Riverbend was a quiet little town, the kind of place where one day was just like all the rest and nothing ever happened. Occasionally the stagecoac...
read full description
reviews
Feb 05, 2012
Germaine (Marie)
rated it: 
This book is portrait orientated because it depicts a community of people. The color in this book is something to be discussed. I think it was excellently used through the scribbling - which enhances its appeal to a child when being read out loud. It uses bright colors of red, purple, green, blue and yellow - all typical colors that a child would use when coloring. The art technique that is used is something I am very familiar with because it's the only art technique that I can do - scribbling/c
More...
Oct 19, 2011
Abby
rated it:
Choosing this book from the library shelf, I flipped through it quickly and saw that it had been scribbled in. It was a library book; I was a little dismayed but not surprised that some kid with crayons had gotten a hold of it. I was also surprised at the drawings; Chris Van Allsburg is one of my favorite illustrators, so the simple (and poorly rendered) contour drawings were disappointing at first. But then I started reading, and began to understand the concept. Van Allsburg knew just what he w
More...
Sep 20, 2011
Katie
rated it:
Bad Day at Riverbend is a hilarious story of an old western town. One day something strange happens, the stage coach stops in town. The stage coach is also covered in crazy colored greasy squiggles. The town is in a panic as the greasy squiggles spread.
Chris Van Allsburg never ceases to amaze me at his creativity. The pictures are my favorite. They look as if a child has scribbled all over them. It isn't until the end of the book when you find out the town is really in a colori More...
Chris Van Allsburg never ceases to amaze me at his creativity. The pictures are my favorite. They look as if a child has scribbled all over them. It isn't until the end of the book when you find out the town is really in a colori More...
Nov 25, 2011
Robert
rated it:
Van Allsburg demonstrates his genius with this book. He broke out of his comfort zone artistically by abandoning his sculpture-like illustrations (until the end) and crafted a pen and ink style coloring book. Of course, the beauty is in the tale as we see scribbles all over. What a unique perspective! This is so different.
A must read for any Van Allsburg fan!
I had not read this before, but I was aware of the coloring that is in the book. The librarian at the public libra More...
A must read for any Van Allsburg fan!
I had not read this before, but I was aware of the coloring that is in the book. The librarian at the public libra More...
Feb 14, 2011
Samantha
rated it: 
It's hard to say what meaning there may be to this book, except perhaps to keep your imagination open to unseen possibilities. The illustrations are striking. It seems almost that the story was built around the images. The illustrations are mostly all full-bleed (so to speak). The background is all in black and white outlines, like in a coloring book. Then, crayon-like scribble marks fill certain parts of the images. The main colors are fiery (red, dark pink, and a yellow-orange), but blue, gree
More...
Feb 06, 2012
Vicky
rated it: 
The pictures in this book are nothing short of interesting. Instead of great amounts of detail and bright colors, the pictures look pencil drawn and are colored with scribbles in primary colors like red, yellow, and blue. The book definitely appeals to kids in this way, because it looks like a child colored in the pictures. I also think this is a book that really opens up the imagination. The story itself mixes with the pictures and makes the reader feel like there is something a little off. I t
More...
Feb 06, 2012
Carlie
rated it: 
Bad Day at Riverbend was written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg. The book has a portrait shape and the illustrations inside are double page spreads. The illustrations are black and white and resemble pictures found in a coloring book. As you read through the story different colored crayon appears on the pages representing shiny, greasy slime. The illustrations are full bleed and there are no boarders. The pictures are one dimensional until you reach the last few pages of the story where t
More...
Oct 10, 2011
Ryan
rated it:
Chris Van Allsburg's Bad Day at Riverbend was a great book for children, boys and girls. The story was set in a quiet little town in the 1800’s. All of the sudden one day strange appearances begin to happen. A stagecoach roles into town and stops. Little squiggles of some substance begin beaming off of the stage coach. These squiggles continue to spread, this is when Sheriff Ned Hardy decides to take matters into his own hands. In the end of the book you come to find that this quiet little town
More...
May 07, 2010
Ronyell
rated it:
“Bad Day at Riverbend” is a unique book from Chris Van Allsburg about how Sheriff Ned Hardy discovers a mysterious light coming from the sky and causes mayhem in the town of Riverbend. “Bad Day at Riverbend” is a very unique book that children will take some interest in; however the story itself may bore many children since there are too many scenes that slow up the story.
Chris Van Allsburg’s illustrations are highly creative as he draws the characters and the settings in a coloring More...
Chris Van Allsburg’s illustrations are highly creative as he draws the characters and the settings in a coloring More...
Mar 25, 2010
Stacy
rated it:
I'm doing a review of an artist for my 1st grader's class, and I picked Van Allsburg. I watched an interview with him on the internet, and found him quite pleasant. He explained where he got the inspiration for this book - from looking at a Disney coloring book of his daughter's, in particular a drawing of Tiger Lily in peril, with her hands up and a frightened look on her face. His daughter had scribbled over the picture, and it looked to him like Tiger Lily was reacting to the crayon lines
More...
Oct 13, 2011
Shinji
rated it:
This is chris van allsburg’s book, so I expected that I could see his soft and beautiful illustrations which make me nostalgic, but at first, I couldn’t because the color of illustrations are black and white, sometimes, color messed up with crayon. To tell the truth, It was boring to read at first, because of too simple illustrations and ungraspable story. However, when I finished reading this story, I could felt what I expected!!! In last part of this book, you can see his nice illustrations an
More...
Feb 06, 2012
Honah
rated it:
The illustrations in this book are enhancing because just reading the text would not give the full affect of a coloring book being colored by a child. The bright colors randomly cropping up in scribbled lines over certain images on the black and white illustrations serve to represent a little boy coloring in a coloring book and the story is about what goes on inside the book. The simple black and white think lines accurately depict the images of a coloring book. While the illustrations at the en
More...
Sep 26, 2011
Hannah
rated it:
This books illustrations are very different from the other books I have read by him. They are more like a rough draft drawing with absolutely no color in the beginning. The pictures are still the main focus, very big, with the text at the river bottom. Once he adds color, it is like scribbles of one solild color on the horses who are acting very strange. After reading the whole story I found I really enjoyed this book. The little boy was coloring in his coloring book, so I believe the text was w
More...
Sep 03, 2010
Josiah
rated it:
The concept behind this book could hardly have been created by a mind other than that of the brilliant Chris Van Allsburg. Bad Day At Riverbend packs many ingenious little twists into such a brief story, leaving the reader guessing as to what is really going on and on the edge of his or her seat to see how it will all end.
There's not a whole lot more that can be said without giving away something, but you'll notice right from the beginning that the artwork isn't exactly up to the s More...
There's not a whole lot more that can be said without giving away something, but you'll notice right from the beginning that the artwork isn't exactly up to the s More...
Aug 25, 2010
Jessica
rated it:
This book would be great for children because they can relate to the message. The book is about how a city is being taken over by a "grease". However, at the end of the book, the reader realizes that it was really a little boy coloring and he was making up this story in his head. The reason that children would enjoy this book so much is because they will be able to recognize that it is a coloring book and it might make them want to create their own stories out of a coloring book! Readi
More...
Mar 22, 2011
Lynette
rated it:
I liked the illustrations of this story. As you go throguht the pages it makes you wonder what is the illustrator doing by scribbling. Also it shows random picture (stick people). I like how it all comes together at the end, and in reality it is a little boy just coloring. All the pages the illustrations were full bleed. There wasn't that much color but the drawings did extend to the edge of the page. I thought the concept of scibbling the color was a different concept that I have not seen befor
More...
Aug 25, 2010
Brittany
rated it:
This book is such a good approach to sparking children's interest in picture books. It is creative and different than a lot of other children's books. It invites children to make predictions along the way. It requires an additional read to put together how every facet works to make the specific ending. This book would be at starting a new literacy station where children can color their own blank coloring pages and then write a story about their picture. It sparks individual creativity and innova
More...
Sep 18, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
Bad Day at Riverbed is a story inside of a story. This story is black and white apart from the color marks left by the crayon. This story is about a boy who is coloring in his coloring book. Inside of the coloring book is a sheriff who is trying to save his town from the greasy slime that freezes people. The greasy slime that freezes people is the crayon marks which are made by the boy. The light that the sheriff keeps seeing is the coloring book pages as the boy is turning the pages.
Aug 25, 2010
Ashley
rated it:
In class we discussed that this book would be a good way to encourage your students to make predictions about what is going to happen next. This book had a twist at the end, which makes it different from others that I have read. I feel that this book would be excellent to use for children who are a bit apprehensive about reading because the illustrations mimic those of a coloring book. It is extremely imaginative, and seems like children would have a lot of fun with it.
May 04, 2010
Amber
rated it:
This is a cute book. This book is a book about prediction and what you think has happened in the book. The pictures are mysteriously receiving marks on the pages and they do not know where those marks are coming from. With this, you could have the children make a chart of what they think has happened in this book. They could make a prediction of what has happend to the main characters and the other characters in the book and why do they think it is a bad day at riverbend.
Mar 19, 2008
J
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Dec 23, 2011
Matthew
rated it:
I'm partial to this story because Van Allsburg explained its inspiration at an author event I was lucky enough to attend. His own daughter gave him the inspiration for this book by drawing in a Little Mermaid coloring book on a picture of Ariel looking shocked. I enjoyed this story so much and I have to admit, the fact that we only come to understand but not see a solution to the problem the Riverbenders face is part of what I liked about this story. Cool book.
Aug 25, 2010
Katherine
rated it:
This book would be excellent to use for younger grades like Kindergarten and First Grade. It helps the child and the teacher use their imagination and try find out the ending of the story themselves. This book is wonderful for asking questions to kids and let the question marinate and then see what the ending is like. This story helps enlighten childrens imagionations and make predictions of what they feel the story is trying to portray. I highly reccomend it!
Feb 14, 2011
Dani
rated it:
Bad Day at Riverbend by Chris VanAllsburg is an incredibly unique book with a fun twist at the end. The story is based around a secluded town that undergoes several trials as a mysterious "sticky stuff" rattles the townspeople's lives. The pictures look like they are straight out of a coloring book, which fits perfectly with the surprise ending. A perfect book for children. My only setback was the slow-moving story.
Nov 28, 2011
Karina
rated it:
Chris Van Allsburg's Bad Day at Riverbend was an interesting read. I really enjoyed the illustrations. Before getting to the end of the book, I thought that children who read this book will want to try to color in the pictures because they look like they are from a coloring book, but it never occurred to me that it would actually be a coloring book within the story.
I'm not sure of what the significance of the book is, all I could think of is the concept of an expanding imagination. Chi More...
I'm not sure of what the significance of the book is, all I could think of is the concept of an expanding imagination. Chi More...
Aug 25, 2010
Brittnay
rated it:
As I was listening to the story, I kept waiting and predicting what really was happening. This kind of distracted me from taking in the whole story. The ending though, made it worth the wait. It was very unexpected and has changed the way I think about coloring books. This book would be great for teaching students that a story can be made out of anything we interact with in our life.
Aug 25, 2010
Rachel
rated it:
This book was insightful because the plot was unique to most books. Instead of a normal plot, with a beginning, middle, and end; the ending was open ended but also it brought in a new perspective. Great way to connect self to text for the students. Also, this books allows for extension assignments and infinite amount of literacy projects associated to the book.
Aug 25, 2010
Danielle
rated it:
I enjoyed this book, it is very unpredictable. This would be a great book for children who do not enjoy reading. You could pull several activites from this book. By giving a child a few pages of a color book and have them write a story to go along with it. This is also a good book to make children learn to make predictions while reading stories.
Aug 25, 2010
Tania
rated it:
I think this would be an excellent book to use to get students who don't feel comfortable reading or those who feel like they can't read. This book will allow them to illustrate the story themselves and interpret the story based off of their illustrations. This will help the student that once felt like they couldn't read become a reader! :)
Feb 06, 2012
Vanessa
rated it:
As I was reading this book, I imagined that it had something to do with a coloring book. The illustrations are outlined with a black line as they are in coloring books. The crayon lines reminded me a little kid that was drawing. Also the colors that were used were bright. There is a symmetrical relationship between the text and illustrations as well as an enhancing one.
