I have mentioned how there are little gems hidden in the sea of shelves in bookstores. These are books that are deemed special because they continue to touch readers through generations. They also feel as if you are holding art in your hands. Sometimes you have a book just like that in your very own bookshelf and you don’t know it.
These discoveries, not all related to children's books to be clear, send me into intellectual panic- knowing that there is so much to learn, so many layers of stories and context behind everything man does or makes. Then, when I stumble upon these through the mundane act of work related research, serendipity, and glitchy Googling, I think: “Why, if this is so extraordinary, poignant, beautiful, or horrific, even rampant….why did I not come across it before?
To add to this already common feeling, a friend just gave me a book titled: “1001 Children’s books you must read before you grow up” as a gift! Hm, yea. Luckily, I still have time for this feat. By the way, click on the link above and get the first quick illustration of what I am trying to explain- you will stumble to another world. Every person is a world, as the saying goes.
So when I set out to write about Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse, I thought I would look a little into it, to better structure my thoughts. Wow. I knew why we loved it, but it was only intuitively. I remember how ordinarily we came to own it, now knowing its importance. “Look, there is a whole section of paperback books that are just $6.99 over there”, I said to my husband. “They all have great pictures and some really stand out”. All by this…”Lionni” guy I love, and at that price, he can buy 3 like we said”. (Tip: a child will always ask for one more than you set, so start your negotiations with one less from the start. Bonus: they’ll think you are an awesome parent too for letting them convince you sometimes.)
And that’s how we took Leo Lionni’s Swimmy, The Biggest House in the World, and Alexander and the Wind-up Mouse home.
Is there still space for the actual review? Am I allowed to just write: “get this book next time you are in a bookstore”? If you do, you’ll be able to read to your child a book by the person that influenced the famous Eric Carle, embarked the collage as a format for illustrating books, and had the fortune of fleeing Anti-Semitic persecution days before World War II broke out in the country he lived in at the time. Just to name a few of the interesting context. This book represents him, his world, and what he left while he was in it. I had the book, yet I knew nothing of what the object represented until now. If you click on this paragraph’s awesome link, you will too. Just promise to come back for the review because the web site's color palette will trap you like it did me.
If the book were a movie, it would start with a well-crafted chase scene clearly making you identify the guy you want to root for. The scale of cups and spoons within the page quickly puts you in his point of view too. He is Alexander, a mouse. The big scale of human possessions, grass, and other surroundings throughout each page keeps you in the right perspective. These scenes are bold and geometric, but filled with intricate patterns of the materials they are cut from and arranged in. The materials are ripped or cut smooth, and layered.
Through the graphics and text, we know right away of the tribulations that poor Alexander endures for being a real mouse, chased for simply wanting some crumbs. We soon find out about his emerging friendship with a windup toy mouse, Willy, owned by the child in the house. Their worlds are different, and their challenges, though unique to each, become the basis for their conversations. Alexander longs for love. Willy, lacking the freedom of mobility unless it is created by his owner, treasures the love they have for him above it.
One day, Willy tells Alexander that he has heard a story. Having spent my share of time at the stove or sink listening to my son’s self dialogue while playing, I like to imagine that Willy might have been a character, or at the very least a witness to a boy’s magical play scheme at some point too. This story launches Alexander into a suspenseful journey, with a heartwarming twist at the end.
The book values true love and freedom. The concept of “true” is made concrete to kids by portraying Alexander as a real mouse and Willy as a toy. When you choose to be a true friend, even by giving up what you may think you wanted, the reward may be just the thing you BOTH really needed all along.
These discoveries, not all related to children's books to be clear, send me into intellectual panic- knowing that there is so much to learn, so many layers of stories and context behind everything man does or makes. Then, when I stumble upon these through the mundane act of work related research, serendipity, and glitchy Googling, I think: “Why, if this is so extraordinary, poignant, beautiful, or horrific, even rampant….why did I not come across it before?
To add to this already common feeling, a friend just gave me a book titled: “1001 Children’s books you must read before you grow up” as a gift! Hm, yea. Luckily, I still have time for this feat. By the way, click on the link above and get the first quick illustration of what I am trying to explain- you will stumble to another world. Every person is a world, as the saying goes.
So when I set out to write about Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse, I thought I would look a little into it, to better structure my thoughts. Wow. I knew why we loved it, but it was only intuitively. I remember how ordinarily we came to own it, now knowing its importance. “Look, there is a whole section of paperback books that are just $6.99 over there”, I said to my husband. “They all have great pictures and some really stand out”. All by this…”Lionni” guy I love, and at that price, he can buy 3 like we said”. (Tip: a child will always ask for one more than you set, so start your negotiations with one less from the start. Bonus: they’ll think you are an awesome parent too for letting them convince you sometimes.)
And that’s how we took Leo Lionni’s Swimmy, The Biggest House in the World, and Alexander and the Wind-up Mouse home.
Is there still space for the actual review? Am I allowed to just write: “get this book next time you are in a bookstore”? If you do, you’ll be able to read to your child a book by the person that influenced the famous Eric Carle, embarked the collage as a format for illustrating books, and had the fortune of fleeing Anti-Semitic persecution days before World War II broke out in the country he lived in at the time. Just to name a few of the interesting context. This book represents him, his world, and what he left while he was in it. I had the book, yet I knew nothing of what the object represented until now. If you click on this paragraph’s awesome link, you will too. Just promise to come back for the review because the web site's color palette will trap you like it did me.
If the book were a movie, it would start with a well-crafted chase scene clearly making you identify the guy you want to root for. The scale of cups and spoons within the page quickly puts you in his point of view too. He is Alexander, a mouse. The big scale of human possessions, grass, and other surroundings throughout each page keeps you in the right perspective. These scenes are bold and geometric, but filled with intricate patterns of the materials they are cut from and arranged in. The materials are ripped or cut smooth, and layered.
Through the graphics and text, we know right away of the tribulations that poor Alexander endures for being a real mouse, chased for simply wanting some crumbs. We soon find out about his emerging friendship with a windup toy mouse, Willy, owned by the child in the house. Their worlds are different, and their challenges, though unique to each, become the basis for their conversations. Alexander longs for love. Willy, lacking the freedom of mobility unless it is created by his owner, treasures the love they have for him above it.
One day, Willy tells Alexander that he has heard a story. Having spent my share of time at the stove or sink listening to my son’s self dialogue while playing, I like to imagine that Willy might have been a character, or at the very least a witness to a boy’s magical play scheme at some point too. This story launches Alexander into a suspenseful journey, with a heartwarming twist at the end.
The book values true love and freedom. The concept of “true” is made concrete to kids by portraying Alexander as a real mouse and Willy as a toy. When you choose to be a true friend, even by giving up what you may think you wanted, the reward may be just the thing you BOTH really needed all along.
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