Book [Hardcover]

George Ella Lyon (Author), Peter Catalanotto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1999 | Age Level: 4 and up

A loved book lifts you--comforts, excites, entices. Book, in words and paintings, captures the feeling of opening to page one--for the first of the fiftieth time--and entering the worlds of drama, imagination, and fun promised beyond it. A girl in red flannel pj's reaches toward a panel in the night sky. The panel, one of four, bears a B. Light floods the girl's face, all anticipation, for she is all readers. And then she is inside, inside the B-O-O-K, words streaming toward her, beckoning, circling her, music in their meaning and their sound. A castle, a cave--its walls dancing with wild ponies, one of which joins the girl on her journey--these are passing wonders on the way to the source. Writer and reader meet "as the gate of the book swings wide," a culmination caught in a breathtaking sequence of spreads. Look at the girl on the jacket for a hint of how Book feels, a sensory adventure which ends with a benediction: "May it hold you. May it set you free."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This ambitious but insular picture book attempts to answer the question that appears as if written in chalk just before the title page: "Dear Friend,/ Dear Reader,/ Look at the book/ you have just opened./ What is it/ you hold in your hand?" A series of extended metaphors compares a book to a house in which "light falls/ through the windows of words," to a "CHEST/ that keeps the heart's treasure," and so on. Each of Catalanotto's intricately designed watercolors focuses on a girl who appears literally inside the books she is reading, and each splendid painting is filled with light and energy. When she enters her first book, the girl is surrounded by words and images as diverse as a kokopelli, a cross-sectioned apple and a blue roadster. On other pages, she chases a dappled gray horse that metamorphoses into a bird, or words surround her in varied guises, some like mirror images, some repeating phrases from Lyon's poem. Both text and art are impressive on their own, but they combine less successfully than in previous collaborations between Lyon and Catalanotto (Who Came Down That Road?). The artistic urgency of the illustrations seems at odds with the quiet, invitational tone of the poem; in some moments, too, the art appears to offer an independent narrative, one that competes with rather than enhances the text. The arbitrary elements of some paintings and the occasionally abstruse language ("Reader, you are [the book's] weather:/ your tears, your eyes shining") are likelier to distance children than to enthuse them about reading. It's ironic that this book about the joys of books should feel more like homework than pleasure. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 4In this short poem, Lyon presents metaphors about books: A BOOK is a HOUSE/that is all windows and doors or a CHEST/that keeps the hearts treasure or a FARM,/its fields sown with words. Catalanottos watercolors show a blond-haired girl moving through the scenarios evoked by the text. Many of the words from the poem are incorporated into the pictures; they swirl around the girl and appear strewn across the sky or floating in the air. This is an earnest effort, but the overall effect is pretentious and unlikely to engage readers of any age. We are better off reading good books to children than trying to describe their effect in picture-book format.Miriam Lang Budin, Mt. Kisco Public Library, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN; 1st edition (February 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789425602
• ISBN-13: 978-0789425607
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,347,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book honors the mind and spirit of both child and adult, December 10, 1999

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Book (Hardcover)

This gorgeous book is unlike any other children's book I have ever seen. It is richer, more varied in its offerings and in its fundmental concept, which is a celebration of books. I can imagine enjoying this book with children of any age from newborn all the way through early teens. It expresses a tender love of both language and image that I find deeply evocative. Imagine a book that offers a myriad of possibilities on every page, in a beautiful, nonlinear way, as different from Richard Scarry as possible. This is a wondrous book about books.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teaching Reading, December 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Book (Hardcover)

This book is fantastic for teaching the power and purpose for reading. Students of all ages can see how virtual reality is not only on a computer monitor but also between the pages of a book! The words are few, but the paintings are outstanding provoking imagination and conversation about the power of thought and the written word. It is a powerful teaching tool for teaching students of all ages, k-post college.

4.0 out of 5 stars Out of print but worth the search!, December 2, 2011

By 

Micki H (Waterloo, IA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Book (Hardcover)

I have been trying to track down a copy of this book for about three years and finally it panned out. The book is no longer in print which is a shame. The illustrations and beautiful but the storyline exceeds all of this librarians expectations1 book tell the story of the power of books! The vocabulary is beautiful and the metaphorical language lend a powerful image that speaks to the enormous importance of books and reading.