Brain Pickings

Posts Tagged ‘children’s books’

12 APRIL, 2013

My Father’s Arms Are a Boat: A Tender Norwegian Tale of Love and Loss

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Reconciling the yin-yang of existence in the snowy Scandinavian outdoors.

The finest children’s books have a way of exploring complex, universal themes through elegant simplicity and breathless beauty. From my friends at Enchanted Lion, collaborators on Mark Twain’s Advice to Little Girls and makers of some of the most extraordinary picture-books you’ll ever encounter, comes My Father’s Arms Are a Boat (public library) by writer Stein Erik Lunde and illustrator Øyvind Torseter. This tender and heartening Norwegian gem tells the story of an anxious young boy who climbs into his father’s arms seeking comfort on a cold sleepless night. The two step outside into the winter wonderland as the boy asks questions about the red birds in the spruce tree to be cut down the next morning, about the fox out hunting, about why his mother will never wake up again. With his warm and assuring answers, the father watches his son make sense of this strange world of ours where love and loss go hand in hand.

Lunde, who also writes lyrics and has translated Bob Dylan into Norwegian, is a masterful storyteller who unfolds incredible richness in few words. Meanwhile, Torseter’s exquisite 2D/3D style combining illustration and paper sculpture, reminiscent of Soyeon Kim’s wonderful You Are Stardust, envelops the story in a sheath of delicate whimsy.

Above all, My Father’s Arms Are a Boat is about the quiet way in which boundless love and unconditional assurance can lift even the most pensive of spirits from the sinkhole of existential anxiety.

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08 APRIL, 2013

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Made More Wonderful by Graphic Artist Michael Sieben

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“Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.”

As a lover of beautifully illustrated children’s books, especially fresh takes on works by literary legends, I was thrilled to come across a brand new edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (public library), L. Frank Baum’s indispensable addition to the best children’s books with timeless philosophy for grown-ups, featuring gorgeous illustrations by skateboard graphic artist Michael Sieben, co-owner and head deck designer of Roger Skateboards.

Sieben’s singular style — at once grotesque and charming, eerie and endearing, a refreshingly odd cross between Edward Gorey, anime, and Lynd Ward’s vintage woodcuts — comes through once again here as it did in his 2009 fine art monograph, There’s Nothing Wrong With You (Hopefully).

Thanks, Anique; images courtesy Michael Sieben

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04 APRIL, 2013

The Bed Book: Sylvia Plath’s Vintage Poems for Kids, Illustrated by Quentin Blake

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“Most Beds are Beds for sleeping and resting, but the best Beds are much more interesting!”

In 1959, Sylvia Plath — celebrated poet, little-known artist, lover of the world, repressed “addict of experience”, steamy romancer — penned a lovely children’s story about the perils of self-consciousness. But it turns out it wasn’t her only: In 1976, Faber published The Bed Book (public library) — a series of fanciful poems about different kinds of beds, written for Plath’s own children, sprinkled with fantasy and escapism. The original British edition, of which I was fortunate to track down a copy, was illustrated by the celebrated and prolific children’s book artist Quentin Blake, best-known for illustrating Roald Dahl’s stories as well as the first Dr. Seuss book not illustrated by Seuss himself.

Alas, the American edition, published in 1989 by HarperCollins, did away with the Blake illustrations — but used copies of the British one can still be found online or borrowed at some libraries.

Complement The Bed Book with other lesser-known children’s books by literary titans, including William Faulkner, James Joyce, Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, Mary Shelley, Leo Tolstoy, Oscar Wilde, Aldous Huxley, Gertrude Stein, James Thurber, Carl Sandburg, Salman Rushdie, Ian Fleming, and Langston Hughes.

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