Thankful for the Picture Book

You may have been wondering if I abandoned my mission to save the picture book. My last post on this mission was back in mid October. The mission is still on, but with every mission there is a process. As this month is dedicated to being thankful for all the various things in our lives, I have decided to give thanks to the picture book. My thanks is for all the times I sat by our bookshelves as a kid and entered the wonderful world of story by flipping a book's pages and seeing illustrations spring from the page. Each image sparked new ideas, or made me laugh, or just simply delighted my eyes.

Today I highlight the wonderful and talented Chris Van Allsburg. I remember sitting up late in the night, starring out my December frosted window, in that house I called the log cabin, waiting to hear the train whistle blow and hope that I would be asked to ride The Polar Express. I remember the black and white sketches from Jumanji that colored the animal kingdom and my imagination at the same time.

But my favorite of his work came later in life when I found The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, while working at Barnes & Noble. What caught my eye is the multiple and complex stories the book tells without a linear written story. One simple sentence, placed next to an illustration, is all it took for my mind to enter the wonderful world many dub Wonderland.

It was a book that sparked my interests and creativity. It was a book that made me look at the images and tell my own story, full with beginning, middle and end. It was a book that made me look at it again, and again, and again.

Every time I view this book, I find new stories within familiar illustrations. My favorite of the illustrations being the fifth entitled: Another Place, Another Time. The one sentence provided reads, "If there was an answer, he'd find it there." With the wind blowing in the sail, Chris Van Allsburg's sentence depicts my belief in story. For truly we find our answers in our tales. Thank you Chris Van Allsburg for your art and the spark it passes down. And thank you to the picture book and all the tales drawn.

I ask you to share your favorite picture books here as well. No matter what country you are from, I know there were picture books that shaped your childhood, and in turn made you see the world as you do now. Whether you share them with me or a friend, it's time for us to give thanks to our beloved illustrators and authors.