Author: William Joyce
Illustrator: William Joyce and Joe Bluhm
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (June 19, 2012)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 56
Genre: Children’s
Source: Library
Ages:4 to adults
When you read the path that this book took to get to publication, it makes the story of Morris Lessmore all the more meaningful.
This tale, like all of William Joyce’s gifts, reaches both the child and the parent on a multitude of levels. The adults see a lonely man become sadder when his rich world of books is decimated by a hurricane and the winds scattered his words. The children giggle and point at the flying books and how the dictionary gets the last word “Zzzzzzzz” when the books go to sleep for the night.
Wandering in a black and white world, color found Morris once again when instead of looking down, he looked up, and drifting through the sky was a beautiful woman being pulled along by flying books.
It is not until the end of the story before you find out who this woman was. You must first witness Morris getting the color back into his life when the books find him and take care of him.
Imagine walking into a room and hearing the books chattering. Telling their stories to each other and cheering each other up. In so sharing themselves, they find that they need Morris as much as he needs them.
This may be a child’s book, but adults will get so much more out of it. Read it over and over; allow it to become a family favorite. I dare you not to smile and sigh when you reach the end.
This tale, like all of William Joyce’s gifts, reaches both the child and the parent on a multitude of levels. The adults see a lonely man become sadder when his rich world of books is decimated by a hurricane and the winds scattered his words. The children giggle and point at the flying books and how the dictionary gets the last word “Zzzzzzzz” when the books go to sleep for the night.
Wandering in a black and white world, color found Morris once again when instead of looking down, he looked up, and drifting through the sky was a beautiful woman being pulled along by flying books.
It is not until the end of the story before you find out who this woman was. You must first witness Morris getting the color back into his life when the books find him and take care of him.
Imagine walking into a room and hearing the books chattering. Telling their stories to each other and cheering each other up. In so sharing themselves, they find that they need Morris as much as he needs them.
This may be a child’s book, but adults will get so much more out of it. Read it over and over; allow it to become a family favorite. I dare you not to smile and sigh when you reach the end.
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