Picture Book Month - Day 26 author

I'm nearing the homestretch for featuring a different picture book author for each day of this month.  I hope you have maybe found a new author or illustrator that you now love.  Please leave comments about your favorites, too!

Today, I want to put a spotlight on Ed Young, winner of the Caldecott Medal in 1989 and 2 Caldecott Honors, illustrator of over 80 children's books.  He takes inspiration for Chinese painting.  As he says on his website (http://edyoungart.com/) :

“A Chinese painting is often accompanied by words,” explains Young. “They are complementary. There are things that words do that pictures never can, and likewise, there are images that words can never describe.”

Lon Po Po won the Caldecott Medal in 1989.  As the subtitles states it is "A Red-Riding Hood Story From China."  In the Chinese version of the tale, a wolf comes to the door of 3 children claiming to be their Po Po or grandmother. The younger children let the wolf in, but the eldest is cautious.  " 'Po Po,' she said, why is  your voice so low?'  'Your grandmother has caught a cold, good children, and it is dark and windy out here. Quickly open up, and let your Po Po come in,' the cunning wolf said." After catching a glimpse of a furry face before the wolf blows out the candle, Shang, the eldest makes a plan to outwit the sly wolf.  The illustrations are reminiscent of Chinese panel paintings and add to the atmosphere of the story. Beautiful and haunting.

Seven Blind Mice earned a Caldecott Honor in 1992 and is a story time favorite.  It is a retelling of a folktale from India.  Seven mice each come across a "strange Something", but they all describe it very differently. One feels a fan, another a snake and so on.  Finally, the seventh mouse explores the entire "Something." It turns out that they have all encountered the same thing,- an elephant - but the others have only felt part of it.  The "Mouse Moral" at the end is : "Knowing in part may make a fine tale, but wisdom comes from seeing the whole"  The illustrations are very different from Lon Po Po - utilizing cut paper collage and vibrant primary color paint.

The House That Baba Built: an artist's childhood in China is Ed Young's most recent book.  It is an autobiographical picture book of his childhood during the Japanese invasion of China and World War II.  His father has made a safe haven for his family - his wife, 4 children, and other relatives and friends in need of a place to stay.  Although a war is raging, inside the house there is still joy and imagination.  Towards the end of the war they can finally hear the bombs:
"We gathered in the hallway, where the dinner bell was - the safest part of the house, Baba said.  There were no windows there, so we could keep a light on.  When everyone was settled comfortably, the stories began.  Baba told of a woman kung fu warrior with bound feet...I pictured her, not the bombs outside, which didn't frighten me anyway.  I knew nothing could happen to us within those walls, in the house Baba built."
This is a lovely, lyrical and  true story.  The illustrations feel like flipping through and old scrapbook or photo album.  It is a wonderful way to get to know this very talented writer and illustrator.

I hope you will discover or rediscover Ed Young.