I am always pleased when Rose wants to be read the haunting When I was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant, or the warm and cheerful Poppleton series by the same author illustrated by the equally talented Mark Teague. I don’t at all mind Jane Yolen’s How Do Dinosaurs series, also illustrated by Mark Teague, because the dinosaur names are in small print hidden in the illustrations so you don’t have to try to pronounce them; you can just read the text and laugh at the slapstick illustrations. Mark Teague’s solo work The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf is a thing of beauty. I recently fell in love with The Pig Who Ran A Red Light by Paul Johnson and Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky, both of which which I first picked up from the library shelf because they looked so much like Mark Teague books.
I group excellent picture books in to two categories: books which are as funny for adults as they are for children, and books which are haunting and deep for both adults and children without becoming preachy or losing their charm. In the category of funny children’s books, my current favorite series is the trio of Chu’s Day books, written by the marvelous Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Adam Rex. Chu’s Day, Chu’s First Day of School, and Chu’s Day at the Beach are gentle, sparsely worded children’s stories with bright, cheery illustrations, and they are wickedly funny. The books chronicle the adventures of a preschool-aged anthropomorphic panda and his loving parents in a world of harmless anthropomorphic animals. Chu is a perfectly normal cuddly, soft-spoken child, except for the fact that his sneeze creates a shockwave that can part the ocean and blow the roofs off buildings. Did I mention these books were written by Neil Gaiman?
In the “haunting” category of picture books, my current favorite is The Dark by Lemony Snicket. The Dark is a tongue-in-cheek and slightly suspenseful story about a little boy’s fear of the dark, his coping mechanisms, and what happens when the dark speaks to him. The writing is absolutely spot-on, more like free verse poetry than prose, and the dialogue with the dark is, perhaps unintentionally, extremely deep. It reminded me just a little bit of my own struggles with darkness in the spiritual life. However you take it, it’s certainly not your average children’s book about overcoming fears.
Reading aloud to children is a privilege and a duty, even when it’s awful. Especially when it’s fun, and thank God there are good artists making children’s books which are fun. Look for the fun ones, and keep reading. And avoid those dinosaur books.
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