Kids: MEEEEEE!
Dad: Oh for the love...
Kids: We got a new book! We got a new book for Bookie Woogie!
Dad: What does it say on the package? It says "Gerstein." Do you remember who Mordicai Gerstein is?
Gracie (age 8): "How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird!"
Dad: Do you remember what Mr. Gerstein said in the email he wrote to you?
Gracie: He liked our review, and he would send us his new book! This must be it!
Dad: Let's see what it's called... (opening package) It's called...
Isaac (age 10): "A Book."
Dad: Of course it's a book.Lily (age 6): It's called "A Book."
Gracie: It has a whole bunch of crazy guys on the cover.
Isaac: A clown, a goose, a parrot...
Gracie: ...the "I'm-late-I'm-late-for-a-very-important-date" Rabbit.
Dad: Alright, let's read it!
Reading commences....
...Reading concludes.
Dad: So what do you think?
Gracie: This is a funny book. I liked it a lot!
Isaac: The story is a story of a girl finding a story in her story!
Gracie: That's a lot of "stories."
Dad: A family of characters lives in this book, and each person has their own story.
Gracie: But the girl didn't know what her story is. So she tries to find it.
Dad: She visits different kinds of stories to see if any of them are a good fit. What kinds of stories did she check out?
Isaac: Fairytales, a pirate story, a mystery story, a historical story, a science fiction story with aliens...
Lily: The aliens are funny.
Isaac: One of them says "Pipick" and the other one says "Pupick."
Lily: I like the pink one -- it's a girl.
Isaac: They look like little suns and they have one eyeball.
Dad: Do you know what a "historical" book is?
Isaac: From a long time ago. Like "Little House on the Prairie."
Gracie: Like me!
Dad: Like you! I think you belong in the historical story. Tell everyone how you were dressed when the book arrived.
Gracie: I'm wearing a dress that looks like it's from olden days, and an apron, and a bonnet!
Isaac: Try jumping into the book!
Dad: It's cool because the characters know they live in a book. How did the girl find out that there are people reading about her?
Isaac: The goose said to look up.
Gracie: And the girl screamed "Ahh! What's that big blobby thing that looks like a face!"
Dad: You almost started crying when she said that!
Gracie: I'm not a blobby thing...
Dad: Maybe she was looking at Lily.
Lily: No, you!
Dad: Me?
Lily: Yeah, because you were reading it!
Dad: True enough. I probably have the blobby head. Besides, if she had been looking at Gracie she would have said, "What's that thing in a baby bonnet?"
Gracie: It's a Little House on the Prairie bonnet!
Isaac: She couldn't see me - I hid behind the book.
Lily: I don't want to be seen.
Dad: What do you think about the illustrations?
Isaac: The pictures in this book are cool! They look like 3-D popping up.
Lily: The people look like they are walking on the pages.
Isaac: One of the ways he makes it look like 3-D is with shadows.
Dad: ...cast shadows.
Isaac: And he kind of makes the people look like they are tilted, coming up at you.
Gracie: And when he makes speech bubbles, he makes them look like they're popping up too.
Dad: If our family lived in a book, who do you think the main character would be?
Gracie: All of us. Or... probably Lily. She's the one who is most interesting in our family.
Lily: I am?
Isaac: She is?
Lily: I would like to be in the story of Cinderella because there was a prince in there. All those kinds of stories are princess stories, so I would be a princess.
Gracie: I want to be in a comedy story. About candy.
Isaac: I want to be in a book about cool stuff like how to build tree forts and how to make bows and arrows.
Dad: You guys are kind of in a story every week through Bookie Woogie. And you have Readers. We just can't see them. Or their blobby heads.
Gracie: I know what story we are in. We are in a story about an artist family. A family where everyone is an artist - except Mom.
Mom: I want to be in a book about a clean house.
Dad: Anything else you want to say?
Gracie: Thank-you Mordicai Gerstein!
Isaac: We really love the book!
Dad: "A Book" hits shelves in April. Be on the lookout!
pipick, pupick, pepick, papick, popick, by Gracie
mysterious scene, by Isaac
hitchin' a ride, by LilyAuthor/Illustrator: Mordicai Gerstein
Published, April 2009: Roaring Brook Press
Like it? Find it
12 comments:
Hmm, books about building treehouses...have you ever read Andrew Henry's Meadow by Doris Burns? Amazing gadgets and forts! Marvelous forts! It's out of print, but worth digging around at your library or used book store!
This was a very fun review and it's great that Gerstein sent you guys a advance copy of his new book.
Blobby head, out!
I'm one of the people with blobby heads that read your blog and I love it! I got the "how to draw a bird" book for my dad, who's an artist' birthday last year. Maybe this year I'll get him this one.
Thanks for the awesome review!
Oh what a very cute idea for a book! THanks, as always, for sharing!
Your kids' illustrations never cease to bring a smile to my face!
I agree with Mom- I want to be in a book about a clean house. I would especially like to be in a book about a house that stays clean without me cleaning it.
Yes, mothers are always going on about The House, aren't they; that dust and mess just keeps on silting up. If yours isn't an artist she probably holds all you lot together!
Would she like to be put in a story?
With pictures?
I mean one written by you, of course.
Great review!
I love the pictures, too. Everyone's are great.
I love the dialogue.
Friends & Enemies
Once again, you and your team have gotten me interested in a new book! Gerstein did "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers," right? (Oh, I could open another window and check that out, but I'm so lazy!) I will definitely be checking for this one when it comes out!
excellent review, as always :)
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