Four Children's Books Rediscovered

Yesterday, an appliance store delivered a new refrigerator to my house. As part of the process of clearing out the old refrigerator, I cleaned out a plastic tub to store the cold food from the old refrigerator in for a few hours. In that box I found four picture books I enjoyed reading with Michal and Marta years ago. I thought I would spend a few minutes talking about them.

The first book is Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems. Goodreads offers the following summary of the book:

Leonardo is truly a terrible monster--terrible at being a monster that is. No matter how hard he tries, he can't seem to frighten anyone. Determined to succeed, Leonardo sets himself to training and research. Finally, he finds a nervous little boy, and scares the tuna salad out of him! But scaring people isn't quite as satisfying as he thought it would be. Leonardo realizes that he might be a terrible, awful monster--but he could be a really good friend.

One of the things I like about Willems' book is the art. The books is about 12.5 by 9.5 inches in size, which is a little larger than the average picture book. The larger page dimensions allow Willems to draw larger forms that give the impression of a more primitive monster. These larger shapes also convey the way that the world and grown ups can seem intimidatingly large to a young child.

The second book is Bark, George by Jules Feiffer. In this book, George the puppy is asked to bark, but instead meows, quacks, oinks, and moos. A veterinarian is called in to diagnose the issue.

Jules Feiffer, the author and illustrator has been a cartoonist and artist (he illustrated one of my childhood favorites, The Phantom Tollbooth), playwright, screenwriter (Carnal Knowledge and Popeye), and author. Feiffer is for me and people who believe comics can be serious art, a living legend. His book Bark, George, is a fun book to read aloud to small children and to people who might be children at heart.

The third book is Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein. Goodreads offers this summary of the book:

It's time for the little red chicken's bedtime story—and a reminder from Papa to try not to interrupt. But the chicken can't help herself! Whether the tale is "Hansel and Gretel" or "Little Red Riding Hood" or even "Chicken Little," she jumps into the story to save its hapless characters from doing some dangerous or silly thing. Now it's the little red chicken's turn to tell a story, but will her yawning papa make it to the end without his own kind of interrupting? Energetically illustrated with glowing colors—and offering humorous story-within-a-story views—this all-too-familiar tale is sure to amuse (and hold the attention of) spirited little chicks.

I did not realize this fact until today, but, apparently, Apple is developing Interrupting Chicken into an animated show for preschoolers on their streaming service. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the show is currently set to debut November 18. 

The fourth book is Henry Builds a Cabin by D. B. Johnson.I first heard about this book on NPR back in 2002 when Daniel Pinkwater praised it on Weekend Edition Saturday. He used to appear once a week to discuss children's books with the host Scott Simon. I miss those conversations, although there are, of course, many places to find good children's book recommendations such as A Fuse #8 Production.

The book itself is a charming story of Henry David Thoreau as an anthropomorphic bear building his cabin in the woods. I also enjoy the illustrations which might be described as crypto-cubist.