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Revision as of 19:12, 26 March 2009
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{{infoboxsort
|sort=Way Back Home
|title=The Way Back Home
|author=Oliver Jeffers
|reviewer=Magda Healey
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Captivating, distinctive artwork of the highest quality and a decent story make this picture book definitely worth a look, worth a read and, if it's your thing, worth buying too.
|rating=4.5
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|format=Hardback
|pages=32
|publisher=Harper Collins Children's Books
|date=3 Sep 2007
|isbn=978-0007182282
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007182287</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>0399250743</amazonus>
}}
Oliver Jeffers has achieved pretty universal acclaim in the world of picture
books: critical acclaim, rewards and popularity with readers. ''The Way Back Home'' returns to his character called simply Boy, known from his [[How to Catch a Star]] and [[Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers|Lost and Found]]. This time Boy finds an aeroplane in the cupboard and decides to give it a ride. After running out of petrol, he finds himself stuck on the moon with an alien who had just crash landed there too. They make friends and together they find a way to help each other get out of the scrape.
The story is OK: nothing special in itself, but a nice, simple tale with a bit of moral and a great sweep of "everything is possible" so typical of children's imagination. But of course the story comes to life and reaches a completely different level thanks to the wonderful artwork that has became Jeffers' trademark.
It's delicate, mesmerising and sophisticated, cartoony and simple, almost minimalist, but also utterly magical; subtle and rich. It works perfectly with the story, and lifts it from a simple tale to a dreamlike quality that will captivate not only children but many an adult too.
I particularly liked all the double-spreads with sky, sea, space and
mountains: mostly large spaces filled with colour and the contrastingly small characters doing whatever they were doing according to a logic of a children's fantasy or a dream.
I am generally a word-oriented reader, and thus I would give this book 4 stars, those who buy their picture books more for pictures, it would be probably a 4.5 if not 5 star example. Definitely worth a look, worth a read and, if it's your thing, worth buying too, for all pre-schoolers aged 2.5 to about 4.
Thanks to HarperCollins for sending this to the BookBag.
If this book appeals to you then you might also enjoy [[Shine Moon Shine]] by [[:Category:David Conway|David Conway]].
{{amazontext|amazon=0007182287}}
{{commenthead}}
|sort=Way Back Home
|title=The Way Back Home
|author=Oliver Jeffers
|reviewer=Magda Healey
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Captivating, distinctive artwork of the highest quality and a decent story make this picture book definitely worth a look, worth a read and, if it's your thing, worth buying too.
|rating=4.5
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|format=Hardback
|pages=32
|publisher=Harper Collins Children's Books
|date=3 Sep 2007
|isbn=978-0007182282
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007182287</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>0399250743</amazonus>
}}
Oliver Jeffers has achieved pretty universal acclaim in the world of picture
books: critical acclaim, rewards and popularity with readers. ''The Way Back Home'' returns to his character called simply Boy, known from his [[How to Catch a Star]] and [[Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers|Lost and Found]]. This time Boy finds an aeroplane in the cupboard and decides to give it a ride. After running out of petrol, he finds himself stuck on the moon with an alien who had just crash landed there too. They make friends and together they find a way to help each other get out of the scrape.
The story is OK: nothing special in itself, but a nice, simple tale with a bit of moral and a great sweep of "everything is possible" so typical of children's imagination. But of course the story comes to life and reaches a completely different level thanks to the wonderful artwork that has became Jeffers' trademark.
It's delicate, mesmerising and sophisticated, cartoony and simple, almost minimalist, but also utterly magical; subtle and rich. It works perfectly with the story, and lifts it from a simple tale to a dreamlike quality that will captivate not only children but many an adult too.
I particularly liked all the double-spreads with sky, sea, space and
mountains: mostly large spaces filled with colour and the contrastingly small characters doing whatever they were doing according to a logic of a children's fantasy or a dream.
I am generally a word-oriented reader, and thus I would give this book 4 stars, those who buy their picture books more for pictures, it would be probably a 4.5 if not 5 star example. Definitely worth a look, worth a read and, if it's your thing, worth buying too, for all pre-schoolers aged 2.5 to about 4.
Thanks to HarperCollins for sending this to the BookBag.
If this book appeals to you then you might also enjoy [[Shine Moon Shine]] by [[:Category:David Conway|David Conway]].
{{amazontext|amazon=0007182287}}
{{commenthead}}
