Any Questions?

by Marie-Louise Gay

Many children want to know where stories come from and how a book is made. Marie-Louise Gay’s new picture book provides them with some delightfully inspiring answers through a fictional encounter between an author and some very curious children — together they collaborate on writing and illustrating a story. Marie-Louise Gay has scribbled, sketched, scrawled, doodled, penciled, collaged, and painted the words and pictures of a story-within-a-story that show how brilliant ideas creep up on you when you least expect it and how words sometimes float out of nowhere, asking to be written. Any Questions? presents a world inhabited by lost polar bears, soaring pterodactyls, talking trees, and spotted snails, with cameo appearances by some of the author's favorite characters — a world where kids become part of the story and let their imaginations run wild, becoming inspired to create tales of their own. At the end of the book, she provides answers to many of the questions children have asked her over the years, such as "Are you Stella?," "How did you learn to draw?," "Can your cat fly?," and "How many books do you make in one day?"

Genres: Picture Books, Writing, Childrens, Art, Nonfiction, Kids, Humor

60 pages, Hardcover

First published August 12, 2014

About the author

Marie-Louise Gay is the illustrator of many award-winning children's books. She is from Montreal, Canada.

Reviews

[Robert Khorsand · Rating 4 out of 5]

گفتار اندر معرفی نویسنده
ماری لوئیز گی، نویسنده‌ و تصویرگرِ کتاب‌های کودک است و در ۱۷ژوئن۱۹۵۲ در کانادا دیده به جهان گشود. از معروف‌ترین آثار این نویسنده می‌توان به سری داستان‌های استلا و سم اشاره کرد.

گفتار اندر محتوای کتاب
کتاب برای خواننده‌هایی مثل من دارای نقاشی‌های دوست داشتنی هست و از اون کتاب‌های حال خوب کن بشمار میاد و برای سنینِ کودکان کتابی بسیار خوب جهت تفکرِ بیشتر و بکارگیریِ قوه‌ي تخیلشان است.

نقل‌قول نامه
"یک داستان از کجا شروع می‌شود؟ از روی یک صفحه‌ی سفید."

کارنامه
حقیقتا عاشقِ نقاشی‌های کتاب شدم و اگر بخواهم به تصویرگریِ این کتاب نمره بدهم لیاقتِ ۵ستاره را دارد اما به محتوای کتاب ۳ستاره میدهم و میانگین ۴ستاره را برایش منظور می‌کنم.

دانلود نامه
فایل پی‌دی‌اف کتاب را ساخته‌ام و از لینک زیر می‌توانید آن‌را دانلود نمایید.
https://t.me/reviewsbysoheil/187

[sarah Mtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

تو نقاشیاش غرق شدم و از یه حس ناب کودکانه لبریز...

[زینب هاشم‌زاده · Rating 4 out of 5]

نقاشی‌های کتاب عالی بود. عاشق تصویرگری کتاب شدم. :))

[Miss Ravi · Rating 5 out of 5]

ایده‌اش من رو یاد کتاب اگر شبی از شب‌های زمستان مسافری انداخت
اما شاید بتونم بگم اجرای بهتری داشت. البته شباهت ظریفی هم با شهرزاد داشت و میل کودکانه‌ی شهریار به شنیدن قصه و عطش‌اش برای دونستن اینکه بعد چی می‌شه حالا درست به شکل بچه‌هایی نشون داده می‌شد که تشنه‌ی قصه‌های خیالی بودند، تشنه‌ی خیالپردازی‌های نویسنده‌ای که تلاش می‌کنه داستانی بسازه. البته برای آدمایی که یه قصه سرراست و مستقیم دوست دارن احتمالاً خوشایند نیست.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where do stories come from? How are books made? These questions that authors often get from children are the subject of this picture book from an author who has written and illustrated many picture books. Together the author and a group of children asking delighted questions create a story right in front of the reader. They take inspiration from the kind of paper the story is written on, the colors of the page. They talk about how ideas happen, and how sometimes they are great ideas but don’t become a book or that not all ideas fit into a single story. Ideas sometimes don’t appear and you have to wait for them, doodling and dreaming of other things until they arrive. And then something happens, and it starts to become a story! The children in the book get involved and the story takes a surprising turn. Luckily story telling is flexible and able to deal with wild purple monsters who come out of the woods. This is a great look at the creative process and how books are made, written at a level that preschool children will enjoy and understand.

Gay is so open and inviting in this picture book. She is refreshingly candid about the creative process and all of the bumps and twists along the way. The invitation to the reader along with the child characters in the book to be part of creating a story is warm and friendly. All ideas are welcome, some work and other don’t, and that is all embraced as part of creativity.

Gay’s illustrations continue the cheerfulness of the text. They combine writing in cursive with story panels and speech bubbles with characters in the book. It’s all a wonderful mix of styles that gets your creativity flowing.

Expect children to want to write their own stories complete with illustrations after reading this! Appropriate for ages 5-7.

[Neda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish there were just more stars here; I would have given the most..
I think this is the best picturebook I've ever read. The book is interactive and amazing. Lots of details and cute illustrations. Am sure you'll definitely fall in love with the cat.
This can be a very good example for a metafiction in picturebooks and really suitable for young readers.
Enjoy!

[شیدا · Rating 4 out of 5]

" اگر مدتی به یک صفحه کاغذ سفید خیره شوید، هر اتفاقی ممکن است بیفتد...
مثلا یک صفحه کاغذ سفید می‌تواند برف و بوران باشد."

در معرفی کتاب اومده :
این کتاب برای بچه‌های نوخوان سال‌های اول و دوم دبستان نوشته شده.

خب، فکر می‌کنم هنوز کودک درونم اونقدرها پیر نشده که از خوندن این کتاب لذت نبره 😄

حسی که از خوندن این کتاب توی سن ۲۳ سالگی دارم یه مقدار عجیبه. نوشتن ریویو از اون هم عجیب‌تر 😅
بیشتر محو نقاشی‌های خلاقانه‌اش می‌شدم و سعی می‌کردم از ساده نگاه کردن و ساده فهمیدن لذت ببرم.
چون کسی حواسش بهت نیست تو هم جرئت می‌کردی به سوالای عجیب‌غریبی که توی داستان پیش میومد فکرکنی،
مثلا:
- یه گربه می‌تونه با سبیلش پرواز کنه؟
- داستانی که با رنگ زرد شروع بشه چه شکلی می‌شه؟ اگه با بنفش شروع بشه چطور؟
- اگه یه غول بخواد قایم بشه کجا قایم می‌شه؟
- آیا درختا قلقلکی‌ان؟!

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspired by the many questions about literally everything under the sun that this author has been asked by children when she visits schools to talk about her books, this book takes those children's questions and walks them through the process of brainstorming and developing a book.

The voice is informative as well as encouraging and would be a great tie-in for a creative writing assignment in schools or a writing program in libraries.

Watercolor, ink, pencil, pastel, colored pencil, and collage illustrations really give the book the feel of a work in progress which perfectly complements the tone and aim of the story. Recommended for use with grades 2-4.

[Lizzie]

Okay, so I skimmed this because it seemed self indulgent and it was long and I wasn't in the mood for that. I'll return to it if I ever need a picture book about the creative process.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inviting story that shows students how authors generate ideas and flow with them, as well as give youngsters ideas to use in their own writings.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be a great starter for teachers to use to inspire ideas for writing.

[Marya · Rating 5 out of 5]

منم بعضی‌وقت‌ها یه جانور درون تنها، عصبانی و غمگین دارم که اگه کسی بهش بگه می‌خوای برات داستان بخونم گونه‌ش گل می‌ندازه و قلبش تندتند می‌زنه :(((
خیلی خیلی قشنگ بود 💕

[Kylie2018 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an author/illustrator incursion in a book. All lower primary classrooms should have this book and do a unit of work around this book. The book is very informative, inspiring and supportive in teaching ways to write your own story, while also being friendly, open and relatable.

This book is filled with so many provocations. With so many examples provided within the text it may feel as though it will be too long for children but because each example is so easily understood, interesting and relatable it is easy for kids to follow along and stick with it. The book is also written in a way that allows you to skip a page or two that are additional examples of the concept the author is talking about and when re-reading add them back in to spice the story up over additional readings.

Alternatively the book can be read over a few sessions that follow on with activities inspired by the book that help children develop their own ideas for stories i.e.
The first section of the book is outlines how using illustrations can inspire a story (page 1 - 12),
The second outlines how some stories start from words or ideas (page 13 - 18),
The third outlines how a story can begin by taking inspiration from other stories, this section also deals with ideas that go nowhere (page 19 -24)
The forth and final section outlines how sometimes after all that the athor will get an inspiration for an idea that brings everything together and a first draft of a story with a storyline can finally begin (*page 25 - 49)

*The final section is longer as it outlines a story 'The Shy Young Giant', within the larger narrative, that is developed by the author, and is then taken over by 3 children giving examples of how the story could progress by including a new 'beast' character. The author then questions 'do you want to see what happens when the giant and beast meet?'. By taking up the story in this way the author shows how character interaction and dialog, and narration, pull a story together.

[معصومه توکلی · Rating 5 out of 5]

عنوان ترجمه فارسی: باز هم سؤالی دارید؟

[Christine Turner]

Many children want to know where stories come from and how a book is made. Marie-Louise Gay's new picture book provides them with some delightfully inspiring answers though a fictional encounter between an author and some very curious children -- together they collaborate on writing and illustrating a story. Marie-Louise Gay has scribbled, sketched, scrawled, doodled, penciled, collaged, and painted the words and pictures of a story-within-a-story that show how brilliant ideas creep up on you when you least expect it and how words sometimes float out of nowhere, asking to be written. Any Questions? presents a world inhabited by lost polar bears, soaring pterodactyls, talking trees, and spotted snails, with cameo appearances by some of the author's favorite characters -- a world where kids become part of the story and let their imaginations run wild, becoming inspired to create tales of their own. At the end of the book, she provides answers to many of the questions children have asked her over the years, such as "Are you Stella?," "How did you learn to draw?," "Can your cat fly?," and "How many books do you make in one day?"
Subject: Imagination -- Juvenile fiction
Questions and answers -- Juvenile fiction.
Storytelling -- Juvenile fiction

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book! The illustrations were great - and the writing was wonderfully imagination provoking. The book started out with questions that the author has received from kids (she provides answers to all of them in the back of the book) and the proceeded to tackle the questions dealing with her writing/illustrating process. She provides insight into her creative process, while giving the reader the opportunity to participate in the creative process. She talks about how she doesn't always have an idea at the beginning and sometimes gets stuck - and lets kids know that this is okay.

I absolutely loved the page on which she depicts children playing in a big pile of words. How cool is that? It makes me want to find a bunch of words and jump into the pile - picking out my favorites.

As the book builds to its conclusion, she has created a short story - complete with a shy giant and a monster - all while allowing kids to feel as if had a part in its creation. The end is, in fact, the beginning, as she encourages kids to continue this story (or one of their own making) on their own.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children and adults alike are often curious about where the inspiration for stories and their illustrations come from. This book provides some of the answers in a clever fashion. The author responds to the questions the fictional children in the book have, and then shares with them the beginnings of a story which they then have the chance to embellish. With its handsome illustrations, created with watercolor, pencil, pastels, ink, colored pencil, and collage, the text pays tribute to the creative process of a very talented storyteller. This picture book would be excellent to share with students when they are searching for story ideas during writers' workshop since the author makes it clear that ideas come from all over the place, and sometimes what seems to be a great idea goes nowhere. The back matter includes the typical questions she hears during school visits as well as her responses. Readers won't have too many more questions about writing after reading this book, and maybe, they'll want to write their own books.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful ode to the questions that children ask of authors, Any Questions? not only allows the author to share some of these questions and her answers to the questions, but to show how she creates her stories. I especially liked the way she used child characters to 'inspire' her with ideas for the story she creates within the story. And she mentions all the major story elements which makes this a great teaching tool (if you have a projector that allows the students to see all the small details), including setting, ideas, characters, and plot and how they all come together to create a story. Gay also brilliantly demonstrates the importance of editing and revising (something all children I've worked with don't really understand the need of, after all isn't the story perfect the first time? ;)). The story that is created about a young giant is so childlike that I had to laugh when I read it the first time. All in all a brilliant book that I absolutely adore and plan to use with my students.

[Emmaline MacBeath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marie-Louise Gay begins by talking about how she had many questions as a child. Then she talks about how children ask her many questions now. She then moves on to her writing process. She talks about how she begins with possible stories and then rewrites or starts over as needed. She includes a story within this story as she shows her writing process.

The illustrations are done in a mix of watercolor, pencil, pastel, ink, colored pencil and collage. They are colorful and interesting, but terrible busy.

I had a very difficult time following this book. There were children on most pages with many speech bubbles that were telling a separate story from the main text. My eyes often didn't know where to go next. I felt as if I were reading a story within a story within a story and I didn't enjoy digging in to find what was most important. If reading this aloud to share information about the writing process, I would recommend reading it yourself fully first and choosing which text to read rather than reading all of it. This would be far less confusing to children.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the most wonderful discoveries and inventions have been made because a single person wanted to know a little or a lot more. When a group of people are looking for a response to a query, change is in the wind. In working with children you are surrounded by questions all day long. Their thirst for needing to know is nearly unquenchable.

Sometimes they need to understand the tiniest detail about a particular subject. Other times their thoughtful thinking leads to discussions about problems on a global scale. Seeking answers is like the best kind of treasure hunt. Author illustrator Marie-Louise Gay meets many children with many questions. Her new book, Any Questions? (Groundwood Books, House of Anansi Press, August 11, 2014, October 13, 2014), addresses questions, answers, and the use of imagination. There really is no end; only a continuation of beginnings.


My full recommendation: http://www.librariansquest.blogspot.c...

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marie-Louise Gay has written a book for children, about the many questions she is asked when she visits schools and shares her books. Her casual doodling/sketching style, filled with color and so many details made me read the book three times so I could be sure to see all included. I still bet I missed something. The answers to the questions are carefully organized in the back, but while one reads the book, Marie-Louise Gay begins with portraits of her workspace, then a self-portrait of her working at her desk, trying to find some ideas for stories. A group of children shout out questions, and she begins. Perhaps a blank sheet of white paper could become, a snowstorm! Or a faded yellow page could be the habitat of dinosaurs. (This, the children imagine.) And on it goes, until she does begin a story, and a few children go along and help. It’s creative sketching and wordplay, a wonderful book to explore for writing, and for imagining. It will be well loved in classrooms, perhaps K-3.

[Emily Andrus · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a story-in-a-story. Gay illustrates all of these kids asking her questions (just like they do in real life) and takes them on the journey of writing a picture book. So, that being said, it is a little more complicated than your average book, meaning the target age is a little older. It's also harder to read aloud, because there's a LOT of speech bubbles and asides and...there's just a lot on every page. Gay's got a lot of ideas to share!

Overall, it's a pretty valuable insight into how one author may do her work. The little story she writes within this book is okay, but it's more just an example to get her points across. The best part is, she answers all the many questions that pop up at the end of her book. Even her favorite color. It's a bit chaotic for me, but I'd still recommend it.

[Cassandra Gelvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-written story about writing stories.

A fairly well-known author and illustrator talking about where she gets her ideas and the process she goes through when writing a story, which is really cool. I think kids would like to understand where the stories their parents read to them come from. It invites children to write their own stories. I love the quirky illustrations and the story within a story. It's well written. It's interesting. It definitely held my attention. It might be a little too long for littler kids, but as kids get older and start coming up with their own ideas, I think it would be inspiring to them. I definitely found it inspiring.

Message: How to write a story. Or, anybody can write a story.

For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Canadian author/illustrator Gay has created a picture book in question-answer format; but not really. Sort of...

Ok, here's what it looks like: She begins by illustrating a bunch of kids as if she's visiting a school. She recreates many of their questions. She takes one of the questions she gets most often "where does a story start?" and takes the children on a story writing journey. The kids experience her creative process and help develop her new story. It's kinda neat, but could be confusing to some readers.

Not recommended for storytime as much of the fun occurs in dialog bubbles, comic book style. This book, in most libraries, is being cataloged into easy picture books. I almost wonder if it could be used as an early-grade bio.

[CanadianReader · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a picture book about creativity and "writing-idea generation" for children--or apparently so. It actually seems more suited to zealous primary-school writing teachers. Like so many picture books these days, the book lacks a story. Furthermore, with its many speech bubbles from characters both animal and human, it would not work well as a read-aloud. I'm very fond of Gay's Stella series, which whimsically illuminates the questions, worries, and concerns of very young children. However, for me, this book fell short. I can't imagine liking this book if I were a kid; indeed, the kid in me didn't like it one bit. Disappointing.

[Carrie Gelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful picture book. It highlights the story telling process, the magic of children's questions and the imaginative journey of a gifted author/illustrator into the land of stories. Once upon a time . . . Marie-Louise Gay tells us that a story begins with a blank white page. But her pages are never blank and white - when they are gifted to us, lucky readers, they are full of whimsy, happy clutter and childhood. Layer upon layer for read through after read through with little readers. Always something to happen upon on each page even if you miss it the first time through.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A story always starts with a blank page."

A clever picture book about the writing process. The author starts by talking about all the questions that she is asked ... then she talks about how she becomes inspired to write a story (words and ideas floating around, spots of colors on the page). And when writer's block occurs, "I let my mind wander ... I shake my ideas around and turn them upside down and look at them flying out the window." And then with the help of her characters, she creates a story within the story.

The illustrations are adorable, too.

[The Brothers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marie-Louise Gay (author of one of our favorite series: Stella and Sam) answers questions about her writing process in such an imaginative way in this book. I loved reading it (while most times I have to stifle a yawn when writers start writing or talking about their writing. Most are so insufferably self-important it's cringe-worthy.) But! Gay manages to tell us about her art without sounding pretentious or being boring. A sign of a truly gifted storyteller.

Excellent, beautiful, creative illustrations.

[Portable · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a marvellous book that was inspired by all the questions Marie-Louise Gay was asked by students. It explores how stories are made, the thoughts and ideas that go into making them, and inspires readers to make their own stories. I'm a bit torn about recommending this for our K1 Stories unit, as while the subject matter is perfect, the language and content is a little complex. Great for slightly older readers though, or to read together at home and share ideas.

[Juniper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was amazing, both for the all-ages writing encouragement, and the delightful example story that builds from first concept through to "The End/Beginning" (This book is worth it just for the Shy Giant tale). The creative process can seem so mystical, so out of reach - but once you realize authors sometimes have no ideas, too - and how to doodle and brainstorm your way to find your own - suddenly writing books looks way more achievable. I'm gifting this to my daughter's first grade class to help the kids realize that real authors are just like them.