James Marshall’s books may be less well known to children today than to their parents, but this quirky biography of the author/illustrator just might motivate kids to seek out his titles–and it’s a delightful and engaging story in its own right.
Author Jerrold Connors anthropomorphizes Marshall (here called Jim) and those in his life as a variety of animals: Jim is a fox (a nod to his Fox and His Friends series); his partner Billy, a cat; fellow queer authors and friends Maurice Sendak and Arnold Lobel are a bulldog and a pig; author Harry Allard is an alligator. Through a series of semi-imagined vignettes, Connors captures illustrative moments in Jim’s life, with a dry frugality of words that brings to mind not only Jim’s own work but also that of his friend Arnold Lobel in the classic Frog and Toad series.
The first vignette tells of the story that led to his partnership with Harry to create a bestselling book. The next shows how he met Billy and started spending time with him. “They liked each other quite a lot,” the book says mildly; in later vignettes, though, it’s clear that they’ve made a life together; we see them sharing a bed on one page, as Billy sleeps and Jim is awake, thinking of stories.
Another vignette shows the antics with Sendak and Lobel that inspired Fox and Friends. The fourth shows Jim’s desire to prove wrong those who thought his art was merely “cute”—and his realization that putting himself into his work is more important than an award (but that an award is nice, too). We then see Jim on a school visit where he explains that one of the villains in his books was inspired by a teacher who told him he would never be an artist—a nice message to young readers not to let detractors stop them.
The final vignette is bittersweet, however. Jim is sick in the hospital, and his mother is reminding him of all the family and friends who will remember him. He then asks his mother if she’ll tell people where he’s gone. She’s not sure she can, but Jim says that’s okay, since kids today are smart and will figure it out.
An Author’s Note gives further details of Marshall’s life and the situations and books behind each vignette. It notes that he was gay, that his family, friends, and publishers knew this, and that he and Billy “loved each other very much.” It also explains that at the time, “being gay wasn’t something that was easy to talk about,” but that Jim expressed himself through his art. He “died of a condition called AIDS,” another thing that people were scared to talk about, we learn; for a long time, people thought Marshall died of a brain tumor.
A Timeline rounds out the backmatter.
What this highly recommended book may lack in detail is made up for with a focus on what’s really important to convey to the target age group: the spirit of a person. In that, it shines. Its whimsical charm makes it a great read and a fitting homage to its subject.
