Customer Reviews

Vagabonding

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

 

 

I picked up this book about a month ago for my 1st grade class as a fun supplement to our geography lessons. There aren't many children's books about travel so I was pleasantly surprised to find one! And I absolutely love it! The simplicity of the illustrations and the fun George has with the main character: a little girl who fantasizes about traveling around the world with just a hobo sack. It is a quick & simple read, but what has my class buzzing is the whimisical illustrations. They love to pick it up and get lost in the drawings, especially the full color page spreads in the middle of the book.

I highly reccommend this book for young children who are just starting out to read and to anyone who wants to expose kids to the art of world travel. As an avid traveler, I think it's great to have a book like this to get kids to open up their eyes to a world outside of the United States or wherever they happen to live. Like I said, there aren't many children's books about travel and hopefully George will continue to fill this void. "Vagabonding" is a wonderfully refreshing way to bust into the children's book scene and I really look forward to new projects by her.

This first effort by the author/illustrator stands out for its simplicity and free spirit. The illustrations are sprightly and appealing as a girl trades places with a gypsy or "vagabond" and dons a red kerchief and gold hoop earrings. We get a quickie around-the-world tour--from Sydney to Tibet to the Taj Mahal and Paris and then, of course, back home in time for supper.

The back flap says George studied travel sketching, and the book has the quirky feel of doodles filled out with dabs of watercolor. Bonus points for portraying a full rainbow of ethnicities too.

Here's a book that celebrates one child's imagination, adventurousness, love of world cultures, and appreciation of home and family. George's casual, facile style lends the book a comfortable, cozy feeling--simple, appealing, and accessible for young readers. Her prose matches her illustrations in its simplicity, creating almost a kind of haiku effect. Completely charming.

Vagabonding is a children's picturebook about a young girl's fantasies of traveling the world. The simple verse follow her imaginary adventures from the Taj Mahal to the Eiffel Tower and a Buddhist monastery. Yet no matter how far her mind reaches, she realizes that the comforts of home and family deserve to be appreciated too. "A traveler, / a vagabond! / To wander / and to roam, // for maybe oh... / an hour or so... // and then I'll go back home!" A joyful singsong picturebook ideal for reading aloud to young people.

i think this book is a great gift for kids that they would enjoy reading! its really interesting and you dont want to put it down until you finish reading it to the end.