It's a Small World in Joan Walsh Anglund's Peace Is a Circle of Love

I've been enjoying the books of Joan Walsh Anglund over the past couple months, and of all the volumes I've read thus far, I think my favorite is Peace Is a Circle of Love, published in 1993. Like several of her poetry books, it is a tiny gift book about 50 percent taller than it is wide. Unlike those books, it is in full color, with vibrant illustrations of children on each page that create a tapestry of human cooperation reminiscent of the iconic Disney ride it's a small world.

The book is very much on the short side. Aside from the first page, which is on the right-hand side and includes text and illustration on the same page, the pictures are on the right and the words are on the left. There are 25 pages in all, just 13 pictures, plus those on the title and cover pages. While Anglund does not mention any specific nationalities, the children are dressed in culturally distinct garb.

In the first picture, a little girl in buckskin releases a bird, which flies off in jubilation. The final page bookends this moment as she and three others watch a dove traverse the sky as the sun sets behind it. Other pages show several children together or sometimes just a pair, always engaged in peaceable activities. A Scandinavian girl and a child from Thailand share a flower; a procession of seven children from a variety of backgrounds meanders down the road, holding candles. Other heartening symbols include a rainbow, a tree and a hug.

Anglund varies the skin tone to accentuate the ethnic differences, but even the darkest-skinned children retain her easily recognizable rosy cheeks. Small, round black eyes and no noses are other features typical of Anglund's style that present themselves here. She makes full use of color, giving each child a distinctive outfit, from the little German boy in green lederhosen and a feathered cap to the Hasidic Jew all in black. The rose-covered kimono of the Japanese girl is lovely, as is the flag-print dress that the American girl proudly sports.

All but two of the sentences in the book begin with the words "Peace is." Another starts "Peace means," and the final sentence breaks from the pattern to allude to the classic anthem Let There Be Peace on Earth. The writing style is minimalist, but it works for this simple book about seeking harmony. Of the 15 statements describing the nature of peace, I think my favorite is, "Peace is letting go of old angers and building new dreams together," which accompanies a drawing of two children planting a garden together.

The image of the two children with a rainbow behind them appears twice in the book; it's the same two kids, and the accompanying text is virtually identical. I presume that the reason for this is to give the book more of a circular feel, but if that is the case, the first appearance of the rainbow should have been the second illustration in the book rather than the third. In either case, I think it would have been more interesting to include an entirely different image toward the end. Still, it works as it is.

While the world is a much more complicated and contentious place than what is reflected in this book, Anglund is presenting an ideal, and in referring to "the children of the world" as "our teachers of peace," she emphasizes the value in letting these charitable attitudes take root in the very young and allowing them to demonstrate how harmonious our associations with each other can be if we seek common ground and celebrate differences rather than fearing them.

Winged Children Celebrate the Season in Little Angels' Book of Christmas

Artist Joan Walsh Anglund has books dating back several decades, and many of the illustrations in her early books feature drab color schemes or no color at all. Little Angels’ Book of Christmas, published in 1997, is strikingly different because the colors are so vibrant. Every picture is in full color, and while red and green are the most prominent colors, she uses a whole range of hues, incorporating yellow to especially good effect.

This book is slightly taller and almost twice as wide as the typical skinny Anglund book, so it has a very different look to it. Curiously, with more room to work with, her illustrations become less detailed. They’re still lovely to look at, but the landscapes in particular feel a bit more generic than in her earlier books. I find the color technique interesting, with the children generally having very thick color around the outsides of their clothing and very little on the middle portions. It’s a type of shading that is very pronounced.

The writing style is rather curious here because she alternates between prose and rhymed verse. Because she doesn’t stick to one or the other, it creates a feeling of incongruity lasting throughout the book. That’s probably my major complaint here. The book feels unnecessarily uneven. What’s more, some of the rhythm feels a bit clunky.

I’m also not entirely sure what purpose is served by giving all the children wings. In most of the illustrations, they just look like ordinary kids who happen to be able to take to the skies at a moment’s notice. In only one picture do we see an angel interacting with a normal child, and that scarcely-clothed angel looks like Cupid, while the rest are fully dressed and, aside from the tiny angels resting inside of stockings, the size of normal children.

While this book has a specific Christian focus and is more concerned with the nativity, it mentions Santa Claus, though only in the text. As a proud Swede, I get a kick out of the Santa Lucia wreath adorning the head of one golden-haired girl, though I wish that she was dressed in white instead of pink. However, aside from the nearly naked angel, all of them wear robes of green, gold or pink. While only one angel wears a wreath with candles on it, several have garlands on their heads, and they look especially nice on the children in green.

This is one of several Little Angels books, and while it is not my favorite of her Christmas reflections, the angels do seem well suited for this occasion. For a slightly celestial take on the Christmas season, have a look at Little Angels’ Book of Christmas.

The Cowboy's Christmas Isn't Western But Is Well-Mannered

I have always gravitated toward the cowboy lifestyle, so I was intrigued when I happened upon the picture book The Cowboy’s Christmas by Joan Walsh Anglund, who tends to stick more with poetry in most of her books. While the title character certainly looks like a little cowboy, I was rather disappointed to find that nothing he does in the book is particularly cowboyish. Nonetheless, this is a cute Christmas book encouraging children to be on their best behavior as Christmas approaches.

This is a very simple book about a cowboy who is “Especially Busy” getting ready for Christmas. Those words are two of several that are capitalized for emphasis. Like many of Anglund’s books, this one has only about one sentence on each page. It’s about half the size of a typical picture book but nearly twice the size as Anglund’s tiny gift books, so it feels fairly spacious despite its small size.

As I was reading this for the first time, it became apparent to me that it was part of a series. I have not read any of Anglund’s other cowboy books, and I think it would be helpful to read at least the first one, as that apparently establishes this character as a bit of a troublemaker. The cowboy’s actions are meant to seem extraordinary because readers already know him as a scallywag. However, nothing he does in this book suggests that, and if it weren’t for the way the text was worded, I would have no reason to suspect that he is anything other than perfectly well-mannered.

This book does not provide any information about the bear, either. Where did he come from? How did they meet? Is he visible to everyone or just the cowboy? It’s really not clear. I do find the color scheme of this book interesting, though. While the cowboy and most of the background objects are black, the bear, the mice and a few other page elements are red. It’s only the two colors, so it’s pretty drab, but the stark contrast is interesting.

Because the cowboy’s darker past is only hinted at here, there’s not much dramatic tension to be found. Instead, it’s just a straightforward account of someone getting ready for Christmas. Given his diminutive height and the typical baby face that Anglund gives him, he definitely seems to be a child, but he also lives all alone, at least without human supervision. He does share his house with a jumbo-sized bear and a family of mice. Still, he comes across as an interesting sort of kid-adult hybrid.

The Cowboy’s Christmas was published in 1972, and it looks older than that. The red and black color scheme more than anything else is what makes it seem like a product of an earlier part of the century; the capitalized words seem quaint too. It’s a good sort of nostalgia, which is something you could say about most of Anglund’s books. While it would have been nice if this book had more of a western flavor to it, the cowboy’s determination to extend goodwill to others makes for a most agreeable tale.

Joan Walsh Anglund Explores Christmas Traditions in A Christmas Sampler

People celebrate Christmas in many different ways. In her gift book A Christmas Sampler, artist and poet Joan Walsh Anglund recognizes the diversity of traditions surrounding this beloved holiday and provides a nice little primer on them. Unlike Christmas Is a Time of Giving, which she originally published several decades earlier, this book is in full color, and it’s much wordier, including a number of poems and songs containing several verses as opposed to the earlier book, which has only a sentence per page.

Anglund has a distinctive style, particularly when it comes to drawing children. The kids in her books have tiny black dots for eyes and bright rosy cheeks. Beyond that, they usually have no other facial features. They dress in old-fashioned attire, which adds to the general coziness of her books. Whether or not these types of images have any direct correlation to your own youth, they are a part of countless Christmas songs and specials, so these nostalgic visions are perfectly suited to this homey time of year.

In some of Anglund’s books, the adults look significantly more realistic than the children, but that isn’t the case here. Only the wise men toward the beginning and the portrait of Mary holding Jesus at the end of the book include a different facial design than the children. Then again, there aren’t very many adults in this book at all. What we mostly have are lots of children gearing up for Christmas in different ways: trimming the tree, making cookies, going for a sled ride, caroling… These are all very common images, but that just gives them a comfortably familiar feel.

She divides the book up into sections, each entitled “The _____ of Christmas.” The longest section is the last, “The Meaning of Christmas,” which is a poem that spans eight pages. “The Poems of Christmas” are written in rhyme as well, and “The Songs of Christmas” are simply two popular carols. The book also includes a couple of introductory poems. The rest is prose, including several short descriptions of Christmas customs, legends and traditions and a recipe for gingerbread cookies.

This book is much more explicit that the earlier one when it comes to both Jesus and Santa. Each appears in both in illustrations and text. Anglund also discusses St. Nicholas, citing him as the inspiration for Santa Claus. Her sampling of various traditions from around the world is educational, and even though I am a Lutheran who absolutely loves live Christmas trees, I had never before heard that Martin Luther was said to have started that custom by erecting a fir in his home. Some research on the subject leads me to believe that there is some debate about that, but just the possibility is fascinating. I was familiar with the idea that St. Francis of Assisi had developed the crèche, an interesting tidbit for those who haven’t encountered that detail before.

Anglund’s poetry is fairly uncomplicated and generally follows an ABCB rhyme pattern. I don’t know that it would be strong enough to stand on its own, but alongside her charming pictures, it works. She writes of preparing the heart and the home for the arrival of Christmas and of extending kindness to others during this season of giving. As Mary Poppins’ Feed the Birds is one of my favorite songs, I especially like Anglund’s poem encouraging children to distribute birdseed to hungry birds in the winter.

A Christmas Sampler reminds me of a miniature version of Ideals. It includes a similar mix of poetry, recipes and Christmas legends and traditions. All that’s missing is some fiction, but Anglund has other books to satisfy that desire. Because the pages are so small, the print is miniscule and may be difficult for some to read. Stick this in somebody’s stocking, and you may want to include a pocket magnifier. Still, this is an adorable collection, and while I still slightly prefer Christmas Is a Time of Giving, this more recent book aptly demonstrates many of the joys of the season.

Christmas Is a Time of Giving... and Lots of Other Things

Joan Walsh Anglund is an artist and poet best known for her tiny gift books, which celebrate the simple joys of life. Christmas Is a Time of Giving is one of those, and it also happens to be one of my favorites of her books. Like most books of hers that I’ve read, it doesn’t have a plot, but it is instead a list of qualities that are associated with Christmas.

The book, originally published in 1961, includes a mix of black-and-white and full-color illustrations, though the color drawings limit the colors to shades of red and green, further emphasizing the Christmassy theme. With a couple of exceptions, pictures are on the right page of the book, while text is on the left. The most notable exception is the pair of facing black-and-white pages, one of which shows a group of children wrapping presents in front of an old-fashioned pot-bellied stove, the other of which shows a young girl making cookies.

While the illustrations are pretty small, they are filled with intricate detail. Anglund’s iconic rosy-cheeked children are adorable as ever, while the adults looks distinctly different, having a more realistic appearance instead of the almost blank-canvas faces of the children. I love the landscapes, which look like something out of a Currier and Ives painting. I especially like the colorless drawing of the boy with the sled under the barren branches of a windswept tree surveying the snowy expanse of a valley town.

The writing is minimalist, with no single page featuring more than a sentence. There’s a bit of a poetic quality to it, but the extensive repetition is the most notable quality of the prose this time around. Every sentence includes at least one “a time of” statement, for a total of 16, though one could say that there are quite a few more than that, since there are several “and”s scattered throughout the story. For instance, “It is a time of stars and midnight… and soft prayers whispered in the dark.”

The primary focus of the book is on all that makes Christmas cozy. While Jesus is not mentioned directly, one picture shows several children gazing upon an outdoor nativity. In general, the tone seems vaguely religious, and nothing in either the words or pictures specifically suggests Santa Claus or his reindeer. We see the children waiting, but we also watch them prepare gifts, so they could well just be waiting to give them to each other. Even the stocking hangings over the fireplace don’t necessarily reflect anticipation of Santa.

Instead, the book celebrates togetherness. Peace, love, understanding… These are the sorts of things that Anglund associates with Christmas here. All but two of the illustrations feature at least two characters (three illustrations if you don’t count the dog as a distinct character). The sense of warmth and community seeps through the pages, counteracting the slight shiver that comes with the sight of all that snow. I’m not sure if she had any particular location in mind when she put this book together, but it reminds me of New England. In any case, it looks like a place I would love to visit.

Of the four Anglund Christmas books that I have read, this simple volume is my favorite. It only takes a few minutes to read, but the warm glow cast by Christmas Is a Time of Giving might just last the whole day.

Friendship Is Universal in Joan Walsh Anglund's A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You

What exactly constitutes a friend? Writer-illustrator Joan Walsh Anglund explores this question in the classic gift book A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You. Like many of her books, this one, originally published in 1958, is fairly tiny. While it’s on the tall side for this type of book, it’s only half as wide as it is tall, and its 26 pages include significant amounts of whitespace. Still, while this won’t take long to read, it is a charming book that shares a sweet sentiment through adorable pictures.

As is pretty typical for her books, this one includes a mix of color and black-and-white drawings. The pages alternate on this, with the black-and-white illustrations generally being the larger, more detailed ones. While I’m always in favor of color, my favorite picture happens to be one of the black-and-white ones. Featuring a girl placidly sitting by the creek and gazing out over the farmland on which rests a large barn, it presents a perfect picture of rural beauty. Of the color drawings, I love the one with the little girl being buffeted about by a strong autumn wind. Both pictures have a Wyeth-esque quality to them that I find very appealing.

Anglund’s artistic style is easy to recognize, especially when it includes people. Her characters – usually children – have wide faces, rosy cheeks and tiny black eyes. In most cases, they lack visible mouths, but they somehow seem all the more expressive for it. Given the theme of the book, we have people on every page, though not every example of a friend in this book is a person or even an animal. Instead, Anglund finds examples of perceived friendliness in natural landmarks such as trees and streams. She’s anthropomorphizing, but anyone who was a loner as a child will probably be able to relate to the way that these things can almost feel like friends to one who spends a great deal of time in solitary pursuits. I know John Denver once described the “out-of-doors” as his “first and truest friend.”

Because she counts even the wind as a friend, I guess it’s not too much of a stretch for her to assert that everyone has at least one friend, though I found myself thinking of Archibald Asparagus’s objections after Larry sang the VeggieTales Silly Song The Water Buffalo Song, reminded of the dangers of using such broad terms. “How can you say everybody’s got a friend when everybody does not have a friend?” I imagine him protesting. Nonetheless, everyone should have at least one friend, and this book offers some suggestions on how to make that happen if friends seem scarce.

As someone who is shy, I appreciated Anglund’s nod to folks like me who aren’t so skilled in getting a conversation started. “Sometimes you don’t know who are your friends,” she writes. “Sometimes they are there all the time, but you walk right past them and don’t notice that they like you in a special way.” While many of the pictures feature children in isolation, the ones that most effectively convey the idea of friendliness show two or more of them together, clearly enjoying each other’s company. My favorite of these closes the book with two girls dressed in pink and green, arms around each other’s shoulders and gazing out at the world where more friends are waiting to be found.

Anglund has a fairly minimalist writing style, and sometimes, her words have the appearance of free verse poetry. This is not the most poetic of her books, but she does seem to have put some thought into where each line ends and which words will complement each other well. Yes, even the words themselves feel friendly here. While I wish I couple more pages had been devoted to human friendships, especially considering the fact that many people probably buy this specifically to give to a friend, I find this book suitably sweet, and going by her simple definition, Anglund has a friend in me.

You Might Not Always Remember Joan Walsh Anglund's Love Always Remembers

After stumbling upon a commemorative Little Golden Book by Joan Walsh Anglund, a prolific writer-illustrator of gift books relating to themes of friendship, love and other cheery topics, I remembered how much I enjoy her simple, nostalgic style, so I decided to see if our library had any of her other books. It turns out there are quite a few in the system, so I’ve been immersing myself in her tiny tomes. While Love Always Remembers isn’t among my favorites, it’s still a charming collection of minimalist poetry with an uplifting theme.

Anglund isn’t necessarily talking about romantic love here, despite the red cover whose illustration is a trio of red roses resting inside of a white heart, though a few of her untitled poems do specifically apply to that. Mostly, she’s talking more generally about caring for each other, and almost every time she uses the word in the book, “Love” is capitalized. She also capitalizes other big-concept words like Spirit, Life and Death.

The poems in this book don’t rhyme, and there is a definite sparseness to them that almost puts me in mind of Emily Dickinson. Anglund doesn’t use dashes, but she does have white space galore. The shortest poem is three lines long, while the longest is 17, and that’s mostly because it’s broken down so much, with several lines containing only one or two words. In all, she presents 26 poems, each of which is on the right page. On the left is a simple black-and-white sketch that is very small, leaving mostly white space on the page.

Anglund is best known for the children that she draws, so it’s a little disappointing to turn to this little book and find mostly rather generic symbols as illustrations, and all black-and-white at that. Only two pictures feature people. One is a woman in a shawl and sunbonnet; the other is Cupid. Fully 14 of the left-hand illustrations are single roses, each exactly the same, which frankly gets dull. The rest are a bit more interesting but certainly lacking the vitality of her more colorful pictures. My favorite is a tiny tree that, despite its miniscule size, is covered with dozens of individual leaves; perhaps it was drawn larger and then shrunk down.

I’m certainly fond of the overall theme of the book, which is that Love is something to embrace and celebrate. Some of the poems are single sentences, and these short, pithy pieces tend to be my favorites. For instance, “In the primer / of Life, / the / first lesson / is Love.” Another I quite like is “It is not / what we own // but / what we love // that gives Life / its sweetness.” The word “love” appears in every single poem except one – and that one includes the word “loving.” Hence, the theme is strong, but that also makes the book feel a bit redundant, since several of the poems say essentially the same thing. What’s more, even though this book was published in 1997, the language is often antiquated, to the point of using “thou”s and “-eths,” making it less accessible.

Ultimately, then, I recommend Love Always Remembers, but only mildly. Some will no doubt find the poetry too syrupy, and those who are fans of Anglund’s work elsewhere may be disappointed at how unimaginative most of the drawings are. Love is indeed worth lauding, and it won’t take you long with this slim volume, but other books showcase Anglund’s talent far more effectively.

Take an Idyllic Trip Through A Child's Year With Joan Walsh Anglund

I’ve long been a fan of Joan Walsh Anglund, the author-illustrator known for her simple, nostalgic depictions of carefree childhood days. Her creations have an incredibly distinctive look to them with their round faces, rosy cheeks, tiny black ovals for eyes and utter lack of nose or mouth. Even her adult characters look childlike, possessing the same innocent sparkle but standing just a teensy bit taller. A quick glance is all I need to identify one of her books, and while I was perusing the children’s tables at this year’s city-wide Friends of the Library sale, one of her cheerful volumes caught my eye.

A Child’s Year is a Little Golden Book published in 1992 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of this line of books ideal for small hands and big imaginations. A glance at the titles and at the figures clustered around the back cover reveals a plethora of beloved characters ranging from Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck to Bert and Ernie, along with characters exclusive to the book series such as the Poky Little Puppy, a distracted daydreamer with whom I identified deeply as a child. Heck, I still do, though it’s been quite a while since either of my parents teasingly called me that.

While such vibrant individuals are wonderful, much of the charm in Anglund’s children lies in their lack of specificity. Like sculptor Susan Lordi’s faceless Willow Tree figurines, they convey universal scenarios like making a new friend or setting up a lemonade stand, and it’s very easy to imagine oneself or one’s children in the place of those in the pictures. While a few of her books are narrative in nature, most are reflective, stating simple sentiments instead of relating a story. That’s certainly the case with A Child’s Year, so her skill at creating true everykids is especially appreciated.

This is a very short book containing an introduction of two pages, with the text in each page set within a golden oval reminiscent of a cameo necklace, and a one-page conclusion in the same style. The borders vary, with the intro highlighting the weather particular to the different seasons and the oval in the conclusion surrounded by symbols, with one tiny picture representing each month. The bulk of the book, however, consists of full-blown illustrations focusing on one particular month. Eight months get two-page spreads, while May, June, July and August have just one page each. It’s a shame that summer has to get slightly short shrift, but the pictures are still full of warm, lavish details.

Each month of the year is printed in all caps in blue lettering. In all but one case, the month is the first word on the page. Every month has a sentence or two offering a brief description, and half of these descriptions contain at least one word in all caps but normal-sized print. I’m not sure why Anglund considered some words more worthy of capitalization than others; it’s an odd little inconsistency, but it doesn’t bother me much. Another slight oddity involves the rhyme scheme. The intro and conclusion both use an AABB format, as do the months May through December; May rhymes with June, July rhymes with August and so forth. However, January and March rhyme, while February and April rhyme. It works, but it just seems a little odd to switch to ABAB and then switch back again. Finally, this book is largely driven by weather phenomena in areas with four distinct seasons. Hence, observations like January being “cold and snowy” and illustrations like the fiery orange leaves on the tree in October won’t apply to everyone.

Still, these are minor complaints, and none is a reason to avoid picking up this adorable gift book. Each month is completely distinct, whether it’s the “full of LOVE” February, depicted as a classroom where children are hard at work making heart-shaped garlands and drawing Valentines; rainy April, in which two children – one in a shiny yellow rain slicker – share an umbrella as they pass a duck pond; or November, which finds a family preparing to bless a Thanksgiving feast, oblivious to the wicked wind blowing outside the window. Anglund dresses her characters in old-fashioned garb; the girls wear dresses, even on a sledding expedition, while the boys look spiffy in suits. Accompanying the humans in most months are animals of some kind, from dogs and cats to rabbits and squirrels, and while the children have no discernible mouths, some of their furry companions do.

A Child’s Year is a thoroughly charming book that basks in the delights that greet many children at different times of the year. While not every major holiday receives recognition, the book alludes to Valentine’s Day, Independence Day and Mothers’ Day and directly mentions Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as referencing the first day of school. Thus, in addition to covering changes in nature, it gives a pretty good overview of American times of celebration. Whether or not the month at hand features a holiday, the look and tone of each one is so idyllic that I would be happy to hop into any of the drawings and spend some time there. If you pick up this tiny treasure, prepare to bask in the wonder of youth and the realization of how precious each new day truly is.