Jules Feiffer to Speak at UWM Children's Book Exhibit

MILWAUKEE -- How do you top off a career that includes an Obie, an Oscar and a Pulitzer Prize?

If you're Jules Feiffer, you start writing children's books.

"I love it as much as anything I've ever done in my life," says Feiffer, the award winning cartoonist, author, playwright, novelist and social commentator.

Feiffer will speak at the opening reception for an exhibit of his children's works at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Golda Meir Library April 2 at 4:30 p.m. The exhibit, which will run through June 30, is co-sponsored by the Library and the Center for Children's Literature, part of the School of Education.

Although the New York Historical Society is opening "Julz Rulz," a retrospective of Feiffer's lifetime of work February 18, the UWM exhibit is one of the first to focus on Feiffer's children's books, says Prescott Wurlitzer, a member of the advisory board for the Center for Children's Literature, who was instrumental in bringing the Feiffer works to UWM.

The exhibition will give visitors insights into how the artist/writer develops a children's book from start to finish, as well as looking at Feiffer's approach to a totally new audience, says Max Yela, head of the Library's Special Collections Area.

His career in children's literature grew out of fellow writer's "bad behavior," Feiffer says. The other writer had decided to do a children's book and asked Feiffer to do the illustrations. The offer came at a time when Feiffer was disgruntled at the reception of his latest play. "I'd decided I was never going to write another play, but if I don't have an obsession, I get depressed."

However, after completing the illustrations, Feiffer called his friend and found he'd already completed the book with another artist.

"I hung up in a fury. I decided I'd show him. I'd do my own book and it would be better than his," Feiffer says with a laugh. Feiffer's book, "The Man in the Ceiling," was selected as one of the top ten children's books of 1993 by Publisher's Weekly and the New York Public Library.

Since then Feiffer has completed 10 books for children, ranging from a story about a girl who has a crisis over her lost bear ("I Lost My Bear") to a boy who sets up housekeeping at the side of the road after his family puts him out of the car for misbehaving ("By The Side of the Road").

The wry and often outlandish spin on normal events Feiffer puts into his children's stories will be familiar to those who are familiar with his satiric line drawings skewering the pompous and pretentious, particularly politicians. While his children's books are more playful and less abrasive than his works for adults, they still reflect his subversive humor. Children, at the mercy of adult authority, delight in that kind of humor and stories that spin common experiences into absurdity, says Feiffer.

The UWM exhibit grew out of a visit Feiffer made to Milwaukee three years ago to surprise Kenosha-based writer Florence Parry Heide. Feiffer, who'd collaborated with Heide on "Some Things Are Scary," made a surprise appearance at a 30th birthday party for "The Shrinking of Treehorn," Heide's children's classic. Wurlitzer and Center Director John Stewig asked Feiffer if he'd be willing to have the Center do an exhibit based on his children's works. "It was a wonderful venue, with terrific people and Prescott made the offer," says Feiffer of his decision to be involved in the UWM exhibition.

Feiffer, who has been married to writer Jenny Allen since 1983, has three children, Kate, 39, Halley, 19 and Julie, 8. He also has a 4 1/2-year old grandson. "I spend a lot of time with different generations," he says.

Through his own children, particularly Julie who still enjoys bedtime stories, he's learned about how children read books, says Feiffer. Because children love to look at all the detail in the drawings, Feiffer -- who became famous for his simple black and white line drawings -- challenged himself to do colorful backgrounds.

Feiffer sees his children's books as a homage and payback to the artists and writers who inspired him as a child. The artwork of Thomas Nast, the "Yellow Kid" cartoon character and comic strips like "Popeye," "Terry and the Pirates," "Barney Google" and "Little Orphan Annie," helped him learn to read and influenced his own work, says Feiffer.

Now, he says, he's returning the favor. "I'm working for the kids who read the books."

The exhibit, on the Fourth Floor of the Golda Meir Library, 2311 E. Hartford Ave., will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and during special events at the Library. Special tours for groups can be arranged outside these hours by calling the library at 414-229-4345.

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