5/1/2022 Picture Book Round-Up: Max’s Recommendations

I firmly believe that the couple that reads together stays together. One of Max & I’s weekend routines is to rummage around in local used bookstores, searching for our next great read. Max likes nonfiction, whereas I go through romance so quickly, I’m one of the few people who read the Bridgerton series before it became a Netflix adaptation.

Sometimes, we’ll pack a picnic lunch & spread a blanket on the ground at Mead Gardens & while the day away, munching on fruit & flipping through pages. Reading together is so soothing. Some of my favorite memories are when we both would read the same books at the same time so we could talk about them – Rebecca, A Sand County Almanac, The Historian, Bel Canto, Never Let Me Go, Into Thin Air.

Though Max doesn’t read children’s books anymore, he bought the following two for me when I was still working in a kindergarten classroom in Gainesville. He told me they were his favorites. This week, I find out why.

Picture Book 1 (forget Great Scott! It’s Saint George!)

Title: Saint George and the Dragon

Retold by: Margaret Hodges

Illustrator: Trina Schart Hyman

Recommended for: Grades 2-4

Basic plot: This is one of the more famous segments of Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene. George is a young knight who hopes to slay the vicious beast that has been terrorizing nearby villages for years. Though the plot isn’t the most original, the illustrations lend drama to the predictability of events.

Where can you find it? Amazon, eBay, AbeBooks, Thriftbooks, OverDrive (cheapest $1.15 & up, used).

Interview Transcript

SASHA: What do you love about Saint George and the Dragon?

MAX: The illustrations are epic!

SASHA: Explain.

MAX: Just look at it.

SASHA: *flips through & totally agrees*

MAX: Every page is super detailed. It is stimulating for a child without being overwhelming because some of the best details are the landscapes & the people in the background. The borders on each page have intricate artwork relevant to what’s going on in the scene, or show through & just frame the main illustration. This style is different than any other children’s book I can remember. It helps pull you in & it looks old-timey. This is before I saw Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter when I got older, so this was the first exposure I had to the type of medieval look that adults just eat up today.

He points to page 11, where winged seraphs taper into blackberries winding through the rightmost margin. A piercingly white castle on a toothpick-thin hill rises in the distance.

MAX: The dragon is fierce & terrifying. His tail is freaking huge. The horse looks ready for battle. It’s fantastical but still realistic. There’s not a dull moment. Even when George is almost dead in the water, you can still see steam from where the dragon blasted him. The shield is mangled. It does have some blood, so parental discretion is advised.

SASHA: As a kid, what did you think of the blood? Did it bother you?

MAX: No. It made it seem more realistic. It’s not just some guy fighting a dragon & winning. He’s struggling. It takes him several tries. The hero doesn’t just go & vanquish the dragon. By the end, George looks pretty rough. It definitely helps to convey the struggle. You think the dragon looks damaged, too, but it still beats him several times, which makes the dragon more intimidating.

SASHA: What do you think is the message of this book?

MAX: It’s about fighting the good fight. He’s healed at night by the spring & by the apple tree’s healing dew. I like how it spotlights the healing power of water & a good night’s rest. Perseverance, you know?

SASHA: You know what I think?

MAX: What?

SASHA: I think this is why you like Shrek so much. Because they are both basically the story of someone who fights whatever gets on his land.

MAX: But it isn’t on George’s land.

SASHA: You’re no fun.

MAX: *changing subject* I can see why it won a Caldecott. It is just a beautiful book.

Picture Book 2 (beats Thomas the Tank Engine all day, every day)

Title: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Author & Illustrator: Virginia Lee Burton

Recommended for: Grades K-2

Basic plot: Written in 1939, Mike Mulligan is sort of the original Bob the Builder. He’s a hardworking, blue-collar guy up against a lot of changes. As America becomes more industrial & more reliant on new machines, Mike struggles to keep his job & maintain the status quo. When he declares that he & his reliable steam shovel, Mary Anne, can dig more in a single day than 100 men can in a week, he bites off a bit more than he & those metal teeth can chew…or does he?

Where can you find it? Amazon, eBay, AbeBooks, Thriftbooks, OverDrive (cheapest $1.02 & up, used). There are also several free audiobooks available via YouTube & Audible.

Interview Transcript

SASHA: Do you remember reading this with one of your parents? Or was this something you read on your own?

MAX: This is something my Mom read with me.

SASHA: Tell me what you remember about Mike Mulligan.

MAX: It almost looks like colored pencil illustrations. The texture is nice. The simple colors. It is cool how the illustrator shows them actually digging. The perspective makes it seem really deep.

SASHA: What are some takeaways from this book?

MAX: I like how it shows the relationship between the guy & his machine. They work so hard to get things done. The never-ending march of progress, the gasoline-powered machines, try to make the steam shovel obsolete. But by the end of the story, they dig themselves into a hole, literally, in a successful way. I like how they convert Mary Anne into a furnace for the building. It is finding a new purpose for now outdated equipment. I actually didn’t realize that at the time, but you could read it as how you have different responsibilities or contributions to your life as you get older.

SASHA: This book is actually from 1939. Why do you think its popularity has endured for nearly a century?

MAX: It’s just a classic. It’s old & dated but you realize when you listen to it that steam shovels used to be the main thing. They’ve become old & replaced. It helps remind you of everything your parents say about back in the day. It’s about change. Change is timeless, it doesn’t stop happening.

Thanks for tuning in! Keep the pages turning until we meet again.

Love,

Sash