One of my favorite qualities in a picture book is the ability to surprise and challenge a reader. Last week when I recommended the book No Bears I mentioned how much I love metafiction in children’s picture books. I suppose I am just an artistic rebel at heart. A metafictional text is one that subverts traditional, straightforward storytelling. Since I want to spread the metafiction gospel, I have made a list of some of my favorite examples in kids’ books.
Metafictional Picture Books for Kids
(Note: Book covers and titles are affiliate links)
Z Is for Moose. A recent addition to alphabet themed book collections, Z Is for Moose pokes fun at the standard “A is for Apple” books.
Black and White. David Macauly received the Caldecott gold for this one. The juxtaposition of 4 story lines is a bit esoteric for the younger set but presents a thought provoking reading challenge for older kids.
There Are No Cats in this Book. The original, There Are Cats in This Book, is one of our favorite books and the sequel takes the craziness that is cats even further.
Chloe and the Lion. Recently published, this book is truly a collaboration of artist and illustrator and provides good material for discussions on book-making. After you stop laughing, that is.
The Pencil. When an eraser goes rogue, hijinks ensue.
Wolves. Are wolves scary or cute? It turns out you can have things both ways.
The Three Pigs. Wiesner’s classic Caldecott winner shatters and deconstructs all sorts of imaginary fourth walls and illustrative styles.
A Book. Watch your perspective!
The Red Book. A wordless book about a book…
There are others that were contenders for this list of favorites, including:
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Next I think I’ll investigate metafiction in chapter books, I’m not as familiar with those but my favorite example is The Great Good Thing and its sequels.
What are your favorite examples of metafiction in children’s books?
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Joyful Learner says
I have to be honest, I have not heard of meta-fiction until I saw your post! What an intriguing topic to explore and interesting selection of books! I've always loved your selection of books. We own The Red Book among few others on the list.
Mom and Kiddo says
I'm so happy I've introduced someone to the concept of metafiction! You will see it more and more now.
Raising a Happy Child says
I admit that I had to look metafiction up too. One example given was Never Ending Story – a book originally written in German and introduced to me by my husband. I think Kiddo is almost old enough to enjoy that one!
Mom and Kiddo says
I've never read the Never Ending Story, but I guess I'll have to, now!
Violet says
I was just catching up on your posts from before I discovered your blog and was interested by this topic. Did you ever write a chapter book list on metafiction? The Never Ending Story was my absolute favorite book in middle school, but it’s been years since I read it. Seven Day Magic by Edward Eager was also a favorite of mine.
Erica MomandKiddo says
No, I never did. I thought about it, sort of felt overwhelmed by which ones to choose!
Fanny Harville says
I love the geekiness of this list! And I love The Red Book. I can' think of any other examples off the top of my head, but I'm going to ponder… Such a good idea for a book list!
Mom and Kiddo says
I suspect that, like me, you will start noticing examples of it in the books you read more and more.
Fanny Harville says
I love the geekiness of this list! And I love The Red Book. I can' think of any other examples off the top of my head, but I'm going to ponder… Such a good idea for a book list!
Mrs. Milligan says
A couple of more to add to your list: A Character in the Book Zemach; Bad Day at Riverbend by Van Allsburg; & Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book by Lauren Child.
Jaymie Shook says
I'm putting “The Pencil” on our TBR list NOW!! Thanks for linking into the Kid Lit Blog Hop!
Momand Kiddo says
It's such a fun book, I know you will love it.
Renee C. says
I am totally intrigued by the concept of metafiction. I had heard the term and knew loosely what it was but now that I see your selection of books, I’m sold! I’m going to do more research about this. BTW, your link to your previous post on metafiction is not working when I did a search to try to find it, I couldn’t find it. I’m really curious to read it so please let me know when the link is fixed! Thanks for linking into the Kid Lit Blog Hop! 🙂
Mom and Kiddo says
Thanks Renee! I just moved to WP, and not all the links are working properly for some reason. I am trying to fix that!
ang paris says
What a great post – I’d never heard of meta fiction before! Thanks for linking up to the Kit Lit Blog Hop! I was thrilled to cohost again check out some awesome blogs, like yours 🙂
Mom and Kiddo says
Thanks! The feeling is mutual. 🙂
Even in Australia says
Coincidentally, I just started The Great Good Thing last night. However, I thought metafiction was fiction ABOUT fiction.
Erica MomandKiddo says
Yes, it is. But more broadly metafiction is a style of narration in which the author self-consciously refers to its status as narrative, or comments in some way on how texts and books are constructed. Looking back, I think I might not include “Cat Secrets” in this post, although I can’t remember exactly what made me include it! This is a great post and video on metafiction in children’s books: http://www.philnel.com/2010/09/04/more-metafiction/
Erica MomandKiddo says
And how are you liking it? I love his writing, but this is my favorite of all his books.