A rambling review of Annette Simon's work

I don't know about you, but just a glance at a work by Mondrian eases my mind. The symmetry. The straight lines and bold colors. Mondrian inspires a calm like no other and calls me to get organized, to make order from the chaos of life.

While I'll never achieve the perfection of a Mondrian painting, I find bold, clean design cleansing and uplifting.

I'm also a huge fan of graphic design using text. (This image to the right reads "Mayakovsky" from left to right and "for the voice" from top to bottom.)

So imagine my joy when I received two picture books in the mail from author/illustrator Annette Simon.* Simon uses graphic design and clean, bold symmetry to great effect in her picture books.

Annette Simon's This Book is for All Kids, but Especially My Sister Libby. Libby Died is told from the point of view of five-year-old Jack Simon, whose younger sister has passed away. It begins, "Did you hear me? She died. And when you die, you don't even have to get chicken pox."

Jack's continues his story, wondering about what it means to be dead (do you eat?) and what if he had died instead. He asks his mother what he can take with him when he goes and what it's like in heaven. Libby Died is a heartbreaking book to be sure, but one that is completely honest in expressing a loss from the point of view of a five year old.

Simon's use of text in Libby Died is brilliant. When Jack's questions are more insistent, text is larger, sometimes extending off the page. When Jack is more speculative, or following his thoughts tangentially, text trails off and becomes smaller. Bold colors and simple graphics are used throughout the book, giving Libby Died an emotional punch and a direct honesty. Libby Died will be much appreciated by children, who, however unfortunately, are dealing with a similar situation. It's a brilliant book--the best one I've read for children on the topic of death.

Simon's 2002 mocking birdies tackles a more cheerful subject--what kids today often call "copy-catting." One bird (in brilliant Mondrian blue)^ says "you" and another--in red, but of course--repeats "you." Soon there's a cacophony of "you"s and "stop singing my song" and songs that are blue or red. As the words become busier, Simon's graphic text alters--to smaller and overlapping words. When they can no longer be separated, the words become purple.

The purple singing attracts a purple mocking bird and eventually the most egregious mimic of all--that's right, the copy cat himself.

mocking birdies is great fun to read aloud, especially to the three- to six-year-old audience. They know all about copy-catting, so this book hits home.

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* (Since blog reviews and objectivity are subject to much speculation and criticism at the moment, let me say that I review approximately 10% of the books I receive directly from authors.)

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^ My copy features primary blue and red, rather than the lighter blue in the image above.

Reviews alert

I reviewed three excellent Middle Grade titles this month for The Edge of the Forest. The books I reviewed were so fabulous, I thought I'd mention it here: They are Framed, by Frank Cottrell Boyce (my favorite book of 2006), The Higher Power of Lucky, by Susan Patron, and Trollsbridge: A Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale, by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple.

Weekend Reviews (III)

I hope everyone has had a nice weekend. I can't believe it's over already! It's time for the final review roundup of the weekend.

Stoneheart, by Charlie Fletcher, is the Times Children's Book of the Week. (Reviewed by Nicolette Jones)

Jennifer L. Holm's Penny From Heaven is the Washington Post Book of the Week.

Mary Harris Russell reviews new books for the Chicago Tribune. Books reviewed include:

• Library Lion, by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes ("Kevin Hawkes' illustrations are a brilliant fit, rendering the lion's softness and a modern library seen from a child's eye level. ")
• Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, by Russell Freedman ("Russell Freedman's book opens readers' eyes to all who really were part of it. ")
• When I Grow Up, I Will Win the Nobel Peace Prize, by Isabel Pin, translated from German by Nancy Seitz ("The little boy's narrative is all about high-minded intentions, but the illustrations remind us that perhaps none of us does exactly what he or she should every day. ") Hmmm....this book sounds weird to me. While a noble (or Nobel) dream to be sure, what child actually dreams of winning the Peace Prize when they grow up?
• Chickens to the Rescue, by John Himmelman
• The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon, by Mini Grey
• Clementine, by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Marla Frazee ("this little girl is a welcome addition, with a great eye for exactly the kinds of faces principals make")

Weekend Reviews (II)

The reviews are few and far between this Saturday morning. Here's what I've tracked down so far:

Amanda Craig reviews ("unsung hero") James Mayhew's Katie and the Spanish Princess for the Times. Here's the long and short of Katie and the Spanish Princess:

• "In Katie and the Spanish Princess, our heroine encounters a Velázquez portrait of the Infanta Margarita, a luminous blonde child in a stiff golden dress. The little girls become friends, and Katie swaps her red coat and jeans for the Infanta’s costume. Enjoying the contrast, the two little girls visit Goya’s little boy with a magpie, and he, too, comes alive. The magpie flies out, snatches a jewel from the Infanta’s dress, and is lost. As the children chase the bird from painting to painting they chat to peasants by Murillo, before being told off by the Princess’s father, (one of Velázquez’s portraits of Philip lV)."

Susan Perren reviews many a new book for the Globe and Mail. Books reviewed include:

• Mommy?, art by Maurice Sendak, scenario by Arthur Yorinks, paper engineering by Matthew Reinhart ("Some may find the tale embodied in its pop-ups, if not eye-popping, then somewhat disquieting; some may find it hilarious. Whatever way it resounds, this is a thought-provoking new book from a master storyteller and his colleagues")
• So Sleepy Story, by Uri Shulevitz ("A lovely companion piece to Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon")
• Jurassic Poop: What Dinosaurs (and Others) Left Behind, by Jacob Berkowitz, illustrated by Steve Mack ("Puns seem to be a favourite mode of expression, and what my mother used to describe as lavatory humour, both visual and verbal, is much in evidence here")
• The Braid, by Helen Frost ("an interesting and accomplished experiment in poetry")
• What Happened This Summer, by Paul Yee (in this "collection of linked short stories, Paul Yee delivers a gritty, often bleak view of the lives of ethnic Chinese teens living in Canada")