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Out of the Blue
An evocative wordless book about the mysteries of the sea from acclaimed illustrator Alison Jay.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published June 30, 2014
1 person is currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Alison Jay
113 books48 followersAlison Jay was born in Hertfordshire, grew up in Derbyshire and studied graphic design in London where she now lives. After graduating she worked in animation for a short while but gradually started to get commissions in illustration. She works in Alkyd a quick drying oil paint on paper and sometimes adds a crackle varnish to give the work an aged appearance. She has worked in all areas of illustration including
advertising ,packaging, editorial and design. Her commission's include a 48 sheet poster for B.T, a TV commercial for Kellogg's corn flakes and has recently illustrated the new baby range of products for Crabtree and Evelyn. She has also illustrated lots of children's books including 'Picture This', 'William and the night train','The Race', 'I
took the moon for a walk', 'The Emperors new clothes, If Kisses were colours, 'ABC Alphabet', an unabridged fully illustrated version of 'Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland',Listen Listen', 'Welcome to the Zoo', 'A Child's first Counting Book', 'Today is the Birthday of the World' and 'Nursery Rhyme Rainbow'. She recently worked with Aardman Animation on the development
of a feature film and is currently working on a version of 'The Nutcracker'.
Her book 'Welcome to the Zoo' which is a wordless visit to a cage less 'animal hotel' has been selected as one of New York's Bank Street's 2009 best
books of the year.
advertising ,packaging, editorial and design. Her commission's include a 48 sheet poster for B.T, a TV commercial for Kellogg's corn flakes and has recently illustrated the new baby range of products for Crabtree and Evelyn. She has also illustrated lots of children's books including 'Picture This', 'William and the night train','The Race', 'I
took the moon for a walk', 'The Emperors new clothes, If Kisses were colours, 'ABC Alphabet', an unabridged fully illustrated version of 'Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland',Listen Listen', 'Welcome to the Zoo', 'A Child's first Counting Book', 'Today is the Birthday of the World' and 'Nursery Rhyme Rainbow'. She recently worked with Aardman Animation on the development
of a feature film and is currently working on a version of 'The Nutcracker'.
Her book 'Welcome to the Zoo' which is a wordless visit to a cage less 'animal hotel' has been selected as one of New York's Bank Street's 2009 best
books of the year.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
October 30, 2021
This is an adorable fun wordless story for you to tell the story as you’d like. With seashore end notes at the end.
Jay’s pictures are wonderful! I always see something new when I got back for another round. And often very funny and heartwarming. I loved this simple but beautiful story.
Jay’s pictures are wonderful! I always see something new when I got back for another round. And often very funny and heartwarming. I loved this simple but beautiful story.
February 9, 2019
Out of the Blue by Alison Jay is a wordless picture book. I think this book would be good for children who have an unqiue imagination. They would be able to tell their own story of what they think is going on throughout the book. I would recommend this book to a kindergaten class to see what the children would believe it going on.
November 8, 2015
It’s fantasy, it’s surrealistic, but it’s also a story of everyone working together to save a stranded octopus. Alison Jay uses small and large pictures to show the story in this beautiful wordless picture book. My granddaughter and I pored over the pictures to understand what was happening, the emotions felt and the actions taken. Two young children live in a lighthouse, and go out to play on the beach when the unexpected happens. It’s a different kind of story, but became more and more interesting as we turned the pages.
September 27, 2014
A wordless look at life in a lighthouse and all the fun of beachlife.
Oil paint illustrations give the story a vintage feel.
Following the story are short paragraphs of information pertaining to topics in the book: life by the sea, tides, rock/tide pools, crabs, jellyfish, rubbish, starfish, the giant octopus, and lighthouses. PreK-2.
Oil paint illustrations give the story a vintage feel.
Following the story are short paragraphs of information pertaining to topics in the book: life by the sea, tides, rock/tide pools, crabs, jellyfish, rubbish, starfish, the giant octopus, and lighthouses. PreK-2.
September 25, 2017
Title: Out of the Blue
Author: Alison Jay
Illustrator: Alison Jay
Genre: Wordless Picture Book
Theme: Nature, empathy, lending a helping hand, friendship
Opening Line/Sentence: There is no opening line because it’s a wordless picture book.
Brief Book Summary: A little boy meets a little girl on the beach and they play together. A storm comes and everyone on the beach goes home. The next morning, a giant octopus has washed up on the beach and is trapped in a net. The little boy and girl work together with birds, cats, dogs, and other sea creatures to untangle the octopus and set it free in the ocean.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
http://www.clcd.com.ezaccess.librarie...
Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2014 (Vol. 82, No. 9))
Jay's distinctive media and style combine to present a wordless, fantastic beach story of adventure and compassion. Cover art, frontmatter and opening illustrations introduce key characters and objects, aligning readers with the boy protagonist in his beachcombing activity as they search the pictures for detail. The boy meets a little girl who joins him in his play, but then everyone out at sea and on the beach flees for cover when a storm rolls in. The boy retreats to his lighthouse home, the next day waking to see a giant octopus that has emerged "out of the blue" and been washed up on the beach. Others have netted it to the ground, but when the boy discovers that it's still alive, he acts with the girl and others to free it and pull it back to sea. The oil paintings with crackling varnish are stunning in their narrative clarity as panels establish temporal sequence. On the other hand, the story reads like two pieces forced together—the beachcombing-play scenario and then the octopus story, and pacing would have been improved with a shorter first piece. Backmatter pages provide information about giant octopi, lighthouses, tides, jellyfish and other story details, but these aren't rich in content and end up seeming superfluous. A beautiful if rather sprawling beach book.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
http://www.hornbookguide.com.ezaccess...
Jay, Alison Out of the Blue
32 pp. Barefoot 2014. ISBN 978-1-78285-042-7
(3) K-3 A lighthouse-dwelling boy and his friend find an octopus washed up on shore, trapped in a net. They band together with some sea creatures to liberate the animal. This wordless book delivers its subtle point through its fantastical oils with crackling varnish. (Look for one sea creature's clandestine liberation of a fishing boat's captives.) Information about tide pools, marine animals, and lighthouses is appended.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: I agree with most of the first review and all of the second. The illustrations are absolutely phenomenal and I felt like I was in the story. However, I don’t agree with the different parts of the story being forced together. I liked the way the story flowed and the first part of the story was essential to develop background knowledge.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: The octopus takes up a large majority of the page, so clearly the author wants the reader to pay attention to the octopus. The scenery is light and cheerful before the storm comes and once the storm gets there, it’s very dark and scary. The ocean is even shown to have a lot of depth because sea creatures of varying sizes are placed close up and far away. It gets eerier the deeper you get.
Consideration of Instructional Application: In my classroom, a mini lesson could be introducing the different sea creatures that are depicted in this book and what they look like and where in the ocean they live. After the read aloud, I would have my students pick one of the sea creatures and dramatize the story. By imitating the creature they chose, my students would get a feel for what life is like for that creature. I could connect my lesson to science (animals), history of the ocean, and even empathy and emotions. For example, the octopus had a large tear in its eye when it was trapped and I could teach my students about what the octopus is feeling.
Author: Alison Jay
Illustrator: Alison Jay
Genre: Wordless Picture Book
Theme: Nature, empathy, lending a helping hand, friendship
Opening Line/Sentence: There is no opening line because it’s a wordless picture book.
Brief Book Summary: A little boy meets a little girl on the beach and they play together. A storm comes and everyone on the beach goes home. The next morning, a giant octopus has washed up on the beach and is trapped in a net. The little boy and girl work together with birds, cats, dogs, and other sea creatures to untangle the octopus and set it free in the ocean.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
http://www.clcd.com.ezaccess.librarie...
Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2014 (Vol. 82, No. 9))
Jay's distinctive media and style combine to present a wordless, fantastic beach story of adventure and compassion. Cover art, frontmatter and opening illustrations introduce key characters and objects, aligning readers with the boy protagonist in his beachcombing activity as they search the pictures for detail. The boy meets a little girl who joins him in his play, but then everyone out at sea and on the beach flees for cover when a storm rolls in. The boy retreats to his lighthouse home, the next day waking to see a giant octopus that has emerged "out of the blue" and been washed up on the beach. Others have netted it to the ground, but when the boy discovers that it's still alive, he acts with the girl and others to free it and pull it back to sea. The oil paintings with crackling varnish are stunning in their narrative clarity as panels establish temporal sequence. On the other hand, the story reads like two pieces forced together—the beachcombing-play scenario and then the octopus story, and pacing would have been improved with a shorter first piece. Backmatter pages provide information about giant octopi, lighthouses, tides, jellyfish and other story details, but these aren't rich in content and end up seeming superfluous. A beautiful if rather sprawling beach book.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
http://www.hornbookguide.com.ezaccess...
Jay, Alison Out of the Blue
32 pp. Barefoot 2014. ISBN 978-1-78285-042-7
(3) K-3 A lighthouse-dwelling boy and his friend find an octopus washed up on shore, trapped in a net. They band together with some sea creatures to liberate the animal. This wordless book delivers its subtle point through its fantastical oils with crackling varnish. (Look for one sea creature's clandestine liberation of a fishing boat's captives.) Information about tide pools, marine animals, and lighthouses is appended.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: I agree with most of the first review and all of the second. The illustrations are absolutely phenomenal and I felt like I was in the story. However, I don’t agree with the different parts of the story being forced together. I liked the way the story flowed and the first part of the story was essential to develop background knowledge.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: The octopus takes up a large majority of the page, so clearly the author wants the reader to pay attention to the octopus. The scenery is light and cheerful before the storm comes and once the storm gets there, it’s very dark and scary. The ocean is even shown to have a lot of depth because sea creatures of varying sizes are placed close up and far away. It gets eerier the deeper you get.
Consideration of Instructional Application: In my classroom, a mini lesson could be introducing the different sea creatures that are depicted in this book and what they look like and where in the ocean they live. After the read aloud, I would have my students pick one of the sea creatures and dramatize the story. By imitating the creature they chose, my students would get a feel for what life is like for that creature. I could connect my lesson to science (animals), history of the ocean, and even empathy and emotions. For example, the octopus had a large tear in its eye when it was trapped and I could teach my students about what the octopus is feeling.
October 16, 2018
Summary- Out of the Blue is a wordless picture book created by Alison Jay. The pictures show a couple time lapse pictures to show a developing hurricane as two young children watch from their light house. After the storm, all the people and creatures in the beach band together to save a beached Giant Squid and help return it to the ocean.
Personal Reflection- I enjoyed how this wordless picture book uses time lapse illustrations to show the developing storm as well as the activities and interactions among characters on the beach. This wordless picture book is perfect for children to create their own narration of how characters are feeling and how they can identify with their emotions.
Illustration- The illustrations are well thought out. Its important for the illustrations to be detailed and tell a story because there are no words to explain what is going on. Alison Jay uses the pages to break up sections of pages while each sections tells a different story. She also creates the pictures using these breaks in each illustration like dried sand, which fits with the setting on the beach.
Classroom Connection- Out of the Blue is a great wordless picture book to introduce a writing lesson after summer break. Children can create their own wordless picture book over a highlight of their summer can children can walk around the room creating their own story for their classmates. Additionally, this book could be used in the Science curriculum to help children understand types of clouds and cloud formations. This book would help children identify different clouds in the book and be used to help them with a lesson on weather.
Personal Reflection- I enjoyed how this wordless picture book uses time lapse illustrations to show the developing storm as well as the activities and interactions among characters on the beach. This wordless picture book is perfect for children to create their own narration of how characters are feeling and how they can identify with their emotions.
Illustration- The illustrations are well thought out. Its important for the illustrations to be detailed and tell a story because there are no words to explain what is going on. Alison Jay uses the pages to break up sections of pages while each sections tells a different story. She also creates the pictures using these breaks in each illustration like dried sand, which fits with the setting on the beach.
Classroom Connection- Out of the Blue is a great wordless picture book to introduce a writing lesson after summer break. Children can create their own wordless picture book over a highlight of their summer can children can walk around the room creating their own story for their classmates. Additionally, this book could be used in the Science curriculum to help children understand types of clouds and cloud formations. This book would help children identify different clouds in the book and be used to help them with a lesson on weather.
March 30, 2025
A book without words provides the reader the opportunity to tell their own story. And what a dandy - a child and his dog live in a lighthouse with his father after his mother is eaten by a gigantic octopus. Said kid has to make a tough decision when the tide brings in the murderous eight-tentacled giant. Show compassion and save the beached octopus, or let it flail away until it meets its end as a way of getting revenge? You’ll have to “read” the book to see for yourself what the child decides.
Moral: Every picture tells a story.
Length: The illustrations are so wonderful, you could tell one story per day per picture, or put them all together to tell a very short tale. Reader’s choice.
Favorite Line:
Overall impression: The book is beautiful and has me longing to return to San Diego, where I narrated the setting to be. I cannot wait until Mavis gets to tell me this story when she has some words.
November 24, 2016
I love Alison Jay's artwork and wordless books. There is so much detail and hidden things to find. Welcome to the Zoo is one of my all-time favorite children's books. This one did not disappoint. My littles were mesmerized by the story and participated with their own words. A lovely read about beaches and animals in the sea. And, I love a happy ending.
June 22, 2017
This beautiful wordless book is about a little boy and girl who live in a lighthouse by the beach. They have normal beachy adventures until one morning a giant squid is washed ashore trapped in a net. This book captures your imagination and moves you with a quiet power as the story pulls you along through the illustrations.
June 8, 2019
The boy who lives in the lighthouse is out on the beach when he meets a friend. They play together the whole day.
The next day, a big octopus is tied-up on the beach. The boy takes a picture, but notices the octopus is crying. He and his friend and other creatures cut the lines and help the octopus to the water.
The next day, a big octopus is tied-up on the beach. The boy takes a picture, but notices the octopus is crying. He and his friend and other creatures cut the lines and help the octopus to the water.
October 11, 2021
This book was very unexpected when I opened the cover. It is a wordless picture book with very detailed pictures that give the reader the chance to create their own story in their head. The book goes through children who go for a beach day when thy suddenly find something out of this world. This really gives kids of any age to create such a story that they imagine.
August 5, 2025
Delightful wordless picture book about life by the sea: the humans and animals that live by the light house. Love how everyone pitches in when a huge creature washes ashore. Lovely illustrations with a crackly varnish finish add to the old timey atmosphere. Back has information on life by the sea. Available from Sora Sweet reads!
July 30, 2017
A pretty book - no words - with a marine conservation theme that becomes apparent only at the very end. I wish it had been a bit more prominent. The bit at the end with the giant octopus being pulled into the sea by various people and sea creatures was a nice touch!
January 28, 2019
The main part of this book is a wordless story about a boy who lives in a lighthouse and plays on the beach where a giant octopus is found and rescued. In the back of the book is very interesting info about some creatures found in the oceans.
March 2, 2023
We LOVE this wordless picture book.
The illustrations are so unique and detailed- and we LOVED the story.
I "read" this aloud to K-3 classes, and they were mesmerized.
Amazing story, and a great way to teach about wordless books.
The illustrations are so unique and detailed- and we LOVED the story.
I "read" this aloud to K-3 classes, and they were mesmerized.
Amazing story, and a great way to teach about wordless books.
July 26, 2017
Liked the illustrations for this. Gave me that old school Golden Books feel, except wordless.
November 29, 2017
i dont like is because you wont let me read it
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2018
Read this review and others at http://readingforsanity.blogspot.com/...
Read
March 24, 2021Shelved w/Wordless
July 19, 2024
These were pleasant illustrations and a good story. A boy lives in a lighthouse, and during the day he explores the beach. One day there's a giant squid on the beach! I enjoyed this.
August 9, 2025
Delightful wordless book with discoveries of living by the sea. Loved the crackle in the pictures and various perspective the artist portrayed from above and below the sea.
Read
March 29, 2016Title: Out of the Blue
Author: Alison Jay
Illustrator: Alison Jay
Genre: Wordless Picture Book
Theme(s): helping others, friendships, weather
Opening line/sentence: N/A-Wordless
Brief Book Summary: This wordless picture book is about a boy who lives in a lighthouse on the beach. He loves to play outside with his friend. One day there was a huge storm and when they woke up there was an octopus all tangled up. The boy, others on the each, land animals, and sea animals all helped him get untangled and back into the ocean.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Amina Chaudhri (Booklist, Jul. 1, 2014 (Vol. 110, No. 21))
Starred Review* When you live in a lighthouse, it s part of a normal day to play in tide pools, collect shells and pebbles, and take care of the beach. But a sudden storm disrupts the sunny enchantment and brings a surprise a very large one. Overnight, a giant octopus has washed ashore, its tentacles trapped in fishing line. When the boy notices the tears spilling from the eye of the helpless giant, he knows he must help. Soon, humans and sea creatures alike are banding together to free the octopus back into the ocean. Jay s book is utterly wordless, reliant upon round-edged panels, reminiscent of old camera viewfinders, to guide our eyes through the busy, crackle-varnished scenes for the first half of the book, it s up to the reader to construct the narrative. Our emotions, too, are guided, but gently, up until the poignant moment when the octopus weeps, turning what began as a breezy slice-of-life tale into one about collaboration and compassion. The characters clothing suggests that the story is set in the past, and the endnotes about sea life and lighthouses confirm this. Much like the ocean itself, this book appears placid but can provide endless hours of fascinating perusal. Pair with David Wiesner s Flotsam (2006), and let the imaginations flow with the tides. Preschool-Grade 2
(PUBLISHER: Barefoot Books Inc (Cambridge MA), PUBLISHED: 2014.)
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2014 (Vol. 82, No. 9))
Jay's distinctive media and style combine to present a wordless, fantastic beach story of adventure and compassion.Cover art, frontmatter and opening illustrations introduce key characters and objects, aligning readers with the boy protagonist in his beachcombing activity as they search the pictures for detail. The boy meets a little girl who joins him in his play, but then everyone out at sea and on the beach flees for cover when a storm rolls in. The boy retreats to his lighthouse home, the next day waking to see a giant octopus that has emerged "out of the blue" and been washed up on the beach. Others have netted it to the ground, but when the boy discovers that it's still alive, he acts with the girl and others to free it and pull it back to sea. The oil paintings with crackling varnish are stunning in their narrative clarity as panels establish temporal sequence. On the other hand, the story reads like two pieces forced together—the beachcombing-play scenario and then the octopus story, and pacing would have been improved with a shorter first piece. Backmatter pages provide information about giant octopi, lighthouses, tides, jellyfish and other story details, but these aren't rich in content and end up seeming superfluous.A beautiful if rather sprawling beach book. 2014, Barefoot, 32 pp., $16.99. Category: Picture book. Ages 3 to 7. © 2014 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.
(PUBLISHER: Barefoot Books Inc (Cambridge MA), PUBLISHED: 2014.)
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both of these reviews talked about the way Alison Jay made her images look crackly and old. The first one mentions how narration of this wordless picture book is left to the reader and the second one talks about a few things that could have been changed around with the pictures. Both reviews give a great and similar synopsis of the book, even without words, though the sure of the images and time period of the book.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: This book would be great for creating their own story by using the pictures in this book. Also, this could be a fun book to use when teaching about predication making and what goes into making a prediction. Since this book is wordless, it leaves a lot of room open for interpretation and predictions.
Consideration of Instructional Application: (3-4 sentences in your own words)
I think it would be a fun idea to read half of the story, up to the page with the storm and then just stop. The students would be interpreting the pictures they just saw, and then making a prediction about what will happen after the storm. Then the teacher will show them the rest of the book and make a class book for the students to look at and make interpretations of other classmates’ pictures.
Author: Alison Jay
Illustrator: Alison Jay
Genre: Wordless Picture Book
Theme(s): helping others, friendships, weather
Opening line/sentence: N/A-Wordless
Brief Book Summary: This wordless picture book is about a boy who lives in a lighthouse on the beach. He loves to play outside with his friend. One day there was a huge storm and when they woke up there was an octopus all tangled up. The boy, others on the each, land animals, and sea animals all helped him get untangled and back into the ocean.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Amina Chaudhri (Booklist, Jul. 1, 2014 (Vol. 110, No. 21))
Starred Review* When you live in a lighthouse, it s part of a normal day to play in tide pools, collect shells and pebbles, and take care of the beach. But a sudden storm disrupts the sunny enchantment and brings a surprise a very large one. Overnight, a giant octopus has washed ashore, its tentacles trapped in fishing line. When the boy notices the tears spilling from the eye of the helpless giant, he knows he must help. Soon, humans and sea creatures alike are banding together to free the octopus back into the ocean. Jay s book is utterly wordless, reliant upon round-edged panels, reminiscent of old camera viewfinders, to guide our eyes through the busy, crackle-varnished scenes for the first half of the book, it s up to the reader to construct the narrative. Our emotions, too, are guided, but gently, up until the poignant moment when the octopus weeps, turning what began as a breezy slice-of-life tale into one about collaboration and compassion. The characters clothing suggests that the story is set in the past, and the endnotes about sea life and lighthouses confirm this. Much like the ocean itself, this book appears placid but can provide endless hours of fascinating perusal. Pair with David Wiesner s Flotsam (2006), and let the imaginations flow with the tides. Preschool-Grade 2
(PUBLISHER: Barefoot Books Inc (Cambridge MA), PUBLISHED: 2014.)
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2014 (Vol. 82, No. 9))
Jay's distinctive media and style combine to present a wordless, fantastic beach story of adventure and compassion.Cover art, frontmatter and opening illustrations introduce key characters and objects, aligning readers with the boy protagonist in his beachcombing activity as they search the pictures for detail. The boy meets a little girl who joins him in his play, but then everyone out at sea and on the beach flees for cover when a storm rolls in. The boy retreats to his lighthouse home, the next day waking to see a giant octopus that has emerged "out of the blue" and been washed up on the beach. Others have netted it to the ground, but when the boy discovers that it's still alive, he acts with the girl and others to free it and pull it back to sea. The oil paintings with crackling varnish are stunning in their narrative clarity as panels establish temporal sequence. On the other hand, the story reads like two pieces forced together—the beachcombing-play scenario and then the octopus story, and pacing would have been improved with a shorter first piece. Backmatter pages provide information about giant octopi, lighthouses, tides, jellyfish and other story details, but these aren't rich in content and end up seeming superfluous.A beautiful if rather sprawling beach book. 2014, Barefoot, 32 pp., $16.99. Category: Picture book. Ages 3 to 7. © 2014 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.
(PUBLISHER: Barefoot Books Inc (Cambridge MA), PUBLISHED: 2014.)
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both of these reviews talked about the way Alison Jay made her images look crackly and old. The first one mentions how narration of this wordless picture book is left to the reader and the second one talks about a few things that could have been changed around with the pictures. Both reviews give a great and similar synopsis of the book, even without words, though the sure of the images and time period of the book.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: This book would be great for creating their own story by using the pictures in this book. Also, this could be a fun book to use when teaching about predication making and what goes into making a prediction. Since this book is wordless, it leaves a lot of room open for interpretation and predictions.
Consideration of Instructional Application: (3-4 sentences in your own words)
I think it would be a fun idea to read half of the story, up to the page with the storm and then just stop. The students would be interpreting the pictures they just saw, and then making a prediction about what will happen after the storm. Then the teacher will show them the rest of the book and make a class book for the students to look at and make interpretations of other classmates’ pictures.
May 4, 2018
Beautiful artwork in a wordless book lets you explore it in new ways each time you "read" it.
February 14, 2016
An exceptional book with a message of empowerment, teamwork, empathy and respect for animals
Out of the Blue illustrated by Allison Jay offers a unique reading experience. The story opens with an aerial view of a lighthouse which immediately arouses curiosity. Who lives there? And what is their story? There's no text; this allows the reader's imagination to soar.
We all know how kids love to spin a tale. This brilliant book provides an awesome vehicle for them to do so.
The next page turn reveals a boy and his dog peering from the window of the lighthouse tower. Again, there is no text, only the opportunity for the reader to conjure a story.
The magic of this book is the unexpected and total absence of text. The story is revealed only through exquisitely detailed illustrations which invite the reader to wonder a story line for each element. The main characters who are lucky enough to reside at the lighthouse are apparently brother and sister. We see their island adventures through sunny as well as stormy days.
In one dramatic sequence of illustrations they discover a giant octopus marooned on the beach after a raging storm. A closeup view centers on the octopus' eye; a single tear falls... The balance of the book depicts the children's efforts to rescue it and to encourage others to help in the effort. With heroic effort , the children and the unlikely team succeed in rescuing the giant creature.
An exceptional book, Out of the Blue provides a clear message of empowerment, teamwork, empathy and respect for animals. The back matter of the book includes fascinating information about giant octopuses and lighthouses.
AQ Lens (Adoption-attuned) : While all kids can enjoy the story-telling potential of this stellar book, Out of the Blue offers a powerful opportunity for parents to listen to their children's invented stories. The illustrations provide a wonderful channel for kid's to reveal their private thoughts in a non-threatening way. For example, where the waves assault the tower, kids can tap into their own concerns about the "storms" in their lives, their fears, and how they cope. Parents will be amazed what they can discern between the lines of their children's narrative.
Along the same line, the panels which depict the octopus' struggle and need to depend on others for help will tap into similar deep emotions connected to the child's own history of struggle, etc. Each "reading" of this book has the potential to generate conversations between child and parent. Some will be be deep; others might be silly or light-hearted. All will be a chance for the child/ren to have the stage and to experience being "heard," an all too rare occurrence in our hectic lives. —Gayle H. Swift, ABC, Adoption & Me: A Muticultural Picture Book
Out of the Blue illustrated by Allison Jay offers a unique reading experience. The story opens with an aerial view of a lighthouse which immediately arouses curiosity. Who lives there? And what is their story? There's no text; this allows the reader's imagination to soar.
We all know how kids love to spin a tale. This brilliant book provides an awesome vehicle for them to do so.
The next page turn reveals a boy and his dog peering from the window of the lighthouse tower. Again, there is no text, only the opportunity for the reader to conjure a story.
The magic of this book is the unexpected and total absence of text. The story is revealed only through exquisitely detailed illustrations which invite the reader to wonder a story line for each element. The main characters who are lucky enough to reside at the lighthouse are apparently brother and sister. We see their island adventures through sunny as well as stormy days.
In one dramatic sequence of illustrations they discover a giant octopus marooned on the beach after a raging storm. A closeup view centers on the octopus' eye; a single tear falls... The balance of the book depicts the children's efforts to rescue it and to encourage others to help in the effort. With heroic effort , the children and the unlikely team succeed in rescuing the giant creature.
An exceptional book, Out of the Blue provides a clear message of empowerment, teamwork, empathy and respect for animals. The back matter of the book includes fascinating information about giant octopuses and lighthouses.
AQ Lens (Adoption-attuned) : While all kids can enjoy the story-telling potential of this stellar book, Out of the Blue offers a powerful opportunity for parents to listen to their children's invented stories. The illustrations provide a wonderful channel for kid's to reveal their private thoughts in a non-threatening way. For example, where the waves assault the tower, kids can tap into their own concerns about the "storms" in their lives, their fears, and how they cope. Parents will be amazed what they can discern between the lines of their children's narrative.
Along the same line, the panels which depict the octopus' struggle and need to depend on others for help will tap into similar deep emotions connected to the child's own history of struggle, etc. Each "reading" of this book has the potential to generate conversations between child and parent. Some will be be deep; others might be silly or light-hearted. All will be a chance for the child/ren to have the stage and to experience being "heard," an all too rare occurrence in our hectic lives. —Gayle H. Swift, ABC, Adoption & Me: A Muticultural Picture Book
April 2, 2015
This was my second wordless book choice-
This story is about a boy who lives near the ocean. He loves all the creatures in the ocean and playing on the beach. One day a storm comes and an octopus gets stuck on the beach in a fisherman's net. The boy saves the octopus, and returns him to his home.
If I were to relate this book to myself I would think of my love for animals of all kinds. I always want to do everything I can to help all animals thrive and live happily. I also love the ocean and respect all it does for the world we live in. (helps weather patterns, supplies us food, etc.) If I were relating this book to the world I would think of how we together have to be conscious of our world and how we treat it. The way we treat our world affects all the things it does for us that we need to survive. In the classroom setting this would be a great way to talk to children about taking care of our world, and helping the creatures that live around us.
Another book: These Seas Count! By: Allison Formento
This book would pair up with "Out of the Blue" well because it is about a class that goes on a field trip to the beach to clean up trash. The teacher has them notice all the animals that benefit from and live in the sea. They talk about how keeping the environment clean helps weather patterns, sea life thrive, and gives them enjoyment as well.
Both of these books would create a great lesson in the classroom about why it is so important to take care of our world and the living things in it.
This story is about a boy who lives near the ocean. He loves all the creatures in the ocean and playing on the beach. One day a storm comes and an octopus gets stuck on the beach in a fisherman's net. The boy saves the octopus, and returns him to his home.
If I were to relate this book to myself I would think of my love for animals of all kinds. I always want to do everything I can to help all animals thrive and live happily. I also love the ocean and respect all it does for the world we live in. (helps weather patterns, supplies us food, etc.) If I were relating this book to the world I would think of how we together have to be conscious of our world and how we treat it. The way we treat our world affects all the things it does for us that we need to survive. In the classroom setting this would be a great way to talk to children about taking care of our world, and helping the creatures that live around us.
Another book: These Seas Count! By: Allison Formento
This book would pair up with "Out of the Blue" well because it is about a class that goes on a field trip to the beach to clean up trash. The teacher has them notice all the animals that benefit from and live in the sea. They talk about how keeping the environment clean helps weather patterns, sea life thrive, and gives them enjoyment as well.
Both of these books would create a great lesson in the classroom about why it is so important to take care of our world and the living things in it.
September 17, 2014
"Out of the Blue," by Alison Jay has extraordinary illustrations of a day spent at the beach to potentially be a candidate for the 2015 Caldecott award. Right when you open the book it gives you little illustrations of what you can see at the beach along with the introductory page. The very first page gives you an aerial view of the beach and a large lighthouse. You can guess that a family lives inside this lighthouse because a little boy and his animals lead us to a day at the beach.
Many of the pages are illustrations of one scene broken down into a collage. When I looked through this book I stared at each individual picture to see what objects or people moved throughout the story. This is great book for children because the pages are busy which keeps them intrigued and each illustration has many objects to represent the beach that keep your eyes moving. This book is wordless but for the Caldecott medal, the illustrations are the focus. Through the illustrations a child can predict and imagine their own story to follow the pictures.
The illustrations were done with alkyd oil paint and a crackling varnish which makes the illustrations unique with a sense of character. The back of the book gives us information about the beach and the animals inside which would be fun for children to learn about. It also gives us a look inside of the lighthouse.
Many of the pages are illustrations of one scene broken down into a collage. When I looked through this book I stared at each individual picture to see what objects or people moved throughout the story. This is great book for children because the pages are busy which keeps them intrigued and each illustration has many objects to represent the beach that keep your eyes moving. This book is wordless but for the Caldecott medal, the illustrations are the focus. Through the illustrations a child can predict and imagine their own story to follow the pictures.
The illustrations were done with alkyd oil paint and a crackling varnish which makes the illustrations unique with a sense of character. The back of the book gives us information about the beach and the animals inside which would be fun for children to learn about. It also gives us a look inside of the lighthouse.
February 13, 2017
no words, lovely illustration style, sunny and soft, a lot of imagination and beauty and kindness. I want to live in a lighthouse! It stimulates our sense of wonder.
September 16, 2014
This is a nicely illustrated wordless picture book about a boy's life. He lives in a lighthouse with his father, cat and dog. One day he went out to play on the beach but there was a giant octopus that washed ashore wrapped in netting. He gets together with others, even sea creatures to help set him free and get him back into the ocean.
There were different techniques used to illustrate this story. This wordless picture book is illustrated with alkyd oil paint on paper with crackling varnish to give it an older feel even though it was published in 2014. The end pages are yellow and have small pictures of items that might wash onshore. There is a variation of styles using framing with white borders and full bleed pages. The full bleed pages invite you in as if you are there, then the illustrator sets frames for events that makes you sit back to see time lapse. The human characters were draw with stretched out bodies and small heads.
I enjoyed this book. There were lots of creatures depicted to help children learn about what is in the ocean but the moral of the story that I got was that everyone working together can help whatever we come across.
There were different techniques used to illustrate this story. This wordless picture book is illustrated with alkyd oil paint on paper with crackling varnish to give it an older feel even though it was published in 2014. The end pages are yellow and have small pictures of items that might wash onshore. There is a variation of styles using framing with white borders and full bleed pages. The full bleed pages invite you in as if you are there, then the illustrator sets frames for events that makes you sit back to see time lapse. The human characters were draw with stretched out bodies and small heads.
I enjoyed this book. There were lots of creatures depicted to help children learn about what is in the ocean but the moral of the story that I got was that everyone working together can help whatever we come across.
July 20, 2014
This delightfully illustrated picture book offers many opportunities to share language and encourage children to ask questions, to identify actions and things, and to create narrative. It is rich with an appreciation of marine biology and incorporates a subtle (not preachy) message about protecting sea life. Two of my grandkids (3 and 4, boy and girl)were entranced and asked to 'read' it over and over. This is a wordless book and so we talked about the storyline and curiosity-inspiring details in the illustrations many times. Even though we spent at least 20 minutes sharing the book, there are still parts of the pictures that we did not discuss yet. For vocabulary building, practice with narrative skill, easy dialogic reading experiences, and learning about sea creatures, I highly recommend this one!
December 30, 2014
"Where the land ends and the sea begins lies a world that is always changing."
Gorgeous and humorous illustrations tell the tale of a father and son who live in a lighthouse. Their days at the beach are displayed in beautiful pastels. There's so much detail enjoy. Until one day, a giant octopus washes up onto the beach tangled up in netting. The community springs into action to save the sea creature.
Interesting information at the back of the book informs readers about tide pools, tides, giant octopus and other sea creatures, and lighthouses. Just a beautiful book.
Gorgeous and humorous illustrations tell the tale of a father and son who live in a lighthouse. Their days at the beach are displayed in beautiful pastels. There's so much detail enjoy. Until one day, a giant octopus washes up onto the beach tangled up in netting. The community springs into action to save the sea creature.
Interesting information at the back of the book informs readers about tide pools, tides, giant octopus and other sea creatures, and lighthouses. Just a beautiful book.
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