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Niko loves to draw his world: the ring-a-ling of the ice cream truck, the warmth of sun on his face. But no one appreciates his art. Until one day, Niko meets Iris . . . This imaginative and tender story explores the creative process, abstract art, friendship, and the universal desire to feel understood. A Junior Library Guild selection, Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book, Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year, Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books, Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice, Midwest Connections Pick, NCTE Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts, and New York Public Library Best Book for Kids "A dedicated young artist finds a friend who understands his vision in this picture book ode to the creative spirit. Niko carries a pad of paper and a box of colored pencils everywhere he goes, and his urban community provides plenty of inspiration for his artwork. Unfortunately, his abstract attempts to capture the 'ring-a-ling' of the ice-cream truck's bell, the hard work of a bird building her nest, and the warmth of the sun on his face only confuse his classmates, parents, and teacher, who seem stuck on the concrete objects missing from his drawings. Then a new girl named Iris moves in next door, and when she recognizes her own feelings of sadness in one of his drawings, Niko knows he's found a kindred spirit. Shin's digital and mixed-media illustrations perfectly capture Niko's passion and creativity, visually connecting his drawing pad to the world around him through joyous, scribbled colored pencil lines. Niko's drawings are appropriately naive, employing geometric shapes and bright colors that are echoed in Shin's visuals. Raczka's child-centered text expertly uses accessible language to describe the process of creative expression, likening it to a butterfly fluttering and a window opening in the mind. Pink-skinned Niko appears to come from a biracial family, and his classmates are depicted with a realistically diverse array of skin tones. VERDICT: Niko's journey will resonate with budding artists and inspire young audiences of all abilities to create something meaningful."-starred, School Library Journal "Everywhere Niko, a budding artist, looks, he sees something that calls out to be drawn. 'It might be a mother bird building her nest. Or the low autumn sun peeking out from behind a cloud. Or the ice cream truck ring-a-linging down the street.' Inspired, he draws and draws. But when he shows his pictures-fantastic, abstract scribbles of line and color and shape-to other people, they just don't get it. 'What is it?' they ask. 'It doesn't look like the ice cream truck.' Niko explains: 'It's not the ice cream truck.... It's the ring-a-ling.' They ask, 'Where's the bell?' Patiently, Niko repeats: 'It's not the bell. It's the ring-a-ling.' Discouraged, Niko seems ready to retreat into himself when he meets the new girl next door, who turns out to be a kindred spirit, one who experiences his art, rather than trying to pigeonhole it. The creative process is clearly near and dear to the hearts of Bob Raczka (Fall Mixed Up; Wet Cement: A Mix of Concrete Poems) and Simone Shin (If I Could Drive, Mama). In Niko Draws a Feeling, Raczka provides possibly the best description of artistic inspiration ever: '[I]t felt like a window opening in his brain. An idea would flit through the open window like a butterfly, flutter down to his stomach, then along his arm and fingers to his pencils, where it would escape onto his paper in a whirlwind of color.' Shin's mixed-media, digital and acrylic artwork wonderfully captures the passion and poignance of a misunderstood artist. Discover: In this sensitive picture book, no one understands the abstract work of a young artist until he meets a new friend."-Shelf Awareness "Young Niko loves drawing pictures and finds inspiration everywhere-like a mother bird building her nest, or an ice-cream

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