The Whisper

by Pamela Zagarenski (Author)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

Her magical book of stories is wordless until a whisper in the wind tells a little girl to imagine a story for each page.

Step inside the pages of a little girl's magical book as she discovers the profound and inspiring notion that we each bring something different to the same story.

Two-time Caldecott Honor artist Pamela Zagarenski debuts as an author in this tender picture book about the joy of reading.

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School Library Journal

Starred Review

Gr 1-3—A sweet-faced girl in a red hood borrows a special book from her teacher. As she runs home, oblivious to what is happening, the words escape. While a fox nets the jumbled letters, readers can discern "once upon a time," "wizard," "bears," etc. At home, the child is disappointed, thinking the book lacks a story. Then she hears the whisper: "You can imagine the words...the stories....There are never any rules...imagining just is." She develops an approach, looking more closely at the pictures and asking herself questions from her vantage point at the border. Ironically, this is not a wordless experience for readers; the girl develops opening sentences for the next seven magical compositions. Zagarenski's signature wheels, teacups, crowns, and tigers populate these richly layered, golden scenes, full of texture and mystery: an elephant and lion float by on a quest, a wizard blows bubbles that become real creatures. During the girl's return trip to school, the fox requests help reaching grapes. Those familiar with Aesop may be surprised that no trickery is involved. The endpapers reveal the edited fable; the listening fox has also learned about imagining and reimagining. Stories about storytelling can be hard sells to children, who generally prefer the familiar arc of a sustained narrative. However, the mixed-media art is so stunning in this Caldecott-honor artist's first foray into writing that they will make an exception. VERDICT A sumptuously illustrated fable about the magic of storytelling and the power of imagination.—Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

In her first work as author, two-time Caldecott Honor recipient Zagarenski appears to have constructed a story to accompany her dreamy, otherworldly paintings, rather than the other way around. A girl in a fox-eared red hood borrows a book from her teacher and hastens home, but its words spill out along the way, leaving only the pictures. A mysterious whisper tells her, "You can imagine the words. You can imagine the stories." And so she does, inventing the first few sentences of a story for each of Zagarenski's magical paintings, but leaving them unfinished. In one, an enormous ox lies in a field, listening "to secrets that anyone wanted to share." In another, an elephant floats tranquilly down a river: "Their hundred mile journey began in a sturdy wooden boat." Tiny vignettes of the girl looking at these very images in her own treasured book create the sense that readers are reading it along with her. The unfinished stories may leave some readers with an uneasy sense of irresolution; others may see them as filled with possibilities. Either way, Zagarenski's artwork is irresistible. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)

Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

* "A sumptuously illustrated fable about the magic of storytelling and the power of imagination."
—School Library Journal, starred review

* "Surreal, staggering mixed-media paintings make traveling across such beautifully varied and bizarre storyscapes exhilarating."
—Kirkus, starred review

"Tiny vignettes of the girl looking at these very images in her own treastured book create the sense that readers are reading it along with her...Zagarenski's artwork is irresistable"
—Publishers Weekly

"The fanciful combination of opulent imagery and mysterious detail will have children imagining stories of their own."
—Horn Book Magazine

"[T]he fabulously layered paintings by two-time Caldecott honor winner Zagarenski are so beautifully constructed and lavishly painted — swirling patterns and honeycombs in the background, winsome creatures in the fore — that readers can't help but fall for this book."
—The Boston Globe
Pamela Zagarenski
The Caldecott honor medalist Pamela Zagarenski creates distinctive and deeply layered paintings for books that have been translated into many languages. As well as illustrating picture books, she creates large paintings and has a gift card line. She lives in Stonington, Connecticut. Visit her website at www.pzagarenski.com.


Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780544416864
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
P
Publisher
Clarion Books
Publication date
October 06, 2015
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV047000 - Juvenile Fiction | Books & Libraries
JUV051000 - Juvenile Fiction | Imagination & Play
JUV039090 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | New Experience
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV013000 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | General
Library of Congress categories
Imagination
Magic
Books and reading

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