Draw!

(Hardback)

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Description

A wordless picture book celebrates the power of art and imagination. Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Young artists will love this book, as will all children who know the joy of exploring their own imaginations. School Library Journal (starred review)

A strongly developed and executed account of a childhood fantasy, urging all young artists to dream and to draw. Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A true celebration of where our imaginations can take us. Booklist (starred review)

A marvelous wordless adventure in which a bedbound artist takes readers on safari via his imagination. Shelf Awareness (starred review)

Based on his own childhood, beloved and award-winning artist Ral Colns wordless book is about the limitless nature of creativity and imagination.

A boy alone in his room.
Pencils.
Sketchbook in hand.
What would it be like to go on safari
Imagine.
Draw

A boy named Leonardo begins to imagine and then to draw a world afarfirst a rhinoceros, and then he meets some monkeys, and he always has a friendly elephant at his side. Soon he finds himself in the jungle and carried away by the sheer power of his imagination, seeing the world through his own eyes and making friends along the way.

Reviews

A wordless picture book celebrates the power of art and imagination. A little boy reads about Africa and then creates his own adventures with his pencils and paints. Wordless books require readers to slow down and read the pictures, and careful children will see beyond the main storyline by looking at the whole illustration. Why is the boy in bed and not outside The inhaler and bottle of medicine on the side table are hints. But binoculars and an umbrella on the other side of the table tell them that he is not always bedridden. As he draws, he falls deeply into the rich world of his imaginary Africa. First he draws an elephant, and then he rides away on it. He paints zebras, has a sandwich for lunch, records a giraffe stampede and shares one of his many other sandwiches with the gorillas. After a hair-raising encounter with an aggressive rhino, the little artist shares his pencils and food with other primates, who return the favor and sketch him. Colns signature scratched-watercolor technique adds richness and emotion to this warm story, but its the framing scenes at beginning and end that really sparkle here. Simple line-and-color washes put the young man at the center of the story and help readers identify with him. Young artists, reach for your sketchbooks. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Kirkus, May 2014 *STARRED REVIEW
Using watercolor and colored pencils, Coln has created a wordless book (based on his childhood) that speaks volumes. A boy, home for the day perhaps because of an illness, sits on his bed reading a book about Africa. He begins to draw. Five identical, intensely colored pictures of the boy with an easel, art supplies, and a pit helmet increase in size as readers begin this richly imagined day on a safari. He draws an elephant as an egret watches, and atop the elephants back, the boy and bird find a herd of zebras. They pose for him as he sits on a stump. Giraffes thunder by, raising clouds of golden dust. The boy draws them, his body aslant as his eyes follow them. He draws a gorilla, who holds his helmet and shares his sandwich. He draws lions, a water buffalo, and a hippo before sighting a charging rhinoceros. Running with all his might, he barely escapes the rhino. Baboons retrieve his pencils, set up his easel, and draw him. They also eat his sandwiches as the day slides into evening. A spread poignantly captures the parting of boy and elephant. Eyes closed, he lays his head against his friends side while the elephants trunk gently caresses the boys cheek. As six identical paintings decrease in size, the book returns to the boys pale room, now strewn with drawings. The final scene shows the boy at school, holding the elephants picture front and center. The pleasure the boy takes in making and sharing his art is palpable. Young artists will love this book, as will all children who know the joy of exploring their own imaginations. A must-have for every library. -- June 2014 * School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW *
In Colns (Baseball Is...) wordless fantasy, a boy lies on his bed, his sketchbook on the floor; hes lost in a large book titled Africa. As he takes up his sketchbook and begins to draw, small full-color panels of himself setting off across the African veldt sail forth from his mind like thought balloons. On the next page, hes entered his fantasy fully; hes in the African grasslands, carrying his drawing supplies and waving to a nearby elephant. After obligingly allowing its portrait to be drawn, the elephant carries the boy to meet other animals who pose for himzebras, giraffes, and hippos. A rhinoceros portrait ends in near-calamity; a gang of baboons draw the boy. After a tender goodbye to the elephant, another series of sunlit panels retreats into the boys head as he returns to real life. Colns visual signature is the use of finely combed lines to trace the contours of his figures, a technique thats at once delicate and sensuous. Its a strongly developed and executed account of a childhood fantasy, urging all young artists to dream and to draw. Ages 48. Agency: Morgan Gaynin Inc. (Sept.) -- Publishers Weekly, 6/23/14 *STARRED REVIEW
A boy in bed, asthma inhaler within reach, sketchbook at his side, looking at a book about Africa, is not confined by the walls of his room. As he begins to draw, he takes a journey. The palette changes from subdued pen-and-ink with wash in the bedroom to vibrant hues textured with scratched-in lines that seem to pulse, capturing the landscape and animals of Africa. On this wordless art safari, based on Colns own childhood imaginings, first up is the elephant. This fellow is so pleased with the boys portrait of him that he then accompanies the boy on his hunt. They spot a zeal of zebras (one watches as the boy creates) and a pride of lions. A charging rhinoceros is calmed when shown a sketch of himselfmade just in the nick of time! Youngsters will pore over each spread in wonder, soaking up the details. Upon his return, the traveling artist shares his pictures with his classmates. A true celebration of where our imaginations can take us. -- Booklist, *STARRED REVIEW * August 1, 2014 *
A young artist, inspired by his books about African animals, is transported to an imaginary safari in this dreamy wordless book. Armed only with his pencil, sketch pad, and easel, this budding Leonardo finds his models in the African landscapean elephant, zebras, giraffes, lions, gorillas (one of whom snatches the boys pith helmet and lunch)and all willing to pose. He has some adventuresa rhino charges him but is quickly placated when the boy shows it (from the safe distance of a tree branch) the portrait he drew. Then a group of baboons take the boys drawing implements and turn the tables by sketching him (and its not a terribly flattering portrait!). Ultimately he ends up back in his own bedroom, surrounded by the books that inspired him and the sketches we saw him make on his safari. The story line is engaging and easy to follow, and, while its whimsical, the majesty of the animals comes through in both the boys sketches and the main illustrations. Colns pen-and-ink, watercolor, colored-pencil, and lithograph pencil pictures are nicely textured and tinged with golden hues. A final illustration shows the boy sharing his artwork in a class presentation; an appended authors note describes Colns aha moment for the book. -- Horn Book, *STARRED REVIEW * Sept/Oct 2014 *
In this marvelous wordless adventure, Ral Coln (Abuelo) takes us on safari through a boy artist's imagination. Coln, who suffered from asthma as a child, calls to mind in pictures here what Robert Louis Stevenson's words do in "The Land of Counterpane." Coln uses his pencils to summon a safari's worth of animals. The boy artist, pictured in bed in pen-and-inks and watercolor, looks at a book about Africa, a safari hat, sketchbook and stash of pencils nearby. A sequence of full-color images in Coln's signature compositions leads us into the creations of the artist in his imagination. The two styles clearly delineate the bedbound child and his imagined self as artist on safari. The young artist appears with canteen and easel slung over his shoulders, waving to an elephant. The elephant stops to model for a portrait. You could teach an art class from observing the young artist's lines. The elephant, pleased with the results, offers the boy a ride. Zebras pause by an acacia tree for a portrait; the boy contorts himself to sketch a herd of swift-moving giraffes. He gazes at a pride of lions from a safe distance, and a gorilla grabs the boy's hat and lunch as the price for posing. The climax involves a charging rhino in a heart-stopping four-part sequence.The book closes as it opens, with a sequence that charts a poignant parting from his pachyderm friend, and a return to the boy's bedroom. One last image takes the boy from his solitary work to an appreciative audience. Bravo! --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness Discover: A marvelous wordless adventure in which a bedbound artist takes readers on safari via his imagination. -- Shelf Awareness, *STARRED REVIEW * September 23, 2014 *

Author Bio

Ral Colnhas illustrated several highly acclaimed picture books including theNew York TimesbestsellingAngela and the Baby Jesusby Frank McCourt and Susanna ReichsJos! Born to Dance, which received a starred review inBooklist. Mr. Coln lived in Puerto Rico as a young boy and now resides in New City, New York, with his family.