Middle Grade Gallery III

This week in the Middle Grade Gallery, a painting (one of several) from a brand-new novel I absolutely adore and can't wait to review.  In the tradition of paintings like the one of the Narnian ship at sea, it's a portal to another, mysterious place. 

It was a painting of a forest at night.  The twigs of leafless trees made a black web against the sky.  A full moon pressed its face through the clouds, touching a path of white stones that led into the dark woods and disappeared.  But it seemed to [her] that somewhere, maybe just at the end of that white path, maybe in the darkness where the moonlight couldn't reach--there was something else within that painting.  Something she could almost see.

[Me again.]  Okay, so there are no trees in Andrew Wyeth's Snow Flurries, 1953 (NGA).  There is the suggestion of a white path, though, and of something else....

I'll reveal (and review) the source of this description next week.  In the meantime, please comment if you can recall any other portal paintings in middle grade novels, so I can add them to my collection.  Thanks!

[The review is here.]

Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Congratulations to Charlotte of Charlotte's Library and Jennifer of Jean Little Library, who correctly identified the source of last month's featured work of art in the Middle Grade Gallery:  The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis.  The rest of you just weren't trying!  It is of course the picture of a Narnian ship at sea that hangs in a back room at Aunt Alberta's (I've always wondered who gave it to her) and becomes a portal into Narnia--or more precisely, into the Narnian sea--for Lucy, Edmund, and their horrible cousin Eustace.  I love this scene in the book and have been very curious about how it will look in the movie (due out December 10); fortunately, it's featured prominently in the trailer.

In the book, the children notice that the things in the picture are moving (Lewis notes that "it didn't look at all like a cinema, either"); then there's wind and noise and a wild, briny smell; finally, "a great, cold salt splash [breaks] right out of the frame." Then the children grow smaller or the picture grows bigger (it's not clear which), and they're all drawn down into the sea.  Here's the trailer for comparison:

What do you think?  Does this scene look as you had imagined it?

Alphabeasties is just my type

The animals in Alphabeasties and Other Amazing Types by Sharon Werner and Sarah Forss (Blue Apple Books, 2009) are created--or composed, as in printing--of type.  There's a different typeface for each animal, from Volta EF Aaaa's for alligator to American Typewriter Zzzz's for zebra (as seen on the cover), with lots of clever combinations, like Bauhaus Dddd's for dog (it's a Dachsund, of course) in between. The result is a playful and sophisticated alphabet book that works for little kids, big kids, and their design-minded parents, too.

In a brief introduction to typefaces and to the concept of the book, Werner and Fosse ask readers to think of a word to describe each animal and consider whether that word also describes the typeface used to create it--a nice exercise in visual thinking.  My favorite match of typeface to animal might be the shaggy sheep (see below).  The typeface is Giddyup, except for a sans-serif band around the middle where the sheep has been sheared (with scissors): 

There's more witty letter-and-wordplay in the sidebars, where you'll find embroidered E's, zippered Z's, and a mouthful of T's, among multiple examples for each letter; as well as gatefolds that open horizontally or vertically to reveal the alligator's open jaws or (another favorite) the unicorn's flowing mane.  [See more interior photos at Werner Design Werks flickr; it was hard to pick!]

Ultimately, Alphabeasties reminds its readers that a b sounds like a b no matter what it looks like (little kids will appreciate that), but a Fette Fraktur B...that's a different animal.  Can you guess which one?

[N.b. Review copy provided by the publisher; thank you!  Alphabeasties is also available at the NGA Shop (that's where I saw it first).  For the littlest kids, there are Alphabeasties Flash Cards (the typeface animals are on the front of the cards; flip them over to make two floor puzzles).   And for everyone else, there's the Alphabeasties Amazing Activity Book as well.]

Middle Grade Gallery II

This week in the Middle Grade Gallery, a work of art which might be more familiar than the portrait of Oldknow children we looked at last week, and maybe even instantly recognizable.  As you read, try to imagine what this work of art looks like (I'm not a visual thinker, so I have to remind myself to do this):

It was a picture of a ship--a ship sailing nearly straight towards you.  Her prow was gilded and shaped like the head of a dragon with wide open mouth.  She had only one mast and one large, square sail which was a rich purple.  the sides of the ship--what you could see of them where the gilded wings of the dragon ended--were green.  She had just run up to the top of one glorious blue wave, and the nearer slope of that wave came down towards you, with streaks and bubbles on it.  She was obviously running fast before a gay wind, listing over a little on her port side.  All the sunlight fell on her from that side, and the water on that side was full of greens and purples.  On the other, it was darker blue from the shadow of the ship.

[Me again.]  It doesn't look anything like Fitz Henry Lane's Lumber Schooners at Evening on Penobscot Bay, 1853 (NGA), does it?  In many ways the two paintings are exactly opposite, yet I think they share the same magical quality (hint).  If you can identify the source, please be sure to leave a comment so I don't lose faith in my readership.

[See this post for the answer.]