Ferdie doesn't want to go to school at all and he dreads his sister Viola telling him to go. He vows to stay put and never move and Viola has to tell him that he must do extravagant things like save a princess and search for buried treasure to get him to move. There's only a few blocks to get to school and the two siblings will have to use their imaginations to get through it. The illustrations are amazing. The real world is in blacks and gray blues while those in their imaginations are in vibrant color. It's fabulous. The characters are entirely too fun as they remind me of several kids I know. A very fun read. When I saw the cover of this book, the illustrations of the children reminded me of one of my favorite books from my childhood "A Hole is to Dig" by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Maurice Sendak so I had to pick it up. Little Ferdie didn't want to go to school, he had too much playing to do. So his big sister Viola had to coax him to get dressed and walk the few blocks to school. She used the magical power of imagination to get him going, and to keep him going all the way. The ink and watercolor illustrations show fine details of the children and their belongings in dark sepia tones on a white background. But once Viola sets the stage for an imaginary adventure, the reader is swept into a colorful world where Young uses colorful collage to create the stage for their imaginations. For example, Ferdie and Viola are in their sepia tones, except for one leaf which is bright red. Viola says "The ship's leaving! We'd better hop on and go find the buried treasure!" and the ensuing collage is all red tones. While the collages are shaped like ships or clouds or other things, the objects shown in them are all city sights--buildings, trucks, fences, etc. This is visually a stunning book, and the story is a beautiful story of the magical bond between siblings Highly recommended. PreK-Gr. 3
What do You think about A Few Blocks (2011)?
Imaginative and fun to read and find hidden images.
—maricaderp
This books reminds me of my children.
—KittyMarshy
