Review by New York Times Review
"THE LINES AND VERSES are only the outward garments of the poem. ... The real poem is the soul within them." So says L.M. Montgomery's beloved Anne of Green Gables, insisting that she can call a picture a poem. If that is true, then certainly the wordless picture book is visual poetry. An artist of a wordless picture book must be meticulous, carefully using the tools of color and composition to elicit an emotional experience just as a poet uses words. Marla Frazee's "The Farmer and the Clown" accomplishes this lofty goal beautifully. It's a simple story: A child clown is marooned and then rescued by a farmer, who watches him until the clown's family returns. But the poetry lies in the story-telling, not in the story line. The book opens in a subdued landscape with the grim farmer, whose displeasure is evident when he's obliged to rescue the young clown thrown from a passing circus train. At first, the farmer and the clown seem in stark contrast. The young clown is dressed in a red one-piece, with a relentlessly cheerful, painted smile, while the old, bent-over farmer has stark black overalls and an unchanging, glum face. But when it is time to wash up, the farmer sheds his black and white clothes and reveals a red one-piece of his own. The clown's painted smile is wiped off, revealing that the child's face is actually sorrowful. The emotional resonance of that single mirroring scene is extraordinary. In fact the entire book, with Frazee's perfect pacing of images and use of negative space, light and shadow, is true poetry. As the two slowly bond (with the clown sharing in the work of the farm and the farmer attempting tricks to amuse the child), the book's title itself becomes a kind of wordplay - for truly, which of the characters is the farmer and which is the clown? Like the best poems, the book leaves the reader thinking long after it has closed. In "Fox's Garden," by Princesse Camcam, a fox searches for shelter on a winter night. After the fox has found refuge in a greenhouse, a watching boy sneaks out of his bedroom to bring her a basket of food and receives an unexpected thank-you gift. The book has breathtaking and unusual illustrations (cut-paper, lit and then photographed dioramas). Unfortunately, it falters in its poetic attempt. Like a haiku, the color palette of this book is restrained. Only the foxes and the boy are fully colored, while the white landscape has fine blue-gray line work to articulate the details. The warm glow of the lighting not only gives the artwork a delicate three-dimensional quality but also helps evoke the chills of a winter night. But as with miscounted meter, even the most lovely of illustrations cannot hide the design flaw of the last few spreads of the book: The focal points of the pictures are nearly indiscernible, swallowed up by the book's gutter. It's especially regrettable that the climactic spread, the pages that should trigger the most emotional response (the great reveal of the fox's gift to the boy), is spoiled by book mechanics. If "Fox's Garden" is like a haiku, then "Hunters of the Great Forest," by Dennis Nolan, and "Draw!," by Raúl Colón, are perhaps more like epic poems. "Hunters of the Great Forest" is almost a traditional hero's-journey story, as a group of tiny hunters travel in search of their surprising and funny prize. There is a whimsical, fairy-tale feeling to the art, which is reminiscent of Johnny Gruelle's classic Raggedy Ann books. The cunning, red-nosed characters are captivating; one of the most exciting spreads of the book features the creatures simply creeping in a darkened vista with their elongated shadows attached to them like black insects. But the book's greatest charm and poetic achievement is in offering a new point of view. The detailed world of these bug-size creatures is immediately enveloping; readers will nervously begin to imagine dangers in the textures of the tree bark. The frightening realities of being minuscule in a big world are, however, counterbalanced by the great joys of a small pleasure at the end (no spoiler here!). "Draw!" tells of a journey as well: the inward journey of an artist's creativity. A young boy, alone in his room except for his book about Africa and some art supplies (and medicine on the side table, hinting at a stuck-in-bed illness), begins to draw. He is soon transported into his imagination, and as he becomes engrossed in his fantasy African world, Colón's loose pen-and-ink sketches transform into fully rendered pictures. These images are rich and glowing; one can almost feel the warmth of the sun and the nubby fur of the giraffes. Yet the delicately scratched lines and texture of the colored pencil on paper never let the viewer forget the artist's hand, creating a lyrical balance of fantasy and reality that is ideal for a book celebrating artistic expression. The book's theme of the power of art to befriend, pacify and inspire, while not unique, is still a poignant one. In an author's note, Colón recalls his own childhood memories of drawing alone in his room. By illustrating this actual experience with sketchy lines that contrast greatly with the fully rendered images of his fantasy, Colón suggests what many artists, writers and, of course, poets know in their own lives: an imaginary world even more fully realized than reality. GRACE LIN is the author and illustrator of many books, including "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon," a Newbery Honor winner. Her new book, "Ling and Ting: Twice as Silly," will be published in November.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [October 5, 2014]
Review by Booklist Review
Nolan's latest wordless picture book features seven intrepid gnomish creatures who brave the wilderness in search of a sweet prize. The hunting party who resemble a cross between Palmer Cox's Brownies and Highlights magazine's Timbertoes take along useful equipment (map, spear, spyglass, etc.) and encounter gnarly roots, enormous boulders, and menacing wildlife. Finally they locate their target a bag of marshmallows, unguarded by its young female owner, who is preoccupied with her own roast and procure just one for their village. Nolan's use of perspective allows readers to gradually discover his protagonists' true diminutive size. Alien landscapes are revealed bit by bit to be simple stones and tree roots, and while a dragonfly, toad, blue jay, and chipmunk provide the story's dramatic moments, no blood is shed on this trek. This is sure to be popular with fans of David Wiesner's Mr. Wuffles (2013) and Flotsam (2006), as well as Aaron Becker's Journey (2013); be sure to provide plenty of time to peruse the glorious mixed-media art.--Weisman, Kay Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In another enchanting wordless fantasy from Nolan (Sea of Dreams), seven tiny, gnomish beings set off from a fairy tale village on an expedition. A gray-haired grandmother wields a spear, a girl carries a map, and bearded and mustachioed fellows trudge along with more gear. Their stringy legs and puzzled expressions draw smiles throughout, especially when something startles them. Nolan's visual storytelling is in a league with Aaron Becker and David Weisner, and a series of breathtakingly drafted and delicately tinted spreads shows the group clambering over stones and roots, and narrowly escaping a giant toad and a terrifying chipmunk. By nightfall they've reached their goal: a girl roasting a marshmallow next to a campfire. Nolan draws the hunters hanging back in the long shadows of the firelight, pointing at the girl and strategizing. They manage to spirit a marshmallow (many times their size) back to their village, and the bonfire celebration that follows is crammed with incident, with a sly twist at the very end. It's merry, timeless entertainment that children will return to with pleasure. Ages 3-7. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-In this wordless picture book, insect-sized explorers set off from their village to go on an adventure. Along the way, they must overcome several perils, such as a hungry blue jay and an angry chipmunk. Though teamwork and blind luck, they arrive at their destination, an unguarded bag of marshmallows, and take one back to their village for a feast. Nolan's illustrations are wonderfully detailed and textured, from the jagged roots and tree bark the group climbs to the wings of the dragonfly that soars overhead. His work with shadows is exceptionally impressive; as the characters run for their lives, the hunters' oblong shadows accentuate their various actions. However, very young readers may be frightened by the team's antics, as the backyard animals that chase the travelers come across as monsterlike. Overall, this is a good adventure story that's silly and original. Fans of David Wiesner's imaginative works may want to give it a try.-Peter Blenski, Greenfield Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An intrepid band conquers a rugged landscape to capture an unusually tasty conquest in this funny, wordless story.As they bid their families farewell, the seven hunterstwo are womencarry assorted, important-looking objects: a map, spear, rucksack and more. The gallant troupe scales cliffs and clambers over enormous tree roots. They begin to encounter flora and fauna so huge that readers' perceptions shiftthese folk are teeny. Dwarfed by a towering toad, angry mama bird and snarling chipmunk, the tiny hunters startle and run, losing possessions one after the other. Finally, they tiptoe into a shadowy cave and spy their surprising "prey." A girl, her face illuminated by a campfire's glow, toasts a marshmallow, a brimming bag of the treats nearby. It takes four hunters to wrangle their single, sweet prize home; a fifth wards off crafty ants. Nolan's watercolor, ink and colored-pencil illustrations employ dizzying perspective and a lovely palette in tints of ochre, blue and lavender. While the animals are portrayed realistically, the little hunters might be described as "Palmer Cox's Brownies meet R. Crumb's Mr. Natural." Sporting wild hair (topknots, long braids, bushy mustaches and beards), their faceswith identical round-dot eyes, pendulous noses and undrawn mouthsare impassive throughout. Their roundish, thin-limbed bodies convey the story as they scamper home for the village's own marshmallow toast. Quite a treat! (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
