Let's talk about children's books! Not coincidently, let's talk about them because I am taking a children's literature course this semester. I'm reading a lot of kid's lit right now and want to share with you the books I've discovered in this course.
(Each of these books fit somewhere in the ages 4-8, preschool to early elementary ranges)
Today we are reviewing two specific, and often overlooked, subgenres of picture books: graphic novels and wordless picture books. While both exemplify how visuals can enhance storytelling, one does so with more words than the average picture book while the other forgoes language entirely and relies on the imagination of readers to tell the tale.
Here are two graphic novel picture books and two wordless picture books that I loved:
Graphic Novel Picture Books
Where’s Halmoni? by Julie Kim (2017)
Inspired by her Korean heritage, Julie Kim has crafted a fun adventure about two siblings in search of their missing halmoni (grandmother). While searching through their home, they pass through a door and are transported to a fantastical land populated by creatures of myth. Magical rabbits, hungry trolls, and grumpy tigers provide the keys for the siblings to find their way back home and back to their halmoni.
Kim uses the graphic novel format to provide more story than can normally be found in a standard picture book. Korean is frequently interspersed with English dialogue. Kim combines the lettering and typography into the graphics, and then provides a short dictionary at the end of the book for folks like me who can’t read a word of Korean. The effect is absolutely lovely, though, and another way she visually represents the dualities of the worlds in this tale.
The artwork is energetic, dreamy, and quick. The characters are funny, curious, and smart. The story is mysterious, mischievous, and packed with adventure. Where’s Halmoni? is a lot of fun packed into a short book. And enjoying a second or third read after you finish will definitely reward the attentive readers out there with some delightful easter eggs.
The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess by Tom Gauld (2021)
Once upon a time, a king and queen wanted to have children. Naturally, as many couples do, they had two kids constructed, one from some complicated engineering and another from magic. Their new son was a wooden robot, their new daughter was a log who becomes a human whenever she is awake. When a housekeeper accidently tosses the girl-as-a-log into the trash, the robot boy undergoes an epic quest to save his sister. Lost in the far reaches of the kingdom, their unusual conditions create plenty of complications for getting home.
Whimsical would be an apt description for Gauld’s fairy tale. The robot boy and log princess experience more adventures than the book can handle (which are told in hilarious asides with quirky illustrations to match). Like Where’s Halmoni? the graphic novel format is well utilized to provide more story in less space.
The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess is a sweet, never saccharine, and uplifting story about the affirming power of love and family.
Wordless Picture Books
Flotsam by David Wiesner (2006)
Flotsam is an undersea fantasy of vivid watercolors and abundant imagination. When a young boy finds a camera washed ashore, he develops the film inside and becomes a witness to the hidden world that exists under the waves. I really don’t want to give much away here, because the images are exceptional, and the silent story is somehow completely engrossing.
Every image in the developed photos is a self-contained story. But the collection of photos together, coupled with the frame story, demonstrates to both the characters and the readers that we are all players in a larger story, interconnected across the globe. And just like the young boy who finds a camera in some flotsam on a beach, readers will come to understand that an inquisitive and curious mind can open the doors of discovery and adventure.
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg
I first learned about this book from some kids in my elementary school’s library. They were a bit obsessed with the central mystery of the book, a collection of illustrations depicting scenes from a lost manuscript by an author who disappeared without a trace. We would scrutinize the pencil-drawn illustrations for any clue about what happened to the missing Harris Burdick. Ghosts? Aliens? Time travel? Parallel Universes? All those drawings were messages and somewhere in them we would find the truth!
OK, I see what you did there, Chris Van Allsburg...
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is a collection of pencil drawings accompanied only by story titles. There is a brief explainer at the beginning of the book that Harris Burdick brought these images to a publisher and promised to return the next day with their corresponding text. But he mysteriously vanished before he could return. Chris Van Allsburg presents this account as fact, while subtly suggesting to readers that they should create their own stories to these off-kilter images. As a kid, I bought into this tale all the way, and I built my own narrative that ‘uncovered’ how all these drawings were somehow connected to a much larger and exciting mystery.
If you or your little one has a healthy imagination, a love of mystery, and an appreciation of skilled illustration work, you will love The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.
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