Cloud Boy by Rhode Montijo - An Appreciation

This is a new children's book from an artist that has drawn comics, works as an illustrator, but is probably most famous online for his collaborative effort, Happy Tree Friends. I picked this book up at SDCC, but I admit that I probably wouldn't have if I didn't have a nine month old daughter. My book "collection" before my daughter was born did contain a few books that are conisidered children's books, but they were few and far between. This book, however, I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of illustrated books at all.

The story is as simple as could be, in fact it's perfectly simple, a story pared down to poetry, yet the idea is so expansive that it sets the imagination free, allowing for you to carry it with you long after you put down the book. The text is carved down to deliver the essence without losing the rhythm that a children's book needs, being so commonly read aloud. With a minimum of effort, the script allows you to feel confident that you are reading the words with the conviction of the greatest of Shakespearean actors, no mean feat for a story that consists, textwise, of only 123 words. This expressiveness, the appealing sound the words create in the speaker's mouth, are the first thing that make this book the favorite of my daughter. She need only hear the first line of the book, "High up in the sky lived a lonely little cloud boy," for a smile to cross her face.

It's the idea behind the book that makes it a favorite of mine. As a child, my parents allowed me access to many of the great children's book of the last century, created by those names familiar to us all, Silverstein, Seuss, Rey, Kipling, De Brunhoff, and others. The very best of these books had lessons that adhered to my brain and remain with me today. Seuss's lessons of inclusion, pride, and achievement, Rey's lessons of adventure, Silverstein's lessons of love and generosity, these are the types of books that one can be proud to share with their children. I hope that my daughter finds that her family encourages creativity and individuality, and I can see this book planting those ideas in her someday. Montijo makes the story so easy to latch on to that the beauty is suffused through the repeated readings.

The illustrations are amazing as well, the iconic appearance of the title character makes it easy to identify and empathize with. The light and airy pictures expand the freedom of the idea, creating the feeling that all the pages take place over a giant tableau, each one being a small snapshot frozen in time, but free in space. This freedom creates a peaceful feeling in the reader, who when reading to others is of course the narrator, and that peace spreads out to the listener.

It won't be too much longer before the words become an imprint in my memory, and the story will be able to unfold in the world whenever I want it to, perhaps under the very clouds that inspired the author to tell this wonderful tale, and it will allow me to use the very creativity that the author hopes to inspire.