Picture Books on Sunday

Creative writing seminars tend to focus on stakes. "What are the stakes?" "You need to up the stakes."

This is something Hitchcock managed extraordinarily well; in "Rear Window," the Jimmy Stewart character is fighting to save his own life. In "Dial M," a man pursues a legal victory because it can ensure his romantic happiness (ad infinitum).

What I love in "The Artist," by Ed Vere, is that there is a sense of urgency, even as the writer tells a story that small kids can understand. A dinosaur is born with an innate love of the world's wonder and beauty. She becomes determined to communicate her own vision to the rest of the world. She refashions herself as a graffiti artist, perhaps in New York City, and she wins praise, but then her brush slips. Shamed by her error, she becomes mute. (This is like the weird gap in Jane Austen's career, during which Austen spent years not-writing. Whatever she did, it wasn't writing.)

A stranger comes to town. A little child says to the dinosaur, "I don't care about your mistake. I like your art because it has heart. You share your heart through your work. Keep going."

The dinosaur responds by resuming her work; once again, she pursues her vocation. The End.

My daughter is obsessed with this book, and I am, too. Every page is amazing, but the best is an image of a strange marine journey. (You have to sail via ancient "sloop" to reach Manhattan.)

Hats off to Ed Vere.

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