Book of the Day: Dandelion

Dandelion
Don Freeman
Puffin Books, 1964

"Simplicity is the essence of children’s book stories, not simple mindedness.” Don Freeman

It was a rough day in our household.  Mirette woke up at 5 AM saying, "Mommy, Daddy, I have pee on my leg."  I sleepily entered her room to find that the pee was actually poop and it had dripped down her leg all over her carpet.  The rest of today, more of the same.  All plans were cancelled and we stayed at home, making applesauce, listening to cd's, and cuddled up reading (in between diaper changes).

Despite my sadness at watching my daughter be sick, it was sweet to be together as a family, loving each other up.  

So I might as well share a happy book today, one that brings laughter and smiles to us even when we are sick!  

I love Dandelion.   In fact, I love Don Freeman and anything he writes/draws—Corduroy, Dandelion, Earl the Squirrel.  I don't know how he did it, but all of his characters are so lovable, adorable, charming, and cheek-squeezing cute.

In my opinion, though, Dandelion takes the cake in the adorable department.  And the book even has a moral!  The basic plot is that Dandelion gets all dressed up for a party, tries to be someone he is not, and doesn't get recognized.  Rejected from the party, he sits outside in a rainstorm, gets his hair mussed up and then, surprise, his friends recognize him. 

Though I certainly hope to impart the wisdom of being yourself to Mirette, what I love best about the book is Dandelion's haircut.  In one photo he is sitting in the chair with wet hair, looking earnestly at the reader as Lou Kangaroo dons a pair of scissors.  In the next picture, you can just see his little face and he is covered in a circle of shampoo.  At this point, Mirette and I both crack up!  

The next series of drawings depict an unsure-looking Dandelion with puffy hair.  This elicits more hearty guffaws from us.  And finally, Dandelion's mane is curled into tight ringlets.  At this funny picture, we are rolling on the floor with laughter.

And laughing together is one of the sweetest pleasures of being a parent, making the story an A plus in my book.

Don Freeman (1908-1978): I learned many interesting things about Don Freeman from milling around the website his son made for him: http://donfreeman.info/.  He was very involved in New York culture in the '30s and '40s and has many sketches of street life and the theater world from those decades.  He has some adult graphic books that look really great too. He seems like quite a creative and fun character.

Another thing I learned is that his wife, Lydia Freeman (1906-1998), has her own website at  http://lydiafreeman.com/welcome.  In addition to painting, and writing and illustrating children's books, she also wrote poetry in the form of Haikus.  During the last two years of her life, she drew a doodle a day.  Before she died, her friends matched up her Haikus with her doodles and created a lovely book.  It has nothing to do with children, but check it out—it's pretty amazing, simple but profound stuff.