This opening chapter endeavours to consider what is meant by challenging and controversial picturebooks and some of the issues surrounding them. Issues such as: who they are for; how do we respond to them; will they be ālikedā by all readers; does āchallengingā mean the same for all readers; what are the origins of these contemporary visual texts; are they equally available in all countries; can wordless picturebooks be challenging; is it the words, the pictures or a combination of both that create the unconventionality ā the sometimes very disturbing, troubling ālookā that these picturebooks can portray?
Oskar K has clear thoughts about these kinds of books:
Every so often, books appear that are hard to categorise, because they are not aimed at a particular age group but at readers in general; they do not have monochord themes and plot sequences but are complex; they allow the dizzyingly incomprehensible to become the object of a readerās wonder ā books that do not invite rapid and comfortable reading but require effort and contemplation.
With great love, subtlety and humour, they depict offbeat characters, lonely children and adults, death and hope and love, they (the creators of these books) talk about incest, lies, violence, God, sexuality, alcoholism and drug abuse, abortion and euthanasia... everything that belongs to a more accurate description of the world shared by children and adults. A world many adults feel we should spare our children ā at least, in books. A pleasant thought. And somewhat mendacious, when one considers the things that children encounter every day ā on television, films and on the Internet.
Journalists wallow incoherently through terror, war and destruction, sex scandals, raw violence and bestial murder. There is not much gentle grace there ā at most, quickly pronounced judgements and titillating warnings about clips with bloody scenes.
But a book can be something else. A nuanced, artistic presentation of characters and worlds ā without condemnation ā can provide a completely different and complex experience from that of the disjointed assaults of the news. It is not about what you say but how and why you say it. It is not about provoking or offending someone but telling a story that means something. Books should not necessarily be understood but elicit a desire to understand.
Oscar K (2008: 46ā48)
Is it usual to find picturebooks where a childrenās undertaker sings barbershop songs while he is laying out childrenās bodies in the mortuary; where aborted foetuses reflect on some of the reasons why they were never given a life, a name and an identity; where grotesque insects are bred to represent the seven deadly sins and where a mentally retarded boy is shown growing up in his own simple world to be eventually taken in death by, and alongside, his mother?
Well, yes it is, especially in certain countries. However we need to ask who these picturebooks, often dealing with controversial issues that evoke fearful responses about the psychological safety of the reader, are for. Who exactly is the audience? Are they for children or should we be asking if picturebooks such as Idiot by Oscar K and Dorte KarrebƦk, Smoke by Anton Fortes and Joanna Concejo, and Duck, Death and the Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch are actually āpoetic and philosophical works of art for young adultsā (Rhedin, 2009).
In the past couple of decades there has been an upsurge of interest in unusual, thought-provoking picturebooks ā visual texts where the text and image work together to create the whole. Many people have previously assumed that picturebooks are for very young readers because of their emphasis on the illustrations and scarcity of text; however, there are increasing numbers of picturebooks where the age of the implied reader is questionable. These are picturebooks whose controversial subject matter and unconventional, often unsettling style of illustration challenge the readers, pushing them to question and probe deeper to understand what the book is about. In addition to the book challenging the reader, the reader often challenges the book, delving into the gaps in an attempt to understand what is being said. Very often these books are exquisitely beautiful to look at, touch and hold; they are art books and are frequently created by author/illustrators who are also artists in their own right.
Many of these picturebooks work on many different levels, they are truly polysemic and worthy of in-depth analysis. They compel the reader to respond to them and ask questions and in many instances are intrinsically philosophical, dealing with fundamental issues and asking ābig questionsā which often form the basis of life.
Challenging and controversial picturebooks
Considering the terms
There is no existing term that is commonly used in the academic field of childrenās literature to describe/classify the picturebooks that this book focuses on, words such as: strange, unusual, controversial, disturbing, challenging, shocking, troubling, curious, demanding and philosophical are all suitable for describing some of these books but not all of them. Increasingly it seems there is no one single word that is suitable to identify and label these books. In an attempt to find such a word I have encountered more questions than answers; questions which have led me to better understand and classify these books. In considering this same issue, Perry Nodelman questioned what qualities and characteristics a book has to possess in order to be classed as controversial. He discovered that some mainstream, bestselling picturebooks were often more strange than the ones classed as strange (Chapter 2, this volume).
Children's personal challenges
Many adults feel that challenging and controversial picturebooks are not suitable for children to read, however, it is they, as adults, who have problems coping with these challenging texts and not the children. In reality, many young children have to deal with troubling, personal problems on a day-to-day basis in their own lives: real-life problems needing real-life solutions that are not just found on the pages of books. Some of the 11-year-old children with whom I was working shared their personal challenges:
A big challenge for me was when my sister was in hospital because she had leukaemia.
Another challenge for me is about my mum and dadās divorce. My dad has sent us to court asking for more contact when I donāt want it. It has only just happened so itās a bit out of my comfort zone but Iām getting used to it.
Olly
A challenge for me a few years ago was when my mum was diagnosed with bowel cancer. It was especially hard for me and my dad because she was in hospital for three months. All the family was affected because she did a lot for us and it became a very hard time. Visiting mum was the hardest because seeing her like this made us feel sad because we had to do lots for her as if she was a baby whereas she used to do lots for us before. My challenge is mental and physical.
Emy
My first personal challenge was when I went to Manchester velodrome because I was the only girl there and Iād never done it before, plus everyone else could ride and I couldnāt. What I found hard was that you canāt take your feet out of the pedals and you can easily fall over and really hurt yourself.
My second challenge was when my granddad had cancer and was always in hospital. I was challenged because I had to be brave and that was really hard because my great nan had cancer and died so I was scared I was going to lose granddad. Unfortunately I did. It was also really hard and a challenge for my nan, uncle and mum because they were there when granddad died.
My last challenge was going to my granddadās funeral because I started to cry as soon as I saw his coffin. I had a challenge trying to keep the tears back.
Meg
Personal challenges and picturebook themes
These were just some of the challenges facing these children at the age of 11 years; however, many of them had already experienced serious worries when they were younger. Of course, children have to cope with the challenges that life brings, we cannot and should not āwrap them up in cotton woolā, that is not the reality of life and this is where challenging picturebooks can be seen as being helpful, often therapeutic texts. As Oscar K (2008) noted so very emotively at the beginning of this chapter, fiction is a narrative and picturebook narratives very often reflect the reality of life, sometimes directly, other times making allusions to real-life situations as part of the story. Picturebooks can help children relate to, and come to terms with, troubling, disturbing and sometimes controversial issues in life.
Olly, Emy and Megās personal challenges are issues often covered by picturebooks: Jenny Angel (Wild & Spudvilas, 1999) deals with child illness and eventual death; Krigen (The War) (Dahle & Nyhus, 2013) (discussed by Ommundson, Chapter 4, this volume) depicts the nightmarish reality of parental divorce as āa dramatic war sceneā; The Scar (Moundlic & Tallec, 2009) tells how a little boy deals with his motherās death and the associated emotions ranging from upset and anger to eventual acceptance of his loss; La Visite de Petite Mort (Little Deathās Visit) (Crowther, 2004) shows in a poignant, and yet gently humorous way, how dying can be made more palatable and less frightening by a little girl who, in accepting her own death, endeavours to help others accept theirs; Lola and the Rent a Cat (Josephus Jitta, 2007) tells how Lola deals with the loss of John, her husband after 56 married years; and then, Wolf Erlbruchās award-winning picturebook, Duck, Death and the Tulip (2008) allows a child reader to see death in a different, unexpected light ā as a character with a personality and emotions just like a living person. Finally, Donāt Let Go! (Willis & Ross, 2002) is an incredibly emotional picturebook telling of a little girlās very close relationship with her father and the way he helps with her challenging physical struggle to ride a bicycle for the first time and in so doing to take her first move in becoming independent. These picturebooks, each challenging in different ways, evoke the childrenās personal worries and concerns and help them to come to terms with them by finding solutions.
Many children who are not ...
