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Summary
Summary
Bring the thrilling story of one red bird to life. When an innocent bird meets two cruel kids, their world is forever changed. But exactly how that change unfolds is up to you, in the tradition of Kamishibai-Japanese paper theater. The wordless story by master cartoonist James Sturm is like a haiku-the elegant images leave space for children to inhabit this timeless tale-and make it their own, leading them to learn an ultimate lesson they'll never forget.
James Sturm is the author of several books for kids including the Adventures in Cartooning series (with Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost) and the forthcoming Ape and Armadillo . James also helped start a college for cartoonists, The Center for Cartoon Studies, in the small railroad village of White River Junction, Vermont.
Author Notes
Mr. James Sturm is a cartoonist. He lives in White River Junction, Vermont with his wife, two daughters, a chunky little dog named Chi Chi, and two rabbits. Besides making comics, James works at The Center for Cartoon Studies, a school for cartoonists.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-In an author's note, Sturm (author, with others, of Sleepless Knight and Gryphons Aren't So Great) relates that the images for this nearly wordless book were originally created for a friend to perform on a folding kamishibai theater. The pictures tell the story of a boy and a girl who stomp and race through a wooded area, thoughtlessly tormenting the animals they come across. (They flip over a box turtle, whack a branch that a bird is sitting on and then chase the frightened creature.) Eventually, they rouse the ire of a bearded man on a mountaintop with a tridentlike spear in his hands, who turns the children into monkeys. As monkeys, the two soon find themselves running from a lion, then hunters, and end up under a big top, advertised as chimp children: "THEY READ! THEY WRITE!" The left side of each spread of this small, horizontally formatted book features a green and yellow leafy border on the outside and white space on the inside, which serves to frame and highlight the vibrant pen-and-ink images on the right-hand page. Most of the scenes are fairly simple, with telling details carrying the story forward. When the two creatures are eventually released into the wild, they are able to make amends with the animals they have mistreated. This is a story that is sure to garner interest and discussion. VERDICT Young fans of this publisher's graphic novels will recognize the familiar format and be eager to borrow this enchanting book.-Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Inspired by Japanese kamishibai ("paper theater") storytelling and the prints of William S. Rice, Sturm (the Adventures in Cartooning series) follows two cruel children who get a lesson in kindness. As the wordless story opens, a boy and girl tromp through the woods, scowls on their faces and sharpened sticks in their hands. The action unfolds in full-page scenes on the right side of each spread; left-hand pages are empty except for wispy tree branches at the far margin. In keeping with the oral tradition of kamishibai, Sturm explains in an endnote that this story is meant to be performed-it's up to readers to narrate and fill in the details. After (possibly) stabbing a turtle and swatting at a bird, the children encounter a shamanistic figure who transforms them into monkeys that are quickly hunted down and sold to a circus. A scene in which the monkeys stare desolately at readers, with flies buzzing around them, seems to be a turning point, and from there their fates improve. Full of open-ended questions for readers to consider, it's a haunting study in both empathy and storytelling itself. Ages 5-up. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Sturm (Adventures in Cartooning) delivers a complex wordless narrative inspired by kamishibai, Japanese paper theater. The first two images are double-page spreads, the first featuring a single red bird in flight above a far-off mountain, while in the second, a pair of stick-wielding children maraud through a lakeside forest. From this point forward (save the final spread) only the recto pages of the book feature narrative images, leaving the verso pages essentially blank (excluding pagination and a series of decorative tree branches). This poetic employment of white space reminds readers that there are no words here -- create your own, and thus actively provides a call for discourse. The plot unfolds quickly when the two children, after terrorizing the local wildlife (including the aforementioned red bird), are transformed into monkeys by an angry mountain wizard. They are chased by a tiger, captured by medieval-looking huntsmen, and forced to perform in a fleabag traveling circus; finally, they return to the forest to start anew -- with one transformation, perhaps, left to complete. While the book is skillfully hand-inked and emotively colored, some readers may be unsettled by the malleable narrative style and the ambiguous conclusion; others may revel in the unknown. Back matter includes a brief history of kamishibai, an author's note, and a list of further resources. patrick gall (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Sturm pays tribute to the Japanese art of kamishibai storytelling with a wordless tale of two wicked children who are turned into monkeys. Bearing sticks and angry expressions, a boy and a girl chase a red bird up a mountain slopeonly to meet an enraged wizard who transforms them and leaves them to be chased by a tiger, then captured for a circus sideshow ("They Read! They Write!"). By the time they are released, both have undergone inner transformations too, and their reverent treatment of the bird when it returns leads to final glimpses of three birds flying off together. (Though inspired by the Japanese art, Sturm draws Western characters; the children and wizard are white, though the sideshow crowd is multiracial.) In an afterword with photos, Sturm (of the Adventures in Cartooning series) explains how traditional kamishibai works, drawing a clear connection between the art and graphic storytelling. He leaves decorated but otherwise blank pages opposite each of his cleanly drawn full-page illustrations throughout as silent invitations to viewers to supply their own narratives, dialogue, and sound effects to his story. Children will not be slow to take him up on the offer. For all its simplicity, an episode rich in drama, humor, pathos, and thematic depthwith plenty of latitude for verbal embellishment. (resource list) (Graphic early reader. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Inspired by kamishibai performances traditional Japanese storytelling accompanied by illustrations set in a stage-like frame Sturm offers a wordless cautionary story in a similar style. Two mean-looking children torment a turtle and viciously chase after a bird up a mountain. When they reach the top, a scary man with an egg-topped scepter stops them in the their tracks, and in a flash, they've been turned into monkeys. Now they're the creatures in fear of heartless humans, and they're captured and put in a traveling show, where they perform their human-child feats (math, writing) for jeering crowds. Have they learned their lessons? Sturm's masterful grasp of the sequential art form is wonderfully on display here. Each page-turn reveals an image on the right-hand side that unmistakably communicates a plot point, while the left-hand side remains blank, save for a leafy border, as if inviting young ones to imagine what might happen between the scenes. His beautifully colored scenes are full of big, bold details and expressions, which makes this particularly well-suited to group sharing.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2016 Booklist