Angelo

Angelo

by David Macaulay

Angelo is a plasterer. He has spent most of his life high above the city re-plastering buildings and cleaning up pigeon droppings from the facades. So when he finds an injured pigeon in one of the crevices of the buildings, he only agrees to take it home and nurse it back to health for a day or so. After all, he hates pigeons. The days turn into weeks and the two become friends. After the pigeon, named Sylvia, gets better she flies away but comes back to keep an eye on the old man. The two become inseparable, eating and working together. Sylvia notices that Angelo is slowing down on his work. He rests more often. And Angelo notices too. After he finally finishes his building job, he decides he needs to do something for Sylvia. Something that will last forever.

If I was looking for a book where I cried with both happiness and sadness, this would be it. I'm so in love with this book. I love Sylvia, I love Angelo, but most of all I loved the friendship between them. This is no simple story about a man rescuing a pigeon. Angelo is rescued just as much. The friendship between the two is well built, based on hard work and time spent together. We get to watch it develop from the moment Angelo builds a makeshift hospital bed for the bird until the very end. Angelo is hardworking and caring. He works to do a good job even as he gets too old to work. Sylvia is sweet and caring, and worried about the old man. The ending though, is what cements this book as a new found favorite. I cried at the end of this book, the story was so touching. I was happy and I was sad. In only a couple words Macaulay creates a final image that will stick with me for a very long time.

David Macaulay's illustrations are filled with rough lines and warm colors. In only a few simple pen strokes, he creates beautiful Mediterraneans buildings and expresses great character emotions. He uses terra-cottas, creams, browns, and light blues to bring out the Italian feel for the city and to make his unassuming character of Angelo come to life. Here is a plain man presented plainly. But we still get a feeling for the great love and tenderness he has. A beautiful book, both in story and in illustrations. And a new favorite of mine.

Feathers For Lunch

I've become a bit of a birder in the last year so Lois Ehlert's Feathers for Lunch was a treasure to find. I again judged a book by its cover and picked it up based on the beautiful illustration on the front. And that was only the tip of the beauty that is this book.

Ehlert works in collage, creating brightly colored spreads filled with action and beauty. The book follows the adventures of a cat who slips out the front door and attempts to eat the birds in the yard. But the cat is wearing a bell and the birds fly off before he reaches them leaving just feathers behind. The book is told in simple rhyming phrases which would be easy for any child to read by themselves. The first time I read it, I took so much time gawking at the gorgeous art that I didn't even hear the rhyme. On the second time through I noticed the poem-like quality to the book. Ehlert mixes just enough white space in that we are not overwhelmed by action and color and there is a sense of peace to the book, even with its hunting theme.

The birds are what caught my attention in the book. Using bright colored paper Ehlert brings a number of different birds to life. There are warblers, cardinals, blue jays, and more. And each are stylized beautifully. These paper representations are better than some guide books I've seen. Ehlert includes the birds chirps and alarm calls and has a section at the back which gives information on each bird. This is a perfect book for a young child who is interested in birding. They will marvel at the beautiful illustration, enjoy the fun rhymes, and learn a bit about birds in the process. This would be a great book to use before going on a birding field trip with little children. They will get more from this than any field guide. Most pages include the cat and one or two of the birds he is hunting. I can't say enough about those illustrations. Gorgeous. Stunning. They pop off the page. I'm a huge fan of collage work and Ehlert is a master. I'll be checking out more of her work. A gorgeous find. And one that I will be on the lookout to purchase.