The Knight and the Dragon, by Tomie de Paola

This is another fun book by de Paola. The fantasy-like tale tells a story about a Knight who has never fought a Dragon, and a Dragon who has never fought a Knight. They each must learn the intricacies of fighting their opponent, but when the battle ensues... things do not go as planned and in the end the reader is taken by complete surprise!

As usual, the illustrations are unique and interesting. They tell much of the story on their own, as there are very few words in the book. In fact, there are eighteen pages in this book without any words. Most of the wordless pages illustrate the "fight" between the characters, and the hilarity that ensues following the big defeat.

The book allows the reader to use the imagination as a tool to develop a unique interpretation of the story - SUPER COOL!

The Hunter and the Animals, by Tomie de Paola

OH, de Paola, if only you were my age! I am in love with his books. The illustrations, and the stories told by the art are so vivid and engaging.

This book is a wordless picture book, The story begins on the title page showing a beautifully odd artistic interpretation of a forest full of animals: fox, deer, squirrels, rabbits, birds, beavers and others. The colors are earthy and natural. A few pages into the story, we are introduced to a hunter who journeys into the forest with a gun. The reader is led to believe that he will shoot and kill an animal, but alas, the hunter is outsmarted by the animal's cunning acts of deception and trickery. In the end the animals help the hunter to open his heart and go through an unlikely transformation.

This is a great book to use with children who enjoy storytelling and creating their own meaning from illustrations. However, the fact that the hunter carries a gun may be seen as a refection of violence in a "public school setting," even though in the end the story tell us how important it is to respect the animals (or perhaps: do unto others as you would want them to do unto you). In fact, this book could be seen as a work to reach out to children to further animal rights awareness.

The author provides a brief outline in the form of a bullet-point list on the inside of the dust jacket, to provide a little insight into his intent for the story, and what the illustrations are meant to reflect. This feature is helpful for the less imaginative of us who want to know, "what story was the author trying to tell?" But really, there is so much more that can be found in these illustrations than what the author lets on. DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED!

A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog, written and illustrated by Mercer Mayer

This book by Mercer Mayer is a story without words, and form what I know about this kind of book - it is one of the very first, published in 1967.

The book, illustrated using pen, ink, and pencil drawings, portrays the story of a boy and his dog, who sets out wearing his waders and carrying a bucket and a net, for an adventure in frog-catching. After an entire day of playing "capture-the-frog" the boy looks as if he has become frustrated by the 'un-catchable' frog and he gives-up and heads for home. The frog becomes lonely and follows the boy's tracks until they are all reunited in the bathtub and everyone is happy.

The illustrations facilitate and encourage the creation of a story as it is seen in the pictures. The reader, children especially, can develop their own dialogue and narration that coincides with each illustration. It would be really interesting to actually see a child read this book, and to observe how they interpret the drawings and feelings represented within.