In one story snail decides to renovate his shell with an extra floor and a balcony. An infinite amount of space in a tiny package. Snail's home (on his back) is akin to Snoopy's doghouse in those old Peanuts cartoons or Oscar the Grouch's garbage can. In her art, Ahlberg takes as much care in what she does include as in what she doesn't. You cannot read this book and understand how anyone but Ahlberg could have illustrated it. Little bursts of sweetness that make you appreciate the final product all the more. They're like the chocolate chips in a cookie. Infinite care is taken so that they enhance each storyline, never overwhelming it or distracting from it. Ahlberg spots Tellegen's tales with tiny pen and ink watercolored images. Charm must be genetic then since it has trickled down into this, their daughter, and through her into the illustrations for this book. You may cast your mind back and find yourself thinking of Janet and Allen Ahlberg who brought into this world The Jolly Postman amongst other charming fare. One where the biggest fret in a day will be over whether or not you have made enough gigantic cakes for all your party guests.įor some of you the name "Ahlberg" will elicit sighs of comfort and respect.
It just happens to be on a low-key level. Misunderstandings are few and far between, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of stuff going on. The animals would sooner eat their party hats than one another.
As the Introduction says of its author, "He created a world where there is only one forest, one river, one ocean, and one oak tree." It's the kind of world small enough for a child to feel comfortable in. What could have come off as merely weird now feels like a contemporary successor to Milne's Pooh tales, more than anything else. Translator Martin Cleaver has done a stand up job at capturing the flavor of the writing. So really, one of the most remarkable things about The Squirrel's Birthday is that though it feels different from the bulk of the schlock out there, it's infinitely relatable and lovely.
#Toon animal age how to#
We Americans don't know how to handle this, so we reject `em en masse. We wonder why there aren't more foreign imports gracing our nation's shelves and the only answer I can give is that sometimes the books coming in have an entirely different flavor from our day-to-day fare. I liked it and thought it was fun, but Americans got a little weirded out by this tale of a baby who appears on the back of a swan and is raised by a cadre of animals. Take the case of The Swan's Child by Dutch Cooper. Now now! I'm not saying anything bad about it! I just want to point out that sometimes Americans don't. I'm going to generalize for a second here. By the time you end, you'll sigh and wonder how it is that you no longer have any more stories to enjoy.īack up, you. Each story is accompanied by a multitude of delightful little color illustrations. Or "The Costume Party" where squirrel's gift for costuming proves to be his downfall, leading to an inspired solution. There is "The Set Table" where squirrel and ant stumble across a delicious table set up by a host so shy he won't reveal himself to his uninvited guests. Subsequent stories tell of other parties, both big and little. In the first and longest of these a squirrel throws himself a birthday party and creates a huge array of delicious cakes for all the guests (a water cake for the dragonfly, an algae cake for the pike, a small moldy willow cake for a woodworm, etc.). Tellegen has written nine stories about the animal denizens of his little world and their various parties. In The Squirrel's Birthday and Other Parties, Mr. And so we end up with a book that feels like an old friend the first time you turn one of its pages.
#Toon animal age full#
This time they've conjured up a fellow by the name of Toon Tellegen (why don't we ever name our kids "Toon"?) who for the last 25 years has written more than 300 stories about a little world full of animals.
How's that for a segue, eh? Well, how else am I supposed to introduce to you what essentially boils down to one of the strangest and most delightful children's imports I've seen in a long long time? The Danes have been at it again. And then there's the quiet, understated cute that charms you with its intricacy and delicate wit. There's the instantaneous cute that is so mesmerizing you're actually afraid to look away. There's the saccharine sugary stuff that makes your teeth hurt for a week. I agree with this, but I'd argue that there are different kinds of cute out there. That there are creatures in this world that need to be cute in order to stay alive. My mother likes to say that "cute is a defense mechanism".
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