WRB—Nov. 2022 Children’s Literature Supplement

Holiday kids books, stuffed bunnies, wallpaper, etc.

Halloween has come and gone, Thanksgiving is around the corner, and Christmas looms. Eager as we all may be to crank up Josh Groban’s “Silent Night,” shower the mailman with cookies, and slowly dehydrate our $20 poinsettias, let’s remember which season actually comes after we’ve polished off the cranberry sauce: Advent.

As children, this was always the most magical time for us. Yes, there’s excitement for the big holiday, but through our parents’ wise implementation of seasonal books and traditions, youthful impatience was channeled into healthy anticipation. Read on for recommendations based on the stories and activities that have enchanted Decembers for decades. 

Need a Thanksgiving recommendation? A non-festive book review? A new Christmas book list? We’ve got it all here.

Turkey time:

Well, actually, cranberry time, if we’re being precise. Written and illustrated by husband and wife duo Wende and Harry Devlin, the humorous tale Cranberry Thanksgiving reminds us that looks can be deceiving. Can’t get a physical hardcopy in time for the holiday? YouTube comes in clutch. 

Beloved books: The Velveteen Rabbit:

We all know the story, but who was the author? Margery Williams Bianco led quite a fascinating life, and it wasn’t until The Velveteen Rabbit (1922) was published that she found literary success:

“I disliked everything I had written before,” she recalled. “I wanted to do something different but did not know what it should be.” She was tired of the modish modernism she had aped in her youth. “Whenever I find myself breaking out into words — that sort of writer’s measles which is so detestable — [I] always know it’s because I hadn’t something to say,”

Her understanding of the minds of children was also apparent: 

In her 1925 essay “Our Youngest Critics,” Bianco described child readers as “an audience at once eager to be amused yet highly skeptical of the deliberate attempt to amuse; uncertain of what it does want but amazingly definite as to what it does not . . . appreciative of results when they come out right but wholly devoid of that weakness which makes us bear with an artist through sympathy.”

[See also Rob Wyllie’s appreciation of the classic book in issue 12 of The Lamp. —Chris]

Illustrations make the difference:

You can write a wonderful picture book story, but if the pictures aren’t worth looking at. . . . [This is something I’ll be exploring more in later editions of the CLS.] NYT/NYPL just released their picks for 2022’s best illustrated children’s books. It’s interesting how much a retro feel many of these titles have. 

Illustrators make a point:

Maurice Sendak’s work has influenced countless other writers and artists, but who influenced him? [I struggle with Sendak. Little Bear is charming, as are a few of his other works, but Where the Wild Things Are has unsettled me since I was small. Perhaps I’m just being silly, though. —Sarah] 

What we’re reading:

Much of Sarah’s reading is influenced by recommendations from a few specific people, among them Alexandra DeSanctis. Though she disagrees with Xan strongly about some titles, they unite in appreciation over L. M. Montgomery’s The Blue Castle (1926). Probably best for 14 and up, this charming book revolves around a uniquely named heroine, Valancy, and a letter that changes her life. [I may write a review of this book someday, but for now, I simply savor the witting romantic tale and smile in dreamy satisfaction each time I finish it. —Sarah]

From the publisher: All her life, Valancy Stirling lived on a quiet little street in an ugly little house and never dared to contradict her domineering mother and her unforgiving aunt. Then she gets a letter―and decides that very day things need to change. For the first time in her life, she does exactly what she wants to and says exactly what she feels.

At first her family thinks she’s gone around the bend. But soon Valancy discovers more surprises and adventure than she ever thought possible. She also finds her one true love and the real-life version of the Blue Castle that she was sure only existed in her dreams…

What our kids are reading:

[“Mommy, bead chu!” is a phrase I hear about four thousand times a day. My two-year-old daughter loves being read to, partially (I hope) out of a budding literary sensibility and partially because she enjoys being in charge. She can select a book, she can turn the pages even when I haven’t finished reading all the words, she can declare that she’s selecting a different book when the one on offer has failed to capture her attention. She lacks such power in most other aspects of her life,—which isn’t to say she doesn’t experiment with boundary pushing at mealtimes. 

Luckily, as the person generally responsible for amassing her library, I’m able to pick books I don’t mind reading, and throw away well-meant but grating gifts. Recently, Beatrix has begun bringing me her book of baby pictures and begging me to read it. At first, I insisted that she could read it herself, thinking her interest in reading a book without words would be a perfect way to get her to sit quietly while I read a novel/did dishes/folded laundry/collected the frayed ends of my poor nerves. No such luck. Despite the lack of plot in the photo album, Beatrix delighted in hearing a narration of the events surrounding each picture; who was holding the baby, what the baby was doing, how small were her toes? (They were so small. So tiny.)

Those previously tiny toes, while not now much bigger, now carry her around the local library between one and three times a week. On recent excursions, she’s brought me Gem by Hollie Hobbie (2012) (what a perfectly delightful children’s book nom de plume!) and Wallpaper by Thao Lam (2018). Gem follows a little frog. There are no words accompanying the story, though one could classify it an epistolary novel [in the line of Frankenstein]—it begins and ends with letters between a young girl and her grandmother. The titular Gem explores the woods, encountering a young girl and her pet cat. Without written words, Hobbie evokes the rustle of leaves and the soft “plop” of a frog into a pond using watercolor sketches. The book feels like Spring. 

Wallpaper is a completely different aesthetic experience. Paper cutouts form a lush background as you follow a little girl down through pages of the paper universe she inhabits. The colors and patterns convey a sense of urgency which is heightened, I think, by the lack of commentary. There are no words to trip over as the little girl tugs at the corner of the page, revealing a glimpse of the next page, and the next world, she will dive into. 

Both books ask Beatrix and the nearest adult to sit down and look. They ask us for a moment of silence—(a welcome thing when parenting a 2-year-old). I am grateful to them, and to her, for demanding attention in a way that I can’t shirk. —Grace]

And now, the moment you’ve all kept scrolling for . . .