Friday, March 22, 2013

Rain by Virginia Parsons

           I bought this book at a giant used book warehouse called Wonder Book, in Frederick, MD, where I lived for four months in the winter and spring of 2007, which were by far the best four months of my entire life, so I wondered if the reason I love this book so much is because it is colored by my mood of that time. However several not-so-bad-either years later, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that I love this book for reasons that are pure and honest and, I believe, well and just deserved.

"Rain"was published in 1961, and is of course out of print now, though it pops up on ebay quite often.

I have tried to find out as much as I could about Virginia Parsons, the writer and illustrator of this book, but have not been too successful. It seems that she wrote and/or illustrated many wonderful children's books at a great time when picture books already acquired legitimacy and artistic recognition but had not yet become the unbearably pretentious examples of bad taste and lack of talent we overwhelmingly see today. I do have another book of hers in my possession right now having gotten it through interlibrary loan, and can reliably vouch that it has the same wonderful illustrations and a general happy and content feel as "Rain".  I would say that if you like what you read here, it is a good idea to look for her books at used book stores and yard sales.

The book "Rain" alternates between color and black and white illustrations. I think both of her signature styles - the cartoony color images and the graphic black and white line drawings are equally strong and appealing, and I love the fact that she tells one story using two different styles.

Both sets of pictures really remind me of the way I used to draw as a kid - or at least tried to. I think that her images are so appealing, friendly and accessible that a child who sees them will easily be able to copy her style and draw his or her own pictures with freedom and confidence.

At the same time, the black and white pictures in particular are fairly complex and exciting to look at even if you are a grown up who likes art.




As with other books I admire, I love the fact that "Rain" does not offer any morals or lessons, but simply describes something that happens in our world, and informs the readers of things that happen, or could potentially happen when they do. While the loose, happy, innocent mood of the text - ducks are described in the book, policemen and mailmen who work even in the rain, gardens that grow better in the rain, and deserts, where it does not rain, and so on - is definitely a reflection of the times when the book was written, I feel like it possesses something extremely valuable that is totally missing from children's books today. I think that something is the freedom to be unconcerned whether the book "lives up" to some arbitrary standard. This allows for the text to be assertive and yet absurd, and the pictures to be lovely and expressive in exactly the way children love them to be.





Finally, (I saved one of the best things for last), I have to say that this book has the best endpapers I have ever seen. Coming from a person who rather obsessively investigates endpapers of used children's books in particular, I think that just looking at the inside cover of "Rain" makes the world a better place. I love the fact that it has nothing to do with contents of the book, I love the fact that it has fabulous colorful diamonds, I love all the people, objects and animals that are preciously contained within each one. I think that when children look at images such as this one, they have a slightly better chance of growing up into adults who still remember what it was like to be a kid. And that, I believe, is one of the most important things in the world.




7 comments:

  1. Anything that has an overt lesson to teach, especially a "do gooder" message, drives me absolutely bonkers. I actually stopped watching this season's Bones because those jackass provide a PSA in every episode with zero character development.
    I loved the black & white umbrellas.

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  2. I am SO VERY surprised that we totally agree on the question of pedantic moralizing in children's literature :)))))

    What is PSA? I looked it up and the internet told me that it stands for something I dare not mention in this family friendly space :)

    Haven't seen Bones since a while ago...don't really want to either. oh well.

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  3. I imagined you would be surprised at my stance. :)

    PSA stands for Public Service Announcements - basically shorthand for teaching the public to do the right thing.

    Yeah, you're not missing much by not watching Bones. Watching old episodes of Buffy or Angel is far superior.

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    Replies
    1. yeah, I actually knew that abut PSA but my brain is not so much functioning sometimes so ...well..the internet offers some curious alternatives...

      Always happy to watch Buffy... :)

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  4. I think this book might be right up your alley. No preachy morals, good illustrations, and a simple re-telling of things the way they are.

    “White Snow, Bright Snow [Paperback]
    Alvin Tresselt (Author), Roger Duvoisin (Illustrator)”

    I loved this story as a kid, because I could completely relate to it. Sometimes you just knew that it was going to snow. There was the anticipation before it started, then the first flakes would fall. You’d go to bed, and it would still be falling. If you were lucky, you’d wake up early in the morning, when it was still dark, and the sky would be crystal clear because it was so cold. The night would be a silent wonderland, and unnaturally bright because of the brightness of the snow.

    I found a reading of the book on Youtube, which shows the illustrations inside. (I never did manage to add it to my personal collection. . . .)


    http://youtu.be/DUm4YsOQkWY

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  5. Thanks, Mark!
    I will definitely look into it. It seems to be from a time before the Caldecott Medal was controlled by the evil mafia of popularity contests.

    Another favorite Snow book (about which I will write sometime soon) is "Waiting For Winter"
    by my much favorite Sebastian Meschenmoser

    http://www.amazon.com/Waiting-Winter-Sebastian-Meschenmoser/dp/1935279041/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364865527&sr=1-1&keywords=waiting+for+snow+sebastian+meschenmoser

    and "Snow" by Uri Shulevitz

    and "Snow Day" by Ezra Jack Keats

    http://www.amazon.com/Snowy-Day-50th-Anniversary/dp/067001270X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364865607&sr=1-1&keywords=snow+day+ezra+jack+keats



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  6. I am also trying to find out more about this unsung illustrator, Virginia Parsons, who so many people want to confound with Mary Blair. Understandable, I suppose, since this is the same art culture that someone found it acceptable to publically and still silently renounce Walter Keane’s claim on Margaret Keane’s Work at the cost of somehow implying “It’s a Small World” was based on ‘Big Eyes’ - maybe just to me...for the purposes of marketing his 2014.
    But Virginia Parsons seems to be a ghost.

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