"I'm starting to read to my son, but I couldn't believe how vapid and vacant and empty all the stories were. . . . There's like no lessons... There's like no books about anything." That's the world of children's books according to Madonna. Could it be the maven of marketing is hyping her forthcoming book? The English Roses, her first of six children's books based on the Kabbalah, will be published by Dial in September.
Like most celebrities writing children's books, Madonna is ignorant and arrogant about them. No trendsetter in this arena, Madonna has the three typical, incorrect assumptions: all children's books should have an obvious moral, there aren't enough books with lessons, and her book will change all that.
Her first two assumptions are wrong and her book will probably fail because of them. There are too many picture books driven by morals! And in the best books, illustrations and writing come first and the values are quietly carried within their richness. Here are three examples of new picture books which succeed because their authors care more about telling a great story than hammering home a message.
Author-artist Mordicai Gerstein is known for his thoughtful stories and illuminating illustrations. His newest picture book is Sparrow Jack (FSG, $16.00; ages 6 and up ). This unique and unusual immigrant tale tells how the common house sparrow arrived in America during the 19th century. It's is based on a real person and "scraps of history, old news clippings and bits of sparrow legend and gossip".
John Bardsley, the book's intriguing human hero, was once an English sparrow hunter, but rescuing a baby bird turned him into a sparrow-lover. As the bird rode in his hat and he saw it was "cheerful, brave, and loyal". Gerstein sets up a subtle parallel, for these traits describe John's approach to life and are revealed by the story which follows.
John leaves England to seek his fortune in America and faces "a long stormy voyage" and is "seasick all the way." Each time John crosses the ocean, Gerstein repeats this refrain and accompanies it with a full page image of a dark and squally night and a ship buffeted by waves. He doesn't tell us of John's courage, he shows us!
John rids America of an inchworm infestation with the help of his hungry feathered friends and there are plenty of lessons along the way. Happily, none of them are explicit! John is caring, ingenious, and determined, but Gerstein doesn't take time to lecture. He's caught up in his spirited telling, word play, and the humor etched into his words and watercolors.
This same devotion to art is obvious in The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman (HBJ, $16.00; ages 4 and up), the newest work from award-wining artist Joe Cepeda and writer, Darcy Pattison. Pattison's well-chosen words and Cepeda's engaging art are deceptively simple. Their combined magic begs for a closer examination which will provoke thought.
Pattison tells her story in a series of correspondences. They begin with a plea from Tameka, who lives in Redcrest, California. She wants Ray, her "favorite uncle", who lives in South Carolina to visit. But Ray has to work so instead creates a replacement. Illustrations show Ray constructing Oliver K. Woodman, a expressionless wooden man. Then Ray tucks a message into Oliver's backpack asking drivers to take the wooden man to Tameka and send him notes about Oliver's journey.
Oliver is a crude wooden figure who has no mouth. And yet, you could swear he looks anxious in the truck bed next to Bert, the Brahman bull. And he seems chummy with his arms draped over the shoulders of two vivacious sisters from Memphis. He looks lost and worried standing small and alone in a wide-skied endless New Mexico desert.
Pattison's letters are written in a different type-face, is no longer than five or six lines. And yet, the personalities of the writers shine through as so does their relationship with Oliver. Miss Utah, tired of waving in the parade, is "inspired by Mr. Woodman's brave smile". Three elderly sisters win $5,000 at Reno because of "Mr. Oliver's advice".
Both author and artist leave lots of room for children to react and imagine. Readers might trace Oliver's route using the maps on the endpapers, think about the connection of travelers, or just enjoy the word and picture journey this book offers. Pattison and Cepeda show less is more in pictures, words, and lecturing.
Wacky writer-illustrator Laurie Keller's latest book is Arnie the Doughnut (Holt, $16.95; ages 5 and up). This is the kind of title that makes reviewers cringe. Will it be yet another terrible children's book dominated by an anthropomorphic character who stand for a value the author wants to teach? This book is nothing but fun!
Goofy caricatures and bright colors beckon from the cover which tells us the book has been "cooked up by" Laurie Keller. Her stick-legged doughnuts start cracking on their author right away. "I'm sorry, but that girl can NOT cook!" comments one. "I know, I know-it's a figure of speech," explains another. These side comments set the tone and appear throughout the book, adding humor, word play and inviting children to wonder.
Arnie is Everydoughnut, an existential pastry looking for truth and his place in the world. Arnie is a well-rounded character in more than physical appearance. We meet him fresh out of the fryer, newly iced, sprinkled, and named and already flirting with an unresponsive Apple Fritter who doesn't want to count his sprinkles. Right away Arnie shows his enthusiastic and positive nature, assuming "she's not a morning doughnut".
Arnie waves goodbye to each and every doughnut purchased until he's bought by Mr. Bing and cushioned on the bumpy ride home by the soft napkin "the baker had so thoughtfully placed underneath him in the bag." Then Arnie's startled by a chain of events. Our hero learns that Mr. Bing intends to eat him, has eaten hundreds of doughnuts before, and most shocking of all, others of his kind are "aware of this arrangement". Arnie goes into "doughnut shock suffering severe sprinkle loss". But who can eat a doughnut with that much personality? Arnie's won the heart of Mr. Bing and his readers. Keller offers giant helpings of riotous one liners, a voice that's sweetly upbeat and bitterly ironic, a delicious story romp, an luscious hero, and many opportunities for children to look beneath the sprinkles of a doughnut and imagine the world from Arnie's point of view. No obvious lessons here, they've all been baked into the story batter! Sometimes people teach what they need to learn. Perhaps this will be the case with Madonna's new books as it was for William Bennet, gambler and children's book author. I just wish these celebs would keep these lessons to themselves. Here's an important lesson for celebrities who want to write children's books. Throughout history stories have been told to teach children. The ones that endure are beautifully told tales which leave room for children to wonder and discover the lessons themselves. If Madonna wants to be a trendsetter in celebrity children's books, she should focus on writing, not preaching.