Picture Book Star of the Day: Dan Santat

Here is a special tribute to this year's Caldecott winner Dan Santat!  I have been a fan of his work for years, so I was thrilled when his Adventures of Beekle was named the 2015 Caldecott Award Winner.  This post will touch on some other titles that he illustrated that I find extremely entertaining and fun, sporting cool, vibrant illustrations.  These are picture books, but I must add that he created the wonderful graphic novel Sidekicks and is currently providing the smash bang color illustrations in the reboot of Dav Pilkey's Ricky Ricotta series.

First off, hats off, once again, to the great Beekle:

The Adventures of Beekle:  The Unimaginary Friend, written and illustrated by Dan Santat (2014).  This magical and highly imaginative charmer offers illustrations packed with lovely and humorous details that readers will enjoy exploring.  The story feels inspired by Miyazaki, yet it is its own unique self.  The tale begins with the little marshmallow-like (with legs and friendly waving hands) creature being born on the island where imaginary friends wait to be beamed up to the real world, paired with children.  But no kid dreams up this poor little guy.  Instead of giving up and waiting around, he takes matters into his own hands and travels "through unknown waters" to the real world, one that perplexes the critter.  Santat then gives us human society through the protagonist's eyes, and he gives us moments that are both sad and satirical.  Will Beekle ever find a child who will embrace him as an "imaginary friend"?   Santat has illustrated many fun books for children, but this might be his finest achievement yet as a picture book artist.  Funny, poignant, rich in detail, a real keeper.

And now some other comical gems he illustrated: 

Carnivores, written by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Dan Santat (2013).  One of the funniest books of 2013, and one of the most subversive.  Three carnivores experience an existential crisis when they realize that others find their meat-eating ways alienating.  Can they change and become lovable vegetarians?  What do you think?  The book has one of the most startling bits of comedy of the year (poor owl!).  It's a book that adults who like their humor a bit on the dark side will love just as much as kids on the book's twisted wavelength.  Full disclosure:  I'm a vegetarian...and I thought it was hilarious.  Santat's animal characters, love that shark wearing that helmet filled with water, make you laugh from start to finish with their wildly shifting facial expressions.

Crankenstein, written by Samantha Berger, illustrated by Dan Santat (2013).  In this zesty look at those days when you are in a horrible mood that causes you to say "mehhrrrrrr!!!" and turn into a pint-sized, green-skinned mini-Frankenstein, Santat has fun playing with monster movie conventions.  There is a shadowy figure on the title page that sets the mood in a playfully creepy fashion.  Berger addresses the reader directly, asking with a flip of the page "Have you seen Crankenstein?  Oh, you would totally know if you had" and we see Crankenstein buried under his blanket.  Another flip and reveal shows the boy having the covers ripped off of him and screaming with anger at the sunny unseen person shouting "Good Morning!!  How Are You?" (love that Santat uses different colors on these words, serving as a funny disconnect between the Crankenstein's mood and an otherwise happy day).  Horrible horrible things keep happening to the title character and he becomes quite Hulk-like greener and greener and greener, until he's in full drooly, snotty rage mode.  Of course it all leads to a sweet ending...with a rainbow even!  Santat does a masterful job capturing the lead's character rather startling mood swings thanks to fun shifting perspective shots and inventive use of speech bubbles and layout design. 

Fire! Fuego! Brave Bomberos, written by Susan Middleton Elya, illustrated by Dan Santat (2012).  In this captivating picture book, which has words sprinkled in Spanish throughout, Santat captures the extremely rapid trek of a group of fire fighters/bomberos (four men, one woman) rush to save a house on fire.  Elya's  rollicking rhymes propel the action forward as they put on their gear, slide down the pole, and ride their rig to the blaze.  The drawings of the fire are especially dramatic, you can practically smell the flames bursting off the page.  In a rather startling twist, just when the reader thinks that the bomberos have completely saved the day, a gato/cat needs to be rescued!  Santat then gives us a great perspective shot, looking down at the fire woman on a ladder while her team watches from waaaaaay below.  This rousing tribute to these heroes offers a perfect match of text and illustration.  What I like about the story too is, although it certainly works as a salute to fire fighters, it does not sugarcoat the job--the penultimate spread shows them being jarred awake by a 911 emergencia call (Santat does an excellent job showing their exasperated and startled and exhausted expressions).  The book has a great glossary of Spanish words in the back.

Oh No!  (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World), written by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Dan Santat (2010).  In another thrilling, tongue-in-cheek monster movie tribute (this time Godzilla quickly comes to mind as a rampaging creature, a robot, threatens a city), Santat creates illustrations that look like they are truly from a sci fi movie, at times with full page spreads that look as if they were shot in CinemaScope (there are some comic book style panels at key points as well) .  The end papers show scientific blue prints.  Before the title page, we are given a "Please Stand By" warning that causes comical alarm.  And then the title page:  a guilty-looking bespectacled girl scurrying by a bunch of television sets in a store window all showing a Special Report about the robot attack.  We then see the carnage (love the inclusion of a "Dead End" sign).  Barnett's first person narration is a masterpiece of understatement:  "I never should have built a robot for the science fair," serving as a fun counterbalance to Santat's drawings.  How will this resilient girl stop the monster she has created?  Well, it involves a toad...

The Three Ninja Pigs, written by Corey Rosen Schwartz, illustrated by Dan Santat (2012).  And finally, this hilarious set-in-Japan fractured fairy tale adds a fun spin to the classic Three Little Pigs story.  Schwartz's bouncy limericks tell of a porcine trio who, tired of being bullied by a wolf, take martial arts classes to take on the villain.  However, the first two start slacking off and refuse to finish their lessons.  It's up to their sister who excelled at her studies to save the day!  Again, Santat does a brilliant job showing the fast-paced action, using comic book style panels and inventive speech bubbles to show the characters in motion.  Every thoughtful spread is done with wit and captivating color--it's a funny book yes, but also artfully rendered. 

So here's to Dan Santat!  Best author photos ever: