Reviews

• My opinion: The most creative of the Caldecotts

  David Macaulay is known for his architectural books: Pyramid , Castle , and City: a Story of Roman Planning and Construction and their accompanying videos. However, this Caldecott winner is a demonstration of that soaring Macaulay imagination! Macaulay posts this warning right on the title page: "This book appears to contain a number of stories that do not necessarily occur at the same time. Then again, it may contain only one story. In any event, careful inspection of both words and pictures is recommended." I'll say this at the beginning: As a children's librarian, I would never read or show this to a class. There is no way to explain this complicated, interconnected book of four stories that run into and out of each other. Here is how they look. There are four stories on the two adjoining pages with two stories per page. Each story has predominant colors of blue, green, brown, and black and white. Colors and patterns spill and slip from one story to the next, but the thrust of the story is done in black and white. It must be noted that Macaulay is NOT saying that everything is black and white. Oh no! If anything he is saying that everything is NOT black and white, but he uses black and white, both words and pictures, to say it. What I just wrote in that last sentence gives a sense of the story. It is brilliantly creative! I had a special story time with some gifted students last year, second graders. They had so much fun with this book. I had to get them started on "reading" the pictures (this is a picture book with narrative on each story block), but once they caught on, they rip-roared with the story!! Remember the admonition to stay in the lines and not think outside the box. David Macaulay failed that class because he both colors outside the lines--literally--and his characters get outside their cartoon boxes and into each other's boxes. The story is one big paean to imagination, creativity, whimsy, flight of fancy, freedom to explore, and freedom to see the Big Picture. Wow, this is one great book. Every child should own it! I certainly do!

• Albo introvabile

  Sono veramente contenta di aver trovato questo albo usato in quanto in Italia è introvabile. Il potere simbolico ed evocativo lo rendono un capolavoro della letteratura per l’infanzia.

• It's a book that both adults and kids can enjoy again and again

  A genius piece of work. I read it several times and there's still a lot to discover. It's a book that both adults and kids can enjoy again and again.

• Five Stars

  Good used condition as advertised, a very interesting book !

• Five Stars

  Great Book !

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