Customer Reviews

Zoom (Picture Puffins)

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Though he's illustrated books for other authors before this, it was really with "Zoom" that artist Istvan Banyai first tried his hand at the wide world of children's picture books. Do a quick Google search of Banyai and you'll see that the man has dipped his toe in everything from book illustrations to pictures for Playboy. Now as a children's librarian I am always on the lookout for good wordless picture books. The wordlessier they are the better. My favorites up until now have been titles like "The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, and the Bard" by Gregory Rogers and "Anno's Journey" by Mr. Mitsumasa Anno himself. In light of his more recent efforts ("The Other Side" comes to mind) it's funny to see how simple his books were at the start. "Zoom" is not a particularly new idea for a book, but it is a fun concept and is sure to garner itself some solid fans throughout the years.

The very first thing you see, on opening the book, is a fleshy and pointed starfish-like creature, but with too many points. Turn the page and the next image is of that same pointy image, but we can see that it's actually the crest of a rooster's comb. Turn the page again and we back up even farther still. Now the rooster is seen perched on a fence while two captivated youngsters look on. You get the gist of the book. The thing is, Banayi keeps backing up, even when you think that there would be nowhere else to go. A farm scene suddenly becomes a toy farm set with a child playing with it. A city street becomes a television program. And a cruise ship resolves itself to be an ad on the side of a bus. As the book backs off farther and farther and farther, in the end the earth recedes until it is only a single white dot in the center of a very black page. Want your kids to grasp the concept of their own inherent insignificance in the face of a vast unyielding universe? Then "Zoom"'s the book for you!

It took me a little while to realize it, but the book that bears the closest resemblance to "Zoom" is Barbara Lehman's Caldecott Honor winner, "The Red Book". Of course, the advantage of "The Red Book" is that it actually had a plot of sorts. "Zoom", for all its charms, is plotless. In some ways, the best wordless picture books are the ones that dare to tell some kind of a tale. "Home" by Jeannie Baker, for example, told the story of a girl's life from birth to adulthood and how the world changes around her. As Banyai becomes more comfortable with creating children's books he begins to understand their purpose. Therefore "The Other Side" has an ending that summarizes nicely whereas "Zoom" simply drifts off into space.

Which isn't to say that the book is poorly done. It ain't. Using his customary thin thin black pen lines and a palette of all sorts of colors, Banyai brings to life everything from the hypnotic eye of a rooster to New York's Flatiron Building. Unfortunately for me, the version of "Zoom" that I am reviewing is the paperback edition. This is a real shame as I've been delighted by Banyai's small touches and flourishes made to his books' covers and bookflaps. If it comes down to purchasing the hardcover edition of this story or the paperback, I highly urge you to consider the hardcover. Though I can't vouch for whether or not there are any fun details attached to it, why take the chance? Besides, when it comes to viewing Banyai's books with true appreciation, only hardcover will possibly do.

As with most high-concept picture book, "Zoom" isn't aiming to be universally beloved. It will instead be enjoyed primarily by those children of the correct mindset. Some kids will get a huge kick out of the perpetually shifting realities captured in this minute little booklet. Others will be weirded out by the concept and clutch their "Dora the Explorer" paperbacks a little tighter to their chests. I sincerely hope your child is in the former category. "Zoom" certainly deserves to be looked at and makes a fine addition to anyone's wordless picture book collection.

The friend who shared this book with me had received it from a family member who bequeathed it to her as she lay dying of cancer. It is a very beautiful and visual way of internalizing the concept that our lives and everything that happens to us and that we see around us is part of a bigger picture.

I ran into a description of this remarkable book that is entirely of images in a Sharon Salzburg's "Faith" Learning to Trust YOur Inner Experience". Salzburg, a well regarded Buddhist teacher, used Zoom to make that point that at every point of our existence our vision of what is real is always a tiny piece of what really is.. This deceptively simple book is meant to be looked at slowly and contemplatively. Each frame yields to a progressively bigger and bigger view so that the net effect of moving through its expanding perspective is to loosen our imaginations about what we think is the ultimate environment. Worth spending time with at ANY age.

I learned about this book a few years ago in a teambuilding workshop and finally decided to get a copy for myself. It still blows my mind. A great aide for getting people to "think outside the box". For teambuilding, I plan to remove each page and have them all laminated. then, pass them out to a group, each person getting one page. They may not show their page to anyone, but must talk to others in the group to figure out what all the pages have in common. It gets groups started talking and everyone ends up having to interact with everyone else!

I was introduced to this book last night when it was given as a gift to my 50 year-old cousin. All of the aduts present were intrigued with this near-wordless masterpiece. None of us read the inside jacket before 'reading' the book and that is the way it should be read to be truly appreciated. I think the book would be 'wasted' on very young children who would see it as just another picture book. Excellent gift. I'm ordering them for all my (grown) children this minute!

Although I am a professional writer, my review isn't nearly as technical as the previous two readers'. This, quite simply, is a FUN BOOK! My four month old daughter enjoys the bright images on each page and adults love the zoom concept! It keeps you guessing and reminds you to look at the bigger picture in life... perhaps reminding you that you're not in the world all on your own. Add this to your bookshelf and then pick up an extra copy as sometimes it is not easy to find and you'll surely want to give one as a gift!

I must disagree with the statement that this book is for children ages 6-8 since much of what Banyai does is well beyond what most children will understand. Banyai's virtual elimination of a fixed frame of reference pulls at the mind in a way that few books aimed at adults do--one simply never is quite sure what is going on. Not only is everything part of something larger (until the end when the earth becomes a period or a hole in the darkness), but there are a few subtle plays on the element of static versus moving and time versus non-time which invite considerable thought.

This book plays on certain postmodern ideas and can be thought of as a very complex exploration of perception and semiosis. These topics are far from typical in "children's literature" and this book will provoke more thought than most popular serious novels will.

Really quite an excellent book!

I was first introduced to this book at a challenge course where I had taken a group of students. It was used as a team building activity which I have adopted in my junior high art class. I took the book apart and laminated the pages. I use the number of pages that I need in sequence depending on the size of my class. I mix up the pages and then pass one out to each student. I ask them, without talking, to place themselves in proper sequence with the other pages. It is a good ice breaker activity at the beginning of a new class or new semester.

I used this book as an activity when I was facilitating a workshop on leadership roles. We were able to make a great point of what type of leader you are by handing out pages of this book to have the group figure out how it goes back together. Worked wonderful! You could tell who was able to manage the group with only pieces of the big picture. Loved it!

I use the book ZOOM as a way to show business leaders how their perspectives can change realities. Because it's so affordable, I buy the book in bulk and send it out with personal notes after business leadership classes to help reinforce the training's overall messages on perspective. If you lead people, add ZOOM to your business library - it's fun, easy to understand, and very transferable to the adult learning environment.