Joseph e Chico

I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of the new picture book biography of Benedict XVI, as told by his cat Chico. Called Joseph and Chico, it is a charmingly illustrated book, and a wonderful way for a child to get to know their father in faith. The Holy Father's personal secretary writes in the introduction:

So many things are written and said about the Pope every day! But here, dear children, you have a biography unlike any other because it is told by a cat, and it’s not everyday that you find a cat who can call himself a friend of the Holy Father and who decides to write his life story.

They have known one another for quite some time and it is extremely interesting to hear what sorts of things Chico has to say, always from his own point of view, obviously. After all, he is a cat, even if he is a cat friend.

...[O]ur friend Chico ends his story, he tells us that he understands now that the Holy Father is no longer just his personal friend, but the great friend and guide to all Catholics. Chico, who is a cat, even understands what the Pope’s real mission is: to be the friend of all people in the way that Jesus was, who loved so much that he gave his life on the Cross for us. This is not only the Pope’s mission but that of all Christians, of all those, that is, who choose Jesus as their best friend. This is a mission for big people, but also for little ones like you, because love knows no age limits. God is Love.

Order it here.

The Wonderful O

Last night, tired, but awake, I grabbed the first book on my shelf, the underappreciated volume by James Thurber, The Wonderful O. Thurber was a marvelous writer and cartoonist for the New Yorker(Dorothy Parker said his drawing looking like half-baked cookies). My siblings and I had our first introduction to him one road trip, where Mom attempted to read to us his short story "The Night the Bed Fell on Grandpa"--but was so hysterical with laughter, she could barely speak.

These days, his most popular books are his memoirs, My Life and Hard Times, and his picture book Many Moons.

But his best children's book, by far, is The Wonderful O. It has everything a children's book ought to have: adventure, pirates, charming illustrations (by Marc Simont), and great vocabulary (hidden in every-day sentences)--plus a very silly, and yet provoking, premise. Two pirates (Black and Littlejack) come to the Island of Ooroo, looking for buried treasure. Black, who's mother died in a port-hole accident, has an irrational hatred of the letter "o" and, he banishes it from the entire island, when he finds no treasure.

Thus begins a hilarious, silly, and profound adventure, as the villagers rally against the pirates, and the lawyers argue over semantics, and the island is plunged into chaos. The heroine, Andrea, claims there are 4 "o" words they cannot disregard: valor, love, hope and freedom--and with these four words in their hearts, they fight the pirates.


Unfortunately, the book has been out of print for over 10 years. Claudia Rosett, of WSJ said in 2001:

Teachers, parents, librarians--a crowd that in the aftermath of World War II knew this [book] was something special--have stopped asking for it.

...Perhaps part of the problem is that not everything in this book is politically correct...Nor does Thurber's delight in language conform to the Pop-Tart pleasures of most modern entertainment. To love this book requires some active, if pleasant, appreciation of true wit (something I think children might still enjoy, given half a chance). So careful was Thurber to get the language and the story exactly right that The New Yorker itself never published "The Wonderful O," according to Thurber biographer Neil Grauer. Thurber refused to approve the magazine's abridged version.

In an era in which we censor even the surviving classics among children's books, dumb literature down in the hope of mass appeal, and too often trade away our own freedoms on the theory that government knows best, "The Wonderful O" is a book worth finding, wherever you can, and reading to whomever you can. Especially, it is worth reading to children.

Indeed, she is right. It will delight your soul! It's out of print (though will be reprinted in 2009), but you can find it used here.

**UPDATE**
You can purchase the reprinted edition (with original illustrations) right here(from the NYRB Children's Classic Collection).

Beowulf

...Oh, cursed is he
who, in time of trouble has to thurst his soul
in the fire's embrace, forfeighting help;
he has nowhere to turn. But Blessed's he
who, after death, can approach the Lord
and find friendship in the Father's embrace.
--Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heany

Last night, while vegging in front of the TV, every single commercial break brought a preview for the new semi-animated epic, Beowulf (directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Ray Winstone and Anthony Hopkins). While I can't imagine anyone better suited to playing Grendel's mother than Angelina Jolie, I must say this movie looks dreadful. The real-life/animation combo is obviously not as artistically done as in 300, or Sin City. Rather, it is a semi-fantasy comic book style, with sickly colors, and over-the-top magicalism. I will indeed withhold judgement until I see (or read reviews of!) the movie--but I am not looking forward to this. I doubt the filmmakers really understand the point of the story.

ON the other hand, while in New England, I happened upon a wonderful illustrated retelling of the story of Beowulf. Beowulf: A Hero's Tale Retold, written and illustrated by James Rumford, is a fine way to introduce this story to children. It has elegant illustrations, and is a solid adaption of the story.

New York Times book review says:

Rumford’s inked-in watercolor drawings devote attention to domestic details of the Danish court — pets, houses, the fire pit the king sits at. Grendel on first view, a smudgy figure wading in a swamp, seems sort of forlorn, and as far as combat voyeurism goes, the illustrations are pretty chaste. You learn more here from reading than from looking, which was surely the author’s intention. He has very cleverly adapted the story in a style that except for a few necessary imports like “ogre,” “dragon” and “giant” relies on Anglo-Saxon words, and the result is both a not-bad approximation of the original and easily comprehensible to readers in, say, the fourth and fifth grades, who can linger over passages like: “A deep wound now opened up on Grendel’s shoulder and widened. The sinews were bursting, the arm bones loosening. There was only one way out. The ogre tore himself free and ran one-armed into the night!”

Of course, 4th graders can linger over it, but I think it would be perfectly appropriate for parents to read this story to younger children. Indeed, I know a number of 6-8 year olds who would droll over this ancient story!

To purchase, go to Amazon.

About Margaret, and LLB

Please visit Margaret's other blog: Ten Thousand Places


The Bed Time Book by Jessie Wilcox Smith

Margaret Perry is an avid reader and collector of children's literature. When she was young, at the Children's Library, she would start at "A" and work her way through the alphabet, 15 books at a time. Now she does the same thing in bookshops.

Her favorite children's books are:

+ Peter Pan and Wendyby J. M. Barrie
+ The Search for Deliciousby Natalie Babbit
+ A Hole Is to Digby Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak

She started Little Lamb Books in honor of her grandmother, to promote children's books that contain exceptional beauty in both narrative and illustration, a sense of wonder, and hopefully a touch of whimsy and silliness.

The Little Lamb Books Bookshop is powered by Amazon. 10% of the proceeds Margaret receives from purchases made through the Little Lamb Books Bookshop go to literacy charities, such as The Biblioteca Project in Honduras.