It Looked Like Spilt Milk

Author/Illustrator: Charles G. Shaw

Tana Hoban pioneered the starkly simplistic style of illustration in (super) early literacy books with White on Black and Black on White. These books feature crisp silhouettes of easily recognizable objects which (because of their simplicity) are effective in triggering the early stages of object recognition in young children.

Shaw's book uses the same basic concept, but takes it one step beyond. He makes it slightly more challenging by making the silhouettes look like splatters of milk that happen to take the shape of everyday objects (or Rorschach inkblots).

This approach is a tad more complex than Hoban's, so there is the slightest risk of frustrated children. But then you get to say, "Hey, there's no use crying over spilt milk!" Ba dum ching!

They won't get what's so funny, so be careful not to laugh too much at your own joke. The child might think that you are laughing at their educational struggles and may give up on learning to read altogether. Then you'll both have a very legitimate reason to cry over spilt milk.

A Handy Tip from My First Post-College Bachelor Pad: If you happen to spill milk on a carpet in your living room, do not rub it into the carpet with your foot.

I know what you're thinking: "But it seems to make so much sense in that a) the spill miraculously disappears and b) I didn't have to get off the couch to get a napkin!" I understand the temptation, but trust me... use that technique and things will turn sour quickly. You might not be crying over spilt milk, but you will be crying over your inability to keep a girlfriend because you live in a freakin' pigsty.

Yo! Yes?

Author/Illustrator: Chris Raschka

This book celebrates the power of friendship to not only transcend cultural and personality differences, but also language itself... because apparently these boys can't talk. Years of watching television and playing video games has robbed them of the ability to communicate with other live human beings using anything beyond a monosyllabic version of the English language:

Yo! Yes?
Me? You!
Talk? More?
Hell! No!

Despite the sparse dialogue, the book is surprisingly effective. Raschka uses a deft touch to infuse the minimalist conversation with real human emotion... and makes a valid point about the difficulties of male interaction. It is true that guys often have trouble communicating (unless we're talking about games or drinking... or drinking games). But that doesn't mean we don't feel, damnit! (That being said, it is never okay to ask a guy to watch Legends of the Fall. We have to draw the line somewhere. Yo? Yes!)

Note: This book also proves that you don't necessarily have to know how to write to author an award-winning children's book... a fact that has inspired thousands to reach for fame and fortune through writing children's books. (Want to be a writer but hate writing? Come on down!) Unfortunately, it's not that easy. True, a picture is worth a thousand words... but that doesn't mean they can't be a thousand crappy words.

Hop on Pop

Author/Illustrator: Dr. Seuss

Many point to Bruno Bettelheim's award winning book, The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales, as the moment that Freudian psychoanalysis officially came in contact with the realm of children's literature. While it is true that Bettleheim may have been one of the first academics to tackle the subject, it was the seminal work of Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) that introduced children to Freud for the first time. Case in point: his playful exploration of the Oedipal complex: Hop on Pop.

Hop on Pop was published in 1963, a full 13 years before Bettelheim's Enchantment, and decades before Freud was widely dismissed by the psychological community as a coked-up sex fiend. Pop can be read as a thinly veiled introduction to the disturbing psychosexual theory that the father is the enemy who is preventing us from realizing some deeply ingrained sexual need for our mothers. Gross! Luckily, Seuss didn't get too caught up in the raging Sigmundsteria of the times, otherwise he may have been tempted to go all-out Oedipal and written his book as Hop on Pop then Marry Mommy, which probably would have tarnished his otherwise untouchable legacy.

Upon closer inspection, Freud and other psychological influences can be found sprinkled throughout Seuss's work. The Cat in the Hat is nothing more than a hyperkinetic romp through the subconscious with the Id, Ego, and Superego. The entire plot of Green Eggs and Ham is driven by Freud's theories of the repression and sublimation of base impulses. (What else could "Sam I Am" be, other than an anal-retentive individual's guilt-ridden projection of the repressed self and its latent desires?) And Horton Hears a Who? Horton hears a psychiatrist diagnosing him with schizophrenia, that's who he hears. In fact, if you read too closely, Seussville runs the risk of becoming an inescapable labyrinth of Freudian slips and slides... so maybe we're better off reading with eyes wide shut.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Author: Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
Illustrator: Lois Ehlert

This is one of those books that I had always known about, but I'm ashamed to admit that I read it for the first time just last year. Needless to say, I was surprised and blown away... mostly because I expected it to be about how to potty train a chicken. But I was also blown away because it's one of those books that really rolls off the tongue. A lot of picture books are written with a sing-songy verse that feels forced and cheesy. Here, you open the book, the text grabs you by the hand, pulls you along, and the next thing you know you're in the middle of some crazy alphabet mayhem. It's so much fun that, if you're lucky, you might even forget that you still have a chicken running wild in your apartment, pooping at will.

Chicka chicka boom boom. :(

Side Note: The illustrations look exactly like the template for my fifth grade yearbook... and pretty much every yearbook from the early nineties.

Bonus Note: There is an audio version of this book read by the great Ray Charles, which will be sampled on the next Kanye West single (which is also called Chicka Chicka Boom Boom).

Jazz ABZ: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits

Author: Wynton Marsalis, Phil Schaap (contributor)
Illustrator: Paul Rogers

Starting with louis Armstrong and count Basie all the way down to lester Young and diZZie gillespie, Jazz ABZ is a spirited exploration of the lives and art of historic jazz greats. The luscious illustrations jump off the page to capture the energy and majesty of the music. Each artist is described using a poetic style chosen to match their musical style. (Haiku for the Thelonius Monk and Lyric poetry for Billy Holiday... plus there's a glossary in the back detailing each of the poetic forms and why they were chosen. This book is jam packed with useful information.) If you know someone who loves jazz, or if you love jazz and want to pass that love on to someone else, or if you're about to go on a hot date and want to impress that special someone with your esoteric knowledge of the life and times of Charles Mingus... this book has your name written all over it.

Reader Challenge: The only thing that this book is missing is the actual music. My challenge is for a jazz enthusiast to create a playlist that includes one song from each artist that is truly indicative of his/her style. It would be great to be able to experience the visual art, the poetry, and the music all at once. Please?

Extra: Here is a piece that was on NPR with Marsalis and friends reading from the book.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make A Difference!

Author: Lynne Truss
Illustrator: Bonnie Timmons

This is the "kids" version of Truss's bestselling grammar book by the same name... but with pictures. Which makes this the greatest grammar book of all time. In your face, Strunk & White! Seriously, why didn't someone combine pictures and grammar like this sooner?! We grammaphobes are a lazy and fearful people. Words are the source of our anxiety. Why try to solve our problem by using books that only have more words? That makes about as much sense as trying to put out a fire by throwing cigarette lighters at it.

The book is laid out so that when you open it up, you see adjoining pages with sentences that are identical except for the punctuation. The pictures illustrate (literally) how much the comma placement affects the meaning of a sentence. (For example, see the explosive difference between "Eat here, and get gas." vs. "Eat here and get gas.") In the end there is a glossary explaining the grammatical method behind the madness. As someone who was frequently kept after school for my horrific use of the comma, this book is slowly starting to clarify things for me. Maybe someday the phrase "dangling participle" will be more than just the punchline to a dirty joke.

With the kids: With the help of your kids, create your own sentence pairs. Make them as silly as possible. Then give them to your kids to draw the accompanying pictures. If the pictures turn out nicely, proudly display them up on the fridge. If the pictures suck, tell your kid that you are going to put the pictures in your special drawer for "safe keeping".

Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book

Author/Illustrator: Shel Silverstein

Imagine if Mr. Wilson from Dennis the Menace sat in a poorly-lit basement everynight with a tall glass of absinthe, pouring his frustrations over Dennis's shenanigans onto the page. Imagine that Mr. Wilson's inner demons took control, pushed him over the edge of sanity, and he became obsessed with devising elaborate schemes to extract revenge and ultimately destroy his prepubescent archnemesis. That's the kind of book this is. It's the kind of book that Mr. Wilson would never show to anyone else (not even his foxy wife, Martha). In fact, he would probably rip it up the next morning and beg his God for forgiveness.

Shel Silverstein, on the other hand, is the kind of person that is just crazy enough to not only show it, but to get it published. Luckily, people consider it to be "subversive" and "irreverent", instead of "dangerous" or "a sign that we must lock this man up for the rest of his natural life". Thus he was allowed to remain in society to write great children's books and the occassional hit song for Johnny Cash.

Note: My copy of the book (unlike the one pictured above) does not have the gold seal that says "A Primer for Adults Only". Mine must have been published before all those impressionable children were tragically eaten by hippos.