Jon Burgerman's Reading List

"My first choice is not just a children’s book but it’s wordless and wonderful, full of playful drawings and inked ideas. Looking at it just makes me want to draw. “I really like that it’s a book about how you can make up anything you like, it all starts with employing your imagination and going wherever you like” In this book I think the parameters of the game are lines and how they might be shaped. Each drawing is a witty performance, exhibiting how magically he can will the line into doing what he wants. There’s barely anything other than black lines on the page, yet the variety of works is so impressive. Sometimes the drawings are rough and crude, other times they’re as sharp and beautiful as a Picasso etching. Most importantly, of course, is that they’re all pretty funny."

"This book is saturated with the delirious sense of infectious nonsense that is prevalent in all my favourite Dr Seuss books. I really like that it’s a book about how you can make up anything you like, it all starts with employing your imagination and going wherever you like. Slyly, I also revel in the fact that it’s without any sort of narrative arc, it’s just a bunch of crazy spreads. How can I get away with that? “Whatever your age, play is where we test ideas out, define rules and then see if they hold” You almost get a sense of the book being written as you’re reading it. At its heart it’s playing with words and how you can mush language to fit through any rhyming hole you like, whilst the fantastical illustrations jumble things up too, such as with the black water and white sky."

"I love this book, perhaps my favourite picture book of last year. Aside from the utterly charming artwork and attention to detail throughout, I love the playfulness with the invented language. I really like how it’s possible to decipher the text as you read it out loud. It’s super clever and fun, the best kind of play! “You can read through the books but you can also just noodle across the spreads and make up your own narratives” Du Iz Tak is so playful with language. Since starting to create my own books I’ve become aware of all the issues that arise when you consider foreign rights and translations. No-one told me you could just mess about with words in the same way you can with the artwork. The fact that Carson Ellis has coupled it with a delightful story, that’s both sweet and sad, with beautiful artwork to match is a total triumph."

"This is a bright and funny search and find book, aided with die-cuts to reveal a few choice items from each spread. It rhymes, it’s colourful, it’s about looking and it uses the format of a book as a platform for play."

"I could pretty much pick any Scarry book, they’re all delightful (especially now with their updated gender and ethnic stereotypes). What I love about his books is the generosity of it all. There’s something to see and enjoy corner to corner. The infectious playfulness is spread all over the page and then continues in our head. Look! Another Book! has some Seuss-y playfulness in it, mixed with some Scarry style busy spreads full of incidental details. This along with Cars and Trucks and Things that Go by Richard Scarry invites the reader to play within their printed worlds. You can read through the books but you can also just noodle across the spreads and make up your own narratives. I love it when the ‘thing’ is actually an invitation to the reader/player’s imagination to take the lead and go on their own adventures."