A Boy Named Isamu: A Story of Isamu Noguchi by James Yang

Abstract

Reviewed by: A Boy Named Isamu: A Story of Isamu Noguchi by James Yang Deborah Stevenson, Editor Yang, James A Boy Named Isamu: A Story of Isamu Noguchi; written and illus. by James Yang. Viking, 2021 [40p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780593203446 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593203453 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 5-8 yrs Second-person narration describes the experience of a “boy named Isamu,” who, deterred by the noise of crowds of playing children, prefers to meander off on his own and wonder about what he sees in the playground and in the woods (“The leaves are so perfect they must have been waiting for you”). Most especially Isamu loves stones, and the way “time has carved each stone to be different.” He then wanders to the beach, looking at shapes, and when he comes home he’s pleased with a day where he was “alone but not lonely,” and where the items he gathered along the way linger like gifts. While an author’s note explains a little more about artist and landscape architect Noguchi, this more a gentle, lyrically touched story of a thoughtful, artistic youngster than a biography, and the second-person address will draw listeners in. Yang’s digital art partners flat, stylized figures with airy, cool-toned landscapes that suggest old-school collage à la Leo Lionni, a style that gives viewers an Isamu-approved amount of calm and breathing room. While the subject makes the title an obvious inclusion in an art curriculum, its treatment of a quiet kid’s wondering about the world would pair well with Goldsaito’s The Sound of Silence (BCCB 9/16). Copyright © 2021 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois