Raúl Colón has illustrated several highly acclaimed picture books including the New York Times bestselling Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt and Susanna Reich’s José! Born to Dance, which received a starred review in Booklist. Mr. Colón lived in Puerto Rico as a young boy and now resides in New City, New York, with his family.
A wordless picture book celebrates the power of art and
imagination. A little boy reads about Africa and then creates his
own adventures with his pencils and paints. Wordless books require
readers to slow down and read the pictures, and careful children
will see beyond the main storyline by looking at the whole
illustration. Why is the boy in bed and not outside? The inhaler
and bottle of medicine on the side table are hints. But binoculars
and an umbrella on the other side of the table tell them that he is
not always bedridden. As he draws, he falls deeply into the rich
world of his imaginary Africa. First he draws an elephant, and then
he rides away on it. He paints zebras, has a sandwich for lunch,
records a giraffe stampede and shares one of his many other
sandwiches with the gorillas. After a hair-raising encounter with
an aggressive rhino, the little artist shares his pencils and food
with other primates, who return the favor and sketch him. Colón’s
signature scratched-watercolor technique adds richness and emotion
to this warm story, but it’s the framing scenes at beginning and
end that really sparkle here. Simple line-and-color washes put the
young man at the center of the story and help readers identify with
him. Young artists, reach for your sketchbooks. (Picture book.
4-8)
*Kirkus, May 2014 *STARRED REVIEW*
Using watercolor and colored pencils, Colón has created a wordless
book (based on his childhood) that speaks volumes. A boy, home for
the day perhaps because of an illness, sits on his bed reading a
book about Africa. He begins to draw. Five identical, intensely
colored pictures of the boy with an easel, art supplies, and a pit
helmet increase in size as readers begin this richly imagined day
on a safari. He draws an elephant as an egret watches, and atop the
elephant’s back, the boy and bird find a herd of zebras. They pose
for him as he sits on a stump. Giraffes thunder by, raising clouds
of golden dust. The boy draws them, his body aslant as his eyes
follow them. He draws a gorilla, who holds his helmet and shares
his sandwich. He draws lions, a water buffalo, and a hippo before
sighting a charging rhinoceros. Running with all his might, he
barely escapes the rhino. Baboons retrieve his pencils, set up his
easel, and draw him. They also eat his sandwiches as the day slides
into evening. A spread poignantly captures the parting of boy and
elephant. Eyes closed, he lays his head against his friend’s side
while the elephant’s trunk gently caresses the boy’s cheek. As six
identical paintings decrease in size, the book returns to the boy’s
pale room, now strewn with drawings. The final scene shows the boy
at school, holding the elephant’s picture front and center. The
pleasure the boy takes in making and sharing his art is palpable.
Young artists will love this book, as will all children who know
the joy of exploring their own imaginations. A must-have for every
library.
*School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW*
In Colón’s (Baseball Is...) wordless fantasy, a boy lies on his
bed, his sketchbook on the floor; he’s lost in a large book titled
Africa. As he takes up his sketchbook and begins to draw, small
full-color panels of himself setting off across the African veldt
sail forth from his mind like thought balloons. On the next page,
he’s entered his fantasy fully; he’s in the African grasslands,
carrying his drawing supplies and waving to a nearby elephant.
After obligingly allowing its portrait to be drawn, the elephant
carries the boy to meet other animals who pose for him—zebras,
giraffes, and hippos. A rhinoceros portrait ends in near-calamity;
a gang of baboons draw the boy. After a tender goodbye to the
elephant, another series of sunlit panels retreats into the boy’s
head as he returns to real life. Colón’s visual signature is the
use of finely combed lines to trace the contours of his figures, a
technique that’s at once delicate and sensuous. It’s a strongly
developed and executed account of a childhood fantasy, urging all
young artists to dream and to draw. Ages 4–8. Agency: Morgan Gaynin
Inc. (Sept.)
*Publishers Weekly, 6/23/14 *STARRED REVIEW*
A boy in bed, asthma inhaler within reach, sketchbook at his side,
looking at a book about Africa, is not confined by the walls of his
room. As he begins to draw, he takes a journey. The palette changes
from subdued pen-and-ink with wash in the bedroom to vibrant hues
textured with scratched-in lines that seem to pulse, capturing the
landscape and animals of Africa. On this wordless art safari, based
on Colón’s own childhood imaginings, first up is the elephant. This
fellow is so pleased with the boy’s portrait of him that he then
accompanies the boy on his “hunt.” They spot a zeal of zebras (one
watches as the boy creates) and a pride of lions. A charging
rhinoceros is calmed when shown a sketch of himself—made just in
the nick of time! Youngsters will pore over each spread in wonder,
soaking up the details. Upon his “return,” the traveling artist
shares his pictures with his classmates. A true celebration of
where our imaginations can take us.
*August 1, 2014*
A young artist, inspired by his books about African animals, is
transported to an imaginary safari in this dreamy wordless book.
Armed only with his pencil, sketch pad, and easel, this budding
Leonardo finds his models in the African landscape—an elephant,
zebras, giraffes, lions, gorillas (one of whom snatches the boy’s
pith helmet and lunch)—and all willing to pose. He has some
adventures—a rhino charges him but is quickly placated when the boy
shows it (from the safe distance of a tree branch) the portrait he
drew. Then a group of baboons take the boy’s drawing implements and
turn the tables by sketching him (and it’s not a terribly
flattering portrait!). Ultimately he ends up back in his own
bedroom, surrounded by the books that inspired him and the sketches
we saw him make on his safari. The story line is engaging and easy
to follow, and, while it’s whimsical, the majesty of the animals
comes through in both the boy’s sketches and the main
illustrations. Colón’s pen-and-ink, watercolor, colored-pencil, and
lithograph pencil pictures are nicely textured and tinged with
golden hues. A final illustration shows the boy sharing his artwork
in a class presentation; an appended author’s note describes
Colón’s “aha moment” for the book.
*Sept/Oct 2014*
In this marvelous wordless adventure, Raúl Colón (Abuelo) takes us
on safari through a boy artist's imagination. Colón, who suffered
from asthma as a child, calls to mind in pictures here what Robert
Louis Stevenson's words do in "The Land of Counterpane." Colón uses
his pencils to summon a safari's worth of animals. The boy artist,
pictured in bed in pen-and-inks and watercolor, looks at a book
about Africa, a safari hat, sketchbook and stash of pencils nearby.
A sequence of full-color images in Colón's signature compositions
leads us into the creations of the artist in his imagination. The
two styles clearly delineate the bedbound child and his imagined
self as artist on safari. The young artist appears with canteen and
easel slung over his shoulders, waving to an elephant. The elephant
stops to model for a portrait. You could teach an art class from
observing the young artist's lines. The elephant, pleased with the
results, offers the boy a ride. Zebras pause by an acacia tree for
a portrait; the boy contorts himself to sketch a herd of
swift-moving giraffes. He gazes at a pride of lions from a safe
distance, and a gorilla grabs the boy's hat and lunch as the price
for posing. The climax involves a charging rhino in a
heart-stopping four-part sequence.The book closes as it opens, with
a sequence that charts a poignant parting from his pachyderm
friend, and a return to the boy's bedroom. One last image takes the
boy from his solitary work to an appreciative audience. Bravo!
--Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness Discover: A
marvelous wordless adventure in which a bedbound artist takes
readers on safari via his imagination.
*September 23, 2014*
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