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Don't Let the Pigeon
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From: Linnea Hendrickson <lhendr>
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 23:17:23 -0700
I'd like to respond to Sally's question about what makes the art in
"Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" worthy of a Caldecott honor medal.
As she suggests, it is the depiction of the pigeon's wide-ranging emotions and personality with just a few strokes of crayon and a limited palette of colors that helps to make this book distinguished. The art looks simiple enough to be done by a child (and this is also part of its appeal), but it is not easy to convey so much meaning and emotion, and tell a story so well and so completely using such simple means. The story starts and ends on the endpapers, making use of every inch of space. The pastel backgrounds on each page, that vary just slightly one from the other, make the book pleasing to the eye, and provide a nice background for the stark white speech balloons with their hand-written typewriter-like lettering. Motion lines depict action, and the pigeon?s eye (we never see more than one at a time) and posture depict his/her feelings. The pigeon runs off the edge of one page, appearing at the edge of the following page. The pace accelerates in the page with multiple panels, divided by the various pastel colors, when the pigeon pleads in rapid-fire succession: I?ll be your best friend! How about I give you five bucks? No fair!, etc., finishing with ?Fine!? But of course that kind of fine means not fine at all. Turn the page to find an entire spectacular temper tantrum on one double-paged spread. The pacing of words and images is perfect. The simple pictures show up well from across a room, and children can join in reading aloud. The words themselves are part of the design and the art of this book. Art, design, and words together create a delightful visual experience that practically demands to be performed with audience participation. All this from just a few marks on a page.
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 23:17:23 -0700
I'd like to respond to Sally's question about what makes the art in
"Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" worthy of a Caldecott honor medal.
As she suggests, it is the depiction of the pigeon's wide-ranging emotions and personality with just a few strokes of crayon and a limited palette of colors that helps to make this book distinguished. The art looks simiple enough to be done by a child (and this is also part of its appeal), but it is not easy to convey so much meaning and emotion, and tell a story so well and so completely using such simple means. The story starts and ends on the endpapers, making use of every inch of space. The pastel backgrounds on each page, that vary just slightly one from the other, make the book pleasing to the eye, and provide a nice background for the stark white speech balloons with their hand-written typewriter-like lettering. Motion lines depict action, and the pigeon?s eye (we never see more than one at a time) and posture depict his/her feelings. The pigeon runs off the edge of one page, appearing at the edge of the following page. The pace accelerates in the page with multiple panels, divided by the various pastel colors, when the pigeon pleads in rapid-fire succession: I?ll be your best friend! How about I give you five bucks? No fair!, etc., finishing with ?Fine!? But of course that kind of fine means not fine at all. Turn the page to find an entire spectacular temper tantrum on one double-paged spread. The pacing of words and images is perfect. The simple pictures show up well from across a room, and children can join in reading aloud. The words themselves are part of the design and the art of this book. Art, design, and words together create a delightful visual experience that practically demands to be performed with audience participation. All this from just a few marks on a page.
-- Linnea Linnea Hendrickson Albuquerque, NM Lhendr at unm.edu http://www.unm.edu/~lhendrReceived on Thu 29 Jan 2004 12:17:23 AM CST
