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Library | Material Type | Item Barcode | Shelf Number | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library | Juvenile Picture Book Hardback | 120791000786382 | J P CAD | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
A young boy describes how he and his parents feel when they leave their old house and move to a new house in another town.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3The anxiety and excitement of a move are captured in this rather solemn yet ultimately hopeful picture book. A young boy describes some typical eventsthe moving men carting away all the family's possessions, moments of reflection as the family pulls away from what was once a home, a whispered "goodbye." then, putting up a familiar picture, meeting new neighbors, imagining the fish tank no longer empty. The oil paintings, like the spare text, show snippets of lifethe sun unhindered by blinds or drapes creating patterns on an empty floor and wall, the boy as he takes a last look at his old home through the rear window of the departing car, the moving van as it rides along ahead of the family. The collage effect and the deeply saturated colors greatly enhance the impact of the story. The beginning pages are painted in mostly shadows, reflecting the mood of the characters, while the first colorful pages appear as the boy and his family view their new neighborhood. The story shows moving day as it is for most familiesbittersweet, even sadwith glimpses of what life will be like in the new house. A powerful mood piece that accurately expresses a range of emotions.Carrie A. Guarria, Lindenhurst Memorial Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Respecting the anxiety that accompanies a move, Cadnum's (Taking It) introspective debut picture book pulls few punches. As movers haul away furniture, the narrator tries to picture his family's new house, but although he has seen it months earlier, "it has no color and it keeps changing shape." His uncertainty deepens during the overnight journey to the new house, and his initial exploration isn't immediately reassuring: he comments on weeds in the yard, an abandoned rubber ball, a rusty bucket and a broken faucet. Johnson and Fancher (My Many Colored Days) mirror the somber mood. At first their paintings, blurry and shadowy, emphasize empty spacemuch like the house the family is departing, and much like the narrator's emotional state. But as the family enters the new town, the muted palette begins to gain color and the compositions become peopled (with children playing in a schoolyard; with friendly next-door neighbors; with the boy's parents). The first night is tense, but the next day brings relief: sunlight pours through the curtainless windows and the child responds to the neighbor kids' invitation to play. While Cadnum spends a great deal of time calibrating distress, children facing a move of their own will appreciate his honesty in setting forth the narrator's feelingsand are therefore likely to trust in the author's cautiously achieved happy ending. Ages 5-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Moving day disarranges a young boy's life, taking all his family's possessions out of their familiar context and trucking them off to a barely imaginable new house in a new town. Bold paintings, many tilted to evoke the topsy-turviness of the experience, intensify the lucid parade of images the boy sees as he says farewell to his old surroundings and gradually adjusts to new ones. From HORN BOOK 1997, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Cadnum (Edge, p. 797, etc.), known for his complex and challenging novels, proves equally adept at picture-book length in this quietly ruminative story about moving. A young narrator watches his old neighborhood recede through the rear window of his family's car, then explores his new house and yard, finding evidence of past residents, and making new friends. Using a palette of muted browns and greens, Johnson and Fancher capture the boy's sadness in a series of shadowed portraits and still lifes, most of which are canted one way or another to reflect his sense of dislocation--``All night I keep waking, and think: I know where I am. Because each time, I have forgotten.'' Unusually, for a book on this topic, his parents' feelings also come through, in his mother's quietness and his father's forced cheer. He finds comfort, finally, in the sound of his mother singing to herself as she sets up bookshelves, and the thought that fish will soon be swimming again in their aquarium. Rather than attempting to jolly young readers through a common childhood experience, the story explores the emotional landscape with restraint and respect. (Picture book. 4-7)
Booklist Review
Ages 5^-8. Cadnum, who has written adult mysteries, poetry, and several well-received YA novels (including Calling Home [1991]), now turns to picture-book writing, and his first offering is good enough to secure a permanent place on the shelves, even among the many books written on the subject. It is moving day, and Cadnum tells the story through the voice of a young boy, his belongings packed, his aquarium emptied of fish, his house quiet and vacant. Then there's the journey and the arrival and, finally, the settling in, which is helped along by friendly children and a game of Frisbee. The boy's wistful voice is fluid and strong, his measured words conveying not only his own feelings but also a sharp yet quiet recognition of his parents' sadness. The illustrations have a modern feel; Johnson and Fancher have used angled shapes and broad planes of flat, saturated color instead of fine details to catch the mood. The pictures work beautifully with the text to convey the boy's longing for what he has left behind and his acceptance of what is to come: "I know that one morning the aquarium will bubble quietly, and swimming through the green plants and the ceramic castle and the miniature bridge, there will be fish." A soothing, earnest book that shows both the pain and the promise of change. --Stephanie Zvirin