Black and White: 02/14/25

Black and White by David Macaulay (1991) has a similar vibe to Thirteen by Remy Charlip and Jerry Joyner (1975). There are three or four stories that may or may not be telling one larger story.

One story involves a brother and sister waiting for their strict parents to get home. Another involves a boy riding a train home only for it to be stopped by cows. Then there's a burglar who is making his great escape. Finally, there's a group of adults who stage a flash mob at the train station.

The artwork, which I saw posted on Instagram was what got me interested in reading the book. Specifically it was the illustration from what I'm calling the flash mob story. It involves a crowd of people wearing newspaper costumes, decorating the station with newspapers. Even the squirrel has a paper hat.

The illustration was so out of context that I wanted to see it in context. That's what led me to track down a copy and give it a read even though I avoided reading it to my children when they were little, despite it being a Caldecott winner.

Here's the thing, every year that the Caldecott awards rolled around the book was on prominent display at the library. Of course it would be, but the cover art and the title: hand drawn text that was colored green, white, and blue, looked like a performative statement on inclusivity.

The black and white ends up being more of a riddle than anything else. It's the cows. It's the burglar. It's the newspaper. It's the kids' confusion over their parents' behavior. So what's black and white and re(a)d all over?

The book also happens to sit on the Road Narrative Spectrum. The main traveler is the boy on the train, who as a sole traveler is an orphan (FF). His goal is to get home (66). His route is via railroad (00).

Four stars

Comments (0)