Except for the pages labeled with days of a single week, this is a wordless but eloquent book. When a young boy moves to a new neighborhood his world turns around in the space of one week. First overcome with shyness, he packs away his baseball gear. Then,m day by day, he joins, identifies with, is challenged by a quartet of old gents on a park bench. Eventually they lead him to participating in the baseball game, and they, too, leave their bench to participate as his cheering gallery.White space, bold minimalist strokes, and vivid facial and body expressions speak volumes. I adored this nearly wordless picture book! By telling the story through the days of the week, Newman sets up the sweet tale of a little boy trying to find a way to fit in. I love that the story could take you almost anywhere that you and your little one reading it are willing to go (and therein lies the wonder and imagination in wordless picture books). I could see it going from early elementary on up--you really can make it work!
What do You think about The Boys (2010)?
Good wordless story, creative, good message. The illustrations told the story well.
—valentino
Watch this one when it comes Caldecott time in January! Love this one.
—sweetporia2
For a book with very few words it was quite good.
—jay
