Alright. This mission to steal back the illustrated book needs a kick-off. As well as some parameters and some caveats for this whole idea that these books are worth reading. So to break it down, this is where I see the success of a kid’s book. Simple, yes. Simplistic, no. Instructive, most likely. Pedantic, definitely not. Always bigger than itself, always asking for your imagination to fill in the blanks, asking you to put yourself in there, and never telling you how. And most importantly… never trite or overly sentimental. It basically comes down to: if you can read it now as a “grown up”, not throw up in your mouth, and leave it feeling like a better person, it’s doing something right. Of course, how that all goes down… well, that’s what we get to look at from here on in. Continue reading →