The Yellow Umbrella

by Henrik Drescher

A wordless picture book follows the adventures of a pair of monkeys who open up a yellow umbrella, sail off from the city zoo to the ocean, and drift along in their makeshift boat to a happy family reunion

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Adventure, Animals

40 pages, Library Binding

First published August 1, 1987

About the author

Henrik Drescher was born in Copenhagen and immigrated to the United States in 1967. He began a career in illustration as a young man and has been traveling throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe and China, creating massive journals of notes and drawings wherever he went.

His books are held in the collections of the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Rijks Museum in Den Haag, Netherlands. He has received numerous other honors including two awards from the Society of Illustrators.

Reviews

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading Henrik Drescher’s works for awhile now and I always loved the bizarre nature of his illustrations! But in “The Yellow Umbrella,” the illustrations take on a more tranquil approach as we are treated to the adventures of a mother monkey, her baby and a yellow umbrella!

The story starts off with a father and his daughter going to the zoo to see the monkeys when suddenly, the father dropped his yellow umbrella into the monkey cage and the two monkeys ended up grabbing the yellow umbrella. The two monkeys then go up towards the top of the hill in their cage and were admiring the yellow umbrella when all of a sudden; a strong wind picks up and blows the two monkeys, who were holding onto the yellow umbrella, away from the zoo!

Wow! This book was simply amazing! I always loved Henrik Drescher’s works on his children’s books because of the surreal illustrations he brings to the stories being woven. But in this book, Henrik Drescher brought something entirely different to the illustrations as they were truly cute and expressive! I loved the fact that this story was told mainly through illustrations, marking this as another wordless picture book that I had enjoyed since David Wiesner’s “Flotsam!” I loved the way that Henrik Drescher’s illustrations really told this story as we go through a journey with the mother monkey and her baby as they travel across the world with the yellow umbrella guiding them to their destination. I also loved the images of the mother monkey and her baby going through different parts of the world such as flying over the ocean and then flying over the jungle as it gives the story a truly beautiful feeling of exploring the wonders of the world. I also loved the fact that Henrik Drescher’s illustrations are mainly done in yellow, white and black colorings. The fact that the title of this book is called “The Yellow Umbrella” and that the only other color that is prominent in this story besides black and white is yellow, really made the illustrations truly stand out in this story as they emphasize the significance of the color yellow as the yellow umbrella symbolizes freedom for the two monkeys as they fly away from the zoo and explore the dangers and wonders of the world that they could not explore in the zoo.

Overall, “The Yellow Umbrella” is a truly fantastic story about the importance of freedom and exploring the wonders of the world that many children will enjoy for many years! I would recommend this book to children ages three and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book and the storytelling is easy enough for smaller children to understand.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Susan Ferrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite children's books. The illustrations are magical, and the story is , too. I always cry at the end.

[Ashley Steiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A father and daughter go to the zoo and head straight for the monkeys. As they are leaning over looking at the monkeys, their yellow umbrella drops into their ring. The monkeys grab the umbrella and make it back to the top of their hill. When the monkeys open up the umbrella, a gust of wind comes by and carries them into the sky. The monkeys leave the zoo and begin their adventure - and so their adventure begins as they soar through the sky, encounter lightning, fish in the ocean, a crocodile, a waterfall, and more. Throughout the book, the monkeys adventure and learn that they can go just about anywhere with this umbrella. When they come across a jungle full of monkeys, they find their new home.

The Yellow Umbrella is a very unique, wordless picture book. While it is an older style, the images are very interesting, as they were done all in ink pen. Due to the drawings being in ink pen, the book is primarily black and white, aside from the yellow umbrella found throughout the pages. The images do not display the most intricate design, however, the two spread pages give just enough information for the reader to understand what is going on throughout the story. This book would be a good read for kids anywhere from 3-12 years old. I found the story to be very enjoyable, as it was a cute little story and a different approach at the concept of a person or thing going on an adventure of some sort. The color yellow is bound to display the idea of happiness - for they find it in the zoo and take it on a journey all the way until the jungle, where they find other monkeys. It was a guidance of leading them home to a habitat where they actually belong.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book looks very dated today, but the story is still sweet and easy to follow.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect wordless book, a story of adventure and coming home, brilliantly and humorously imagined by Henrik Drescher. An old favorite!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a wordless picture book and convinces with its significant illustrations. A good book for children who cannot read but want to look at a book on their own because they can understand the story without a text.

[Lin Lin]

The magic power of the yellow umbrella could take the moneys anywhere they like.