Time Isn't the Only Thing That Flies

Time Flies
Illustrated by Eric Rohmann
Published by Crown Publishers Inc. New York 1994
ISBN: 0-517-59598-2
Rating: 8/10

Time Flies is a very intriguing  wordless picture book. It shows the adventure of  a bird flying around a dinosaur exhibit in a museum when it suddenly finds itself back in time with real dinosaurs.

I enjoyed this book because not only does it evoke the reader's interest in the bird's travels, but also the history and time of the dinosaurs. Children are always fascinated by these extinct creatures so I felt this was a fun and different approach to show their lives.

The illustrations tell the story effortlessly. They are realistic pictures with a colorful painted like quality. It is fun watching the colors brighten while the bird flies back in time. When it comes back to reality the colors darken, however knowing that the bird has returned to our time and watching it fly into the night was a comforting image regardless of the dark tones.

Frogs Going Up On a Tuesday

Tuesday
Illustrated by David Wiesner
Published by Clarion Books 1991
ISBN: 0-395-55113-7
Rating: 5/10

This wordless picture book was cute, but kind of odd. Wiesner uses illustrations to tell a story of the explorations of frogs on a casual Tuesday night.

The watercolor illustrations are beautiful and show the different unrealistic adventures of the frogs in a vivid manner. The details of even the frogs themselves are so precise. Although the pictures were fun to look at, I was not the biggest fan of the story line. It consisted of frogs floating around at night on lily pads while the rest of the world sleeps. Not my cup of tea, but if any reader is a huge frog fan they might get some enjoyment out of it.

Swiper No Swiping?

Fox's Garden 

Illustrated by Princesse Camcam
Published by Enchanted Lions Book New York
ISBN: 978-1-59270-167-4
Rating: 10/10

I may be a little biased to the Fox's Garden because foxes are my favorite animal, but I still believe that this is an excellent example of a wordless picture book. From the moment I looked at the cover I knew I would fall in love. Foxes are often portrayed as the "bad guys" in children's literature and television, but this book shows children the true side of these beautiful creatures.

Through the illustrations in this book, the reader is shown the story of a mother fox in the bitterness of winter and a little boy who is kind and eager to help. This story line is very clear throughout. With the detailed images you can see the intentions and conflict of the story- the mother fox struggling to keep her kit warm and fed and how the little boy wants to help. The illustrations are soft but detailed enough to still see the wind blowing and the texture of the fox's fur. The reader sees that the boy is able to enter the fox's "garden" (his family's green house) and provide the foxes with food and they return the favor in the end by giving him flowers.

It is an adorable story for children and gives awareness and empathy for different animals in nature. A definite recommendation for wordless picture books from Nat.