A clean, clear, lighthearted look at the communicative clout of color, contrast and contour. With a playful wink and lots of white space, Gonyea speaks directly to readers, inviting engagement as a vehicle to understanding fundamentals of design while allowing bright, bold graphics to speak for themselves. Ellipses and parenthetical asides affect a cozy, conspiratorial tone. Amusing, sometimes enigmatic chapter headings like “1:3:9” (an exponential ratio of weight and balance in composition) introduce dynamic demonstrations that prove the power of the purposeful arrangement of the parts of a picture. Heeding its own advice and avoiding highfalutin’ theory, this pithy, deceptively simple work is far more visual than verbal (under 450 words), offering an experience in graphic communication rather than a treatise. Artists, educators and other fans of Molly Bang’s bible, Picture This (2000), will delight in this energetic treatment of the whys and wherefores of relationship and relativity in illustration and will want it in core collections. It should find a place in every collection. (Nonfiction. 6+)
Pub Date: June 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-8050-7575-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2005
At ``Step 2'' in the useful ``Step into Reading'' series: an admirably clear, well-balanced presentation that centers on wolves' habits and pack structure. Milton also addresses their endangered status, as well as their place in fantasy, folklore, and the popular imagination. Attractive realistic watercolors on almost every page. Top-notch: concise, but remarkably extensive in its coverage. A real bargain. (Nonfiction/Easy reader. 6-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-679-91052-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
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