{"id":13298,"date":"2026-10-22T10:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T02:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/?p=13298"},"modified":"2026-10-22T10:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T02:16:11","slug":"on_david-wiesner_2021_02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2026\/10\/22\/on_david-wiesner_2021_02\/","title":{"rendered":"The sec\u00adond in a series of ten lec\u00adtures on David Wies\u00adner: The qua\u00adsi-auto\u00adbi\u00ado\u00adgraph\u00adi\u00adcal \u201cHurricane\u201d\u2014a stan\u00addard fea\u00adture of the \u201cper\u00adfect child\u00adhood\u201d."},"content":{"rendered":"

Last time we talked about the upbring\u00ading of Calde\u00adcott Medal dar\u00adling David Wies\u00adner.<\/a>This time, let\u2019s talk about \u201cHur\u00adri\u00adcane,\u201d a pic\u00adture book with a lot of text by the artist who is known as the \u201cmas\u00adter of word\u00adless books.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How many words are in this book? I\u2019m the trans\u00adla\u00adtor, so I know the exact num\u00adber: over 1500 words in Chi\u00adnese. That\u2019s rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly long for a typ\u00adi\u00adcal pic\u00adture book, but not excep\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly long. How\u00adev\u00ader, it\u2019s prob\u00ada\u00adbly the most text-heavy of David Wies\u00adner\u2019s self-writ\u00adten and illus\u00adtrat\u00aded works. This book is spe\u00adcial; it\u2019s a qua\u00adsi-auto\u00adbi\u00ado\u00adgraph\u00adi\u00adcal sto\u00adry about his child\u00adhood expe\u00adri\u00adences. The sto\u00adry isn\u2019t complicated\u2014it tells how his fam\u00adi\u00adly sur\u00advived a hur\u00adri\u00adcane. This is quite ordi\u00adnary for peo\u00adple liv\u00ading near the coast, but David Wies\u00adner imbues it with a fan\u00adtas\u00adti\u00adcal qual\u00adi\u00adty, and the child\u00adhood depict\u00aded in the book is par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly envi\u00adable. This book can be seen as good mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal for under\u00adstand\u00ading David Wies\u00adner\u2019s cre\u00adative sources, and it also gives us a glimpse into what a \u201cper\u00adfect child\u00adhood\u201d might look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Hur\u00adri\u00adcane copy\u00adright page + ded\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtion page<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The book\u2019s cov\u00ader depicts two boys and a cat look\u00ading out a win\u00addow dur\u00ading a stormy day. The boys gaze intent\u00adly at the sky, while the cat seems to be peer\u00ading side\u00adways at some\u00adthing below. This is a clas\u00adsic David Wies\u00adner nar\u00adra\u00adtive style: the scenes and char\u00adac\u00adters seem imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly obvi\u00adous, but a clos\u00ader look at their actions and expres\u00adsions reveals a hid\u00adden sto\u00adry, a touch of mys\u00adtery that com\u00adpels you to won\u00adder: what hap\u00adpened?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turn\u00ading to the title and copy\u00adright pages, the illus\u00adtra\u00adtion shows a boy in a yel\u00adlow rain\u00adcoat stand\u00ading in a yard. The copy\u00adright page is ded\u00adi\u00adcat\u00aded to Car\u00adol, George, Bar\u00adbara, and Pat. Who are these four? They are David\u2019s old\u00ader broth\u00ader George and his three old\u00ader sis\u00adters, Car\u00adol, Bar\u00adbara, and Pat. So, where is the youngest, David? He\u2019s the boy in the yel\u00adlow rain\u00adcoat, and the old\u00ader boy is George. To sim\u00adpli\u00adfy the plot, the three sis\u00adters are omit\u00adted from the book, leav\u00ading only the two broth\u00aders. In real\u00adi\u00adty, the events in the sto\u00adry are shared by all five sib\u00adlings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When David Wies\u00adner won the Calde\u00adcott Medal for the sec\u00adond time in 2002, he specif\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly men\u00adtioned in his accep\u00adtance speech, \u201cAlthough most of the time my old\u00ader sib\u00adlings treat\u00aded me like a naughty lit\u00adtle broth\u00ader, they always took my cre\u00adativ\u00adi\u00adty seri\u00adous\u00adly. They shared their artis\u00adtic knowl\u00adedge and whole\u00adheart\u00aded\u00adly encour\u00adaged me to con\u00adtin\u00adue my stud\u00adies.\u201d Lat\u00ader, when he went to art school, he learned that many of his class\u00admates had expe\u00adri\u00adenced huge and painful fam\u00adi\u00adly strug\u00adgles, so he looked back at his warm and har\u00admo\u00adnious fam\u00adi\u00adly envi\u00adron\u00adment and felt par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly grate\u00adful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Okay, let\u2019s con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading the book. The sto\u00adry begins by show\u00ading the fam\u00adi\u00adly\u2019s prepa\u00adra\u00adtions before the hur\u00adri\u00adcane arrives. The moth\u00ader is return\u00ading home from the gro\u00adcery store with gro\u00adceries, the father is rein\u00adforc\u00ading things in the yard, and the two boys are anx\u00adious\u00adly search\u00ading for their cat, Han\u00adni\u00adbal. The read\u00ader has already seen the black and white cat; it has like\u00adly dis\u00adcov\u00adered some\u00adthing and, despite the approach\u00ading storm, has tak\u00aden it upon itself to track it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kit\u00adten in \u201cHur\u00adri\u00adcane\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Cov\u00ader of \u201cMr. Waf\u00adfle\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

David Wies\u00adner fans will notice at least two things: First, David loved cats from a young age. His Calde\u00adcott Hon\u00ador Book, *Mr. Waf\u00adfle*, fea\u00adtures a black cat with white spots as its pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnist, and the mod\u00adel for that cat was actu\u00adal\u00adly one of David\u2019s own! Sec\u00adond, the cat\u2019s name is \u201cHan\u00adni\u00adbal.\u201d Does that ring a bell? Han\u00adni\u00adbal was a Carthagin\u00adian gen\u00ader\u00adal dur\u00ading the Roman era, a mil\u00adi\u00adtary genius renowned through\u00adout his\u00adto\u00adry who near\u00adly destroyed the Roman Repub\u00adlic. The fact that two boys named their cat Han\u00adni\u00adbal sug\u00adgests they have a fond\u00adness for his\u00adto\u00adry, espe\u00adcial\u00adly war sto\u00adries, and a yearn\u00ading for dis\u00adtant lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, I sug\u00adgest read\u00aders turn a few pages to the page where broth\u00aders George and David dis\u00adcuss storms and weath\u00ader recon\u00adnais\u00adsance planes in their bed\u00adroom. Pay atten\u00adtion to the wall\u00adpa\u00adper. It con\u00adtains a lot of infor\u00adma\u00adtion the artist wants to con\u00advey about their liv\u00ading envi\u00adron\u00adment. It includes books, a mag\u00adni\u00adfy\u00ading glass, an ele\u00adphan\u00adt\u2019s head, a boat in bot\u00adtles, medals, and so on. Some of the images are a lit\u00adtle unclear to me, but it\u2019s clear that it reflects the inner world of boys around ten years old. The text on this page, led by old\u00ader broth\u00ader George, dis\u00adcuss\u00ades rather tech\u00adni\u00adcal weath\u00ader-relat\u00aded knowl\u00adedge. This is part of David Wies\u00adner\u2019s upbring\u00ading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two broth\u00aders in \u201cHur\u00adri\u00adcane\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Turn\u00ading to the front, a scene of the fam\u00adi\u00adly hav\u00ading din\u00adner by the fire\u00adplace is described in the text: \u201cThe whole fam\u00adi\u00adly is togeth\u00ader, and it feels safe. Out\u00adside, there\u2019s a creak\u00ading, howl\u00ading wind, and occa\u00adsion\u00adal fierce roars.\u201d The image clev\u00ader\u00adly uses the per\u00adspec\u00adtive of a cat lying on the table to present the warm scene of the fam\u00adi\u00adly gath\u00adered around the fire\u00adplace. Although the bad weath\u00ader caused a pow\u00ader out\u00adage, the fire\u00adlight in the fire\u00adplace was warm and reas\u00adsur\u00ading. The father was in charge of tend\u00ading the fire in the fire\u00adplace, the old\u00ader broth\u00ader was lying on the floor watch\u00ading, and the younger broth\u00ader was nes\u00adtled in his moth\u00ader\u2019s arms on the sofa\u2026 David Wies\u00adner\u2019s father was an engi\u00adneer, whom David proud\u00adly called a \u201csci\u00aden\u00adtist.\u201d Although his father was\u00adn\u2019t par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly artis\u00adtic, he was very sup\u00adport\u00adive of his chil\u00addren\u2019s inter\u00adests in that area; and his moth\u00ader\u2019s atti\u00adtude towards him was uncon\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal accep\u00adtance. She kept every\u00adthing David had drawn as a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first half of the book *The Hur\u00adri\u00adcane* uses the back\u00addrop of a rag\u00ading hur\u00adri\u00adcane to present a lov\u00ading and spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly rich fam\u00adi\u00adly. After the hur\u00adri\u00adcane, a large tree that has fall\u00aden in the neigh\u00adbor\u2019s yard becomes the focus of the sto\u00adry, and the two broth\u00aders and their cat Han\u00adni\u00adbal embark on an adven\u00adture across time and space. Three con\u00adsec\u00adu\u00adtive dou\u00adble-page spreads depict their jour\u00adney: first to a jun\u00adgle with ele\u00adphants and leop\u00adards, then a large sail\u00ading ship sail\u00ading the sev\u00aden seas, and final\u00adly, a space voy\u00adage land\u00ading on a plan\u00adet inhab\u00adit\u00aded by extrater\u00adres\u00adtri\u00adals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the page with the ele\u00adphants, there are ele\u00adphants in the dis\u00adtance that appear to be from the African savan\u00adna, while in the fore\u00adground on the left, an ele\u00adphant is depict\u00aded as a mount. Why this asso\u00adci\u00ada\u00adtion? Read\u00aders famil\u00adiar with his\u00adto\u00adry will know that when the leg\u00adendary war\u00adrior Han\u00adni\u00adbal Lecter crossed the Alps, his army includ\u00aded a force of dozens of ele\u00adphants. How\u00adev\u00ader, in this illus\u00adtra\u00adtion, Han\u00adni\u00adbal is por\u00adtrayed as a play\u00adful and glut\u00adto\u00adnous kit\u00adten, mak\u00ading this com\u00adpar\u00adi\u00adson quite humor\u00adous. Lat\u00ader, the pirates and octo\u00adpus\u00ades at sea, and the space\u00adships and aliens in out\u00ader space, are clear\u00adly relat\u00aded to the adven\u00adture and sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion books and films they reg\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly read or watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly note\u00adwor\u00adthy how their game began and pro\u00adceed\u00aded. Let\u2019s reread the writ\u00adten account:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, the old\u00ader broth\u00ader George exclaimed, \u201cWow, what a huge tree! It\u2019s like a sleep\u00ading giant!\u201d This sparked their bound\u00adless imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion and excite\u00adment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, David, the younger broth\u00ader, imag\u00adined the thick tree trunk and branch\u00ades as a jun\u00adgle, and sug\u00adgest\u00aded play\u00ading an adven\u00adture game in the jun\u00adgle, \u201clead\u00ading the expe\u00addi\u00adtion team, fear\u00adless\u00adly into the deep\u00adest part of the jun\u00adgle, where fierce leop\u00adards lurk every\u00adwhere.\u201d Where did the leop\u00adards come from? Look down, it\u2019s just that lit\u00adtle cat! The lit\u00adtle cat leads to the image of fierce felines, and Han\u00adni\u00adbal\u2019s name leads to the image of war ele\u00adphants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next, they imag\u00adined the tree as a large sail\u00ading ship, sail\u00ading around the sev\u00aden seas. This time, the old\u00ader broth\u00ader was in charge of steer\u00ading, while the younger broth\u00ader was in charge of keep\u00ading watch to pre\u00advent attacks from pirate ships. You can get a sense of this: in the broth\u00aders\u2019 con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion and game, the old\u00ader broth\u00ader George was main\u00adly respon\u00adsi\u00adble for the tech\u00adni\u00adcal aspects, while the younger broth\u00ader David was main\u00adly respon\u00adsi\u00adble for the bound\u00adless and exag\u00adger\u00adat\u00aded imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next space scene, the tree has trans\u00adformed into a space\u00adship, and the two broth\u00aders are hold\u00ading onto a large flag. What is that flag made of? It looks a lot like a bed sheet or a cur\u00adtain!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There\u00adfore, we can briefly sum\u00adma\u00adrize that the games chil\u00addren play tire\u00adless\u00adly and end\u00adless\u00adly in nature, even using a fall\u00aden tree, share sev\u00ader\u00adal char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adis\u00adtics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • The first is to use what\u00adev\u00ader is avail\u00adable local\u00adly;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Sec\u00adond\u00adly, they con\u00adnect their exist\u00ading knowl\u00adedge with their pre\u00adferred imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtive mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Third\u00adly, it often requires mutu\u00adal inspi\u00adra\u00adtion among part\u00adners;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Fourth, games are often invent\u00aded ran\u00addom\u00adly by the cre\u00adators them\u00adselves, with cre\u00adativ\u00adi\u00adty con\u00adstant\u00adly accu\u00admu\u00adlat\u00ading;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Fifth, the game\u00adplay and rules are entire\u00adly deter\u00admined by the play\u00ader, some\u00adtimes based on the sug\u00adges\u00adtion, but usu\u00adal\u00adly through nat\u00adur\u00adal nego\u00adti\u00ada\u00adtion and dis\u00adcus\u00adsion, and roles and con\u00adtent can be changed at will.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    So, the most amaz\u00ading thing about this kind of game is that it blends per\u00adfect\u00adly with the envi\u00adron\u00adment, offer\u00ading end\u00adless pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties for imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion. And because it\u2019s com\u00adplete\u00adly autonomous (not arranged or pre\u00adscribed by oth\u00aders), chil\u00addren will nev\u00ader get bored. This kind of game is also very help\u00adful for chil\u00addren to ver\u00adi\u00adfy, exchange, and expand their knowl\u00adedge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On the next page, the two broth\u00aders, tired from play\u00ading, are hid\u00ading in the shade of a tree drink\u00ading bev\u00ader\u00adages. The text reads, \u201cThat tree was a very pri\u00advate place, big enough to hold their own secret dreams, small enough for them to explore togeth\u00ader.\u201d Was\u00adn\u2019t it an ide\u00adal play\u00adground? Unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, soon adults came and sawed it down and took it away; it was a large tree that had fall\u00aden into their neigh\u00adbor\u2019s yard. Final\u00adly, the two broth\u00aders leaned against the tree clos\u00adest to their own yard, hop\u00ading that if it fell, it would fall into their yard!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the final word\u00adless image, a kit\u00adten stares out the win\u00addow into a storm, where rows of deli\u00adcious fish seem to swim over\u00adhead. Read\u00aders will see sim\u00adi\u00adlar fan\u00adtas\u00adti\u00adcal scenes in his lat\u00ader works, such as *Dream Fac\u00adto\u00adry No. 7* and *Tues\u00adday*.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Inte\u00adri\u00ador pages of \u201cDream Fac\u00adto\u00adry No. 7\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    While *The Hur\u00adri\u00adcane* isn\u2019t David Wies\u00adner\u2019s most rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive work, it explains to his fans, in a qua\u00adsi-auto\u00adbi\u00ado\u00adgraph\u00adi\u00adcal style, the source of his bound\u00adless and fan\u00adtas\u00adti\u00adcal imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion. This imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion stems from his almost per\u00adfect child\u00adhood: a lov\u00ading fam\u00adi\u00adly with excep\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly har\u00admo\u00adnious sib\u00adling rela\u00adtion\u00adships, uncon\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal sup\u00adport among fam\u00adi\u00adly mem\u00adbers, and con\u00adstruc\u00adtive inspi\u00adra\u00adtion. More\u00adover, while rich\u00adly nour\u00adished by books and art, his liv\u00ading and play\u00ading envi\u00adron\u00adments were remark\u00adably close to nature, pro\u00advid\u00ading him with con\u00adstant oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adties to be nur\u00adtured by it. A dev\u00adas\u00adtat\u00ading hur\u00adri\u00adcane, how\u00adev\u00ader, became a cher\u00adished child\u00adhood mem\u00ado\u00adry for David.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    <\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    David Wies\u00adner\u2019s path to adult\u00adhood was cer\u00adtain\u00adly for\u00adtu\u00adnate, but not with\u00adout its chal\u00adlenges. His most unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate expe\u00adri\u00adence came in 1983 when, at the age of 27, he and his wife Kim were strug\u00adgling to make ends meet in Boston when a fire destroyed their apart\u00adment build\u00ading. Every\u00adthing he owned was gone, includ\u00ading the pre\u00adcious oak draw\u00ading table his father had giv\u00aden him. How\u00adev\u00ader, he quick\u00adly recov\u00adered, his work matured, and soon he had the oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adrate with Hol\u00adly\u00adwood direc\u00adtor Steven Spiel\u00adberg, illus\u00adtrat\u00ading the nov\u00adel and cre\u00adat\u00ading posters for the sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion film *E.T.*. This improved his finan\u00adcial sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion, allow\u00ading him to return to his sig\u00adna\u00adture style and achieve suc\u00adcess. There\u00adfore, a \u201cper\u00adfect child\u00adhood\u201d can actu\u00adal\u00adly instill a sense of secu\u00adri\u00adty, con\u00adfi\u00addence, and resilience, enabling one to face any set\u00adback with equa\u00adnim\u00adi\u00adty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Let\u2019s take a break first, and we\u2019ll talk again in the next episode.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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