By Jan Pease
Did you know that Desi Arnaz never actually said, “Lucy,
you’ve got some ‘splaining to do?” That
apparently random thought may make a little bit of sense later.
When I was a child, I liked to draw underground spaces
with tunnels and ladders and such. An
illustrator who lives in Germany, Torben Kuhlmann, must share this fascination
with the world beneath. His new book, “Moletown,” is a picture book with
elements of steam punk in it. Gears,
amazing underground machines, stairs that go down forever, and moles sitting in
front of broad spectrum lights give this book a touch of the bizarre. Be sure to examine the end papers closely,
because they show the history of Moletown and help make sense of this nearly
wordless book. Be prepared to explain
what’s going on if you share this one with a child.
If you enjoy fairy tales that are turned upside down and
inside out, look for “Cinderella’s Stepsister and the Big Bad Wolf,” by
Lorraine Carey. Ms. Carey mixes together
villains and heroes from several fairy tales in this spoof of Cinderella. In this story, Gertie, the third Ugly
stepsister, is the kind member of the family.
Mrs. Ugly, the other two Ugly sisters, and Cinderella are all pretty
nasty. The fairy godmother sends the
Big Bad Wolf and Gertie to the ball in beautiful dresses, and turns Cinderella
into a mouse. Gertie and the prince
live happily ever after, but the Ugly sisters have disappeared. The only explanation is a picture of a pile
of bones on Big Bad Wolf’s plate, as she enjoys a glass of champagne with a coy
expression on her face. This is another
book that may require some explaining.
“Louis I, King of the Sheep, “by Olivier Tallec, is a
book that was translated from the French by Claudia Zoe Bedrick. This is another picture book that requires
some explaining. Louis is an ordinary
sheep who discovers a blue crown out in a windy field. He immediately crowns himself Louis the
First and begins to assume all the trappings of royalty. When his crown blows away, he becomes an
ordinary sheep once again, but the crown is found by a… I won’t spoil the ending for you, but it’s
interesting.
Now here are two picture books that won’t require “ ’splaining.” “Crybaby,” by Karen Beaumont is a sweet
story about a crying baby and the cumulative efforts of her family and
neighbors to stop the tears. A double
page illustration shows some interesting efforts by people wearing pajamas and
slippers, including magic tricks and juggling, but nothing works. Faithful dog Roy keeps trying, but the humans
all ignore his attempts to help, until he gives the baby her favorite toy, a
white and woolly little sheep. “Quiet
baby, what a joy. Good boy, Roy!”
British author and illustrator Yasmeen Ismail, who wrote
and illustrated “Time for Bed, Fred,” has published a new book, “Specs for
Rex.” All of us who began wearing
glasses in childhood will identify with Rex, a little lion with round, red
glasses who tries to hide them at home and school. I love his carefully edited explanation of
his day when his mom askes how school went.
He carefully leaves out combing his mane over his face, hiding in the
classroom tent, stashing his glasses in his sandwich, painting them to look
like sunglasses during art, and running around outside wrapped in toilet
paper. Rex tells his mom that he found
his teacher’s missing whistle and got a gold star.
Writing about all of this explaining has triggered a
nostalgic feeling in me. I think it
might be time to watch a few episodes of “I Love Lucy” and not worry about how
cold it is outside. See you at the
library!
