Reading and Classics - Picture Books

Author: Peng Yi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: Interpretation of "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" This is a picture book that will absolutely make young children laugh out loud. Haha, the hen Rosie is strolling leisurely. She goes around in a big circle and then returns leisurely. But this country bumpkin has no idea that chaos has erupted behind her. This book somehow reminds us of the dying traditional shadow puppetry or the folk theater of pulling strings. Yes, it is a lively country play with drums and cymbals. The British woman, Pat Harkins, set up a stage all by herself and put on a hilarious comedy scene set in the English countryside. At its core, it is a chase story (though the one being chased has no idea there's a starving fox behind her), a story completed through movement. If compared to a movie camera, this should be a long, continuous moving shot. Pat Harkins designed a mobile stage for this story. She not only chose a horizontal format of 20.3cm × 25.5cm but also used full-page spreads for all but the last page of Rosie returning home—thirteen full-page spreads, thirteen scenes that merge left and right, guiding us to follow Rosie on her life-or-death stroll through the countryside. Not only does this elongate the picture, giving a continuous, magical sense that everything happens during the stroll, but Rosie and the fox appearing in the same frame also create a comical contrast. One takes tiny steps with a calm demeanor, while the other is ferocious yet always clumsy, bringing instant comedic effect to the silent play. Pat Harkins drew Rosie with an extremely decorative style, resembling cut-out paper, embroidery, or a pattern on a sweater. Rosie's head, wings, and tail are yellow, her body is crimson, and she has feather-like patterns and dots drawn in black on her wings and tail. As for that unlucky fox, instead of making it ugly because it's a clown, she beautified it, drawing it as a bewitching fox demon. The outline of its pointed ears and legs is dark brown, with white ears and a belly, while its body and long tail are orange with intricate decorative patterns of circles, lines, and black triangles, like a beautiful fox spirit. Not just the chicken and fox, but even the background trees, farms, and windmills are painted like decorative art. She was only twenty-six years old when she painted this book, and it's no exaggeration to call it a bold experiment. Yet, even toddlers who are just learning to speak accepted this distorted art style. Pat Harkins truly brought the fox to life. Look at its posture—sometimes hunched, sometimes soaring into the sky, and sometimes tumbling headfirst. Then look at its expression. Those expressive eyes reveal all its cunning and greed. Compared to the fox, Rosie can only be described as "like a log in a field." She maintains the same posture throughout, always half-closed her eyes, and always walks at the same leisurely pace. It's precisely because of this oblivious Rosie that the entire story becomes hilarious. Many people love the colors in this book. A review in The New York Times called it a comedy drenched in sunshine. Yes, it's sunset light—anyone who sees it for the first time will be captivated by its warm, sunset-like hues. Orange-yellow, olive green, and crimson are perfectly harmonized in a slightly yellow, warm tone. Pat Harkins herself once said that her favorite color is yellow. Almost all critics noticed that in the fourteen main illustrations of this picture book, there are only thirty-two English words: "acrosstheyard" and "aroundtheDond." These words merely describe Rosie crossing the yard and (circling the pond) as a simple description of her stroll. As for the fox following behind, it is never mentioned at all. Some say that Chicka Chicka Boom Boom actually includes two stories: one told in words about Rosie's ordinary stroll, and another told in pictures about the fox's thrilling chase. That's why John Lovewell Thompson, in A History of English Children's Literature, says: The classic Chicka Chicka Boom Boom focuses on the truth hidden behind the words. Yes, this is a successful example of a story told purely through pictures. Though there are only a few words, and they appear every other page, Pat Harkins truly understands the psychology of young children. She turned this silent story into one filled with laughter, even designing seven moments for the kids to laugh! Believe it or not, you'll laugh when the pitchfork flattens the fox's nose! You'll laugh when the fox falls headfirst into the pond! You'll laugh when the fox dives into the haystack! You'll laugh when the fox is buried in flour! You'll laugh when the fox falls into the shopping cart! You'll laugh even more when the shopping cart crashes into the beehive, the fox is chased by bees, and it scurries away in panic—twice as much laughter!