Little Lit: It Was a Dark and Silly Night... (Little Lit)

Rating:
Summary: Maybe a little too silly...
Review: As a big fan of Little Lit 1 and Little Lit 2, I found <i>It Was A Dark And Silly Night</i> to be a little disappointing. I am not sure where the disappointment comes from - the art is great (kudos especially to Richard Sala and Martin Handford), the stories are interesting (my favorite being the Yeti story by Lemony Snicket), and the editing is superb. It may be that the charm of the first two compilations was that even though they pretended to contain children stories, Little Lit 1 & 2 were really for the adults' entertainment. The humor in Little Lit 1 & 2 was not pressured or artificially created, instead, the humor rose naturally out of the contrast between having children's stories and directing them at adults, between illustrating as if you were illustrating for kids and realizing that the story being illustrated actually contains a lot of more mature humor with more literary tricks and irony.

Little Lit 3 is proving to be a little too silly - it's nice to see your kids read the book, but Little Lit 1 & 2 were books you could read with your kids without being bored, or even read if you didn't have any kids at all. <i>It Was A Dark And Silly Night</i> is still a well-written, well-drawn, and well-edited compilation, however, the fact that it is purposefully directed at a younger audience makes it somewhat unreachable even for the most immature and young-hearted of adults.

I'm still glad I have purchased this compilation as it is a nice compliment to the first two books, but it is definitely a sequel and were it the first book in the series, the series might've never become as popular as it is currently.

Rating:
Summary: Cute, if not deep
Review: I have reached a point, as a reader, where I will devour virtually anything by Neil Gaiman, and when I heard he was part of this anthology of "silly" tales, I had to pick it up. It was a nice added bonus to find a comic book story by Lemony Snicket and a classic by Basil Wolverton among the offerings in this volume.

Most of the other entries, I'm afraid, I found just to be okay. One or two were even a tad boring -- but keep in mind, this is from the perspective of an adult reader. I have a great appreciation for children's stories, but I tend towards the ones that are layered in such a fashion that adults can appreciate them as well. Most of the stories in this book aren't. Kids will probably love it, though.

The puzzles are fun and a nice inclusion, and the front and back art pieces by the creator of "Where's Waldo" were a riot. If you're a big-time Gaiman fan like me and just have to get anything he does, you can probably justify getting this book. If you've got kids, you don't need to justify it -- it's well worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Not as Good as the First Two
Review: The third in the Little Lit series and not nearly as good as the previous two. While the earlier books had each had at least one contribution that would justify the purchase of the book for just about any audience -- from kids reading to themselves, to parents reading to kids, or to avid comic fans of just about any genre or age, this volume is _just_ silly and will probably satisfy none of these audiences. Don't be fooled by the star billing either. Lemony Snicket's contribution is good, but certainly not up to the standards of the Unfortunate Events series. Neil Gaiman's contribution is no Coraline. If you haven't purchased the other two volumes yet, start with either of those instead. If you have them, you may want to skim this one in the bookstore, and leave it there.

Rating:
Summary: Great for Kids
Review: While the first two Little Lit books appealed equally to adults and children, it would appear that this third book will appeal more strongly to children. Maybe the editors felt guilty about starting battles between parents and children over who got to read their books first. It isn't that the stories are any less intelligent. And most of the artwork continues to be quite stunning (although William Joyce's contribution is my least favourite, he does an excellent job of imitating the art of Winsor McCay). The problem appears to be with the book's theme: silliness.

All of the stories (except for the fun Basil Wolverton reprint) are entitled "It Was a Dark and Silly Night", and are quite nonsensical. Maybe adults are too serious to appreciate silliness unless it is hip or postmodern. Kids, however, never seem to grow tired of silly stories, perhaps because they are good at engaging the imagination. But regardless of the reasons why this book is less enjoyable for adults, you could do far worse than giving young children a copy.

Desipte the fact that this book will appeal more to younger readers, I still enjoyed some of the stories. The entry by Lemony Snicket and Richard Sala begins with awkward narration, but its humourous take on the yeti legend is interesting and has a great, bizarre punchline. The story by Neil Gaiman and Gahan Wilson is slight, but it should be able to cheer up anyone (I've always had a soft spot for silly monsters). And Patrick McDonnell, whose contribution's silliness is matched by its lyrical beauty, demonstrates why he is currently the only person producing a consistently good comic strip for newspapers (Mutts).

However, my personal favourite is the story by Kaz. With its extremely surreal imagery and humour, this one reminded me of some of the more outrageous, anarchistic Looney Tunes cartoons of which I was especially fond, such the one that takes place in the land of the Dodo bird. Except for its length, and the fact that it is kid-friendly, this contribution would not be out of place amongst Kaz' Underworld cartoons.

The only story I wish was left out is the one by Joost Swarte, but I've never liked his work.

I doubt any adult will enjoy everything in this volume (these books are for children at any rate), but I still highly recommend this book to anyone who has kids and to those adults who like to remember what it was like being a kid.

Rating:
Summary: Great for Kids
Review: While the first two Little Lit books appealed equally to adults and children, it would appear that this third book will appeal more strongly to children. Maybe the editors felt guilty about starting battles between parents and children over who got to read their books first. It isn't that the stories are any less intelligent. And most of the artwork continues to be quite stunning (although William Joyce's contribution is my least favourite, he does an excellent job of imitating the art of Winsor McCay). The problem appears to be with the book's theme: silliness.

All of the stories (except for the fun Basil Wolverton reprint) are entitled "It Was a Dark and Silly Night", and are quite nonsensical. Maybe adults are too serious to appreciate silliness unless it is hip or postmodern. Kids, however, never seem to grow tired of silly stories, perhaps because they are good at engaging the imagination. But regardless of the reasons why this book is less enjoyable for adults, you could do far worse than giving young children a copy.

Desipte the fact that this book will appeal more to younger readers, I still enjoyed some of the stories. The entry by Lemony Snicket and Richard Sala begins with awkward narration, but its humourous take on the yeti legend is interesting and has a great, bizarre punchline. The story by Neil Gaiman and Gahan Wilson is slight, but it should be able to cheer up anyone (I've always had a soft spot for silly monsters). And Patrick McDonnell, whose contribution's silliness is matched by its lyrical beauty, demonstrates why he is currently the only person producing a consistently good comic strip for newspapers (Mutts).

However, my personal favourite is the story by Kaz. With its extremely surreal imagery and humour, this one reminded me of some of the more outrageous, anarchistic Looney Tunes cartoons of which I was especially fond, such the one that takes place in the land of the Dodo bird. Except for its length, and the fact that it is kid-friendly, this contribution would not be out of place amongst Kaz' Underworld cartoons.

The only story I wish was left out is the one by Joost Swarte, but I've never liked his work.

I doubt any adult will enjoy everything in this volume (these books are for children at any rate), but I still highly recommend this book to anyone who has kids and to those adults who like to remember what it was like being a kid.