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sophia_sol) wrote2014-02-01 08:40 pm
sophia_sol) wrote2014-02-01 08:40 pm
picture book thoughts
Time for more childhood nostalgia with book thoughts on picture books from my younger days! Today's post comes to you courtesy of my parents' attic.
A Country Far Away, by Nigel Gray, illustrated by Philippe Dupasquier
This is a lovely charming book in an interesting format. The middle of each page narrates the simple story; and the top half illustrates it with a young boy from somewhere in Africa, and the bottom half illustrates it with a young boy from what appears to be Britain. It's a great way of humanizing the similarities and differences between the everyday lives of the two boys. (Of course, there are unfortunately broad generalizations, because it's clear each little boy is supposed to be a stand-in for "normal" in the part of the world they're from, but even so I quite like it.)
The Wild Beast, by Franz Berliner, illustrated by Lilian Brogger, translation by Alison Sage
I always wanted to like this book more than I actually liked it. It's the story of a wildebeest, and although the story itself isn't anything to excite me, the illustrations are nice. And there's nothing objectionable about the story.
Papaniki, by Edna Quail, illustrated by Anno Berry
I really love the illustrations in this one! They're so striking and evocative. And the story's charming too - a young boy who is tired of having to cart water for the family with a wheelbarrow every day, and hatches a plan for he and his grandmother and sister to make enough money to buy a donkey cart.
Charlie's House, by Reviva Schermbrucker, illustrated by Niki Daly
Oh hey, the illustrator for this one is the same as for Not So Fast Songololo, which I talked about last time I did a post about kid's books! Cool. I do like the artist. My sister was always more into this particular book than I was - which doesn't surprise me. It's the story of a young boy who is frustrated with the inadequacies of his family's house (unsurprising, as it is built out of not much more than some leaky corrugated tin) and so he imaginatively builds a model of a better one out of mud after the rain. My sister's always been more into a) getting muddy and b) getting hands-on with projects, so it's no wonder this story spoke to her. Me, I think it's charming enough but don't love it in the same way.
Ntombi's Song, by Jenny Seed, illustrated by Anno Berry
AWWW THIS BOOK. I love this book so much! It's about a young girl who is so proud to be sent on a REAL GROWN-UP ERRAND by her mother, to go all the way to the trading store to buy sugar! But then when she is carefully carrying it back (on her head! like a big girl!) she gets startled by a bus zooming by and the sugar package falls and breaks open and spills into the sand and OH NO NOW WHAT WILL SHE DO? But then she a) faces her fears of the dark forest! and b) successfully figures out how to make more money to buy more sugar! and c) makes friends with her older cousin who she's always admired! And then she feels awesome about herself! AS SHE SHOULD. The art in this book is also super amazing - and oh hey, same artist as Papaniki, NO WONDER. She's even better in this book, I think, because this story has more exciting drama to illustrate strikingly. There's a number of illustrations from this book that have stuck extremely firmly with me over the years. I love this book to itty bitty bits and would recommend it unreservedly because IT IS AMAZING.
The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson
You might have noticed a theme amongst the other books I talk about above (southern Africa! - well, during the picture-book years of my life, I lived there!), and this one breaks the theme. It is set in Spain and the main character is a bull. In fact, I always firmly believed the title of this book was "Ferdinand the Bull"? APPARENTLY IT ISN'T. Anyways I love this book. It is about a bull who is different than all the other young bulls because he isn't interested in fighting and showing off at the bull fights! He just wants to sit in the field and smell flowers! But then he gets chosen anyways, and refuses to fight, and the matador is so mad about not getting to show off that he cries. And Ferdinand goes happily home to enjoy his field of flowers. The art in this book (all black-and-white line drawings) is a lot more hilarious than I ever noticed as a kid. For instance: the cork tree under which Ferdinand likes to sit? In the illustration it has ACTUAL BUNCHES OF CORKS hanging from the branches! And all the pictures are great. Another unreservedly recommended book. AWW FERDINAND.
A Country Far Away, by Nigel Gray, illustrated by Philippe Dupasquier
This is a lovely charming book in an interesting format. The middle of each page narrates the simple story; and the top half illustrates it with a young boy from somewhere in Africa, and the bottom half illustrates it with a young boy from what appears to be Britain. It's a great way of humanizing the similarities and differences between the everyday lives of the two boys. (Of course, there are unfortunately broad generalizations, because it's clear each little boy is supposed to be a stand-in for "normal" in the part of the world they're from, but even so I quite like it.)
The Wild Beast, by Franz Berliner, illustrated by Lilian Brogger, translation by Alison Sage
I always wanted to like this book more than I actually liked it. It's the story of a wildebeest, and although the story itself isn't anything to excite me, the illustrations are nice. And there's nothing objectionable about the story.
Papaniki, by Edna Quail, illustrated by Anno Berry
I really love the illustrations in this one! They're so striking and evocative. And the story's charming too - a young boy who is tired of having to cart water for the family with a wheelbarrow every day, and hatches a plan for he and his grandmother and sister to make enough money to buy a donkey cart.
Charlie's House, by Reviva Schermbrucker, illustrated by Niki Daly
Oh hey, the illustrator for this one is the same as for Not So Fast Songololo, which I talked about last time I did a post about kid's books! Cool. I do like the artist. My sister was always more into this particular book than I was - which doesn't surprise me. It's the story of a young boy who is frustrated with the inadequacies of his family's house (unsurprising, as it is built out of not much more than some leaky corrugated tin) and so he imaginatively builds a model of a better one out of mud after the rain. My sister's always been more into a) getting muddy and b) getting hands-on with projects, so it's no wonder this story spoke to her. Me, I think it's charming enough but don't love it in the same way.
Ntombi's Song, by Jenny Seed, illustrated by Anno Berry
AWWW THIS BOOK. I love this book so much! It's about a young girl who is so proud to be sent on a REAL GROWN-UP ERRAND by her mother, to go all the way to the trading store to buy sugar! But then when she is carefully carrying it back (on her head! like a big girl!) she gets startled by a bus zooming by and the sugar package falls and breaks open and spills into the sand and OH NO NOW WHAT WILL SHE DO? But then she a) faces her fears of the dark forest! and b) successfully figures out how to make more money to buy more sugar! and c) makes friends with her older cousin who she's always admired! And then she feels awesome about herself! AS SHE SHOULD. The art in this book is also super amazing - and oh hey, same artist as Papaniki, NO WONDER. She's even better in this book, I think, because this story has more exciting drama to illustrate strikingly. There's a number of illustrations from this book that have stuck extremely firmly with me over the years. I love this book to itty bitty bits and would recommend it unreservedly because IT IS AMAZING.
The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson
You might have noticed a theme amongst the other books I talk about above (southern Africa! - well, during the picture-book years of my life, I lived there!), and this one breaks the theme. It is set in Spain and the main character is a bull. In fact, I always firmly believed the title of this book was "Ferdinand the Bull"? APPARENTLY IT ISN'T. Anyways I love this book. It is about a bull who is different than all the other young bulls because he isn't interested in fighting and showing off at the bull fights! He just wants to sit in the field and smell flowers! But then he gets chosen anyways, and refuses to fight, and the matador is so mad about not getting to show off that he cries. And Ferdinand goes happily home to enjoy his field of flowers. The art in this book (all black-and-white line drawings) is a lot more hilarious than I ever noticed as a kid. For instance: the cork tree under which Ferdinand likes to sit? In the illustration it has ACTUAL BUNCHES OF CORKS hanging from the branches! And all the pictures are great. Another unreservedly recommended book. AWW FERDINAND.