PICTURE BOOK - Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers

Illustrated by the author

2010 Philomel Books

Still in print 8/18 - HC $17.99

40 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.07 - 2849 ratings

My rating: 4

Endpapers: florescent orange

1^st line/s:  "Once there were two friends....who always did everything together."

My comments:  This is, apparently, the fourth book Oliver Jeffers has written about "the boy."  It's a heartwarming story of friendship - between this boy and his penguin buddy - and the penguin's desire to try out flying.  Very cute, very Oliver Jeffers.  Must find others about "the boy!
1 - How to Catch a Star
2 - Lost and Found
3 - The Way Back Home

Goodreads:  From the illustrator of the #1 smash hit The Day the Crayons Quit comes a humorous, resonant tale about the value of shared experiences.
          A penguin has wings for a reason . . . doesn't he? Having a best friend with his own airplane is one thing, but actually experiencing what it feels like to fly by himself? Here is one penguin who believes this is precisely what he needs to feel complete. Only . . . if flying by himself is so wonderful, then why does he feel so empty?Because some experiences are better shared. (And penguins are much happier on the ground.)
          Oliver Jeffers delivers the perfect companion to his much-loved Lost and Found. Penguins everywhere will take flight in delight.

PICTURE BOOK - A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston

2016, Candlewick Press

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.11 - 921 ratings

My rating: 3.5

Endpapers: Scrolling books titles and authors

Illustrations:  "Hand-lettered, and the typographical landscapes were typeset in Adobe Garamond Pro.  The illustrations were done in watercolor, pencil, and digital collage."  Very little color

1^st line/s:
"I am a child of books.  
I come from a world of stories
and upon my imagination
I float.
I have sailed across a sea of words
to ask if you will come away with me.
Some people have forgotten where I live
but along these words I can show you the way. ..."

My comments:  This book is not a story.  It's a collection of ideas about imagination, reading, and being swept away by words.  It's a poem for readers, an ode to book lovers.  The illustrations are held together and created by words themselves, parts of pages and texts and paragraphs from children's books - mainly classics.  I don't consider it a children's book (I can only think of a few kids I've read aloud to in the past that would sit still all the way through this), but a wonderful adult picture book.

Goodreads:  New York Times best-selling author-illustrator Oliver Jeffers and fine artist Sam Winston deliver a lyrical picture book inspiring readers of all ages to create, to question, to explore, and to imagine.
     A little girl sails her raft across a sea of words, arriving at the house of a small boy and calling him away on an adventure. Through forests of fairy tales and across mountains of make-believe, the two travel together on a fantastical journey that unlocks the boy’s imagination. Now a lifetime of magic and adventure lies ahead of him . . . but who will be next? 
     Combining elegant images by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston’s typographical landscapes shaped from excerpts of children’s classics and lullabies, A Child of Books is a stunning prose poem on the rewards of reading and sharing stories—an immersive and unforgettable reading experience that readers will want to pass on to others.

This Moose Belongs to Me - Oliver Jeffers

Illustrated by the author

2012, Philomel/Penguin

HC $16.99

32 pages

for: kids...even older ones....or ESPECIALLY older ones!

Goodreads rating: 4.03

My rating: 4.5

Endpapers: a long, blue colored pencil line drawn across the page, turning at the end of each row, so that it looks like the string Wilfred unwinds so he won't get lost in the woods.

Illustrations: "The art for this book was made from a mishmash of oil painting onto old linotype and painted landscapes, and a bit of technical wizardry thrown in the mix here and there."

1^st line: "Wilfred owned a moose."

My comments:  I so enjoy this wonderfully creative writer and illustrator.  Each book I read tickles me even more than the previous one!  This one, about sharing friends, is doubly fun because of the moose angle - my favorite animal if I had to have one!

Goodreads summary:  Wilfred owned a moose. He hadn't always owned a moose. The moose came to him a while ago and he knew, just KNEW, that it was meant to be his. He thought he would call him Marcel. 

Most of the time Marcel is very obedient, abiding by the many rules of How to Be a Good Pet. But imagine Wilfred's surprise when one dark day, while deep in the woods, someone else claims the moose as their own..

The Heart and the Bottle - Oliver Jeffers

Philomel Books/Penguin Group, 2010
$17.99
32 pages of THICK cardstock
For: well....great for adults.....
Endpapers: Blue-line drawings of the young girl and her father

The very first illustration is of a little girls and her father in the forest. The little girl has stick legs and the flowers have no leaves. I was reminded immediately of The Great Paper Caper and I was right - this is the same author and illustrator. The father always wears pants, so you can't see his stick legs.

The little girl is an explorer, a questioner, nurtured and guided by her dad. In the evening he sits in his chair by the window and they discuss the "curiosities of the world." Then, one day the chair is empty. The little girl feels she needs to protect her heart so she puts it in a bottle around her neck. Her joy, her curiousity about the world is gone. As her life continues, the bottle gets bulkier and more awkward, but when she tries to take her heart out of the bottle, she cannot get it out. It takes another curious, questioning little girl to help her....and the book ends with her sitting, as an adult, in the empty chair with a huge pile of books beside her.

Grief is a simple thing. It's not complicated at all. It just.......is.

There's a video on the internet of Oliver Jeffers. He's from Northern Ireland with the adorable accent to prove it. I find his story interesting, clever, and beautifully illustrated. It grew on me more and more with each reading. But I'm not sure how or if a very young child would understand it.....

There's a difference between Heart and the Bottle and Heart IN the Bottle. An interesting discussion-in-my-head.

The Great Paper Caper - Oliver Jeffers

2008
Rating: 4
$17.99
Endpapers: Blue graph paper, notes and directions for making (and throwing) a paper airplane

"This book is made from a mixture of painting, collaging, and a wee bit of digital tweaking." Don't you love it???

In the forest, animals enter their homes from a door in a tree, then climb down a ladder to their abode. But then something strange begins to happen - branches are being sawed from trees. So an investigation begins ... and after thorough contemplation, the culprit is caught. During a quick trial he confesses and explains why he needed the wool He had to win a paper airplane contest and he had run out of paper. He had to make more, so he had meant no harm -- and will replant trees.

Very cool funky illustrations....although I'm not sure why everyone had stick legs. Hmmm. Is this how Mr. Jeffers always illustrates? I must begin an investigation!