Small World

Prize-winning children’s book authors and illustrators return to Princeton.

See related story:
Empowering Children
By: Anthony Stoeckert

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The main character in Flotsam examines a crustacean at the beach.


   The Second Annual Children’s Book Festival at the Princeton Public Library is a celebration of children’s books and the authors who write them. It’s a day in which the storytellers who open up new worlds to kids — who inspire them, thrill them and make them laugh — will sign books, and talk to parents and children about their craft.
   The Sept. 15 event will feature appearances from 33 writers and illustrators, including David Wiesner (Flotsam, Tuesday, The Three PigsWhen I Grow UpSisters Grimm books); Amy Hest (When Jessie Came Across the SeaThe Biggest Pumpkin Ever, and several history-themed picture books); local author Jennifer Morgan (Mammals who MorphThe Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash).
   Live entertainment will be an important part of the day as well, with music by Philadelphia guitarist Kenn Kweder and children’s musicians Miss Amy and Alex and the Kaleidoscope Band. Magician Douglas Billingsley, Otto the Balloon Man, stilt walkers and face painting are other highlights.
   "Princeton is a community that loves books and loves authors and loves the library," says Allison Santos, Princeton Public Library youth services library assistant, adding that the Friends of the Library sponsors the festival to encourage a love of reading in children.
   One author the festival organizers are particularly happy to have at this year’s event is Mr. Wiesner, three-time winner of the Caldecott Medal (awarded yearly by the Association for Library Service to Children for the most distinguished American picture book of the year). Mr. Wiesner’s wordless picture books certainly tell stories, but determining the meaning of many of the illustrations is up to each reader.
   Take, for example, Mr. Wiesner’s most recent book, Flotsam (Houghton Mifflin, $17), which won this year’s Caldecott Medal. The basics of the story are clear (if a bit mysterious). A young boy gets knocked over by a wave at the ocean while examining a crab. The subsiding wave leaves behind an object, which turns out to be an old underwater camera. Inside is a roll of film the boy gets developed.
   It’s at this point where the reader puts his or her imagination to work. One picture shows a school of fish, one of which is mechanical. Another shows two octopuses sitting in what looks like a living room (one of the animals is reading). Other images show fish taking a balloon ride (the balloon being a blowfish), turtles with cities on their shells, and giant starfish with islands on their backs.
   What do all these creative, strange images mean? That’s for us to decide, but several "readings" start to provide hints. After going through the book four or five times, this reader noticed an upside down moving truck in the background of the octopus drawing. Maybe the truck fell into the water (with no one getting injured, of course), and the eight-legged creatures took advantage of the payday. It also looks as if those islands on the stretching starfish would appear to be regular islands when the starfish are at rest. Maybe the starfish are exercising, or allowing a pod of whales to swim through.
   Specific explanations to these details aren’t coming from Mr. Wiesner, nor are answers to seemingly basic questions such as who took the pictures.
   "Had I shown how that was happening, I think it would have taken away from the mystery of it, some of the magic if you will," Mr. Wiesner says by phone from his home near Philadelphia. "And each kid… who knows what they would come up with? I’m always amazed at the incredible leaps that kids’ minds will take. Obviously, there’s a story structure there, but it leaves enough space for their imaginations to go wherever they want to go."
   None of this means that Flotsam lacks a message or a theme. It’s about the wonders of children’s imaginations and their ability to believe in the impossible. Our young beach-goer discovers pictures of the camera’s previous owners, dating back to the early 20th century. They’re all kids, and together they share this secret and those who dismiss the boy (the lifeguard whose shrugging gesture suggests him saying, "It’s not my problem," and the disinterested photo store employee) are missing out.
   Wordless picture books have long fascinated Mr. Wiesner, with comic books being a big influence. Toward the end of his studies at Rhode Island School of Design, he gained a fuller understanding of picture books and realized they were the format where his kinds of stories would fit. He later realized the impact of the wordless picture book after receiving letters from kids, teachers and librarians.
   "Because it doesn’t have the author’s voice telling the story to you, everybody who reads it basically tells it in their own way," he says. "And that’s a really neat thing. I think there’s a freedom to it where suddenly (kids) get to tell the story. Particularly in school, it seems to inspire them to actually write their version of the story."
   Mr. Wiesner’s renderings of animals are particularly interesting. While his creatures are doing impossible things, they aren’t standing on two legs, and their faces aren’t adjusted to look like humans. He expresses admiration for that approach and says it’s very hard to do, but somewhere along the way, he decided he prefers creating worlds that were believable. He takes what he calls an "observational" approach to drawing and looks at real animals and photos before drawing his fish, frogs and pigs. He also creates models and puts them in different positions and observes how light falls on them.
   Finishing a book takes a while for Mr. Wiesner. Flotsam, for example, took five years from start to finish (though he worked on other books within that timeframe). Inspired by family trips to Long Beach Island (where he, his wife and their two children vacation every summer), the book began with the idea of finding something at the ocean and not knowing what it was. "That imagery was there, waiting for something to happen," he says.
   The story changed several times before it was ready to be illustrated. Next, Mr. Wiesner drew rough versions of the pictures. Painting the dozens of images that appear in the book took another year.
   All that hard work paid off, not just in the reward of a third Caldecott Medal for the best children’s book of the year, but in the responses he gets, and not just from the youngest of readers. He hears from middle school, and even high school, students who are taken with his work. These are fitting responses for a writer/illustrator who says he’s never understood why pictures have to leave books once readers hit a certain age.
The Second Princeton Children’s Book Festival will take place at the Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon St., Princeton, Sept. 15, noon-5 p.m. Authors will sign books on the Albert E. Hinds Plaza and host presentations in the library’s community room. Entertainment schedule: Kenn Kweder, noon-1 p.m., 2-3:30 p.m., 4:30-5 p.m.; Miss Amy, 1-2 p.m., 3:30-4:30 p.m. Roaming entertainment: Stilt Walkers, 1-2 p.m.; Douglas Billingsley, 1-3 p.m.; Otto the Amazing Balloon Man, 2-4 p.m. Cotsen Children’s Library will host crafts in the third-floor activity room. All activities are free; (609) 924-9529; www.princeton.lib.nj.us