This Picture Book Life

picture books by the decade / the 70s

03.06.2014

The Funny Little Woman retold by Arlene Mosel, pictures by Blair Lent. (1972)

This Caldecott winner is a funny one indeed. Bizarrely so, but ultimately entertaining and mysterious.

(Be warned that the underground monsters, called oni, are pretty scary looking.)

My favorite bits are: 1.) the hilarity of the funny little woman’s laugh, “Tee-he-he-he”; 2.) the parallel story told through illustrations of the woman’s house through the seasons and its new visitors while she’s away from it.

Strega Nona, an old tale retold and illustrated by Tomie de Paola. (1975)

A familiar classic that stands the test of time. Full of interest and suspense and charming illustrations.

And check out that illustration spread before the title page that also concludes the book! Beautiful colors and mise en scene. I also love the page with the townspeople and their forks twirled with pasta, mouths open and ready to eat.

But Names Will Never Hurt Me by Bernard Waber. (1976)

Told in the second person, Alison Wonderland hears the story of her name. Her name that sounds a lot like the title of a very famous book. (Alis-on Wonderland!)

There are years of history that led to that name, years of conversations between grandparents and parents that are pretty endearing.

Alison has no idea she has a troublesome name until she goes to school. Then she finds out pretty quick. But not to worry! In the end, she grows up and embraces her name, no longer minding its association with white rabbits.

Not to mention that title page illustration that alludes to the problem with Alison’s name. Very clever!

The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater. (1977)

My very very favorite from this decade! After a seagull drops a bucket of orange paint on Mr. Plumbean’s house, things will never be the same on that same same neat neat street!

That big orange splot inspires Mr. Plumbean to paint his house to resemble “a rainbow,” “a jungle,” “and explosion.” One by one, he inspires all the neighbors too.

This book kind of embodies the 70s. Not only that, it’s hilarious for kids and adults. The grownup language and figures of speech Pinkwater uses throughout are a hoot.

And two more 70s faves I’ve talked about on This Picture Book Life before:

Everybody Needs a Rock (1974)

William’s Doll (1972)

Okay, now you! Any picture books from the 70s to add?

too noisy! + not too noisy noisemakers

PICTURE BOOKS +

03.04.2014

Too Noisy! by Malachy Doyle and Ed Vere.

I flat out love this book and the Bungle family.

The truly musical, full of sounds, fun to read aloud text. The way sound is illustrated by flatly colored speech bubbles throughout.

I really feel for that Sam, “the middle one, the quiet one, the Bungle full of dreams.”

I love that when he goes to the woods to get away from his too noisy family, he doesn’t just walk there. No:

“And so he upped and so he offed and so he wandered to the woods.” The whole book is full of rhythmic writing like that.

The sounds in the woods are little sounds. The tiny pastel speech bubbles of birds and rabbits and mice.

“He sat and looked

and thought and looked

and sat and hummed

a hum.”

But further in the woods, it gets dark. And it’s not the sounds that bother him so much as the feelings. The scary feelings of what he can’t see or hear.

Sam could really use a noisy Bungle then!

Thanks to Candlewick for the image!

TOO NOISY. Text copyright © 2012 by Malachy Doyle. Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Ed Vere.Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA on behalf of Walker Books, London.

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Wanna make some noise now?

Collection of vintage noisemakers from RD1 Vintage on etsy.

Fringe party horns from Hello Happy Day Prints.

DIY party blowers from Julep.

Bird warbler water whistles from Shop Sweet Lulu and Little Citizens Boutique.

Homemade cardboard box guitar from Mini-eco

And Tin can drums from Cool Progeny too.

Or you can always just hum like Sam the quiet, middle Bungle.

the wall by peter sis

picture books for the older set

02.27.2014

There have been a couple of picture books lately I wasn’t sure what to do with in terms of This Picture Book Life. I’m enamored of them but they’re also not the usual little kid-friendly fare.

Not to worry, I’ve figured it out! I’m starting a series called “PICTURE BOOKS FOR THE OLDER SET.” And by older set I mean books that would appeal to junior high and high school students (and full-fledged grownups, as always).

First up, The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis.

I can think of a number of middle schoolers I taught (when I taught) who would’ve loved this book. Precocious students. History-obsessed ones. Artists. Rebels. And I think outright teens would get a lot out of it too, a way to explore history through art and one person’s experience growing up in history. An incredible supplement to a textbook or novel on the period.

Formatted as a graphic diary, Peter Sis tells of communist Czechoslovakia, the Iron Curtain, and the Cold War. Simultaneously, he tells the story of himself as a child. As an artist.

If you were just to read the story words printed at the bottom of each page, a fairly small child could understand and follow along (though it is difficult, sometimes disturbing subject matter and images). But above those lines, in the drawings, in the captions, a deeper, more detailed chronicle emerges.

“As long as he could remember, he had loved to draw.

At first he drew shapes.

Then he drew people.

After drawing whatever he wanted to at home, he drew what he was told to at school.

He drew tanks.

He drew wars.

He didn’t question what he was being told.”

(Typing that gave me goosebumps.)

And the corresponding text:

“1948.

The Soviets take control of Czechoslovakia and close the borders.

The People’s Militia enforces the new order.

Communist symbols and monuments appear everywhere.

The Czech government takes its orders from Moscow.

The display of red flags on state holidays—COMPULSORY.

People who don’t comply are punished.”

(That did too.)

The only colors on these pages are white and black and red. Except for Sis’s drawings within the drawings. Dabs and jots of bright color. Then, one whole page filled with vividness, art, poetry, and The Beatles. Freedom. Self-expression. Color. Music. Joy.

Stay tuned for more older-set picture books. I’ve got two in the works already!

if you hold a seed + dioramas

PICTURE BOOKS +

02.25.2014

If You Hold a Seed by Elly MacKay.

A perfect book for winter. A reminder of what waiting brings. Of seasons and cycles. Of what happens after you first hold a seed. How it can grow.

“If you hold a seed,

And make a wish,

And plant it in the ground…”

Each page is a diorama, or as MacKay would say, “a paper theater.” (See more of her behind the scenes process.)

A 3D cut-out figure and shapes. Landscape, shadows, even fog! Crinkly paper, billowy clouds, blades of grass, delicate butterflies. And always this boy, waiting, watching, growing up.

And the light! These images positively glow!

You’re taken full circle through the seasons with the boy and the tree, and then, at last, the long ago wish that comes true.

(This book shares some kinship with And Then It’s Spring and Tap the Magic Tree, as well as with Kim Soyeon’s artwork in You Are Stardust.)

Thanks to Elly Mackay for the images!

I received a review copy; opinions are my own.

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For more of Elly Mackay’s amazing work, check out her portfolio. Here are three of my favorites from there:

“Somewhere between.”

“Shadow Play 1 & 2”

How much fun are dioramas?!!

Portrait Shadowboxes from One More Mushroom. Those are clay figures of this boy’s grandparents!

Those wallpaper combinations!!!

Artist Anastassia Elias‘s “Rouleaux” series of dioramas are tiny and intricate and housed in toilet paper rolls!

“Zoo. Girafes.”

Shine a light in there and they come to life.

“Ballet.”

She’s got a book of her creations on blurb too.

“Basketball.”

Leave it to Mr. Printables, right?! DIY Peg Dolls Winter Wonderland.

Milk Carton Light House from Bloesem Kids. Just gorgeous.

I leave you with the Altoid tin diorama my husband made me for our 10th anniversary. Any guesses as to what that scene is from? Two hints: the cat and the crutch.

Need more? Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman.

My guy and I went to see the play on what has gone down in our history as the best, loveliest evening we’ve ever had together. Now immortalized beautifully in miniature in a mint tin.

abc, three alphabet books

picture books for pairing

02.20.2014

Alphabet books are sort of utilitarian in function: teaching the ABCs, but many are standouts of art, design, storytelling, and other loveliness to boot. I give you these three favorites in chronological order, but please add your picks to the comments!

A B C, 1 2 3:

Bruno Munari’s ABC (1960/ reissued by Chronicle in 2006).

I like the bold, modern design, the big block capital letters, and how each letter often gets more than one corresponding object.

Like how the juggler has lost one dot?

And see that little fly buzzing toward the pink ice cream? It appears throughout the book and plays a crucial role in the very last letter of the alphabet too.

I especially like the spread for the letter L (for a Long Leaf, a Leaf, a Little Leaf, and a Lemon.)

A Farmer’s Alphabet by Mary Azarian (1981).

I like the gorgeously stark black and white woodcuts all about life on a Vermont farm. Apple, Barn, Icicles, Kite, Neighbor, Yawn. Time may advance, but some things stay the same. Like the alphabet. Like daily surroundings and tasks.

My poor pictures don’t do these prints justice.

M is for Music by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Stacy Innerst (2003).

This is one of the first picture books I bought, and it was pretty much purely for the artwork. At first. But there’s more.

This spread! Klezmer! The girl’s giant open mouth! The way you can see the paint on the page!

I like the way it covers more than just names of instruments, but styles of music, bits of lyrics, and even diverse greats like Armstrong, Elvis, Mozart, and the Beatles (with a nice nod to music teachers at the letter M too!).