My Pen, written and illustrated by Christopher Myers. With striking illustrations done in black pen (against white backgrounds), this unique, philosophical look at the power of art soars thanks to Myers' unpredictable approach. You never know what you are going to see when you turn the page next. The book effectively walks an emotional and tonal tightrope with a moment of humor followed by a moment of sadness or alienation. For example, before the title page we see the fedora-wearing artist on a 1,017 dollar bill ("The United States of My Pen"), but when you flip the page we see the same boy feeling small because he sees rich people who own jewels and pieces of the sky as well as famous people. "But then I remember I have my pen," the pensive lad declares, and this empowers him. A series of drawings follow, mostly surrealistic (a giant in the hand of the world's smallest girl, the boy upside down in the sky), accompanied by poetic language (the words written out in all caps with said pen carefully and beautifully). The book has a stream-of-conscious feel that can be fanciful (love those satellite sneakers with computer laces, and the x-ray vision that shows the boy's ribcage as a butterfly) or bleak ("my pen worries about all the wars in the world"). What young readers will take away from this is that with your pen you can create anything your heart desires and what is on your mind. Artistically impressive and yes an even a bit strange (in a great way), this will inspire young artists. I love the sentiment: "There are a million pens in the world and each one has a million worlds inside it."
No comments:
Post a Comment