A few years ago I wrote about Alexander Calder's toys and his famous circus, and I ripped and uploaded an old DVD I had of Carlos Vilardebo's 1961 film of Calder performing the circus to YouTube (it got BoingBoinged!). Since then I've watched it with the kid a few times, but frankly watching a crazy old man in a red shirt play with old toys while speaking pidgin French is a bit boring when you're four.

A few weeks ago I went on a spree buying Maira Kalman's children's books, first picking up the out-of-print Roarr Calder's Circus, produced in 1991 in conjunction with the Whitney Museum (with photographs by Donatella Brun). The book is illustrated with photographs of the actual circus (from the Whitney's collection) on a black background, with Kalman's dizzying text presented in the form of the ringmaster's blustery narration. As you'd expect from Tibor Kalman's wife, the graphic design and text placement is exciting.

And as a book it's surprisingly fantastic.

I'm a sucker for chilren's books that involve photography rather than illustration. Usually when I buy books like this they're more "for me" than they are "for the kid" but this one has proven to be an exception. The kid LOVES Kalman's wordplay. This has been her favorite book for weeks now and I can't think of one she's loved so much in recent memory. I read it to her like an old-fashioned ringmaster, and some of the words ("nincompoop," in particular) crack her up every time.

I know it's not really fair to recommend a book that's been out of print for years, but those well versed in used children's books should have no trouble finding it reasonably priced (we ordered it for $1.99).

Previous Entry

This blog is intended solely to share the things I come across that inspire me. If I have posted a copyrighted image, I have only done so to the extent necessary to comment upon or discuss it; I will always include a link to the original source of the image if that source is online or acknowledge the source if it is in print. If I have reproduced anything of yours here that is copyrighted and you want me to remove it, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do so right away.

People by Peter Spier
(un)Fashion by Tibor and Maira Kalman

I remember my mom reading Peter Spier's People with me as a child and I distinctly remember spending hours entranced by the detailed illustrations. And who can forget Adam and Eve's naked butts? When we found out my wife was pregnant the first time my mom bought me a new copy of it. Now my daughter loves it. Before she was born, I also picked up a copy of Tibor and Maira Kalman's beautiful book of photography (un)Fashion at Green Apple Books in San Francisco. When she was about one we started looking at this book, and we look at it together still. Now Gram loves it.*

One of my biggest complaints about the state of modern children's literature is the whole dull industry of "diversity" or "multicultural" books, which with few exceptions generally suck. They're just so earnest and boring. What I love about these two books is that they celebrate diversity just by showing the pure variety of us out there. And in doing so they show just how beautiful we all are.

*(un)Fashion does contain some nudity and several non-grisly images of dead bodies, though I can't think of a book that better celebrates life.

Previous Entry

This blog is intended solely to share the things I come across that inspire me. If I have posted a copyrighted image, I have only done so to the extent necessary to comment upon or discuss it; I will always include a link to the original source of the image if that source is online or acknowledge the source if it is in print. If I have reproduced anything of yours here that is copyrighted and you want me to remove it, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do so right away.