Birdsong: A Story in Pictures (Toon Books Level 1)

Inspired by Japanese kamishibai ("paper theater") storytelling and the prints of William S. Rice, Sturm (the Adventures in Cartooning series) follows two cruel children who get a lesson in kindness. As the wordless story opens, a boy and girl tromp through the woods, scowls on their faces and sharpened sticks in their hands. The action unfolds in full-page scenes on the right side of each spread; left-hand pages are empty except for wispy tree branches at the far margin. In keeping with the oral tradition of kamishibai, Sturm explains in an endnote that this story is meant to be performed--it's up to readers to narrate and fill in the details. After (possibly) stabbing a turtle and swatting at a bird, the children encounter a shamanistic figure who transforms them into monkeys that are quickly hunted down and sold to a circus. A scene in which the monkeys stare desolately at readers, with flies buzzing around them, seems to be a turning point, and from there their fates improve. Full of open-ended questions for readers to consider, it's a haunting study in both empathy and storytelling itself. Ages 5-up. (Apr.)

K-Gr 2--In an author's note, Sturm (author, with others, of Sleepless Knight and Gryphons Aren't So Great) relates that the images for this nearly wordless book were originally created for a friend to perform on a folding kamishibai theater. The pictures tell the story of a boy and a girl who stomp and race through a wooded area, thoughtlessly tormenting the animals they come across. (They flip over a box turtle, whack a branch that a bird is sitting on and then chase the frightened creature.) Eventually, they rouse the ire of a bearded man on a mountaintop with a tridentlike spear in his hands, who turns the children into monkeys. As monkeys, the two soon find themselves running from a lion, then hunters, and end up under a big top, advertised as chimp children: "THEY READ! THEY WRITE!" The left side of each spread of this small, horizontally formatted book features a green and yellow leafy border on the outside and white space on the inside, which serves to frame and highlight the vibrant pen-and-ink images on the right-hand page. Most of the scenes are fairly simple, with telling details carrying the story forward. When the two creatures are eventually released into the wild, they are able to make amends with the animals they have mistreated. This is a story that is sure to garner interest and discussion.