A rainy day.
Three kids in a park.
A dinosaur spring rider.
A bag of chalk.
The kids being to draw...
and then...
...
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reviews
Jan 07, 2011
Lisa
rated it: 
What a unique and interesting book. The art style is so different. A part of me wasn’t a fan, but I was wowed anyway. The pictures are so realistic, vivid, vibrant, colorful, and creative.
The story, told all via the pictures (this is a wordless picture book) of three children who draw things on the sidewalk with chalk, things that come to life, will be fun for many kids. The dinosaur is really scary though in some of the illustrations. I can see some very young or sensitive kids bein More...
The story, told all via the pictures (this is a wordless picture book) of three children who draw things on the sidewalk with chalk, things that come to life, will be fun for many kids. The dinosaur is really scary though in some of the illustrations. I can see some very young or sensitive kids bein More...
Oct 26, 2011
Allison
rated it:
Thomson, Bill Chalk 40 pages, Marshall Cavendish Children's Books; Language~G, Sexual Content~G; Violence~G
On a rainy day a group of children come across a bag of chalk. One child decides to use it and draws a sun. Magically, the sun immediately appears. The children then realize that this is magic chalk. Each child takes a turn and their drawings come to life as well! This is fantastic until one child decides to draw a dinosaur with sharp teeth. All of a sudden the children ar More...
On a rainy day a group of children come across a bag of chalk. One child decides to use it and draws a sun. Magically, the sun immediately appears. The children then realize that this is magic chalk. Each child takes a turn and their drawings come to life as well! This is fantastic until one child decides to draw a dinosaur with sharp teeth. All of a sudden the children ar More...
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Nov 23, 2011
Ubalstecha
rated it: 
Three children find a bag of chalk at the playground. Little do they know that the chalk is magical and what they draw comes to life. Unfortunate consequences occur when one of the children decides to draw a dinosaur. Can they escape being eaten?
This is a beautiful picture book, with photo-realistic illustrations and not one word of text. The whole story is told through the pictures, allowing parents to enter into a conversation with their children. Teachers will also love this book, as it More...
This is a beautiful picture book, with photo-realistic illustrations and not one word of text. The whole story is told through the pictures, allowing parents to enter into a conversation with their children. Teachers will also love this book, as it More...
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Oct 05, 2011
Karen
rated it:
Chalk, a wordless picture book, by Bill Thomson is a creative and colorful selection. Thomson’s illustrations are bright and detailed images. Each page is drawn by hand using paint and colored pencils. Each detail is pronounced and the images look like photographs. The characters have realistic facial expressions that enhance the story. In the story, each drawing comes to life becoming part of an easily understood story line without the use of words.
Readers can clearly see what the More...
Readers can clearly see what the More...
Jan 20, 2011
Abigail
rated it: 
Three children find themselves on the playground one rainy afternoon, and discovering a bag of chalk hanging from one of the rides - the dinosaur ride! - they begin to draw. To their surprise and delight, whatever they draw is magically made real: a sunny day, a kaleidoscope of butterflies, a Tyrannosaurus Rex! Now, on the run from their creation (well, the boy's creation, in any event), they must find a way to undo what they have done...
Chosen as one of our January selections for th More...
Chosen as one of our January selections for th More...
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Jan 15, 2011
Erin
rated it:
I really like the pictures in this one despite the sort of over exaggerated facial expressions of the children, especially the maniacal girl vignette that I've heard several people object to. To me, they go with the sort of surrealistic style of both the artwork and the story. The variety of perspectives and detail of the colors pencils make it reminiscent of both Van Allsburg and Wiesner's work- certainly fine company. It's a very creative story with nice illustrations but I do have a coupl
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Jan 07, 2011
Crystal
rated it:
My husband, daughter, and I read Chalk together. Let me start by saying I really enjoy wordless picture books. We had high hopes for the book, but it didn’t live up to our expectations. Don’t get me wrong, Chalk’s illustrations were quite impressive and very different, almost life-like. I guess you could say they are not our cup of tea. The story is simple. Children find chalk and draw pictures which come to life.
I usually flip through a book before reading it to my daughter, but didn More...
I usually flip through a book before reading it to my daughter, but didn More...
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Nov 19, 2010
Jamie
rated it:
I've never read a wordless book before! The ideas for use in the classroom are just rolling! This book is stunning!
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Feb 02, 2012
Chalk was an excellent picture book for young children. Although Chalk did not have any text at all, it was really easy to follow along with the story. This book emphasizes creativity by the portrayal of three children who find some chalk and start drawing, only to find that the pictures they draw come to life! I thought it was really cute when they drew the sun, and they all looked at the real sun in awe. Like Elizabeth said, I did not really like that they decided the chalk was too dangerous a
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Mar 08, 2011
Jeanette
rated it:
Conversation between my kids after reading this book.
5 year old: "I wish magic chalk was real!"
3 year old: "Yes! Maybe I will get some for my birthday! But we can't draw a dinosaur."
5 yo: "Yeah. No dinosaurs. But we could draw a car and going driving."
3 yo: "I will draw books!"
5 yo: "We could give them names and then read them. We could draw Baby Brother's Grizzly and Baby Brother will be so happy that he is real! More...
5 year old: "I wish magic chalk was real!"
3 year old: "Yes! Maybe I will get some for my birthday! But we can't draw a dinosaur."
5 yo: "Yeah. No dinosaurs. But we could draw a car and going driving."
3 yo: "I will draw books!"
5 yo: "We could give them names and then read them. We could draw Baby Brother's Grizzly and Baby Brother will be so happy that he is real! More...
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Mar 02, 2011
Hilary
rated it:
Do you remember your mom hustling you outdoors on a Saturday morning, just after the rain stopped? Did you bump into your buddies (whose parents had also pushed them out the doors after being cooped up inside for SO long?) and head for the park together?
A mysterious gift hangs from the T-rex statue in the park. Is it a coincidence that when the first child draws the sun with the yellow chalk, the sun breaks through the lingering rain clouds and beams brilliantly down upon them?
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A mysterious gift hangs from the T-rex statue in the park. Is it a coincidence that when the first child draws the sun with the yellow chalk, the sun breaks through the lingering rain clouds and beams brilliantly down upon them?
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Feb 08, 2012
As I have expressed before, I really do not like books that do not have words. However, out of all of the books without works, Chalk is definitely not the worst I have ever "read." The book is about three children that find a bag of chalk on a rainy day, and everything they draw comes to life. The book takes a drastic turn when the boy draws a dinosaur and it tries to attack them. It is only when the children decide to draw rain again that the dinosaur disappears. Then the childre
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Nov 17, 2011
Candice
rated it:
Here's another book that parents should take a look at before showing it to their children, as some sensitive children might be scared by a few of the pictures. That being said, I thought this was a wonderful book. It is wordless, so the pictures tell the entire story of three children who, on a rainy day, visit a park and find a bag of chalk hanging from the mouth of a dinosaur ride. One little girl takes a piece of chalk and draws the sun on the sidewalk - and the sun comes out! This is no
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Dec 15, 2010
Mary Ann
rated it:
A young girl asked me the other day, "But is it real?" Young kids are working hard to figure out what belongs to the world of just pretend and what belongs to the "real world". We want to help them make those distinctions, and yet ... and yet... Don't we also want to help them see the magic of our imaginations, the magic in our own real worlds? Chalk, by Bill Thomson, is an amazing wordless book that embraces and celebrates kids' imaginations in a very real way. It's one of m
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Jul 06, 2011
Jennie
rated it:
Age: 4-8
Genre: Wordless picture book
Diversity: Multiracial characters
Illustrations: Brightly colored and detailed images. Great facial expressions drive the story. Depictions of imagination come to life allow the story to be easily understood without any words.
Personal response: I enjoyed this story immensely. I recently used this book in my storytime with three year old children and they enjoyed telling me about what was happening in the pictures.
More...
Genre: Wordless picture book
Diversity: Multiracial characters
Illustrations: Brightly colored and detailed images. Great facial expressions drive the story. Depictions of imagination come to life allow the story to be easily understood without any words.
Personal response: I enjoyed this story immensely. I recently used this book in my storytime with three year old children and they enjoyed telling me about what was happening in the pictures.
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Feb 01, 2012
Jennifer
rated it:
Another wordless gem blending childhood with magic, Bill Thomson's Chalk has photo-realistic art and a mundane opening to lull you into a false sense of normalcy. But the chalk discovered on a rainy playground by three children is anything but normal. A quickly sketched sun dries up the real rain and monarchs crawl out of the pavement to flutter past the astonished friends.
Of course, when drawings are coming to life, there are certain things you shouldn't draw, and the last frien More...
Of course, when drawings are coming to life, there are certain things you shouldn't draw, and the last frien More...
Jun 10, 2011
Dylan & Belle
rated it:
This story is about chalk, not just any ordinary chalk, magical chalk. Do you have any of that kind of chalk? Well, this magical chalk, when you draw a picture with that magical chalk, any picture you like, be careful, don't draw a dinosaur or a dragon, because these pictures come to life. And don't draw a shark either. Here is why you shouldn't draw any dangerous creatures. Would you want a dinosaur to bite you? Do you want the dragon to breathe fire at you? And if you want this magical chalk,
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Jan 23, 2011
Michael
rated it:
A few children find a bag of magic chalk hanging from the mouth of a playground dinosaur ride. They discover that when they draw things on the ground they come to life. The illustrations/pictures are very vivid and have a kind of surreal quality to them. Overall, I really liked the book however, two of the close-ups of the children's faces were somewhat psychotic/maniacal. The story (wordless) in Chalk is fun but I think parts may be a bit scary for younger children especially when the kids
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Oct 16, 2010
Jess
rated it:
This incredibly-illustrated wordless picture book is sure to delight! Most of the time I was reading it, my mouth was gaping open. On a rainy day, three children begin to draw with some sidewalk chalk. As they draw, their images come to life: a sun, butterflies, and a dinosaur (scary!), who eventually washes away when the clever little boy draws a rain cloud inside the playground. The children leave behind their bag of chalk, sure to be found and imagined with by another group of kids. Just an a
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Jan 24, 2012
Chalk was a picture book in which the story was told through illustrations with no words. Nodelman would definitely like this book, because there were two clear oppositions. There was the rainy, gloomy world compared with the magical world that could be created with the chalk. The book shows the pleasures of innocence that children can have by showing that children can go to parks by themselves and pick up random boxes in the street. I really liked this book. I do not usually like books without
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Nov 16, 2010
Inge
rated it:
A very David Wiesner-esque offering. A wordless tale where a plastic T-rex presents magic chalk to a group of children. Whatever the children draw comes to life: butterflies, the sun, and then a terrifying all-too-real T-Rex. A quick thinking child draws some rain clouds and the rain melts the dinosaur in a sort of Wicked Witch of the West type manner.
The plastic dinosaur is reminiscent of Disney's Toy Story, while the rest of the illustrations are so realistic, they seem like photographs. More...
The plastic dinosaur is reminiscent of Disney's Toy Story, while the rest of the illustrations are so realistic, they seem like photographs. More...
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Jan 25, 2012
This book had great illustrations! There were no words, but Bill Thomson wrote the story through the children's lively expressions. In general, the book is about three children finding a bag of chalk and when they draw with it, their pictures come to life.
The only thing I didn't like was the ending, when the kids decide that the chalk is probably too dangerous (at least that's how I interpreted it through the pictures) and they leave the bag after the boy's drawing of a dinosaur came to li More...
The only thing I didn't like was the ending, when the kids decide that the chalk is probably too dangerous (at least that's how I interpreted it through the pictures) and they leave the bag after the boy's drawing of a dinosaur came to li More...
Mar 18, 2010
your neighborhood librarian
rated it:
WOW. A masterpiece of photorealistic art, and a clever wordless story to boot. On a rainy day, three friends find a bag of sidewalk chalk. One girl draws a sun, and the sun comes out, leading them to realize that the things they draw come to life. The boy draws a dinosaur - as boys do - and the kids run screaming into a hiding place, where the boy, in a brainstorm, draws a raincloud, which dissolves the dino, and the drawings, and the kids put their raincoats on and walk home.
As stor More...
As stor More...
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Jan 11, 2011
Kathryn
rated it:
I think this was fun how the chalk art came to life in this world. That said, I'm not sure I was a big fan of the illustrations. I think they were well done but I just am not a big fan of the style (I realized that I recently read another book illustrated by Thompson, Building With Dad, and wasn't wild about the illustrations there, either) and I thought the part with the dinosaur being dissolved in the rain was a bit creepy. But, I thought it was very fun and mysterious/magical how the toy/stat
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Jan 05, 2011
Cheryl in CC NV
rated it:
Maybe 3.5 stars. The idea and the paintings were wonderful. But why did the characters have to make stereo-typical choices of what to draw, and why did the boy have to be the one to fix things?
ETA: It has been brought to my attention that the boy was not necessarily more clever, but just lucky - after all, hew wasn't clever enough to draw a safer thing in the first place. And it was interesting that different ethnic groups were represented among the three children. Still, it's not More...
ETA: It has been brought to my attention that the boy was not necessarily more clever, but just lucky - after all, hew wasn't clever enough to draw a safer thing in the first place. And it was interesting that different ethnic groups were represented among the three children. Still, it's not More...
Jun 30, 2010
Becky
rated it:
Picked it up after Jenn and Julie's raves -- what a cool wordless book! Look for some great facial expressions, lighting, and a stunning level of detail. Conceptually, this would be fun paired with Jumanji.
From the CIP page: "Bill Thomson embraced traditional painting techniques and meticulously painted each illustration by hand, using acrylic paint and colored pencils. His illustrations are not photographs or computer generated images." More on the technique here: http://www.marshallcavendish.us/marshall... More...
From the CIP page: "Bill Thomson embraced traditional painting techniques and meticulously painted each illustration by hand, using acrylic paint and colored pencils. His illustrations are not photographs or computer generated images." More on the technique here: http://www.marshallcavendish.us/marshall... More...
Dec 13, 2010
Toby
rated it:
My first choice this year for innovative illustrations that look computer-generated, but aren't, and that invite us to suspend disbelief in the manner of a classic fantasy - starting in the real world, and this world is hyper-real, until the chalk provides entry into the fantasy world. I found the book mysterious and suspenseful, right up to the successful resolution. And while others make the obvious connection to Jumanji, my first text-to-text connection was with Sylvester and the Magic Pebb
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May 23, 2011
Kris
rated it:
Oh, Bill Thomson, your photo-realistic art gets me every time. This is a gorgeous wordless picture book. I love that the illustrations fill the entire spread - for group read-alouds or one-on-one, readers feel like they're falling into the scene. Thomson's chalk takes Harold's purple crayon to the next level. Whatever is drawn, comes to life. So, if a kid draws a dinosaur...
Wordless books are especially good for readers learning English as a second language. The story can be in whateve More...
Wordless books are especially good for readers learning English as a second language. The story can be in whateve More...
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May 20, 2011
Jamie
rated it:
According to an astute group of first graders, the moral of this story is that if you find a bag of sidewalk chalk somewhere, be sure to only draw things you would want to come to life, like:
1) a girl who will ride bikes with you
2) a whole bunch of money
3) a dinosaur that will only eat your big sister
4) Justin Bieber
I personally think the dinosaur should eat Justin Bieber instead, but whatever. They had a good time taking turns telling this wordless sto More...
1) a girl who will ride bikes with you
2) a whole bunch of money
3) a dinosaur that will only eat your big sister
4) Justin Bieber
I personally think the dinosaur should eat Justin Bieber instead, but whatever. They had a good time taking turns telling this wordless sto More...
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