![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juushikaThat I l more or less enjoyed the strangeness of Everything Under a Mushroom makes me wonder how my appreciation of picture books has changed during this impromptu reading project—has exposure to Sendak and then Krauss expanded my view? what now might I think of those first few Sendak books? are my tastes secretly consistent, and am I just sucker for dream logic + mushroom imagery? A mystery.
Anyway Charlotte and the White Horse is the real star of this show.
Title: I Want to Paint My Bathroom Blue
Author: Ruth Krauss
Illustrator: Maurice Sendak
Published: Harper Collins, 2001 (1956)
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 25
Total Page Count: 328,625
Text Number: 1169
Read Because: reading the author, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I was caught off guard by the gentle escalation—this begins almost as a teaching text about childhood whims, and unfolds into a dreamlike narrative about creativity; it's bigger, weirder, and more evocative than it seems, but is also hard to grasp, perhaps because the theme doesn't speak to me personally, but also because of that rambling, growing structure. I like this one more after the fact, but it has its moments—like the beautifully illustrated, playful "doorknob/dearknob" panel. 2/5
Title: Charlotte and the White Horse
Author: Ruth Krauss
Illustrator: Maurice Sendak
Published: Harper Collins, 2001 (1955)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 328,800
Text Number: 1171
Read Because: reading the author, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: This is Sendak at his rare and beautiful, with soft colors and a dreamy style (reminiscent of Kenny's Window and Outside Over There), and it's Krauss writing what feels like could only be found in children's literature or poetry, a scattershot and drifting narrative about the profound wish fulfillment of the horse-girl trope, with themes of responsibility, community, growth, and passing seasons. Krauss/Sendak combinations are usually more energetic; this has the evocative weirdness of their collaboration in I'll Be You and You Be Me, but gentled as it's spun into a longer story. I honestly can't guess what a child would think of this, but I found it delightful.
Title: Everything Under a Mushroom
Author: Ruth Krauss
Illustrator: Margot Tomes
Published: Scholastic, 1973
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 35
Total Page Count: 329,425
Text Number: 1175
Read Because: reading the author, ebook borrowed from Open Library
Review: I'd go as far as to call this Krauss's weirdest book, which is no small thing. It doesn't have a frame or narrative or genre or conceit; it's an elaborate game of pretend under a giant mushroom, sepia tones and a sometimes unsettling, sometimes dreamlike tone tying together barely-connected panels. I honestly can't say if it's good or if this kind of weirdness has grown on me after reading so much Krauss (as well as Sendak); nor can I imagine how it works for kids—is it confusing, or do they ride along the meandering logic? But I'm glad Open Library had a copy of this strange, forgotten book.
Anyway Charlotte and the White Horse is the real star of this show.
Title: I Want to Paint My Bathroom Blue
Author: Ruth Krauss
Illustrator: Maurice Sendak
Published: Harper Collins, 2001 (1956)
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 25
Total Page Count: 328,625
Text Number: 1169
Read Because: reading the author, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: I was caught off guard by the gentle escalation—this begins almost as a teaching text about childhood whims, and unfolds into a dreamlike narrative about creativity; it's bigger, weirder, and more evocative than it seems, but is also hard to grasp, perhaps because the theme doesn't speak to me personally, but also because of that rambling, growing structure. I like this one more after the fact, but it has its moments—like the beautifully illustrated, playful "doorknob/dearknob" panel. 2/5
Title: Charlotte and the White Horse
Author: Ruth Krauss
Illustrator: Maurice Sendak
Published: Harper Collins, 2001 (1955)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 30
Total Page Count: 328,800
Text Number: 1171
Read Because: reading the author, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: This is Sendak at his rare and beautiful, with soft colors and a dreamy style (reminiscent of Kenny's Window and Outside Over There), and it's Krauss writing what feels like could only be found in children's literature or poetry, a scattershot and drifting narrative about the profound wish fulfillment of the horse-girl trope, with themes of responsibility, community, growth, and passing seasons. Krauss/Sendak combinations are usually more energetic; this has the evocative weirdness of their collaboration in I'll Be You and You Be Me, but gentled as it's spun into a longer story. I honestly can't guess what a child would think of this, but I found it delightful.
Title: Everything Under a Mushroom
Author: Ruth Krauss
Illustrator: Margot Tomes
Published: Scholastic, 1973
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 35
Total Page Count: 329,425
Text Number: 1175
Read Because: reading the author, ebook borrowed from Open Library
Review: I'd go as far as to call this Krauss's weirdest book, which is no small thing. It doesn't have a frame or narrative or genre or conceit; it's an elaborate game of pretend under a giant mushroom, sepia tones and a sometimes unsettling, sometimes dreamlike tone tying together barely-connected panels. I honestly can't say if it's good or if this kind of weirdness has grown on me after reading so much Krauss (as well as Sendak); nor can I imagine how it works for kids—is it confusing, or do they ride along the meandering logic? But I'm glad Open Library had a copy of this strange, forgotten book.
