wordless

The Tree House: Wordless and Wonderful

| Tasha

treehouse

The Tree House by Marije Tolman and Ronald Tolman

This is a wordless picture book by a father/daughter team who have created a magical immersive experience.  A polar bear swims towards a tree house that stands alone in the water.  Later, a brown bear arrives in a boat.  The two bears stay together in the tree house, reading books as the sea below turns pink with a flock of flamingos.  As the flamingos pass, more animals arrive, including a rhino who bashes the trunk of the tree, two pandas, some owls, a hippo, and a peacock.  Another bear arrives via balloon and takes the peacock away.  The other animals head off, leaving the two original bears together in the tree house.

My synopsis doesn’t capture the beauty of this picture book at all, as is often the case with wordless picture books, the story is so much more about the pictures than anything that can be summarized in words.  The illustrations are simple and beautiful.  The tree house itself is unchanging, printed in exactly the same way from page to page.  It offers a consistency while the world changes around it.  The level of the water rises and falls, the sky changes colors, the seasons move.  The tree house stands, staying constant through it all, even as it supports so many animals.

There is a lovely gentle mood throughout the book.  A sense of playfulness and unexpectedness fills the story as well.  The surprise of the suddenly pink page when the flamingos arrive is visually arresting and very effective.  The colors are deep, from a blue that is almost black and perfect captures late evening to a canary yellow that sings. 

This is a book of wonder, a beautiful place to spend some moments with someone in a tree house out in the water.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Lemniscaat.

Also reviewed by:

Shadow: Simple and Sparkling

| Tasha

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Shadow by Suzy Lee

This book is all about the power of imagination and creativity.  A little girl heads up to the attic where the light creates shadows.  She starts out with just her own shadow, then creates a bird with her hands. As she plays, a jungle grows in the shadows with a sharp-toothed wolf.  Other animals appear and so does a princess until an entire shadow world is created.  Then the wolf escapes from the shadow world and jumps at the little girl.  But the other animals work together to teach him how to play nicely.  At the end, a voice calls that dinner is ready and everything returns to normal, or does it?

Lee’s illustrations tell this almost wordless story.  Her use of fine lines for the objects in the attic, thicker lines for the little girl, and deep blackness for the shadows is particularly effective.  The book is done in just two colors: black and yellow.  The yellow is particularly spectacular, showing the color of imagination at work.  Lee uses the middle gutter of the book to separate the shadows from real life, so the book is read sideways, just as the cover is shown. 

This book is simple and very evocative.  It is a stunning, sparkling example of a wordless book that children everywhere with relate to effortlessly.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Chronicle Books.

Chalk

| Tasha

Chalk by Bill Thomson

In this wordless book, three children discover a bag hanging from the mouth of the dinosaur toy in the park.  Inside is sidewalk challk, very special sidewalk chalk.  When one child selects yellow and draws a sun on the wet pavement, it turns real, leaving the drawing and heading into the sky, ending the rain.  Another child draws orange butterflies, which also lift from the ground and into the air.  Excitement unfolds when the third child draws a dinosaur which comes to life, chasing them around the playground.  The quick-thinking child draws a cloud with rain coming out of it and saves the day.  Told in rich photo-realistic illustrations, this book is a magical journey into imagination.

A wordless book that is not strictly for preschoolers is a rare find.  One that is told with such energy and style is even more rare.  Thomson has created a book that is inviting, mesmerizing and unique.  Told in such a way that the story flows through the illustrations, needing no narration, this book is superb.  The realistic illustrations add to the modern feel of the book as well as the action and surprise of the magic.  In fact, the juxtaposition of magic with photo-realistic illustrations is what elevates this book to another level.  Beautifully designed and envisioned.

Highly recommended, this book will fly off the shelves by the strength of that cover alone.  It can also be used as the basis for art and writing projects in a classroom setting beautifully.  Appropriate for a wide range of ages, 3-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Marshall Cavendish.

Also reviewed by:

Mirror

| Tasha

Mirror by Suzy Lee

The author of Wave returns with another wordless book that captures emotion through images alone.  Her use of simple lines, white space and minimal color sets a unique tone in this book.  It is the story of a girl who is sad and alone before she discovers a mirror.  As she interacts with her reflection, she becomes exuberant as do the illustrations.  She begins to dance with her reflection and then something odd happens and her reflection does different things than she does.  This makes her angry so she shoves the reflection, bringing the book to a crashing end.

Lee excels at creating wordless stories that have depth and grace.  Here her thick black lines come together to make a story that is interesting and universal.  Her skill with white space is really at its best here.  She offers an entire two page spread of only blank pages that really create a vital moment in the book.  On other pages, she is unafraid to keep large parts of the page bare and allow readers to really focus on the figures themselves.

The book itself is wonderfully designed with a tall, thin cover than evokes the shape of a mirror.  The endpages feature the colors and inky shapes found inside the book.  Beautifully and caringly done.

A wordless book that offers emotion, surprises and delight, this book will be enjoyed by many different readers.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Seven Footer Press.

Also reviewed by The Well-Read Child and Pink Me.

The Treasure Bath

| Tasha

The Treasure Bath by Dan Andreasen

This jolly wordless picture book has a toddler who is busily helping his mother bake a cake.  All messy after the cake goes in the oven, he is put in the bath.  His facial expression makes it clear that he is not happy to be headed there.  But once he is in the bath with his boat, his imagination goes to work and he is surrounded by colorful fish who join him in swimming down deep into the sea to find a treasure map.  They follow the map to the treasure chest which is filled with soap and shampoo.  From there he is grabbed by an eel and scrubbed by an octopus as a whale rinses him off with his spout.  The little boy complains to the fish about how he was treated, then he returns to reality in the bath with his hair neatly combed and his mother waiting to get him out.  And what is waiting when he gets out of the bath?  Cake! 

The joyful and jolly spirit of this book is what captured me immediately.  Yes, the little boy is grumpy when being put into the bath, but then the magic begins.  The scenes underwater are just as crisp and clear as those in reality.  The lines between the two are seamless, letting the book really feel like a vivid daydream.  Andreasen’s art is done in oil on bristol board and has a nice depth, great colors, and a perfect dappled effect in the underwater scenes. 

A sudsy, jolly book that is perfect for toddlers who may not enjoy baths and for those who do too.  Appropriate for ages 2-5.

Reviewed from book received from publisher.

The Lion and the Mouse

| Tasha

The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

In this almost wordless book, readers revisit Aesop’s tale of the lion who spares the life of a mouse only in turn to be rescued by the mouse.  The only words on the page are animal noises that bring the African setting to life.  Readers follow the mouse right into the lion’s paws, sigh in relief at the release, and will be riveted as the capture of the lion plays out. 

Pinkney shows readers the world in focused images, revealing the view of the land the mouse has, the perspective of the lion, and foreshadowing the capture of the lion in the poacher’s net.  Each image is beautifully done, filled with details that bring the story to life and invite you to linger over them.  His pacing is done with such skill that he can create suspense with a single page turn.  From the moment of opening the cover, readers are in the hands of a master story teller who speaks through his art.

One of the best wordless picture books I have ever read, this book should be on every library’s shelf.  And with that cover, it is not going to sit there long!  Make sure you face this one out!

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.  Copy will be placed in library collection.

Also reviewed by Collecting Children’s Books, 100 Scope Notes, A Patchwork of Books, Pink Me, and Fuse #8.