Rating: 
Summary: Tuesday's Countdown: 7:58 p.m., 7:59 p.m., 8:00 p.m. Arise!
Review: Tuesday is the most imaginative picture book that I have ever seen. It is a wordless fantasy of people, animals, and plants that allows you to supply your own story. As such, it will provide endless opportunities for you and your child to entertain one another. What really is going on? What does it mean? What will happen next Tuesday? The book is illustrated very much like a graphic novel (a series of comic books bound together in softcover form, if you haven't seen one) but without words. The book does have a few indicators of time and day of the week, that provide the minimal connection to reality needed to launch the story into space. The images here are very whimsical. Frogs fly on lily pads in formation like the Blue Angels, and create lots of unexpected fun. The book is most interesting when you see what happens on the second Tuesday. How about the third? You'll have to use your imagination for that one. This book deserves its Caldecott Medal for outstanding illustrations. In no other book that I can think of do the illustrations carry the story. The book uses vibrant colors, done in a low-key way. Stylistically, it is a take-off on the science fiction and super hero genres in pictures. You will be laughing out loud when you see what the frogs are up to. You will also enjoy the visual puns on textless pages. Where else can pictures tell the story? Have you ever engaged in pantomimes, shadow puppets, or charades with your child? If you haven't, this would be a good time to introduce those enjoyable games. Imagination can take you anywhere you want!
Rating:
Summary: Delightful Display of Vivid Imagination
Review: TUESDAY, by David Wiesner
Book Review Who will be next? Weisner uses no words, which allows readers to develop their own opinions about what exactly is happening. The book is a vivid display of color and detail painted in watercolor. Both children and adults can experience fun and amazement by reading this picture book. As dusk becomes night, something strange happens to animals in this particular town. The story opens and frogs begin to float above their pond, perched upon their lily pads, like genies on flying carpets. As the frogs rise out of the water, they fly in a flock, raiding the town while watchful eyes are asleep. The amphibious creatures fly through linen hanging out to dry and an elderly woman's living room while she is asleep. Then something strange happens to them at dawn. They can no longer soar above and around the town and are reduced to hopping back to their pond without the aid of flight. The following night, another animal is able to fly and see the town in their own new light, once darkness falls.
Rating:
Summary: Monday you can fall apart. Tuesday, Wednesday break my heart
Review: We've all heard the stories of the skies, for whatever reason, raining frogs on innocent town travelers. This natural occurrence of the wild is one of the great weirdnesses of life. So how much odder is it, really, to consider frogs flying? They have all the self-possession required of such a task. Frogs are a uniquely calm species. Confident even. In Dave Wiesner's essentially wordless book "Tuesday", amphibian folk are given the unexplained power of floatation. In his tale, Wiesner considers what exactly frogs would do with the gift of flying if it was granted them. One of the best pictures in this book is on one of the first pages. There, a turtle cowers into its shell as black eyed pupil-less frogs rise on their lily pads out of the water. The frogs descend, so to speak, on a nearby suburb, and proceed to wreak some minor havok. They disturb a man pausing to eat a late night sandwich. They disturb laundry and enter old ladies' homes to watch a little telly. And they take a great amount of pleasure in scaring a dog that would undoubtedly eat them if it had the chance. As the book ends, the frogs are relieved of their otherworldly powers and hop back to the swamps, leaving only their lily pads behind them. The next Tuesday, at the same time, we're given a hint of how a more porcine animal will handle flight. Wiesner is a genius at the visual gag. His illustrations are simple watercolors, well-detailed and in-depth. Wiesner knows when to give an animal human expressions and when to leave it looking particularly froggy. He gets every single one of those frogs' spots down , and can manipulate his illustrations in such a way that you never doubt for a moment the ridiculous things you're seeing. To top it all off, the man's a master at conveying light. I'm particularly attached to a scene of flying frogs watching t.v., a wary cat crouching in the background. The old lady asleep in the chair is wearing glasses that are reflecting the light of the television perfectly. On top of that, this is exactly what a room lit only by a single screen looks like. Wiesner's details are marvelous. Make sure to notice the frog appreciatively eyeing the old lady's painting of the forest. There aren't that many wordless picture books out there these days though Wiesner has made a name for himself by specializing in this area. After reading "Tuesday", you can understand why he deserves this honor. Both witty and perverse, this author/illustrator lets you see into worlds you never could have imagined existed before he came up with them. You'll be thankful that he did.
Rating:
Summary: Monday you can fall apart. Tuesday, Wednesday break my heart
Review: We've all heard the stories of the skies, for whatever reason, raining frogs on innocent town travelers. This natural occurrence of the wild is one of the great weirdnesses of life. So how much odder is it, really, to consider frogs flying? They have all the self-possession required of such a task. Frogs are a uniquely calm species. Confident even. In Dave Wiesner's essentially wordless book "Tuesday", amphibian folk are given the unexplained power of floatation. In his tale, Wiesner considers what exactly frogs would do with the gift of flying if it was granted them. One of the best pictures in this book is on one of the first pages. There, a turtle cowers into its shell as black eyed pupil-less frogs rise on their lily pads out of the water. The frogs descend, so to speak, on a nearby suburb, and proceed to wreak some minor havok. They disturb a man pausing to eat a late night sandwich. They disturb laundry and enter old ladies' homes to watch a little telly. And they take a great amount of pleasure in scaring a dog that would undoubtedly eat them if it had the chance. As the book ends, the frogs are relieved of their otherworldly powers and hop back to the swamps, leaving only their lily pads behind them. The next Tuesday, at the same time, we're given a hint of how a more porcine animal will handle flight. Wiesner is a genius at the visual gag. His illustrations are simple watercolors, well-detailed and in-depth. Wiesner knows when to give an animal human expressions and when to leave it looking particularly froggy. He gets every single one of those frogs' spots down , and can manipulate his illustrations in such a way that you never doubt for a moment the ridiculous things you're seeing. To top it all off, the man's a master at conveying light. I'm particularly attached to a scene of flying frogs watching t.v., a wary cat crouching in the background. The old lady asleep in the chair is wearing glasses that are reflecting the light of the television perfectly. On top of that, this is exactly what a room lit only by a single screen looks like. Wiesner's details are marvelous. Make sure to notice the frog appreciatively eyeing the old lady's painting of the forest. There aren't that many wordless picture books out there these days though Wiesner has made a name for himself by specializing in this area. After reading "Tuesday", you can understand why he deserves this honor. Both witty and perverse, this author/illustrator lets you see into worlds you never could have imagined existed before he came up with them. You'll be thankful that he did.
Rating:
Summary: You make the story
Review: With the few words and the wonderful pictures who can resist but to fill in the blanks and write the rest of the story. Me and my four year old daughter change the story a little every time we read it. It makes you wonder what and why things are happening...why not let your child make up the answers to those very questions. Great to stretch your child's imagination. My personal favorite.
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