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Readers will be drawn to stop and examine the illustrations on every page.Max's droll adventure is both contemporary and timeless. Words that made him feel good. And that makes it a book for all ages. Let's see.
He collected short words. Yet within this whimsical fable lies a deeper truth about the power of language. Benjamin collected stamps. Karl collected coins. Words he didn't know yet.Benjamin and Karl laughed at him. Max's Words, happily, avoids both snares and shares, instead, a lighthearted romp as the three boys scramble to assemble a story.
The immediate audience is readers ages 4 to 8. there's a little brown worm, a blue iguana, a green crocodile, or is it a green iguana and a blue crocodile.The joy of this book is twofold: text and art interact in capricious and witty ways. The H in hugs is two clasped arms; a dog's tongue and tail compose a sentence. It works.Kulikov's style is curious, showing round-eyed, round-headed children in sometimes unconventional perspective (often viewing a scene from ceiling level) that is nevertheless engaging. But as Max spread his words out on the floor, a strange thing happened: They became ideas. Sound strange. Max wanted to collect something, too, so he began cutting words out of magazines and newspapers.
Words become pictures; pictures become words. And soon, Benjamin and Karl wanted some words, too.The premise of this picture book skates a thin line; such a device could easily slip into being either a didactic tale or a vocabulary lesson. Long words. The ideas became stories.
Cute book. This book hits on sharing, feelings, pride and a few other old fashion life lessons. One of the ones we read over and over. Perfect for the Kindergarten/1st grade level. My son loves it.
With some changes in the fonts and the size of the words, this book would be fabulous. This is a great book - creative and kid friendly. My only concern is that some of the words are not clear enough for children to read.
It reminds me of THE PUDDLE PAIL, by Elisa Kleven, in which a younger brother, a blue crocodile, collects puddles which he later turns into a watercolour painting collection. The unusual story features a dreamy and imaginative younger brother who wants to start an unconventional collection, words, which he later turns into a story. Sure to get kids thinking about unusual collections beyond the usual stamps, coins, etc. The art in this book really grabbed me. It features big headed kids in a luminous landscape.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Max lies down in the grass and looks up at the clouds; he tells his brothers that his dragon is practicing flying. Pictures by Boris Kulikov. Then he finds an umbrella decorated with a dragon. Banks, Kate.
A dark purple cloud depicts a dinosaur chasing after a fire-breathing dragon who then turns and blows the scary dinosaur away. The illustrations brim with exuberance and exaggerations: a lizard watches Max as he first peers intently at the ground, and then scrunches up under a bright red umbrella that is decorated with a yellow dragon. When a croquet ball makes a trail in the grass, Max follows, telling his brothers that his "dragon's tail has made a trail" and he is "following it". In one dramatic double spread some billowing rain clouds represent an imagined dragon falling into a well. "What are you doing." asks his brother Karl. Colorful paintings capture nicely the mood of the three brothers as they play, talk, and imagine together. He skips out to where his two brothers are playing croquet, and says, "Found, ground". His brother Ben characterizes a dark cloud as a dinosaur, and Karl says, "It's going after your dragon." It begins to rain and Max says, "My dragon's roar has made it pour" and Karl cries, "What can we do to stop it." Max says, "You need to make a rhyme"; it turns out that not only do rhymes make the rain go away but also rhymes can make the rain come back.
Max's Dragon. Max's brothers join in the play. This creative picture book will appeal most to children, ages 4-8. 2008.Max likes to make up rhymes and he has a rich imagination. "I'm looking for words that rhyme", says Max.
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