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Previously on A Fuse #8 Production . . .

In 2012 I came up with a crazy idea.  We all love Dr. Seuss.  We all know his work.  So for fun I asked folks to illustrate a scene from their favorite Seuss book in the style of a different children’s author.  The result: The Re-Seussification Project.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, was going to be the end of that.

Then Phil Nel had a notion.

What if The Niblings (Travis from 100 Scope Notes, Phil from Nine Kinds of Pie, Jules from Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, and myself) were to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication date of Where the Wild Things Are?  Truthfully, we didn’t know the precise date that it hit bookstore and library shelves nationwide.  What we did know was that it was in the fall, possibly October.  So October 15th just seemed a good stand-in date to celebrate.  Today you will find that each one of us has come up with an interesting and original way of celebrating the man and his legend.  In my particular case, I do it by exploiting the talents of others.  I feel no shame.

Back in April, you see, I put out the call.  Folks were to redo a scene from a Sendak illustration in the style of another artist in the field.  It could be something he illustrated, something he wrote, anything.  I wondered if folks would all do the same books and illustrators or if they’d shake it up a bit.  I never expected what I received.  You’re in for a treat.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for . . . the results!

Where the Wild Things Are in the style of Saul Bass

Art by Jim Averbeck

Alligators All Around in the style of Tomie de Paola

Art by Bernie Mount

Where the Wild Things Are in the style of Jules Feiffer

Art by Nick Bruel

Where the Wild Things Are in the style of Oliver Jeffers

Art by Ken Min

In the Night Kitchen in the style of Kevin Henkes

Art by Susanne Lamb

Where the Wild Things Are in the style of Clement Hurd

Art by Airlie Anderson

Where the Wild Things Are in the style of Crockett Johnson

Art by Minh Le

Really Rosie in the style of Ezra Jack Keats

Art by Cecilia Cackley

Where the Wild Things Are in the style of Robert Lawson

Art by Mike Boldt

Chicken Soup With Rice in the style of Laura Numeroff

Art by Deirdre Jones

Where the Wild Things Are in the style of Miroslav Sasek

Art by Nancy Vo

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Farm in the style of Miroslav Sasek

(For those of you unfamiliar with the original, Mr. Burks was kind enough to pass along the original Sendak image, seen here:)

Art by James Burks

Bumble-Ardy in the style of Richard Scarry

Art by K-Fai Steele

Pierre in the style of Chris Van Allsburg

Art by Nathan Hale

And that might have been the end, had I not received the following email from Bernie Mount, a librarian at the St. Rita Catholic School:

“So, I had my 7^th grade students try their hand at the Re-Sendakify project.  It’s funny to see them try to think outside the box and really grasp the concept . . . They had a good time and I was happy to introduce them to Maurice Sendak.  It was amazing how many of them only knew “Where the Wild Things Are” and some only the movie version.”

Well, with an intro like that I couldn’t help but wonder what the kids had come up with.  I’m grateful to anyone that turns one of my pet projects into a school assignment.  What’s also very interesting to me here is that at least two of the kids’ images think along the same lines as the artists above.  It makes you wonder what it is about certain illustrators that you would naturally equate Pierre with Van Allsburg or Harold with Max.  Here, in any case, is the work of some truly talented kids:

A Hole is to Dig in the style of Kevin Henkes

Analee A., Savana S., and Gabby S.

Where the Wild Things Are in the style of Crockett Johnson

Quinn B., Kevin P., & Matthew W.

Little Bear’s Visit in the style of Jon Klassen

Carson W., Nicholas J., & John Alfred Z.

Where the Wild Things Are in the style of Ian Falconer

Helen H. & Maggie K.

One Was Johnny in the style of James Dean

Maddy M., Paige M., Molly F.

Pierre in the style of Chris Van Allsburg

Lauryn S.

Where the Wild Things Are in the style of Melanie Watt

Christopher R., Barrett L., & Luke H.

Thanks one and all to the talented artists that spend untold gobs of time to put these together.  One could not hope for a better celebration of the man and his works than this.  And be sure to see posts from Travis from 100 Scope Notes, Phil from Nine Kinds of Pie, and Jules from Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast for more 50th anniversary high hilarity.

I had just the loveliest dinner the other night with some high-falutin’ folks in the children’s literary biz.  Fine conversation and finer memories were tossed all about.  Yet I credit the devil on my right shoulder for suggesting to me the relative wisdom of my bringing up a long-standing belief that had been percolating in the back of my brain.  I believe I must have said something along the lines of this.

Betsy:  You know what would be great?  If Harper Collins had William’s Doll by Charlotte Zolotow re-illustrated.

To my companions’ credit they did not subsequently pelt me with dinner rolls, though there were a palpable sense of shock in the air.  At long last one turned to me and asked with great calm and presence of mind, “Has there ever been a successful re-illustration of a classic picture book?”

Well.  Um.  That is to say . . . . er.

Stumped!  I haven’t been that stumped since Peter Glassman asked me which Newbery Award winner illustrated a Newbery Award winning book by another author (answer at the end of this post).  I floundered about, then mentioned that I had never quite taken to the W.W. Denslow illustrations for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (another horror for some of you, I am sure, for another day).  “Oh no,”  she replied.  “Not a work of fiction.  A picture book.”

For a good ten minutes I sat there as the conversation drifted to other topics.  Eventually I was able to come up with at least one book (my crazed cry of “Never Tease a Weasel!!!” may have caused serious damage to the soup course) before admitting that when it comes to well-known classics, no.  I’ve never seen a successful re-illustration.

Which is not to say it couldn’t happen!  And if it absolutely 100% did have to happen (more on that presently) then it should happen to Charlotte Zolotow’s best known book.  William’s Doll. Copyright 1972.

Some background.

How many of you would count yourselves as members of the Free to Be You and Me generation?  If so, you may remember this old video from back in the day.  I sure as heck do.

It was based on Zolotow’s picture book and I distinctly remember seeing this as a kid and finding it extraordinarily interesting.  This may have had something to do with the fact that the original book sported a very different look.

Bowl haircut?  Check.  Neckerchief?  Check.  Bellbottoms?  Check.  Saddle shoes?  Check and check.  Yes, it seems that even when kids might have sported this look, I was more inclined to be interested in the kid wearing the sneakers, jeans and baseball cap in the Marlo Thomas production than the one featured in an honest-to-gosh book.

Now the illustrations for William’s Doll were done by the great William Pene du Bois, a man probably remembered best today for his Newbery Award winner Twenty-One Balloons (a wonderful video of THAT particular title can be seen here).  No one is going to contest that the man was a master artist.  And if this book were some timeless relic of the past I would have no trouble with the art. But here’s the thing: The book is not a relic.  It is timely.  So timely, in fact, that if you happen to scan through the comments on the above YouTube video (do so at your own risk here) you will note the overwhelming need for this book that continues even today.

Another factor?  We haven’t even entered into 2013 officially and yet I think I’ve read about 14 different bully-related books.  And not one, NOT ONE of those books has the sheer guts of this title.  If you don’t know the story, here’s the long and short: William is a boy who wants a doll.  His older brother and dad pretty much tease him mercilessly about this or try to get him into manly sports and train related things.  Then his grandma goes and gets him one and then explains to dear old dad that the doll has a practical application. After all, someday William will be a dad of his own and he’ll need to know how to care for a baby.  Now admittedly I always felt like this explanation (and the cover image of William doing an aforementioned manly sport) felt a bit like overcompensation.  I mean, why can’t a boy just want a doll because it’s a doll?  Does he absolutely have to have a reason?  But hey, you go with what you’ve got.  And what you’ve got is a book that even today is regularly assigned to kids to read by their schools and yet is losing a lot of its impact because of the art.

You see, here is William:

And he doesn’t look like any kid out there today.  Here is his older brother:

Because if you think old William here looks a little dated, those preppy tennis whites are outta sight. Dude totally doesn’t have a leg to stand on here.

So my thinking is that if someone were to re-illustrate the book today with images of kids as they look today, yes it may date in time but until it does the book may be able to get back some of its impact.  Then the ultimate book about a kid bullied for being who he is could be re-discovered by schools and parents all over this great green world.

You might say to me, “Well, sure.  So let’s say we re-illustrate this book.  What next?  Do you want to redo A Snowy Day?  How about finding someone besides Sendak to redo Where the Wild Things Are?  How about Goodnight bloody Moon?!?”  The difference as I see it is that I don’t feel the images in this particular book are, to be frank, William Pene du Bois at his best.  They’re fine. They have their defenders.  But no one has ever assigned this book because the art was so nice.  It’s a book with a message that doesn’t feel didactic (to me anyway) and that should have been given to someone like Mercer Mayer.  Someone who could have given it a shot in the arm.  It’s not like I’m talking about redoing something like Oliver Button Is a Sissy.  I mean THAT is a book that feels fresh every time you read it.  Tomie de Paola is visually incapable of aging.

A deeper issue at work here is the question of use.  I see this as a book that could speak directly to children today if they felt like it was the story of themselves or a fellow classmate.  But that is how I see the book being used.  I’m not talking about how the book can currently be enjoyed on its own merits.  Must every picture book out there with even a tangential connection to bullying now be used as a tool in some way?  Nope.  But the fact of the matter is that this book is already being used, being used all the time, and I want its impact to hit home.  What if you changed William’s race too?  What if you had him living in an apartment or in the country?  The possibilities are endless.  If I were teaching a class on picture book illustration you can bet I’d assign this book as some kind of an assignment.

For all that, it has stayed in print all these years.  Now imagine it came out for the first time today.  In an era where princess stuff is pushed on girls from every angle, and where you can walk into a Toys R Us and find a “Girls” and “Boys” section (marked as such) this book deserves a second life.

Have at it, kids.  Tear me asunder.  Or read James Preller’s fantastic post on the book from two years ago, including much of the text and interior images.  He even links to this in-depth explanation of how Ms. Zolotow was inspired to write the book.

Answer to the Above Stumper: It was Ellen Raskin.  She illustrated the cover to Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time before eventually winning her own Newbery for The Westing Game.