Only similar, not the same

Flostsam (2006) started me on a quest to find books by David Wiesner. His imagination and craft are expontentially different from any other author/illustrator. Flotsam is a large book with a bold red cover: a fish’s head with a huge camera lens-like eye smack in the center of the picture. The main character in this story finds an underwater camera washed up on a beach. It has film in it. When the child takes the film to a local 1-hour developing service, we see photos of underwater communities that only Wiesner could dream up. We also see photos of children holding photos of children holding photos of children–a layering of faces that have also found this camera.

And then I came across The Red Book (2004) by Barbara Lehman. This modest book (8.5″ square) also has a bold red cover. Her illustrations are also modest, yet crisp and decisive. In Lehman’s story, a child walking to school finds a book in the snow. This book has pictures of another child, in another place, who finds a book while walking along a beach. The two children see one.

Both books are red. Both books received Caldecott recognition. Both books are wordless and feature children connecting across space and time. Both author/illustrators are graduates of prestigious art schools: Wiesner from RISD, Lehman from Pratt.

The books are similar, but they are different.