Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Words are the subject of this reverie by Paschkis, who incorporates them into striking, dreamlike folk-art. In rhythmic compositions that feature birds, mammals, and humans wearing intricately patterned clothing in shades of blue, fresh greens, deep fuchsia, and dramatic black, areas of color are paved with small tiles, each one emblazoned with its own hand-lettered word. "Wonder wander wink whisper whistle think thimble thistle," reads a section of the endpaper artwork, the words awash in whirling greens and blues. A rabbit with a human face juggles vowels beneath a pencil-legged creature in a splendid frock coat, whose hat proves to be a handsome book. "What does a word think about?" the narrating voice asks. In another spread, the ouroboros, a snake with its tail in its mouth, illuminates the circle of life and death: "When does the end turn into a beginning?" Questions lead only to more questions in this mesmerizing exploration of sound, form, and color. Back matter features an author's note. Ages 6--10. (Sept.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3--With tree trunks whose bark is layer on layer of sinewy words, with landscapes that curve and coax along with playful energy about sounds and meanings, and with a sensibility that is part New Age and all childlike, Paschkis winds her way through paintings that ask questions and questions that point to many answers. The art is folkloric, with colorful birds, animals, and people, but also surreal in the compositions, which provide readers with plenty to consider: "Can I hold a castle in my hand?" appears next to a teapot; set inside the teapot is an elephant, ridden by a person balancing a castle. Parrots as symmetrical as a playing card ask, "Can you repeat that?" with the word repeat shown again, this time upside-down, within the text. VERDICT As with Eden Cooper's Remember the Night Rainbow, this book asks a lot but has perfect appeal for the dreamy child who loves to be immersed in both words and pictures.--Kimberly Olson Fakih, School Library Journal
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Words and pictures connect in surprising, stimulating ways. Talk about painting with words. Author/illustrator Paschkis plays with them, too, and encourages readers to do likewise. In the process, she explores the elasticity and seemingly endless possibilities of language. The vividly colored, wittily detailed, folk-style paintings on double-page spreads organically incorporate words into the artwork in wondrous, creative ways. Words frequently repeat in different sizes and colors; illustrated images include words that sound or are shaped like them, are variations of them, rhyme or nearly rhyme with them, sort of resemble them, are sort of spelled like them, etc. A bouquet of flowers in a vase sports roses exuding the scents of slumber, sultry, shush, and other evocative words beginning with S; on a daisy's petals readers find dizzy, doozy, lazy, jazzy; lief, leap, life, and more decorate the leaves. Delightful words--many of which readers won't know, and that's OK--flex vocabulary and spelling muscles to the max and also enhance readers' visual and auditory senses when the pictures are taken in. Furthermore, the spreads are connected to thought-provoking questions. Some inspired the paintings, or vice versa, and themselves contain examples of wordplay. Persons depicted have diverse skin tones. The book makes a great springboard for creative-thinking activities in writing and art units in classroom and library programs. Keep dictionaries handy. Endpapers abound with swirling words readers can savor (and look up). In a word, a feast for the eyes, brain, and artistic imagination. (author's note) (Picture book. 6-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
