The Puddle

I’ve already talked about David McPhail’s Edward in the Jungle, but this past week I picked up his book The Puddle. These two books could not be more different. Where Edward was action packed and full of adventure, The Puddle is a softer quieter book with a lot of silliness mixed in. It is the type of story that I grew up with and for some reason I was reminded of the Little Bear series by Else Holmelund Minarik while reading it. The books are not similar but the tone that they were written in is. This is a quiet book about a simple thing that becomes extraordinary.

The story follows our narrator who wants to go out in the rain to sail his little sailboat. His mother agrees but tells him not to get wet or muddy. So he dresses up in his raincoat and goes out to a big puddle to sail his boat. Shortly after launching his boat, a frog comes along and steals it. He hops into the boat and refuses to bring it back near the shore. (did I mention it was a big puddle). Since the little boy can’t get wet, he cannot follow. Luckily an alligator shows up and offers to bring the boat back. He reclaims it from the frog but returns the boat with a bit of damage. But it doesn’t matter because right then a pig shows up wanting to go for a swim in the puddle. He jumps in and splashes the boy. But then an elephant comes along and wants a drink. She drinks up the whole puddle, and when the other animals yell at her, she spits it back out, drenching the animals and the boy. She leaves and the rain stops. The puddle dries up and everyone leaves. The boy goes home and is told to take a bath, where he finally gets to sail his sailboat in peace.

I’m not sure why this book seemed like a quiet little story to me with all the silliness that goes on. But somehow McPhail presents the tone as no big deal. And elephant arriving at the puddle is treated pretty matter-of-factly. In fact the interactions with all the animals is done very quietly. Even the frog bumping into a turtle or the alligator grabbing the sailboat is done with a softness. Part of this might be the illustrations. With the rainy day theme, McPhail uses mostly watercolors. There are often two smaller pictures on each page and the border of each image is not clearly defined. All the edges are soft often rounded. This gives the book a soft muted look. McPhail paints our narrator as a rather cute little boy who spends most of his time in a tiny rain slicker and what looks like a fireman’s hat. He is a nostalgic looking character and makes me think of growing up. But the animals are what really made this book wonderful for me. Each seems to have it’s own personality. The elephant is timid, the turtle serene, the frog is a bully, and the alligator is a big softie. A wonderful little story that seemed a throwback to older days. This book made me nostalgic and ultimately made me happy. A quiet little book that is perfect for rainy afternoon.

Edward in the Jungle

I'm not sure if I should admit this but I'd never read David McPhail. Somehow I had managed to get through childhood and life without picking up one of his incredibly numerous and wonderful books. My trip to the library last weekend had me stopping in the M's looking for Meghan McCarthy when I stumbled onto Edward in the Jungle by David McPhail. I knew the name (how can you be interested in picture books and not have?) so I picked up the book.

This book reminds me so much of when I was growing up. I was a pretty imaginative child and would always tell myself stories (a habit that continues to this day. :-)). And in my stories I was always the heroine in some amazing adventure story. I was never one to play house, more interested in playing pirates, or archeologist explorer. I would describe the places and dialogue, so much like Edward does in this story.

The book follows Edward who loves to read adventure stories, particularly the Tarzan books. He even has some play animals just like the ones Tarzan hangs out with. One day Edward is reading on the shore when a crocodile (the only animal that Tarzan doesn't like) comes up and tries to eat Edward. He is afraid but then his literary hero saves him. A very real Tarzan sweeps down from the trees scoops up the boy and rescues him. Then he takes him to meet his animal friends and shows Edward how to call the animals to his aid. When Tarzan is called away to help a friend animal, Edward is chased back to the river where he was saved. There is the crocodile again but this time it is being taken by two men. Edward debates what to do but finally calls the animal friends to him and saves the crocodile.

I love the seemless blend of reality, Edward's house and figurines, and fantasy, Tarzan and the animals. This is exactly the kind of story I would have made up for myself as a child. The moralistic story is done with a light hand and Edward is a wonderfully believable character. He is not a hero like Tarzan is and McPhail makes him very unsure of himself in the story. Edward is just a normal shy bookish boy who gets involved in an adventure.

The illustrations are wonderful. They images are somewhat dark, like the jungle should be, with a rich palette of colors. The colors are well blended, giving a bit of a fuzzy appearance to everything. This provides a sense of energy and movement to the book. And in all honesty this is a book about action. The story is about living out an adventure that you have in your head. The book seems very much like a dream. I loved it. For a girl who has read and reread The Jungle Books over and over, this was a wonderful story. Now I have to go back to the library and pick up more David McPhail.