Look at picture books as literary theater
"Kamehameha, the Boy Who Became a Warrior King," written by Ellie Crowe, illustrated by Don Robinson; Island Heritage, ages 8-12. $15.99
"The Boy Who Tricked the Ghosts," written by Ellie Crow and illustrated by Tammy Yee; Island Heritage, ages 7-12. $15.99
By James Rimford
Children's picture books are like feature-length films. Both entertain us with a rich interplay of pictures and words.
Two recent books, written by local author Ellie Crowe, are good examples of the kind of "literary cinema" I am talking about.
The first of Crowe's books, "Kamehameha, the Boy Who Became a Warrior King," is about Kamehameha I and relates the well-known story of his boyhood and rise to power.
The second book, "The Boy Who Tricked the Ghosts," is about a less well-known figure named Kaulula'au, who successfully rids Lana'i of its ghosts.
Crowe does a good job of storytelling. There is page-turning drama and a bit of nail biting. But the words are only a small part of what is before you. To understand the scope of a children's book consider, for just a moment, the book as a movie theater.
The first thing we see is the movie poster. In this case the cover. For Kamehameha, Don Robinson's illustration of Kamehameha immediately pulls us in. We turn the book over and see that the battle scene on the back promises action.
We are now ready to enter the "little theater." As we open the cover of the book, "the projector" begins to roll — a special kind of projector that we get to operate at our own speed.
Miki Fletcher, the art director, masterfully begins with end papers showing the same battle scene on the cover. This time the scene is printed in melemele-yellow, the Hawaiian color of royalty. Alongside is the flap of the dust jacket. It is blood red.
We turn to the title page: a painting of Kamehameha triumphant with arms outstretched. Two pages of "credits" follow: simple white pages adorned with a kapa design of yellow triangles and a comet, like the one seen at Kamehameha's birth.
Now the "movie" begins and Don Robinson's opening scene takes our breath away. We see young Kamehameha in the shadows balanced on the branch of a breadfruit tree looking out to sea. We sense the boy's mehameha or loneliness.
Slowly, we go through the book. As though holding a flip-book, we let our thumb release the pictures one by one, letting them be a powerful guide to Ellie Crowe's words.
In "The Boy Who Tricked the Ghosts," illustrator Tammy Yee presents us with a cover every bit as intriguing as the cover for Kamehameha. This time the cover is a "poster" for the horror show that is about to begin. The zombie-like lapu (apparition or ghost) on the back promise a real thrill. The colors are vivid hinting that this book will be good fun.
We open to the end papers. Again art director Miki Fletcher puts us in the proper mood with a kukui-brown kapa design flanked by a midnight blue flap.
The "movie" now begins and Tammy Yee charms us with her watercolors, full of color and rhythm. We won't find the classical Renaissance rules of perspective that Don Robinson carefully observes in Kamehameha. Yee has a different story to tell, one rooted more in legend than historical facts. Through her "camera lens", a sense of distance is lost and visual perspective distorted. We are able to see everything at once — the inside of a grass hale, the contents of a canoe. People far away are as vivid as those up close.
We turn the pages, and, as the frames go by, as the meaning of the words sink in, we sense the story in a way that words alone can never express.
Some might fault me for comparing a children's picture book with a movie or worse yet, with a flip-book, but the point is this: A picture book is not like other books. It is a dynamic interplay of pictures and words and purposeful design.
I see adults — not children, never children — oblivious to this dynamism. Rushing to the words, adults miss the opening scenes, the end papers. They scan the text and ignore the pictures. They might as well wear a blindfold to the movies. Worse yet, some flip through the book, moving, more often than not, from back to front. They wouldn't think of telling the projectionist to roll the film backward.
"Kamehameha" and "The Boy Who Tricked the Ghosts" deserve more attention than that. Pretend you're at the movies. Open Ellie Crowe's books and take in the richness of Don Robinson and Tammy Yee's pictures under Miki Fletcher's brilliant direction.
James Rumford is an author and illustrator of children's books, and lives in Manoa. He and Jolie Jean Cotton alternate in reviewing children's book on the first Sunday of each month.
