Synopses & Reviews
A CHILD IN SEARCH OF HER STORY Caldecott medalist Mordicai Gerstein looks at books from a whole new angle.
Once upon a time there was a family who lived in a book. All but the youngest had stories they belonged to--fighting fires, exploring space, entertaining in the circus--but she didn't have one yet. Walking through all the possibilities of story types Mordicai Gerstein presents her quest in unique and changing perspectives: readers look down into the books below at the characters in their worlds. A funny and touching celebration of books, stories, and finding yourself.
Review
“Terrifically sweet and humorous.”
Booklist, STARRED
“This is A Book to savor.” Shelf Awareness
Review
“More seasoned readers will be inspired to rethink what a book is (pun intended), how it works, and their own part in bringing it to life. This is A Book to savor.” Shelf Awareness
“This charming story follows a young girl and her family who live in a book, though she doesnt know what kind of story her book is.” Starred, Booklist
“Clever.” Kirkus Reviews
Review
“Gersteins characteristic pen-and-paint-on-vellum technique creates a vivid depth, accentuated by use of shadows, that makes the reader feel as if they could literally drop into the scene.” —Horn Book
“Humorous.” —Starred, School Library Journal
“More seasoned readers will be inspired to rethink what a book is (pun intended), how it works, and their own part in bringing it to life. This is A Book to savor.” —Shelf Awareness
“This charming story follows a young girl and her family who live in a book, though she doesnt know what kind of story her book is.” —Starred, Booklist
“Readers will particularly giggle at the characters importuning the young protagonist to join their various genres.”—Bulletin of the Center for Childrens Books
“Clever.” —Kirkus Reviews
“One of the more innovative picture books I've read in quite a while.” —Eclectica
“Fresh, clever, surprising, and great fun.” —Kidslit.menashsalibrary.org
“A thoroughly fascinating adventure about a family who lives inside a book.” —The Cleveland Plain Dealer
About the Author
Mordicai Gerstein is the author and illustrator of The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, winner of the Caldecott Medal, and has had four books named New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year. Gerstein was born in Los Angeles in 1935. He remembers being inspired as a child by images of fine art, which his mother cut out of Life magazine, and by childrens books from the library: “I looked at Rembrandt and Superman, Matisse and Bugs Bunny, and began to make my own pictures.” He attended Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, and then got a job in an animated cartoon studio that sent him to New York, where he designed characters and thought up ideas for TV commercials. When a writer named Elizabeth Levy asked him to illustrate a humorous mystery story about two girls and a dog, his book career began, and soon he moved on to writing as well as illustrating. “Im still surprised to be an author,” he says. “I wonder what Ill write next?” Gerstein lives in Westhampton, Massachusetts.