João by a thread
Book - 2022
As João tucks under a lovingly woven quilt, he asks himself: So it's just me now? He curls up, getting cozy in bed, and soon the world of his dreams unspools on the page. The blanket in his bed unravels into deep rivers, lakes, valleys, reservoirs, mountain ranges, fishing nets full of tadpoles and gaping holes, until what's left is just one long thread. When he feels alone and scared in the dark, João "sews words like patchwork" into a new blanket to cover himself up. He weaves the threads of his quilt until they form one long sentence, and soon, the nighttime is peppered with his own silvery, slippery words. Roger Mello draws like a shapeshifter -- to look at his illustrations is always to see something you missed be...fore (a stingray, a crescent moon nestled into the palm of João's hand). His breathtaking line drawings, beaming in white thread against deep red, combined with poetic and bewildered language, make João by a Thread a book to take into bed at the edge of sleep, just before you start to dream.
- Subjects
- Genres
- Children's stories
Fiction
Juvenile works
Picture books - Published
-
New York :
Elsewhere Editions, an imprint of Archipelago Books
2022.
- Language
- English
Portuguese - Main Author
- Other Authors
- Edition
- First Elsewhere edition
- Item Description
- Translated from the Portuguese.
- Physical Description
- 1 volume (unpaged) : illustrations ; 16 x 23 cm
- Awards
- Mildred L. Batchelder Award, Honor book, 2023.
- ISBN
- 9781953861344
Review by Kirkus Book Review