Reviews

One of Chris Raschka's picturebooks is titled "Arleen the Sardine," which seemed appropriate as scores of kindergartners, first and second graders crowded onto the floor of the Easterly Parkway Elementary School library one morning this spring to hear the author-illustrator speak.

In spite of the packed conditions and the children's we're-out-of-class excitement, Raschka's presentation held their attention. One reason is his flair for the dramatic.

Using eager volunteers from the audience, he staged productions of two of his books, "Yo! Yes?" and "Can't Sleep."

To preface one of the mini-plays, he said, "It's opening night on Broadway. You've paid $100 for your tickets. You have your popcorn at the ready. The curtain goes up, and ... action!"

Young actors, Tia, Lily, Brendan and Selena all had personality plus, even waving to their fans like celebrities on the red carpet.

Raschka explained that he wrote "Can't Sleep" because he had trouble sleeping as a child and would listen to his family settle down and feel lonely when he was left awake.

After the presentation, an Easterly teacher told me he thought the secret to Raschka's success was that he kept his audience guessing. Not only was their drama - there was an art game. Raschka showed the kids how they could transform their names into characters, just by tipping the letters this way and that, rearranging them and varying the size.

If you're looking for a time-killer at the dentist's office, this is better than sudoku.

As a writer who sometimes visits schools, I always envy illustrators. They can wow the kids simply by drawing a picture on a pad of paper.

Raschka duly took advantage of his talent and drew the two cats who share his apartment. Over the years, both have made frequent appearances in his books. One cat has "football-shaped eyes," he said, while the other cat's eyes are "round, yellow and soulful." With just a few bold lines, Raschka made the two cats' distinctive personalities shine through.

When he drew a very high forehead on one cat as a way of showing its suspicious nature, he elicited a riot of giggles. It is a pleasure to see that even children accustomed to the ultra-sophisticated special effects in movies and video games appreciate something as simple as a drawing that takes shape in front of them.

A native of Huntingdon, Pa., who now lives in New York City, Raschka has written many many books, the most celebrated of which is "Charlie Parker Plays Be-Bop," which takes the jazz standard "A Night in Tunisia," and transforms it into an amusing and sophisticated book with text that scans to the jazz beat.

Raschka performed a rousing rendition of the book at Easterly, and a listener asked him what the repeated line "Never leave your cat alone" means. "Nothing," Raschka replied. "It's just for the rhythm."

Another Raschka title is "John Coltrane's Giant Steps."

At Easterly, Raschka debuted his upcoming book, "Five for a Little One," which celebrates the five senses in rhyme: "Lucky tongue, taste and try this berry pie."

It was quite a coup for Easterly librarian Dustin Brackbill to lure Raschka to town to speak this year. In January, Raschka's illustrations for "The Hello-Goodbye Window," earned him the Caldecott Medal from the American Library Association. That book, which I reviewed a year ago, is an unassuming, charming story about a child's visit to his grandparents' house. In general, I am a big fan of Raschka's, but I don't particularly like his illustrations for "The Hello-Goodbye Window," — which just shows what I know.