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Now, sophisticated cheekiness appears to have gone mainstream.

There has long been a strain of subversion in picture books - think of Maurice Sendak and Tomi Ungerer, among others - alongside the dominant anodyne snuggliness of the form. But on the evidence of a recent spate of highly self-conscious picture books, it would seem that the suspended-disbelief state of early childhood is adapting to the wink-wink, nudge-nudge sensibility of our moment. Have your kids gone meta? Do they call their neighborhood jungle gym a “play structure”? Do they mix and match their dress-up garb - a tiara here, firefighter’s boots there - with a sense of mischief that might, unnervingly, be termed “ironic”? Have they spotted the clown at the neighbor’s birthday party removing his wig and slinking out the side door? They’re probably not ready for the labyrinthine tricksterism of David Foster Wallace or Spike Jonze.