The Skywriter

by Dennis Haseley, Dennis Nolan (Illustrator)

A SOARING FLIGHT OF FANCY

lands one boy at the realization that outgrowing your toys doesn’t necessarily mean outgrowing your imagination.Grown-up Charles dreams of a plane that forms letters in the air, taking him to “fabulous lands where warm breezes blew, and everything shone with diamond light.” Why not? For in the world of his childhood anything was possible. Dreamlike paintings chronicle this journey into a young boy’s mind as misty colors drift into one another and toys spring to action as reality blends with fantasy, and the past with the present.

 

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 16, 2008

About the author

Dennis Haseley a écrit de nombreux livres pour enfants (Kite Flier, The Old Banjo). Il vit à Brooklyn, New York, avec sa famille.

Reviews

[GoldGato · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's good to know I wasn't the only child who thought toys and stuffed animals had feelings and could hear me. I always felt a duty, a responsibility, to keep them so they would always have a family. This book is something like that. A boy and his older sister have a baby brother coming and toys must be cleared away. Can they give up the plane that writes messages in the sky and the three wooden men who love to fly that plane?

The story here is simple but eloquent, but it's the illustrations by Dennis Nolan which make this special. They look like soft pencil drawings, but detailed, the kind of children's book artwork you want to collect. The very last picture is the tops, a reminder that new life is always arriving.

Book Season = Year Round (here we go!)

[Matt Guendel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and it made me think of myself as a kid. Every boy goes through the stage where they play with their toys and aren't limited with their imagination. Those days were great. I use to be able to play for ours just like Charles, the main character in this book. I also remember the day I had to give my toys away. Even though I hadn't played with them for years it was still a really sad day. The same thing happens to Charles in this story. The illustrations in this book are really unbelievable. They are pastel, I believe, and the colors are dull. Even with the dull colors though the pictures really jump out at you. The pictures really make me think. The illustrator really gives the characters emotions. A lesson you could teach your class about this book are the ways the illustrators works with this book. What pictures are bordered, what ways to the text and pictures connect with each other. Not only are the pictures good in this book though, the story is also. Its a story about change, and how life goes on. Its also a story about caring. This book would fall in the age groups of 1st through 3rd grade I think. Its to hard for real little kids and to easy for 4th graders. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet story about the power of imagination when we are young. Illustrations are lovely and well-suited to the text.

[Tina B · Rating 3 out of 5]

"toys, pretending, growing up, second hand toys (velveteen rabbit)"

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A precursor to Toy Story. :)