Caldecott Medal Contender: Never Say A Mean Word Again

by Sam Juliano

I am hereby proposing that the year’s picture book sleeper is Never Say A Mean Word Again, written by Jacqueline Jules with illustrations by Durga Yael Bernhard.  A moral lesson book based on a medieval legend, this Judaic work is written in direct and concise terms by Ms. Jules, who well understands that a heavy concentration on spoken dialogue for the kind of confrontational drama that is played out in Europe over a thousand years ago, is the best way to immerse student readers.  History from both Christian and Muslim sources tells us that Jews provided some valuable assistance to the Moors’ conquest of Spain.  The Iberian Jews welcomed the invasion, which eventually gave them opportunities to serve in supervisory positions, unheard of while under the auspices of the Christian Visigoths.  The region was considered an oasis of tolerance and opportunity, and in short order it attracted an influx of Jewish passage from all areas of Europe.  This social dynamic sets the stage for Jules’ interpretation of a Medieval legend about the Jewish poet Samuel Ha-Nagrid, who served at the vizier (the most influential royal advisor) in Muslim Grenada.  It is said that the King ordered severe punishment for cursing out the Jewish vizier.  Samuel responds by saying that he tore out the man’s “angry tongue” and replaced it with a “kind one.”  Jules was obviously fascinated with the idea of making a friend of one’s enemy.  The great irony of course -and a gloriously welcome one at that- is that Muslims embraced Jews as their friends, even going as far as to punish their own for insulting or disobeying their adopted brethren.

 

Never Say A Mean Word Again  takes on some heady themes, all of which are seamlessly woven into this trenchant narrative.   It is in some ways comparable to this year’s story of peace channeled through initial anger, Grandfather Gandhi by Bethany Hegedus and Arun Gandhi, with illustrations by Evan Turk.  A personal dilemma of how to respond to an insult it broaches the matter of bullying, a social issue more relevant today than ever before.  The book takes a close look at how friendship can be salvaged from a seemingly hopeless situation, and how peaceful and conciliatory response is the only course that can lead to rapprochement.  Samuel, the son of the feared vizier is not having an easy time making friends.  He thought he might have one in  the Muslim youth Hamza, the son of the local tax collector.  But he accidentally runs into him, causing Samza to rebuff his apology with “You think you’re better than everybody else!”  Matters get even worse when Samuel again commits an unintentional gaffe within the hour, spilling lamb sauce on Hamza’s white-robed lap in a scene you could almost think was staged in Verona during the Montague and Capulet skirmishes.  The unfortunate incident leads to a “I do bite my tongue at you Sir” kind of retaliatory insult as Hamza, starkly envisioned with glaring eyes encased in yellow toned ire as per Ms. Bernhard’s painting, is bracing for a physical confrontation.  Rejecting the apology, Hamza lashes out with verbal contempt: “Donkey Brain! Stupid! Look What You Did!”  Then comes the moment that could conceivably lead this story into unspeakable tragedy when the vizier instructs Samuel to “Make sure Hamza never says a mean word to you again.”  Samuel goes home to ponder his next action.  In bed he thinks he could tie up Hamza’s mouth with a cloth, or train a monkey to sit on Hamza’s shoulders, The latter scenario might yield a situation where teh money could clamp Hamza’s lips shut.  But not such possibilities are feasible.  He finally decides to clean out Hamza’s mouth with a lemon and visits, only to be greeted with the lucky misunderstanding that Samza thinks the lemon is to help clean his clothes.  Samuel comes up with an idea that leads to mutual and friendly interaction.  Deep friendship follows, and the moral of the story is that affable means are always the way to resolve seemingly insurmountable differences.

Durga’s painterly eye would do Franco Zeffirelli very proud.  It is ornate, evocative, rich and sonorous, and it brings an exotic setting to dazzling fruition.  The acrylic reds and purples of the garments and caps are vivid and sublimely applied, and the muted color mixes, dominated by rusted pinks and browns are exactly what the mind would envision for the arid Mediterranean contours of eleventh-century Muslim Spain.  Some of the border work is utterly magnificent, and the exotic plants and flowers from the period are finely modulated with a minimalist eye.  I am thinking that Durga came to this project fully intending to supplement Jules’ psychological dynamic with a general idea of what the characters and settings might have looked like, but not suffocate the prose.  She has succeeded admirably, bringing a great measure of aesthetic beauty in her geometric patterns and various plant and flower designs.  The copyright page spread showcases the simple village architecture of the period, set in what is probably the hilly terrain in and around the Sierra Nevada mountain range in southern Spain.  The courtyard vista, an outdoor greenhouse of sorts makes for a lovely medieval tapestry, as does the pointed view of the accident at the banquet.  More sumptuous visuals are offered up in the lemon toss spread, which transpires around the circular configuration of Hamza’s house.  Durga pulls out all the stops in the last paintings where the boys are seen having fun in the lake and final their engagement in the marble playing seen first under the watchful eye of the Vizier (love that red bird on the stone engraved figure on the column) , and then in gleeful camaraderie in a courtyard of flower pots and ornate flooring.  The vivid and colorful motif of the two boys running is seen both on both the copyright and afterward pages, serving to bring the narrative elements full circle.  

The very last painting is a real beauty – the sparsely inhabited mountainous hamlet that highlights Samuel and Hamza playing in a tree, a man pulling a donkey, and two modest clusters of edifices .  The earthly browns and greens are negotiated with a yellow pall, overseen by a scorching sun.   The front cover and dust jacket, like most picture books are duplicates.  The boys are seen in side profile are each side of the title set in a vertical pill, intruding on the landscape.  The color scheme is burnished, dotted by the sun, moon, white flower and the first appearance of the curling plant motif.  Some of Bernhard’s most ravishing art is to be seen in the duplicate front and back panel end papers.  The design is Judaic and showcases stylized shapes, flower patterns, a swan and a dog.   This is the work of a major artist.

At the outset of this review I stated that Never Say A Mean Word Again is a “sleeper.”  A sleeper is an underdog or a long-shot in competitive circles.  Sleepers in all arts-related competitions are generally seen as works that  inexorably gain momentum as people begin to take notice of what initially may have been a small scale release.  Jules’ riveting and direct prose and Berhard’s exquisite art have combined to make for one of the year’s can’t miss works, one that in every sense fits the Caldecott criteria.  The book deserves some serious attention.

Note:  This is the seventeenth entry in the 2014 Caldecott Medal Contender series.  The series does not purport to predict what the committee will choose, rather it attempts to gauge what the writer feels should be in the running.  In most instances the books that are featured in the series have been touted as contenders in various online round-ups, but for the ones that are not, the inclusions are a humble plea to the committee for consideration.  It is anticipated the series will include at least 30 titles; the order which they are being presented in is arbitrary, as every book in this series is a contender.  Some of my top favorites of the lot will be done near the end.  The awards will be announced on February 2nd, hence the reviews will continue to the end of January.

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