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July 2009
Arnold Lobel
Brief Biography
Arnold Lobel was born in 1933 and died in 1987. During his lifetime, he illustrated more than 70 picture books, 28 of which he wrote himself. He was born in Schenectady, New York. After graduating from art school, he married Anita Kempfer (who is quite famous in her own right as an author and illustrator, publishing under her married name: Anita Lobel). They moved to New York City. Arnold and Anita have 2 children and 5 grandchildren. Lobel's daughter, Adrienne, recently began releasing some of her father's archive material as picture books with watercolors by herself.
Frog and Toad Series
Arnold Lobel is probably best known for his charming I Can Read Books, the Frog and Toad Series, 2 of which won Caldecott Honors. Each of the four books relates five different stories about the two best friends.
Frog and Toad are Friends is the 1st book in the series, was published in 1970, and won a Caldecott Honor. In the book, Frog has trouble waking Toad after his winter hibernation, Frog gets sick and wants Toad to tell him a story, but even after walking up and down, standing on his head, pouring water on himself, and banging his head on the wall, Toad cannot think of a story to tell, Frog and Toad go swimming but Toad doesn't want anyone to see how funny he looks in his swimsuit, and Frog sends Toad a letter just to make him feel happy.
Frog and Toad Together, published in 1971, also won a Caldecott Honor. In the book, Toad makes a list of things to do during the day and then loses it, Toad reads stories, sings songs, recites poetry, and plays music for his seeds to make them grow so he can have a garden like Frog's, the 2 friends practice will power as they try not to eat all the cookies Toad has baked, they are very brave together, and Toad has a frightening dream in which Frog disappears.
In Frog and Toad All Year, the 2 friends go sledding, walk around corners in search of Spring, eat Ice Cream, rake each other's leaves, and celebrate Christmas Eve together.
In Days With Frog and Toad, Toad realizes it is much better not to procrastinate, Frog and Toad try very hard to fly their kite, the frighten themselves with a scary story, Frog gives Toad a hat that is too big, and Frog decides to spend some time alone thinking about how fine everything is and how glad he is to have a friend like Toad.
Mouse Books
Lobel also wrote two different mouse books for HarperCollins' I Can Read Series.
In Mouse Soup, Weasel is ready for his supper: Mouse Soup and Mouse must find a way not to be Weasel's supper.
In Mouse Tales, Papa mouse tells seven different stories, one for each of his seven little mouse boys.
I usually try not to be too personal in these reviews, but I can't not express how much I love Owl at Home. When I was four, I had an I Can Read subscription and every week, I got a new I Can Read book in the mail. I can still remember the first time I read Owl at Home and I can remember reading it to myself when I was in middle school, just because I loved it so much, and I read it again this month to help me write this newsletter. Owl invites winter into his home only to find winter a very poor house guest, he is frightened by two bumps beneath his blanket at the bottom of his bed, he tries to be in two places at once, and he befriends the moon, but my favorite story is Tear-Water Tea. To make tear-water tea, Owl must fill his teapot with tears so he thinks of things that are sad: pencils too short to be written with, books that can't be read because pages have been torn out, and songs that can't be sung because the words have been forgotten.
A picture of Owl making Tear-Water Tea.
Uncle Elephant is particularly interesting as an I Can Read book because it is written in first person. A little elephant tells about his visit with his amazing Uncle Elephant who makes wishes come trie, tells amazing stories, and even trumpets the dawn.
Arnold Lobel makes use of an ancient genre of storytelling to tell 20 different fables illustrating 20 different true and relevant morals. Each fable is presented on a two page spread with the short tale on one page and a full page illustration on the facing page. A father elephant who can focus on only one thing at a time has his burning slipper pointed out to him by his young son, the moral: "knowledge will not always take the place of simple observation". A story sure to delight many teachers relates a principal's visit to a naughty kangaroo child's house, where he finds the parents as bad as the child, the moral: "a child's conduct will reflect the ways of his parents". Lobel's stories are full of nonsense, humor, and wisdom. Just to tempt you, I will list a couple other morals from Fables: "Without a doubt, there is such a thing as too much order", "At times, a change of routine can be most helpful", "All's well that ends with a good meal", "Nothing is harder to resist than a bit of flattery", and "All the miles of a hard road are worth a moment of true happiness". It is no wonder that Fables won a Caldecott medal, it is both timeless and ageless.
The Arnold Lobel Book of Mother Goose is a collection of more than 300 classic nursery rhymes, each brought to life with Lobel's skillful illustration.
The Random House Book of Poetry for Children is a treasury of 572 poems old and new collected by the nation's former poet laureate, Jack Prelutsky, and illustrated by Arnold Lobel. The poems are divided into section by theme: "Nature Is…", "The Four Seasons", "Dogs and Cats and Bears and Bats", "The Ways of Living Things", "City, oh, City!", "Children, Children Everywhere", "Me I Am!", "Home! You're Warm Where It's Warm Inside", "I'm Hungry", "Some People I Know", "Nonsense! Nonsense!", "Alphabet Stew", "Where Goblins Dwell", "The Land of Potpourri". Each section is introduced with an original poem by Jack Prelutsky. Some pages feature individual illustrations for each poem while other pages have a single picture illustrating the central idea of a group of poems, like the 2-tone illustration of wind on a 2 page spread of poems about wind. Lobel uses color as well as 2-tone drawings to bring this expansive collection of poetry to life.
Other Illustrated Books
In addition to the 27 books he wrote and illustrated, Lobel illustrated a number of books for other well-known authors. Among them are:
The Quarreling Book by Charlotte Zolotow
I'll Fix Anthony by Judith Viorst
Oscar Otter by Nathaniel Benchley
As I was Crissing Boston Common by Norma Farber
Tales of Oliver Pig by Jean Van Leeuwen