To Be or Not to Be- a Picture Book?

UNION SQUARE KIDS, 2025

THE SHINDIG IS COMING, written and illustrated by Charise Mericle Harper presents a bit of a dilemma. I enjoyed it so much and was sure to share that delight in some way. But did it fit here, as a post on a blog about picture books? Although not numbered, I'd estimate the page count at about 64, double the typical picture book. The word count also far exceeds the  typical recommendation for picture books of about 500 words. Some pages are only, or nearly only, text. There's no reason I would "object" to it being an early reader or easy chapter book. Early chapter books are delightful and essential in young reading lives. Still...

The humor and storytelling in this new book is unsurprisingly superb, well-paced, and rich with nuance and humor. Despite its physical appearance of an early chapter book, I'm convinced that this certainly qualifies as a picture book. That's based on the essential role of the mostly-silhouette illustrations to achieve full meaning and much the humor. The images and text invite rereading as picture books do, and more so than an early reader or chapter book does. The ample white space on each page, the text size and line spacing, too, make this easy on the eyes and satisfying to the heart. Mostly, though, as a text-only book I would not be singing its praises in this way nor have fully grasped the tension, humor, or the depth of the characters.

This clever little tale is a sort of Chicken Little account. But in this case the coming disaster is a SHINDIG! The various animals each provide  character insights, making the story into an ensemble cast rather than focusing on a single protagonist. I strongly recommend this for use with young audiences to explore ways in which book formats should be chosen to best suit their purpose.

I doubt that using a basic/traditional picture book format, even in the hands of a skilled writer like Harper, could do justice to the complexity and pacing of this evening woodland gathering. I particularly appreciated the many subtleties of nature that are blended into an otherwise  anthropomorphized situation. Animals that naturally prey upon and avoid each other are shown to come together for their common good. Their animal natures are respected (as in a grumbly, hungry bear, or that lovable opossum whose instinctive survival mechanism of fainting/playing dead makes him the most vulnerable of all). The charm of their shared concerns, competitive natures, individual differences, and that ominous SHINGDIG  (fear of the unknown) make for a modern day classic with strong potential for frequent re-readings and discussions. 

And I intend to recommend it often. When I do, I have no qualms about calling it a picture book. It is both whimsical and profound, a good reason for celebrating with a shindig!