Chalk
by Bill Thomson (Author)
Three children discover a magical bag of chalk on a rainy day.
A wordless picture book about three children who go to a park on a rainy day, find some chalk, and draw pictures that come to life.
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Publishers Weekly
In this wordless drama, a clever twist on the theme of be careful what you wish for, sidewalk chalk provides three children with miraculous fun until one artist goes overboard. Thomsons ("Building with Dad") photo-real acrylic and colored pencil spreads close in on three kids in raincoats who discover a bag full of chalk hanging from the mouth of a playground dinosaur. As raindrops splash, one girl draws a sun on the pavement. When a sun promptly bursts forth and drives the clouds away, the second girl draws chalk butterflies, whereupon monarchs emerge from the pavement. But the boys hand-drawn dinosaur is a little too real, and the frightening creature pursues them across the playground. Although the kids expressions of glee, shock, and terror sometimes feel over the top, Thomsons brilliant sun and shadow effects, cinematic shots, and novel angles (one from the POV of the marauding dino) create lots of visual excitement. The story is simple enough so that readers can provide their own narrative, though it might leave some more cautious about picking up strange objects. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 4 - This stunningly illustrated wordless picture book tells the story of three children who find a bag of magical chalk at the playground on a rainy day. Their drawings come to life, which seems great when a drawing of the sun stops the rain, but is scary when a dinosaur stalks them. A drawing of a rain cloud inside a play tube brings the rain back and dissolves the frightening creature. This imaginative story is the perfect showcase for Thomson's extraordinary pictures. Though they look like photos or computer-generated images, each one is actually composed using traditional techniques with acrylics and colored pencils. The artist's clever use of light, perspective, and expression, along with the protagonists' neat solution to their dilemma, creates a completely satisfying experience. Thomson is a master at visual storytelling.
Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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