The Hat Books include This is Not My Hat, I Want My Hat Back, and We Found a Hat. The naughty characters get what’s coming to them, but we don’t have to watch, only guess. That sounds like a point, but meanwhile it’s just silly fun.
They make me think about truth: what we tell ourselves, what we tell others, and how we persuade minds and reshape reality. His narratives make me think about what it means to be human, even though his characters are fish and turtles and bears and things. The pictures often belie the text, for a really fun teasing kind of story. In contrast, the work of Jon Klassen is modern and clean cut, with few words and dressed-down fabulous illustrations. This book contains three stories: Mitzi Takes a Taxi, Mitzi Sneezes, and Mitzi and the President. You can buy it used on Amazon or Abe Books. But it’s a lesser-known set, no longer being printed.
Here’s another review of the Mitzi books, with some sample pictures – I’m not the only one who feels this way. The illustrations (Harriet Pincus) are colorful, charmingly ugly, and outrageously fascinating. They are one-step-forward, three-steps-back kind of tales, and they do my heart good because no one can get anywhere and it’s so delicious. Lore Segal wrote three stories about Mitzi, a city-dwelling girl with a little brother named Jacob. I hope you will like them as much as we do. (What is the plural of series? Serieses? Seriesi?) They are excellent read-alouds for children, who take them at face value, and for adults, who can fully appreciate the quirkiness. Here are three children’s books that I love for that aspect. I laugh a lot in that space, and my eyes are wide with the surprise of it. I love when art and literature and life experiences push me here.
Do you know I’m also crazy about pointlessness, in certain ways? That is, not nihilism or worthlessness, but the nonsense-hilarity of living and being human in this world. Confession: You already know me well enough to know I’m crazy about books.
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