Immer der Nase nach.

by Viviane Schwarz, Joel Stewart

Nose thinks "Somewhere in the world must be a place just for me. A place where I can fit in, and stick out. I could be really happy there!" And so he goes to look for it. He climbs up high as the mountains and dives down deep as the fish. He goes where it's clear, cold and tingly and to where it's spicy and hot. He goes everywhere...until one day he realizes that wherever he goes, he fits in perfectly because he's in the middle of his own world, which is all that matters.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

28 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2002

About the author

Viviane Schwarz is the author-illustrator of THERE ARE CATS IN THIS BOOK as well as SHARK AND LOBSTER'S UNDERSEA ADVENTURE. She grew up in Germany and now lives in London.

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The nose wants to fit in but stick out. Isn't that what everyone wants?

The thing is, he already does, which children will quickly notice in the illustrations.

A very playful yet kind of deep book.

Odd in a great way.

[Tiuri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book to your little one! You will get a reaction!

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful, but strange story about exploring the world and finding your place in it. The illustrations are terrific and we loved looking through the pages and pointing out the faces we saw. I love that it encourages the reader to be themselves and see that, "The whole world fits perfectly around YOU." (And any book that references a library is pretty much guaranteed to be a hit with me.)

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful, imaginative picture book. The Nose just wants a place where he can fit in, and stick out, so he goes in search of this special place. Great illustrations. A nose on legs in a quest for personal meaning! And in every picture the nose completes a face. Very clever, young kids would love see the face in the picture.

[Alyse Liebovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the illustrations, showing that the nose subtly completes a face no matter where it goes.

[Andrew Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the rise of mental health concerns and peer pressure amongst children across all age ranges, books such as this, which revolve around a character who is 'different' and trying to fit in, carry an important message. Viviane Schwarz's choice of facial features to illustrate the value of self-esteem and being true to yourself neatly links to helping young readers realise the value of their senses, and the extraordinary amount of information each sense provides, even when they may not realise it. The nose is concerned that a restaurant is 'a place for mouths' and a library a place for eyes, yet he/she discovers both locations, alongside a host of others, carry an abundance of smells that tell each of us so much we cannot taste or see. With the nose's visit to a doctor, Schwarz normalizes the concept of seeking help when troubled, and Schwarz further encourages every reader to 'be themselves', with the doctor's response to the nose that 'you were born to stick out'. I'm currently reading KS2 novel 'Wonder' by RJ Palacio, which covers similar territory about facial disfigurement from a more mature perspective, but the principles are the same: be proud and make the most of who you are, and be kind and supportive of anyone who happens to be different to you, however challenging a natural reaction that might be. Such concepts form a fantastic literary basis for PSHE lessons on acceptance, or for reinforcing ownership of many school ethos statements which focus upon inclusion for all.

[Simon Barraclough · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good primer for Gogol and Akutagawa for your kids, maybe. The text is fine, the visual jokes where every nose forms a face from / with the background are marvellous. Stumbled upon this in a university library while looking for fare more ‘serious’ fare. A quick, nosey boost for my reading-challenge stats — not to be sniffed at.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great illustrations... noses sticking out, subtle-y so, with every turn of the page.

[Leah Hopgood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny illustrations. A fun book for end of day ready (KS1).

[Lulu Cares · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun book! Travel the world! Fit in by sticking out.

[Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really clever use of shadows and objects to create different faces on each page. Fun read and visually interesting :)

[Aimee]

Loved the illustrations in this. So clever, plus there’s collage in the background, which gives a great visual texture to the book, and there is a library cat, a dog, and pigeons. Cute!

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

quotes from

This is the Nose, thinking: "Somewhere in the world must be a place just for me. A place where I can fit in, and stick out. I could be really happy there!

He goes to the city.
Everything is big and smells exciting.
The Nose sniffs up and down the streets until he is completely lost.
"You look confused," calls a cat from the city library.
"Come in here! Here you can find things out," says the library cat.
The Nose likes books.
"This one smells of ink, and this one smells of dust," he thinks.
"Hmm. maybe I could stay here."
But he can't.
The library closes at night,
and everyone has to leave.


#090836

beautiful quirky illustrations that both kids and adults would appreciate.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This comment will make no sense but I'm spitting it out. This book was enjoyable to read to myself but not at all fun to read aloud. I wouldn't try it with a crowd but sometimes I'm wimpy about group selections. That being said, the book has moments of cleverness and extremely creative illustrations.

[Liz Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the illustrations in this book. Kids loved seeing the different ways that a "face" was created around the nose throughout the book.

I wonder why Viviane Schwarz did not include the nose being a part of a person at the end.. He was only dancing at a party and the text stated that he belonged in the middle of everything, but there was no visual conclusion for the kids.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed sharing this quirky read with my daughter; each page we pointed out all the ways Nose was unknowingly connected to the other images surrounding him. Joel Stewart was clearly inspired by several pieces of art from a variety of styles. Nose shows that there is somewhere in the world for everyone – and anyplace you choose to call home is.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is kind of silly, but it's intended to be a story of becoming of building self-assuredness by learning to accept who you are as a person. I'm not sure that the story ever really had that aggrandizing moment that everything finally came clear, but it was still fun to read.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually kind of weird. But it was funny and all about acceptance, etc.

[Jennifer]

***Illustration spoiler***-- It took me a page or two before I realized that each illustration of the nose makes up an entire face. Wonderful! I laughed out loud.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting concept behind this book. I could see it working well for story time and getting some giggles.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story isn't my favorite but kids will love the illustrations as each place the nose goes he fits right in to make a face.

[Kayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was a little weird for me.

[D Nine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky!