Mistress Masham's Repose

Mistress Masham's Repose by T.H. White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Maria is shown the tiny livestock
illustration by Fritz Eichenberg

The premise of Mistress Masham’s Repose is a clever one - the travels of Lemuel Gulliver described in Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” actually took place and some Lilliputians, captured on a later expedition, have escaped and have been hiding out and living in exile on a rundown English estate.  For over a century, they have managed to avoid detection by living inside of a garden folly. Their secret comes close to being exposed when they are discovered by Maria, a young girl living on her ancestor’s estate. For me, the best parts of the book were in White’s descriptions of how the tiny Lilliputians are forced to cope in a land of gigantic threats. The writing is often somewhat dense, but filled with humor and White shines in describing the foibles of his characters. The character of Maria is not always likable but White uses her to show how a little power can corrupt even a person with the best of intentions. As is often the case, the villains of the story are often the most interesting characters and White has created a devious pair in the characters of Maria’s governess, Miss Brown and Mr. Hater, a greedy Vicar. There is a lot of suspense created when these two conniving schemers discover the existence of the Lilliputians and plot ways to make a fortune off of them. They even discuss murdering Maria if it should become necessary to achieve their gains. White fills the book with doses of English humor (which may go over the heads of some younger readers) and frequently goes off on rather esoteric tangents, which I felt slowed down the narrative. If it weren’t for these esoteric and wordy asides, I probably would have given this book 5 stars. All in all, it’s an enjoyable read, especially if you’re in the mood for a story rooted in a classic of English literature. If you can, make sure and find an edition that contains the fantastic illustrations by Fritz Eichenberg. His amazing pen and ink work perfectly captures the humor and drama in White's story.

All illustrations are by Fritz Eichenberg and were scanned from a 1946 copy of Mistress Masham's Repose by T.H. White, published by G.P. Putnam's Sons.

The book has recently been reprinted by The New York Review Children's Collection.


Click on the illustrations to see them larger.

Miss Brown and Mr. Hater poke a captured Lilliput

Miss Brown discovers the People in Maria's room

The Professor and the People try to figure out
a way to release Maria from the dungeon

Some of the dangers faced by a
person who is only six inches tall.

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Open This Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What Jesse Klausmeier’s “Open This Little Book,”  lacks in plot, it makes up for in cleverness and creativity. This is one of those books that is so clever in its concept that I found myself thinking, “I wish I had thought of that.” Klausmeier and artist Suzy Lee have come up with a book that makes the page turn an exciting event and have so smartly integrated it into the book’s concept that this is one book (like a pop-up book) I can’t imagine ever working on a Kindle. Part of the genius of this book is the change in page/paper size as the book unfolds. The title page itself is smaller than the page that comes before it and each page after that gets physically smaller until you get to the middle of the book where the pages start getting larger again. Now this may not seem like a stroke of genius to you, but the author and artist have brilliantly combined this size-changing concept with a simple series of events that will teach kids about size relationships, colors, animals, patterns and the joys of reading. One thing that I didn’t even notice on my first read was that the color palette changes as the story goes along. Each turn of the page adds another new color until the reader gets to the final illustration where the reader is rewarded with a beautiful illustration that uses the entire rainbow spectrum of color that we’ve been slowly introduced to. Suzy Lee’s illustrations, which in a few places remind me of William Steig, are charming and the last illustration in the book is so delightful, it gets my vote for best children’s book illustration of the year! This is a really clever and fun book.

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Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This non-fiction picture book by Michelle Markel is a fascinating and important look at an era of America’s history that saw the rise of the labor movement and life-saving changes in worker’s conditions. Told through the eyes of young Clara Lemlich, a recent immigrant who finds work in the garment industry, this is a story of one young girl’s struggle to make a difference in the world. With her father unable to find work, it’s up to Clara to help support the family. When she gets a job stitching blouses in a garment factory, her eyes are opened to the unsafe and unfair working conditions that women (and men) of the day were forced to endure. For example: if you pricked you’re finger and bled on the cloth, you were fired; if you were a few minutes late you lost half a day’s pay; the doors were locked and every night the workers were searched to make sure they hadn't stolen anything; three hundred girls had to share two toilets. Disgusted by these unfair practices, Clara urges the other girls to fight for their rights. This is a book about standing up for what you believe in, not backing down and showing the courage of your convictions. These are lessons that shouldn’t be forgotten and are as important today as they were one hundred years ago when this story takes place. The story is beautifully complimented by Melissa Sweet’s mixed media illustrations that combine watercolor and gouache with collaged and stitched pieces of cloth and torn paper.

One of Melissa Sweet's mixed media illustrations

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A Little Book of Sloth

A Little Book of Sloth by Lucy Cooke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you’re not yet a member of the Sloth Appreciation Society, you will be after reading this adorable non-fiction book by Lucy Cooke that immerses readers in the world of orphaned and injured sloths. Filled with sweet photographs that are guaranteed to make even a curmudgeon smile, you’ll learn fascinating facts about the Bradypus or three-fingered sloth with their Mona Lisa smiles and their two-fingered cousins, the Choloepus who, according to the author, look “like a cross between a Wookie and a pig.” One of the things I learned  from this book about these adorable creatures is that sloths, unlike other mammals, can not regulate their body temperature. Consequently, sloths, like reptiles, need to bask in the sun in order to warm up. I also didn’t know that sloths are slow and slothful due to their diet. Cooke informs us that in the jungle, they eat slightly toxic leaves which don’t give them much energy. Because it takes them four weeks to digest a meal, they need to take it easy to stay free from painful indigestion. As fascinating as all of these facts are, I think the main attraction to this book, at least for kids, will be the adorable photographs of Buttercup, Wally, Honey, Sunshine, Sammy, Velcro and the other cute sloths that fill these pages with their cuddly personalities and sweet smiles.

Below are some of Lucy Cooke's photographs from "A Little Book of Sloth."

Mateo with his plush toy, Mr. Moo

Sunshine and Sammy

Baby sloth in a special onesie

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Dream Friends

Dream Friends by You Byun
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In "Dream Friends," artist You Byun’s debut picture book, a lonely girl named Melody has a special friend. As you may have guessed from the book’s title, the catch to their friendship is that Melody and her friend can only meet in her dreams. It’s an idea filled with promise and Byun has beautifully captured a child’s surreal dream world in her muted pastel colored paintings. With their slightly over-sized, bean-shaped heads, the character design in “Dream Friends” reminded me of the children in the animated film “My Neighbor Totoro,” (Melody's large dream friend, is also not unlike Totoro). The story itself is very simple and half of the book consists of scenes of Melody romping with her Dream Friend in their dream world. I do wish there was more development of Melody's character, but seeing that this book is meant for very young children, it's understandable that story and character development are secondary to the lovely illustrations. Even though the story may seem simple, the book does deliver a heartfelt message. In the end Melody learns that by taking inspiration from her dreams, she can find happiness, magic and friendship in her waking life. I suppose it's a lesson even grown-ups can learn from.

Below are two of the dream vignettes featured in You Byun's picture book, "Dream Friends."

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The Matchbox Diary

The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you’re a collector or even if your just someone who occasionally saves a memento from a cherished event, you’ll love Paul Fleischman’s “The Matchbox Diary.” The book opens with a colorful illustration by Bagram Ibatoulline, a double page spread depicting a sunny room, filled with antiques. An old man is inviting his great-granddaughter to choose something from the room so that he can tell her a story about it. What she chooses is a cigar box filled with small matchboxes, each one containing a saved memento. The first one that the child opens contains an olive pit and with that, her great-grandfather begins his tale of his boyhood life in Italy and how his family journeyed to America. As a young boy, the old man’s collection began when he was inspired to keep a diary. But, since he didn’t know how to read or write, he began saving objects connected to a memory. As he shares the contents of each matchbox, the old man’s story unfolds. A matchbox containing a bottle-cap is linked to the first time he made a trip to Naples and had a drink from a glass bottle, a matchbox filled with sunflower seed shells is a reminder of the long voyage from Italy to New York. Each of these memories is accompanied by one of Bagram Ibatoulline’s magnificent illustrations. On one side of the page we see the matchbox with its contents that trigger the old man’s memories. On the other side of the page is a beautifully rendered scene that shows us the event connected to the memento.

Detail of an illustration by Bagram Ibatoulline
from "The Matchbox Diary"

Prior to this book, I knew Ibatoulline’s work from his splendid 2003 collaboration with Paul Fleischman, “The Animal Hedge.” Ibatoulline’s illustrations in that book were inspired by 18th and 19th century American folk art. The illustrations in “The Matchbox Diary,” are the complete opposite in style. The illustrations in this book are done using acrylic gouache in a photo-realistic style, similar in a way to some of Allen Say’s books, such as “Grandfather’s Journey.” Ibatoulline’s illustrations in this book are marvelously detailed, the kind of illustrations that will reward you with repeat viewings. The renderings of the matchboxes are so carefully done, that you can almost feel the worn edges and the crumbling cardboard. The detail in the sepia-toned flashback scenes really help bring the past alive. This is a wonderful book, not only for introducing the concept of a diary to a young child but also perfect for exploring memories and in explaining the immigrant’s experience.

Detail of an illustration by Bagram Ibatoulline
from "The Matchbox Diary"

Detail of an illustration by Bagram Ibatoulline
from "The Matchbox Diary"

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House Held Up By Trees

House Held Up by Trees by Ted Kooser
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ted Kooser’s beautiful history of a house is in someways reminiscent of Virginia Lee Burton’s “The Little House,” but unlike that book, Kooser doesn’t anthropomorphize his house or try to imbue it with human feelings.

In telling his story of a house from the time when it was new to its rebirth as a house held up by trees, Kooser, a former U.S. Poet Laureate uses language that is evocative but at the same time wistful. Like in Burton’s “The Little House,” the house in this story is the main character, the humans are secondary and they come and go. In the beginning we see the house when it is new, being cared for and loved by a man and his two children. Set in a clearing between two wooded lots, the house’s owner keeps the grounds immaculate, uprooting any seedlings that pop up in his perfect lawn. But as the years pass, the children move away and eventually so does their father. Sitting unsold, the house falls into disrepair. As time passes, seedlings and saplings pop up around it, hugging the house and protecting it from the winds. One day the trees, whose roots and branches have held the house together, begin to lift the house up toward the sky, where it is reborn as a house held up by trees. Jon Klassen’s digital and gouache illustrations are the perfect compliment for this somewhat melancholic story. Many of the illustrations are double-page spreads that give us wide panoramic vistas that emphasize the house’s isolation in the landscape. In two spreads early in the story we see the house as it looks from the point of view of the woods. We glimpse it through tree branches and see it sitting in the distance. It’s a clever foreshadowing of later illustrations where we will once again see the house through tree branches, the difference being that in the later illustrations we are up close to the house, with it looming large in the frame and the trees we are looking through are the ones that “held it together as if it was a bird’s nest in the fingers of their branches.”

As I mentioned, there are human characters in the story, but we never learn their names. We get glimpses of them from a distance or from behind, but we never see their faces. There are several haunting illustrations in this story that tugged at my heartstrings. In one, the two now grown children are shown from behind looking at the woods next to the house, a place where they use to run and play. It’s also a place where they would sit in the shadows and watch their father as he worked on his lawn. On the left side of the illustration are the woods, cool and inviting and unchanged from their childhood. On the right side, we see the adult children, the man holds a baseball cap at his side, while the woman holds a leaf. For me, these two details - a baseball cap and a leaf convey the melancholy of growing older. The only thing we can hold on to from our childhood are our memories and a few small mementoes, we must let go of everything else.

In another panoramic illustration, we see the father sitting in a folding chair, watching the sunset. The text tells us he is older now and his grown children "were gone for good . . ."  Next to the father, is an empty chair. On the left side of the spread we see through a window into the house's dining room where we get a glimpse of a lone place setting. Leaning against the outside of the house is the man’s lawnmower. Tall grass is starting to grow around it and even without the information in the text, we know that the man has given up on trying to keep up his lawn. It’s an illustration suffused with loneliness.

I loved this book. It was published by Candlewick, a publisher that seems to strive to put out beautiful books. This one is no exception. The language, illustrations and story are all beautiful. Having said that, I was somewhat surprised to see a publisher put out a children’s book that has no strong characters for children to identify with. It seems very much a book that will appeal more to adults looking back wistfully on their lost childhoods, then it will to most children. Maybe that's why I liked it so much. But I do hope that children will read this and love it. Those who do will be rewarded by a book that demonstrates the passage of time and what it means to grow older. Though there is a tone of loneliness in the book, there is also a comforting message of rebirth. I checked this book out from our public library, but it’s one that I fell in love with so I know I’ll be buying a copy for myself.

The illustrations below are by Jon Klassen from Ted Kooser's "House Held Up By Trees."

One of the panoramic two page spreads showing the house near the forest

Detail showing the house as it looks from the woods

A detail showing the father sitting alone on his perfect lawn

The now derelict house, sits alone, but the saplings are starting to surround it.

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Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What’s a poor rabbit to do when the carrots he loves to munch on begin stalking him? Jasper Rabbit is faced with that question when he begins to suspect the delicious carrots from Crackenhopper Field are following him around, spying on him as he brushes his teeth and watching him while he’s in bed. Author Aaron Reynolds and illustrator Peter Brown have created a child-friendly homage to a classic ‘Twilight Zone’ scenario in this funny picture book that is perfect for any young child looking to be scared, but not too scared. Illustrator Peter Brown, using a monochromatic palette of warm grays and carroty orange, captures the shadowy look of an old horror movie. Even the edges of the frame are rounded to suggest a story unfolding on an old television screen. Jasper Rabbit’s paranoia is cleverly conveyed in Brown’s illustrations where the artist shows us what Jasper sees (creepy carrots everywhere) and what others see (everyday orange objects like flower pots or pop bottles). Because no one else can see the creepy carrots, Jasper realizes that he must turn to his own resourcefulness to outwit them. Kids may not look at a carrot in the same way after finishing this funny, slightly spooky tale. This would be the perfect read-aloud for Halloween or any night when a scary tale is called for.

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The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book, the first in the Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley, has a clever premise - that fairy tales are real and that after years of tension and persecution from humans, fairy tale creatures, (or Everafters, as the fairy tale creatures refer to themselves), have left their homelands and moved to America. Settling here hundreds of years ago when America was still relatively unpopulated, tensions between Everafters and humans once again flare as civilization impinges on their new home. The series is centered around Sabrina and Daphne Grimm and their grandmother Relda who is in charge of solving any mysteries that arise involving the Everafters. And yes, they are supposed to be descendants of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the original "fairy-tale guys." My first thought when I began reading this book was that it was nothing but a kid-friendly rip-off of "Fables," the long running graphic novel series by the talented Bill Willingham. The premise in "Fables" is very similar - characters in fairy tales are real, they have been persecuted and forced into exile in our world where they must learn to live in hiding among humans. “Fables” made its debut in 2002. The Sisters Grimm series began in 2005, so it's very possible that author Michael Buckley was aware of it. Now, the new ABC TV series "Once Upon a Time" has a similar premise, so I guess this is one of those ideas, that once out there, is picked up and 'borrowed' by others. Since all of these fairy tale characters are in the public domain, I guess they're fair game for authors to use in any way they want. If you want to trace this trend back even further, I suppose you could make the case that author Gregory Maguire popularized the idea when he wrote his best-selling novel, "Wicked" that gave us the backstory to the Wicked Witch of the West and allowed us to see the events from "The Wizard of Oz," from the 'villains' point of view. Anyway, I suppose authors borrow from one another all of the time. Although "Fables" and "Wicked" are definitely for adults, this is the first time I've seen the premise adapted for kids. I did enjoy this book quite a bit, it’s well written, the story moves along quickly and the three main characters are nicely developed. In the beginning of the book the two girls are orphans being shuttled from foster home to foster home. When they finally end up with Relda Grimm, the younger girl, Daphne, is delighted by the woman’s eccentricities but her older sister Sabrina doubts the woman’s stories and, since they were told they had no living relatives, believes the woman to be a liar. Buckley does a good job of dramatizing the tension between the two girls and in portraying Sabrina’s doubts and her later remorse when she finally is shown proof that Relda is what she claims to be. The plot revolves around the destructive appearance of a giant in the town of Ferryport Landing, a strange occurrence considering that all of the beanstalks had been destroyed and all of the magic beans confiscated, cutting the giants off from contact with the other Everafters. Who has helped the giants return to our world? Can the Grimms gain control of the situation before word spreads outside of Ferryport Landing? When Relda and her friend Mr. Canis are kidnapped by the giant, it’s up to the two young Grimm sisters to solve the mystery and save their grandmother. Along the way we get to meet Mayor Charming (the former Prince Charming), Jack (of Jack and the beanstalk fame), Puck (from ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream), the Magic Mirror (from Snow White) and several other familiar fairy tale characters. The book is a fun read, and Buckley does a great job of bringing childhood favorites into the ‘real’ world. Sure to appeal to fans of magical stories, especially those that enjoy an element of mystery. The atmospheric illustrations by Peter Ferguson are an additional treat!

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The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This story about a gorilla, two elephants and a stray dog living as caged sideshow animals in a shopping mall is sweet and touching. Told from the point of view of Ivan, the gorilla, it is a compassionate look at the world as seen through the eyes of a caged animal. Ivan has always been an easy going gorilla, seemingly content to watch TV and finger paint. He doesn't seem to mind that he's a money-making display for gawking shoppers. But when a baby elephant is added as a new attraction to the Exit 8 Big Top Mall, and a tragic event occurs, Ivan begins to see the world in a new way. He no longer sees his home as a domain, but as a cage. Through his finger paintings, Ivan manages to make a change for the better for all of the animals at the Big Top Mall.

This book would be an excellent way to introduce a child to the meaning of compassion. It's also a wonderful tribute to the power of art. The book is told in short, almost poetic segments and would make a great read-aloud. It is 300 pages long, but the type is large and there is a lot of blank space between the lines of text. In other words, it's a fast read. As an illustrator, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the wonderful illustrations by Patricia Castelao that beautifully capture the poignancy of the story.

I've always had ambivalent feelings about zoos, mostly because I hate to see animals in cages, but the world has changed and fortunately so have most zoos. With habitat loss a major concern for many wild animals, zoos are in the forefront in trying to save many of the world's endangered animals. And although zoos still aren't the ideal home for a wild animal, they sure beat the conditions that Ivan and Ruby have endured living in a shopping mall.

Applegate was inspired by a real gorilla named Ivan who spent 27 years on display in a shopping mall in Tacoma, Washington. Due to the efforts of animal rights activists, Ivan was finally sent to live in a zoo in Atlanta, where, for the first time in his life, he was able to interact with other gorillas. Ivan was still alive when this book was released earlier this year, but sadly he died on August 21st, 2012. He had been in declining health for a number of years and died while under anesthesia administered to him during a routine physical exam.

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More from Erik Blegvad

This past Christmas, one of the gifts I received was a vintage copy of "Dusty and the Fiddlers," by Miska Miles with illustrations by Erik Blegvad.  Followers of this blog will know that Blegvad is one of my favorite illustrators,so it should come as no surprise that I was delighted to receive one of his books that I was not familiar with.  The book was published in 1962 by the Atlantic Monthly Press as part of their Weekly Reader Children's Book Club. It's a charming little book, just a little over 50 pages long that is about a feud between two fiddle players and how the feud is resolved by an ingenious young boy named, Dusty.

Blegvad created a number of double page spreads for the book, but instead of having the illustrations run across the gutter, he split the spreads into two illustrations.  This was a smart move on Blegvad's part and I'm sure he planned it this way to keep his detailed line work from getting lost in the gutter of the book. You might think that a wide gutter between the illustrations would be distracting, but Blegvad skillfully composed each side of the page so that each half of the illustration was able to stand on its own, but when you pair the two together, you see one panoramic scene.  As usual, Blegvad's illustrations are filled with wonderful details, and yes, the artist's trademark little black cat appears in many of the illustrations.

In the images below, I've included both sides of each double spread as they appear in the book, including the text so that you can see how Blegvad composed his layouts.

In this illustration, I particularly like how Blegvad has used the barn to divide the image.  On the left side, we see some of the guests as they arrive at the party.  On the right side, we see more guests on their way.  Each half of this two-part illustration works beautifully on its own.

In this illustration I think it's interesting how Blegvad has split the space to accomodate the text.  On the left, the text is above the illustration of the audience, while on the right, the text takes up the lower part of the page and is placed beneath the illustration of the performers.  Once again, each of these illustrations can be looked at as separate, beautifully designed compositions, each with their own balance of lights and darks and areas of interest.

I love what's going on in this illustration, a scene of a busy train station with a train just pulling into the station. On the left we see the train has arrived, a dog is barking, people are rushing to catch it and a little girl covers her ears to block out all of the noise. All of the activity on this side of the illustration lends it a sort of snapshot feel.  On the right, the scene is calmer. We see Dusty and Viola sitting on a trunk where they have been waiting for the train.  They look off to the left, their gaze carrying us back across the gutter to the train. Some other nice details on this side of the illustration are the two swallows perched on the telephone wire, about to be joined by a third bird, and the horse in the pasture that is running toward the train. A man on the right edge of the illustration is also looking toward the train. His positioning, which is almost a mirror image of the position of the little girl on the left, makes a nice bookend for the illustration.