SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

May 29, 2019 by Betsy Bird

Live Oak, With Moss: Selznick and Whitman (and Sendak?) Together At Last

May 29, 2019 by Betsy Bird   Leave a Comment

Sometimes what people don’t do can be as interesting as what they do do. Consider the case of one Maurice Sendak. If you have read Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature then you would have run across a true story of a time when Sendak almost illustrated The Hobbit. Indeed, if it hadn’t been for a labeling mix-up, the job probably would have gone through. Not every project Sendak considered worked out. And though he accomplished a great deal in his lifetime, he also had no difficulty saying no when the time came.

Once upon a time Maurice Sendak met Brian Selznick and a friendship was born. In many ways, Selznick and Sendak had much in common. Cross-hatching is not unknown in their works. Pushing literary boundaries, a fascination with live theater, even the fact that they were both gay could serve as common ground between artists. Of course, what Selznick and Sendak really had in common, though, was the fact that not only were they willing to redefine what a “picture book” was and could be, but they were unafraid of working in the creative world of adults. Sendak spent a great deal of time designing sets of operas, and illustrating wild, strange books for adults. Selznick has had his puppet shows, his work with the cinematic adaptations of his books, and, now, this. Live Oak, With Moss.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

As Selznick tells it, it was Sendak who introduced him to Walt Whitman’s famous, lost poem. He says:

“Maurice told me an incredible story about a sequence of poems Whitman had written about a love affair he had with another man that he never published. Instead he cut up the poems, rearranged them, and hid them in Leaves of Grass. The poetry sequence remained secret for a hundred years until it was discovered, pieced back together, and named Live Oak, with Moss.”

Indeed, in 2009 Selznick even created a puppet show of the poem. You can actually see the recording of the show here:

The kicker is that Sendak couldn’t for the life of him figure out how you’d go about illustrating such a poem. And, for Selznick, the challenge was there. “… how could I illustrate poems when Maurice Sendak himself had said poems should not be illustrated?”

The answer is an exceedingly handsome book, released by Abrams this past April for the adult market. Golden edges. Thick, creamy pages. And inside the average lay reader could mistakenly believe they were encountering the latest Selznick children’s book. As with Hugo Cabret, Wonderstruck, and The Marvels, Selznick is unafraid to embrace the cinematic potential of the page. The first chunk of the book is not an illustration of Whitman’s verse per se, but, as Selznick puts it, “a framework, or a lens, through which they can be discovered.”

I have worked, these past four years or so, as an adult selector for a library in the Midwest. Though my specialty is children’s, I have in this time received a crash course in the world of adult publishing. And what I have discovered in that time is that when it comes to taking risks, defying convention, playing with form, and mixing and melding different types of books together, the world of children’s book publishing does it better. So much better. As far as I can tell, the adult publishing sphere has absolutely no idea what to make of a book like Live Oak, With Moss. Labeled “Poetry” by Baker & Taylor, this book is neither comic nor illustrated novel. To read it, however, you must be comfortable with sequential visual narratives, even if those narratives aren’t telling you a “story” in the conventional sense.

Reading this book, what becomes eminently clear is that Selznick is laying the groundwork for GLBTQIA+ literary history, particularly as it pertains to Whitman. How well known is the story behind this poem? When people think of Whitman they might know that he was gay, but when you read what he’s put together here you are left in awe of the sheer guts it would have taken to put pen to paper and say any of this. To put it all into context, Karen Karbiener, an internationally recognized scholar of Walt Whitman who teaches at New York University, gives scholarly commentary at the book’s end. And you know how much I love backmatter.

As my blog is normally concerned only with the trappings of children’s books and the like, allow me to reiterate now that this book is squarely for the adult set. Selznick’s art here displays the intimacy between two male bodies, suggesting more in tight glimpses than most artists could do with true full-frontal nudity (though there are a couple of those here too). This book is wildly adult. At the same time, I think it safe to point out that it could not have come to fruition had it not some connection to children’s book artists and the freedom with which they approach a project of this sort.

If, by this point, you are curious to learn even more about Mr. Selznick’s work on this book, the reasons why he made the choices that he did, and even what some of the scholarship says about this title, then you are in luck. As it just so happens, on June 6th both Brian and Karen will be at Greenpoint Books in Fort Greene:
https://www.greenlightbookstore.com/event/brian-selznick-karen-karbiener

And on June 11th they will have an event at the Brooklyn Historical Society:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-oak-with-moss-uncovering-walt-whitmans-queer-private-life-tickets-59838928847

Can’t make it to NYC? Then I highly recommend seeing the book for yourself. No Selznick completist (or Whitman completist, for that matter) can call themselves such without reading it. Beautiful to its core.

Filed under: Uncategorized

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
adult literatureBrian SelznickMaurice SendakWalt Whitman

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

May 2022

The Sun Does Shine: How Does an Adult Title Get Adapted for Young People? A Talk with Olugbemisola Ruday-Perkovich and Anthony Ray Hinton

by Betsy Bird

April 2022

A Super Serious Discussion with Sue Conolly. Filled With Butts.

by Betsy Bird

April 2022

Next Level Middle Grade Fandom, or, What Erin Hunter's Warriors Series Hath Wrought

by Betsy Bird

March 2022

The Bologna Breakdown: What Exactly Is the Bologna Children's Book Fair?

by Betsy Bird

March 2022

Betsy Goes to Bologna: Now With Less Pregnancy

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

One Star Review, Guess Who? (#168)

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Blaze, the Masked Chicklet and a Dearest Enemy: Two Pieces by Unconventional Artist Claude Ponti

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors—Rise Up! | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Heavy Medal

Many May Suggestions: First Quarter Mock Newbery Possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Have Some Mysteries and Thrillers for June Through December

by Riley Jensen

The Classroom Bookshelf

Farewell From The Classroom Bookshelf

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Rebekah Lowell visits The Yarn

by Colby Sharp

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Best Middle Grade Books 2020 | SLJ Best Books

Sneak Peek: SLJ Best Books 2020

SLJ Book Reviews Editors’ Favorite Books Read in 2021

Best Picture Books 2021 | SLJ Best Books

Best Picture Books 2020 | SLJ Best Books

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2022


    COPYRIGHT © 2022