I have a particular passion for children's books that challenge typical ways of seeing. They can be a great stimulus for helping children wonder, imagine, know that there might be a number of solutions for a given problem, and to open their minds as well as eyes. Having grown up with a one-right-answer education, I find myself constantly challenged by these new challenging children's books. Often it's my children who untangle my muddles, their mix of thought sophistication and simplicity of expression creates an incredible vision.
Heroes and heroines in books can launch great conversations about unique ways of seeing the world. One of our old favorites, Judi Barrett's Old MacDonald Had an Apartment House (Atheneum, $16.00; ages 4-8) has been recently reissued and is perfect for a child who has almost tired of the "Old MacDonald" song. This MacDonald and his wife are Supers for Fat Mr. Wrental's apartment building. At the book's start, the illustrations are in black and white and the couple's life seems just as dull. When Old MacDonald cuts down a hedge in front of the building, his wife's tomato plant grows and the pictures reflect these changes with green leaves and red tomatoes. Inspired, Old MacDonald makes other improvements. Seedlings sprout in the front yard and he redecorates an empty apartment in "Late Vegetarian" . There's a riot of illustrative color as the tenants revolt against carrots growing through their ceilings. Mr. Wrental almost evicts the green-thumbed couple before changing his perspective. The story's humor and comparisons will be appreciated by both adults and children.
Anthony Brown is a thought-challenging illustrator. His detailed drawings are full of references that encourage attentive viewing. One of his favorite characters returns in Willy the Dreamer (Candlewick Press, $16.99; ages 4-8). The book relates a series of the young gorilla's dreams for the future, but Browne's sophisticated detailing requires reflection and recognition. Backgrounds include parodies from Magritte, Rousseau, Alice in Wonderland and even Elvis. The humor and references have endless and age unlimited potential for giggles and discussion.
Sometimes limitations can point to possibilities as in Alma Flor Ada's The Malachite Palace (Atheneum, $16.00; ages 7 and up). Almost an encapsulated, illustrated philosophy lesson, the story tells of a princess who lives in a palace and has "everything she could possibly want....except for a friend." While she can hear the children outside, she's not allowed to play with them, so she shuts her windows. One day a small yellow bird taps on the glass and when the princess opens her window, the palace is filled with joyful music...until he's caged. It is the princess who realizes how freedom can bring back joy. Leonid Gore's illustrations accent the mystery and magic and his treatment of light are wonderful representations for freedom and joy.
One specific way of seeing comes from attunement to the visual arts and there are many new books that can hone those senses and as many approaches as there are artists.
Two new books demand careful looking and an appreciation for the minds of their creators! Walter Wick (of I Spy fame) challenges children in Optical Tricks (Scholastic, $13.95; ages 9 and up). Wick sets up mirrors, light, and plays with distance to create mind pandemonium of illusions. He does tell all by the book's end.
Joan Steiner's Look-Alikes (Little Brown,$12.95; ages 7 and up) creates a three dimensional world based of common objects. A train's wheels are clocks and compasses and it pulls into a depot skylighted with tennis rackets and vegetable steamers. Steiner's genius is continually surprising and brings delights of humor and new thought in shops, hotel lobbies, parks, and streets. Back pages offer challenges for those adept at seeing.
David Milgrim's Cows Can't Fly (Viking, $15.99; ages 3-7) features a young artist whose wild imagings actually materialize. In a rhyming verses, he tells us "Cows can't fly, /but I don't care./One day I drew/some in the air!" and though the adults around him are too busy or involved to look, indeed cows do fly and the ending leads you to believe this might be only the first of his many artistic miracles.
Also for young children is Lorianne Siomades' My Box of Color (Boyds Mills Press, $8.95; ages 3-6). The rhyme and rhythm are a perfect structure for inviting young children to consider the emotional aspect of color. The book is written with involving, encouraging questions that sometimes urge thought ("If I colored in these spiders / so beautiful and bright, would spiders still be scaring /everyone in sight?) to the silly ("If I colored in the ocean/the same color as the shore,/would the fish swim to my house,/ right up to my door?")
Ti Marie, the heroine of Karen Lynn Williams' Painted Dreams (Lothrop, $16.00; ages 5- 9) sees art everywhere in her Haitian environment, but poverty prevents her from capturing all that she sees around her. Her dreams never stop, nor does her creativity which leads her to collect and scrounge materials. Her need to create produces murals that draw people to buy her mother's vegetables and a grown artist who admires Ti Marie's gift.
Aliki tells her own story in a two-sided book, Painted Dreams / Spoken Memories (Greenwillow, $16.00; ages 8-10). A newly immigrated student enters school without words and all sounds like confusion to her Greek ears. It's not long before she discovers an easel, her classmates discover her talent, and together they establish a powerful communication tool that unites her past and present life. Turn the book around and you can discover the stories she's told them about her life in Greece.
Art appreciation can begin young. New in paperback is Lucky Micklethwait's I Spy Two Eyes: Numbers in Art (Mulberry, $9.95; ages 1-5) whose excellent reproductions can help children count and see great works.
Jeannette Winter provides a poetic portrait of Georgia O'Keefe in My Name is Georgia (HBJ, $16.00; ages 6-9). Winter describes life from childhood when Georgia does things others don't like "when my sisters wore braids-I let my black hair fly." Childhood vignettes spill over into describing blossoming in young adulthood and painting still-lifes until "I went out into the wide world to discover my own ideas." Winter does an excellent job of embodying O'Keefe's world with sensory descriptions .
For non-fiction approaches there are two excellent new sources. Gail Gibbons' The Art Box (Holiday House, $16.95; ages 4-7) adds to her eloquently simple collection of non-fiction titles. Illustrations and text clearly, concisely explain artist's tools, demonstrate how they function, and describe how many different options there are for those who want to create.
The Kid's Art Pack: A Hands-On Exploration of Art for the Whole Family (DK Publishing, $29.95) is just that. It's an interactive art museum put between two covers. You can lift flaps to learn how specific art pieces represent mediums, use 3-D glasses to understand dimensions and perspectives, turn disks to see the power of color mixing and more!
Eric Carle, one of the most celebrated children's books artists, shares his craft in You can make a collage: A Very Simple How-to Book by Eric Carle (Klutz, $; ages 6 and up). With a few simple, sturdy pages, Carle explains collage, demonstrates how shapes can come together, and lets worried artists know "mistakes are okay". The rest of the book offers seventy-two brilliantly colored tissues designed by Carle to encourage young artists.