Issue link: http://winter.relevantize.com/i/523563
/ . / B O O K S ➻ F R I E N D O F D $ A $ L $ S $ Daniel Handler con't about. When I tell him, he just looks at me. Here Comes the Cat! by Frank Asch and Vladimir Vagin This one was re-published by McSweeney's. It was actually first published in the 80s, and it's a collaboration between a Rusisian artist and an Ameri- can writer. It's for very young children—I think there's only one sentence in it. There's this relay race of Paul Revere mice warning that the cats are coming, the cats are coming, but when the cat arrives, he's pulling a huge cart of cheese. I love that. The art has a kind of cool, Russian, Constructiv- ist feel to it, with really strict lines. You get to see all these great locations and city streets, which look Soviet to me, but I'm sure they look American if you're Soviet. The theme of the book is right up my alley, too— the idea that the positive and negative aspects of excitement are close together, opposite sides of the same coin. Which feels kind of Cold War-y, too. The Three Robbers by Tomi Ungerer Unbelievably beautiful book. If anyone ever makes an odd, contemplative movie from a picture book again, the way they did with Where the Wild Things Are, they should start here. The drawings are beautiful and dark—I mean dark in the light sense—and it's about three robbers who meet to dicuss their heists and operate in the dead of night. One day, they come across a carriage and in it is a little girl, and they decide they're going to start kidnapping children. It has one foot in terror—and one foot in the pleasure—of kidnapping. Let me explain: Yes, it wold be horrible to be kidnapped in the middle of the night, UNLESS when you get there, it was this marvelous place full of wonder. Is it scary? I don't think so, I mean… even my terrified son loved it. I just love picture books that manage to capture that hushed quailty of a child's view of the night, that feeling when you walk out of your room to go to the bat- hoom, and step out into that dark hallway… Mrs. Armitage: Queen of the Road Written and illustrated by Quentin Blake The majority of Quentin Blake's reputation is from illustrating Roald Dahl's books, but he's a splendid talent all by himself, and this book shows it. It's about a woman who's driving this ramshacke automobile around, and the automobile keeps falling apart, and yet, she remains full of vim and vigor. What looks like a story about making mistakes turns out to be a story about souping up your car, which I love. I just brought a copy of it to an adult writing class, actually, because the students were suspicious of my speech about how it can be incredibly liberating to take a hatchet to your work; well, this illustrates my point, because as she loses all the parts to her car, one by one, she gets happi- er and happier, and more free. Visually, it definitely looks like the Quentin Blake we all know and love. It's a great example of a picture book that has no scary content in it at all, but it isn't saccharine, either, so I'm pleased to have it around the house. It's a book that has no scary things, and yet, it's a book that I can stomach. I just love picture books that man- age to capture that hushed quality of a child's view of the night, that feeling when you go to the bath- room and step out into the dark hallway... 16