{"id":13366,"date":"2026-10-24T20:45:56","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T12:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/?p=13366"},"modified":"2026-10-24T20:46:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T12:46:29","slug":"on_david-wiesner_2021_06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2026\/10\/24\/on_david-wiesner_2021_06\/","title":{"rendered":"The sixth in a series of ten lec\u00adtures on David Wies\u00adner: Mr. Waf\u00adfle \u2013 Why do chil\u00addren need to read sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last time we talked about David Wies\u00adner\u2019s \u201cThe Secret of the Sea,\u201d which won him his third Calde\u00adcott Medal.<\/a>Today we\u2019ll talk about anoth\u00ader mas\u00adter\u00adpiece by this mas\u00adter of word\u00adless books, \u201cMr. Wuf\u00adfles!\u201d, which won the Calde\u00adcott Hon\u00ador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Broad\u00adly speak\u00ading, this is David Wies\u00adner\u2019s fifth word\u00adless book, fol\u00adlow\u00ading *The Great Flight*, *Tues\u00adday*, *The Sev\u00adenth Dream Fac\u00adto\u00adry*, and *The Secret of the Sea*. While *Tues\u00adday* con\u00adtains a few words\u2014timekeeping notes\u2014*Mr. Waf\u00adfle* also has a few sentences\u2014dialogue with\u00adin speech bub\u00adbles with\u00adin illustrations\u2014not nar\u00adrat\u00ading the sto\u00adry. There\u00adfore, both should be con\u00adsid\u00adered word\u00adless books. After its pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtion, *Mr. Waf\u00adfle* received praise from pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal book crit\u00adics, who called it David Wies\u00adner\u2019s best work to date! How\u00adev\u00ader, like\u00adly because he had already won the Calde\u00adcott Medal three times, he only received a Sil\u00adver Medal in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\u00adev\u00ader, in terms of cre\u00adative tech\u00adniques and the abil\u00adi\u00adty to tell sto\u00adries through illus\u00adtra\u00adtions, David Wies\u00adner has indeed reached a lev\u00adel of con\u00adsum\u00admate skill. In this book, \u201cMr. Waf\u00adfle,\u201d he did\u00adn\u2019t use many pages, only the usu\u00adal 32 pages for a pic\u00adture book, but very clear\u00adly pre\u00adsent\u00aded a sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion block\u00adbuster with fairy-tale ele\u00adments. The book brings togeth\u00ader many ele\u00adments that chil\u00addren are famil\u00adiar with and love, mak\u00ading a thrilling alien sto\u00adry take place in what seems like an ordi\u00adnary home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Let me try to tell you the sto\u00adry in the book. As I always say, for excel\u00adlent word\u00adless books, the sto\u00adries with\u00adin the illus\u00adtra\u00adtions are rich, mul\u00adti-lay\u00adered, and com\u00adplex, mak\u00ading them dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to sim\u00adply retell. The best way to read them is through shared read\u00ading with your child. Adults and chil\u00addren work togeth\u00ader to dis\u00adcov\u00ader the details in the illus\u00adtra\u00adtions and find the clues to the sto\u00adry\u2019s devel\u00adop\u00adment. Chil\u00addren are often bet\u00adter at notic\u00ading details, while adults usu\u00adal\u00adly have more back\u00adground knowl\u00adedge and a bet\u00adter under\u00adstand\u00ading of the sto\u00adry\u2019s inter\u00adnal log\u00adic. There\u00adfore, col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtive sto\u00adry\u00adtelling or dis\u00adcussing while read\u00ading is prob\u00ada\u00adbly the best read\u00ading method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Waf\u00adfle is actu\u00adal\u00adly the name of a cat, a black cat with white spots. If you\u2019re famil\u00adiar with David Wies\u00adner\u2019s work, you might rec\u00adog\u00adnize him; this cat appears in his semi-auto\u00adbi\u00ado\u00adgraph\u00adi\u00adcal pic\u00adture book *The Hur\u00adri\u00adcane*, where he\u2019s called Han\u00adni\u00adbal, and also on the last page of *Dream Fac\u00adto\u00adry No. 7*. Mr. Waf\u00adfle seems to be a very spe\u00adcial cat. His own\u00ader dotes on him, con\u00adstant\u00adly buy\u00ading him new toys, and even before the price tags are removed, new ones are bought. How\u00adev\u00ader, Mr. Waf\u00adfle is quite aloof, show\u00ading dis\u00addain for these toys. From the pro\u00adlogue page to the title page to the first illus\u00adtra\u00adtion inside, you can see the cat arro\u00adgant\u00adly walk\u00ading past a row of toys\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But wait, what\u2019s that lit\u00adtle thing near the cat\u2019s hind leg? Zoom\u00ading in, zoom\u00ading in, it turns out to be a tiny space\u00adship, with aliens inside wear\u00ading robes and look\u00ading like bean sprouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alien space\u00adship in \u201cMr. Waf\u00adfle\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It turns out it\u2019s about minia\u00adture aliens fly\u00ading into your home. Isn\u2019t that a thrilling con\u00adcept? David Wies\u00adner has always been a sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion enthu\u00adsi\u00adast. In the 1980s, he had the oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adrate with renowned direc\u00adtor Steven Spiel\u00adberg, illus\u00adtrat\u00ading the nov\u00adel adap\u00adta\u00adtion of *E.T. the Extra-Ter\u00adres\u00adtri\u00adal*. The idea of aliens com\u00ading direct\u00adly into Earth\u00ad\u2019s lives\u2014this con\u00adcept may have bor\u00adrowed some log\u00adic from the movie *E.T. the Extra-Ter\u00adres\u00adtri\u00adal*, but David Wies\u00adner\u2019s use of minia\u00adture aliens is arguably his own orig\u00adi\u00adnal cre\u00adation. In fact, in that book, *Secrets of the Sea*, these minia\u00adture aliens live along\u00adside sea\u00adhors\u00ades on the ocean floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u201cSecrets of the Sea\u201d, aliens have already made their appear\u00adance!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Back to the green bean sprout aliens in \u201cMr. Waf\u00adfle,\u201d they seemed to be cheer\u00ading, per\u00adhaps because they had dis\u00adcov\u00adered a new plan\u00adet and were cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00ading a safe land\u00ading. But on the next page, they saw Mr. Cat\u2019s big eyes through the space\u00adship win\u00addow! To the enor\u00admous cat, the alien space\u00adship was like a tiny ball of yarn, which the cat nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly want\u00aded to play with. The aliens inside were toss\u00ading and turn\u00ading, get\u00adting com\u00adplete\u00adly dis\u00adori\u00adent\u00aded, but worst of all, the space\u00adship start\u00aded smoking\u2014what hap\u00adpened? It turned out that the cru\u00adcial flight instru\u00adment had mal\u00adfunc\u00adtioned. What to do? \u2014The aliens trapped inside the space\u00adship decid\u00aded to take a des\u00adper\u00adate gam\u00adble, and togeth\u00ader they grabbed the dam\u00adaged flight instru\u00adment and escaped, hid\u00ading in the radi\u00ada\u00adtor com\u00adpart\u00adment by the wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Thus began the first excit\u00ading chase and escape scene in the sto\u00adry. Pay spe\u00adcial atten\u00adtion to the five aliens wear\u00ading robes of dif\u00adfer\u00adent col\u00adors. The one in the green robe with a small light\u00adbulb on his head must be a tech expert; he was the one car\u00adry\u00ading the flight instru\u00adment, and it was he who even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly fixed it. Because the instru\u00adment was too heavy, the one in the green robe was left behind. But when Mr. Cat spot\u00adted them and pre\u00adpared to swat them down, he lay down to pro\u00adtect the instru\u00adment, while the oth\u00ader two crouched behind him, shield\u00ading him. This shows how unit\u00aded and self\u00adless these aliens were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

At the last sec\u00adond, a fly\u00ading bee\u00adtle dis\u00adtract\u00aded Mr. Waf\u00adfle, and the alien final\u00adly man\u00adaged to escape into the com\u00adpart\u00adment behind the heat sink. There, they were sur\u00adprised to find a mur\u00adal on the wall depict\u00ading bee\u00adtles and ants team\u00ading up to fight a cat. When the bee\u00adtle and ants arrived, the bean sprout alien imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly took to them, and they chat\u00adted and laughed. They then took pho\u00adtos togeth\u00ader, shared food, and talked about every\u00adthing under the sun\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Alien Lan\u00adguage in \u201cMr. Waf\u00adfle\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By the way, isn\u2019t this a word\u00adless book? How do the char\u00adac\u00adters com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adcate? That\u2019s pre\u00adcise\u00adly the most inter\u00adest\u00ading part of the book. David Wies\u00adner designed four lan\u00adguages for this sto\u00adry: the first is human lan\u00adguage, which is the few words the cat own\u00ader says to Mr. Waf\u00adfle; the sec\u00adond is the lan\u00adguage of the green bean sprout alien, rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded by var\u00adi\u00adous geo\u00admet\u00adric shapes; the third is the lan\u00adguage of bee\u00adtles and ants, which is almost like a lot of small scratch\u00ades spread\u00ading like smoke; and the fourth is the cat\u2019s lan\u00adguage, with only one angry \u201cmeow.\u201d The sto\u00adry is set up so that the cat can under\u00adstand human lan\u00adguage, but the aloof Mr. Waf\u00adfle almost com\u00adplete\u00adly ignores it, while the alien can com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adcate with the bee\u00adtles and ants, and can even be said to have a pleas\u00adant con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

In the fol\u00adlow\u00ading sto\u00adry, the bee\u00adtle and the ant pro\u00advid\u00aded cru\u00adcial help, help\u00ading the alien repair the space\u00adcraft. They also joined forces to evade Mr. Waf\u00adfle\u2019s pur\u00adsuit and suc\u00adcess\u00adful\u00adly sent the alien back to the space\u00adship and start\u00aded it up. The alien pilot\u00aded the space\u00adship and flew out of the win\u00addow at the last moment before Mr. Cat was about to pounce on him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

David Wies\u00adner, who has been cre\u00adat\u00ading word\u00adless books for over twen\u00adty years, has suc\u00adcess\u00adful\u00adly pre\u00adsent\u00aded the thrilling expe\u00adri\u00adence of a minia\u00adture alien\u2019s tri\u00adumphant escape. Using a series of illus\u00adtra\u00adtions to depict this process was not dif\u00adfi\u00adcult for him. The most fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading chal\u00adlenge for him was cre\u00adat\u00ading a unique alien lan\u00adguage. To this end, he con\u00adsult\u00aded a pro\u00adfes\u00adsor spe\u00adcial\u00adiz\u00ading in lan\u00adguage, who sug\u00adgest\u00aded using graph\u00adic sym\u00adbols as basic let\u00adters, com\u00adbin\u00ading them into sen\u00adtences like math\u00ade\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcal for\u00admu\u00adlas, and using frac\u00adtion\u00adal expres\u00adsions like numer\u00ada\u00adtors and denom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtors to enrich the lan\u00adguage. David Wies\u00adner read\u00adi\u00adly accept\u00aded this advice, and after some explo\u00adration, he cre\u00adat\u00aded an alien lan\u00adguage. The graph\u00adic sym\u00adbols are some\u00adtimes upright, some\u00adtimes side\u00adways, and some\u00adtimes upside down; dif\u00adfer\u00adent com\u00adbi\u00adna\u00adtions of sym\u00adbols pro\u00adduce rich vari\u00ada\u00adtions. The alien in the green robe in the book is like\u00adly a space\u00adship engi\u00adneer; note that his speech is quite neat, with com\u00adplete numer\u00ada\u00adtors and denom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtors, indi\u00adcat\u00ading that he speaks log\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, with a high infor\u00adma\u00adtion con\u00adtent, and has the demeanor of a sci\u00aden\u00adtist. Of course, what exact\u00adly the aliens in the book are say\u00ading is left for the read\u00ader to fig\u00adure out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

This minia\u00adture Star Wars sci-fi sto\u00adry demon\u00adstrates the var\u00adi\u00adous pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties of com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtion through visu\u00adal lan\u00adguage. For exam\u00adple, the ant and bee\u00adtle murals are clear\u00adly a trib\u00adute to cave paint\u00adings by prim\u00adi\u00adtive peo\u00adple. Prim\u00adi\u00adtive peo\u00adple used murals to record events, and so did the ants and bee\u00adtles. The aliens under\u00adstood this at a glance and quick\u00adly real\u00adized that the ants and bee\u00adtles shared a com\u00admon enemy\u2014a cat named Mr. Waf\u00adfle!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the aliens leave, in the final illus\u00adtra\u00adtion, the ants and bee\u00adtles con\u00adtin\u00adue to enrich their mur\u00adal while using the aliens\u2019 equip\u00adment, record\u00ading their thrilling sto\u00adry of fight\u00ading along\u00adside the aliens. Where do the ants\u2019 and bee\u00adtles\u2019 language\u2014those tiny scratch\u00ades in the dia\u00adlogue bubbles\u2014come from? They actu\u00adal\u00adly rep\u00adre\u00adsent the way Snoopy, the goofy lit\u00adtle bird from the Peanuts com\u00adic strip, speaks. David Wies\u00adner is unwit\u00adting\u00adly pay\u00ading homage to Charles Schulz, the cre\u00adator of Peanuts. Whether through comics, pic\u00adture books, or word\u00adless books, the goal is to show chil\u00addren the pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty of com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adcat\u00ading through visu\u00adal lan\u00adguage, a con\u00adcept that dates back to pre-writ\u00adten times and might even become a pri\u00adma\u00adry means of com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtion with extrater\u00adres\u00adtri\u00adals in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Here, I want to empha\u00adsize the val\u00adue of sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion for chil\u00addren\u2019s devel\u00adop\u00adment. We all know that chil\u00addren love to fan\u00adta\u00adsize, to start with every\u00adday things and let their imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtions run wild. But as chil\u00addren get a lit\u00adtle old\u00ader, some adults become less enthu\u00adsi\u00adas\u00adtic about their chil\u00addren\u2019s flights of fan\u00adcy, even when they\u2019re exposed to sci\u00adence, they pri\u00ador\u00adi\u00adtize the acqui\u00adsi\u00adtion of sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adic knowl\u00adedge and wor\u00adry that chil\u00addren will waste time on sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion and neglect their stud\u00adies. If you care\u00adful\u00adly con\u00adsid\u00ader a sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion sto\u00adry like \u201cMr. Waf\u00adfle,\u201d you\u2019ll find that it actu\u00adal\u00adly con\u00adnects to a lot of knowl\u00adedge; its fan\u00adta\u00adsy is built on a sol\u00adid foun\u00adda\u00adtion of sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adic knowl\u00adedge. You could say it\u2019s using sci\u00adence as a game, expe\u00adri\u00adenc\u00ading things through sci\u00adence-based fan\u00adta\u00adsy. This is because of a cer\u00adtain dis\u00adsat\u00adis\u00adfac\u00adtion, a desire to con\u00adstant\u00adly push bound\u00adaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the his\u00adto\u00adry of tech\u00adno\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal devel\u00adop\u00adment, human imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion has always pre\u00adced\u00aded inven\u00adtion. Humans dreamed of fly\u00ading, and only then did air\u00adplanes come into being. The famous Amer\u00adi\u00adcan fairy tale *The Wiz\u00adard of Oz* fea\u00adtures a tin man who roams freely; the sto\u00adry was writ\u00adten around 1900, and it was\u00adn\u2019t until almost half a cen\u00adtu\u00adry lat\u00ader that the first robots appeared. Fur\u00adther\u00admore, the three laws of robot\u00adics orig\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded from the idea in Isaac Asi\u00admov\u2019s sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion nov\u00adel *I, Robot*. The first human land\u00ading on the moon was in 1969, while Jules Verne\u2019s sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion nov\u00adel *From the Earth to the Moon* was writ\u00adten a cen\u00adtu\u00adry ear\u00adli\u00ader. Even the com\u00adic strip *The Adven\u00adtures of Tintin* con\u00adtains detailed descrip\u00adtions of the moon land\u00ading, and the book *Explor\u00ading the Moon* was pub\u00adlished 15 years before the Apol\u00adlo moon land\u00ading\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

There are many exam\u00adples like this. What I want to say is that excel\u00adlent sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion sto\u00adries not only don\u2019t waste chil\u00addren\u2019s time, but they can also help them apply their knowl\u00adedge to the fullest extent, gain\u00ading excit\u00ading and enjoy\u00adable expe\u00adri\u00adences through sci\u00adence. More impor\u00adtant\u00adly, in that immer\u00adsive par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpa\u00adtion, their imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion and cre\u00adativ\u00adi\u00adty are con\u00adstant\u00adly stim\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded, allow\u00ading chil\u00addren to dare to go fur\u00adther and fur\u00adther with\u00adout restraint. David Wies\u00adner\u2019s sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion pic\u00adture books con\u00adstant\u00adly chal\u00adlenge chil\u00addren\u2019s imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtions in this way, and chil\u00addren become engrossed in them, respond\u00ading with even wilder imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtions. This is pre\u00adcise\u00adly the most antic\u00adi\u00adpat\u00aded state of read\u00ading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014That\u2019s all for now. We\u2019ll con\u00adtin\u00adue our dis\u00adcus\u00adsion in the next episode.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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