Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Salem Main Library | JP Ruzzier | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | JP Ruzzier | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Newberg Public Library | PLAY RUZZIER | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
In this quirky yet sweet picture book about the joy and power of reading, Duck learns that even books without pictures can be fun. While he and his friend Bug may struggle at first to decipher their book, they stick with it, and before long they discover that not only can they read it, but it deserves a place on the shelf with all their favorite picture books. Author-artist Sergio Ruzzier has created a fanciful tribute to books of all kinds. It includes both words AND pictures.
Author Notes
Sergio Ruzzier was born in Milan, Italy. He is the creator of a series of comic strips for Linus, the Italian comics magazine. His work has received accolades from Parents' Choice, American Illustration , the Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, the Society of Publication Designers, and more. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Reviews (6)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-A duckling taking a walk stumbles upon a book only to discover it contains no pictures (the outrage!). However, the duckling decides to give the pictureless book a chance, and embarks on a journey through a landscape of familiar and unfamiliar words. The pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations expand in color and imagination as the value of reading becomes clear. Humorously tender and always sympathetic, this title captures the magic of a child's first venture into independent reading. © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This isn't a book about books; it's a book about learning to read. A duckling with a pink beak picks up a fat volume and discovers, in the irritated comment of the title, that it has no pictures. "Can you read it?" asks his sidekick, a bug. "I'm not sure," says the duckling. "Words are so difficult." In luminous watercolors, Ruzzier (Two Mice) shows the duckling and bug crossing into a strange, many-colored world, where unfamiliar words are represented as odd machines, blobby shapes, and bizarre creatures. When the duckling stumbles on a word he knows ("bee," "flower"), its recognizable image pops up among the mysterious ones. Duckling and bug wander through the ever-changing landscape of reading-"There are wild words... and peaceful words"-before landing cozily in bed. Ruzzier's story offers gentle empathy for kids tackling this intimidating task. Observant readers will note that the endpapers represent learning to read, too; the initial pair retells the story as a beginner might see it, with most of the words scrambled, while the words of the final endpapers read clearly-and no pictures there, either. Ages 3-5. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
When a duckling happens upon a book, theres giddiness -- "A book!" -- until the hard truth sets in: "Where are the pictures?!" An inquisitive bug comes on the scene: "Can you read it?" The ducks reply -- "Im not sure" -- sits on the left-hand side of a double-page spread showing a deep chasm dividing the ducks stark white world from a land of color on the right. The adult reader sees what Ruzzier is up to -- the life of the mind is at stake! -- but to the young reader theres an element of physical danger. As it happens, the found book is so engrossing that the duck cant take its eyes off the page and proceeds unthinkingly across a horizontal log connecting the two worlds. Once across, only the bug (and the reader) notices Ruzziers pen, ink, and watercolor landscapes, some featuring fantastical plants, creatures, and geometric objects. The various tableaux reflect the ducks book-sparked revelations. "Some [words] are funny!" coincides with a whimsical expanse that might have been a deleted scene from Yellow Submarine, and "Some are very sad" shows a desolate war-ravaged landscape. By now the beguiled child reader may or may not be aware that This Is Not a Picture Book! is a pitch for reading -- a magic act that turns words into pictures. (Readers for whom eighty-odd words of duck-on-bug monologue amount to insufficient storytelling can consult the endpapers, which tell the tale in third-person black-and-white English -- at least the second set of endpapers does. The first set is written mostly in pre-reader-esque gobbledygook.) nell beram (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A metafictive delight of a picture book. Alice would be pleased: despite Ruzzier's title, there are plenty of pictures and ample conversation in this picture book. The titular book within the book, however, is illustration-free. This initially causes distress for the duckling protagonist (who oddly has a bellybutton, but that's beside the point) who finds the book in the spreads before the title page. When a bug appears and asks, "Can you read it?" the duckling gives it a try. In a brilliant feat of page layout, the recto depicts a green landscape encroaching on the verso, with a log laid across a chasm as a bridge to the white space on which the duckling and bug stand. Their walk across the log is a visual metaphor for the duckling's successful decoding of the text in its pictureless book. Whole worlds open up to them as the duckling reads aloud. Illustrations depict these worlds evoked by "wild words / and peaceful words," and the duckling ultimately declares that "All these words carry you away." The satisfying conclusion is an affirmation of the transformative power of reading. In one outstanding design touch, the front endpapers tell the not-a-picture-book text in garbled type with transposed letters that one must strain to decode, while the text is clear in its entirety on the back ones. This is a (great) picture book! (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Title notwithstanding, this is a picture book. But it's about the power of words, explained in a visual way. A duckling finds a book lying on the ground, but his interest turns to frustration when he sees that it has no pictures. Encouraged by a friendly bookbug, the duckling tries to read the book. The accompanying picture shows him literally crossing a bridge into the world of words, where the illustrations are full of rich color and imaginative shapes. When he realizes he can pick out some of the words, the two characters become caught up in the story. Fanciful pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations fill in the spare narrative line. As the duckling gains confidence, the pictures become more detailed and colorful. Unique endpapers add another dimension to the story. The opening ones show just the text of the book with its letters scrambled, while those at the back print it in the correct order, echoing the duckling's beginning and ending as a reader. This imaginative story cleverly invites new readers into an enticing world of discovery.--Whitehurst, Lucinda Copyright 2016 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
A duckling begins this sweet, profound book on the verge of that astonishing moment when groups of letters transform from gobbledygook to words. Finding a book without pictures, he scoffs. But the white pages explode with beautiful images: Now he can read, and it carries him away, then back home. Ruzzier pays a sneaky tribute to the power of words and pictures to work together - and apart. The brilliant endpapers are gibberish at the front, then the plot of the story at the back. SURF'S UP By Kwame Alexander. Illustrated by Daniel Miyares. 30 pp. NorthSouth. $17.95. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) The Newbery winner Alexander ("The Crossover") and the enchanting, versatile Miyares ("Float") playfully topple the "reluctant reader" idea. "You'd rather read a book than go to the beach?" a green frog with a surfboard says to an orange one buried in a book. Well, why choose? The book - about "a man looking for a whale," hint, hint - comes along on their scooter. The orange frog throws out tidbits of the story, and his friend gets hooked too: He dives in while the other catches a wave. WANTED! RALFY RABBIT, BOOK BURGLAR Written and illustrated by Emily Mackenzie. 32 pp. Bloomsbury. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Where have you gone, Peter Rabbit? This bunny is heavily into books - so much so that he starts sneaking into people's bedrooms and making off with the goods. He meets his match in a book-loving boy named Arthur, who sets a trap and catches Ralfy in the act. He gets away, but he's busted by Officer Puddle, who asks Arthur to identify him in a bunny lineup. The silliness is infectious, with Mackenzie's adorable, up-to-date art paying not a lick of homage to Beatrix Potter. A BIG SURPRISE FOR LITTLE CARD By Charise Mericle Harper. Illustrated by Anna Raff. 40 pp. Candlewick. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Not much in life holds the mystique of a child's first library card, and this book celebrates that lovely milestone. In Harper's clever story, Little Card, a cute sneaker-clad fellow with expressive eyebrows, is all set to be a birthday greeting, until he's sent instead to become the library card of a girl named Alex. Of course, they "liked each other instantly." He adjusts to the quiet, and as the library's wonders are revealed, it becomes clear that even if it's not a birthday party, the place has something to offer every day. MOM, DAD, OUR BOOKS, AND ME By Danielle Marcotte. Illustrated by Josée Bisaillon. 32 pp. Owlkids. $16.95. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Gorgeous and sophisticated, this book doesn't just preach about the importance of reading - it shows a world in which reading is all around, woven into life in many interesting ways. A fisherman "reads the sky"; a doctor "reads a thermometer." And the little boy who narrates, a proud new reader, revels in his new solidarity with his parents, relatives and neighbors, who like to be immersed in words. Bisaillon's art strikes just the right readerly tone, somehow both moody and cheerful. ONLINE An expanded visual presentation of this week's column at nytimes.com/books.