Photographer Mole

by Dennis Haseley, Juli Kangas (Illusrator)

Everyone in town loves Photographer Mole. He's always ready with his camera on important occasions, and his fine photographs hang in every home. But Mole isn't satisfied. Something is missing&150in his photos, and in his life. So he sets off in search of it . . . and returns with a joyful surprise for his friends. Life is much more than just watching from behind a camera, and readers will rejoice as Mole discovers this truth in a book that overflows with charm and timeless beauty. Newcomer Juli Kangas makes a remarkable debut here, masterfully bringing to life Dennis Haseley's winning text.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 3, 2004

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

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is sweet, but the Edwardian animals make it utterly charming. And their village is so friendly-looking. The clothes are perfect: one could enjoy the book on them alone.

Library copy

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

And....crying seems to be a theme so far this year, because I was bawling at this one too. I plan to buy it for several children that I love.

[Elle Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this cute and touching story that reveals a deeper dynamic involving the importance of friendship and love. I would include this in my classroom library under a friendship genre.

[Elizabeth Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haseley, Dennis. Photographer Mole. Illus. Juli Kangas. New York: New York, 2004. Print. Photographer, happiness, animals. In Photographer Mole the main character Mole goes around the town taking pictures of events, friends, and their families. Over time in his career he feels like something is missing in his pictures. In order to find out what it is he leaves the town and eventually comes home with a Mrs. Mole. His pictures are not complete because he gets to be a part of them. One of the main things that I appreciated about this book is the illustrations. Kangas does a spectacular job at detailing how each animal looks and the features they have such as the difference between pig hair, squirrel hair and sheep wool. I think this is a good book
for having a getting to know you discussion with the children. After we find out what is important with Mr. Mole we can go around the class and have the students list one or two things each that are important to them.

[Kay]

One of my favorite picture books is A Story for Bear by Haseley. This weekend I read every picture book by Haseley that was in my library system. This book and one other, The Invisible Moose, were both very sweet, and though Story for Bear is still my favorite, I loved these two also.

In Photographer Mole, Mole recognizes that there's something missing in the very fine portraits that he's known for, but it isn't readily apparent to him what it is. His customers are satisifed, but he feels troubled. He boards a train to go in search of what it is that's missing. When he eventually returns, he's discovered what will set his own heart at ease, as well as those of his firiends.

The illustrations by Juli Kangas are charming.

[Aileen Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent story. It is the story of a mole who loves to take pictures of all his friends, local groups, families and so forth. But one day as he is admiring his photographs he realizes something is missing. To the regret of his friends, he leaves town in search of the missing something. At this point in the book, I still had no idea what Mole thought was missing so I kept reading in anticipation. When Mole finally finds what he was looking for and comes home, it isn't at all what you imagine it will be. At least it wasn't for me. I heartily recommend this book and I'm pretty sure that kids will keep reading with anticipation of Mole's discovery just like I did! This book is a bit older ( 2004) but well worth searching for.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love these illustrations!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

32 months - Picked this up from the thrift store for a $1, hard cover in perfect condition. A beautifully written and illustrated story.

[Marissa Elera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dennis Haseley has the most unusual romantic love themed books for children, but I think I dig them.