Jerry Pinkney, 1939-2021

Jerry Pinkney died this week; Pinkney was among the "genius American artists" in children's literature (along with Robert McCloskey, Ezra Jack Keats, Paul Zelinsky, Garth Williams).

Pinkney was not the world's greatest writer. His books don't show much evidence of a sense of humor, and excessive wordiness (in "Ugly Duckling," "Nightingale," etc.) is an issue.

But Pinkney worked wonders with color and light. His pictures are alive. A favorite of mine is "Puss in Boots," with a bright, plucky cat scheming in rural France, in autumn, sometime around the "Bridgerton" era.

My family also loves the "Three Little Kittens," tumbling in leaves.

Pinkney thought a great deal about mercy; his famous lion (from the Caldecott winner, "Lion and the Mouse") briefly struggles to show graciousness to a whiny rodent. (Struggles, but succeeds.) The Ant Queen is kind and forgiving to the Grasshopper. The billy goats are gentle with a vanquished Trumpian ogre; one goat helps the ogre to build a house.

I enjoyed the creepiness of Pinkney's Hans Christian Andersen books: the visit from Death in "The Nightingale," the freezing child in "The Little Match Girl," the briefly-suicidal protagonist in "The Ugly Duckling."

I was hoping Pinkney might spend more time on the Bible; specifically, I wanted a Pinkney version of the Creation story, and a Pinkney re-telling of "Joseph and Jacob."

But I'll take what I can get! So many great characters--gifts from a powerful mind.

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