Book Review
Girls Standing on Lawns
by Daniel Handler
Illustrated by Maira Kalman
By Sherrie Wilkolaski
I
t is rare to find a book that can
be enjoyed by both children and
adults, but Girls Standing on
Lawns is just such a masterpiece.
It is simple and overwhelming
with each turn of the page. It is
rare that I am moved by books that
might equally appeal to the younger
human species, but this book
touched me.
the photographs of girls standing
on lawns. From those old-fashioned
bathing suit snapshots in front of
a house, to a pouty-frowned
adolescent girl longing for the
photo to just be done with, the
words jump off the page. As the
reader you’re having the same
thoughts run through your head
as you read each word.
Girls Standing on Lawns by Daniel
Handler (Author), Maira Kalman
(Illustrator) is a walk down memory
lane with a look to the future.
New York Times bestselling writer
Daniel Handler, otherwise known
as Lemony Snicket, sprinkles little
snippets of his thoughts next to
Mixed in with the compilation
of photographs is the mirroring
artwork of artist Maira Kalman.
She is a collector of old photographs
and took this project to the Modern
Museum of Art and this book is a
perfect extension of the quality
that is MoMA. Her drawings are bold
in color, quite the contrast of
the muted brownish-grey old
photographs. Some of her designs
are identical in nature to what
is framed in the black and white
snapshot on the opposite page, and
then others she goes beyond what
is seen in the still photographs and
her imagination provides the reader
with a fresh idea of what a girl on
the lawn might look like framed in
a painting rather than captured in
the frame of a picture.
Since acquiring this book, I’ve
shown it to numerous girlfriends
and female relatives and the
reaction has been consistently
the same. It starts with reminiscing
about photos of when we were
younger and then the conversation
blossoms into something else. There
is a stanza in the book that reads,
We believe this, there is
nothing else we believe more
at this moment, that we should
be standing here.
Of all the text throughout the
book, that seems to say it all.
Girls Standing on Lawns is a
beautiful piece of art and makes
for a great gift, whether it’s
something you pick up for yourself
or for someone special in your life.