Any toddler or preschooler who hasn't gotten his or her way can be creatively subversive and funny, too, if you're not on the receiving end.
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| Maybe you do need a bath. |
Mo Willems' picture books featuring the Pigeon are both hilarious and true: hilarious because the pigeon is subversive by nature, and true because he's basically an intelligent, strong-willed preschooler.
The Pigeon Needs a Bath!, one of Mo Willems' newer ones, has snarky flies (even
they think the Pigeon reeks), zesty Pigeon diatribes and excuses, and a satisfying ending.
Meet the next level of the will to power. Achilles, a young crocodile, would really like to eat a child. We know that this is a bad idea, but he sticks to it anyways.
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| Achilles really is pretty cute. |
His parents bring him all kinds of edible treats, but his ingratitude grows, as does his desire to eat a child. Sure enough, Achilles does encounter a child. Will we be grossed out? Find out in Sylviane Donnio's
I'd Really Like to Eat a Child. (Yes, it's completely appropriate. Duh.)
Ever been interrupted by a young child? Repeatedly? You'll appreciate Peter Catalanotto's
Ivan the Terrier in which Ivan repeatedly interrupts the narrator's fairy tale with his hyperactive barking.
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| Ivan the Terrier by Peter Catalanotto |
Exhausted, the poor narrator keeps switching to a different tale, only to get interrupted again by barking. But Ivan, like a young child, will get tired (eventually). Young children will delight in finding Ivan in pictures where he is barely visible.
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| That appliance looks unreliable! |
Fix this Mess by Tedd Arnold begins with my own dream come true: a Remote Operating Basic Utility Gizmo ("cleans your house!" according to the box) -- R.O.B.U.G, super cute and looks portable. Looks are deceptive. Every time ROBUG's owner asks him to "fix this mess," ROBUG only makes the mess worse, while relocating the mess to a different location in the house. Sounds exactly like someone I know.
