Polka Dot Penguin Pottery (review)

Aspen is suffering from serious writer’s block, so her beloved grandparents take her out for a change of scene to a paint-your-own-pottery place. Initially it looks like writer’s block is also pottery-painter’s block (“I turn my egg over and over; it is blank, like a piece of paper”), despite the busy artistry of the regulars around Aspen; worse still, once she touches brush to pottery she’s convinced that she’s ruined everything right from the get-go. Her friend Ivy then offers her valuable advice—“You can only make a masterpiece if you’re willing to make a mess”—and Aspen rises above her perfectionism to create something wonderful in a breakthrough that extends to her writing as well. The daunting fear of failure knows few barriers, so kids won’t have to be young artists or writers to relate to Aspen’s quandary; creative types, however, will be particularly likely to sympathize with the offputting challenge of the blank page and canvas. Look’s story takes the point beyond didacticism, offering a picturesque, smoothly told tale that makes it clear Aspen is generally leading a fine and cozy life but that her artistry is genuinely important to her. The book’s vertical orientation is more playful variation than necessary element, but Heo’s art (employing, according to a note, oil, pencil, and collage) is an apt medium for exploring the tension between creativity and perfectionism. Her trim and tidy figures are counterpointed with touches of pattern in scenes of designerly clarity, yet backgrounds teem, in Heo’s familiar style, with small elements that here represent possibility, mood, and opinion. A worthy successor to Karas’ The Class Artist (BCCB 9/01), this is a title that will be useful in helping kids negotiate with their perfectionist demons—and in spurring attendance at pottery studios.