Acclaimed writer-illustrator of picture books Oliver Jeffers will be in Fairhaven this weekend to read from his recently released "Stuck," a howlingly funny tale of a young boy's efforts to solve a problem by throwing continuously bigger things at it.
In a phone conversation last week from his studio in Brooklyn, Jeffers said the idea for the book came from an incident that happened to his wife, when she snagged someone else's kite and tried mightily to free it - even heaving things into the tree.
Telling the story later to a friend was when he realized it should be a book.
"At that point, the book kind of made itself," Jeffers said.
In "Stuck," a hapless kid named Floyd loses his kite in a tree. First, he chucks his shoe at the kite in an attempt to dislodge it; then his other shoe; and then he flings more and more items into the tree until Floyd has an unbelievable comedy of errors on his hands.
It's a clever, off-beat saga of inventiveness, creativity and determination - with several gloriously unexpected plot twists. It's like a comedic illustration of adage that says the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
"The same joke occurs three times," Jeffers said, pointing out that "something is funny until it's not funny anymore. And then it becomes funny again."
"There's not necessarily an over-arching theme or message," Jeffers said. "My books serve to entertain."
Jeffers, who moved to the U.S. four years ago from his native Belfast, Northern Ireland, has earned high praise in the United Kingdom. His 2005 book "Lost and Found," a sweet tale about a boy and a wayward penguin, won the Nestlé Gold Medal (the highest U.K. honor for children's books) and was shortlisted for the coveted Kate Greenaway Medal. His 2009 space adventure "The Way Back Home" and 2010's "The Great Paper Caper" - about conservation and recycling - both were shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal.
"He's one of my favorite authors. I have all his books," said Christina Claassen, events coordinator at Village Books, where Jeffers is scheduled to speak at noon Sunday, Nov.13, in the downstairs Readings Gallery of the independent bookseller, 1200 11th St.
Sylvia Tag, librarian at the Western Washington University Children's Interdisciplinary Collection, says it's important for American readers to see examples of international children's literature - not just stories from around the world, but stories by authors from other nations.
"Kids are hungry for international authors and illustrators. They open up the world" with differing viewpoints and perspectives, Tag said.
"They put it out there in a different way and sometimes in a more honest way," she said.
"Stuck" is quite a departure from Jeffers' most recent book, "The Heart and the Bottle" (2010), which is about a little girl so overcome by grief that she wears her heart in a bottle around her neck to protect it from harm.
Some readers found "The Heart and the Bottle" too depressing, but Jeffers said "children just intuitively get it" because it's a simple story.
"People seem to really open up, especially adults," he said. "It's easy for kids. It's a little bit of a battle to read more into it. 'Heart and the Bottle' provides for a really interesting conversation afterward," he said, but "it depends on the parent-child relationship."
Jeffers credits his love of storytelling to his Irish roots, saying that the love of a good story is part of Irish culture. He said he likes leaving portions of his stories open for interpretation.
"(Readers) get involved in the story and it becomes partly theirs," he said. "It's different for each reader, depending on their level of engagement."
Most of all, Jeffers loves the "wonderful breaches in logic" that children's stories allow.
As a child, Jeffers said he devoured the stories of the Bothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. "My mother had beautiful copies of the books lying around," he said. He also favored the work of Quentin Blake, the illustrator known for his collaborations with Roald Dahl.
What's on his bookshelf now?
"'East of Eden.' I'm getting more into American literature since being here," Jeffers said. "These aren't the books we would've been assigned in school."
"I'm excited to see "Stuck" published here and see how it's received here," Jeffers said. The book went on sale last week, and Jeffers is making several West Coast stops to promote it.
For his Village Books appearance, Jeffers said he will read from "Stuck" and do some drawings.
AUTHOR SPEAKS
Oliver Jeffers discusses his children's books noon Sunday, Nov. 13, in the downstairs Readings Gallery at Village books, 1200 11th St.
Jeffers discusses his work in this YouTube video.
To watch him read from "Stuck," check out this video on YouTube.
