Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse

The first time I ever really recognized a children’s book illustration as art was when looking at Leo Lionni’s work. Before that, I had always loved the images in my books but never really seen the full beauty of them. Never seen them as anything more than just illustrations. But Lionni’s collage work was and still is some of the more inventive and beautiful illustrations out there. I am constantly drawn into the images to see the textures and types of papers that he uses in his artwork. From a felt mouse to a wallpaper background, there is a variety of colors and textures that combine beautifully. Lionni is a master of taking torn scraps and making memorable scenes. The Caldecott honor book, Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse is a perfect example of these fantastic spreads.

Alexander is a regular mouse. He scrounges for food and lives in a hole in the wall. The people in the house chase him away every time they see him and he is sad that no one seems to love him. Then he meets Willy, a wind-up mouse who is a favorite toy of the girl in the house. She takes Willy everywhere and loves him. Alexander wants to be a wind-up mouse and be loved too. One day Willy tells him of a magic lizard that can turn one creature into another. The lizard tells Alexander he will need a purple pebble to work the magic. When he can’t find the pebble, he returns to Willy who has been thrown into a box. The family is getting rid of some toys including the wind-up mouse. Just then, Alexander finds the pebble. He rushes to the lizard and asks to change Willy into a real mouse. When he goes to find the box, it is empty. Alexander is crestfallen until he returns home and finds a familiar friend in his hole in the wall.

The story, like a Prince and the Pauper tale, is based on the idea of wanting to be something you are not. Like many of the mouse books I’ve read, Alexander is tired of being hated. He wants to be loved. And although Willy cannot move without being wound, Alexander sees that a wind-up mouse’s life would offer him love. But like all toys, children lose interest in them. Suddenly Willy’s life doesn’t seem so grand. Alexander sacrifices his own interests to help a friend. This is a sweet story about friendship but also about being happy with what you have. Lionni keeps the story and wording pretty simple, but the concepts are much deeper. I have to wonder how much of that I gathered when reading it as a child.

What I remember from my childhood was the images. I remember the matryoshka doll on the cover made from different types of wallpaper. I remember the two mice, one with its smooth gray finish and the other made from felt. I remember the night scene when Alexander makes the wish to change his friend into a real mouse. The sky is covered with tissue paper leaves and the strange gravel path. When I found the book for purchase, these were the things that I flipped to immediately. I didn’t remember the story, but I knew the images. I've stated many times before how much I love collage work for illustration. Successfully done collage can be far more interesting to me than painting. And Lionni is an artist. He takes various materials and creates images that can stay with me from my early childhood until adulthood. They remind me that illustration work doesn’t have to be painted. Like Ezra Jack Keats, Eric Carle, Lois Ehlert, and others, Lionni uses the materials at hand to bring some of the most memorable and lovable characters to life.

The Curious Garden

I’ve wanted to pick up Peter Brown’s book The Curious Garden for quite a while now. From everything I had heard it had all the things I love: beautiful illustrations, a sweet story, and an environmental message that I can stand behind. So when I got a Barnes and Noble gift card for Christmas, I knew what I was going to buy. The book was far more beautiful than I was expecting, and much more poignant.

The story follows a little boy named Liam who lives in a grey city. Most of the people in town never leave their houses and the city is filled with concrete and buildings. But Liam likes to explore. And one day he discovers a small untidy garden up on an abandoned elevated railway platform. Liam tends the little garden and it begins to spread along the railway platform. When winter comes, the garden falls dormant and Liam prepares for the spring. This time he is prepared with new tools and knowledge. The garden flourishes under his care and begins to spread again. It is no longer content to be just on the railway platform. Now it spreads throughout the city. And as the garden spreads, the number of gardeners increases. Suddenly the city is filled with gardens and gardeners. All because of one little boy tending an untidy garden.

Like The Gardener by Sarah Stewart and David Small, Peter Brown has created a fantastic book about how just a little dirt and seeds can bring happiness to people. I’m a huge believer that we need green things to be happy. And this book just goes to show how those green spaces can transform a city. At the beginning, the city is filled with browns and greys and smoke. And the city appears deserted. No one is outdoors except Liam. As the book continues we see more and more colors creeping in. Browns are replaced with greens and even the sky turns from grey to blue. But the biggest change is the people. By the end of the book everyone is outdoors. Neighbors are getting to know neighbors. This city has come alive in many ways. The text is simple and pretty sparse. Brown lets his illustrations tell most of the story. There are many pages that have no words at all, just pictures. And what pictures they are.

Peter Brown’s acrylic and gouache images are filled with rounded shapes, beautiful colors, and a cuteness all their own. Even from the beginning there is a sweetness to all his images that just becomes more beautiful and magical as the book goes on. Everything has a softness to it, possibly from the fact that many of the edges of things are blurred. Like his use of rounded figures and plants, the blurring makes the images look safer and sweeter. Liam is adorable with his shock of red hair and slightly large head. He is a warm character and I instantly liked him (perhaps it was his constantly sweet smile). The garden appears to have a life of its own. The book talks about the garden being restless and wanting to explore. It becomes an additional character in the book. Brown captures the spread of the plants very well. There are some beautiful full page illustrations that show the old train tracks covered in plants. I found it interesting to see what the old buildings became as the plants grew up and around them.

I have to admit that I originally wanted to find the book because of its cover. A beautiful setting, a young boy, and a book, what more is there to love? But once I got into the story I found that it was more than just a simple story about a young boy tending a garden. The mix of cute, simple, and rounded images will make any child want to read and reread this book. They will enjoy even the pages without words because of the beautiful illustrations. But although the story and the images may be cute and simple but there is a message there that is very powerful. It is a story about why we need green things. About the power that living things have. I would not be surprised to see this book recommended by many environmental organizations. This is a wonderful book and I would recommend it to everyone.

1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up

I'm normally not a huge fan of best of lists. Anytime you create a list of ten best, hundred best, or even 1001 best, you're going to have to leave some great books out. No list is perfect. But if I was looking for a pretty good canon of classic children's books, this would at least be a place to start. It has its missing titles, at least according to me, but it still has most of the books that I would consider must reads. I was fascinated by the width and breadth of the selection. And now have tons of new books to read.

The book, 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up, covers children's books for every age group and from around the world. The book is broken up into something of age groups: 0-3, 3+, 5+, 8+, and 12+. Some of these are a little arbitrary with books like The Jungle Book appearing in the under 5+ section, the same section that housed Are You My Mother? and Blueberries for Sal. But then again I'm not a huge fan of age categorization of books anyway. I know that when I was young I was interested in books that were well above my age level. I'm sure there are kids in the same situation. Each title is reviewed with a plot summary and some information about either the history of the book or what made it great. There are a number of guest reviewers including authors like Margaret Atwood, Nick Butterworth, Judy Blume, and Lois Lowry. Contributors range from educational authors, librarians, journalists, and critics. The book itself is edited overall by Julia Eccleshare

In each age section, titles are presented chronologically. I was shocked at how old some of the classic titles are. We all know that Aesop's Fables are very old but I had no idea that The Swiss Family Robinson was actually written in 1812. The books continue up until mostly modern day with the newest title being the 2008 release of The Graveyard Book. Unlike other canons of children's literature, this list contains books from around the world and many that are not written in English. I went through the book several times and was amazed by the number of German and French titles that appeared. These are books that I'd never heard of. Yet in their own countries they are classics.

I consider myself somewhat well read when it comes to children's books but I have to admit that I probably have read less than half of the titles. I have read many of the 3+ and 5+ but many of the 12+ have escaped my notice. I'm not sure if I simply bypassed that age group or that that there were far more foreign titles in that section and I rarely expanded my reading beyond primarily English titles. I will be curious to see how many of the foreign titles I will be able to get my hands on. My plan is to attempt to read all 1001.

As I mentioned before I'm not a huge fan of lists. As I went through the book I could think of a few titles that had been excluded that I would consider classics. The list is a little light on the modern side. But one of the strengths of the book is that the editor is aware that she cannot include all the books that would be considered classics. This is solved by including additional titles at the base of some of the reviews. At the bottom of the review of Seuss's The Cat in the Hat is a listing of other books by Seuss. Similarly at the bottom of the review of The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde is a list of other stories about princes. This book may well be one of the most well defined canons for the children's literature genre. I guarantee that readers will find old familiar favorites and exciting new books to check out.

The Old House

I apologize for the absence. Life got in the way and I haven't been reading or writing as much. But rest assured I'm back, with a ton of great new children's books to talk about.

I’m rapidly becoming a huge fan of Henry Cole’s artwork (and not just because his website has to be one of the best things I've ever seen). I wrote earlier about the beautiful book Honk here, a collaboration between Pamela Duncan Edwards and Henry Cole. Since then I’ve been picking up more and more of Cole’s books. The Old House is a collaboration again by the magnificent duo and is a cute and inspiring little story.

Like Honk, The Old House is a book about hope. But instead of Mimi with her eternal optimism, this story follows an old house that has been vacant for such a long time that it has given up hope. It’s a run down old house that is beginning to doubt it’s own worth. The price has been reduced and the house worries that no one will ever live in it again. Its friends (birds, an oak tree, and the wildflowers) try to give the house hope, reminding it of how useful and strong it still is. But as families come and go, it has given up. Until one family comes down the street and admire the house, even with its sagging sad face. But they claim they cannot afford it. They leave and the house is even more depressed. The friends keep trying to cheer up the house and when the family does come back a couple days later, the house does try to stand up straighter. But then they go away again and it really fears for its life. When a rumble shakes the street, the house is convinced that it is bulldozers coming to knock it down. But instead the family is back and ready to move in. And the house is fixed up and it (and its friends) live happily ever after with the new family.

It’s so rare when you find a story about a character that is simply not the happy type. The house in this book is very much an Eeyore character with a “nothing will ever go my way” mentality. But it is still a house that’s willing (sometimes) to try. Instead this story for me was more about friendship. About have people (or things) around you that are willing to build you up. The flowers, the birds, and the trees surrounding the house do just that and when the time comes everyone wins out. It is a sweet story about hope and redemption. Henry Cole’s illustration are wonderful as always. The house has been anthropomorphized with some sad eyes, a door for a mouth, and even a sagging chin of a porch. We visibly see the house straighten up when it finally decides to impress the family. And I’m a huge fan of anything being anthropomorphized. I know that people say not to do it but I think there is so many ways to make a story that much sweeter with a couple eyes and some facial expressions. We see the transformation of the house along with hearing the tone change. Edwards gives us verbal clues as well to the state of mind of the house. We can hear the hope finally return only to be dashed again. That makes the ending that much sweeter. I don’t normally cheer for a house. But in this case I’ll make an exception.

Cowboy Ned and Andy

David Ezra Stein has a talent for taking the simplest stories and giving them lots of heart. I wanted to review his book Leaves but my copy is out on loan and the library's copy is out. It's the perfect book for this time of year and one of my regular Fall books. But while I was at the library I picked up a copy of Cowboy Ned and Andy which I hadn't read.

Cowboy Ned and his horse Andy are best friends. They are driving cows across the desert together when Ned mentions that the next day is his birthday and that he's missing his family. Andy decides that he wants to do something special for his friend and settles on a birthday cake. After the sun goes down and Ned goes to bed, Andy sets off to find a cake. He runs into numerous desert animals but none of them know where to find a cake. Andy keeps walking until almost the sun is up. He heads to a house on the edge of the desert and the man there offers the horse some advice. He recommends that rather than worry about a cake, that Andy just spend time with his friend. So Andy runs back as fast as he can and gets back just as the sun has risen on Ned's birthday. The friends hug and the cows sing Happy Birthday.

This sweet little story has a pretty quiet plot but a ton of heart. The character of Andy is just wonderful. He's such a good friend and he's so incredibly polite to the other animals. Even the scorpion who is a bit rude to him. He refers to everyone as sir and he asks about a cake in the nicest possibly way. He doesn't think about how tired he is, he only thinks about making things better for his friend. I was just loved the character. Ned is a bit of a background character in the book. I did love the names of his family members: Nedna, Nedrick, and Ma. The story was simple but so sweet.

David uses watercolor and ink to create the illustrations. The ink has been brushed on to give the images a rougher look which fits well with the western theme. Actually the rough look of the pictures really adds a sweet element to the book. David has imbued the book with energy and a childlike enthusiasm. The book's palette includes a lot of browns, blues, and yellows, mixed with the occasional orange or gray which works beautifully with the theme. We see the huge expanses of brown sand. I love the beautiful clear blue sky and the rough moon that hangs. My favorite spread had to be one where Andy has just left the scorpion and is heading toward the rancher's house. A majority of the page is sand with just a touch of sky at the top of the page. There are a couple clouds and we see Andy heading into the distance. It's not a pivotal scene but the colors work so well together with the rough mountains and clouds. It's just a gorgeous simple image. And that pretty much summed up the book for me. Gorgeous, simple and sweet. A great buddy story with a huge heart.

Adam Rex and Halloween

The leaves are falling fast now and the nights are getting pretty cold. I have pulled out my wool socks. All of this means that it's fall. And with fall comes Halloween. I'm actually in the mood for the season this year. Normally I dread fall because of what follows it. This year I'm really excited for the cool temperatures and the beautiful fall colors. And to celebrate the upcoming holiday I have purchased Adam Rex's books on monsters.

I make it no secret that I absolutely adore Adam Rex's work. I started by reading The True Meaning of Smekday and went out to buy everything he's illustrated or written. The next one that ended up in my home was Pssst, a cute little story about a little girl who's trip to the zoo turns into a shopping trip with an unusual ending. Rex tells the story through words and pictures but it is his fantastic illustration that keep you coming back for more. Everywhere you look on the page is a fun little detail. The humor is sometimes silly, sometimes dry but always fun.

But the real reason I'm posting this is that there are two Adam Rex books that are just perfect for Halloween. In his first book in the series, Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, he gives us poems about how the Phantom of the Opera can't get familiar tunes out of his head. Poems about the invisible man getting a haircut, the creature from the black lagoon who goes swimming too early after eating. My favorite is a wonderful poem about how Dracula has spinach in his teeth and no one knows how to tell him. Adam uses different art styles with each poem to make this a visual feast as well as a poetic one.

The new book is Frankenstein Takes the Cake. This is possibly even better than the first. In this one we follow Frankenstein as he gets married to his bride. My favorite pages have the Headless Horseman as he writes a blog about people wanting to eat his head, and why he wants people to stop copying his look. Please take note that those are not illustrations but pictures. Adam made the head and photographed it. Adam writes a wonderful little poem about Medusa and her problems in school. Even the dust jacket and the inside pages have jokes. They are everywhere. The thing about Adam is you have to read everything: signs, copyright information....

So here are two books that are perfect for the upcoming holiday. I recommend them to both kids and adults. Kids will love the humorous rhymes, and adults will love all the cute references and inside jokes in the pictures. I don't often tell people that you have to buy books, but you really do need to buy these. If you do pick up his books and enjoy them, also check out Adam Rex's blog.

P.S. The actual titles of the books are

Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and Other Stories You're Sure to Like Because They're All About Monsters and Some of Them Are Also About Food. You Like Food, Don't You? Well Alright Then.

and

Frankenstein Takes the Cake Which is Full of Funny Stuff Like Rotting Heads and Giant Gorillas and Zombies Dressed Like Little Girls and Edgar Allen Poe. The Book, We Mean--Not the Cake.

Yeah even those are hilarious. I love this man's work.

To see how he made the Headless Horseman's head, check out this amazing blog entry on the always wonderful 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

The Snow Day

I’ve been reading a lot of snow/winter books recently. I can only assume it comes with the season. As the leaves change and the temperatures fall, my thoughts turn to winter. Plus there are just so many beautiful books about winter. Komako Sakai’s The Snow Day is no different. This simple quiet book is more about mood than story. But the mood that it sets is just too perfect.

The story follows a little rabbit who wakes up to find out that snow has been falling all night and she doesn’t have to go to school. She wants to go out to play but her mother tells her to wait until the snow stops. Her father, who has been traveling, is stranded and they are not sure if he will come home that day. The little rabbit sneaks out onto the deck of the family’s apartment to make snow dumplings while her mother does dishes. They play cards together and do indoor activities. They stand out on the balcony and listen to the silence of the snow. Finally, that evening, the storm stops. Even though it is close to bedtime, they go out to play in the snow until it is time to go to sleep. Tomorrow, she remarks, Daddy will be home. Because the snow stopped.

As I mentioned before this book is more about mood than it is about plot. The story is simple with very little happening. Instead we get to feel the impatient waiting of a child who wants to go outside. We get to hear the silence that comes with a heavy snow when no one is outside. I loved the moment where the little rabbit sneaks out to the balcony to make a snow dumpling. We see the apartment building shrouded in white with the little rabbit on the balcony. We feel the silence and the cold and the magic of the moment. When she is finally allowed to go out and play, we feel that excitement as she rushes out into the field. There is a sense of freedom.

Sakai’s illustrations are muted and beautiful. She appears to mix paint and crayon to create these part sophisticated, part childlike images although there is no mention of the medium in the title page. The palette is very muted with a focus on whites, grays, and browns. The rabbit is cute and I was very taken with the clothes she wears (which is surprising because I don’t normally notice things like that). Each page is a silent little tribute to the frustration and beauty of a snow day. A quiet book but one packed with emotion and feeling. And a little bit of magic.