More on James Marshall, and keep 'em if you got 'em
In my last blog entry I wrote about Bobbin's current favourite story: Goldilocks and the Three Bears. I briefly mentioned that the version that we have is the one retold and illustrated by James Marshall. Bobbin has gotten so much joy out of listening to the story and looking at the pictures, and I've derived so much joy from reading it with her (both from the standpoint of enjoying the story myself the way the author retells it, as well as enjoying having Bobbin cuddle close to me, and the interactive dialogue that ensues as she engages with the story and with me) that I decided to see if he had any other retellings of classic tales.
A brief search on Amazon while I was writing the last blog entry turned up several: Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, and Hansel and Gretel. He also did a version of Cinderella. And I learned he also had a whole series of characters that he had made up and written about - most notably George and Martha, two hippopotami.
So today I decided to take a little time and head down to the local bookstore to see what I could find. While I like the convenience of ordering online, I like the instant gratification I get from going to the bookstore.
Children's books has become a real hobby for me since I first learned I was pregnant with Bobbin 3 1/4 years ago (good grief! It's been that long?!). I've always been an avid reader myself and so it was a natural thing for me to start spending more and more time in the children's section of the bookstores looking for the books that I remembered fondly from my childhood, and seeing the new stuff that was out there. Finding all the new beautifully or cleverly illustrated books as well as beautifully or cleverly told stories as well as all the old favourites. For me, it's more than just the best sellers. "Knufflebunny" and "Where the Wild Things Are" and the Eric Carle books are good stories, but they are also on every bookshelf in every children's book-nook, in every bookstore's children's showcase display, and every daycare, doctor's office, dentist's waiting room, bank, coffee shop, and just about anywhere else that attempts to entertain children while their parents are busy doing something. I like to find the fun, interesting, zany and creative books that are hidden behind these ones. That's the thrill of the hunt, I guess :-)
Oddly enough, I don't recall any James Marshall books from my childhood. But the discovery of George and Martha in my James Marshall research sparked a distant memory. Perhaps from school or the library. They were written in the early 70's right when I would have been the right age for them, so it's entirely likely.
At any rate, I found only one of his several books in the bookstore after much searching and sifting through book shelves. This was the same bookstore in which I had found and purchased Goldilocks a few weeks ago. I remember noting at the time that it was strange they only had one copy.
In fact, interesting to note, my search for hardcover James Marshall books was eerily similar to my search for Berenstain Bear books earlier this year. In both cases, there were no hardcover versions to be found. In both cases, there was only an odd paperback version of a single book to be found wedged in between all the other paperback picture books on the bottom shelf where they pile that stuff in no apparent order. And in both cases the reason given was that the hardcovers are probably out of print, and "I guess the books just aren't that popular anyway". Who the hell is running these bookstores, and can they even read?
I even went to The Other Bookstore, and didn't even find any soft cover versions of his books. They had absolutely nothing.
At any rate, I bought the one paperback copy of James Marshall's Three Little Pigs, and then came home and ordered online what I swear is the last remaining hardcover version of his Little Red Riding Hood, along with a softcover Hansel and Gretel. They should arrive next week just in time for Bobbin's ear tube & adenoid surgery which will be a nice treat for us afterwards.
Having such a difficult time finding any of his books made me want to know a little bit more about him. Hence the link to his wikipedia entry at the beginning of this post.
It's a brief article, but the sentence that struck me the most was the last: "James Marshall had the uncanny ability to elicit wild delight from readers with relatively little text and simple drawings. With only two minute dots for eyes, his illustrated characters are able to express a wide range of emotion, and never ever fail to produce howls of laughter from children and adults." because that exactly describes my and Bobbin's experience reading his books.
Bobbin zeroed in right away on the bears' eyes. It's true - they are only tiny dots and lines, but there's no doubt as to what emotion they are displaying and Bobbin will point it out right away.
Bobbin: Why Mama bear is angry? Mommy: I don't think she's really angry. More annoyed, really. Bobbin: No, hers angry. Her have angry eyes. Look at her angry eyes. See?
It's so much fun to watch her notice that stuff completely on her own; for her to take in all the little details of an illustration and independantly arrive at an interpretation and conclusion about the characters' feelings and state of mind, and what it must all mean.
And now for some children's book advice: If you find yourself in the possession of, or with the opportunity to become in the possession of, a hardcover copy of either a James Marshall picture book OR a Jan & Stan Berenstain book, hold on tight. Cause they're rare finds. AND they're great stories that your kids will love. Valuable on multiple fronts ;-). And if you can't get a hardcover, go ahead and buy the paperback edition. They may not last as long but you and your kid will still derive invaluable pleasure, and for much less than the price of a hardcover (even if they weren't rare).
Blog update: While at the bookstore, in addition to purchasing The Three Little Pigs, I also purchased a hardcover called "The Adventures of Isabel: A Verse" written by Ogden Nash. I had picked it up and read it, and the poem was fun and silly and childish and perfect, and the illustrations for it matched perfectly. I didn't realize until I got home, started doing my James Marshall wikipedia search, and discovered this title amongst the long list of books that he had either authored, illustrated, or both, that this book was in fact illustrated by James Marshall as well. I found it in a completely different area of the children's book section and hadn't even looked at the illustrator name. Interesting that I seem so consistently drawn (pun intended ;-)) to his work. That tells me a lot!
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