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  • Posted on May 30, 2011

Who Let the Dogs Out?

Ralph Steadman, that’s who; the maestro of caricature, the prince of  ink, the spewer of satire, the Big I Am. Yes, Ralph Steadman is God, and I will accept no argument to the contrary. He is a true original, and his sardonic, splattered wit has been copied by generations of illustrators, myself included. Most of his books have found a home on my shelves, and I am slightly ashamed to admit that on a trip to Newcastle in the 1993, I dragged my sister and newborn niece to see a showing of his work in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was a long train ride, but worth every minute to be in the same room with Ralph Steadman originals (or so my 6 month old niece gurgled.)

The Ralph Steadman Book of Dogs is his latest publication, and it is wonderfully and gorgeously daft. Also, a bit rude, in keeping with Ralph’s life-long illlustrative embrace of the less than lovely aspects of being human, or in this case, being dog. Expect to see a few steaming piles alongside brilliant drawings of dogs in all their idiosyncratic glory. But make no mistake, Ralph Steadman is a dog lover. This is his fourth book on dogs, and as per usual, there is no end to the inventiveness of his line. This is a man who mastered the finer points of drawing a long time ago and now, with a flick of his pen, expertly (and effortlessly) captures the essense of whatever or whomever is the subject of his ferocious intellect, be it Osama bin Laden or a poodle.

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  • Posted on May 23, 2011

Picks & Tweets from the Illustrated Word

What, me worry?

Once again I failed to get raptured. Guess I’ll have to wait for 2012, and fingers crossed, I’ll be spending the End of Days with John Cusack on a giant sea pod. Of course, I’m not expecting to rise up with the righteous. All that High School stuff probably pooched my chances of being picked for the Celestial Dodgeball Team. I’m not even sure I’d want to share my personal space with the True Believers as I suspect they are a rather rigid lot, and probably not at all interested in collecting children’s picture books, especially those reviewed in 32 Pages. Having said that, I do have a kick-ass version of the Bible illustrated by Barry Moser, which I’ve yet to review because I would have to read it, and well, life is short and there may be only 19 months until we all pop our collective clogs. So, while we wait to be smited upside the head, here are some rapture-worthy items from the corporeal world.

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  • Posted on May 18, 2011

Pleased to Meet You

“And once it’s written, the history of the blues. They’ll cheer a dead man’s genius. Never ask them whose.”

I know nothing about The Blues. When I was growing up, Dean Martin and the comedy records of Bill Cosby were the only sounds coming from our console stereo. Once I started buying my own music, it was decidedly north of the Mississippi. Way north. While others were discovering the Delta Blues for the first time, I was still dancing to Swedish Pop. I’ve liked what I’ve heard over the years, and I have more than a passing aquaintance with the melancholic state of being that drives the lyrics, but I am a novice when it comes to understanding the music. Black Cat Bone is a window into an unfamiliar world, and appropos to this blog, the road to the blues is paved with illustrative gold.

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  • Posted on May 11, 2011

The Magnificent Ten

Here’s a book that’s got it all: beautiful illustrations, wonderfully inventive text, and pigeons. Or at least I think they’re pigeons. Plumper than pigeons perhaps, and lovelier, but the eyes are quintessential squab. Don’t get me wrong, I love pigeons, just not on my bird feeder. Cybèle Young’s pigeon-like birds, on the other hand, would be welcome at my feeder at any time. Not that they would ever get there of course, at least not before all the seeds had been consumed by the sparrows and nuthatches. Faced with the dilemma of having to get to the other side of the river, ten birds devise ten unique methods of negotiating the gap. It’s not so much a case of why did the chicken (pigeon) cross the road, but how. And I can promise you one thing: these birds think out of the box. Way out out of the box.

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  • Posted on May 05, 2011

C’mon Get Happy

A reasonable response to an episode, or perhaps a lifetime of gluttony is a return to simplicity. I am, of course referring to gluttony of the eyes and I believe there is nothing wrong with this sort of extravagance per se, or at least I hope there isn’t as I am at all times surrounded by visual brilliance. Complex masterpieces line my walls and bookshelves, and in spite of my great esteem for the achingly lovely, it can be, on occasion, too much. A book such as The Happy Day by Ruth Krauss  is like a lemon sherbet in a world of thickly iced chocolate cakes. It’s minimalist approach is just the thing for an overstimulated brain, and though it seems quaintly vintage in some respects, the sweet story and gentle illustrations make it timeless. It is still an extravagance, but it’s a whisper, not a shout.

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  • Posted on April 27, 2011

Picks & Tweets from the Illustrated Word

The King's Crow

Spring has sprung, the grass is green(ish), and the air is full of birdsong and…what’s that? Oh yeah, the almost constant hum of Royal Wedding coverage. I have no opinion, really, about the monarchy, but I do enjoy a little princely entertainment now and then. Not so much the younger generation (sorry Wills & Kate), but those great English Kings and Queens of yore: Colin Firth, Jonathan Rhys Myers, and of course, our current monarch, Helen Mirren. I’ll keep this post short as I am off to bed in the somewhat futile hope that a sleep surplus will help me get up at 3:00 a.m. Friday morning to watch the Show. Please enjoy these crowning moments from Royal Web~

On April 26th, Google celebrated the birthday of John James Audubon with a Google doodle. Oh no. Now everyone will know about him. Happy Birthday Mr Birdman, your illustrations are gobsmackingly gorgeous! Other than his ubiquitous collections of art (and field guides), may I recommend a couple of novels~Creation by Katherine Govier (Random House), about his rather harrowing adventures in Labrador, Canada, and a new children’s book, which I’ve yet to read but looks very promising~Okay For Now by Gary D Schmidt (Clarion). Maybe this Audubon-related book will usher in a new cultural obsession~birds. Beats vampires (but not zombies, nothing beats zombies.)

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  • Posted on April 21, 2011

Of Bunnies and Holy Men

It’s often quite difficult to find excellent seasonal picture books simply because the window of opportunity for sales is short and publishers tend to blast the shelves with quantity rather than quality. Also, few children’s writers and illustrators feel their creative juices flow when the subject matter is snake rustlers from Ireland and scenes of crucifixion (sorry Mel.) Of course, there are exceptions: Christmas, for example, inspires many beautiful picture books each year, and the better ones tend to sell throughout the year. When I was a  bookseller, I always kept a row of Christmas books in stock, especially perennial bestsellers like The Polar Express and…um…mostly The Polar Express. Easter, on the other hand, can be a challenge. Christ or Bunnies? Personally, I’m not drawn to children’s books about public executions, Jesus or otherwise, and religious books in general leave me cold, but there is a place for this type of book at Easter. It’s not all about chocolate, apparently.

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  • Posted on April 13, 2011

When Dogs Collide

“Life can be painless, provided that there is sufficient peacefulness for a dozen or so rituals to be repeated simply endlessly.” ~Kurt Vonnegut (Slapstick, 1976)

A very fine philosophy indeed, one shared by this blogger and a very particular mutt named Mister Bud, the star of the new Carter Goodrich book, Say Hello to Zorro! Wrapped in a warm blanket of habit and contentment, Mister Bud is blissfully unaware that his life is about to be turned upside down by the arrival of…well, I’ll save that for later.

As the youngest child in a large family, I have not personally experienced the trauma of being usurped from an established position within the family hierarchy, but I’ve certainly heard all about it from my older siblings. Or should I say, my next oldest sibling. Apparently, I was referred to as ‘it’ before my parents (eventually) intervened. I get it. Change sucks, and who wants to share the spotlight? Enter Mister Bud, a dog who has it figured out. Everything in the house, including the house, belongs to him, and governing all is the schedule, rigorously adhered to, comprising frequent meals, walks, ‘greet and make a fuss time’, cuddling, movies, backyard time, and of course, naps. Things are pretty good for this pampered pooch, until the day Zorro arrives; a tiny pug with a big personality, a pronounced underbite, and just a tinge of bossiness. Life in Budville will never be the same. Continue Reading

  • Posted on April 10, 2011

Picks & Tweets from the Illustrated Word

A Posthumous Publication

Feeling under the weather of late. Something less than death, but more than a hangnail. Eustachian Tube Dysfunction, which is the fancy word for nausea, and the distinct and terribly unpleasant feeling that a weasel has crawled into my right ear and is slowly exiting on the left. Enough whining (if that’s possible.) After all, not everything viral is bad. To wit~

Signs of the apocalypse ~ ‘My Beautiful Mommy: How a Picture Book Explains Liposuction to Kids.’ Wow. In my book-selling days, I used to scoff at the affliction/lifestyle-specific picture books, but this is cutting-edge (or sucking edge) pseudo-counseling at it’s most idiotic. The review is hilarious.

Shaun Tan wins the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize, announced in Bologna. Largest prize in children’s books. First an Oscar, and now this? What’s next, Sexiest Man Alive? For additional fun, here is a slideshow of Eric, a chapter in Outer Tale of Suburbia. Love this guy.

Random House to publish new Dr. Seuss book collecting stories previously published in magazines. From the truly awesome (and newly discovered) Where the Best Books Are blog, here’s a sneak-peek.

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  • Posted on March 26, 2011

Under African Skies

Funny. I live in one of the most northern cities in the world. As I write this, the landscape is bleached of colour, the snow is piled higher than in recent memory, and in spite of the arrival of spring a few days ago, the temperature refuses to inch above zero.

And yet, one of the finest African picture books, from one of the finest African storytellers originates from this winter city. Flipping through the pages of The Orphan Boy, a book that has been in my possession for almost twenty years, I am once again beguiled by the poetry of  Tololwa Mollel’s words as he recounts the Maasai legend of the planet Venus. It is enough to warm my blood, but in unison with Paul Morin’s wondrous paintings of Africa, I feel spirited out of my down-filled parka to the arid farmlands of Tanzania, gazing up at the star-filled night in the company of an old man who is destined to meet a very unusual boy.

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