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PrintWorth reading: "Side" stories
News and notes on the local literary scene.
A brand-new children’s book — “Sidewords” — is on local bookstore shelves.
Yes, you read that correctly — not “Sidewards” but “Sidewords.” The adventure was 20 years in the making by two Tulsans, Susan Dornblaser, a communications consultant, and Gil Adams, a commercial artist and illustrator. Their professionalism shines brightly in their first children’s picture book.
The full title is “Sidewords — Because Animals Have a Life, Too.” Whimsy is the key to this book. The coined word “sidewords” sets the stage for laughs and guffaws. “Side” is one of those words with multiple combinations: sidearm, sidebar, sidecar or sideburns. I learned a new one recently in the garden section of the newspaper: “side dressing,” a method of fertilizing plants.
Whimsy invites both the child and adult reader to contemplate life’s ambiguities. Inside the 40 pages of “Sidewords,” Adams’ double-page, bold-colored art challenges the viewer to see behind and beyond the surface.
Adams, at age 63, paints mostly impressionist art rather than commercial work. Perhaps you remember his 2004 Mayfest poster? More recently he designed the drink buttons at the new QuikTrip stores.
Three nonsensical short ditties about frogs, penguins and buffaloes glue the book together, but the art dominates.
Early-childhood expert Martha Davis Beck says picture books for children ages birth to 6 should “have words that swing and pictures that grab the eye. There should be enough in it that is familiar to offer comfort, and enough that is new to spark interest and create a sense of adventure.”
Following that precept, in “Sidewords,” frogs, very child-friendly, living in New York City are craving ooey-gooey bugs that have migrated to Florida, so the five frogs decide to fly south to satisfy their appetites. This is personification at its most blatant and its most fun.
The middle yarn has a moral: Be careful with fireworks for they can hurt you if mishandled. This tale has been illustrated with penguins in frozen tundra. The absurdity of sailboats and beach umbrellas in a snowy expanse as penguins celebrate Independence Day tickles the funny bone.
The third story, about buffalo brothers watching ants playing croquet, is magically visualized. The perspective of huge buffaloes juxtaposed with tiny ants is delightful.
A good picture book resonates on two levels — for the child and for the adult reading to the child. As an adult, you will see new details each time you open the cover: frogs with diver’s fins, polar bears with shirts emblazoned with “Chicago” and many other incongruities that will inspire you to ask your child, “Do frogs sunbathe?” This sharing is the bond of love.
