There was one night when I was a little nervous. In the background there was one of those prime time programs with extra screaming, the day was too exhausting to start writing a post or a story and I was already going for the second infusion of shift accompanied by a cigarette, very contradictory me. I went to the room and, just before I lay down on the bed, I discovered a book that someone loaned me a long time ago and that I had not yet stopped to read, or well, to contemplate rather.
It was, in effect, an illustrated book, in theory focused on children, although we already know that these books often hide subliminal messages and visual poetry totally suitable for people of all ages. Then I will reveal the name of it, included in this list of 5 illustrated books that deserve to be contemplated whose therapeutic and emotional effect may still have to overcome the many prejudices of the adult public towards these more "children's" books.
Where the monsters live, by Maurice Sendack
One of the most popular picture books in history it was published in 1963 under a display of awards and controversy in equal measure. The story of Max, a boy whose house turns into a jungle inhabited by strange monsters symbolizes the many fears of childhood and, according to Sendack, was conceived as a way to circumvent the overprotection of parents over their children, intentions not so well received in a somewhat conservative 60s for overly innovative children's picture books. The book was adapted for film in 2009.
The Starry Night, by Jimmy Liao
Born in Taipei in 1958, Jimmy Liao is not only one of the most original illustrators of the Orient but also an example for anyone who pursues their dreams. At the age of 40, Liao gave up his job as a publicist to dedicate himself to illustrating and publishing his own stories, sometimes a kind of visual version of Murakami himself. One of them, The Starry Night, is a delight for the senses as a journey through those real and dream worlds in which flying buses, sharks in basins or giant birds are witnessed by the two leading children. And yes, also a perfect book for restless nights.
Ocean Dream by Khoa Le
Ocean dream by Khoa Le #illustration #art http://t.co/DIkuPprzlp pic.twitter.com/roCnFDEVxj
- My Freshes (@MyFreshes) March 29, 2014
Water is the favorite element of Khoa Lea, a Vietnamese illustrator who always knows how to give her books that exotic and precious touch that completely transports us. Ocean Dream is a good example of this thanks to a story about a girl and an ocean in which letters are the least of it and goldfish become the best magic carpet to new worlds.
Count to five, by Ramón Girona and Sebastià Serra
During a recent visit to Madrid, I discovered an illustrated book about India whose protagonist was a donkey that could not count to five. A simple, and a priori childish, premise if it weren't for that Hindu charm interspersed with its nature as a book conceived for children with reading comprehension problems that the Catalans Girona (author) and Serra (illustrator) encourage to continue counting, to take their weather. A book that is also the best excuse to travel and immerse ourselves in the daily life of the Indian subcontinent.
Attempting Normal, by Marc Maron and Andrew Fairclough
This title confirms that not all picture books are aimed precisely at children, judging by the designs that the Australian illustrator Fairclough created for the biography of New Jersey comedian and showman Marc Maron. Throughout the pages of Attempting Normal, there is no shortage of impossible colors, psychedelia, references to pop culture and endless images halfway between surrealism and the comic.
Between these 5 illustrated books that deserve to be contemplated There is no shortage of titles focused on children's progress, to give us a laugh and, especially, to travel through all those scenarios by the hand of characters created by authors who must sleep between the real world and another much more magical world of their own, of starry nights where everything it's possible.
Have you taken a look at some of these books? What do you think of picture books?