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
