by Chad E. Jarrah, Assistant Editor, Where Books Begin
Books affect their readers in any number of ways. The creepy words of Stephen King make us look over our shoulders, or David Sedaris’ stories make us laugh openly. Children’s books do the same, but due to our innocence when we first hear them, they stick with us much longer. As Dylan Thomas famously said: “After the first time there is no other. “
At Where Books Begin I read the boss's book about picture books and started writing picture books myself. I asked friends and relatives to tell me the picture books they adore. I was surprised to hear the same titles repeated over and over again.
‘Anything by Dr. Seuss,’ a young mother said, ‘My son loves Oh, The Places You Will Go.’
An elementary schoolteacher told me she is a lifelong fan of Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. ‘The illustrations in that book are great,’ she said, ‘I read it to my students every year.’
A doting father is reading Richard Scarry’s Busytown to his daughter, having enjoyed What Do People Do All Day? as a child. “My world really became organized when I read this book,” he recalls fondly.
My personal favorite is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. I hadn’t read it in years. I remember being confused as a child by the intimidating picture of the author on the back of the book jacket. ‘How could this scary man write such a nice book? This was before I learned never judge a book by its cover, or for that matter, by its back cover. Remembering the menacing picture of Silverstein made me wonder about the authors of other famous children’s books. How many other best sellers were written by people, who, by the looks of them, have no right being anywhere near or associated with a child? So my search began.
If two words could accurately describe the result of my findings, they would probably be ‘Freak’ and ‘Show.’ Every author seemed to be an old white man, more like John McCain than Mister Rogers. Before my researches, I assumed picture books were created by grandmotherly types baking cookies and writing in their spare time. Or dedicated elementary school teachers like Miss Honey, intent on making her students aware of wisdom and beauty. Not with these guys.
Everyone’s heard of Harold and the Purple Crayon, the story of a four year old boy who creates the world he wants to see with the power of his magical purple crayon. This is a great story that teaches kids to use their imaginations, but who would have thought the author, Crockett Johnson, would look like a runner-up from a Telly Savalas look-alike contest. Harold, however, has touched readers all across the globe as it has been translated into ten languages, including Hebrew and Chinese.
H.A. Rey, pictured here with his comb-over and horn-rimmed glasses, is the genius behind Curious George. His creation is recognizable everywhere and has easily become more popular than its creator. Curious George gets four and a half million hits on Google as opposed to H.A. Rey himself with fewer than a million. Again, a homely and unassuming author is responsible for a work that has sold 25 million copies (Btw, George is 67 years old--he’s a senior citizen now.)
For a man who looks like a ruthless and boring organic chemistry professor, Maurice Sendak has amazingly created in Where the Wild Things Are, a ten-sentence masterpiece. It won the Caldecott medal 43 years ago. Sendak likes to tell the story about the mother who told him: "Every time I read the book to my daughter, she screams.”
Sendak: "Then why did you continue reading it to her when she does not like it?"
Mother: "She ought to like it, it's a Caldecott book."
Sendak says “If a child does not like a book, throw it in the trash.”
Born Theodor Geisel, Dr. Seuss created his pen name after he was kicked off of the Dartmouth college paper as a consequence of throwing an illegal drinking party his senior year. From then on he used the name Dr. Seuss to write without penalty. As I see it: ‘He was drinking some gin, what trouble he’s in, whoever would think in the end he would win!’
Scary? Yes. That’s because this is Richard Scarry, author of the popular Busytown series. His eyes may pierce the soul and strike fear into the heart of even the most brave, but every little kid loves Lowly Worm and Huckle Cat who aren’t scary in the least. The characters he created live on in cartoons, educational materials and video games.
The man pictured to the left seems to have a severe case of airsickness but that’s not possible. He is none other than Antoine Saint Exupery, author of The Little Prince and an accomplished aviator. The Little Prince has sold more copies than any other picture book. Translated into over 180 languages it is currently number three on the most printed list behind only The Bible and Gone with the Wind.
Only twenty picture book authors have books that have sold more than a million copies. The men who created them – and they are overwhelmingly men – are all rich but not that famous. If you subscribe to the stereotypes that women do all the caring for children, think again. A children’s author can be an intimidating, bewhiskered, bald, gin swilling aviator and still share lessons that will endure over a lifetime.
