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I've been wanting to do this thread for a long time: a feature on one of my favorite authors/illustrators of picture books, Tomi Ungerer!
I'll begin with Crictor and Emile, then Fog Island, then Allumette: A Fable, and finally Non Stop, his final book published in 2020 (R.I.P.)
I'll begin with Crictor and Emile, then Fog Island, then Allumette: A Fable, and finally Non Stop, his final book published in 2020 (R.I.P.)
I'm featuring Emile and Crictor in parallel because they're basically the same delightful book
Meet Emile, the octopus, and Crictor, the boa constrictor, both adopted into human households and communities
They are entertaining...
...and helpful.
When their humans are faced with danger, they prove their mettle as heroic saviors. (Gratuitous extra photo for the most French policeman ever)
They receive accolades for their service, and are honored by having things named after them. They continue to live long and happy lives.
Those two books are nice introductory Ungerer books for all ages. Next up is Fog Island, and it's going to get a little darker.
Meet Finn and Cara and their parents, living in what appears to be a northern Atlantic island, probably Ireland. The illustrations tell us so much about their lives. The fourth photo is my favorite.
Finn and Cara go out in their own little boat, and the water takes them out too far. They get stranded on the dreaded Fog Island.
Inside the edifice of Fog Island, they meet the eccentric Fog Man, who shows them how he makes the fog by pouring seawater into a deep deep well that goes to the center of the earth. He entertains and feeds them and puts them up for the night.
I'm sure a few sea shanties were sung here
When they wake up, the Fog Man is gone. Did they dream him? But their soup bowls are still there...
And now the fog has cleared
And now the fog has cleared
They make their way home to their terrified parents and townspeople, and their return is celebrated by a party. Only the two children will ever know what really happened that night.
Next up is Allumette: A Fable, a retelling of the tale of the Little Match Girl. Here's where it gets really spicy 
This book jumps right in with our heroine Allumette. Her poverty is abject. She's always either ignored or despised. The illustrations pull no punches.
An outcast in every way, Allumette is always on the run.
In a moment of terrifying desperation, she prays.... And is delivered from poverty by a fantastical miracle!
Everything she had ever wished for comes pouring out of the sky!
Allumette's bounty is more than she needs, so she works to distribute her goods to all the poor and disabled. Wealthy People see what she's doing and feel guilty, Important People get angry, the mayor and military discover they're irrelevant
Because people keep contributing to the pile of goods, it never runs out and Allumette is able to spend the rest of her life giving to the suffering all that they need.
The last book I'll be showing you today is the bleakest, most Expressionist one in the collection. Don't worry: the ending is peaceful, if a little melancholy still.
In an apocalyptic wasteland, we meet the protagonist Vasco. We know very little about him. He could be anyone. He could be you. His shadow points the way, and he's compelled to follow.
His shadow leads him away from one disaster after another, "JUST IN TIME!"
He is given a letter to deliver, which leads him to rescue a desperate child-creature at the behest of its dying mother. How true, that having someone to care for can keep you going.
Vasco and Poco are guided on a long journey, alone, through the deserted and crumbling land.
No blended shadows here--the light in this world is harsh and cold, and the darkness eagerly swallows it up. Vasco and Poco arrive in the desert destination where the shadow was leading them...
This rescuing utopia waiting for them is inside a cake, which then vanishes after they go inside.
The Afterword
Tomi Ungerer belongs to a generation of artists who lived through the horrors of the Second World War as young people, which profoundly shaped their world, their lives, and their art. I have a special love for this art, and I'm glad you have read to the end of this with me.
