Grandfather's Journey

Written and Illustrated by Allen Say

Published by Houghton Mifflin Company

Grandfather's Journey is an inspirational memoir that tells the story of a man who had emotional ties to two places, continents away from each other. Allen Say tells the story of his maternal grandfather as a young boy until the end of his life, stopping to explain when his mother and himself were born, but ultimately coming back full circle to tell the reader that he is just like his grandfather in his longing for Japan and California.

I see this book as a personal photo album. It is like you are looking into a photo album of Say's ancestry. The illustrations are so much like old photographs. It is amazing the way that Say has captured the detail of photography from the early twentieth century until the late twentieth century. Also, his interpretation of the style of clothing from that vast period of time is also impressive. I wouldn't be surprised if he sketched some of the illustrations from actual family photographs.

As for the text, it is very enjoyable and extremely sentimental. Say is a great story teller, tugging at the reader's heart, drawing you into feeling the longing that he and his granfather shared for those two places. I think between the illustrations and the text, the book takes on a life of its own, grabbing hold of your emotions and putting you into the shoes of Say's grandfather.

I think this book is a great addition to have to any lesson about memoirs because it is a true to life story that anyone can relate to. That longing feeling that children might have when they leave their grandparents house is an experience that children can relate to with the longing felt by the characters in the book. I think this type of book is great for students to expand on and perhaps take the viewpoint of the grandfather, writing a short story about how the grandfather felt when he had to leave California or Japan. This type of creative writing gives students a chance to explore their own personal feelings and practice putting themselves into the shoes of a character in a text, thinking analytically about the text.

The Wizard

Written by Jack Prelutsky

Illustrated by Brandon Dorman

Published by Greenwillow Books

About two weeks back I was looking through the children's section of the library, minding my business, when this lovely book caught my eye. It was on the return cart waiting to be put back. I knew Jack Prelutsky as a children's poet, so I was perplexed to see his name on the cover of a picture book. Well, I opened up the book and was pleasantly surprised.

Here is one of Jack Prelutsky's poems brought to life by the help of an amazing illustrator, Brandon Dorman. If any kid complains that poetry is boring, he sure hasn't seen this book. Ever since I brought it home from the library, my two sons want to read it almost every night before bed. The rhyming text and vibrant illustrations help to really set your imagination wild with magical thoughts about wizardry and magic.

Prelutsky has a knack for setting the mood with his descriptive language, and Dorman runs with the creativity by creating two-page spreads of the wizard's tower, filled with burning candles, potions, black cats, crows, spider webs, ancient books, a portrait of Medusa, etc. The list could go on and on. One of the most wonderful things about this book is that you can go back and look at each sprawling illustration and find many things that you did not see before.

The thing I love most about this book is that it is poetry, literally, come to life by these wonderful illustrations. It is not to give Dorman full credit for the book, but the poem could not live on as it does in this book if it were just words on a blank page, like poetry sometimes is. It think this book would be a wonderful way to introduce students to poetry, especially young ones. It will get their feet wet with the text by slowly weaning them away from illustrations. Young audiences are so used to picture books, that I'm sure the move to pictureless poetry can be a little boring for them. So, as a teacher, I would use definitely use this book as a prelude to a poetry unit. It would also be a great activity to have students draw their own illustrations of a poem that doesn't have illustrations. This book could really get kids motivated for doing that.

Rapunzel

Retold and Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky

Published by Dutton Children's Books

Paul Zelinsky is a rare children's book author and illustrator, but I believe a very special one. The illustrations in this book are some of the best I've ever seen. The detail and beauty are stunning. After reading through the book once, I went back over and over again, looking through the pages at the amazing artistry. I stopped to wonder how I could possibly get one enlarged and framed. I was so intrigued I had to look up how Zelinsky created these wonderful illustrations.

Zelinsky used a technique called "grisaille." With this technique, he first painted in grays and browns as an "underpainting" with watercolor paints. Then, he used transparent oils to color with, after sealing the paper so the oils would not soak through. This is the same technique used by Renaissance painters, like Raphael, except with watercolors instead of an egg yolk based tempera. (http://www.paulozelinsky.com/paul-faq.php)

After I looked this information up, I went back through the artwork again and was amazed even more. If you look closely, you can see the underpainting under the skin of the characters, under the pale walls. This effect is what adds to the detail of expression and depth of the characters faces, hands, and gestures.

Zelinsky definitely captured the essence of the Renaissance, with Italian landscaping, architecture, and wardrobe. I also read that he researched quite a bit to be accurate about these points. (http://www.paulozelinsky.com/paul-faq.php)

Getting to the actual story, I was really impressed by the accuracy of it. Zelinsky does not spare any detail and at the back of his books he tells much about the folktale he retells. He educates the reader about different Grimm editions of the story and different versions from Italy and France. Hence, the Italian landscape and architecture he chose to paint for the books illustrations.

I think this book would make a great addition to a unit on different versions of Rapunzel. While doing a search at Barnes and Noble's website, I came across pages and pages of different takes on Rapunzel. There is an African version by Rachel Isadora, and there is, of course, the original by the Grimm Brothers. Also, the French and Italian versions that Zelinsky gives homage to in his version. With so many versions of Rapunzel, there could be a great unit study of character analysis, comparing and contrasting, main idea, etc. Also, Rapunzel has enough romance, action, and drama to make anyone a fan, so most students should enjoy it.

If there is anything else to love about this book, it is that I love the way Zelinsky does not hold back the frightening details of the story. He retells the story of the sorceress, making her crazed and scary, hovering over Rapunzel's father when he steals the plant, cutting off her hair with sharp scissors, and throwing the prince from the tower. Between the words and paintings, this book is haunting and grand. I am so happy I came across it and I am buying a copy for myself!