The Art of Reading: Forty Illustra-
tors Celebrate RIF’s 40th Anniver-
sary. Reading Is Fundamental (ed).
New York, NY: Penguin Young Read-
ers Group, 2005. Illus., hardcover,
96 pp., $19.99.
Forty successful North American
children’s book illustrators reflect
on their childhood experiences with
books. The focus of their comments
lies in the illustrations and on the
things that inform and inspire their
art today. Thus, this anthology is as
much an art catalog as a collection
of memoirs or commentaries. The
range of styles is remarkable and it
should help teachers understand a
bit better the abilities of even the
youngest pupils to appreciate visu-
als like Sis’s textured rhino as well
as Rohmann’s overblown cat and
Ehlert’s Cubist plants. The book
exhalts the role of pictures in children’s literature.
Beyond the Great Mountains: A
Visual Poem About China. Ed
Young. San Francisco, CA: Chroni-
cle Books, 2005. Illus., hardcover, 36
pp., $17.95.
We must approach this distinctive,
sensitively designed book from a
82 SchoolArts April 2007
unique angle. The pages are to be
turned up, each one a half-inch lon-
ger than the one on top so that when
reading the title page you are pre-
sented with a cascade of fifteen different colored bands, each carrying a
line of calligraphic text. The images
bleed off all sides and the pictures
are constructed with torn and cut
soft-textured paper. Each painting
suggests specific concepts about
the landscape of China. In a brief
afterword Young explains: “There
are things words describe that pictures never can, and, likewise, there
are images that words can never
describe.” Hence, the title, “visual
poem.” Translations of Chinese
characters on each page make this
book even more approachable. There
is no obvious narrative, just a col-
lection of compelling poster-like
pictures to ponder.
Snow White. Melinda Copper. New
York, NY: Penguin Young Reader’s
Group, 2005. Illus., hardcover, 40
pp., $16.99.
The text in this classic tale is unem-
bellished and similar to many tradi-
tional retellings. Visually, however,
the tale starts off boldly with its
cast of anthropomorphic animals:
a rabbit heroine, feline Queen,
mixed rodents as the dwarfs, etc. It
is a large book, and Copper fills the
pages with detailed paintings that
appear to be influenced by a variety
of Renaissance artists. Each of the
eight times the Queen appears, she
wears a different ornate outfit, and
the rest of the characters are dressed
in equally historical period clothes.
Architectural details and objects
like furniture, the mirror, and the
Queen’s “secret chamber” are also
historical. Readers might be inspired
to seek out sources for these objects.
Copper produces scenes with con-
siderable emotional appeal as well,
using candle and moonlight for dramatic effect. Comparing this version
of the classic fairy tale with others
can make for some valuable aesthetic learning.
—Reviewed by Ken Marantz, professor
emeritus of art education at Ohio State
University.
Bookmarks
Unit Polyhedoron Origami. Tomoko
Fuse. Tokyo, Japan: Japan Publica-
tions Trading, 2006. Illus., softcover,
96 pp., $20.95.
This step-by-step handbook gives
instructions for the creation of intri-
cate paper forms made with origami
techniques. The book is illustrated
with drawings for each stage of the
construction process and has full-color photographs of the finished
forms. These polyhedron forms will
fascinate and attract viewers to puzzle about the intricacy and beauty
of folded paper. The projects range
in difficulty from simple to complex
and the book is suitable for students
age ten and older. This is a great way
to make a math connection in the
artroom, and the projects are both
challenging and motivating.
