No.59 - Guess How Much I Love You

 

This book really doesn't need any introduction! It's a modern classic, a feature of nursery's everywhere, an national treasure, it's words implanted into our psyche; 'I love you this much', 'I love you to the moon and back'. It is of course the wonderful Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, with gorgeous illustrations by Anita Jeram. 

I didn't actually realise how old this book was! If you'd asked me I would have put it's publication date at around 2008 or 2009, but in fact it was published in 1994 and last year it celebrated it's 25th birthday! I would say that anybody born in the last 25 years probably had a copy of this book, and apparently it is still one of the most popular books to gift for a new baby, along with the crazy amount of merchandise available! 

To give you an idea of just how big the Guess How Much I Love You brand is, I hopped onto their website, guesshowmuchiloveyou.com for the facts. 

• It's sold more than 50 million copies worldwide.
• The story has been translated into 57 different languages.
• There are board books, paper backs, fabric books, finger puppet and hand puppet books, spin-off seasonal editions, baby books and milestone markers. 
• There is a new story starring Little Nutbrown Hare, that came out in September, called Will You Be My Friend.
• The story is quickly becoming a popular wedding reading with couples. 
• There are different editions for valentine's day and wedding presents. 
• In 2011 it was adapted for television and shown in 60 different countries.
• The brand has been licensed to shops like Sainsburys, Matalan and Next to be used on their baby clothing.
• There is a beautful gold and silver jewellery range, including engagement and wedding rings!
• The famous pottery, Moorcroft, have a Guess How Much I Love You range, so you can have your favourite hares on a vase if you like!

That is by no mean as an exhaustive list of all the Guess How Much I Love You facts and merchandise, but it shows you just how big this book is! Big Nut Brown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare have a huge place in our hearts. 

Now to the story. It is basically the tale of two hares who are trying to put into words their love for each other. Originally intended as a parent and child, many people have interpreted this book as a way of showing anyone, be it a relative or a partner, just how much you love them! Little Nutbrown Hare starts by asking the big hare, who I've always presumed was his Daddy, to guess how much he loves him? Then they start trying to describe their love for each other in ever increasing distances; as wide as their arms can stretch, as high as they can reach, as high as the little hares toes, as high as they can hop, all the way down to the river, across the hills, right up to the moon, and back. As much as Little Nutbrown Hare tries, he can never beat the distance that Big Nutbrown Hare loves him, because you can't get a greater love than that of a parent for their child. 

I would thoroughly recommend that everyone reads this book, buys it for their own baby, gifts to a friend having baby, even gifts it as a wedding! Why not! This book celebrates love, with it's simple, touching phrasing and it's effortlessly beautiful illustrations. It is surely an enduring classic that I hope will never fade. Sadly the author, Sam McBratney died in September, but he has left behind a truly special legacy in Guess How Much I Love You.

Thanks for reading, L x

Next time, we're closing in on the half way mark, with another classic, Anne of Green Gables. 

Halloween Treat - Funnybones!

"This is how the story begins.

On a dark dark hill

there was a dark dark town.

In the dark dark town

there was a dark dark street.

In the dark dark street

there was a dark dark house.

In the dark dark house

there was a dark dark staircase.

Down the dark dark staircase

there was a dark dark cellar.

And in the dark dark cellar....

... some skeletons lived."

 This is by far, in my opinion, one of the most iconic openings to any children's book EVER! But then I am a little bias! Although 40 years on it is still a much loved story and I would bet has been read to most of the people in this country at some point in their lifetime. And if you're anywhere near my age, you probably grew up watching the brilliant animated series too (hop on Youtube if not!). It is of course the wonderfully spooky Funnybones by Janet and Alan Ahlberg! 

 As it is Halloween I thought I'd throw in a themed post this week, and so I raided my collection for something suitably scary! And when I say scary, I mean downright adorable! What's not to love about these skeletons and their dog? They have all the hallmarks of a classic comedy double act, one's little, one's big, they share a bed like Morecambe and Wise or Bert and Ernie, and of course one wears a silly hat! It's perfect! 

I'm sure you all know the story of Funnybones, but i'll give you a little reminder. The skeleton's decide to take the dog for a walk and scare someone while they are out. They end up in the park, where unfortunately the dog has a little accident and ends up as a pile of bones! Cue my favourite scene, where they have to try and put the dog back together, with hilarious results! I've always loved the set of illustrations here, and the idea that the bark depends on how the dog is assembled!

After they have successfully put the skeleton dog back together they go off looking for someone to scare. But the problem is everyone's asleep! Everyone except the skeleton animals in the zoo. Obviously. So they have a bit of fun there riding an elephant and chatting to the parrot.

But what's a good night out without scaring someone?! Probably very dull, if you're a skeleton! The few pages that follow are fab! Big and Little decide to scare each other, for lack of victims! They jump out from behind bushes at each other, hide in washing, and the dog chases them! It turns out they're massive scaredy-cats! 

I just want to say how much I love the illustrations in this book! They are absolutely charming, much like all of the Ahlberg's picturebooks. They are simple, playful, and vibrant. They make use of framing so well, and you get the feeling of reading not only a picturebook but also a comic. In Funnybones in particular their choice of colours is really effective. As we are told at the start, this story takes place in the dark, at night. Therefore a lot of the text is set against a black background. The use of white text, not only matches the colour of the skeletons, but also shows us what writing looks like in the dark! For the child reader this is probably not that obvious, but as an adult reader I see it as a lovely little nod to the way a child thinks. How else would your story show up!? These bold contrasts and brightly coloured illustrations make it an excellent books for all ages, from something that is visually stimulating for younger listeners, to the clear simple text and repetition for the early reader. This book has it all! 

Happy Halloween! 

Lx

Ps. Back to the list next time for the classic modern picturebook Guess How Much I Love You

Where the Wild Things Are

Hi everyone!

I have news, there is now an Instagram page for The Little Bookworm! Check it out @the.littlebookworm

I'm hoping to post all kinds of interesting things there, and maybe even do some live story times too! 

This post has been inspired by my lastest Insta post, which was to celebrate the birthday of the marvellous Mauric Sendak! His picturebook Where the Wild Things Are really ignited my passion for picturebook analysis, and my interest in the relationship between words and images in the picturebook format. There is so much more to a book than meets the eye and I find this so incredibly exciting! Once you know all the little codes and tricks you never look at another picturebook in the same way again! 

So for this post I thought i'd do something a little bit different and share some of my academic writing with you, on the subject of Sendak's Wild Things. The extract I want to share with you is all about the 'Picturebook Codes' as created by William Moebius. It is all about how the positioning of images on the page help to tell the story, and how text and image can work together, or indeed against each other, to create a narrative. I hope you find it an interesting insight into what it's like to study children's literature at a higher level. 

The centre spread (above) of Maurice Sendak’s celebrated picturebook Where the Wild Things Are (1963) is a clear example of what Moebius terms as ‘semic slippage’. This occurs when the images and text presented to the reader contradict each other, creating differing perspectives (Moebius, 2009, p.313). The image shows Max’s first encounter with the mythical creatures of his imagination (Sendak, 1963). The accompanying text says ‘they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws’ (Sendak, 1963). This creates a frightening image suggestive of other magical or fairy tales, in which the monster is a threat to the child protagonist. The emphasis placed on the frightening physical features of the creatures is not unlike the dialogue between the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood in the classic fairy tale. The text takes the conventional stance expected of a fantastical tale, but the illustration presents a contradictory image. Max is actually greeted by four friendly looking monsters that appear to be smiling and waving. They are not ‘terrible’ at all, and it is clear that Max is not scared of them. This juxtaposition between classic fairy tale text and the surprising imagery creates irony.

The text tells us that Max has arrived in ‘the place where the wild things are’ (Sendak, 1963). But as William Moebius points out, ‘What is a wild thing?’ (Moebius, 2009, p.313). By not capitalising ‘the wild things’ Sendak creates confusion around this phrase, sending ‘contradictory messages about the ‘who’ or the ‘what’ of the story’ (Moebius, 2009, p.313). On one hand it implies that the creatures are the wild things, but on the other it could be referring to Max whom the creatures later name ‘the most wild thing of all’ (Sendak, 1963). In the illustration the creatures look quite tame despite their fangs, horns and claws, and have big wide yellow eyes. Angry looking Max seems more of a threat to the creatures, than they are to him, despite their frightening textual descriptions. In fact Max looks rather unimpressed with their appearance, particularly as they are figments of his own wild imagination. By applying ‘the code of position’ as set out in Moebius’s essay Picturebooks Codes, it can be suggested that Sendak’s placement of the image in the top two thirds of the page is indicative of a ‘dream-vision’ (Moebius, 2009, p.316-17), a world from Max’s imagination. This imaginative quality is suggestive of the fairy tale or legend that the text seems to embody, but again creates confusion as they do not correspond.

The illustration shows us a more complex story of arrival than that of the text, which simply tells us ‘he came to the place’ (Sendak, 1963). The ‘code of position’ can again be applied to the image, in reference to the direction in which Max and the creatures are facing on the pages. Max has arrived from the left hand side, indicating that his journey has finished and that he is ready to continue his adventure across the page to the right. His left hand arrival also suggests that he has come from the stability of home and is continuing into the unknown. The stability of home, however, is tainted by Max’s anger and frustration, which is signified through the turbulence of the sea. This is contrasted with land, which is solid and much calmer. The monsters approach from the right hand side, indicative of their wild lifestyle, and move towards the stability of the left hand page and Max whom they will soon appoint as their King. Max wants to escape from the confines of home and become a true ‘wild thing’, whereas the monsters want some stability in their wild lives. These ideas are not conveyed at all in the text, which focalises Max as the child protagonist of a conventional fantasy. Whereas it could be argued that the illustration focalises the creatures and their emotional needs. The contrast between the text and image of this double page spread creates two varying perspectives.

So, as you can see, what seems to be a conventional fairytale story has a lot more layers once you know where to look! If you're interested in finding out more about William Moebius's 'Picturebook Codes' there's a great slide show here outlining all the codes in an easy to understand format! Or, you could track down the original essay 'Picturebook Codes' and give it a read.  

I hope you've enjoyed this little insight into the study of picturebooks, and can understand why I find it so interesting!!

I challenge you to pick up a picturebook and have a look for a few of Moebius codes, and see how it transforms your reading! 

Thanks, L x 

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No. 65 - The Way Back Home

Hi all, I'm a few days late i'm afraid. Not the best start to a new routine! Anyway, a quick note about this post. I started writing it way before this isolation malarkey started and funnily enough some of the points I make feel very valid for right now. So let's heed the wise words of Oliver Jeffers, and take heart from the Martian and the boy.

I love a picture book, and this one is no exception! It even had me feeling a bit teary at times! 

Oliver Jeffers is a master of the picture book genre, and The Way Back Home is a beautiful, enchanting tale of intergalactic friendship, teamwork and motor mechanics! For me this book is also a story about equality, anxiety, and hope in the darkest of times. Let me tell you all about it.  

The boy (who you may recognise from some of Jeffer's other books) finds an aeroplane in a cupboard and takes it for a spin. However, he makes a major error and ends up stuck on the moon with no fuel! Silly boy! Elsewhere in the galaxy, a Martian is having a bit of a 'mare too. The engine of his spaceship is failing, and he has to land on the moon asap! Both stranded at each end of the moon, they begin to get very worried. 

They both believe that they are all alone and something nasty is going to loom out of the darkness and get them! They are in one of  those horrid 'what if' situations that we all feel at various times in our lives. Stranded, alone, and in the dark, they fear the worst. But luckily they are not alone!

Very cleverly Jeffer's uses the situation to explain a fundamental point, that in life we are never truly alone. There will always be someone going through the same thing as you, or experiencing the same feelings. Whether this is in childhood or adulthood, the point is the same, you are not the first person to have been through this. The Martian and the boy are a literal example of this. They are both very anxious about the position they had found themselves in, but to know someone else is experiencing the same problem gives them reassurance. For children, this is a reassuring thing to know, and let me tell you, as an adult it helps too!

The boy and the Martian eschew their own worries to help each other, and work together as a team to try and plan their way back home. This unlikely friendship between boy and alien is a delight, and I particularly like the illustration below, where you can see their plans coming together through a variety of gestures and drawings. I like to think that they can't speak each other's languages and this is their best method of communication. There is no language barrier here! The boy and the Martian are not interested in that, they are united in their mission to get off the moon. There is a childhood innocence to this. Play and imagination are universal languages, they pay no attention to race or culture. If you put two children together who speak different languages they will ultimately find a way to communicate and play together, and that, I think, is what's happening here. It's hidden moral message, help others, no matter what their background may be.

As I've already explained, this book takes a clever and fresh look at the subconscious worries we all have on various levels as humans. The fear of the unknown, the fear of the dark, of being stranded all alone. Another example of this is the boy's connection with his home. It is very easy for the boy to fly to the moon, much easier than you might think (ignore all your physics knowledge), but once he is stuck up there home suddenly seems very far away, and getting back seems impossible. I think this eludes to the idea that a problem always seems so much bigger when you are in the middle of it. However, once the Martian arrives and he has company, the boy feels much less anxious, and the idea of popping home to get supplies is as simple as popping around the corner! He parachutes back down to earth, and home again. What was he so worried about!? He's even so relaxed that he has a rest in his favourite chair! However, this is short lived when he remembers his new friend stuck up on the moon! The boy could have stayed put, he was home, he was comfy, but he knew he still had to rescue the Martian. He is selfless, not selfish. Another cheeky, secret moral message! 

You'll  be pleased to know that it all ends well for the Martian and the boy. The Martian fills the plane's petrol tank, and the boy fixes the Martian's engine, and they both go home safely. Hooray! This book is a delight from start to finish. Jeffer's distinctive illustrations create wonderful characters, that you just can't help but fall in love with. Despite being just a child, and an alien they speak hugely about the human condition, in a really touching way. The unity and equality portrayed in this book makes me incredibly happy! Maybe I've read too much into it, but I feel like there is a lot to be learnt from this book, and not just for children.

Thanks for reading, L x

PS. Next up is Michael Rosen's science and technology poems collection, Centrally Heated Knickers!

No.71 - Wolves (also including apologies and explanations from me)

Hello!

It's been a while since I updated this blog regularly and I feel like I've let myself and my readers down a bit. I'm sorry, let me explain....

When I started this project way back in 2016 I was doing my degree, in particular a children's literature module, so as you can imagine, children's books were constantly on my mind. I finished my degree the same year, and started an MA in children's literature that September. Unfortunately, my ongoing mental health problems got the better of me at the start of 2017 and I had to give up the MA. This meant that I was no longer immersed in children's books and so sadly I let this project slide a little. By September of 2017 I was feeling much more like myself again and enrolled on a Foundation course in art and design, something I had always wanted to do. This was a huge game changer for me in terms of my confidence and self belief, but put the breaks on this blog project some what! I didn't have much time to think about the book list, as I was very busy making things and having a fabulous time! Now that course has come to an end, I find myself feeling a little bereft, and I can feel the combined fear of adulting and no routine creeping up behind me. As a distraction from this, and as a way to prove to myself that I'm still an academically intelligent person, I have decided to start this project up again, and start writing some children's fiction of my own too.

So, lets crack on!

Today's book is the contemporary picture book, Wolves by Emily Gravett.

This is no ordinary picture book. It is an example of what is known as 'the postmodern picture book'. Now, if you're not a picture book nerd like I am, that basically means it's a contemporary picture book that pushes the boundaries of what we believe a picture book should be. It's not just a story and some pictures, it often plays with format, uses parody, breaks the picture plane, and in the case of Wolves uses self-referentiality. Sorry, still a bit geeky! Basically, Emily Gravett's Wolves is a story about a rabbit reading Emily Gravett's Wolves.

At the start of the book we see the rabbit get the book out from his local library, (West Bucks Public Burrowing Library, for those of you who like a pun). It's exactly what it says on the cover, it's a book about wolves. Now this is where it gets clever, this book is actually a non-fiction book in picture book clothing. Without you really realising you are learning loads of interesting facts about wolves! Did you know that they had 42 teeth, and jaws that are twice as powerful as a dogs? Well now you do! 

We follow the rabbit on a journey of discovery, as he walks, nose in book, from the library, past the pages of the book, and into the jaws of the wolf himself. The dust jacket reads "Too many rabbits believe everything they read in fairy stories. A wolf's favourite food is NOT small girls in red hoods.". This is, of course, a nod to Little Red Riding Hood. The rabbit is a more realistic snack for the wolf, but with the journeying that happens across the pages it is hard not to see the rabbit as a red riding hood type character. This book is great mix of realism and fantasy. 

The design of the book is fab too, and Gravett makes good use of the paratext, by that I mean the end papers. They show the in-book version of Wolves, as well as post cards, letters, takeaway menus, all featuring cracking rabbit-based puns! No doubt for adult benefit! I love picture books that do this, they're like little in-jokes between author/illustrator and adult, making the act of sharing a book with a child all the more enjoyable. There is also lots of references to Wolves being a library book, including a lovely double page spread of the inside of the book, complete with library reference card, and label covered in stamps showing when the book was taken out. These are lovely touches, that make you really believe that you are looking at another book. 

I also love the illustrations, which mix collage with hand drawn elements, giving the images depth, and help to break the picture plane, reinforcing the idea of a book within a book.

All in all, this is a really clever book. It references classic fairy tales, whilst conveying a original idea and maintaining a contemporary postmodern picture book design. It is fun and informative, with a little twist at the end, which made me laugh (no spoilers though!). A must read for all lovers of the picture book genre!

Thanks for reading, L x

Next up Fairy Tales by Berlie Doherty

Going 'Into the Forest'

This is Anthony Browne's picture book Into the Forest.

I came across this book whilst doing some research for an essay, and I was instantly intrigued by its illustrations. I starts in colour, and then as the boy enters the forest his world desaturates and we are left to navigate a monotone tangle of spiky trees and hidden fairy tale references. The obvious fairytale link in this story is Little Red Riding Hood, but there are also references to Jack and the Beanstalk, and Hansel and Gretel too, amongst others. I looked at this book quite a bit during my research, but since then hadn't really given it a second thought, until this week.

My Dad had just purchased a bit of woodland and I'd gone up to visit him and take a look! In my head this woodland was deciduous, a green and mossy landscape, friendly and inviting. Instead, this woodland was pine, thick, dense and dark. I stood in the absolute silence, looking at the monumental trees around me, and found myself transported to the pages of Anthony Browne's book.

The likeness was incredible! Well, to me anyway! The short pointy branches jutting out of each trunk, the desaturated colours, the paths cut through the trees; I felt like I was standing in a fairytale.

 

I kept expecting to look around and see the leg of a giant rather than a tree-trunk, a little figure scuttling off into hiding, or a set of eyes watching me. Anthony Browne is amazing at hiding little things like these in his images, quirks that you never see the first time you look, but make you smile the second. I was half expecting to see magical things in these photos!

It just goes to show that books play a huge part in the way we perceive the world. Have you ever found yourself somewhere you feel you know, only to realise that's because you've read it? Or imagined a place in a book as somewhere you already know? The wonderful thing about reading is that our memories keep little snippets of the information we've read, imagined or seen, hidden away ready to inform our experiences when we least expect it. Having stood in Anthony Browne's forest I can testify that that is a magical thing! 

Thanks for reading, L x