{"id":36234,"date":"2019-07-05T15:38:12","date_gmt":"2019-07-05T19:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=36234"},"modified":"2019-07-05T15:42:27","modified_gmt":"2019-07-05T19:42:27","slug":"review-of-the-important-thing-about-margaret-wise-brown-by-mac-barnett-illustrated-by-sarah-jacoby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=36234","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown, by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Sarah Jacoby"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown<\/em><\/p>\n

by Mac Barnett
\nillustrated by Sarah Jacoby<\/p>\n

Balzer + Bray, 2019. 42 pages.
\nStarred Review
\nReview written May 29, 2019, from a library book<\/p>\n

This is not your typical picture book biography. Since the author is Mac Barnett, I shouldn\u2019t have expected typical. But the cover and art looked so lovely and sedate, I didn\u2019t notice the author was Mac Barnett until the text started getting unusual.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the beginning of the book:<\/p>\n

Margaret Wise Brown lived for 42 years.
\nThis book is 42 pages long.
\nYou can\u2019t fit somebody\u2019s life into 42 pages,
\nso I am just going to tell you some important things.<\/p>\n

The important thing about Margaret Wise Brown is that she wrote books.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mac Barnett begins giving facts about Margaret Wise Brown with this introduction:<\/p>\n

It can be odd to imagine the lives of the people who write the books you read,
\nlike running into your teacher at the supermarket.
\nBut authors are people.
\nThey are born and they die.
\nThey make jokes and mistakes.
\nThey fall in love and they fall in love again.
\nThey go to the supermarket to buy tomatoes,
\nwhich they keep in the bottom drawers of their refrigerators,
\neven though tomatoes should stay out on the counter.
\nBut which of these things is important? And to whom?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Then he gives facts about her life, including that she fell in love with a woman named Michael and a man named Pebble (no more details than that, though it certainly got me curious). Then he tells about her childhood and many pets.<\/p>\n

I like the summaries of her most well-known books:<\/p>\n

This is a story about a rabbit.
\nThe rabbit must go to bed,
\nand he takes a long time
\nsaying goodnight to everything.
\nNobody knows why he says goodnight
\nto all this stuff \u2013
\nhis socks and some mush and even the air \u2013
\nbut I have an idea.
\nI think it is because he is afraid to go to sleep.
\nHave you read this book?
\nDo you know what I mean?<\/p>\n

This is a story about a rabbit.
\nHe is trying to escape from his mother.
\nBut his mother just won\u2019t let him get away.
\n(Maybe that is why he is trying
\nto escape from her.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The author tells us about some strange things Margaret Wise Brown did. And about some strange things in her books:<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s true that Margaret Wise Brown wrote strange books.
\nIn her books, you would turn the page
\nand the story would suddenly change.
\nSometimes a duck would appear for no reason.
\nAnd the narrator would often stop telling the story
\nand ask the reader a question.
\nNow isn\u2019t that a strange thing to do?<\/p>\n

Some people,
\nwhen they see something strange,
\nbecome bothered.
\nThese people build worlds that make perfect sense,
\neven if that means ignoring many strange things
\naround them.<\/p>\n

Now here is something I believe.
\n(I know there are only 23 pages left in this book,
\nbut it\u2019s important.)
\nNo good book is loved by everyone,
\nand any good book is bound to bother somebody.
\nBecause every good book is at least a little bit strange,
\nand there are some people who do not
\nlike strange things in their worlds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He goes from that discussion to telling about Anne Carroll Moore of the New York Public Library. He tells about some strange things she did, without commenting that they are strange. She stamped Margaret Wise Brown\u2019s books with \u201cNOT RECOMMENDED FOR PURCHASE BY EXPERT.\u201d This meant they were kept out of the New York Public Library and many other libraries. Then he goes on to tell what Margaret Wise Brown did when she herself was kept out of the New York Public Library.<\/p>\n

This book is a strange book. And here\u2019s what the author has to say about that:<\/p>\n

Lives are strange.
\nAnd there are people who do not like strange stories,
\nespecially in books for children.
\nBut sometimes you find a book that feels as strange as life does.
\nThese books feel true.
\nThese books are important.
\nMargaret Wise Brown wrote books like this,
\nand she wrote them for children,
\nbecause she believed children deserve important books.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you like strange but informative books for children, this is a good one.<\/p>\n

macbarnett.com<\/a>
\nthesarahjacoby.com<\/a>
\nharpercollinschildrens.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/important_thing.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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