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Vera Williams
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From: Steven Engelfried <sengelfried>
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 12:18:14 -0700
Vera Williams conveys a child's voice so well, and she does it visually as well as verbally. Stringbean's personality comes through not just from what he writes, but how he writes it, with the proud cursive signature, the messier writing when he's especially excited, the big plain print when he's mad, and the fun he (and sometimes Fred) have in addressing each postcard. You see the "joie de vivre" that Melody Allen points out in Elana's decorations throughout "Scooter": the acrostics as well as the sketches. You can just page through that book before you read it and get a strong feel for the character of the girl you're about to meet. In "Amber Was Brave," Williams pretty much disregards all conventions of children's book illustrations by putting the color pictures in the back and those perfect pencil sketches with the poems, and it works perfectly. You get the sort of day to day, immediate feelings with black and white scenes, then a bigger, richer visual overview of the family to conclude. In reading that book, I don't think you're supposed to think either girl literally created the illustrations, but they so clearly come from their feelings that I think of them as Amber's or Essie's work, rather than VW's.
- Steven Engelfried, Head of Youth Services
Beaverton City Library
12375 SW 5th Street
Beaverton, OR 97005
503R6%99 sengelfried at ci.beaverton.or.us
Received on Tue 05 Aug 2003 02:18:14 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 12:18:14 -0700
Vera Williams conveys a child's voice so well, and she does it visually as well as verbally. Stringbean's personality comes through not just from what he writes, but how he writes it, with the proud cursive signature, the messier writing when he's especially excited, the big plain print when he's mad, and the fun he (and sometimes Fred) have in addressing each postcard. You see the "joie de vivre" that Melody Allen points out in Elana's decorations throughout "Scooter": the acrostics as well as the sketches. You can just page through that book before you read it and get a strong feel for the character of the girl you're about to meet. In "Amber Was Brave," Williams pretty much disregards all conventions of children's book illustrations by putting the color pictures in the back and those perfect pencil sketches with the poems, and it works perfectly. You get the sort of day to day, immediate feelings with black and white scenes, then a bigger, richer visual overview of the family to conclude. In reading that book, I don't think you're supposed to think either girl literally created the illustrations, but they so clearly come from their feelings that I think of them as Amber's or Essie's work, rather than VW's.
- Steven Engelfried, Head of Youth Services
Beaverton City Library
12375 SW 5th Street
Beaverton, OR 97005
503R6%99 sengelfried at ci.beaverton.or.us
Received on Tue 05 Aug 2003 02:18:14 PM CDT
