To be honest, I grabbed this book off the shelf at the library because its bright colors caught my attention. I did not put it back because I was interested to see how one might re-imagine Lewis Carroll's famous nonsense poem "Jabberwocky." Christopher Myers takes the poem from the pages of Through the Looking Glass and illustrates it with images of a fantastic urban space. The cover illustration gives a good example of the style of the book. The background of fiery colors with simple paintings in the foreground add to the drama of the poem.
I had never considered what the Jabberwocky might look like and had considered the poem to be too nonsensical to try to understand, honestly. However, Myers explains in his note at the end of the book that in his study of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson's (a.k.a. Lewis Carroll) journals led him to the Mesoamerican ritual of ollamalitzli, a competition in which the goal is to throw a ball through a hoop hung on the wall. This small note in Dodgson's journal inspired Myers placement of the Jabberwocky on a basketball court.
Although the dark, looming image of the Jabberwocky is somewhat frightening, the use of an urban landscape and people of color in the book might be a way to bridge an English author's 1870s nonsense poem to an audience of American youth. This book could be used in conjunction with reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Alternatively, Myers' book demonstrates that poetry can be very subjective and readers can imagine them however they'd like, especially in the case of nonsense poems like "Jabberwocky."
I am embarrassed to say that I have never read Through the Looking Glass and have no idea what Carroll's "Jabberwocky" poem is like. It would have been great to see a few famous lines from the poem to get a better feel of the tone of the book, but it sounds great, especially with the the companion readings you recommended.
ReplyDeleteI've never even heard of this book, but now I'm going to go find it in the library-- I love modern interpretations of classics! This one might be more for me than academic, hahaha.
ReplyDeleteKim, when you brought this to class today, the cover art really jumped off the page. Very engaging. I've always been put off by this book because, for whatever reason, the Alice books and Jabberwocky never truly resonated with me. Now reading your review, I feel that this version of the poem might actually do the trick. Coupled with that blazing cover, I am tempted.
ReplyDeleteI have read the poem "Jabberwocky" and it did intrigue me because I was wondering how the poem would fit in with the cover page and the idea of basketball. When I flipped through the pages, it was actually really good! I loved his illustrations and they actually paired really well with the poem. This was a great find.
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