Return of the Kings

There are a few children’s authors who loom so large in the world of children’s literature that they can only be described as giants. These are the greats, the classics, modern or older, that we remember from our own childhoods and can’t wait to share with our kids.

Many of them, of course, are no longer writing. But this fall, two of the kings of kidslit have made their return with new material. Yes, there is excitement in the air! Let’s take a look…

Bumble-ardy
by Maurice Sendak
Harper Collins
ISBN: 978 0 06 205198 1

This new picture book arrived with interviews on npr and 2-page publicity releases listing Sendak’s many stellar achievements and noting that this is the first book he has both written and illustrated in 30 years, though he has illustrated other works in that time, including the wonderful Swine Lake, written by James Marshall. To say that there’s plenty of anticipation is no small understatement.

The book is about a little pig who had never had a birthday party, until his ninth year, when he went ahead and had one – without telling his aunt, who had adopted him. It turns out to be one crazy scene of mayhem, as you can imagine, if you remember the wild rumpus from Where the Wild Things Are, until his aunt comes home and chases the revelers away and tells him it’s the last one – and he promises never to turn ten.

It’s an odd and funny little book, and while there is much being read into it already, I think for kids, the fun will come in the out-of-control party and the fact that the ending is loving, despite Bumble-Ardy’s misdemeanours. Though I don’t see this being the same kind of enduring classic as Sendak’s wild things are, for the kid with a naughty streak and a love of a good party, this is a fine romp, indeed.

Every Thing On It
by Shel Silverstein
Harper Collins
ISBN: 978 0 06 199816 4

In advance of seeing this new posthumous collection of poetry, I read this article talking with his longtime editor, and was very excited to read about the process of putting this book together. Shel is one of the big favourites from my own childhood, someone I read over and over on my own, so I couldn’t wait to see new material.

The problem for me, of course, is that memory and reality? Not always an exact match, you know? I read this remembering myself laughing like a hyena at every poem at my old favourite poetry books, Where The Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic. So by comparison, I thought at first read, there are some real standouts here, but it’s not wall-to-wall amazing, it’s a little up-and-down.

And then I looked at those collections and realized that yes, there are plenty of favourites, poems I read and reread for years and still just love, but there are poems that don’t leave me limp with giggles there, too. There are those poems that are more like observations, the ones that make a point, and the ones that are about the twist ending, just as there are here. And so, on further reading, with a little dose of reality about his past works mixed in, I think this stands up quite well with his other collections of poems, and I think in the end, fans will be happy to see more of his work having come to light.