Windblown by Édouard Manceau (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Windblown by Édouard Manceau Jeannette Hulick, Reviewer Manceau, Édouard Windblown; written and illus. by Édouard Manceau; tr. from the French by Sarah Quinn. OwlKids, 2013 26p ISBN 978-1-926973-77-7 $16.95 R 3–6 yrs The wind blows a series of random shapes onto the blank white pages of this picture book, shapes that are then arranged as parts of various animals, with additional thin black lines completing details for each critter. A cumulative “House That Jack Built”–style litany accompanies the changing arrangement of shapes: they first take the form of a chicken’s head (“‘They’re mine!’ said the chicken. ‘I saw them lying around!’”), then the head, fin, and tail of a fish (“‘No, they’re mine!’ replied the fish. ‘I’m the one who cut the paper into the pieces that the chicken saw lying around’”), and so on. This continues from chicken to fish to bird to snail to frog, until the wind intercedes and scatters them toward the reader: “They’re yours now too. What will you do?” Although the story is very slight, the shape-rearranging is entertaining and the crisp, bold shapes—a large, light blue semi-circle, an orange pie-shaped wedge, a set of gray and black circles, and a red tulip-like shape—are visually appealing against the plain white backdrop. This title lends itself to a number of uses, from the obvious creative shape-arranging indicated in the book (a printable page of the book’s shapes is available online), to lessons on wind or simple drawing techniques à la Ed Emberley. Pair this with one of Lois Ehlert’s shape-based picture books such as Color Zoo (BCCB 9/89), Emberley’s Go Away, Big Green Monster (BCCB 3/93), or even Matisse’s famed cut-paper collages for a enjoyable lesson/storytime on shape and form. Copyright © 2013 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois