Kids' Book Wednesday

Today, the NYTimes celebrates one of my favorite writers, Jon Klassen; the critic praises Klassen's subversive gifts. Couldn't say it better myself.

Many classic fables and fairy tales involve theft or murder, i.e. "Goldilocks," "Little Red," "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Rapunzel," "Rumpelstiltskin." Klassen returns us to the anarchic world of fairy tales. His stories feature violence, self-delusion, and deceit. It's sort of crazy (and delightful) that, in the era of "Cocomelon" and "Miss Rachel," Jon Klassen is the winner of a Caldecott Medal.

I especially like his story, "The Future," which seems to rewrite Chris Van Dusen's "If I Built a School." In the van Dusen tale, the power of the mind is celebrated; a child dreams of an ideal school (perhaps on Mars! with robots!), and the reader can offer three cheers for the wonders of ingenuity. This seems to be the path "The Future" is taking; two critters envision curious trees and beautiful buildings that might emerge in the next millennium. Then, the story takes a bizarre turn: A homicidal cyclops wanders onto the stage. The cyclops gets closer. He begins to breathe fire. Finally, with nothing more in the way of explanation, the cyclops walks away--and our two stars wake up from their reverie.

I'm not sure this story has a moral, except this: "You don't know what the hell might happen, anywhere, at any time. So good luck to you."

Who--beyond Klassen--would tell this tale to children?

I love that guy.

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