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5th out of 82 books
—
165 voters
Blackout
by
John Rocco
One hot summer night in the city, all the power goes out. The TV shuts off and a boy wails, "Mommm!" His sister can no longer use the phone, Mom can't work on her computer, and Dad can't finish cooking dinner. What's a family to do? When they go up to the roof to escape the heat, they find the lights--in stars that can be seen for a change--and so many neighbors it's like...more
Hardcover, 40 pages
Published
May 24th 2011
by Disney-Hyperion
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I love the way this story isn't just about what happens during a blackout, but about the way disconnecting technology and electricity for one evening brought a family close together. The illustrations are beautiful - they show how many colors make up the dark - blues, blacks, grays, greens - and how bright even the stars can seem when nothing else is lit up. This would be a great story to have on hand to read to kids during a power outage, and it's also a neat way to share the experience with ki...more
What a great story with equally great illustrations. On a warm night one family who doesn't realize how plugged into other things they are vs spending time together as a family, is reminded of all the family fun they can have together when they are unplugged, all thanks to a black out that rolls through their city. With the lights off the family is free from distractions and decides to take their fun to their roof, where they star gaze. When other families start heading out doors the party is ta...more
I initially picked this book to read for class based simply on the cover artwork. Urban family, similar to my own (Mother Father, two children)in what seems to be an unexpected moment of togetherness. Something hard to come by in the lives of most busy families.
The first few pages show that, indeed, this is a busy, compartmentalized family. Each deeply involved in separate tasks One member, however, goes from frame to frame seek to spend time with her older sibling,mother and father. Each unabl...more
The first few pages show that, indeed, this is a busy, compartmentalized family. Each deeply involved in separate tasks One member, however, goes from frame to frame seek to spend time with her older sibling,mother and father. Each unabl...more
Rocco, John. Blackout. New York: Disney/Hyperion Books, 2011. Print. 40 p.
Recommended for ages 4 to 8, Blackout takes readers to an evening in the city when the lights go out. The dark, saturated illustrations are presented mostly in panels, appealing to those who enjoy comic books. The book begins with a young boy trying to get his family interested in playing a board game. However, everyone is too emerged in their own lives, aided by technology, to play the game. When the lights go out the fam...more
Recommended for ages 4 to 8, Blackout takes readers to an evening in the city when the lights go out. The dark, saturated illustrations are presented mostly in panels, appealing to those who enjoy comic books. The book begins with a young boy trying to get his family interested in playing a board game. However, everyone is too emerged in their own lives, aided by technology, to play the game. When the lights go out the fam...more
Audience: I think this book would be great for Kindergartens through third grade.
Appeal: The book is written like a comic book. The pictures in this book are detailed and cover up the whole page. There are few words in this book, but it’s fitting for the book. Kids can look at the pictures in the book and see what is going on without reading the words. I think students will be able to relate to this book, even if they have never experienced a blackout.
Application: I would use this book in class...more
Appeal: The book is written like a comic book. The pictures in this book are detailed and cover up the whole page. There are few words in this book, but it’s fitting for the book. Kids can look at the pictures in the book and see what is going on without reading the words. I think students will be able to relate to this book, even if they have never experienced a blackout.
Application: I would use this book in class...more
Audience: This book would be good for both girls and boys in primary grades. It is a good choice for kids today because everything around us is technology related that this book can help show younger kids that we don't always need technology around us.
Appeal: This book is great because the student can relate to the technology aspect and the students can see that their parents are usually busy too. It can give the students the reality check of not always needing phones, computers, televisions and...more
Appeal: This book is great because the student can relate to the technology aspect and the students can see that their parents are usually busy too. It can give the students the reality check of not always needing phones, computers, televisions and...more
Audience: I feel this story would best suit primary grades 1-3. I choose those grades because the pictures are very good in the book and it is written in more of a comic book way. Students would need to know how to read the book.
Appeal: I think this group of kids will like this book because they can relate to their families being busy and having something to do. Also the students will know that they get busy too playing games or even working on homework. I do believe that several of these stude...more
Appeal: I think this group of kids will like this book because they can relate to their families being busy and having something to do. Also the students will know that they get busy too playing games or even working on homework. I do believe that several of these stude...more
Blackout by John Rocco was a great story about family and how sometimes people can get so busy they forget about quality time with their family. In this book the family was all busy doing work, playing or doing work on laptops, watching T.V. and doing things around the house. The young boy in the family wanted to play a board game but everyone was so busy... until one day all the lights in the city went out. They family then went to the roof top and then to the streets where everyone was having...more
In this day and age, technology is becoming a primary focus not only in schools and work, but also, it is taking over the home. John Rocco's story focuses on how if we remove all of this dependence and technology that we might find what we should truly be embracing: our family and community. This story revolves around a contemporary family who have a heavy dependence on technology and worldly matters. One night, the young boy wants the family to play a board game with each other, but they all sh...more
"Blackout" written and illustrated by John Rocco portrays the importance of putting everything aside and spending time with those that mean the most to us. During a summer blackout in the city a family escapes the heat of their home to find a block party on the roof and a party on the street. Free ice-cream, singing, and stars maybe it's not so bad to be cut off from the lights. "But not everyone likes normal," so when the lights turned back on, they sat in the candlelight with one another, whic...more
John Rocco has quite a resume, it would seem. Besides creating the original cover art for the books in Rick Riordan's classic Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, he has worked in a variety of capacities for Disney, and been an animator with the DreamWorks movie studio. That's an impressive stat line, and he has plenty more to his credit. A glance through the pages of Blackout gives one an immediate idea of why John Rocco's talents have been in such demand; his artistic scheming is luminous...more
In a world where everyone is too busy to spend time with family and friends and you are more likely to communicate via text message from two rooms away, the worst thing that could possibly happen is a blackout and the electricity going off. Or is it the worst thing? On a summer night in the city, while mom is working on the computer, dad is cooking dinner and sister is talking on her phone, one boy discovers that when the outside world is taken away there is no choice but to go back to when fami...more
Blackout is my second PICTURE BOOK review.
What a fun book! The pictures and text make me feel like it is a comic book (except the illustration is so much more beautiful than any comic book I know!). But the illustrations are real, and the text is in boxes. It looks to me like New York City.
This is a book that all children I know can relate to, even if they've never been in a blackout. The desire to have someone's attention, only to find that person busy. The overwhelming opportunities that tech...more
What a fun book! The pictures and text make me feel like it is a comic book (except the illustration is so much more beautiful than any comic book I know!). But the illustrations are real, and the text is in boxes. It looks to me like New York City.
This is a book that all children I know can relate to, even if they've never been in a blackout. The desire to have someone's attention, only to find that person busy. The overwhelming opportunities that tech...more
Blackout is a story about a family in the middle of a blackout in their town; as the book opens, the reader sees that the son of the family wants to spend time with his family and play a board game. However, since everyone is so busy with technology (sister is on the phone, mother is on the computer, and the father is cooking), nobody wants to play with him. When the blackout occurs, the family realizes that it is fun to just do the simple things with the family without worrying about technology...more
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Blackout by John Rocco
Genre: Contemporary Picture Book
Summary: It is a busy, hot night in the city. A blended family of 4 is busy in seperate rooms, doing individual activities. Once settled, the power suddenly goes out, and the family is forced to spend the evening together, which turns out to be suprisingly entertaining and enjoyable.
A) John Rocco creates a wonderful picture through his illustrations and words of a family who is seperated and does not spend enough quality time together.
B)O...more
Genre: Contemporary Picture Book
Summary: It is a busy, hot night in the city. A blended family of 4 is busy in seperate rooms, doing individual activities. Once settled, the power suddenly goes out, and the family is forced to spend the evening together, which turns out to be suprisingly entertaining and enjoyable.
A) John Rocco creates a wonderful picture through his illustrations and words of a family who is seperated and does not spend enough quality time together.
B)O...more
Blackout by John Rocco (Hyperion Books, 2011). 37p. Contemporary Picture Book.
Summary: This book shows the average family, very busy with life until suddenly all the lights go out and the family now has time to spend together. The illustrations are accurate and help tell the story with limited words throughout the book.
Critique:
a. This is a good book that shows a good example of how busy modern families are nowadays and don’t have time to spend together. The pictures are very nice as well and...more
Summary: This book shows the average family, very busy with life until suddenly all the lights go out and the family now has time to spend together. The illustrations are accurate and help tell the story with limited words throughout the book.
Critique:
a. This is a good book that shows a good example of how busy modern families are nowadays and don’t have time to spend together. The pictures are very nice as well and...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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It's a normal summer night in the city for this family. The youngest child wants to play a board game, but everyone else is busy, busy, busy. But all of a sudden, all the lights in the whole city go out. Blackout. The stifling heat of the apartment drives the family up and out onto the roof where there’s a block party going on. A block party that extends into the streets with people laughing, singing, and playing. When the lights come back on everything goes back to normal, except for one family...more
Awesome picture book about a multicultural family in the city and how the only thing that makes them slow down is when a blackout occurs. What will they do now? The illustrations initially show the frustration of the little boy with his family and their 'busyness'. When the blackout occurs he is happy and uses it to his advantage. So much so, that when the lights come on again he decides to click them off with the switch to enjoy a little bit more family time. This book is a great family read fo...more
Blackout is the story of a city-wide blackout which causes the people of one particular neighborhood to put aside the technologies of computers and phones and ipods, as well as staying indoors thanks to electric light, and discover their neighbors on the roof of their apartment building and in the streets.
It opens with a single child trying to convince even one family member to play a board game. The response is always: "I'm busy." When all the electricity goes off and everyone is plunged into...more
It opens with a single child trying to convince even one family member to play a board game. The response is always: "I'm busy." When all the electricity goes off and everyone is plunged into...more
In the city where everyone is busy, busy, busy...something terrible happens...a BLACKOUT! Oh no! Now what will these busy, busy people do?
My 7-year-old's thoughts: It was good. My favorite part was when they went upstairs and onto the roof. When they got up there they saw the lights and people! Those two pages were the best. I want to take this to my class and read it to them now!
My thoughts: What a fun story! I love the idea of "turning it all off" and just hanging out together. We've been doi...more
My 7-year-old's thoughts: It was good. My favorite part was when they went upstairs and onto the roof. When they got up there they saw the lights and people! Those two pages were the best. I want to take this to my class and read it to them now!
My thoughts: What a fun story! I love the idea of "turning it all off" and just hanging out together. We've been doi...more
I really liked this short picture book about a multicultural urban family in Manhattan experiencing a blackout. I experienced an earthquake, a blackout, and a heat-out in San Francisco and noticed how it really brought neighbors, strangers, and the whole city together in an amazing and inexplicable way. When the lights are out, or when there's no electricity and therefore you're walking around in a heat-induced coma, you really get to know your neighbors. Also, the lack of light, sounds, and the...more
Blackout is a story about...a blackout. The little boy cannot get his family to play a boardgame with him, because they are too busy. When the power goes out, and they can no longer talk on the phone, work on the computer, or cook on the stove, the family all gets together for some fun by candlelight. They even meet their neighbors outside, who have also gathered out on the rooftops and streets. When the electricity comes back, everything goes back to normal, until the boy turns off the light, a...more
Blackout is a story about all the lights going out in the city. While most of the people in the city were on their phones, and computers, some kids just wanted to play. Thankful at the lights being out, one family takes advantage of the situation and the entire city joins in.
Blackout is a Caldecott Honors book for pictures. The setting is in a city. This is important because cities are typically busy and full of the use of technology and electricity. When that is taken away by the blackout, the...more
Blackout is a Caldecott Honors book for pictures. The setting is in a city. This is important because cities are typically busy and full of the use of technology and electricity. When that is taken away by the blackout, the...more
Everyday we go about our business doing work, cleaning the house, talking to people on the phone. Have you ever thought about what you would do if all of the power not only in your house went out, but the power of the entire city was out? It is very dark. A complete blackout. In this book, a family that is too wrapped up in each of their own work and business are too busy to play a small board game with the youngest boy in the family. He gets very discouraged until all of a sudden, the lights go...more
This is a story about a young boy who simply wants to spend time with his family, but they are alloff doing their own things. However, everything stops once the power goes out, and the entire city of New York must figure out what to do with no electricity.
Genre: picture book.
Setting: New York City
Characterization: You see the characters in the beginning too preoccupied to spend time together, but at the end of the story they all are enjoying time spent with each other.
The plot: How the people of...more
Genre: picture book.
Setting: New York City
Characterization: You see the characters in the beginning too preoccupied to spend time together, but at the end of the story they all are enjoying time spent with each other.
The plot: How the people of...more
Blackout by John Rocco is about a boy wanting to spend time with his family, but they are all too busy for him. His mom is on the computer, his sister is hogging the phone, and his dad is cooking. Everything stops once the power goes out, and the city experiences a black out. The family comes up with ways to entertain themselves and spend time together in this cute book.
This book expands awareness by showing different ways to spend a blackout with a family, such as stargazing or shadow puppets....more
This book expands awareness by showing different ways to spend a blackout with a family, such as stargazing or shadow puppets....more
The 2012 Caldecott Honor Award Blackout by John Rocco is a story about one busy family who is off doing their own business till the power goes out. The family decides to move up on the rooftop where the stars supply light. Even though the lights come back on, the family continues to enjoy the stars and time with each other.
The new and notable story was able to expand the reader’s awareness by letting them take a look in the family’s world. By getting the perspective of the family, the reader is...more
The new and notable story was able to expand the reader’s awareness by letting them take a look in the family’s world. By getting the perspective of the family, the reader is...more
Have you ever endured a long power outage? Remember how you kept flipping the light switch out of habit, forgetting that it didn’t work? It’s possible that author John Rocco has never experienced the sweat and misery of a Southern summer blackout (with kids); but even so, his boldly illustrated new book offers an upbeat perspective on how power outages can bring families and neighbors together by turning off all the distractions.
A little girl living in an urban apartment building with her family...more
A little girl living in an urban apartment building with her family...more
It was a normal summer night in the city. Everyone is busy inside and is not spending time with their family members. Then all of the sudden the power went out. Everyone started playing in the street and on the roof tops. Families are coming together and are enjoying the beautiful summer night. This is dancing and singing under the moonlight.
This book demonstrates the standards in chapter two. There is a conflict on the light going out. There is the setting in the city. There are rounded and fl...more
This book demonstrates the standards in chapter two. There is a conflict on the light going out. There is the setting in the city. There are rounded and fl...more
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John Rocco collaborated with Whoopie Goldberg on the picture book Alice and was Creative Director at Walt Disney Imagineering and served as pre-production art director at Dreamworks for the ? lm Shrek. His children’s books include FU FINDS THE WAY, WOLF! WOLF!, and MOONPOWDER, and his illustrations are also featured on the jackets of Rick Riordan’s best-selling YA series Percy Jackson and the Olym...more
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