My favorite children's book. EVER.

My mother and I are going to my cousin's baby shower in a few weeks.  She asked us all to bring our favorite children's book to the shower. I'll probably have to find something a bit more age-appropriate (most babies don't start reading at a 3-5th grade level) but my favorite children's book of all time is A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears by Jules Feiffer.

Roger is a prince who has been surrounded by joy his entire life.  He's never heard an argument, never seen someone cry.  As a result, wherever Roger goes, he makes people laugh riotously and uncontrollably.  He is a "carrier of joy."  But J. Wellington Wizard knows that Roger can't be a good king if he doesn't experience the "mixed-up universe full of sun and shadow, highlights and lowlifes."  So Roger is sent on a quest, without knowing his object or destination--only knowing that "wherever it is, whatever it is, whoever it is, you will know you have found it when neither of you is laughing."

What follows is perhaps a beautiful, simple metaphor for life, with all its laughs and tears.  It isn't epic--but it is.  Anyone who's seen the musical "Pippin" knows the kind of feeling you're left with: as though you've found something less than your dreams and potential, but more right for you.

Most people know Jules Feiffer as the illustrator of the classic The Phantom Tollbooth.  Feiffer also utilizes his signature pen-and-ink cartoons in A Barrel of Laughs, seamlessly integrating picture with text.  Feiffer's diction is playful, witty, and sometimes downright snarky.  The most enjoyable aspect of Feiffer's writing style is his play between reader, writer, character, and plot.  The author--as much a character in the book as any of his inventions--does not have complete control over the story; characters are able to walk in and out of the book, and rebel against the author's wishes.  Feiffer keeps the reader trekking--trek-trek-trek--through the novel right along with the main character, Roger, on his vague quest for "Exxxperrrienccce!"

Here's an excerpt:

     On this day, because [J. Wellington Wizard] was exhausted, having been up all night writing predictions for the coming century, he decided to kill two birds with one stone and turn Roger into an armchair.
     "Am I too heavy for you, Roger?"
     "No, sir.  Ha-ha."
     "Did I say something funny?"
     "Not yet, but I'm getting ready. Ha-ha."
     "Let me place a stuffed pillow on your seat and see if that quiets you down.  Do you mind?"
     "No problem, ha-ha."
     J. Wellington looked surprised, then he looked displeased. "Roger, I have been up all night transcribing predictions for the next century.  And not even then will anyone have heard the phrase 'No problem.' 'No problem' will not become a figure of speech for--oh, I predict, another six hundred years.  I hate it in books or movies or TV when people living in times like ours use language that won't be in use for centuries hence."
     "What's movies?  What's TV?"
     "Forget it!" snapped the Wizard, uttering a phrase that wouldn't be used again for six centuries.
     "Sorry about that," said Roger.
     "Be my guest," said the Wizard.
     "That's cool," said Roger.
     "No problem," growled the Wizard, concluding the exchange, which hadn't gone at all as he intended.
     And this was typical of Roger: Nothing went as it was supposed to.