I've been thinking about children's books, specifically about making a children's book (nothing fancy, just a rhyming counting book) and you know, it's really not as easy as it looks. In fact good children's books are much harder than writing an adult novel, where you have the luxury of banging on at your leisure for a few hundred pages.
For example, some children's books have to be read and enjoyed by adults as well as kids, especially if your kid takes a fancy to it and wants to be read the same book 80 thousand times over for a couple of months. ('You read it again' commanded 3 year old Orli every time I finished a story when in New York. There's just no way you can say no to her, especially with such a cute little New York accent.) Simple enough to read, condensed, but at the same time engaging. It's only then, when you see what he does with a limited vocabulary of words like cat, sat and mat you realise what an utter genius is Dr Seuss.
But I was reading Not Now, Bernard with one of my struggling readers the other day, and it's definitely in the top 10 of greatest children's books ever. By the god-like David McKee (also the creator of Mr Ben - 'As if by magic, the shop-keeper appeared...' and Elmer the psychedelic patchwork elephant who knows what it's like to be DIFFERENT and stand out from all the other grey elephants.)
I'm trying to analyse exactly what makes it such an evergreen book, and came up with this:
Tragi-comic. For those who don't know the story, Bernard keeps trying to get his mum and dad's attention, but they keep saying 'Not now, Bernard.' Eventually he gets eaten up by a monster in the garden. Parental neglect, but somehow hilarious funny.
Boldness. Most grownup books wouldn't dare to kill their heros off in the first couple of pages.
World turned upside down. The monster is baffled when they send him up to bed after TV and supper.
Fantastic 70s style illustrations, complete with psychedelic wallpaper and Japanese paper lantern decor.
Right, it's something to aspire to...
About Yoko Ono
2 days ago
6 comments:
My utter fave is 'Where The Wild Things Are' I could read that all day long...... one of the funniest I have read is 'Mummy Laid An Egg' can't remember the author I think it might be Babette Cole? Anyway my boys thought it was hilarious too and set them up with lots of playground sex education wisdom.
Just the look on the monster's face when they send him to bed. Brilliant.I reckon your littlies might also like to be read and Aussie book called Bottersnikes and Gumbles, what larks!
Someone who I can't remember said. An adult's book is 200 words expanded to 40,000; a child's book is 40,000 words compacted to 200.
Inwardly Confused, me too. It's awesome. I love Babette Cole, she's very subversive. She wrote one about a princess who was fed up with people trying to marry her and just wanted to ride her motorbike.
Clair, I will check out the Aussie book. I meant to borrow Not Now Bernard today to scan that very picture.
Billy, too true. And when you read a rubbish one, it shows just how good the good ones are.
I love the sound of that book! I don't know how I missed that one as a kid.
Yes, I loved Babette Cole too. And that Night Kitchen one, I forget who it's by now.
Maurice Sendak - the same one that did Where the Wild Things Are. He's genius.
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