Today I have reviews of four picture books about three beloved picture book authors: Dr. Seuss, Ezra Jack Keats, and Margaret Wise Brown.
The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Seuss by Kathleen Kull, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Francher (Random House, 2004)
If you like Dr. Seuss you’ll probably enjoy this descriptive account of Ted Geisel’s (1904-1991) childhood – both the delights and the struggles – which is accompanied by lovely paintings (and small decorative illustrations by Dr. Seuss). It ends when he gets his own apartment in Greenwich Village: “He had all day to work, and all night if he needed it. He was prepared to work hard. He was twenty-two years old, and his future looked bright.” The rest of his life is recounted in four pages at the end of the book, followed by a list of Dr. Seuss’s books and other recommended books and website. Recommended for ages 6 to 9.
A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of The Snowy Day by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Lou and Steve Johnson (Viking, 2016)
This picture book tells the story of Ezra Jack Keats’ life (1916-1983) in the form of a poem written to the boy in his famous picture book, The Snowy Day. It recounts how he was born to Polish immigrants, lived through hardships of Depression, fought Hitler, changed his name, and wrote and illustrated books. The text is punchy with a nice use of repetition and the story culminates in the publication of The Snowy Day, showing how Keats bucked convention to celebrate people who are different (versus only white children being depicted in books beforehand). The illustrations are acrylic, pencil, and collage using images from Keats’ books. The author’s notes cover Keats’ legacy and his work as a collage poet; it also includes lists of sources and books written/illustrated by Keats. Recommended for ages 6 to 9.
The Days Before Now: An Autobiographical Note by Margaret Wise Brown, Adapted by Joan W. Blos, illustrated by Thomas B. Allen (Simon & Schuster, 1994)
Rather than a biography, this picture book is a poetic description of Margaret Wise Brown’s (1910-1952) childhood memories with soft, evocative illustrations. At the end of the book Joan W. Blos (a children’s writer herself) explains that she took the text from the second edition of The H.W. Wilson Company’s Junior Book of Authors and it practically turned itself into a picture book. Recommended for ages 4 to 7.
The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Sarah Jacoby (Balzer + Bray, 2019)
This unconventional biography begins, “Margaret Wise Brown lived for 42 years. This book is 42 pages long. You can’t fit somebody’s life into 42 pages, so I am just going to tell you some important things.” Some of the things mentioned are Brown skinning a rabbit, swimming naked, and falling in love (“with a woman named Michael and a man called Pebble”). The book looks especially at the fact that her books were originally not welcome in the New York Public Library. “Lives are strange. And there are people who do not like strange stories, especially in books for children.” (Touché!) I thought the illustrations were quite nice. Recommended for ages 5 to 8.