David Wiesner
It was a quiet summer evening shelving books in our children's library. Our summer college intern came up with a book she said I just had to see. She handed me a book that had nary a word, but the illustrations took me to another world.
A young boy visiting the Empire State Building loses himself in the clouds on the observation deck. Suddenly his hat was gone... and it was snagged by a cloud. Thus started the boy's adventure to cloud central station where all clouds are given their assignments and the wonderful havoc wreaked when the boy applies his imagination to the task.
That was my introduction to the work of David Wiesner whom I now consider the greatest current day children's book illustrator. The book, Sector 7, was a Caldecott Honors Book one of four books he has created that has been honored by the Caldecott committee.
While Sector 7 was rather worthy of the honor, his 1992 Caldecott Medal winner Tuesday was astounding. One Tuesday, Frogs suddenly realize their lilly pads have the magical gift of flight. Of course, the frogs then descended upon the community.
The inspiration for the book started while he illustrated a cover for Cricket magazine that featured frogs. During his Caldecott acceptance speech he explained...
"I drew one on a lily pad. That shape . . . the round blob with the saucerlike bottom. Suddenly, old movies were running through my head: Forbidden Planet and The Day the Earth Stood Still. Together, the frog and lily pad looked like a fifties B-movie flying saucer! As I drew, I saw that the frogs and toads weren’t actually flying. It was the lily pads that had the power of flight, like a carpet from The Arabian Nights."
Completing the cover, he wondered what would happen next. Then, in the middle of a plane flight, the whole book came to him. He grabbed his sketch pad and within an hour he sketched out the entire book. It was extremely rough, but there was Tuesday. Wiesner's website has a wonderful look at the creative process behind Tuesday.
I think what makes the story special is not just the wonderfully illustrated pages full of life and humor, but his ability to tell a story without words. It's like being there when the frogs invaded then telling your neighbors about the experience the next day. Wiesner's not telling you what happened, you're telling the story yourself. The lack of words provides this freedom.
Again from his speech...
"One result of winning the Caldecott Medal is the opportunity to travel and meet a wide variety of people who are interested in my book. Readers can be quite passionate about their perceptions. I’ve heard heated arguments over what Tuesday sounds like. Some people are sure it’s a silent squadron of frogs gliding through a still summer night. Others are equally positive it’s full of zooming cartoon sound effects accompanied by Wagner’s "Ride of the Valkyries."
The bottom line? Wiesner is a genius and I can't recommend his work enough.
; "Clouds want new assignments in Sector 7")
; "Fish check out new
clouds in Sector 7")
; "Frogs a flying in Tuesday")
; "Flying Frogs chase a dog in Tuesday")