A New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year. In
Arm in Arm, Remy Charlip, the great children’s book author and illustrator, is at his most playful, his zaniest, funniest, and cleverest.
He rewrites the rules of riddles, tongue twisters, puns, and performance-based play, or rather, throws all rules out the window. Some pages require turning the book completely around, 360 degrees. A magnifying glass may also be useful. It is a book for kids of all ages.
Remy Charlip (1929–2012) was an artist, writer, choreographer, theater director, teacher, and the author of twenty-nine children’s books. He attended Cooper Union, created a style of choreography called Air Mail Dances, and was a founding member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Charlip was the recipient of three
New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year citations and was awarded a six-month residency in Kyoto, Japan, from the Japan–U.S. Arts Commission. The New York Review Children’s Collection publishes
Thirteen, which Charlip wrote and illustrated with Jerry Joyner.
"If you want to know what joy looks like, open up a copy of
Arm in Arm. In the tradition of
Open House for Butterflies and
A Very Special House, Remy Charlip takes us on a unique and magical excursion into the mind of a child. Here the imagination leapfrogs from birthday cakes and fairy stories to riddles, jokes, and mind-bending, awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, hilariously wonderful games and puzzles you’ll find yourself thinking about long after you close the book. Remy Charlip creates wonder, on the page and in our minds."— Brian Selznick
“When octopuses marry, it stands to reason that they walk ‘down the aisle arm in arm in arm in arm...’—but who ever thought of it that way? Remy Charlip, and it is this particular perspective of his wherein lies the delight of one of the more kinetic picture books to appear in a long time.... There is amusement here, endless diversion and a bit of well-placed philosophy—such as from the egg who tells the inquisitive chicken, concerned about the order of their origin, ‘Don’t question it. Be grateful we have one another.’” —Ingeborg Boudreau,
The New York Times “Elegant and whimsical.” —Sybille A. Jagush, Chief of Children’s Literature Center at the Library of Congress
“Here is someone who transforms, embroiders, and enchants ordinary experiences into magical excursions, encouraging children to imagine and improvise for themselves. [Charlip’s] works abound in innovative narratives, wonderful word games, simple reading exercises with an appeal directly to children. There is no superfluous detail and lots of riddles, puns, jokes, chants, word games, and illustrations—tempera, watercolors, cartoons and collages, silhouettes and simple line drawings.”—Edith Cohen (volunteer), Library of Congress Children’s Literature Center
“[Charlip wrote] extraordinarily inventive books for children that respected their individuality and enlarged their imaginations.” —
San Francisco Bay Guardian
