Description
Product Description
Imagine a night when you can ride your bike right up the stairs to your bed. Imagine a night when your toy train rumbles on its tracks out of your room and roars back in, full sized, ready for you to hop on for a nighttime adventure. Imagine a night when a farmer plays a lullaby on his fiddle, and his field of sunflowers begins to dip and sway to the rhythm. Imagine a night when ordinary objects magically become extraordinary...a night when it is possible to believe the impossible.
With the intrigue of an Escher drawing and the richness of a Chris Van Allsburg painting, renowned Canadian artist Rob Gonsalves depicts that delicious time between sleep and wakefulness, creating a breathtaking, visual exploration of imagination and possibility that will encourage both children and adults to think past the boundaries of everyday life, and see the possibilities beyond.
From School Library Journal
Grade 4 Up-Magical realism permeates Gonsalves's large acrylic paintings, and they are essential to the lyrical text. For "imagine a night when-you can hear a farmer play his fields to sleep," the artist depicts a man playing a fiddle on a porch in front of a field of sunflowers-but no, the flowers have human faces, leafy bodies, and green-gloved hands, and they are bowing their heads in sleep. A painting of children riding their bikes up a flight of stairs accompanies "imagine a night when you might find that gravity doesn't work quite as you expected." A girl walking in a church cloister suddenly looks over her shoulder and discovers that she's not alone, as the pointed church windows become hooded monks forming a procession. In the back of the book, each painting is repeated in miniature with its actual name. This is a fascinating foray into the imagination and a fine discussion starter for older children. For another look at things that are not what they seem, pair it with Guy Billout's Something's Not Quite Right (Godine, 2002).
Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
Sarah L. Thomson's other books include
The Dragon's Son, which was named one of the best science fiction, fantasy, and horror books of 2001 by Voice of Youth Advocates;
Stars and Stripes; and
Imagine a Night. She lives in Maine.
Rob Gonsalves grew up drawing images from his imagination. Before becoming a full-time artist, Mr. Gonsalves worked as an architect. He began exhibiting paintings in Toronto in 1990, and his work is now shown throughout North America and beyond. His picture books are
Imagine a Place,
Imagine a Night, and
Imagine a Day, which was the recipient of the Governor General’s Literary award. He currently lives in Ontario, Canada.