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Thirteen by Remy Charlip and Jerry Joyner
Too Many Crooks Spoil the Broth by Tamar Myers and Caroline Miller (Narrator)
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Thirteen: 10/24/24

Thirteen

Thirteen by Remy Charlip and Jerry Joyner (1975) is an avant garde collaboration that was twelve years in the making. The two author/illustrators met in 1963 and had an idea for a book.

But careers and life and just the slow process that unusual projects often take required time. The two met again in 1973 (the year I was born). They worked together on the project in Paris and then finished it in Greece, filling a room with all the spreads hung up across the walls. You can read more about the their collaboration on Publisher's Weekly.

This is a rare book where both contributors are the author and the illustrator. Some of the thirteen pieces each man did by themselves. Some one wrote while the other illustrated. Then there's the this becomes that piece in the middle of each spread. That one they did together as an improve piece.

While the book is called Thirteen it really could be called 169 as it's 13 pages of 13 stories. Well, one of the thirteen is just a numeric countdown from 13 to 1. Some stories are transformative. Some are repetitive. All of them leave you with a greater sense of the human condition.

I reviewed this book originally in 2012. My kids and I found a copy at the library. Too excited to read a "new to me" Charlip book I completely missed the amount of work that went into it. I didn't appreciate the give and take of both me.

I wasn't thinking of the book as thirteen (or 156, discounting the countdown) complex works of arts. I wasn't thinking of it as a record of artistic collaboration. I was approaching it as a parent and as an excited fan.

I decided to re-read and re-review this book after seeing an Instagram post from Fuse8Kate about the book's elaborate table of contents. As each spread is a collage of mini art pieces that individually tell stories, each of these mini stories are named. And if you count, you'll see there are 14 listed items; just another way this book keeps you on your toes.

Five stars

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