Dad: Gracie picked today's story, and it's my favorite book of 2008. We're reviewing "Wave" by Suzy Lee.
Gracie (age 8): Maybe the girl in this book is really the author when she was little.
Isaac (age 10): Some of it might be one of her experiences at the beach.
Gracie: I like this book because everything is made with pencils, just gray and white and black. But then when you get to the waves, it's different colors -- it's done in paint, and it's blue.
Isaac: The person who made this book likes blue.
Gracie: And seagulls.
Isaac: The seagulls do everything the girl does.
Gracie: They stand still when she stands....
Lily (age 5): The girl runs away really fast and the seagulls run away really fast...
Gracie: They're mad when the girl is mad...
Isaac: She goes away, "bye-bye," and the seagulls go too. They follow everything she does.
Dad: Now, you guys were pretty loud and excited when the waves come...
Isaac: It was crazy!
Gracie: The waves felt angry, and that's why they splashed her!
Lily: The waves were wanting to splash the girl because she stuck out her tongue.
Gracie: There was a lot of splashing. The waves were getting bigger!
Isaac: It was like, Uh oh - that's not going to be good!
Gracie: The waves were HUGE! OH MY GOODNESS! Too big to fit on the page!
Dad: ...then - Crash!
Lily: She's soaked.
Gracie: She's DRENCHED! And now her dress is blue.
Isaac: The sand is blue...
Gracie: The shells and the treasures are blue... And the sky! Now it's blue!
Lily: The waves changed the whole entire earth. Before it was all gray, but now it's a whole bunch of blue stuff.
Isaac: When the girl first gets to the beach there's not too much excitement. But when she gets the big splash, the water opens her eyes and she starts seeing things she never did before. She starts noticing all the things on the ground. It opened her eyes to what was out there.
Lily: The waves were like a friend.
Gracie: ...a friend that shared a whole bunch of shells and starfish.
Lily: And the waves shared the way to see how the world really was.
swimming, by Lily
big splash, by Isaac
raining, by GracieAuthor/Illustrator: Suzy Lee
Published, 2008: Chronicle Books
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11 comments:
I haven't heard of this book but it sounds like a winner. I've wondered about books that are illustrated in black and white with a splash of color and wondered if they would be appealing to kids. Sounds like you all liked them?
We think it's cool that it has one color! Books don't usually have that kind of thing. I like it because it looked really cool. There are no words so the pictures and colors are important.
- Gracie
Hi Carrie,
The wonderful thing about this book, is that the single added color is more than just a choice in technique... it is integral to the storytelling. It is a crucial use of color and truly amazing, brilliant. And the kids picked up on that on their own - no prompting on my part. And they loved it! They enjoyed trying to paint that way too. I couldn't sing this book's praises enough!
Z-Dad
Thank you, what an exciting book.
You are enjoying that rain Gracie!
Okay, you guys are AMAZING! Both your blogs totally rock! Keep up the great work! I can't wait to see more because you are so inspiring. :~)Off to link to you right now at readertotz.
We love this book, too. We're beach people. My favorite part of this review are your wonderful ink-and-blue drawings. Blue can be such a happy color!
Looks like a great book. Love the comments and the artwork. Great blog, I'll be back
Hello again to old friends, and welcome to new friends Lorie Ann and Book Lover Lisa... Thanks everyone for your visits and links and comments!
Z-Dad
Good call on thinking the author was the little girl, Gracie. I hadn't thought of that. My daughter and I LOVE this book. Thanks.
Blue is one of my very favorite colors. I love that it's the color that brings life to everything. If you think about it, without water (which I prefer to think is blue, most of the time), nothing else could exist- or at least not much. So, blue really does show us what 'life' is all about. Thanks for a great review- keep up the great art kids!
Just found this post on the Carnival- Love it!! This was one of our favorite books of the year too. And those pictures by your kids are terrific!!! Thanks
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