Absurdity at its best.
Magritte’s brand of surrealism is inherently intriguing to children; Belgian artist Verplancke builds on that interest, inventing a playful narrative that explores his compatriot’s subjects and style while showcasing his own formidable talent.
Opening panels portray the artist in bed, wide awake. Carefully chosen words contrast and connect to pull readers—and man—forward: “René was a painter, / but René couldn’t paint…. // His canvas was empty, / but his head was full.” He eventually approaches the easel, stares at a green apple, and nods off: images flow from his dreams. Wearing blue pajamas, the artist reaches across the page turn to paint himself in a suit and bowler hat. That figure stretches over the gutter to form an apple, a hat, and finally an “applehat,” the catalyst for more surprising mergers (a pipe and branch, spectacles and eggs). Subsequent spreads add frames and words to further tease imagination; i.e., a mouth fashioned from a red leaf is entitled “the mirror.” Verplancke mixes spare figures outlined and crosshatched in ink, fully colored compositions, and Magritte’s “impossible” views—windows as canvases, bright skies over a dark cityscape—to achieve the appropriate arc and atmosphere. He wisely emphasizes humor and clever visuals over facts to convey Magritte’s essence. Six reproductions in the backmatter prompt reflection and a return to the mind-boggling interior.
Absurdity at its best. (biographical note, selected works) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-63345-016-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: MoMA
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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