The Hero of Little Street

by Gregory Rogers

Escaping from a gang of bullies, a Boy slips into London's National Gallery - the perfect hiding place, full of mystery and treasures. Enchanted by the magic of painting and befriended by a mischievous dog, the Boy ventures into the world of a famous Vermeer painting - and he and his new friend are transported to Little Street, Delft in seventeenth century Holland. But the streets of Delft are a dangerous place for a dog, and the Boy has to use every ounce of his ingenuity to rescue his canine mate from an untimely fate on the butcher's block. Young readers will enjoy spotting much-loved characters from the previous Boy Bear books in this triumph of visual storytelling.

Genres: Picture Books, Art, Childrens, Adventure, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2009

About the author

Children's book illustrator, Gregory Rogers studied fine art at the Queensland College of Art and worked as a graphic designer for some years before taking up freelance illustration. He was the first Australian to be awarded the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal.

Reviews

[Neko]

This is another wordless book..I didn't get this book out but it did have my interest by the cover and it was in the 'graphic novel' section of the school lib...It's basically about a boy who gets bullied and there seems to be other books in the series that I haven't seen..So, I have no idea if this is a conclusion to the overall story or each book is different. In one part of the book the boy ends up visiting a museum and interacting with a painting which then opens a whole new world for him...Things change for the boy once he leaves the painting and shows he can stand up for himself.

I'm always a sucker for bright colours in childrens books and this was brimming with it plus lots of action.

[Crystal Bandel]

The Hero of Little Street by Gregory Rogers, published 2012.

Magic realism.

Picture book.

Grades K-3.

Found via Horn Book Magazine, reviewed by Kathleen T. Horning.

When a boy playing in the streets of London is attacked by bullies, he runs into the National Gallery to escape them. While near Jan van Eyck's The Arnolfini Marriage, a dog jumps out to play with the boy, and together they find themselves in the seventeenth-century Netherlands through Vermeer's The Little Street. Though this story's main action occurs as a result of interacting with paintings, no knowledge of fine art is required to enjoy the narrative. The main entertainment from this narrative is a result of the boy and dog interacting with the new places they visit, as the art and comics-style format lend themselves to easily allowing readers to feel the characters' joy and excitement. Furthermore, Rogers tells this story without any words, so the reader must closely look at the pictures in order to follow the story, and the pictures definitely allow for rereading. Horning agrees that this is a fun book for multiple audience, calling it "[a] superb, witty book that will appeal both to squirmy, clueless kids and educated art connoisseurs." This book should be appropriate for all audiences and could be a good introductions to the comics format.

[Nicole Hibbert]

Summary: “The Hero of Little Street” is a story of a young boy who is chased by some children and ends up in a museum. While wondering around a dog jumps out of a picture! Once acquainted, the dog and boy continue wondering around the museum. They start jumping in pictures and experience what each picture is going through, until they end up in a bad situation. Through teamwork, the boy and dog end up free and out of the bad picture!

Audience: This book is intended for students who like comic books and I also think this book could be intended for students who are unable to read yet.

Appeal: This book is a good fit because it has so many fun pictures and gives you a lot of details as to what is going on so you do not miss a beat!

Implementation: I would use this book as a tool for visual literacy. It seems as though students these days do not grasp visual literacy as well as they once had. So I would use this book to talk about what is happening and have the students help figure out what is going on. We would talk about how you read books with no pictures in them, so basically how to ‘read’ the pictures.

Bibliography: Rogers, G. (2012). The hero of Little Street. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

[Alice]

I tried to not run around screaming "Not another wordless book agrghhhh" At first I open it and see a ton of pictures in sequence that I have to follow to tell the story. Usually I really hate that, and though I didn't love interpreting the story, it was fun! SUPER FUN!!

What made it a 4 star for me an not a 3 (which is where I might normally put it) was the Jan Vemeer reference (Girl with the Pearl Earring painter). 17th Century Dutch Painter. The kid goes into a painting at the museum into Vemeers "Little Street" Bring it back to art history, fun story, I liked it! Very nice. I did get exhausted trying to follow each frame of the story, but open it up and have your kids tell the story and it is a fun adventure!

[Joanne Roberts]

Fantastic wordless novel in comic panel-style. Akin to Harold and the Purple Crayon or Katie Meets the Impressionists. I love the adventures of this little boy and the artwork is fun to peruse again and again. This is a sequel, but definitely stands alone. I haven't read any other books in this series yet)

[Edward Sullivan]

A fun wordless adventure full of action and humor.

[Anne Sophie]

This book does not involve a single word: Gregory Rogers tells the story thourgh cartoon-look-alike illustrations. A boy gets chased by a group of bullies, which makes him seek hide in a museum. Inside the museum's hall, a dog suddenly jumps out of an old painting and invites the boy into the painting. The boy and the dog travel back in time, and a woman hands out a magical whistle to the boy: a whistle that calls on all dogs from the old days when he blows it. He uses the whistle to get out of uncomfortable situations confronting adults and bullies.
Some of the obvious themes are childhood, history, friendship and human-animal relationships. I like how it tells the story from a childish point of view, illustrating the adults as the angry enemies, you must escape from. It is emotionally moving how the relationship between the boy and the dog develop, how they help each other out. This relationship reminds the reader that it is okay to feel connected to an animal and become friends with one, which I assume many young readers can relate to.
The technique of not including written words has both it's advantages and disadvantages. It challenges the reader to use one's fantasy and imagine the plot, emotions and characters. It allows readers to understand and interpret the story differently. On the other hand, I believe it can maybe be too challenging and difficult for some children to do so. Some children need specific descriptions to relate to. Therefore, one must consider what kind of child should work with this book.

[Brewer Tunstall]

The Hero of Little Street by Gregory Rogers.
This wordless picture book allows children to see context and meaning without reading words. The illustrations are extremely descriptive. For example, while the little boy is in the museum the illustrations show all of the artifacts in the museum. The pictures show the little boy hiding in the museum and then the guards kick him out. As the boy is running out an artifact catches his eye and he jumps into the painting. Then the boy ends up in a different country, but after meeting many dogs the boy says goodbye. In the end the the boy is outside the museum being chased by the guards again. I love how descriptive the illustrations are because it allows children to imagine their own story by just using pictures. I recommend this book to first graders because there is so much detail in the illustration.

[Alexa Brazier]

In Gregory Rogers’ book The Hero of Little Street, we showed a story through pictures of a little boy who is running away from a group of bullies and befriending a dog, and ending up in an art gallery. He falls into a famous painting by Jan Vermeer that transports to the small-town Little Street. The boy has to face the challenge of coming back to his reality. The book teaches the value of loyalty and kindness portrayed through the dog character, and bravery from the boy character having to face his fears throughout the story.
The book uses a soft tone to so the background and stronger colors for the characters so they stand out on the pages. The author uses dramatic and bold colors during intense moments in the book. The book reminds me of Back To The Future with the element of traveling to a different time period and having to figure out a way back to the character’s reality.

[Kesta Fleming]

4 1/2 stars from me. I'm not really a comic kind of person, but this wordless picture book is so well done. The drawings, the perspective, the colours, the detail, the accuracy and reference to real places, historical times and art works are all excellent. Rogers clearly did a huge amount of research for this book. This would be a great book to use in the classroom for all sort of ages and to explore all sorts of themes and topics. I found myself looking up the art works of Van Eyck and Vermeer amongst other things in the process of reading this book.

[Nina Vasquez]

I liked this book for many reasons. For one, this book is interesting because the book has no words to the story at all yet there is a story and you can clearly see it. There is another aspect too and that is that the story can each be a little different from each eye that reads it. It also has a cognitive thinking aspect as well because you have to find out your own interpretation of the story based on the illustrations in the book.

[Marcia]

I was surprised this was a graphic novel, as the cover indicated a traditional picture book! A young boy heads into an art gallery to escape his tormentors and travels to Vermeer's time by slipping into a painting. Appealing illustrations, fun story, introduction to art and 17th century Holland - all make for a fun read.

[AD]

This is a wonderful, magical story about a boy who manages to find his way into a gallery, and then into the world of some of the paintings. The adventures he has along the way make for lots of fun, and all without a single written word. The clever illustrations and cartoon-style layout make the story abundantly clear without the need for words. A great choice for beginner or reluctant readers.

[Samantha Heinz]

I think this was a cute picture book; however, it didn’t have any words. So, this book would have to be used for its illustrations. This could be good for some things, but it also limits how you can use the book. For example, you can have the students describe what is happening based on the pictures.

[Jean Doolittle]

Wordless book is a cartoon romp through the world of Jan Vermeer, with a clever little "hero". It is reminiscent of the movie, "The Red Balloon" with a little boy seemingly outnumbered and outgunned. Fun to share with a child.

[James Bailey]

A wordless picture book in graphic novel format about a boy who runs away from bullies and goes inside a painting that transports him to 17th century Holland. Beautiful illustrations and a fun, magical story.

[Emily Heid]

This is a book that would definitely keep the attention of young readers! It is imaginative and creative. The boy who is the main character sneaks into an art gallery and one of the paintings comes to life. It is an adventurous story that kids would enjoy.

[Bubba]

My children love this picture book!

[Amanda Walz]

Another wordless picture book

[Haaley]

*Personal Preference to books with text*

3.5/ 5 stars

I enjoyed this book. It was a lot like reading a comic. The story was also really unique and fun.

[Sarah Threlkeld]

Lots of details to pore over in this wordless story of a kid on the run from people he's upset.

[Cheryl]

Yeah, sorry, even less of a fit for me than The Boy the Bear.... I just don't like wordless books where it's so hard, for me, to figure out what's going on. Sorry.
January 20025

[Stacie]

Wordless picture book highlighting Jan Vermeer’s art. Because the book is wordless, you’d sure have to know a lot about art to get what the book is about. Duh. 🙄

[Barbara]

Since I was unfamiliar with the author/illustrator's other books, this one was quite a surprise for me. Trying to avoid some bullies on the streets of London, a boy slips into a long line of folks trying to enter a museum. After exploring the works of art and other treasures, a brown dog in a painting by a Dutch master slips out of the painting, leaving behind his master and mistress. The boy and dog race through the museum and climb into another painting where they meet a pianist. She ties a bow around the dog's neck and presents a flute to the boy. Both of them explore the streets of 17th century Holland. When the dog disappears, the boy must use his wits to save him from a cruel butcher who has plans to slice up several canines. Once the dog returns to his painting, the boy returns to the streets where he uses the flute to enlist aid against the bullies who've been waiting patiently for his return. There is so much to see in this book that readers will want to read it more than once. Some of the detail on the pages featuring the cityscapes is astounding. Smoke curls into the air from chimneys. Women lean out of the windows of their houses to watch or to shake out dust cloths. All in all, the artwork is a treat for the eyes. What a great comeuppance for bullies from the past and from today! What a great introduction to some of the detail in the work of the Dutch masters!

[Pamela]

The "hero" in the title of this wordless, graphic-novel styled picture book is a energetic London boy who creates mischief wherever he goes. After kicking someone's soccer ball into a fountain, he runs into a museum to get away, and ends up following a dog that jumped out of one old Dutch painting into another one. The musician portrayed in that painting gives him a flute and the dog a ribbon, and waves goodbye as the boy and dog leave to explore this long-gone world. When they find themselves in a blood-stained butcher shop, they must again run. Escaping from this situation gives him the experience he needs to then escape from the situation he returns to in his modern-day life. The settings in this story, and the paintings represented, will take a bit of explaining for most elementary school students to get (no to mention many older students and adults as well). This book could be used as a story starter, to practice visual literacy skills, or for a beginning-middle-end sequence lesson. Nevertheless, I think I would leave it for the public libraries, unless you have a generous budget, or students who will only pick up a book if it's a wordless graphic novel. (optional for elem sch lib)

[Chris]

This is the third book in the Boy Bear series. It is written in picture book format, however, it is more of a wordless comic book, as the story is revealed in frames like a comic strip. A little boy is chased by a group of older kids, so he hides in a line which takes him into a museum. In the museum, he walks along until he spies a friendly looking dog in one of the pictures. The dog jumps out of the picture and plays with the boy, running through the museum until they find a piece of paper. After reading the paper, first the dog and then the boy head into a picture, where more adventure ensues as the scene continues to grow beyond the picture itself. The girl in this picture gives the boy a flute, which lures many dogs to his aide. They finally find their way out of this crazy picture and the dog enters his original picture before the boy heads back outside, with the flute still tucked in his pocket. When the bullies outside start to chase him again, he pulls out his flute and dogs come running to help him.

[Selena]

Completely delightful. I've enjoyed this book several times since borrowing it and will order my own copy, because it ticks so many boxes for me: we see a bit if Europe, a bit of art and a bit of history, plus there's a tight friendship between a boy and a dog. The story begins with a bullying situation but it ends up with friends sticking together not quite in the way you might think. With no words and beautiful pictures that communicate clearly and render the setting with detail, there is much for discussion in each page spread and the book can suit a story-time audience of a mix of ages or language backgrounds. (Could be great for ESL classes.) The layout is a comic-book style grid structure, so it's possibly the perfect introduction to comics for a child one hopes will grow to love them but also a potentially useful tool for teaching story structure or comics in the classroom. I loved it. Actually, I've just updated my review to five stars.

[Robin]

2013 USBBY Outstanding International Book (Rogers is Australian)

Especially for lovers of Vermeer and Dutch painting.

A little boy is chased by a group of boys after he kicks their soccer ball into a fountain. To escape them, he joins a line waiting to enter London's National Gallery. His reaction to the modern paintings is fun -- imating statues, twisting his head to try to figure it out. Imagination takes over as the little dog in the Arnolfini wedding portrait leaps out to join the boy. Together they explore, then find a piece of music has escape a Vermeer portrait, so they enter to return it to her. One scene on a Dutch street pays homage to another Vermeer painting. His new little dog friend leads him on an adventure ... and leads him to become a hero when he makes a dark discovery in a dungy cellar.

[Heidi-Marie]

Wow. If ever there were a wordless picture book. This one was full of adventure and occasionally I missed a few details in some pictures that made me "drop" the storyline and have to go back to pick it up again. But what a way to keep a child busy in a read-alone. Do a lap-read to help out a younger one if need be, but I think preschool and up would be fine on their own (as long as the preschool has the patience to sit there and look through all the details). I think children would enjoy the idea of popping into pictures, and the magical flute. Younger kids might get scared at the mean guy part, but it turns out well so they could be OK.

[Anthony]

“The Hero of Little Street” takes us on a brief trip through the National Museum of London with the feature being the world and art of painter Jan Vermeer. The concept of travelling through art is interesting, but the delivery is uninspiring. As a wordless book the illustrations need to tell the story and keep the interest of the reader. The comic strip style does a good job of telling the story, but the art itself, while nice, is a little too subdued to keep my interest over multiple readings.

So you or your child will probably enjoy reading this book once, but requests for an encore are unlikely.