' language is the best poetry of all.
She is an Emmy-winning visual effects and motion graphics artist and spent a decade as an elementary school librarian. She is also the creator of the popular blog, Design of the Picture Book. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @carterhiggins. She lives in Las Vegas.
Reviews
Some of These Are Snails
“Carter Higgins delivers another superb concept book in Some of These Are Snails, a natural companion to her elegant 2021 creation, Circle Under Berry. Higgins invites readers to linger over these pages as they classify, sort and organize simple shapes in bright colors. . . . The figures rest on copious white space and evoke the palette and textures of the work of Eric Carle. It all makes for an utterly delightful, visually rich package that will have readers engaging in the types of classification work that form the basis of math skills and enhance memory and problem-solving abilities, too. Best of all, they’ll learn to see the world and its patterns in eye-opening ways. Some of These Are Snails is a must-have for every young reader’s bookshelf.” —BookPage, Starred Review
“Foregrounding brightly painted paper collage elements trimmed into crisp geometric shapes and placed on white backgrounds à la Eric Carle, this polished follow-up to Circle Under Berry again plays with visual images by challenging readers to classify them in various ways. Higgins composes a square blue owl with big googly eyes; the resulting shape might be categorized as blue, or an animal, or a square. Throughout, thumping, chantable lines (“big bigger biggest/ owl square purple”) explore sameness and variation, comparatives and quantifiers. A spread studded with various shapes asks, “Can you sort by color?// Can you sort by size?” Another spread features circle and square animals and shapes of sundry hues, asking “Can you sort by shape or/ find the animals with eyes?” And yet another juxtaposes striped tigers and spotted ladybugs: “Who’s stripiest?/ Who’s spottiest?” Alongside lines that veer into the whimsical realm of nonsense rhyme (“What is one?/ What is some?/ Where is all and/ where is none?”), largely accessible concept-based images and text promise wide read-and-respond appeal.”—Publishers Weekly
“Higgins expands her exploration of colors, shapes, and patterns in this companion to Circle under Berry (2021). She pairs the simple, rhythmic, occasionally rhyming text with cut-paper collage artwork (hand-painted and digitally enhanced), in which she creates recognizable animals from basic shapes. For example, “turtle is a circle // circle is a snail // green circles / orange circles // circle circle square,” depicts the mentioned items in vivid greens and oranges set off against a white background. The concepts and artwork become more complex as the book progresses: “can you sort by color? / can you sort by size? / can you sort by shape / or find the animals with eyes?” invites readers to participate in an “I spy” type of game. Other spreads ask readers to distinguish birds and mice (all pink triangles), compare the number of stripes on a variety of animals, and determine which animal has the most wiggles (curves). Other concepts introduced include comparative sizes, indefinite quantities (all, none, some), and vocabulary of scale (“teeny tiny” versus “huge enormous”). Ideal as a read-aloud, this should have wide appeal: lap-sit toddlers will enjoy the sing-song verses, preschoolers will focus on the shape and color concepts, kindergartners will learn simple ways to draw animals, and emergent readers will appreciate the predictable text.”—Booklist, Starred Review
“The Ehlert-Gravett mashup you didn’t know you needed. It’s likely many readers will see the influence of Lois Ehlert in Higgins’ collage art—cut from hand-painted paper and then assembled digitally. The simple, colorful forms that make up the illustrations in this concept book invite readers to play an I-spy sort of game prompted by text, with questions like, “Can you sort by color?” “Can you sort by size?” and “Can you sort by shape or find the animals with eyes?” Other parts of the text echo Emily Gravett’s playful storytime staple Orange Pear Apple Bear (2006): “Turtle is a circle / circle is a snail // green circles / orange circles / circle circle square.” Higgins guides readers to engage with the pictures and see how they visually represent the singsong, descriptive words. It’s a whimsical romp; on one page, a series of pink triangles paired with orange circles evokes both rodents and birds (“all of these are triangles / all of these are pink / some of them go / tweet-tweet-tweet / some of them go squeak”). Combined, words and pictures deliver a pleasing, interactive game of a read sure to inspire conversation and laughter from the readers who encounter this picture book. Will quickly become a read-aloud favorite.”—Kirkus Reviews
A Story Is to Share: How Ruth Krauss Found Another Way to Tell a Tale, pictures by Isabelle Arsenault
“Krauss is portrayed as a daring original or a bit of an oddball, depending on how you look at it, who turned her violin upside down, wore a shoelace as a tie and generally cavorted, finding “another way to ploosh and swirl” besides just boring old painting. The story is told whimsically and abstractedly; Krauss’s lobbying for gender and racial equality in her work is reserved for a biographical Author’s Note.”—The New York Times
“A biography of Ruth Krauss, doyen of children’s literature, told, aptly, in picture-book format. Higgins chronicles Krauss’ life from childhood to early adulthood, covering the illnesses she endured, her experiences at summer camp, and her forays into painting and writing. For Krauss fans, the book may be heralded as a welcome acknowledgement of her work. However, for those less familiar with her and her canon, the title does little to introduce or discuss her creativity in a meaningful way; the book repeatedly states that she was a free thinker but only vaguely addresses how that was channeled into her writing. It’s not clear why others initially said “No that’s not good” about her work or how interacting with a young neighbor and other small children (depicted as racially diverse) helped her “[find] another way to tell a tale.” At times, the poetic language works against the biographical elements, such as when the book discusses Krauss’ childhood: “But sickness sticks around a lot / and steals her voice away— / so she wiggles-wiggles little fingers / that’s how she says hi / Like this.” The verse is elegant—as is Arsenault’s graceful, scribbly artwork.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Just as Margaret Wise Brown’s legacy has had a revival in recently published picture-book biographies, the life of Ruth Krauss—another formative female children’s book author from the same era—comes to light in Higgins' lovely offering. In episodic time periods, spare (occasionally too spare), poetic text relates Krauss' experiences and accomplishments, from being a sickly child to learning to play the violin to becoming an artist and then a struggling author. In each segment of Krauss’ journey, Higgins emphasizes Krauss' desire to communicate, often in unusual ways. The final episode reveals how an interaction with a neighbor boy and a carrot seed helped launch her storytelling career. Arsenault blends touches of Maurice Sendak and Crockett Johnson (Krauss’ prominent illustrators) into her own charming style. Against a sepia-toned backdrop, a bright color highlights each vignette, with the hues joining in a culminating parade of children and storybook characters.”—Booklist
Big and Small and In-Between, illustrated by Daniel Miyares
“This poetic examination of some of the many experiences that can take place over the course of one’s life is visually stunning and emotionally rich. Life is filled with moments that contribute to the definition of one’s reality. From small experiences (the kiss of sunshine first thing in the morning) to large memories (achieving a long sought-after goal), each day is enriched by what happens within it . . . Short, descriptive stanzas evoke the feelings of each featured moment, making the book accessible to younger and older readers alike. Notably, the narrative does not follow the plot structure of a traditional picture book; instead, the book is designed to inspire conversation and reflection about what is depicted on each page. Expressive illustrations in deep colors and intriguing textures elegantly unite with the words to create a thought-provoking and emotional new whole.”—School Library Journal, Starred Review
“In a conceptual work of categorization, Higgins (Circle Under Berry) writes short, fanciful, often funny observations, sorted into the divisions of the title: big (“the DONUT/ that your brother got/ because you picked last/ and only got the hole”), in-between (“what you are/ on your HALF BIRTHDAY/ not even or odd”), and small (“the MOUSE’S TEA PARTY”) . . . These and the book’s luxurious length make it an abstract journey with many turns and surprises.”—Publishers Weekly
Circle Under Berry
Publisher's Weekly's "Best Books of 2021" and Smithsonian Magazine’s “10 Best Children’s Books of 2021”
“Using hand-painted paper to create brilliantly hued, shape-based forms that appear against a clean white backdrop, Higgins (Bikes for Sale) economically examines ways to observe color, shape, pattern, and position . . . Higgins offers seeds of conversations about naming and classification.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“Carter Higgins has hit the sweet spot with Circle Under Berry, a sparkling and ingenious concept book for children ages 2-4 that I suspect will become a nursery staple. Essentially, Ms. Higgins moves colorful shapes around from one clean white page to another while asking the reader, in straightforward prose, to notice what she’s doing. Described here, her text may sound facile but in combination with the pictures it positively tingles. “Circle under berry / berry over square / circle over berry under orange over square,” we read over the opening four pages. In the second four, Ms. Higgins smuggles a little orange fish into the selection: “Yellow under diamond / diamond over green / yellow over diamond under guppy over green.” The shifting positions of the shapes and the steady introduction of surprises make reading this book feel like the best kind of educational game.” —The Wall Street Journal
“This visually striking and carefully assembled collection of shapes, which seems to have been inspired by an Eric Carle aesthetic, invites young children to put their observation, categorization, problem-solving, color, and spatial-relation skills to work pondering shapes and compositions—and even learning about prepositions in the process.) . . . Satisfying, engaging, and sure to entertain the toddlers at whom it is aimed.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“[A] striking exploration of shapes, colors, and patterns . . . The artwork is particularly distinctive, comprised of brightly hued, stylized shapes and objects created from cut-and-collaged, hand-painted papers digitally assembled on white backgrounds. . . . an appealing choice for emerging readers [and] the emphasis on prepositions will aid English language learners as well.”—Booklist
Audrey L & Audrey W: Best Friends-ish
“This delightful tale of friendship struggles and the uncertainties of school shines with humor and spirit. Mann’s black-and-white line illustrations help break up the text and nicely complement the two Audrey’s adventures. VERDICT A great addition to libraries where memorable girls like ‘Ivy + Bean,’ and ‘Judy Moody’ are popular.”—School Library Journal
“Higgins has a keen ear for both the chaos of elementary school classrooms and the turbulent inner lives of elementary aged kids . . . The text is simple and direct but often steeped in the sensorial, effectively conveying Audrey L’s emotions . . . Black and white illustrations recall Quentin Blake’s scratchy pencilwork muted with dappling shades of gray. Readers who’ve outgrown the first-grade escapades of Green’s [Princess Posey and the First Grade Parade] but aren’t quite ready for English’s Carver Chronicles . . . will find their sweet spot with this easy reader.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
“A rapport develops between two second graders in search of belonging in this crisply written chapter book debut, a series starter by Higgins . . . Straightforward plotting emphasizes Audrey L’s emotional journey and the classroom dynamics, while sketchlike b&w illustrations by Mann (The Camping Trip) break up the chapters. The Audreys make a winsome pair, and Higgins’s empathic approach to storytelling promises more gentle hijinks as they navigate school and friendship.”—Publishers Weekly
“Mann’s droll illustrations capture the full range of changing emotions and convey character diversity . . . Audrey L’s struggles to establish herself within the chaotic social hierarchies of elementary school are endearingly authentic. Funny and engaging.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Lots of readers will identify with Audrey L.’s mixed-up feelings and chuckle over minor mishaps that unfold through short, illustrated chapters . . . An instant companion for Ivy & Bean and Clementine, this sweet series-starter holds plenty of promise.”—Booklist
“Higgins (Bikes for Sale; This Is Not a Valentine) captures the complicated dynamics of nascent friendships and perceived hierarchies through small moments that ring with authenticity and humor . . .Well-paced chapters conclude satisfactorily while planting seeds for future installments to feature the classmates and Audrey L's "funny... and weird" family. A natural fit for fans of odd-couple friendship stories like Ivy & Bean and funny school stories like Jo Jo Makoons, this series starter promises double the fun.”—Shelf Awareness