Jack Kent (1920–1985)

Good concept. That comes across as "damning with faint praise" but for a lot of picture books, that's really all there's time for. Oh, sure Elizabeth Bird can write a long, insightful interview speaking knowledgeably of artistic influences, and literary predecessors and so forth, but when we come home from the library with a tall stack of picture books, I'm really perfectly happy if it amuses the kid and me for a few minutes. I'd so much rather read a good picture book than a mediocre early show more reader, and to my mind, they pretty much all are barren joyless wastelands with inadequate jokes. So, Yay! for a good picture book. Hell, I'll give it another star for not having fairies in it! show less

Beautiful Art, Great Stories

In college, I spent way too many hours reading old newspapers on microfiche. I always jumped to the comic strip section. I read several months worth of "King Aroo" and fell in love with it. The strip is not particularly the most well-known, but it should be. The characters are innocent and gentle. They find themselves constantly mixed up in awkward situations. Their attempts to resolve a crisis usually result in the creation of another crisis.

This edition show more presents two years worth of "King Aroo" in a accessible format. There are three strips per page, reprinted at a nice size, making it easy to read. According to the publisher, they did not want to interrupt the continuity of the weekday stories, so the Sunday strips are collected toward the end of the book with one per page. The Sunday strips are not in color, which is fine by me.

The reproductions of the black line art are just wonderful. Even without looking hard, you can see the smooth lines and pick up on the general emotions of the characters because of how clean the art is. As I understand it, the Kent family gave the publisher access to much of the original art. The publisher did a wonderful job maintaining the integrity of that art.

Both Kent's art and writing could stand alone. Combined, they show just how wonderful comics can be. I really hope the publisher will finish this series of "King Aroo" books. show less

There's No Such Thing as a Dragon was my favorite picture book as a child. Not only does it have a dragon in it, which absolutely thrilled me, that dragon is hilarious: it tries on pajamas, eats Billy's pancakes, chases after the bread truck, and grows so big that Billy's mother has to lift its tail to mop the floor properly. Jack Kent's illustrations are vivid and friendly, their cartoonish lines conveying just the right shades of emotion, and the text is short enough for a bedtime read, show more yet still long enough to allow for a meaningful story. The story itself is amusing and insightful, just as enjoyable now as when I read it as a child. show less

This book about a little red dragon that gets bigger and bigger until Billy's mother has to finally admit the dragon exists is priceless. The writing is wry, the story is funny, and the dragon itself is completely charming. This is one of those stories that looks simple but works on several levels.