waffling

It was hard for me to imagine how a kid would feel after reading Chris Raschka's Waffle. Mostly because I didn't know how to feel after reading Waffle. I imagine I felt much like Mr. Waffle himself. A little unsure, a little lost...Ok, I'm going to be honest: I really appreciate Raschka's ability to weave text and pictures into a singular experience and all, but this book kind of creeped me out. I really think it was over my head...which is unsettling. I like that Waffle's wishy-washy-ness and timidity was apparent through the uneven text and through the way he was illustrated. Waffle's a two-tone blob with some lines for features and stubby little legs. The two best pages of the book are where the actual story occurs. Raschka takes the word 'waffle' and Waffle himself and plays with them until they've transformed into something else. 'Waffle Waffle' wobbles and stretches until it somehow becomes 'flew' as Waffle sprouts wings (really, the blob that is his body just gets wider) and flies with the last page reading 'WAFFLE WORKED A WONDER (WITHIN)'. I get that I think. He tried to step out of himself and found a beauty and liberation inside that he had no idea was there. That's fantastic. But what I really don't understand are all the different colored smiley faces leering at Waffle from the opposite pages of the book...what do they mean? Are they the world? Are they Waffle's own insecurities? Why do they form specific shapes? Why does one of those shapes look suspiciously like a swatistika (while I'm sure this was completely unintentional, it's something I noticed)? And when you take all of these elements together, just what are supposed to understand in the end? I felt oddly good after reading the book, but all these uncertainties almost made me paranoid as well. Perhaps I'm being too adult about it. I can say I really loved the artwork though. Raschka goes bold.