From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-A flight not only into imaginary realms but also into the delicious world of language awaits readers in this fanciful journey. Disgruntled about his broken computer, Orson pouts in his room until Weasel, a jack-in-the-box, suggests he look outside. "Outside? I don't
do outside," retorts the boy. However, when he discovers that the ground is covered in snow (it's July), he makes snowshoes out of tennis rackets and sets off with Weasel to explore. They are caught in bad weather, and Orson hopes that the "eye" of the storm will see them and save them. When a whale rescues them, the boy can't wait to share this "whale of a tale." Back on land, Orson makes a rocket, blasts off, falls into a "black hole," and is finally jolted awake. Colón's familiar textured illustrations, rendered in watercolor and colored pencils, are large and bordered in white. Some of the paintings cover expansive spreads, such as the image of the boy traversing an Arctic landscape complete with seals sprawled on blue-white ice. Alert children will make connections between the titles of Orson's computer games, the pictures that decorate his room, and his dream adventures. A glossary explains the scientific terms and idiomatic expressions used in the story. Pair this imaginative offering with Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's
Favorite Things (Dial, 2003) to lure youngsters away from their computers and into escapades of their own.
-Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
*Starred Review* PreS-Gr. 2. Colon is best known for his gleaming scratchboard-style illustrations, but here, in his authorial debut, he shows he can craft a good story as well. Orson's computer has crashed! No computer equals no computer games, which equals utter boredom. But after a jack-in-the-box named Weasel asks Orson to step outside, the adventure begins. Outside there is snow (in July), and an enticing two-page spread shows Orson, with Weasel in his backpack, walking through the frosted white tundra, empty except for walruses. Playing with words throughout, Colon has fun with the North Pole and expressions such as "the eye of a storm," and "a whale of a tale," all of which plague the intrepid travelers. In a final flight of fancy (literally), Orson constructs a rocket ship for himself and flies to the moon. When he's back at home and ready to play, he decides to do so outside. The clever story is enhanced by glowing, textured artwork, rendered in watercolors, colored pencils, and litho pencils, which will draw children right into Orson's daydream world.
Ilene CooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
