Customer Reviews

Un-Brella

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Un-Brella is a delightful little picture book. Scott does a wonderful job telling the story without writing a single word. I have seen some of Scott's other work and personally own some of his illustrations. I would highly recommend this book for children and parents to enjoy together.

This book is delightfully whimsical, very clever story and it has the best artwork I've seen in a long time. I'm looking forward to the next book from this author/illustrator.

Loved this book! My girls make up a different story each time they read it. It has become one of their favorite books.

This is a very cute wordless picture book about a girl with a magic umbrella, who turns winter into spring and then summer back into winter. It seems easy for young children to follow - the pre-k niece was delighted with it. (I test drove this book before giving it to her teacher, of course!)

Some people object to wordless picture books on principle, because they are unfamiliar with them. This is what I have to say to that:

Wordless picture books are PERFECT for pre-readers. It gives them the ability to read a book - REALLY own the experience instead of just "playing" as they must do when they can't understand the words - on their own. It gives them practice in putting together stories and working out details from context. And it allows them to be the expert at some activity that is usually restricted to adults and older children in their life - reading a book.

By that same token, they are also ideal for early readers. It's non-threatening, and yet it's still a way to practice following a storyline. Reading is more than just mechanically putting together sounds and reciting them, after all. Many people are impressed by a five year old who can say, word-perfect, some complex piece he or she "reads" from a page, but later they find out that the child has no idea what they just read and wasn't thinking of reading as an exercise in gleaning meaning from text, but merely as reciting memorized sounds and letter combinations. Working out the story for themselves from a book with no words is a wonderful way to practice this sort of "reading for meaning".

But what of the child who stumbles in reading? Well, the child who stumbles when reading but can tell you WHAT they read is light-years ahead of the one who sounds pretty but doesn't grasp the meaning. At any rate, this child is still getting much needed practice in the conventions of reading without the letters to stress and trip them up.

Of course, you don't want the only book in your house to be a wordless picture book, I understand that, because children do need print to practice reading, but a few are a WONDERFUL thing for a child. And who has just one book, anyway?

When I first laid eyes on this charming book I knew that we had to have it for our library. Scott Franson's illustrations are expressive, masterfully rendered and magical. Our kids love discovering the story and find new elements every time they look at the pictures. The idea is fresh and fun, and the message empowering. You will not be disappointed with this lovely little gem of a book!

This book is a visual delight! The author is a graphics design professor and he definitely knows his stuff. The story is completely visual, with absolutely no text, and my kids (ages 5 & 6) continually get a thrill out of "reading" it out loud to me. The gist of the story is that a little girl has a special umbrella that creates weather under it that is the opposite of the actual weather -- so she wears a swimsuit in the snow and makes a sunny path of green grass and flowers wherever she walks, etc., etc. It's simultaneously gorgeous and cute.

This is a charming and clever picture book that reaches many ages for many reasons. In each scene, you can look for the daisy or daisies that are sometimes hard to find (even inside the front cover!). All the many drawn snowflakes are actually different. The story plot line unfolds easily and imaginatively as the little girl uses her magical unbrella to make the weather she wants, where she wants it and when she wants it. The art work is really beautiful.

This delightful wordless book had my grandsons telling me a very detailed story and pointing out the reoccurring themes as they experienced the adventure they were viewing. "Let's read it again!" says it all for this outstanding graphically designed book. I can't wait to give a copy to my granddaughters to see their enchantment and hear their interpretation of the Un-brella. Bravo! It's a winner!

My nephews, ages 4 & 2, absolutely loved the book!! The pictures were so engaging and they continually pointed out each detail of the book. We have "read" it several times, with the boys being more excited each time. I simply ask questions and they are so eager to answer! I think they enjoy a book on "their" reading level. The art is beautiful and the idea of a book in which the story is different every-time is priceless to children. Well done!

The elaborate simplicity of this book provides for multi-layered reading that delights all ages 0-99.