Candlewick Fall-Winter 2011 Preview!

Last week I was invited to and attended the Candlewick Press Fall-Winter 2011 Preview.  Candlewick's team members were, as always, the most gracious and welcoming hosts book-lovers could hope to encounter at 8:30am on a rainy Friday morning!  As you can see in the photo below, the swag was great; I am particularly excited by the grown up sized hot pink Judy Mood sunglasses.  I'm going to rock those in public at all possible opportunities! 

 


Forthcoming items that I am particularly excited to see come out include:

The Princess ap-Pea-ls to me

The Princess and Pea. Child, Lauren (2006).
NY: Hyperion. ISBN: 0786838868

Lauren Child is best known for her Charlie and Lola series of picture books (and television show). Her version of the Princess and the Pea is a definite departure from these, artistically, in genre, and in style. This mixed medium work (photographs of collaged dioramas) aims for and reaches an older audience than that of her hit series. A grade 2 and up audience can appreciate the complexity present in the juxtaposition of miniature 2-dimensional characters with miniature 3-dimensional environments, and may also enjoy seeing doll house furniture used this way. Curious readers will be pleased to find the creative process detailed in the back end papers. The hybridization of styles greatly enhances the story, drawing the reader further into Child’s imaginary world. This playful and fanciful retelling of the classic fairy-tale, the Princess and the Pea maintains this fun tone from the illustrations on down to the text and even to the font, which changes periodically when it comes to a word that is key to the telling of the story. Older readers will enjoy the conversational (“You know what parents are like, and a prince’s parents are no different.”) and often comically mocking (“No, if he couldn’t marry for love, then he would rather live alone for all eternity, gazing at all the stars in the night sky. Not only was he romantic but also a little dramatic.") tone of this work. This beautiful book is for people young and older who enjoy witty dialogue and innovative eye-catching illustrations.

In related news, I totally love this picture book, and not just because I have a bit of a thang for fairy tales (in related related news, read Fables, by Bill Willingham if you are a grownup who likes fairy tales. You're welcome). Any author/illustrator who can make me laugh while reading a picture book deserves a high five. The illustrations in the Princess and the Pea are gorgeous and memorable but what really makes this book is the cheeky tone carried throughout in both prose and illustrations. Kids will dig this book, but methinks their parentals will dig it more. Lauren Child, could you please illustrate my life?

Allison, by Allen Say: I like picture books too, mmkay?

Allison. Allen Say (1997).

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. ISBN: 978-0618495375

Allen Say does not stray far from his usual topic of Asian-American identities in Allison. This work, like so many of his other books like Grandfather’s Journey or Tea with Milk, is gorgeously rendered with almost creamy life-like watercolors. Each page feels almost like a snapshot of Allison’s life as she realizes out of the blue that she looks more like her doll Mei-Mei than her adoptive parents. Older readers (gr. 1-3) are better equipped to understand Allison’s reaction as she lashes out at her parents while struggling to accept that she is not their biological child. The snapshot quality of the images leads the book to feel almost like a family photo album, which helps to stress the themes of family, identity, and acceptance. Allison’s emotional journey is book ended by the appearance of a stray cat outside her window, a surrogate stand-in for herself who helps her understand what adoption means. This work deals very tastefully and gently with the topic of adoption, not sugarcoating feelings of rejection, but also ending on a positive note. Readers of this work may also enjoy Jin Woo, by Eve Bunting, another work that explores the themes of family identities and adoption.

For the zero of you reading this blog, this review is written in a somewhat more professional way than the others...it was for a class last year. And I totally got an A (self high five). HOWEVER - this blog is not tots profesh, so let me tell you how I really feel. True story, I love Allen Say. He is one of the rare children's book authors/illustrators who has made me cry. At work. In front of children. I am. A big sap. And the pictures are so so pretty, and so so simple. I shake my fist at you and your magic tear producing powers, Senor Say! Shake shake shake! (Keep up the good work.)