02/24/2016
"Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras" by Duncan Tonatiuh
Copyright 2015, 40 pages
Nonfiction (informational, biography)

Picture taken from Google

This book has a few features that set it aside from your typical informational picture books. First of all, there are a few original drawings made by Lupé with some sort of a discussion question written around it. For example, in the part of the story where Lupé realized that Mexico City is becoming more modern, the question was: "Don Lupé drew some wild skeletons racing and trampling one another. Was he saying that... we can try to go faster but one day we will all reach the same finish line and become calaveras?" 

For a book specifically designed for young readers, that was a pretty nontraditional question to ask. Most people like to ask children how they feel about school, friendship or the everlasting classic: "what do they want to be when they grow up?". Discussions about death and mortality is often avoided, as it is considered "grim" or "harsh". Since the original drawing is wordless, I find that Tonatiuh must have chosen that question on purpose - because there are many many ways to interpret a wordless picture. I'm not for or against the view Tonatiuh took on this book, but I like how - this way - he took the feel of the culture (the idea that skulls - representing death - is the opposite of scary) and spread it all around. After all, I feel like it's clear as day that Tonatiuh is aiming for a global audience. Throughout the book I see explanations and pronunciation guides for people's names and what specific cultural items are called. I find it a little surprising, honestly, since most people in The States are hugely familiar with the Spanish language. I mean, at least that's my impression of them. I do enjoy the explanations and glossary though. It makes the book feel more accessible. I did find smaller texts half-hidden throughout the pages that has no English translation though. I imagine it serves as some sort of an Easter egg for those who speak the language.

Second of all, the bits about printing technique. I honestly don't know how much attention or retention can the average person pay to the four-panel, how-to explanations of lithography, etching, and engraving techniques included. I, for one, certainly don't understand it that much. That said, I do like having them explained instead of simply mentioned. The whole idea of a biography book is so we can get to know someone we never got to know. So, since printing is Lupé's world, I do appreciate having that detail included and explained - however minimally. Reading through this book, I got a feeling that Tonatiuh asked himself what would his main character want people to know if he traveled through time and say: "hey, want to hear my story?".

In short, I can see how much effort was put into the making of this book. The illustrations are adorable too!