I've found an exciting weekly meme called
Kid Konnection, hosted by
Julie P. @ Booking Mama. The first book I want to share is one adults can enjoy, too, along with little folks. It's so dense with things I want to show you that I've photographed some of what's inside.
You Can't Take a Balloon Into the National Gallery ~ by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman, illustrated by Robin Glasser, 2000, children's (Washington, DC)
A girl, her brother, and their grandmother arrive at the National Gallery of Art. Having been there before, the girl knows she can't take her balloon into the gallery, so she leaves it outside with a photographer, who is taking pictures of people posed with her image of George Washington. Oops, an accident! And the balloon flies away, as you can see in the sequence here. What I like best about this story is that the balloon's adventures are echoed in the famous artwork.
The photographer grabs her stuff and chases the balloon (lower left, above). Inside, the family is viewing a statue, same pose. The illustrator, sister to the writer, reproduces the famous artwork that mirrors the action all around the city. The end pages, in my photo below, show a map of where the balloon drifts, looping back toward the gallery. But does it make it before the little girl comes out looking for her balloon? As the family comes out the door and down the front steps, a hand reaches out from the presidential limousine, snags the balloon, and hands it to the photographer.
The whole book is done with images, making it much more effective than these words of mine. To add to the fun, famous people are drawn into various scenes. From the dustjacket:
Appearing throughout this grand adventure are images of thirty-two Americans who have made important controbutions to our nation's history and culture. ... How many of these notable men and women can you find? (And don't peek at the answers in the back of the book until you've found them all!)
I love this 36-page book! Rated: 10 of 10, couldn't put it down. (Still can't, as I keep going back over the pictures and finding more in it.)
What a wonderful book and I loved all of the details. We just visited Washington, DC last weekend so this book would be especially pertinent to my kids right now.
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat book! I can't imagine all the time and energy it takes to make it match up with the exhibits from the museum. Looks interesting!
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a book I would love and I'm way past the kid stage of my life. I'm jotting this title down.
ReplyDeleteKathy (bermudaonion), I'm so far past kid stage that I have great-grandkids, and I loved this book. I got mine from the library, so try finding one at your library. The sisters also wrote about "You Can't Take a Balloon" into a couple of other places, if you can't find this one. I've put both of the others on reserve.
ReplyDeleteMy kids would love this book, especially my son who still loves to play with balloons. The illustrations are so eye-catching.
ReplyDeleteGreat! Now I have to reserve this book to see if I can find all 32 historical figures! lol
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