The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Ehh. I really like Marla Frazee. She has a charm reminiscent of greats like [a:Virginia Lee Burton|15450|Virginia Lee Burton|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1301112042p2/15450.jpg] or [a:Wanda Gág|5051196|Wanda Gág|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1324138406p2/5051196.jpg], and the draftsmanship of [a:Robert McCloskey|14635|Robert McCloskey|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1201020229p2/14635.jpg]. She usually uses sweeping curved lines that draw my eyes through the expanse of the double-page spread. Her pages are usually packed (but uncluttered) with unique figure drawings that belie so much work and study. So I have to say I was disappointed she gave these visual traditions up in Farmer & Clown in favor of a plain horizon line and mostly two repeated figures. Sure, there're plenty of dynamic visual elements, and a train full of clowns. But...
I respect her for trying something different, but now that this book is a strong contender for Caldecott (this coming monday), I have to say I'll be disappointed if she wins gold for this when she and Scanlon only got the silver for [b:All the World|6562659|All the World|Liz Garton Scanlon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1261156591s/6562659.jpg|6755510]. Well okay, that's too harsh. I should be happy for her overall for an awesome professional life. But I didn't like this as much of her past body of work, and I happened to read it right before the awards get announced.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment