The Shape Game (Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors (Awards)) [Hardcover]

Anthony Browne (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Series: Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors (Awards)

Art makes a difference!

The same family that had such an enlightening experience in Anthony Browne's Zoo is now going to an art museum, Mom's choice for her birthday treat. But wisecracking Dad and their two sons are skeptical about how much fun this trip will be, and they're not quite sure what to make of the art. ("What on earth is that supposed to be?" asks Dad.) But, with Mom’s help, once the boys start really looking at the paintings, they begin to find what pleasures they contain. Most of the family leave with a new appreciation of art – Dad is just never going to get it – as well as a sketchbook. On the trip home, Mom teaches the boys – and readers – a drawing game, which one of her sons (this book’s author) has been playing ever since.

This new book is the product of Anthony Browne's engagement as writer-and-illustrator-in-residence at the Tate Britain in London. There he worked with a thousand children from inner-city schools, teaching literature using the resources in the gallery – and playing the shape game. In his artwork for the book, he surreally transforms, in his signature style, some famous paintings in the Tate's collection.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 4-Browne's latest foray into the fantastic is part autobiography and part outgrowth of his residency at the Tate Britain Gallery where he conducted workshops for inner-city children. In the opening scene, the adult Browne sits at his drawing board, sketching his family. He goes on to describe the day "that changed my life forever"-the one when his long-suffering mother took her three "boys" (Anthony, his brother George, and their dad) to an art museum. The palette reflects the mood of the father and sons: it's brown. Young viewers who are looking closely will start to see shapes in the graffiti on the street and surprises in the museum's imposing facade, and Dad's juvenile humor will tickle their funny bones. As the family tours the galleries, Browne uses a variety of techniques to maintain interest in the reproductions: labels explaining the symbolism, spot-the-difference comparisons, scary paintings coming to life, and family members appearing inside the frames. As the foursome progress and the mood lifts, the colors brighten, reaching a dazzling intensity at the riverfront climax. The piece de resistance is mother's game, played on the train ride home, in which one brother draws a shape and the other turns it into something. Endpapers provide plenty of samples, but children will be reaching for their markers before the book is closed. Not since Bob Knox's The Great Art Adventure (Rizzoli, 1993; o.p.) has museum going been so much fun.
Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

K-Gr. 2. "It turns out to be a day that changed my life forever," says a grown-up artist at the beginning of this autobiographical story about a childhood trip to an art museum. Dad and brother George are bored, and at first the young artist is, too. Then Mom encourages her family to find the stories, and their own lives, in the pictures. A "brilliant" drawing game with shapes ends the day. As in titles such as Changes (1990) and Gorilla (1983), Browne once again combines expertly drafted, surreal images and simple words to show a child's complicated emotions. Without telling too much, he gives a palpable sense of family tension, particularly when Dad tells horrible, sometimes cutting jokes. But the boys find delicious, empowering escape when they imagine their father in the world of the paintings, where he roller-skates in tiny shorts or is chased by a lion. Browne blurs the real and imagined in wonderful spreads that juxtapose scenes at the museum (including striking reproductions of famous works) with the boys' fantasies. The artist's self-referential viewpoint, telling the story as an adult looking back, seems unnecessary. But Browne's unforgettable paintings and basic words tell a powerful, layered story that will encourage children to find their own connections--and subversive fun--at the museum. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (September 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374367647
• ISBN-13: 978-0374367640
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 10.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #733,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars They don't know art but they know what they like, July 21, 2004

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Shape Game (Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors (Awards)) (Hardcover)

It doesn't strike you as particularly British the first time you read through it. Nor does it strike you as American. What "The Shape Game" offers the average reader is a family that is trying to connect with art any way it can. The story is an autobiographical piece about how a single trip to the Tate Museum with his family changed the artist's way of looking at art forever. The players in this mini-drama include the author/illustrator as a child, his brother George, his Dad, and his Mom (not Mum?). One day the mother drags the family to the museum despite their mumblings and grumblings. We see a shot of them walking, all grays and browns, next to the river. Inside, the family starts to offer comments on what they see. In what may well be my favorite line in a picture book published in the last five years, the father asks what a particular sculpture is:

"It's supposed to be a mother and child", said Mom.
"Well, why isn't it?" said Dad.

He has a point. As they continue, however, they start to identify with what they're seeing. There's a section explaining the Augustus Egg painting, "Past and Present No. 1" that is nothing short of phenomenal. I only wish Browne had taken the time to give this sort of attention to more paintings found throughout the Tate. The kids start imagining their dad in some of the pictures (he fits in remarkably well in a lot of them) and by the end everyone has had a good time. The shot of them walking home is infused with all sorts of colors. On the ride home, Anthony's mom shows him the Shape Game. All you have to do is to draw a shape. Any shape at all. Then you pass this shape to another person and they have to change it into something that makes sense. Browne concludes, "And, in a way, I've been playing the shape game ever since..."

After completing this story in my own time, I was struck by the thought that this book is an excellent companion piece to the rather similar picture book, "Uncle Andy's". In both stories, the author/illustrators reflect on why they decided to create art in the first place. For James Warhola the decision came from hanging out with his cool Uncle Andy (Warhol). In this book, the artist began drawing after seeing the range of artistic possibilities at the Tate. I wish I could say that the book is flawless, but a couple things bugged me here and there. For one thing, I don't know when Anthony Browne was born but the fashions and haircuts presented in this story look oddly contemporary to me. Also, the style of drawing changes violently at times. Sometimes he'll make his characters beautifully lifelike and realistic. The next thing you know they're cartoonish and off-putting (especially the section where the father imagines himself chased by a lion). Still, Browne has a wonderful way of matching his characters' movements to the movements found in the pictures behind them. I also was very taken with the fact that the portraits featured in this story are relatively unknown to the vast majority of child readers. You'll find works here from such artists as Peter Blake, George Stubbs, and John Martin. Not necessarily household names, you know. It's also a lot of fun to notice how shapes from the Shape Game pop up in the occasional portrait or background image without announcing themselves unduly.

My only final critique is this: The father is notorious in this story for telling awful awful jokes. Yet at one point he tells my FAVORITE joke of all time. I suggest you get out this book and flip to the joke told in a makeshift rendition of Sir John Everett Milais's, "The Boyhood of Raleigh". Right there you will find (if told correctly) the best joke in the whole wide world. For an introduction to art and how average people can eventually identify with it, this is an ideal creation. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to fill their children's heads with the limitless possibilities of artist expression. Ha ha!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What A Clever Little Book, February 21, 2004

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H. F. Corbin "Foster Corbin" (ATLANTA, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Shape Game (Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors (Awards)) (Hardcover)

I picked up this book after seeing the positive review in the NY Times Book Review. I was taken particularly with the illustration from the Tate Museum of the family's viewing "The Cholmondeley Ladies by British School, seventeen century." One of my favorite paintings from the Tate, a print of it hangs in my home.

The story, apparently autobiographical, is about a family-- Mom, Pop and two boys-- who go for an outing at the Tate. Only Mom and the narrator, who ultimately becomes an artist, are really into this visit. Mom asks questions to the children in an effort to awaken their interest in great art. Dad, not to be outdone, keeps a running supply of corny jokes going.

The book title comes from a game the author's mother used to play with her dad. "The first person draws a shape - any shape, it's not supposed to be anything, just a shape. The next person has to change it into something. It's fantastic. . . And, in a way, I've been playing the shape game ever since."

If this beautifully illustrated little volume gets one child to appreciate art, it will be well worth the money the parents paid for it. It's the next best thing to visit a gallery or museum.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what we expected, February 9, 2005

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RAD (New Britain, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Shape Game (Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors (Awards)) (Hardcover)

This book was a surprise to us. We had expected a book about learning shapes aimed at young children, such as kindergartners. This story follows the author as a young boy and his family through the Tate Gallery in London. Anthony begins to gain a sense of art appreciation from his mother even though his father has a lame sense of humor and does not seem overly interested in the gallery. The illustrations were quite detailed and engaging. They make the reader wish to revisit them multiple times. The message of "The Shape Game" becomes evident at the end when Anthony's mtoher teaches him a game that she used to play with her father, and it then becomes a lifelong interest for him.