I’m a very punctual person, but I was really late to the illustrated book party that Andrea Beaty and David Roberts have been putting on. Granted, I have seen them because it is impossible to not see one of their books in a lower to mid-elementary classroom or in their school library. The Questioneers book series’ iconic use of graph paper on their cover images makes it clear that these are illustrated books are kept close to the heart of STEM. Aaron Slater, Illustrator follows the previous book’s blueprints. It has rhyming pages, lovingly detailed art, and has a story that aims high with its stem-tastic appeal that’s disguised as an illustrated book
From the perspective of a bibliophile, Quackenstein Hatches A Family is one of those illustrated books that you’ll discover in K or early elementary classrooms that’s been read in brutal fashion. The spine is cracked in several locations. Multiple pages are dog-eared. The front cover has a dozen (or more) crayon scribbles on it. It’s also one of those books that young readers will seek out and immerse themselves in during silent read time.
Even when you’re finished attending school, you’re never done learning. A Man Called Horse is non-fiction proof to that for us, as well as, most people who will read the book. Despite having lived in Florida for half a decade I never knew anything about the Seminole. It’s very likely that resident Floridians know the basics about the Seminole Indians. However, I had no idea of the complex history that the region had in the early 1800s. What’s impressive about A Man Called Horse is how simple and concise author Glennette Tilley Turner makes the material.
When is a board book not a board book? When it turns into a store. OK, that is not the answer, but it’s a question that one might be asking themselves when they pick up Magnificent Women of Marvel, Pop Up, Play and Display!. Sure, the pages are printed on board book thickness, which might imply that the book is geared for crawlers through kindergarten readers. However, when you look at the text it’s far too wordy and has pop-up elements on each page that are in no way able to withstand a crawler’s clumsy hands. The best way to think of Magnificent Women of Marvel is to use terminology that one would normally use with Ray Stevens or Dickie Goodman.
Non-fiction illustrated books have a special place in the classroom and library. Depending on the reader’s level they can provide a brief introduction into a true story, a deeper dive into a piece of history, motivate further reading, or more. Pigskins to Paintbrushes, The Story of Football-Playing Artist Ernie Barnes is one of those illustrated books that will have readers in those categories and more. It’s a book that will also draw in those kids who want to read about sports. Of course, all of this is a moot point unless the book is entertaining and one that kids will relate to.
Grey matter and dark matter walk into a bar. The bartender looks at them and asks, “what’s the matter?”. Dark says, “I’m not attracted to anybody”. It’s worth noting that I know absolutely nothing about dark matter and didn’t even know that it was an actual thing before I read The Stuff Between the Stars. The Stuff Between the Stars: How Vera Rubin Discovered Most of the Universe, is an excellent example of an intelligent, illustrated book that treats its young audience with respect and isn’t afraid to broach big-scale ideas. It does this and accomplishes what an illustrated book should do, which is to entertain young readers. As a healthy aside, those rare illustrated books will tell them something new and make them curious about the bigger picture.
For a couple of reasons, I love wordless books. The art allows readers to use their imagination to propel the story further and gives the artist a chance to use nuanced expressions that might otherwise be filled in by words. Jim Curious and the Jungle Journey is a wordless book with a twist. It’s a little bit Indiana Jones, Fury Road, and steampunk, but is in 3-D. That might seem gimmicky, but the effect really works. As a matter of fact, the 3-D effects in Jim Curious are so effective that you’ll be scratching the pages to see if they’re really lenticular photographs.
Lenticular photos are those photographs that appear to have their subject move as you, or the image change perspective. Dan Kainen has a fabulous series of books about wildlife using this technique. When I was a kid there were also some trading cards that used an earlier form of that technology.
If you look at Jim Curious and the Jungle Journey without the 3-D glasses it will look like a disjointed mess and most likely give you a headache. I’m not even sure why posting images in the post are of any value. THEY DO NOT LOOK LIKE THIS WHEN YOU USE THE GLASSES. What you should do is go to the back cover and use one of the two pairs of supplied 3-D glasses, then open the book.
On the first couple of panels, you’ll see Jim as he’s waking up from bed. He lives near the coast with an idyllic lighthouse that’s just outside of his quaint home. A dragonfly has landed on his head and he’s wearing what looks like a spaceman suit. The suit is padded, quite thick and if it weren’t in the shape of an ‘X’ on his chest he’d resemble the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
It’s when Jim leaves his house, through a mirror on the wall; that the 3-D magic takes off. He wades a couple of steps into a body of water and heads towards a massive mountain. The huge trees have scales that mirror a 50-story snake. As he walks towards the mountain things get darker, actual snakes appear, baboons the size of cars come down from the trees, Aztec-looking temples are explored, and more. There’s a buoy he has to walk past that’s on a dried-up lake bed. Jim is trying to get to a bright light that’s just beyond a small shack. He knows that he has to enter that shack, but what will he find when he goes in?
Jim Curious and the Jungle Journey is a wordless book, and by definition depends entirely on its images. If you’re new to wordless books that do not mean that they’re devoid of emotion, action, development, or story. The climax in Jungle Journey is a great example of that is the fact that it happens six pages before the end of the book. The ending is also very trippy and would be at home if Pink Floyd were played as you were reading it. In addition to a trippy ending, it’s also fabulous, makes you question things, and begs you to re-read the book again just to see if you missed something.
I was incorrect in my original ‘gimmick’ label with Jim Curious and the Jungle Journey. In hindsight, I would refer to the 3-D aspect as more of a feature that requires those 3-D glasses in order to enjoy it. This is a book that requires a moment to fully appreciate it, but when you do it’s akin to a light going off and that “A-HA” moment when you understand something wasn’t immediately evident.
Jim Curious and the Jungle Journey is by Matthias Picard and on Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Abrams Books.
Illustrated books have the capacity to teach us so much. Those non-fiction illustrated books, when done well, can introduce real-life figures or events to young audiences in a way that makes them want to learn more. The People’s Painter, How Ben Shahn Fought For Justice With Art by Cynthia Levinson with pictures by Evan Turk is like that. I was familiar with Turk’s work from his great book You Are Home. The style in The People’s Painter is different because it’s in the style of Ben Shahn. For us, and possibly many young readers, Shahn is an artist whose work they won’t know. He had an amazing life, as a young child railing against Czar Nicholas II’s soldiers, escaping to America in 1906 and creating illustrations that documented workers and the poor.
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