I haven't written any reviews of young adult books lately. But that doesn't mean I haven't been reading young adult books. It just means that with the Cybils and the reading I focused on for awards season, I've written way more picture book and nonfiction reviews. But I had this really special book I've been longing to share with all of you.
I was first introduced to Shaun Tan, an Australian author and artist, when The Arrival was published here in the United States in 2007. It is an amazing graphic novel about relationships, immigration and family. So I was looking forward to reading Lost & Found, an omnibus of three short stories that had been previously published. This is just as classic in its themes, art and emotions. What I want to stress to you is that this book resonates for adults just as much as it connects with teens. Teens may be more comfortable than most adults with the graphic style. But Tan does not often use the comic book panel style, so adults may be willing to give Tan's work a try. Then they'll be sucked in by the feelings behind these stories.
I want to describe Tan's artistic style before I start describing the stories. Because this is a graphic novel and because I don't have a way to present pages from the book for you to look at, you'll need to be able to envision his style. Tan has a genius way of combining a realistic world with elements that are out of the ordinary. There are mostly familiar things, so if you scan the illustration, you might not notice anything different. But then, looking at the details, you see things that don't fit. On a beach full of sunbathers with umbrellas, everything looks normal and peaceful. Then you see the large, red...thing hunched over in the middle of the beach-goers. The thing is industrial, almost like an enormous red pot-bellied stove, but it's not quite that either. It has legs, a tail, a spiky head. He takes a familiar scene and gives it an edge, something that makes you just a little uncomfortable. You can look at that red thing (or many other elements in this book) several times and never quite figure out what it is or how it works.
Tan also uses collage and text to great effect in his work. Text is present in several ways. Each story has its own, individual typeface. "The Red Tree"'s typeface is more of a typewriter style, while "The Lost Thing" looks like it was neatly copied into a composition notebook. And "The Rabbits" is done in a mostly capitals typeface which looks angry and unstable, fitting its theme. But there is also text everywhere you look. Many of the backgrounds of the illustrations are made up of ads, newsprint, signs and other forms of text. And the collages lend a lush, inscrutable look to the illustrations - because Tan has painted over text and sketches and other illustrations, you can almost (but not quite) see what's going on behind the larger illustrations.
The first story is "The Red Tree". It opens with a girl peering down at a red maple leaf swirling in the water. She is floating in a paper boat. You can clearly see that she is unhappy - the paper the boat is constructed from has words like "nothing", "worse", and "darkness" on it. She looks hopeless. And as the story takes shape, her isolation becomes overwhelming. She is shown walking, hunched down, with the shadow from an enormous fish covering her. She tries to ascend a ladder to a paper house - clearly there is no real way in. Words surround her. I've never seen depression expressed like this, and I believe many teens and adults will connect with its raw emotion. And just when the girl seems to have given up all hope, she returns home at the end of the day. And there, waiting for her, is that red leaf on her floor, growing into a lush tree. It's magical, and a powerful expression of hope. The girl, who has been mostly looking down throughout the story, suddenly looks up at the tree and her face lights up.
"The Lost Thing" is the story of a boy who sees that large red thing I referenced earlier. He sees that no one notices it and that no one comes to get this enormous...thing. All of the adults around him just look right past it, or hurry past it on their way to other things. Visually, this story is very industrial. There are factories, steam pipes, gadgets and workers everywhere. Even the backgrounds of this story are filled with work plans, diagrams and text on hydraulics. When the boy can't find anyone to care for this thing, he and the Lost Thing go on a journey to find a place where the Lost Thing should go. In the end, the boy states that he, too, has gotten too busy to notice the Lost Things which are clearly still around. He has shed the majority of the trappings of childhood, but holds onto this one story to remind him of what he has lost.
Finally, there's the story "The Rabbits". This is a story written by John Marsden, another Australian author, but illustrated by Tan. These are the most unsettling, threatening illustrations in the book. The story begins with rabbits who come to the unseen narrator's land. As rabbits do, they multiply, beginning to overtake the land. The rabbits speak differently, build their own houses, and remake the narrator's land the way the rabbits want it, without regard for the people who were there first. They fight wars against the narrator's people, they destroy the landscape, and most terrifyingly, the rabbits steal their children. This story is shocking and heartbreaking. Tan's illustrations suit the stark text perfectly. The rabbits are oddly shaped, yet have human characteristics, including canes, top hats and spectacles. They definitely give off an evil feel, yet you can see prosperity and innovation in the way they create. The rabbits are in contrast to the landscape, with rich colors and empty spaces. This is another story where both adults and teens will come away with questions and issues to think through.
All of these stories contain so much to think about and connect with. I strongly urge you to find this book and take time with it. It will be well worth your while. There are no easy answers here, and I know that's why many readers will embrace it.
Lost & Found. Shaun Tan. Arthur A. Levine: Scholastic, 2011.
borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library
It's been almost two weeks since my marathon Frances blog post, and I'm sorry there haven't been any posts. It's not for a lack of material, believe me. I have a huge pile of books to write about! But last week on Sunday (when I usually write blog posts) we were all coming down with what ended up being a mammoth cold that knocked all of us out for the week. That is a worry because my Frances is scheduled to get her tonsils and adenoids out next week, so we're really focused on getting healthy this weekend. I'm aiming to write two posts to catch up this weekend. I have so much to write about!
The Secret River was published this year to much fanfare and a little bit of controversy. Rawlings wrote this story before she died in the 1950's. This short story was originally published posthumously in 1956, with original illustrations by Leonard Weisgard. A note at the back of the book says that The Secret River is Rawlings' only work written especially for children. The work she's most famous for, The Yearling, wasn't intended for children at all, according to the note. It's easy to see why a book written by a famous author, illustrated by a Caldecott-winning couple, would be published to much fanfare. The controversy is a little harder to understand. It boils down to whether or not this publication of the story is eligible for a Caldecott or not. This book has an original copyright date of 1955, which seems to make it ineligible for consideration. After all, in the Caldecott criteria, it states that "If a book is published prior to its year of copyright as stated in the book, it shall be considered in its year of copyright as stated in the book. The intent of the definition is that every book be eligible for consideration, but that no book be considered in more than one year." This is something that was heavily discussed this year (this links to Fuse #8's blog post on the School Library Journal website). The general consensus is that there have been other titles that earned Caldecotts for their illustrations even though the text had been previously published, including Ox-Cart Man, The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, and A Child's Calendar. But of course, none of us are on the Caldecott committee, so we'll have to wait to see how this year's committee interprets the criteria.
Of course, there wouldn't be controversy and fanfare over a pedestrian book. The illustrations by the Dillons are worth every moment of discussion. The short story was written in the 1950's, but it has a very contemporary theme at its core. It is set in Florida (a common setting for Rawlings' work), and it is told through the point of view of a young girl named Calpurnia. At breakfast, her father announces that hard times have come to their forest. When she asks for an explanation, he tells her "'It means that everything is hard, and especially for poor people.'" Calpurnia's family is visibly poor - her father's overalls are patched in several places and there is a curling calendar page tacked onto the wall as art. Her father tells Calpurnia that people are so poor that they won't be able to buy the fish he catches and he'll have to close his fish market. Obviously, this strikes a chord with today's American children as well. Children are still hearing and internalizing their parents' financial worries today.
But Calpurnia decides to take matters into her own hands. Calpurnia is a smart and brave child, and she goes to find the wisest woman in the forest to help her solve the problem. Mother Albirtha tells Calpurnia about a Secret River where she can catch big fish, so that "hard times can become soft times". Calpurnia isn't just smart and brave, she is generous. When she finds the Secret River and catches quite a few fish, she passes some of them out to hungry animals on her way back to town. The fish she catches help the town rebound, one person at a time. Calpurnia's generosity starts a new optimism for everyone.
This story is a unique combination of historical fiction and magical folktale, and this is exactly how the Dillons chose to illustrate it. In many illustrations, townspeople are dressed in period clothes, doing the daily business of life. They are struggling - you can see it in their faces. But then there are the illustrations that look at life through Calpurnia's imagination. For instance, towards the beginning of the story, Calpurnia is daydreaming a song about bees. The illustration on that page is a close-up of Calpurnia's face, surrounded by a halo of flowers and enormous (placid) honeybees. The colors are lush, the look on Calpurnia's face is one of dreamy determination. It is beautiful, and perfectly shows the dichotomy of this short story. There is the security of the historical setting (Calpurnia's neatly braided hair and checked dress) and the flight of fancy of the folktale (the imaginary bees and flowers that surround her brain).
Each double-page spread includes one almost full-page illustration. The paintings are framed by a creamy white one inch border. The border sets off the painting, giving it space to breathe. Many of the paintings have so many details to pore over, so the border also gives the reader's eye a place to rest before moving on. There are also patterns and textures everywhere in the illustrations. As Calpurnia returns from the Secret River, she runs into a hoot-owl. The owl, shown on the facing page, is large and menacing. His talons grip the branch and look like steel or iron. His eyes are enormous, fierce and threatening. But what's best about this owl is the pattern in his feathers. Throughout the feathers are the faces of other owls, looking just as angry. They all glare at Calpurnia, echoing the danger she finds herself in.
There are also spot illustrations scattered throughout the book, on the pages with the text blocks. Many of these smaller illustrations focus on Calpurnia or her beagle, Buggy-horse (so named because he is sway-backed). They add to the overall feeling of this story, allowing the Dillons to use the larger illustrations to highlight one larger element of the story. The bigger pieces have whimsy, mystery and bravery. The Dillons have brought this story to life in a whole new way. They truly do deserve a Caldecott for these gorgeous, imaginative paintings. Go fishing in The Secret River and see what you discover.
The Secret River. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings; illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2011.
borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library
I just wanted to do a quick blog post about this book, even though it is not especially new. I was also not able to do an image of this book - my usual resources didn't include this book. I read this book after seeing it recommended in Betsy Hearne's Choosing Books for Children (3rd edition). It was a truly unusual book.
Hurwitz asked nine other children's authors to write stories with a specific plot device. Each story is somehow written around a child who receives a present on their birthday - an empty box. You would think that after reading a story or two, this plot device would get tired and that you would be able to anticipate what would happen. But each author has a completely different take on that device - some take the empty box and interpret it one way, some another. Sometimes the main character is likeable, sometimes not. The stories are unpredictable and original.
This book would be excellent for reluctant readers. The authors have a combination of main characters - younger, older, male, female. This variety will keep boys and girls reading. The fact that the stories are also relatively short is a plus too - the action has to unfold relatively quickly and the stories do not take long to read. The authors Hurwitz produced are also all recognizable to children, which means that they are also more likely to try this book.
And these stories are thought-provoking as well. What each child does with their empty box will allow teachers to use this book for discussion. This book is well-written and will work for almost any student!
Birthday Surprises: 10 Great Stories to Unwrap. Edited by Joanna Hurwitz. Morrow Junior Books: 1995. Borrowed from Helena School District Library.
