Smoot: A Rebellious Shadow by Michelle Cuevas, illustrated by Sydney Smtih

-
Smoot: A Rebellious Shadow by Michelle Cuevas and Sydney Smith is a striking picture book - both for the fresh story Cuevas tells and Smith's bold watercolor and pen and ink illustrations. Together, Cuevas and Smith have created a picture book that is a joy to read - over and over - and one that will linger in your thoughts long after you have closed the covers.
Cuevas begins Smoot: A Rebellious Shadow, "If life is a book, then Smoot the Shadow had been reading the same yawn-colored page for seven and a half years. And much like two pages in a book, or two ripples in a brook, Smoot and his boy were inseparable." Evoking a tidy, if dull life, Cuevas's words are rich with imagery. The thick, black likes of Smith's illustrations, especially on the boy, give a heaviness to the page while the white spaces make Smoot and the other shadows in this book pop.
One day, "while wishing for sky-blue colored freedom, Smoot heard a pop! He had come unstuck from the boy!" Smoot explores the city and the other shadows take notice - and follow his brave choice. Soon, shadows of all kinds of things, from a dandelion to a rock to a frog are exploring bigger possibilities and almost, but not quite, getting out of hand. Smoot notices and begins to set his world right while also keeping the spirit of freedom, adventure and courageousness alive. In the end, Smoot reunites with his boy, who has been watching him all along, and the pages of the book of their lives are now filled with, "singing ringing flying vibrant dancing color." Smoot: A Rebellious Shadow will leave readers feeling equally buoyant and joyous.

More about Sydney Smith:


I was so taken with Sydney Smith's illustrations that I spent more time poring over his work and process. Smith is the illustrator of the moving, multi-award winning Sidewalk Flowers, a wordless picture book about a child's experience with death by JonArno Lawson. For a look at another side of Smith's style, this clip of him at work is so cool to watch!


Source: Review Copy

Popular posts from this blog

Be a Tree! by Maria Gianferrari illustrated by Felicita Sala

-
Image
Be a Tree! by Maria Gianferrari illustrated by Felicita Sala Review Copy from Abrams Kids I picture-walked Be a Tree! three times before I actually read the words. Felicita Sala's illustrations for Maria Gianferrari's poetic text are mesmerizingly immersive and richly colorful within a palette of earth tones. Throughout the text, Gianferrari, who shares her inspiration for this book in the author's note ( Peter Wohleben's The Hidden Life of Trees ), gently maintains the human connection to trees and the connections (and communications) trees share with each other.  Be a Tree!  begins exuberantly, inviting the reader to "Be a tree! Stand tall. Stretch your branches to the sun. Let your roots curl, coil in the soil to ground you." From your spine/trunk to your skin/bark and your heart/pith, the words carry you inward and then zoom outward and up to the canopy and ultimately, the forest. "You are one of many trees," and our roots "twine with fung
Read more

Under Earth, Under Water by Aleksandra Mizielińska and Daniel Mizieliński, 112 pp, RL: ALL AGES

-
Image
Under Earth , Under Water by Aleksandra Mizielińska and Daniel  Mizieliński is their fourth book I have reviewed here and their fourth book with the marvelous Big Picture Press , a publisher of oversized, highly illustrated, gorgeous books who believe that books should be "visually intelligent, surprising, and accessible to readers of all ages, abilities and nationalities." BPP definitely achieves this with every book they publish and, if you are a book lover, you will want to seek out all their titles. Under Earth , Under Water will appeal to anyone who likes to look inside things and understand how things work. With Under Earth, Under Water , the Mizielińskis, who have an illustration style that is filled with tiny details and a unique palette, take readers on a detailed journey, from the top of the page to the bottom, over and under land and then sea. The endpapers serve as the introduction and table of contents, with images scattered across the spread, page nu
Read more

Fox + Chick: The Sleepover and Other Stories by Sergio Ruzzier

-
Image
Fox + Chick : The Sleepover and Other Stories  by Sergio Ruzzier Review Copy from Chronicle Books Friends. Opposites. Inhabitants of a pastel-hued, water color world that is vaguely surreal, Fox and Chick are back for a third installment of their inviting, if curious, easy-to-read stories. In "The Sleepover," "The Hammer," and "The Surprise," Chick's odd logic is once again upending Fox's life. Happily, Fox responds with patience and even wisdom at times. To these unforgettable characters and luminous illustrations, Ruzzier brings a sublime simplicity that makes this series perfect for emerging readers, adding books with character and intelligence to the often dull world of beginning reader books. If you aren't familiar with this delightful duo, definitely check out my reviews of the first two books (links below) where I put the greatness of Ruzzier's work into historical ( Frog & Toad ) context. Then check out ALL of Ruzzier's p
Read more