Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Argentine artist Bernasconi pairs poetic metaphors with a series of multimedia spreads in this startling volume that muses on the concept of infinity. Text on the left ("It's/ the eye of an artist/ just before/ he starts drawing") appears opposite artwork on the right (dozens of colored pencil points are packed together to represent an iris). The book's epigraph by Shakespeare--"I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a King of infinite space"--inspires occasional wordless spreads of a monarch appearing alongside creatures whose bodies contain the mathematical symbol for infinity. Throughout, metaphors frequently involve the act of making ("It's/ a golden sunrise/ and a painter with a huge tube/ of gray oil paint") and display Calvino-level interest in the tension between comedy and futility throughout space and time ("It's/ a carpenter/ waiting for the love of his life/ in the wrong life"). Rendered alongside unexplained equations and symbols ("some are personal, others mystical or mythical" reads a note), each spread lands with a conceptual splash before moving briskly on to the next; together, they comprise a remarkable thought experiment for readers of all ages. Ages 9--up. (Mar.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2--The concept of infinity utterly engages children almost from the first time they hear about it. Bernasconi approaches it with a page-by-page one-sentence contemplation--"It's a grain of sand lost in a desert somewhere in the world that contains an engraved map for finding yourself"--married to a detailed illustration, in this case, a camel balancing on the head of an hourglass. The quotes and pictures will provide many jumping-off points for discussion with older students, but the philosophical questions and metaphors in this picture book make it better for lap-sharing than independent reading. VERDICT Gorgeous illustrations, but a supplementary purchase.--Lisa Lehmuller, Paul Cuffee Maritime Charter Sch., Providence
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
An Argentinian author/illustrator invites readers into his gallery and muses on that which is unlimited, endless, uncountable. Each double-page spread features a full-color, textured composition on the recto; the verso includes an equation (sometimes just a number), a lyrical statement, and, at the bottom, a whimsical drawing incorporating a lemniscate--the symbol of infinity. The opening quote is a snippet from Hamlet: "I could be bounded / in a nutshell, / and count myself / a King / of infinite space…." Depicted holding a swordlike carrot with the mathematical symbol as crossguard, the figure opposite appears in cameos throughout, providing the narrative thread. Some ideas tend toward the unpleasant. Infinity is imagined as "that nightmare / where I'm inside the snow of a television screen, / and I have to sweep it up / with a toothpick." Others are full of possibility: "It's / the eye of an artist / just before / he starts drawing." This line is accompanied by a black pupil surrounded by rings of colored-pencil points. Those with knowledge of math and science will recognize certain equations while other numbers are personal, according to a note with the copyright information. As in the work of Shaun Tan, these pages provide provocations for readers to contemplate, synthesize, and imagine what they will based on their own interests and backgrounds. There is humor and much to stimulate thinking about what could be. This tantalizing amalgam of the philosophical, artistic, and mathematical offers multiple entrees to an irresistible concept. (Picture book. 9-adult) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
