Colin loves to draw. He makes a fantastically large picture and wants to display it somewhere where everyone in the city can enjoy it. Unfortunately, it seems everyone from the firefighters to the bankers to the museum curator has an excuse. But Colin is very resourceful and settles on the one place where everyone can see his painting, day or night: the sky. Colin turns his painting into a kite. Now his art attracts the attention of the city and soon all the naysayers are clambering for a chance to display Colin's art.
Although adults will spot the message about the public's obsession with fame right away, kids might be more interested in Colin's art-turned-into-kite idea. I won't lie to you, this isn't the most well-crafted book I've read, but Hipshman's illustrations are cheerful and she has a few nice city scenes, like the predictable San Francisco row houses and the cityscape at night.
If it's available at the library you might want to take a look even if just to inspire your kids to take their own art project to the skies.
Want More?
Try reading Grace Lin's Kite Flying
Learn more about the author by reading this article (mentions his friendship with Isabel Allende), his obituary, or watch an interview with Molarsky at age 98.
Find out what other San Francisco books I've reviewed here (okay, just two so far, but that will change!).
Big Kid says: We should put "flying a kite" on our summer to-do list.
I confess that I don't really understand the appeal of the classic story of the Gingerbread Boy. To whom are we supposed to relate? A cookie brat on the run? A crafty fox? The exhausted townsfolk? Enlighten me. I can't figure it out.
. In this modern (and blissfully simple) retelling the sweet and spicy boy jumps out of an apartment window and is chased across New York City by rats, construction workers, subway musicians and mounted police. I admit that this pack would keep me running too! We see lots of familiar sites: subways, high rises, even the ubiquitous apartment clothesline. The fox, of course, lives in the zoo, where he can conveniently "help" the runaway across the pond in Central Park. Egielski's illustrations are bright and fun with detail-filled chase scenes so that even a jaded mom like me can get carried away with the action.
a week or so ago, he has been constantly pulling it off the shelf to read, thus relieving me of the task of making vehicular sound effects while reading to him.
(a New York Times Best Illustrated Book), Savage has created the wonderfully simple and wordless Where's Walrus?. A walrus sneaks out through the zoo gates, and in order to evade the zookeeper he disguises himself by donning the various hats of his fellow city inhabitants such as construction worker, fountain mermaid, plein air painter.... etc.
This sounds very interesting. I can totally see my daughter wanting to do an art kite just so everyone can see it after this book.