The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

THE MYSTERIES OF HARRIS BURDICK by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin, 1984)
GENRE: Mystery
HONORS: None

REVIEW: The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is a deceptively simple book based on a deceptively simple premise. The author, award-winning Chris Van Allsburg, in a brief but fantastically contextualizing introduction, purports to be simply reproducing existing material - specifically, a collection of 12 illustrations, titles and first lines from 12 stories by a mysterious author named, Harris Burdick. Supposedly, Burdick left this "sample" of his work with a man named Peter Wenders 30 years before with the idea that if Wenders liked his work, Burdick would return with the rest of the stories and their illustrations. Wenders loved Burdick's work, but the author / illustrator never returned. His illustrations and titles, however, had inspired dozens of stories by the school children that Wenders had shown the work to. Inspired in turn, Van Allsburg states in his introduction that he is now publishing the "collection" in the hopes that it will inspire an even wider audience. The illustrations, as with all of Van Allsburg's art, are haunting and shadowy, hinting at far more than the eye initially sees. The titles and first lines add to the art's mystique, underscoring humor in some images, or, far more often, instilling the  illustrations with an odd, unsettling quality. Though the text is sparse, the visual and creative content is not. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is full of enough mystery to inspire even the only marginally curious to return to the images again and again.

OPINION: To page casually through The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is to skim the surface of one's own creative potential. Though there is comparatively little text, the imaginative demands of the book's premise make it an excellent read for younger adolescents and a great creative tool / source of inspiration for tweens (and even teens) of all ages. Creepy, funny, unsettling and, indeed, mysterious, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick offers no solution to the problem of the missing manuscript pages or Burdick's disappearance, but it does offer the reader ample opportunity to write the resolution for themselves.

IDEAS: This is a fantastic book to spur discussions in a classroom or book club - how do you interpret the image? The title and first line? All three elements together? Why? It's also a great jumping off point for a creative writing exercise.

Virginia Wolf

VIRGINIA WOLF by Kyo Maclear; Illustrated by Isabella Aresenault (Kids Can Press, 2012)
GENRE: Loosely Fictional Biography
HONORS: None yet, though it has received a number of very positive reviews.

REVIEW: One day, a girl named Vanessa notices that her sister, Virginia, has begun to behave "wolfishly". She howls and sends people away, isolating herself in her bed while the household turns upside-down. Rather than be chased off by her sister's terrible, dark mood, Vanessa embraces her and engages her, painting her walls with flowers and enchanted objects so that she might create an enchanted place called "Bloomsberry" for the unhappy Virginia. Thanks to Vanessa's stalwart love, Virginia emerges from her wolfish mood and rejoins her sister in the light. Virginia Wolf is a subtle, delicately crafted book. It draws just enough from the lives of Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf to be undeniable biographical, while never explicitly bringing up the topics of depression or Woolf's eventual suicide. Instead, it is a story of sisterly love and support, and how it helps the wolfish Virginia emerge from her dark place. Aresnault's delicate, watercolor illustrations mirror the subtlety and depth of Maclear's prose, making Virginia Wolf an effective, yet unthreatening meditation on "the doldrums" and the isolation that can result.

OPINION: Though simple on the surface, Virginia Wolf is a book with deep emotional resonance. Because Maclear's hand is so light, it is a perfect book for young people not yet ready to deal with the dark, potentially alienating topic of depression or sadness in a direct manner. Instead, Maclear allows the topic to perfume the air while focusing on the support that helps Virginia transcend her doldrums. A beautiful, sensitive book with sophisticated underpinnings and gorgeous illustrations, it is truly a picture book for older readers.

IDEAS: Beautiful in it's own right, Virginia Wolf is a strong suggestion for young people interested in stories about the bond between sisters, as well as for those dealing with sadness, grief, depression or even just a series of bad moods or bad days. These themes are touched on lightly, but it is this gentle treatment which allows individual readers to glean what they need from the text and illustrations.
*For a lovely short essay by the author on writing a children's book based on a famous depressive and her sister, see the following: http://kyomaclearkids.com/virginia-wolf/extras/whos-afraid-of-virginia-woolf/

The Cod's Tale

THE COD'S TALE by Mark Kurlansky; Illustrated by S.D. Schindler (G.P. Putnam, 2001)
GENRE: Nonfiction / History
HONORS: Orbis Pictus Award

REVIEW: Every aspect of The Cod's Tale has been carefully chosen and meticulously executed, making this a surprisingly interesting mediation on history, zoological science and environmentalism all filtered through the lens of that most unglamorous of fish, the cod. Kurlansky's voice is straightforward and frank, crediting the reader with interest and intelligence without lapsing into didacticism. Schindler's watercolor illustrations are humorous and appealing in their detail, while the maps and timelines compliment and support the text. In addition to a wide range of well-chosen facts, Kurlansky also includes side bars with supplementary quotes, stories and even recipes, drawing the reader further along into the narrative of the cod's once robust presence in the oceans to the species' desperately dwindling numbers. Even more impressive is the fact that Kurlansky manages to convey the global import of this under-considered fish through structure alone. By opening with the cod's place in the oceanographic hierarchy and then narrowing down to the history of how humans have used the fish before widening one again to ponder the environmental impact of overfishing, Kurlansky gives import and interest to a topic that would not, intuitively, have either.

OPINION: Although The Cod's Tale is, ostensibly, a picture book, the level of detail and thought that has gone into it's making elevates it to the level of any nonfiction chapter book, and certainly above most textbooks, based on interest alone. A book that demands thought and consideration, it is still an accessible and engrossing read while being undeniably informative.

IDEAS: A good addition to Earth Day or oceanographic displays. Also a strong suggestion for students interested in topics on environmental impact and the history and influence of food in western culture (and particularly in America).

Mirror, Mirror

MIRROR, MIRROR by Marilyn Singer; Illustrated by Josee Masse (Dutton, 2010)
GENRE: Poetry / Fantasy
HONORS: None

REVIEW: Marilyn Singer plays with an interesting concept in Mirror, Mirror. The poems are all distillations of familiar fairy tales, but the verse is "reversible," which is where things get slightly dicey. The concept of reversible verse is a good one. The poems are meant to have different meanings, depending on whether or not one is reading them front to back or back to front. To aid in this exercise, Singer presents the two versions of each poem side by side as mirror images of the other. Many of the reversals are quite successful, (Rapunzel and Cinderella particularly stand out), but others, (like the Red Riding Hood poem among several others), work well enough in one direction but become forced and nonsensical in the other. That said, Josee Masse's illustrations are lovely, with lush colors and pleasingly rounded, clean lines. Each story receives an illustration and each illustration captures the essence of both the original tale and Singer's poem with charming efficiency. As distillations of well-known stories, the poems are easy to enjoy. 

OPINION: Overall, Mirror, Mirror is very good book and an excellent way to encourage tweens resistant to poetry to give it a try. The tales are familiar and intriguingly presented, providing plenty of opportunity for discussion and individual interpretation. The illustrations are warm and inviting, while the puzzle-like nature of the verse gives the poems a playful quality that belies many kids' assumption that poetry is stuffy and unwelcoming.

IDEAS: Selections of Mirror, Mirror would make a nice addition to classroom discussions on fairy tales and / or poetic form, so long as you cherry-pick a handful rather than present the whole.