Last Picture Book Standing by Marsha Diane Arnold

Every week I check out 5 to 15 picture books from the library to read, study, and enjoy. It’s part of my effort to keep up with the ever-changing picture book market. Sadly, the number that touch my heart is usually only around 10%.  

What I look for is a text that will stay with a child, a story a child can dream with or have fun with for weeks or years. Art is subjective and others will surely love the ones I discard, but here are the reasons I discarded the 6, which shall remain unnamed.

#1 is saccharine. And that’s saying a lot coming from me.

#2 is boring.

#3 is multi-layered and unique and will certainly be enjoyed by little ones, but I missed having one main character.

#4 is a fun idea, but there’s no arc. It’s the type of manuscript that, in years past, would have been called “too slight.”

#5 is on the fence. It’s fun and it’s about dinosaurs, so little ones will certainly enjoy. However, the main character has no name (I really like book characters with names.) and for little ones, it’s challenging to know which of the several characters is speaking.

#6 is wobbling violently on the fence. It’s visually stunning and presents a complex issue in a simple way, but the resolution seemed too easy to me.

What I missed in all but one of these books was a strong main character.  (Yes, I’m biased.  Afterall, I have an e-course on character-driven picture books.)  

Books that aren’t character-driven rise to the top of Amazon’s ranks and become NY Times Best Sellers, but they aren’t necessarily books I want children to fall asleep with night after night.

Which book survived my steely stare? Which is the last book standing?

Black Dog by Levi Pinfold.  It’s timeless as well as original.  I love the simple story-telling beginning. “One day, a black dog came to visit the Hope family.” First to see the dog is Mr. Hope, then Mrs. Hope, Adeline, Maurice, and finally Small. With each character we get a little view of who they are, but it’s Small who is our hero, as she goes outside to meet the dog who has become larger and larger with each family member’s stare. With a song and a playful obstacle course, Small entices the black dog to follow her. As he follows, he grows smaller and smaller…and becomes Small’s friend.

There’s a nice narrative arc, which I’m a fan of. The black dog, which is a metaphor for fear, gets bigger as each family member sees him; it takes Small to face fear and bring the dog down to size.

I always enjoy layers in picture books. Even if the reader doesn’t know what the layers are, they still add depth. In this case, the layers let us admire Small all the more.

The black dog is found in the folklore of the British Isles. He’s usually nocturnal, larger than a normal dog, and associated with death. Ghostly! Scary!  It took me awhile to find the video where Levi Pinfold confirms that he knew about this myth, that indeed it was his main inspiration.  Levi had wanted to write a ghost story, so he was reading lots of stories about ghosts. That’s where he found a reference to Black Dog in the British Isles. In many counties the dog was considered a terror, but in one county, the dog was considered “nice.” Levi’s imagination went to work. One of the most poignant comments in this interview is when Levi talks about how difficult it is to pin down where inspiration comes from. He thinks, “it’s a collection of influences over a certain period of time.” Exactly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLSpBdQaaX8.

I believe above all, above information, above fun, above silliness, above sweetness, touching readers’ hearts is the most important thing a picture book can do.  Black Dog did that for me. It was a 2013 Boston Globe-Horn Picture Book Honor Winner and Levi was winner of the 2013 Kate Greenaway medal.

I suspect if you’d read these 7 books, many of you would have chosen a different favorite.  So, I invite you to share a picture book that touches your heartstrings. Is it because of a special character?

Thanks in advance for sharing.