One Scary Night by Antoine Guilloppe

Looking at my bookshelves, trying to pick a picture book book to review, I spied this one hiding between the spines and knew I'd found the perfect one.

This is a great wordless picture book that really plays with simple storytelling and reader's expectations. It's all illustrated in black and white in a rather effective, graphic style.

A boy is walking through the woods in the snow. He is being stalked by a menacing wolf. The title has told us that something scary is going to happen, and we can see clearly that this wolf will have something to do with it. But in the way that you expect.

I love the simplicity of this book. It's so straight forward in is orientation, complication and resolution, and I love how we can still get a surprise from what we might have been sure we knew by half way through.

I found a little video of the book, but I can't embed it. You can watch it HERE. It's got a child talking in French over the top, but as the book itself is wordless, it doesn't matter if you can't understand it.

4 Silver Stars

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Flotsam by David Wiesner

I've written about David Wiesner before, but Flotsam is rather different to the quirky and fun Three Pigs. It is a sweeping and majestic wordless picture book that deals with connectivity and the mystery of fantasy. Looking closer is strongly encouraged as we learn what the ocean holds.

A boy exploring the beach and it's creatures, finds a underwater camera washed up by a wave. When it isn't claimed, he discovers it has film in it and takes it to be developed. When the photos are ready, he is amazed to discover more about his world than he thought existed.

All sorts of magical things are hidden by the waves. But when he finds the final photo, he is confused. It is of a girl, holding a photo of a boy. At closer inspection, that boy is holding a photo of a boy who is holding a photo of a girl and so on, getting smaller and smaller, the original boy first uses his magnifying glass, then his microscope to zoom in so far that there is a boy standing on a beach in a black and white photo. He then joins the ranks of children, connected throughout time and across the world by taking a photo of himself, holding this last photo.

Then, returning the camera to the ocean, we get to follow the journey of it, helped by creatures of all kinds, till it washes up in front of a girl on some distant shore.

I love the journey this book takes you on. I love the idea of a camera like this. And the fantasy element is so perfectly achieved! David Wiesner is a genius!

5 Gold Stars

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The Lion And The Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

What is it?

The Lion & The Mouse

Who wrote it?

Jerry Pinkney (kind of… read on)

 

Where can it be found?

On its own (Picture Book).

Adaptation?

Fairly straight forward telling (or should I say showing) of the Aesop fable.

My thoughts in exactly 10 words:

Pinkney’s version has everything it needs: words were not included.