Amandina [Hardcover]

Sergio Ruzzier (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 2 and up

AMANDINA HAD EVERY TALENT MADE FOR THE STAGE, EXCEPT ONE: Confidence.

She dances, sings, acts, and performs acrobatics, but no one knows because Amandina is terribly shy. Determined to change that, she rents a run-down theater and prepares to give the show of her life. She builds the sets, makes the costumes, and, most importantly, invites everyone in town. When the night of the big performance comes, Amandina nervously opens the curtains…to find all of the chairs empty. Disheartened, she performs anyway, not realizing that she does have an audience member—a very tiny one—who is about to make a big difference in Amandina’s life.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3—Amandina Goldeneyes can "dance, and sing, and act beautifully, and perform the most daring acrobatics," but the small pup is so shy that her talents go unnoticed. Vowing to overcome her fears, she fixes up a run-down theater and stages a one-dog show. Ruzzier's quirky ink drawings capture the canine sewing, painting, and building elaborate props. When the curtain rises on opening night, she is saddened to see no one in the audience, but goes on with the show. A tiny cockroach emerges from a tear in one of the seats and is mesmerized by the performance. He calls all of his friends and soon the house is full. After the grand finale, Amandina bows before what she thinks is an empty theater and is greeted with "thunderous applause." The artwork combines delicate lines and faded colors to create a fanciful stage for this likable character. Pair this title with Emily Arnold McCully's Speak up, Blanche! (HarperCollins, 1991) for a look at confidence-building artistic pursuits.—Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Publishers Weekly 

"Ruzzier creates a haunting intimacy with his watercolors of a centuries-old Italian town (the theater is a tiny Umbrian jewel) and its strangely human-eyed animal citizens, as well as his unvarnished language (“Nobody had come. Sometimes these things happen, and nobody can say why”). Showing a magical insight into the imagination of small children, he allows Amandina an intense sweep of feeling before granting her no less—but no more—than her wish. The mood he casts will resonate, particularly with introspective readers."

 

School Library Journal FUSE #8 Blog

"There is a very specific feeling you get from a picture book when the combination of text and image is pitch perfect. It’s a very hard thing to get, mind you. You might have a book where the words are lovely and the pictures exciting, but if the two don’t work in tandem then your end product is going to end up a merely okay bit of indistinguishable dribble. A hint of what might have been will hover over the reading experience. I mention this because I’m trying to find a way to explain why Amandina by Sergio Ruzzier is as delicately miraculous as it is. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it’s a Neal Porter book and Mr. Porter is known for helping to bring perfect little books into the world (see: Dog and Bear). Maybe it has to do with author/illustrator Sergio Ruzzier, whose previous books and collaborations have played effectively with tone and story. Maybe it’s the thickness of the paper or the shade of the watercolors. Maybe it’s everything altogether or maybe it’s none of this at all. Whatever the case, if you are looking for a story that is sweet but not saccharine and carries a lovely little message without beating you over the head with a didacticism stick, this is the book for you. A book designed to be the perfect gift for any 4-8 year old child."

 

 

School Library Journal

"The artwork combines delicate lines and faded colors to create a fanciful stage for this likable character."

 

Kirkus Reviews

"Quiet, precise, whimsical watercolor illustrations in subdued pastels enhance the surreal ambiance of Amandina's solitary exploits. A subdued but charming tribute to determination and perseverance."

 

 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596432365
• ISBN-13: 978-1596432369
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 9.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,689,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My website: http://www.ruzzier.com
My blog: http://sergioruzzier.blogspot.com/

I was born in Milan, Italy, in 1966.
I grew up reading comics and picture books.
Among my favorite books were the Minarik/Sendak's Little Bear series, Bruno Munari's "Cappuccetto Verde" ("Little Green Riding Hood"), and Dino Buzzati's "La famosa invasione degli orsi in Sicilia".
As a young teenager, I discovered and fell in love with the old American comics: Krazy Kat, Popeye, Dick Tracy, and many more.
At the same time, I was surrounded and fascinated by Medieval and Early Renaissance art, especially Giotto, Simone Martini, Ambrogio and Pietro Lorenzetti, and many other wonderful, lesser-known painters and illuminators. But before all this, my first, true love was for Hieronymus Bosch. I spent hours studying his paintings in a book that now shows more wear than any other, in my father's well-supplied art library.

In 1989 I started to collaborate to the Italian leading comics magazine "Linus", with a series of comic strips, and then I went on to create the character Bruno, for "Lupo Alberto Magazine".

In 1994 I came to New York, where I immediately had the fortune to receive my first editorial commission from The New Yorker. That very drawing, an imaginary portrait of Dante Alighieri, was chosen the same year by American Illustration. From then on, I began my career as an editorial illustrator.
But what I really wanted to do was picture books, and I tried to enter that world. Compare to Italy, the American market offered an incredible quantity and variety of books, and I was excited to discover Arnold Lobel, Edward Gorey, James Marshall, William Steig...
It was not easy at the beginning getting the attention and the trust of editors and art directors, but then I had the luck to meet Frances Foster, and later Laura Geringer, Christy Ottaviano, Neal Porter, and others, who believed in my sensibility and graciously gave me the opportunity to show my ideas and my imagination on the printed page.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some pup, September 14, 2008

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amandina (Hardcover)

There is a very specific feeling you get from a picture book when the combination of text and image is pitch perfect. It's a very hard thing to get, mind you. You might have a book where the words are lovely and the pictures exciting, but if the two don't work in tandem then your end product is going to end up a merely okay bit of indistinguishable dribble. A hint of what might have been will hover over the reading experience. I mention this because I'm trying to find a way to explain ...more There is a very specific feeling you get from a picture book when the combination of text and image is pitch perfect. It's a very hard thing to get, mind you. You might have a book where the words are lovely and the pictures exciting, but if the two don't work in tandem then your end product is going to end up a merely okay bit of indistinguishable dribble. A hint of what might have been will hover over the reading experience. I mention this because I'm trying to find a way to explain why Amandina by Sergio Ruzzier is as delicately miraculous as it is. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it's a Neal Porter book and Mr. Porter is known for helping to bring perfect little books into the world (see: Dog and Bear). Maybe it has to do with author/illustrator Sergio Ruzzier, whose previous books and collaborations have played effectively with tone and story. Maybe it's the thickness of the paper or the shade of the watercolors. Maybe it's everything altogether or maybe it's none of this at all. Whatever the case, if you are looking for a story that is sweet but not saccharine and carries a lovely little message without beating you over the head with a didacticism stick, this is the book for you. A book designed to be the perfect gift for any 4-8 year old child.

Amandina Goldeneyes is "a wonderful little dog". She may be incredibly shy and not know a lot of people, but as a performer is the remarkable. One day Amandina decides to give a grand performance so that everyone will see her and she can stop being shy. She rents the theater, makes the costumes, creates the sets, puts up posters and when the curtain goes up . . . . nobody's there. Undeterred, Amandina proceeds to perform the show exactly as she planned. As she does so a small cockroach happens to see the performance. Stunned by how cool it is, he runs outside and tells his friends who tell their friends. By the end of the show Amandina, who was too wrapped up in her act to pay attention to the audience, is stunned and delighted when her finale meets with a roar of applause.

Sergio Ruzzier fans are not as common as Mem Fox fans or Mo Willems fans, but they are out there just the same. More than once have I had someone approach me saying, "You DO know Sergio Ruzzier's work don't you? Don't you?" causing me to sputter a surprised assent. The fact is that until a couple years ago I actually didn't know who Mr. Ruzzier was. Had you shown me his work I would have vaguely agreed that I'd seen his art before in Karla Kuskin's Moon, Have You Met My Mother?. But I feel like recently he's started to really come into his own. Whether creating a one-of-a-kind mole for Lore Segal's, Why Mole Shouted and Other Stories (and its sequel) or accompanying Emily Jenkins's fabulous Love You When You Whine, Ruzzier is a wonderful fellow to work with. But I think that the books he writes himself are the best of the lot. The Room of Wonders was along the right path, melding an affair of the heart with a personal journey. But Amandina really got me where I live. Not every book has that ability.

I'm a big fan of picture books that deliver a message in a subtle but obvious manner. I understand the necessity of teaching children through literature, sure. I just think that some methods are more interesting than others. Ruzzier could have written a story about a shy little dog that finds happiness by overcoming shyness by making it like the 150 billion other books out there with a pat message. Amandina would have gone on stage with a full house and learned courage through "being yourself" or something equally dull. Instead, this book is cleverer than that. Amandina's charm is that even when no one comes to her special performance she has the sheer gumption and spunk to perform it anyway. So maybe the moral of this story hasn't anything to do with shyness at all. Maybe it's about doing your own thing for your own sake. And if others happen to sit up and take notice then you've truly earned their applause. When Amandina puts on her show she pours her whole heart and soul into it. I've never really disagreed with a Library of Congress description at the front of a book, but the one for Amandina didn't sit well with me. Listen: "Amandina decides to overcome her shyness and show the town what a talented little dog she is, but when no one shows up for her performance, she finds that she also has a lot of perseverance." I guess. But it doesn't feel right when you say it like that. Not really.

For me, it all comes down to tone. Getting the right tone is probably the hardest thing to attain in a picture book. It didn't hurt matters any that Ruzzier was working with both the words and the images in this book. But listen to this description of what Amandina discovered when her curtain came up. "The theater was empty: nobody had come. Sometimes these things happen, and nobody can say why." I love that. Somehow the simplicity of these words reminds me of Arnold Lobel. They're just that nice. The choices the author made can be intriguing too. Why does Ruzzier wait until the very last sentence to tell us that Amandina's last name is Goldeneyes? I don't know why, but it works.

Using watercolors that range from a deep peach to a liquid cobalt blue, Ruzzier's palate here is a subdued but colorful collective. And from a visual perspective I was fond of the setting to this tale. Born in Milan, Ruzzier has set this book against an Italian backdrop. The theater she rents "in the old town" is called the "Teatro Ventura". Later her show seems to incorporate Harlequin elements. And for the record, Amandina's show really does look splendid. It would be one thing if we were told that Amandina was a special little dog with lots of talent, but to actually see the remarkable show in progress is a special treat. Without much explanation we see that the "fanciful prologue" (again, great turns of phrase here) involves a suitcase that explodes with a smoky column of flowers while Amandina floats above like a butterfly. And then there's the magic show, the dances from around the world, the acrobatics... who wouldn't want to see her perform all of this?

Charm is impossible to teach, ridiculously hard to learn on your own, and money in the bank. Amandina also happens to have it in spades (doggy puns unintended). I don't go for the whole "be yourself" motto unless you can sell the idea to me in a beautiful tale. Sergio Ruzzier has done just that. If you've never read one of his books before, this is an ideal place to start.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Flawless, October 21, 2009

By 

DES "DES" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Amandina (Hardcover)

I came to this book already a fan of Sergio Ruzzier. His "Room of Wonders" is my favorite children's book--sweet, funny, and profound. My daughter and I find something new in it every time we read it. Amandina is the same. She's a compelling, adorable dog whose ultimate lesson is taught so gently, and so beautifully, it's a sweet surprise you're happy to encounter anew with each reading. Ruzzier's world is saturated with real, subtle emotion--a special treat if you're tired of heavy-handed children's books. If you're looking for a book that respects adults and children alike, with beautiful pictures and lyrical language, pick up Amandina. She's irresistible.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sweet, emotional, life teaching for children & adults alike, October 1, 2011

By 

olie (us) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amandina (Hardcover)

We just finished reading the book with my 4 year old, a copy from the library. I'm in tears over the sweet emotions thus book triggers and the lesson it portrays in such a wonderful way. This is a book about a small dog, Amandina, with beautiful big golden eyes who is a fantastic performer and dreams of heaving her own performance. With practice, practice, practice and determination she sets on fulfilling her dream. ON the night of her opening act, nobody shows up. Only a cokroach from a seat is the witness to her wonderful performances, and he calls all his friends. Amandina disappointed that nobody is in the theatre is determined to perform no matter what, which she does. In the end, the theatre is full with little animals that heard about her. When Amandina finishes her show she is in tears because she sees the theatre full. SHe hold a rose in her arms. There are so many charming details in the book and the watercolor is gorgeous. If you want a innocent, no commercialism, booksweet with many life lessons for your children, buy this book. It should be good for anybody from 5 years old to adolescence, and adulthood. It captures any age audience. YOu discover something else every time you read it. I plan to buy one for me, and one for my kids. I also plan to buy other books from this author.