New Picture Books Reveal Life’s Two Biggest Questions


As for love, do you need a definition of the word to experience it?

“What is love?” In Barnett and Ellis’ book, a boy asks his grandmother. He picks it up and says, “You can find an answer if you go to Earth.” That’s why he goes. “Love is a fish,” says the fisherman. “Love is a house,” says the carpenter. As the child rejects every answer, the fairy-tale text turns into a crescendo of solutions that are both serious and funny: People of all kinds proudly display their love metaphors throughout the page. Finally, the grown-up child returns to his old home. In a moving passage, he absorbs the scene with all his senses, digging his toes into the dirt. Her grandmother appears and asks if she has found her answer. he their chosen him He gets up and answers “Yes”.

My adult self sees a meaning here: Trying to understand love in other people’s words is no substitute for experience – to feel and be there for someone. My inner child, who has no repercussions for the need to understand “what love is”, backfires when he picks up a grandmother, is a little surprised at this “yes” and turns back to look at the pictures.

Ellis’ impeccable sense of design infuses this book with a dignity and grace that gives strength to words. In gouache drawings, each juicy flower and ragged edge helps to strengthen the composition, create the space. Art is tactile and lively, fun and serious. It reminds of artists like Alice and Martin Provensen and Heinz Edelmann a good mid-century illustration with hints of foreign art. A bit of emptiness in the human depiction that would be humiliating in any other kind of story adds to the timeless quality of the words here. The shapes and patterns of Ellis’ art, combined with the tenor of Barnett’s narration, add an air of mystery to this book, whatever the love.

If the ideas in a text are running through the child’s head, that’s fine. Early in life, that overhead airspace is a barrage of sailing words; you’re used to it. You guess, you assume, you move on. The unsuccessful book is the book that is not engaged on another level. A sense of story with a concrete theme, good rhythm and a series of bright illustrations are just what a child needs. At the beginning of life, little questions want answers above all else.



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