Fans of the illustrator and author Jan Brett will find much to love in her newest picture book, "The Animals' Santa," which chronicles the efforts of woodland creatures to discover "Santa's" true identity. All of the elements that have made her books so popular over the years — the detailed illustrations, the story within a story, the tiny surprises — are on full display.
When asked in a recent telephone interview what inspired the story, Brett said, with a laugh: "I don't have a good answer. It was the hottest night of the summer and I was up late working, although I never do design at night because I'm a morning person. Anyway, I was drawing away, being all hot, and suddenly this idea swept through my head like a cold breeze. We have a Santa Claus. Do the animals have a Santa, too?"
Unlike many of her ideas, Brett said, this one came out of the blue. Still, "you have to be willing to have a net out there to capture an idea before it disappears into your mind cave."
And capture it she did. "It was so definite that I had to write it down."
The idea changed shape as Brett tinkered with it.
"At first it was more like a poem about the changing of the seasons," she said. She was also intrigued by the possibility of animals coming together in a "moment of imbalance" — a moment when natural hostilities might be put aside. From there, the story of animals working together to discover Santa's identity grew.
So did their richly imagined world, which feels distinctly tribal.
A longtime admirer of crafts produced by Canada's First Peoples, Brett wanted to create illustrations that suggested their sensibilities and aesthetics without appropriating them. So she created detailed quillwork patterns of her own and framed each illustration with them. The result is artwork that is uniquely tactile. Readers can practically touch the scenes Brett creates. In fact, when asked by children how she knows when a picture is finished, Brett responds that her work is done when she can "walk into it" and have her senses — sight, smell, touch and hearing — engaged.
Because Jan Brett is so beloved, some fans wonder if she'll ever try her hand at writing and illustrating books for slightly older readers — something along the lines of the popular Judy Moody series by Megan McDonald. Brett's response is a definite no. "I just don't have the sensibility for it."
She said she prefers to draw for her inner 6-year-old — the little girl who looked at the natural world around her whenever she walked outside and saw real magic there. Six is a great age, Brett maintains, because "everything is a discovery."
Meanwhile, Brett stays busy traveling, speaking to schoolchildren, running and tending to her chickens. She's also hard at work on her next book, "The Turnip," loosely based on an old Russian folk tale. All in all, it's a good life for Jan Brett, who will be at the Provo Public Library talking about "The Animals' Santa" on Dec. 10. (All the tickets have been given away for this event. Ticket holders are advised to arrive early, as unfilled seats will be given to those in the standby line beginning at 6:15.)
Other new picture books for the holiday season include "Frankenstein's Fright Before Christmas" by Ludworst Bemonster (aka Rick Walton and Nathan Hale). Walton and Hale follow up the success of their first Madeline parody — "Frankenstein: a Monstrous Parody" — with this story about a castle full of little monsters who hope that Santa Claus will remember them, too.
"And Then Comes Christmas" by Tom Brenner and illustrated by Jana Christy is a quietly appealing countdown to the day when "Papa light the fire, and oohs and aahs and thank-yous sound around the room, and wrapping paper covers the floor" and everyone gathers around the table to "bask in the magic of Christmas."
Baby boomers will especially appreciate "Everything I Need to Know About Christmas I Learned From a Little Golden Book" by Diane Muldrow. Thumbing through this anthology of illustrations by artists such as Richard Scarry and Eloise Wilkin is like taking a (legal) horse-drawn carriage ride down Memory Lane.
The storyline of "The Last Christmas Tree" is not unfamiliar — a small fir tree dreams of going home with a special family for the holidays. But Pascal Campion's vivid illustrations and Stephen Krensky's sweet text make this a thoroughly likable new book.
Cindy Mitchell, a librarian in the Jordan School District, as well as a book blogger (http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/p/about.html), recommends the following titles for those interested in a multicultural take on the holidays: "Nochebuena" by Roseanne Greenfield Thong and illustrated by Sara Palacios invites readers to share in the traditional preparations for Christmas with a Latino family, while illustrator LeUyen Pham takes those same readers around the globe in a dazzling new rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas." Customs from all over the world are spotlighted in Pham's exuberant new book.
And, finally, there are some notable new Hanukkah titles, including "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Dreidel" by Caryn Yacowitz and illustrated by David Slonim. In addition to riffing on the familiar nursery rhyme "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," the book pays homage to some of the world's most iconic paintings, including (but not limited to) Andy Warhol's Campbell soup cans.
"Honeyky Hanukah," illustrated by David Horowitz, is great for reading aloud, which isn't surprising given the fact that Woody Guthrie is the author. Yup. That Woody Guthrie. His mother-in-law was a well-known Yiddish poet, and Guthrie wrote a number of songs in her honor, including "Honeyky Hanukah."
So curl up with a good book with the young ones and enjoy the season!
Jann Brett. Courtesy photo
