“The Red Tree” Some days are just awful. You get swept up in sadness and all of your problems seem to come crashing down on you all at once. This story is about one little girl who has that kind of terrible day. But at the end, there is still something to bring her hope.
“The Lost Thing” One day, a young man chances upon this strange thing. He has no idea what it is or what it might possibly do, but it’s clear that it’s lost. He plays with it, feeds it, befriends it, but it can’t stay with him forever. Where do lost things like this go and are not forgotten?
“The Rabbits” – words by John Marsden At first there were only a few rabbits that came to our land. They sort of looked liked us, but they spoke a different language and lived very differently. They didn’t live in trees like us – they built their own structures. More rabbits kept coming in ships. We fought with them. We lost.
It’s difficult for me to categorize this book. It’s definitely driven by illustrations, but it’s not a graphic novel. It’s a kind of picture book, but the themes are very heavy and could easily be analyzed in a high school English class. But classification is minor. This book is a work of art. Every single page is covered with exquisite compositions. I was blown away.
“I am living in a good society, but my world is full of people who do not comprehend the meaning of adolescence. We teenagers are at a very critical age. Adults will have to understand us… in order not to lose us.” – Hagar, 17, Egyptian, Cairo, Egypt
Taken directly from this collection, I think this quotation encompasses exactly what the rest of the book is about. With photographs of teens half-naked from around the world (no nudity – all parts are covered), they each express in a few phrases how they view the world, life in general, and themselves during this tumultuous and exciting time in their lives.
When I read the synopsis for this book in several reviews, I’m not quite sure what I was expecting but I liked the idea. In each of the photographs, it’s amazing how each teen can express their thoughts, feelings, hopes, fears, desires and dreams all in one glance. I was amazed at the range of attitudes represented, from seeing the world as a hopeless place filled with war and hate to seeing it as a wonderful work of beautiful art. I appreciated that Latana also included what the teens had to say in the original language in which it was said along with the English translation. This book is a piece of art. Unfortunately in immature hands, all effect of the art would be lost on the anatomy. Recommended for mature and artistic teens, as well as those who work with teens. The psychological insight is indescribable.
The Dreamer by Cynthia Rylant and Barry Moser (illus.)
There once was a young artist whose mind was so filled with beautiful images, he had to make them. In his dreams and daydreams he saw colors and forms and textures so vivid and vibrant, he simply had to play with them. This is a collection of his art.
Being highly impressed with Rylant’s poetry (see God Went to Beauty School), I was excited to learn she did picture books, too. This particular picture book takes an artist’s look at the Creation story in Genesis and shows God as an artist, the Father of all artists. I think that’s pretty cool – I’ve always been drawn to God through various art forms. What struck me most about this book is that throughout the entire book, God is repeatedly described as a young artist. Most people have this image of God as this old man who sits in the sky and doles out judgment; but Rylant is not satisfied with that picture. God is constantly full of beautiful ideas like a young artist whose mind is about to burst. So He is constantly creating those thoughts and making them real.
David Small grew up in a harsh family. His mother never displayed any emotion but anger. His father never displayed any emotion at all. His older brother kept to himself, which meant that David was alone with his thoughts and his drawings. When he was 11, he discovered a growth on his neck. His parents did not have it operated on until he was 14. When he woke up from the surgery, his vocal chords had been destroyed. He’d stayed silent by choice as a child in his household – now the decision had been made for him. Among many of the secrets they kept from him, his parents never told him it was cancer. Stitches chronicles the very hard beginnings of the now very respected artist and author, David Small.
While reading this graphic novel, all I could really think of was, “Wow. This is an awful way for anyone to grow up.” This is not a story for the faint-hearted. There is not really anything visually grotesque about Small’s illustrations. No, everything that disturbed me about this book is in the story. The sad, true story. The haunting images that establish the setting just augment the bleakness. Very powerful.
The Name of This Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
Psst. Hey. Can you keep a secret? I mean really keep a secret? Well, the author of this book can’t, which is why you can read it. These two kids, whose names may or may not be Cass and Max-Ernest, end up discovering clues about the disappearance of this strange old magician who lived in their town. While neither of them have ever really had friends before, they befriend each other in a quest to save one of their classmates who has been kidnapped by some strange cult that wants his brain. But I’ve already said too much! Go and read the book!
Well to start off, let me just say that I’m glad I knew synesthesia existed before I read this book. Otherwise I might have thought that Bosch had made the condition up, given the tone in which s/he writes. Secondly, I’m super-impressed that s/he was able to craft a good children’s story around this condition, because it’s really cool. For those of you who don’t know about it, Wikipedia has a very detailed article about it. Essentially, it’s a blending of senses – one visual stimulus might cause a person to smell something, or and audible stimulus might cause someone to see certain colors. Very cool. Anyway, back to the book. While sometimes the author’s interjections could get annoying, for the most part, I really enjoyed this book. I would definitely finish this series out.
Hugo Cabret now lives alone in a train station in Paris. When his father died, his uncle took him in and taught him how to care for the clocks. Hugo took to the mechanisms right away. When his uncle disappears, Hugo keeps the clocks running. But he’s also got a special project that his father started: a mechanical man with a hidden message. In his quest to find out this hidden message from his father, Hugo gets caught up in the world of another young orphaned girl, her godfather with a secret past, and a world of real magic the Hugo had only dreamed of. Told in about 2,000 words and 158 original drawings (plus photographs), The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a book you will not soon forget.
I first read this book a little over a year ago. I wanted to blog about it as one of my initial posts, but never got around to it. It deserved a re-read anyway. This is one of the most captivating books I have ever read. You quickly flip through about 50 pages of AMAZING illustrations before you even come across any text. Selznick’s black and white drawings elicit sensations of watching an old classic movie, and they move so quickly that you expect your hands to have graphite smudged on them. This book could stand alone on its pictures. But Selznick has also crafted a magnificent story that keeps the reader deeply intrigued and wanting to learn more. One of the coolest things about this book is that I had actually seen the film central to the story’s plot, A Trip to the Moon. If you care to see it, it’s posted below since it’s out of copyright. I hope you are inspired and compelled to pick up this book. It may look ridiculously long at 540-ish pages, but it goes by like that. *snaps*
Image taken from http://www.amazon.com. Video taken from http://www.youtube.com.
Arthur is a serious artist. Max just wants to paint for fun. Arthur seriously wishes Max would just leave him alone, but in the end, he’s going to need Max and his skills more than he realized.
David Wiesner is an amazing artist. The deconstruction of his own work is just fascinating to see. And the detail! It must take him forever to complete a book. I loved the concept behind this book. However, the story just got on my nerves. I didn’t like it, and I can’t quite put my finger on why. Maybe it’s because Art is such a curmudgeon or because Max’s head and body don’t seem to match. But it’s not a story I would pick up to read again. I might skim through and look at the pictures, though.
Han Gan was a poor boy who worked delivering meals. He loved to draw, but his family had no money for art supplies. One day after he had delivered a meal to an artist, he drew some horses in the sand. The artist was so impressed, he invited Han Gan to come and paint with him. When Han Gan grew up, he had become such a good artist that the Emperor invited him to go to the Academy of Art. He still loved to paint horses, and he painted such horses that people believed that if they weren’t drawn tied up, they would run right off the page. Rumors of Han Gan’s magic paint brush spread far and wide. One night, a desperate traveler who had heard the rumors comes knocking on Han Gan’s door.
Another patron recommendation here. A man returned it raving about it, so I figured I would take it out to see if he was right.
It is a beautiful book. I’ve always been captivated by Asian art, and Chen is a classically trained artist. The legend itself is very unfamiliar to me – I don’t know many Chinese tales, so that was a treat to learn. However, I am left with a feeling afterward that kids might not connect with it. Learn from it and appreciate it, certainly, but I don’t see children getting excited about it.
Katarina Bishop is not your normal teenager; but she’s trying to be. When she walked away from the “family business” and decided to go to boarding school, she thought it would be for good. But when her father is framed for the theft of a very valuable, very private art collection, she is pulled back into the world of cons, heists, and thievery. With only two weeks to prove her father’s innocence or else face some very painful consequences, Kat and her gang of highly trained con-artist friends must steal back the paintings from possibly the most dangerous thief who has ever lived. Oh, and he’s hidden them in one of the most secure museums ever built, to boot. Can Kat pull it off, or has she been out of this underworld too long?
This story is like a teen version of Ocean’s 11 with the character believability of Cruel Intentions. It’s fast-paced and completely impossible. I can easily see this being made into a movie that is very popular, but of the same terrible caliber as most movies being put out nowadays. The book is surprisingly clean – no sex, drugs, or language, only mild violence – unless you count the basic thieving nature of the plot. In my opinion, this book was okay, but I don’t feel a need to read the sequel when it comes out.
Melinda is just starting high school, and no one wants to talk to her. Even her friends from middle school ignore her after what happened at the end of summer. Melinda narked and called the cops on the final party of the summer. The only girl who will talk to her is new, and is completely obsessed with mapping out her future in the high school, getting into the right groups, and planning her life 30 years from now. Melinda can hardly handle the next half hour. It seems as though no one wants to hear her side of the story, so she simply shuts up to shut everyone out. Her parents don’t understand anything because they are too caught up in their own lives, and she skips classes and her grades suffer abysmally. The only place where Melinda feels like she can express herself is in art class, where they’ve been assigned to work with one subject for the entire year. Melinda’s destiny is “trees.” As she struggles to come to grips with what actually happened at the party and why she called the police and as she tries to find out who she was and who she wants to be again, she finally is able to find her voice. And it’s a strong one.
After readingWintergirlsawhile back, I was inspired to reread Speak, Anderson’s first novel. I first read this when I was in 8th grade and did a book talk on it in English class. I remember Mr. R. getting chiding me for oversimplifying the assignment into a “book commercial.” We had to use a prop. I drew a picture of a tree trying to imitate one of Melinda’s drafts. Therefore, all I remembered about the book when I picked it up yesterday was that there were trees and art involved in the life of a girl who didn’t talk. I had completely forgotten why she’d stopped talking. Or maybe my naive mind hadn’t been able to grasp what had happened to Melinda. Regardless, I’m glad I reread it. Anderson has a distinct talent for completely capturing how a teenage girl thinks and is able to express it with words where many fail.
Lost and Found: Three by Shaun Tan
