Bound To Stay Bound

View MARC Record
 

Full Text Reviews:

Bulletin for the Center... - 06/01/2011 On a hot night in the city, everyone in the family is busy with their own activities-too busy to play with the young girl hoping for a partner in a board game. When the electricity suddenly goes out, however, the busy family slows down; at first “huddled around flashlights and candles” together, they’re then driven by the heat to the apartment-building roof, where they discover a power-free block party in progress and a sky full of stars usually bleached out by city glow. Then there’s another party down in the street, where the philosophical ice-cream vendor gives her treats away and the firefighters open up a hydrant, so it’s a bit of a disappointment when the lights come back on. While the real-life version of this would probably just send the wireheads in the family to their smart phones, it’s an enticing premise nonetheless. Author-illustrator Rocco effectively employs the text as voiceover narration (“So we went up and up and up to the rooftop”) for the drama that unfolds visually, and the simple, straightforward words, in font recalling In the Night Kitchen and crawled across the full-bleed art or neatly boxed, play their supporting role tactfully. Rocco interestingly goes for solidity rather than ethereality with his visual style: the family is a robust little crew, with authentic touches in demeanor (older sister has a sulky preteen slouch) and in their behavior in the dark (a lot of shadow-puppetry in the flashlight’s glow, some opportunistic handholding by Mom and Dad). Colors are understandably shadowy (textured with intriguingly geometric hatching lines), but there’s a clever balance of cool and warm in the spreads, and the inventive perspectives and panel sequences keep the energy high despite the late hour. This will be a nice reassurance for kids afraid of the dark, and most audiences will simply relish the notion of a spontaneous old-timey party. DS - Copyright 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

Booklist - 06/01/2011 It’s a scenario many kids are probably all too familiar with: a young boy wants to play, but older sis is gabbing on the phone, Mom is busy on the computer, and Dad is making dinner. When the power goes out, however, the family comes together to make shadow puppets on the wall, join the neighbors on the roof to admire the stars, and even head out front to the most idyllic city street you’ll ever see. All good things come to an end, though. The power comes back on, and everyone immediately slips back into walled-off family units—though the walls are a bit weaker now. Compositionally, this picture book bears a strong resemblance to Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen (1970), breaking some of the pages into comics-style panels and running a boxed narrative up top. Rocco’s lustrous, animation-quality artwork somehow manages to get richer the darker it gets, and features one of the silkiest skies since Van Gogh's Starry Night. A versatile reminder to take a break and invest in quality together time once in a while. - Copyright 2011 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 07/01/2011 PreS-Gr 2—The view inside this family of four's duplex depicts what might be a typical night for them. The younger child is reaching for a board game, her older sister is talking on the phone, dad is cooking, and mom is working at the computer. When the girl tries to enlist the others to play the game with her, they're all too busy—until "The lights went out. All of them." It's a blackout! At first, the family members sit at the kitchen table with a flashlight and some candles; then they head up to the roof for a look at the bright stars against the dark cityscape; and, finally, they go down to the street, where there's a festive atmosphere of guitars playing, free ice cream, and an open fire hydrant. In the end, readers will see that simple pleasures and a spirit of togetherness can be enjoyed even when the electricity comes back on. The colorful pictures work beautifully with the book's design. Rocco uses comic-strip panels and a brief text to convey the atmosphere of a lively and almost magical urban landscape. Great bedtime reading for a soft summer night.—Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL - Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

View MARC Record
Loading...



  • Copyright © Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Privacy Policy