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43rd out of 76 books
—
225 voters
Black and White
Four stories are told simultaneously, with each double-page spread divided into quadrants. The stories do not necessarily take place at the same moment in time, but are they really one story?
Paperback, 32 pages
Published
October 24th 2005
by Sandpiper
(first published 1990)
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A book with four stories in one, or all one story. There are four different episodes. Illustrations are different in each episode and help move story along further.
I'm surprised by the number of low ratings for this book. I think that may be because it's not a traditional book. It's quite a complicated little book with four (or more) stories linked (perhaps) in some way other than sequential (perhaps).
Commuters are waiting for a train. A boy is waiting for his parents. Another boy is waiting for his train ride to end. The train is waiting for some cows to get off the tracks so it can be on its way.
The problem for most readers is, I think, that each part...more
Commuters are waiting for a train. A boy is waiting for his parents. Another boy is waiting for his train ride to end. The train is waiting for some cows to get off the tracks so it can be on its way.
The problem for most readers is, I think, that each part...more
David Macauly, with his 1990 Caldecott Medal-winning book 'Black and White', no doubt turned the picture book industry on its ear when it came to light nearly a quarter century ago. At first glance, this clever and off-beat book seems to house four different stories- each moved forward across two adjacent, side-by-side pages divided into quadrants. The pictures that accompany each of these unfolding stories couldn't be more different- one is presented as a circular swirl of earth-tone colors on...more
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The picture book Black and White by Macaulay is a third grade reading level. The story is done in a 2 part style. The illustrations are part black and white and the other half is in color. The story is about a boy whose parents are so busy with their lives and commuting to work that they never spend much time or notice their kids. One day a boy is on a train and it is delayed because a herd of cows are on the tracks. The parents are at the train station waiting for the train. As more and more pe...more
To be honest, this book was a little bit confusing to me. I had to read it a couple of times to understand it. The book is written in what almost appears to be four separate stories. Only after finishing the four little stories, does the reader realize that in a small way, the stories are actually linked together. The first story was about a boy who was taking a train ride without his parents for the first time. The train runs near some large boulders, which actually turn out to be cows. Then, h...more
Black and White was written in 1990 and won the Caldecott (outstanding illustration) in 1991. When you first pick up Black and White you might be confused by the four panes you find on the first page. The book actually tells four separate stories, but using his creativity, David Macaulay melds them all into one. The theme ‘black and white’ is recurring through the thief/grandma character dressed in black and white, as well as with the Holstein cows and printed newspaper. On one page spread, all...more
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This book is laid out in a vertical, or portrait, format. However, this book is also very unique in that the font changes. The pages of the story are all separated into four sections and each section represents it's own story. Therefore, since each section seems to be it's own individual story, the font in each section is different, although for the most part it seems to be a type of formal font. The look of the illustrations also is different in each section of the pages. For example, the illus...more
This book at first glance seems to be different than most. The book is in a portrait style, the front and back do not give away what the story could be about. On the back at first glance looks like a cow behind but if you look closely it has a face and a hand with the finger pointing. When you first open the book on the dust cover there is a warning about the book. Continuing on the first page has the title and a picture of what looks like jail bars that have been cut open with bed sheets hangin...more
Out of all of the children’s books that I have read, this was definitely one of the more confusing ones. Before I read I book, my human mind naturally expects there to be a clear-cut moral, beginning, and ending. I typically expect to understand everything and then I am thrown off when I don’t necessarily see the point. That is exactly what happened when I read this book. I was expecting each of the four stories to have a clear ending but it did not work out that way. Agreeing with multiple othe...more
I'm a little saddened by reading some of the reviews here. Don't take your own expectations into this book. It is meant to be explored, not read. If you feel confused at the end... Well... Don't. You didn't miss the point. This book doesn't untie all the knots it suggests, and that is OK. Some books have good guys and bad guys, and an easily stated moral at the end. This is not that kind of book. There are four rather mundane premises at the start. The magic is that it takes these everyday begin...more
Black and White by David Macaulay was a very confusing and unusual book. Instead of just being one story throughout there seemed to be four different stories that went in order every time. It was like story 1, 2, 3, 4 then back to story 1, 2, 3, and 4 again. There are many different ways you can interpret this book. The first time you read it you might just think it is four random stories put together in one book. However, if you look closely you will see that they all sort of interlock with eac...more
Black and White is a very interesting book, currently I'm not sure if I mean this is a good or bad way. It uses four different point of views that may or may not tell the same story, according to the books front page. This along with the four stories that seem to have no point gets the reader confused enough to start thinking about how everything relates and the authors ultimate point in writing this book. However, the fact that this book is so open to interpretation could make it perfect for a...more
Black and White is an interesting picturebook because it is separated into four stories. However, as the author advises, these four stories, might just make up one whole story. I enjoyed the illustrations and how each of the four stoires had their own font and theme. I really like the cows' story because there were images within the drawings of the cows. I thought that was very clever. I think that if this book was read to young children, they would be confused about the four different stories....more
I liked this book, and it was mainly because of all of the pictures in the book. It really opened my eyes into how different every book and story can be and how they are unique in their own individual way. As I read the book I think I figured out that it is a most modern book. Even though I do not like those types of books because I do not believe that they will be easy and simple for children to understand and comprehend, I thought that this one was better than the rest that I have read.
I liked...more
I liked...more
The Title of the book and the colors that coincide with it do not match at all, but this definitely makes a statement as to what the book is actually about. From the very beggining it gives the reader a warning about how the four stories of the book may or may not fit together. The very first time I read this book I got to the end and was kind of confused. I had to go back and reread it and flip back and forth through the pictures sometimes to fully make a connection and understanding of the boo...more
I have to say that I did not connect with this book all that much. It seems a bit chaotic and complicated for the simple text and idea. It seems like there was no real plot, but everything that occurred was a weird web of events that have something to do with each other. There are quite a few instances where the text did not fit the text, or that there was a secret meaning to it. I found it interesting that there was such a variety in the form of the text. Sometimes it looked traditional, other...more
Black and White by David Macaulay is definitely interesting. I read it with my younger sister and we both were a little confused as we read it aloud. There are four mini stories on each page that later you find connect with one another. It's a good concept, but I don't think it was well done. Having some of the pictures connect with each other helps a little but other than that, I was confused for half the story. Maybe I was so confused because I expected the book to be about something that is b...more
“Black and White” by David Macaulay was something out of the ordinary. It wasn’t anything I expected it to be. I was curious about the title because “Black and White” could mean anything and could be about anything. I was interested to see that it started at four different stories going on. Each story has a different style of visuals. The pictures look completely different and the fonts changed as well. The individual stories made me smile and laugh a lot because I thought each of them were hila...more
Black and White – David Macauley
Grade: 5-8
Pages: 32
Theme: Animals, Trains, Families, Stories within a Story
Awards: Caldecott Medal 1991
Genre: Picture Book
Response: At first glance, this book seemed fit for younger readers. But after reading through it, it’s definitely geared for older students. There are 4 stories within this book, all of which seem to have no connection. You have to find all the little things that connect them all together, such as one story taking place in a train, while in a...more
Grade: 5-8
Pages: 32
Theme: Animals, Trains, Families, Stories within a Story
Awards: Caldecott Medal 1991
Genre: Picture Book
Response: At first glance, this book seemed fit for younger readers. But after reading through it, it’s definitely geared for older students. There are 4 stories within this book, all of which seem to have no connection. You have to find all the little things that connect them all together, such as one story taking place in a train, while in a...more
Four seemingly unrelated stories unfold simultaneously: a boy rides home on a train; two kids' parents start acting strangely; a group of professionals waits at a train stop; and a criminal gets caught up with an unruly herd of cows.
Each story is told with a different art and narrative style. The boy-on-the-train portion is told with small, circular watercolor scenes; the kids and parents story is in sepia tone, looking like a realistic graphic novel; the train station story is colorful, realist...more
Each story is told with a different art and narrative style. The boy-on-the-train portion is told with small, circular watercolor scenes; the kids and parents story is in sepia tone, looking like a realistic graphic novel; the train station story is colorful, realist...more
Summary-
Black and White is a picture book meant for older readers from 5th grade and up. There is a disclaimer in the beginning of the story that says, “Careful inspection of both words and pictures is recommended.” Black and White contains 4 different stories that all progress simultaneously. They connect in various ways including newspapers, cows, trains, and the colors black and white. Things happen in the stories that somehow link them together. “Seeing Things,” is the first story about a bo...more
Black and White is a picture book meant for older readers from 5th grade and up. There is a disclaimer in the beginning of the story that says, “Careful inspection of both words and pictures is recommended.” Black and White contains 4 different stories that all progress simultaneously. They connect in various ways including newspapers, cows, trains, and the colors black and white. Things happen in the stories that somehow link them together. “Seeing Things,” is the first story about a bo...more
Black and White by David Macaulay was an interesting story. Macaulay provides a warning on the inside book flap stating that the book contains four different stories that may actually be one story. Each story happened within its own quadrants and at various times you could see one story creeping into another. The stories could not seem more different at first, but after reading the book several times a new connection is made each time. It was difficult to think of the book as a whole and certain...more
Feb 15, 2012
Alex Alfaro
added it
Although the disclaimer at the beginning of the book states, “this book appears to contain a number of stories that do not necessarily occur at the same time. Then again, it may contain only one story. In any event, careful inspection of both words and pictures is recommended", Black and White was a very difficult book for me to read. The aesthetics of the book were cool and seemed almost like a comic book broken up into the 4 sections of "seeing things", "a waiting game", "problem parents", and...more
Picture book for older readers
The Caldecott Award winning book Black and White by David Macaulay was a book that would be perfect for older readers. This book contained four stories each having have a page of a two page spread. One story was abou the little boy on a train ride, the second story was about the little boys family as his mom and dad dressed up in newspaper, the third story was abou the passangers waiting on a arriving train, and lastly, was a story about lost cows. Each story turned...more
The Caldecott Award winning book Black and White by David Macaulay was a book that would be perfect for older readers. This book contained four stories each having have a page of a two page spread. One story was abou the little boy on a train ride, the second story was about the little boys family as his mom and dad dressed up in newspaper, the third story was abou the passangers waiting on a arriving train, and lastly, was a story about lost cows. Each story turned...more
Black and White was a very interesting book to say the least. I found it extremely confusing until we really broke it down in class. I am not sure if it would be high up on my list of books I would want to read to children. The style of it is kind of cool. It has four different stories with four different points of views, however, they are all intertwined with each other.
This book has four different story lines to it. One from a boy who is riding the train returning home, a boy dealing with hi...more
This book has four different story lines to it. One from a boy who is riding the train returning home, a boy dealing with hi...more
This is an incredibly intricate and complicated story about four different things-- a train, a boy, his parents, and cows. But there is an overarching story that connects them altogether in a very subtle way that really shows what picture books are capable of doing.
Summary:
Impatient commuter wait for a train. A boy attempts to communicate with his parents. Commuters wait for a delayed train. And holstein cows, notoriously hard to see in the field, block a train.
Characters:
Boy: An imaginative boy...more
Summary:
Impatient commuter wait for a train. A boy attempts to communicate with his parents. Commuters wait for a delayed train. And holstein cows, notoriously hard to see in the field, block a train.
Characters:
Boy: An imaginative boy...more
There are four different stories within Black and White, but by analyzing the illustrations, the reader discovers that all of the stories are linked. This makes the book different from others. By only reading the texts of each story, there would be no way to know the connection between them. Therefore, the pictures offer another function than just illustrating text; they provide a different viewpoint and extend the plot. In addition, the coloring of each story is unique. One of the stories in Bl...more
I thought this story was pretty confusing at the beginning,but then started to make sense towards the end.I have never read another story that has 3 different topics going on through the whole book, and then somehow all coming to a close together at the end. I guess it could teach people, especially kids to comprehend everything your reading, and not to skim stories,because you will end up missing a big a part of the story and will have to go back and re-read. I think it also teaches to multitas...more
This story was very weird to me and i was confused at the beginning. Then i realized how much that Macaulay would use illusions throughout the story. I think that's a great way to keep the reader interested in what is going on throughout the story. I still saw that it was fasinating but this book is definitely for older children to look at because younger children might not be able to understand the illusions and see the different things within the pictures.
I thought of a few activities that wou...more
I thought of a few activities that wou...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Forms of the Novel for Young Readers | 1 | 1 | Apr 10, 2012 04:22pm | |
| MCC Children's Li...: black and white | 1 | 1 | Apr 04, 2012 12:15pm |
David Macaulay, born in 1946, was eleven when his parents moved from England to Bloomfield, New Jersey. He found himself having to adjust from an idyllic English childhood to life in a fast paced American city. During this time he began to draw seriously, and after graduating from high school he enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). After spending his fifth year at RISD in Rome on...more
More about David Macaulay...
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