A solitary boy is drawn to his mysterious new neighbor, an artist named Max. He spends hours in Max's studio, but Max is secretive and does not show the boy his pictures -- until he departs on a journey and leaves behind a surprise exhibition for his young friend. Max's pictures are strange and beautiful. They depict a realm where things, familiar at first glance, nevertheless behave in the most surprising and unpredictable ways. In this spellbinding picture book, the reader joins the boy in contemplating these challenging images, in a celebration of the power of art to transform the everyday into something magical.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Like its opening image of a seagull suspended at twilight and painted in sepia tones, this extraordinary volume honors the beauty inherent in a singular momentary experience. "At dusk, when he couldn't draw anymore, Max used to sing," begins Buch-olz's (Sleep Well, Little Bear) poignant tale of an unusual friendship. Max is a painter, the self-proclaimed "collector of moments." The narrator, a boy, lives two floors down and plays the violin. At Max's invitation, he joins the artist every evening for an intimate concert. The boy often visits at other times, but the artist never permits the boy to view his work: "One invisible and unique path leads into every picture... and the artist has to find just that one path. He can't show the picture too soon, or he might lose that path forever," Max explains. But when Max goes away for a stretch, both boy and readers are invited for a private showing of 13 breathtaking paintings. Many of the subjects are mythical: "Snow elephants in Canada" nearly invisible against blizzard-filled skies, a circus wagon floating above a bridge in France. Others, like Max's self-portrait, are realistic. But all the paintings, with their wide expanse of space, suggest a vast universe; in the words of the narrator, "Max always captured a precise moment. But I understood that there was always a story attached to this moment which had begun long before and would continue long afterward." The boy pores over each picture and instructs readers by his power of example. Only near the end of the book does the boy learn how much he has meant to Max--and his realization is transformative. With the same exquisite crafting that Bucholz exhibits in his paintings, he sculpts each section of prose--aided greatly by Neumeyer's fluid translation. Whether young or old, readers will never view a work of art in the same way again. All ages. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6-Evocative is the word here. Despite a lengthy text, there is no plot in this oversized illustrated book. The narrator, a boy nicknamed "Professor," tells of the time that an artist, Max, lived in the flat above his. The boy, a loner, reads while Max draws, and plays his violin while the artist sings. When the man leaves for a while, Professor is allowed for the first time to see his enigmatic pictures. Through the summer the boy explores their possible meanings. The artist returns only to announce a move far away; later, a picture of Professor arrives with Max's assurance that the boy's music continues to inhabit his work. The clear, meticulous, full-page paintings are suffused with calm. In most, an odd element is obvious but not intrusive: a circus wagon floating in air at the edge of the frame, penguins in the street, a lion in a boat, or a horse atop a lighthouse. In others, there is a striking disproportion: Is that boy a Goliath, or is the boy with him a Tom Thumb? Although Max says that "one invisible and unique path leads into every picture," these collected moments appear to have infinite points of entry and egress. Against the muted, atmospheric backgrounds, an occasional touch of crimson glows as mysteriously as this book.
Patricia Lothrop-Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Patricia Lothrop-Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
five stars is not enough!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Collector of Moments (Hardcover)
This is my favorite contemporary children's book. The story is touching and the illustrations are magical. The wonderful thing is that this is not merely a children's book, but lovely for all ages. I recommend it for gifts to people that you love - at any age!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magical!,
By J.L. Moss (Illinois) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Collector of Moments (Hardcover)
This is perhaps the most compelling children's book I have ever seen. Though a bit surreal, it has all of the components of a great chldren's book. It's creative, fanciful and touching without being condescending to its youthful readers. What a lovely story of art and friendship.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Soft, surreal story of friendship and discovery,
By
This review is from: The Collector of Moments (Hardcover)
In The Collector of Moments Mr. Buchholz has written a soft, gentle story of childhood. The main character is an unnamed young boy who is a bit of a loner. Hes picked on by his classmates for being overweight and his out-of-style wire rimmed glasses. But, when he plays the violin, his friend Max, who rents out the third floor of the familys home, calls him Professor and always listens and usually sings along with him. Max is a painter, but a quiet and somewhat mysterious one. He never shows anyone his paintings before they are completely finished, and he later comments that sometimes there are things in his paintings that even HE doesnt see or know about. The boy loves to sit in a red chair in Maxs room and simply watch him work, even though he doesnt know what Max is working on until hes finished. Max makes frequent trips out of town in which his studio is locked up and the boy has to wait for Maxs return. When Max returns, he has fantastic stories to tell the boy about the things hes seen, like Canadian Snow Elephants that only appear out of the forest during heavy snowfalls. They are actually larger than African elephants, but are so very rarely seen because of their white coloring and gentle, quiet ways of walking. They boy, who narrates the story, is pretty sure that these stories are just fantastic tales of the imagination, but Max tells them so convincingly that there is a part of the boy that comes to believe in the stories somewhat. When the painter goes on an extended vacation/trip, he leaves all of his paintings out for the boy to look at, as a sort of personal exhibition for one. Heres where the story becomes odd and wonderful: in each painting there is something odd or unusual is happening, most of which seem to be drawn from Maxs story. In one painting, Canadian Snow Elephants with their three young calves pass almost invisibly between two houses where the neighbors carry on their daily business, oblivious to the great white beasts. In another painting, a rail car from a circus floats mysteriously in the air by a bridge in the early evening; a rope ladder is seen hanging from the open front door... The pictures are neither scary nor even spooky so much as they are simply unusual. I myself could look at them for hours wondering what is going on and what lies just outside the frame of the picture. If anyone has ever enjoyed looking at the paintings of the French surrealist, Renee Magritte and wondering about his floating castles or falling people, then they will certainly enjoy this book. The text is rather heavy the first half dozen or so pages and there are very few illustrations at first. When we get to the part of the story where the boy looks at Maxs paintings, they spread across the whole page, a delight and feast for the eye and a teaser for the mind. But, because of the heaviness of the text, some younger children may not have the stamina to pour through the story to get to the pictures. The story itself is soft and gentle and really rather quiet and almost nostalgic, so it may not appeal to children who are either very young or looking for big, robust stories where things blow up or the world turns inside out. Still, its an amazing book with a beautifully rendered and translated story that really isnt just for children. Read it with your child, and I guarantee that youll be pulling it back off the shelf later to read it by yourself!! An excellent book and highly, highly recommended!!
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