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If you could eat one book and immediately digest its contents, what would it be? This has become something of a conversation starter in certain Alliance meetings over the past few months. Try it the next time you’re stuck. The question, not the eating of books. It promises to generate some riveting conversation. Some people choose out of guilt (“well I really should have finished Moby Dick”), some go practical (“if I could eat that Spanish text book, I could finally be fluent”), while some simply choose their all-time favorite story. We’ve been posing this question in anticipation of The Incredible Book Eating Boy, a glorious new musical that was inspired by an equally glorious picture book. I love picture books. There’s something about the economy of words and the perfect marriage of illustration and story that can stay with you a lifetime. They can surprise you with joy, fill you with hope, and move you to tears all at the same time. Each of artist and author Oliver Jeffers’ books illustrates this so brilliantly — from the humor of The Day the Crayons Quit to the profundity of Heart and the Bottle (which is on my short list for one of the books I would eat) to the whimsy and wisdom of The Incredible Book Eating Boy. Jeffers credits the twin virtues of curiosity and humor as his artistic guides — two qualities that also animate all of playwright Madhuri Shekar’s work. Her theatrical adaptation of this story (with music and lyrics by the incomparable Christian Magby and Christian Albright) captures the humor and heart of the book in a way that is every bit as incredible as the Book Eating Boy himself. I trust that it, like the best picture books, will stay with you for a lifetime too. Now pardon me. I need to go chew on some Tolstoy. Christopher Moses Dan Reardon Director of Education and Associate Artistic Director
