picture me, handing you a gigantic glass
of the purest water, straight from a bubbling, blue jug
then we walk cautiously (as we're full of cold liquid)
up the rickety staircase
and oh my gosh, suddenly,
there it is
I honestly don't know much about Richard Scarry. I grew up in a children's bookstore, and I've spent half a year shelving Scarry books for regular wages, and yet I still respect him as a master of mystery, enigma, and most clearly, pure, unmitigated charm.
As well as pure industry. He incorporates several distinct drawing and painting (or "illustrating") styles, all into a singular aesthetic. I'm reminded of Austin's essay on Garth Williams, who is easily recognizable, despite any medium of his choice (whether it be ink, pencil, watercolor, combinations thereof, etc).
Children's books are full of manifold approaches to media these days. Some dude paints his book in oils, another dude scrawls his book in Adobe Illustrator. I don't give a huge shit, especially not when shelving and counting the moments 'til lunch. Yet Scarry jumps out. I could write another note on Seuss or Sendak, or Lionni, or their antecedents, but dudes, dudettes, Scarry rings my cherries like a pro.
And indeed he was! Golden books were wringing his neck, or so I hear, and he complied. Along with Williams. Was Bill Peet part of that? I'm not sure. But I love all of that hacked-out crap. It's fully formed and life affirming.
I think comics can be refreshing and free of agenda and ego when you page through one of these books and then take a glance back at your blank page. I'll paraphrase Scarry saying that he was proud to have people say their copies of his books were worn-out, held together with scotch tape.
I feel like the recent wave of well-produced books, d&q, etc...running parallel to an underground of well-produced silk-screened alters towards transcendental retardation (both of which I love, entirely) could learn something from the "golden books" model of well-produced books which can be chewed by eager toddlers and passively appreciated by bookstore employees.
"I am a bunny" is my favorite book. Ever.
9 comments:
nice
i want to see 'i am a bunny'
will you bring it with you when you move?
just thought: 'wish ray johnson made a children's book'
children's books these days seem terrible
did you grow up with scarry?
is it all nostalgia?
They're almost like instructional books: "small children, this is how you operate in the world, simplified".
Also, enter Dane Martin comment.
I don't remember many of these books, but I've been enjoying them a lot now that I have a little girl. We inherited tons of em (including some of Scarry's) from my older cousin whose kids are too old for them now. I can't wait til Rita's a little older and more inclined to be read to so that we can get into them together. A lot of these illustrators built workable, beautiful styles for themselves that could perform a wide variety of content. I maybe gravitate more toward the ego-driven illustrators like Eric Carle who reinvented the wheel of pictorial representation in order to entertain the little ones. His style is so iconic for me. I don't remember if anyone ever read any of his books to me, but at least the cover of the Very Hungry Caterpillar is a part of my childhood.
A Ray Johnson children's book would be amazing.
Golden Books Scarry! I just think of him as synonymous with the info map style. Medieval space, etc.
Really think the way he presented instructional visual identification without losing the plot (in fact, multiplying the plot) was so so important for people growing up in consumer exhaustion world.
Looked through some pages of I Am a Bunny, love that early style!
Don't recall the distinctive Golden Books spine on anything Bill Peet did. Did get a very nice letter from him after sending fan mail and drawings. He'd had a stroke and apologized for the delayed response. Classy hack.
a lot of the books i had as a kid were intimidating to me even if they only had a few werds
but i could feel compfortable with a few
and scarry was was one of them
now i place him near sergio aregones in my mind
theres a sence of trust that they exude right through the barriers of fear
Scarry is a genius.
pleas e more njesse mcmaneus blog posts
eric carle
is amazing
ahhhhhh
@blaise
it is not really nostalgia because i didn't care about him that much as a little kid, just digested him. other cartoons seemed to have a bigger impact. like mr. bantock for instance:
http://www.stillmanbooks.com/bantock4.jpg
scarry is so huge in our culture, that it shocked me to find his variety of approaches once i had access to more of his work. i suddenly saw him making his world in different ways, taking sharp left turns, but still maintaining the genuine disposition of the work.
thin ink lines with lots of chaos and names in busy-town, sprawling pages built up out of flat, basic ideas. micro ideas piled up to become a big macro idea. making a world by describing it.
it is comforting to see a dog policeman, labelled, next to a bunch of oranges, also labelled.
then turning around and doing more rendered, lush stories in golden books and board books that move at a slow pace, put across one idea or mood in a strong way. 'i am a bunny' is like this. they are like the best minicomics ever.
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