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juushikaI have vague memories of people talking about Sendak after his death, but didn't really internalize "queer, Jewish" until doing demographics research after reading Where the Wild Things Are in my browsing of creepy and/or classic picture books. Highly relevant to my interests! Thus I've been picking up his books on various library visits. I imagine more reviews will come later.
I will say this about reading picture books, tho: sure does fulfill goals of inflating my reading list but also means a lot of book reviews. They're actually pretty fast to write, but I'm so behind in posting them.
CW for Holocaust re: the fourth & final book.
Title: Where the Wild Things Are
Author: Maurice Sendak
Published: HarperCollins, 2012 (1963)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 40
Total Page Count: 308,850
Text Number: 1047
Read Because: personal enjoyment, hardcover borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I'm sure I read this as a kid but it wasn't a formative part of my childhood, so reading it now is like encountering it new. Nostalgia would have helped me love it, and the narrative switch from "happily living as king of monsters" to "bored now" is too sudden & unexplored, even for a picture book. But the atmosphere of wish-fulfillment and threat, the oversized monsters and Max's expressions, the texture in the inkwork are all superb and make me wish I had grown up with this in my childhood library—that concept of a monster-child coming safely home would have appealed to me.
Title: In the Night Kitchen
Author: Maurice Sendak
Published: HarperCollins, 1970
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 40
Total Page Count: 309,070
Text Number: 1049
Read Because: reading more of the author, hardcover borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I'll admit it's easy to just see the nudity/questionable subtext; it's also a convincing dream, logically illogical, subconscious, fantastical. The flow between panels and touches like the oversized figures and found-object city skyline help create an evocative dreamscape. But there's no particular takeaway/moral message/character growth—is one necessary for a kid's book? I don't know! Probably not, with this age group; a silly dream is narrative enough. But it didn't leave an impression on me.
Title: Outside Over There
Author: Maurice Sendak
Published: HarperCollins, 1981
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 40
Total Page Count: 309,110
Text Number: 1050
Read Because: reading more of the author, hardcover borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: "Slipping over the border into fairyland" is a phenomenal premise, and takes on it share similarities* but succeed if their journeys are evocative and thematically resonant. Ida's lesson is in engagement: not to avoid magic or risk, but to approach both proactively, eyes on the path ahead—how lovely, and perfect for a fairy story. The main plot begins in the background of the first few panels (and a subplot continues there), drawing attention to the expansive, detailed art. But the human figures are uncanny, photorealistic but exaggerated in proportion; it's good art, but not always enjoyable. That's what kept me from loving the book, but I'm still glad to've read it, and would have especially appreciated its message as a kid.
* I was going to say this feels like Labyrinth, but then I realized that Henson took at as inspiration, so...! Rather the other way around.
Title: Brundibar
Author: Tony Kushner
Illustrator: Maurice Sendak
Published: Hyperion Books for Children, 2002
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 55
Total Page Count: 313,345
Text Number: 1075
Read Because: reading more of the artist, hardcover borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I'd never heard of the original opera, and appreciated discovering a relatively localized and accessible piece of Holocaust history to research. I'm not sure how that translates as a teachable moment for a child audience—nonetheleast because of the deep ambivalence in the opera's production and performance history. But I appreciate that Sendak's art doesn't shy away from this context—it's historically-set, vibrant, human. That said, I didn't like the art: his stylization, the monstrous caricatures in particular, aren't my style, and I didn't love the mixed media, especially the texture in the colored pencils and crayons. Kushner's adaptation is fairly successful—the pacing starts slow, but improves; the moral re: bullying works in a kid's book, and is affecting given the complicated historical context. This was for me more interesting than good, but I'm glad I read it.
I will say this about reading picture books, tho: sure does fulfill goals of inflating my reading list but also means a lot of book reviews. They're actually pretty fast to write, but I'm so behind in posting them.
CW for Holocaust re: the fourth & final book.
Title: Where the Wild Things Are
Author: Maurice Sendak
Published: HarperCollins, 2012 (1963)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 40
Total Page Count: 308,850
Text Number: 1047
Read Because: personal enjoyment, hardcover borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I'm sure I read this as a kid but it wasn't a formative part of my childhood, so reading it now is like encountering it new. Nostalgia would have helped me love it, and the narrative switch from "happily living as king of monsters" to "bored now" is too sudden & unexplored, even for a picture book. But the atmosphere of wish-fulfillment and threat, the oversized monsters and Max's expressions, the texture in the inkwork are all superb and make me wish I had grown up with this in my childhood library—that concept of a monster-child coming safely home would have appealed to me.
Title: In the Night Kitchen
Author: Maurice Sendak
Published: HarperCollins, 1970
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 40
Total Page Count: 309,070
Text Number: 1049
Read Because: reading more of the author, hardcover borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I'll admit it's easy to just see the nudity/questionable subtext; it's also a convincing dream, logically illogical, subconscious, fantastical. The flow between panels and touches like the oversized figures and found-object city skyline help create an evocative dreamscape. But there's no particular takeaway/moral message/character growth—is one necessary for a kid's book? I don't know! Probably not, with this age group; a silly dream is narrative enough. But it didn't leave an impression on me.
Title: Outside Over There
Author: Maurice Sendak
Published: HarperCollins, 1981
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 40
Total Page Count: 309,110
Text Number: 1050
Read Because: reading more of the author, hardcover borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: "Slipping over the border into fairyland" is a phenomenal premise, and takes on it share similarities* but succeed if their journeys are evocative and thematically resonant. Ida's lesson is in engagement: not to avoid magic or risk, but to approach both proactively, eyes on the path ahead—how lovely, and perfect for a fairy story. The main plot begins in the background of the first few panels (and a subplot continues there), drawing attention to the expansive, detailed art. But the human figures are uncanny, photorealistic but exaggerated in proportion; it's good art, but not always enjoyable. That's what kept me from loving the book, but I'm still glad to've read it, and would have especially appreciated its message as a kid.
* I was going to say this feels like Labyrinth, but then I realized that Henson took at as inspiration, so...! Rather the other way around.
Title: Brundibar
Author: Tony Kushner
Illustrator: Maurice Sendak
Published: Hyperion Books for Children, 2002
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 55
Total Page Count: 313,345
Text Number: 1075
Read Because: reading more of the artist, hardcover borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I'd never heard of the original opera, and appreciated discovering a relatively localized and accessible piece of Holocaust history to research. I'm not sure how that translates as a teachable moment for a child audience—nonetheleast because of the deep ambivalence in the opera's production and performance history. But I appreciate that Sendak's art doesn't shy away from this context—it's historically-set, vibrant, human. That said, I didn't like the art: his stylization, the monstrous caricatures in particular, aren't my style, and I didn't love the mixed media, especially the texture in the colored pencils and crayons. Kushner's adaptation is fairly successful—the pacing starts slow, but improves; the moral re: bullying works in a kid's book, and is affecting given the complicated historical context. This was for me more interesting than good, but I'm glad I read it.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-18 03:28 am (UTC)