Emily Gravett

I have a problem. Right now I have four books by Emily Gravett sitting on my desk waiting to be reviewed. The problem isn't how to talk about these amazingly inventive, stunningly sweet, and incredible children's book. That isn't my issue. The issue is that there is no way that any of my reviews would be good enough to match Gravett's great books.

I've become a huge Emily Gravett fan in the last couple months. Emily draws beautifully. She invents wonderful stories that surprise readers on every page. She creates books that are as inventively designed as they are well written. I know I'm gushing. I can't help it. I haven't found an author that excites me this much since I read my first Adam Rex and Lane Smith. Emily has become a favorite in a very short period of time.

So instead of reviews I'm going to present all four books. All of these are recommended, highly!!! All of these books are wonderful and sweet. All of them made me smile and laugh.

Wolves is the story of a rabbit who checks a book out from the library on wolves. As the rabbit reads about how wolves hunt and look and where they live, we see the actual wolf sneaking up on the rabbit. The oblivious rabbit walks across the giant wolf's muzzle until it gets to the part about diet. Gravett plays with the ending in a way that I won't tell you. It's one of the great charms of the book. I love the little details on this story. There is a library checkout card at the beginning of the book, like it is the little rabbit's book. The book the rabbit is reading is written by Grrabbit. The cover and back of the book are the only realistically rendered thing in the book, the rest are line drawings. It's the little details that made this book so much fun for me.

Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears takes book design to a whole new level. The words and plot itself are simple. This is a little mouse listing out all of his fears. And he's afraid of a lot. The dark, snakes, being eaten, sharp objects, water.... The list goes on and on. But it's the design that made me adore this book. There are surprises on every page starting with the giant whole taken out of the cover. There are ragged pages, foldout newspaper articles, a very funny map (with heartbeats as the scale), and everywhere there are Gravitt's wonderful line drawings. I loved her little mouse quaking in fear up until the end. This book doesn't just break the fourth wall, it shatters it.

Orange, Pear, Apple, Bear is the simplest of books. Gravett uses five words in total in this book and four of them are in the title. But it's the way she combines them, along with her adorable images, that makes this book, a favorite. There is a sweet simplicity here. The bear is adorable as he plays with the fruit, changes colors, and show off. All leading to a one word ending that had me smiling. This is one of those books that I would read to my youngest child. And reread over and over and over.

The last book I have for Gravett's is Meerkat Mail, one of her newer stories. Sunny the Meerkat is getting tired of his close family life. His brothers and sisters drive him crazy, the desert is too hot. But the family motto is Stay Safe, Stay Together. That is the only way they can stay safe from the jackals that try to eat them. When Sunny sets out on his own he writes his mother a letter and details why and where he's going. He heads out to various family members, trying out different lives. At each place he writes his mother a postcard which are affixed in the book. At first Sunny loves his new found freedom.  Even with the ever-present jackal always just a step behind him. But as the book goes one the letters grow different. Sunny is becoming more homesick. We hear him talk more and more fondly about the heat and the close family. He hates the rain and the dark and the ants. He starts to long to come home. His last postcard is sent as he arrives in the loving embraces of his family. This had all of the humor of Gravett's other work but also the sweetness. It's a much simpler book than the first two I mentioned but I think this one might be my favorite. Humor and heart always work for me.

The Three Pigs

The story of the three little pigs has been told to death. As children we hear it over and over so frequently that most children can recite the lines "not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin". We all know the story of the three brother pigs who build houses to see them knocked down. The original story had them eaten. The Disney version had the brothers surviving the attacks. And perhaps it is because we are so familiar with the tale that we are so comfortable parodying it. 

The first time I read The True Story of the Three Little Pigs I was amazed at how easy it was to deconstruct the story into something new. But not even that innovative story had prepared me for David Wiesner's The Three Pigs. I had heard that the book was revolutionary. I had heard that it turned the story on its head but when I finally sat down and read it I was blown away. (pun intended) Wiesner (whose work I adore) is a genius. This book might have to be the most unique I've read in a while. 

Warning: spoilers. If you have not read this book stop right here. Head to the library and pick up a copy. After you are done come back. Otherwise, I might just spoil the greatest children's literary surprise in years. 

The story starts out in the traditional fashion with the pigs and their houses. But when the pig in the straw house is blown out of the frame, the story becomes something entirely new. The three pigs manage to escape the wolf by stepping out of the story and adventuring on their own. I love how they use the dangerous wolf as a paper airplane to set out on their trip. They make a mess of the linear story panels, head butting them and scattering them. They wander into other tales, picking up stray characters on the way. I love the transitions they make between story character and outside characters. In one story, they become black and white illustrations while helping a dragon escape from the knight who intends to slaughter it. As they, and the dragon, leave the story panel they become colored again. 

I was enchanted with how Wiesner plays with the traditional story. The wolf is confused as the narration tells him that he eats the pig up, yet clearly there is no pig to be eaten. The knight is similarly unsure when the dragon he was sent to kill is gone. The narration continues as normal but the characters are simply missing. When the pigs, plus cat (from Hey Diddle Diddle) and dragon, decide to go home they simply rearrange the panels and arrive back at the house of bricks. And everyone, except the wolf, lives happily ever after. 

The visual work on this book is incredible. Wiesner creates different looks for the different tales and manages to slip his characters in. Children will love recognizing the pigs in each of their different versions. Once the characters slip out of the story frame they become more lifelike. What used to be a pig outline, is suddenly covered with fur and color. What used to be a black and white dragon, is now a multicolored scaly beast. We get the idea that these characters are much more themselves when not confined to their designated script. The place outside of the stories is all white, which for me symbolized the idea of a blank slate. That anything could happen. And certainly as we see the pigs say "lets explore this place" and take off in their wolf designed paper airplane, we feel the freedom that an unlimited adventure can contain. 

I can't recommend this book highly enough. Children and adults will both be enchanted with the unique story and the innovative drawings. Wiesner has outdone himself. It is no surprise to me that this book won the Caldecott.