Imagine That!

Book Links: July 1999 (v.8 no.6)

by Margaret Jensen and Ginny Moore Kruse

Imagination is the fuel that powers play. Children (and adults) develop their vocabulary and their understanding of language through play activities. They explore their sense of self and others. They try to figure out how the world works by playing and replaying what they see happening all around them. Through play, children engage their creative energies. They strengthen their abilities to image things seen and unseen. Play is important in children’s lives, and so, imagination, which powers play, is equally important.

Often, one can only imagine what a child might be imagining. When readers open the books in this article, they receive the opportunity to observe what often is unobservable—the imagination at work!

At some time in your life, you might have had the chance to watch a young child wake up and immediately begin to play with a certain toy. But, until you read Fire Truck by Peter Sís, you might not recognize how empowering the imagination can be! When you turn the pages of Fire Truck, you can see a young boy become the fire truck, rescue a cat, put out a fire, save a teddy bear, and park the truck just in time for the driver to make it to the breakfast table.

The power of imagination can transcend years and often exists in that special bond between grandparents and grandchildren. In Abuela, written by Arthur Dorros and illustrated by Elisa Kleven, Rosalma invites her abuela to come along on her flight of imagination. “‘Si, quiero volar,’ Abuela would reply as she leaped into the sky with her skirt flapping in the wind.” Readers are allowed to see details of life in New York City imagined by both pairs of eyes!

The following books were selected to represent the range of situations in which we see human beings of all ages putting their imaginations to work. We deliberately excluded books of fantasy from this list in order to emphasize the imaginative power contained within each person. All of these books exemplify high-quality writing and illustration and can be enjoyed as good stories, period. But readers can also view each story with a new focus and witness the often unobservable. It’s created when the power and effect of imagination are put to use. Imagine that!

Books for Younger Children

Belton, Sandra. May'naise Sandwiches and Sunshine Tea. Illus. by Gail Gordon Carter. 1994. 32p. Simon & Schuster, $14.95 (0-02-709035-3).
K–Gr. 2. Belton's child narrator remembers her grandmother's stories, especially one about her friendship with Bettie Jean and the fun they had with imaginary play. One family was working-class and the other was not. Belton handles the important theme of societal pressures, seldom approached in books for the young, in a picture-book story featuring African American characters.

Byars, Betsy. Ant Plays Bear. Illus. by Marc Simont. 1997. 32p. Viking, $11.99 (0-670-86776-4).
K–Gr. 2. In this sequel to My Brother Ant (Viking, 1996), Anthony’s older brother narrates four episodes that show us little Ant’s overactive imagination. Seldom have two characters and such a realistic sibling relationship been developed with so few words—and easy-to-read words at that!

Crews, Nina. You Are Here. 1998. 32p. Greenwillow, $16 (0-688-15753-X).
Preschool–K. Mariah and Joy map a journey around the world, using a checkerboard, checkers, coins, jacks, shells, and buttons. On their imagined adventure, they must tame a monster and capture a jewel in order to get the giant’s permission to return home.

De Regniers, Beatrice Schenk. What Can You Do with a Shoe? Illus. by Maurice Sendak. 1997. 32p. Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry, $15 (0-689-81597-2).
Preschool–K. What can you do, anyway, with a shoe? An imaginative brother and sister suggest possibilities: “You can put it on your ear / On your beery-leery ear. . . . Or wear it on your head / Or butter it like bread / Or use apple jam instead, ha ha . . .” And what can you do with a chair? A hat? A cup? A broom? A bed? Find out in this quirky, silly, delightful new edition of an old favorite.

Dorros, Arthur. Abuela. Illus. by Elisa Kleven. 1991. 40p. Dutton, $15.99 (0-525-44750-4); Puffin, paper, $4.99 (0-14-056225-7).
Preschool–Gr. 1. Rosalma and her Spanish-speaking abuela (grandmother) spend the day together in a city park, where the two share an imaginary flight over New York City. Kleven's vibrant, mixed-media collages add colorful whimsy.

Hughes, Shirley. The Big Alfie out of Doors Storybook. 1992. 62p. Lothrop, $17 (0-688-11428-8).
Preschool–Gr. 1. Four stories and four poems about Alfie and his little sister, Annie Rose, feature family experiences outside the house and sometimes away from the family’s home in London. In one story, Alfie and Annie Rose play “shop” or “store” on their lawn. In another, while the family is at the beach, Alfie loses track of Bonting, a rounded stone personifying a constant imaginary friend.

Lee, Hector Viveros. I Had a Hippopotamus. 1996. 32p. Lee & Low, $14.95 (1-880000-28-8).
Preschool–K. A box of galletas (animal crackers) inspires numerous acts of creative generosity on the part of one small boy who imagines all the animals as living creatures that he gives as gifts to friends and family. Lee’s stylized paintings provide exactly the right blend of fantasy and reality. This universal story with patterned playfulness contains small details marking the characters and setting as distinctly Latino.

Lively, Penelope. Good Night, Sleep Tight. Illus. by Adriano Gon. 1995. 24p. Candlewick, paper, $5.99 (1-614-15564-9).
Preschool. Not every child is sleepy at bedtime, least of all this energetic caretaker of a doll named Mary Ann and a stuffed frog, lion, and cat. Each of these toys leads its owner on a flight of fantasy (or is it the other way around?), until all of them are finally worn out and ready to fall asleep. Both text and pictures in this playful story capture the combination of levity and seriousness with which children approach imaginary play.

McKissack, Patricia. Mirandy and Brother Wind. Illus. by Jerry Pinkney. 1988. 32p. Knopf, $18.99 (0-394-98765-4); Random, paper, $6.99 (0-679-88333-9).
Preschool–Gr. 2. Mirandy overlooks an obvious dance partner for her first cakewalk as she imagines dancing with Brother Wind, and she attempts to locate him. Set in the rural South of the early twentieth century, the lively story is full of humor and joy. Full-color paintings expand the whimsical quest into which the exuberant African American girl’s family and neighbors also enter.

McLerran, Alice. Roxaboxen. Illus. by Barbara Cooney. 1991. 32p. Lothrop, $16 (0-688-07592-4); Puffin, paper, $5.99 (0-14-054475-5).
Preschool–Gr. 2. Based on playtimes and a place called Roxaboxen that were part of the childhood experiences of McLerran's mother, this is also a strong “celebration of the active imagination, of the ability of children to create, even with the most unpromising materials, a world”—one where playmates continue for weeks on end to construct an imaginative reality.

Narahashi, Keiko. I Have a Friend. 1987. 32p. Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry, $16 (0-689-50432-2); paper, $5.99 (0-689-82032-1).
Preschool–Gr. 1. An imaginative young boy of Asian heritage describes the special features of his own shadow. His voice brings a fresh perspective to a familiar childhood experience. Narahashi’s Is That Josie? (Simon & Schuster, 1994) engages a similar theme.

Oram, Hiawyn. In the Attic. Illus. by Satoshi Kitamura. 1995. 28p. Holt, $13.95 (0-8050-0779-2); paper, $4.95 (0-8050-0780-6).
Preschool–K. “I had a million toys but I was bored.” A child playing on an attic rug imagines many worlds and activities. While readers see glimpses of the boy's varied imaginative play, the very real rug remains securely visible throughout a story filled with intriguing angles and shapes.

Rathmann, Peggy. 10 Minutes till Bedtime. 1998. 48p. Putnam, $16.99 (0-399-23103-X).
Preschool–Gr. 2. Strange things begin happening as soon as a father makes the bedtime announcement. His young son, who had been building a vehicle out of cardboard, paper clips, and the wheel from his hamster’s cage, suddenly notices 10 hamster “tourists” lining up for a tour of the boy’s bedroom. More hamsters arrive by bus, and the tiny visitors engage in typical whirlwind tourist behavior: snapping photos, fishing, swimming, and relaxing under umbrellas. Readers who wish to continue the journey can visit , a real-life Web page seen on a computer screen depicted in the book.

Ringgold, Faith. Tar Beach. 1991. 32p. Crown, $18 (0-517-58030-6); Dragonfly, paper, $6.99 (0-517-88544-1).
Preschool–Gr. 3. Eight-year-old Cassie Lightfoot and her baby brother, BeBe, lie on a mattress on the rooftop of their Harlem apartment one hot summer evening while their parents play cards with neighbors. During that time between wakefulness and sleep, the adult conversation blends into Cassie's imagination. She envisions herself flying high above New York City, claiming that she owns it all—including the George Washington Bridge—and that she can own or alter anything over which she flies. Based on the artist-author's story quilt of the same name, this picture story succeeds as fine art, an astute commentary on society, and a new variation on a traditional African American liberation motif.

Russo, Marisabina.I 1986. 24p. Greenwillow, $15 (0-688-06204-0).
Preschool. Little Sam finds it so difficult to tear himself away from his toys when his mother calls him for lunch that he makes the task of heading for the kitchen part of his imaginative play.

Ryder, Joanne. White Bear, Ice Bear. Illus. by Michael Rotham. 1989. 32p. Morrow, o.p.
K–Gr. 2. A child’s imagination transforms him into a polar bear surveying its shadowy world of ice and snow, hiding from the cold winds, and hunting for food. Told in the second person, the story conveys the intensity of the imagined adventure.

Sís, Peter. Fire Truck. 1998. 28p. Greenwillow, $14.95 (0-688-15878-1).
Preschool–K. Fire truck are the first words Matt says when he gets up in the morning and the last words he says when he goes to bed at night. But, it’s still a surprise for readers to learn about the day Matt woke up and discovered he had turned into a fire truck himself! Sís’s Trucks, Trucks, Trucks (Greenwillow, 1999) is an excellent companion book.

Sís, Peter. Ship Ahoy. 1999. 24p. Greenwillow, $14.95 (0-688-16644-X).
Preschool. In this wordless picture book, the left-hand page of each spread depicts a small boy, ensconced on a sofa with cushions, poles, and other household objects, facing a blue area rug. Each right-hand page shows the various sea-going vessels, from a raft to an ocean liner, that he conjures from the literal “furnishings” of his safe world to sail the wide ocean of his imagination.

Stevenson, Robert Louis. Block City. Illus. by Ashley Wolff. 1988. 32p. Puffin, paper, $4.99 (0-14-054551-4).
Preschool–K. “Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet be sea, / There I'll establish a city for me.” Bold shapes and primary colors show a young contemporary child creating an earlier time and place with building blocks in this delightful reincarnation of Stevenson's enduring poem.

Thompson, Richard. Sky Full of Babies. Illus. by Eugenie Fernandes. 1987. 24p. Annick, $12.95 (0-920303-93-5); paper, $4.95 (0-920303-92-7).
Preschool. Jesse builds her spaceship out of two chairs, two pillows, and an umbrella. She then invites her dad to join her on a trip through outer space, where they see a variety of infants being matched with their families.

Books for Older Children

Avi. “Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?” 1992. 170p. Orchard, $15.95 (0-531-05457-8); Avon/Camelot, paper, $3.99 (0-380-72113-9).
Gr. 4–8. Inspired by the afternoon adventures of fictional heroes in the radio dramas of the 1940s, two sixth-grade boys decide to take matters into their own idealistic hands. This exercise in imagination and its power to inspire is written entirely in dialogue containing excerpts from vintage radio shows of the mid-twentieth century.

Hamilton, Virginia. Willie Bea and the Time the Martians Landed. 1983. 208p. Greenwillow, $16 (0-688-02390-8).
Gr. 4–7. In this story, set in rural Ohio during late October in 1938, Willie Bea and her family become caught up in two days of confusion and fear generated by Orson Welles' celebrated Halloween radio broadcast, “War of the Worlds.” Willie Bea tries to maintain her balance as all of her universes tilt for a short while. Hamilton's brilliant exploration of those universes—personal, familial, community, cultural, and cosmic—contains humor and insight, while re-creating a time and a place in the history of a rural midwestern African American extended family.

Sleator, William. Oddballs. 1993. 134p. Dutton, $14.99 (0-525-45057-2); Puffin, paper, $3.99 (0-14-037438-8).
Gr. 5–10. Billy, Vicky, Danny, and Tycho are inventive and independent children, whether they're playing a favorite car-ride game of telling life stories of excrement, talking scornfully about the “pituh” people (popular, conventional kids at school), or watching pedestrian reactions to the fake vomit they've installed on a sidewalk. Featuring the hugely entertaining opinions and actions of the siblings as they move from elementary to high school, these 10 stories illustrate how active imaginations buoy such a memorable family—and thus the readers—throughout the process of growing up. This collection of short fiction based on the author's childhood experiences is neither demure nor coy.

Where Angels Glide at Dawn: New Stories from Latin America. Edited by Lori M. Carlson and Cynthia L. Ventura. Illus. by José Ortega. 1990. 114p. Lippincott, $13.89 (0-397- 32425-1); HarperCollins/Trophy, paper, $4.50 (0-06-440464-1).
Gr. 4–up. A brief introduction by writer Isabel Allende interprets the 500-year-old historical roots of Central and South American narrative. She writes of fantastic tales told before the years of television, before radio, before writing itself. She tells of “voices from . . . magical Latin American lands characterized by their wild geography, violent history, beautiful myths, legends and people moved by their great passions.” Ten brief stories introduce 10 leading Latin American writers, and their differing voices and styles.

Margaret Jensen teaches a multi-age first/second-grade class in the Madison Metropolitan School District. Ginny Moore Kruse is director of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), School of Education, University of Wisconsin–Madison.