A good picture book can almost be whistled. ... All have their own melodies behind the storytelling.
Interpretation
A good picture book resonates with the reader, much like a melody that evokes emotion.
Margaret Wise Brown highlights the intrinsic beauty and rhythm of a well-crafted picture book, suggesting that the storytelling within it produces a unique emotional resonance, akin to a melody that captivates and enchants. This metaphor emphasizes the importance of both visual and narrative elements in children's literature, where the combination creates a harmonious experience for the reader.
In practice
During a reading event, I used this quote to highlight the artistic value of children's books.
In this modern world where activity is stressed almost to the point of mania, quietness as a childhood need is too often overlooked. Yet a child's need for quietness is the same today as it has always been--it may even be greater--for quietness is an essential part of all awareness. In quiet times and sleepy times a child can dwell in thoughts of his own, and in songs and stories of his own.
I don't think I'm essentially interested in children's books. I'm interested in writing, and in pictures. I'm interested in people and in children because they are people.
Never be ashamed to write a melody that people remember.
The genuine music lover may accept the carnal husk of opera to get at the kernel of actual music within, but that is no sign that he approves the carnal husk or enjoys gnawing through it.
Imagine a world alive with incomprehensible objects, and shimmering with an endless variety of movement and innumerable gradations of colour. Imagine a world before the 'beginning was the word.'
It is only by loving nature, and going to her for everything, that good work can be done; but then we must look to her for the materials for pictures, not for pictures themselves. It is nature filtered through the mind and fingers of the artist that produces art, and the quality of the pictures depends on the fineness of that filter.
If a Million People See My Movie, I Hope They See a Million Different Movies.
I write because writing is something that I have to do. And it doesn't matter whether people like it or not. When I write, I feel the pressure and anxiety that come with taking an empty piece of paper and trying to fill it with something from your own consciousness.
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