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 Review by
Marlene Perry
"Mayfly" is a narrative picture book of
summer and all its glorious joys. It is a story about the
experiences of three siblings from a big city who are spending the
summer at a lake cabin. Rather than basing this story on the
individual family members and exploring their personalities,
"Mayfly" simply illustrates a collection of their activities. This
lets the reader and listener concentrate on their own familiarity
with summer fun.
As the book begins, school is over for
the year, and it's time to pack up for a summer excursion. The city
sights and sounds are gradually left behind on the car trip,
replaced by checkerboard fields, dirt roads and the smell of pine
trees.
Upon arriving, the children quickly
say, "Hello, summer, hello." They sweep and air out the cabin and
run down the dock to the old rowboat named Mayfly. The children,
with their pet dog, take part in the many activities and pleasures
offered when you combine warm weather with the freedom of childhood.
Swimming and boating, wiggly bugs, summer foods, and sunburn are
just a few of the experiences that are illustrated in Marthe
Jocelyn's clever and unusual collage style of art.
Simple paper and fabric, in Jocelyn's
hands, become realistic-looking pictures of colorful summer fun that
will be very familiar to the reader and listener alike. Especially
interesting are the textures that are created, giving a third
dimension to the illustrations, as they seem to lift off the pages.
You and your listener may be tempted to touch a page to feel the
raised "edges" that seem to be there, only to be reminded that it is
a flat page like any other book.
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When the time comes to "say goodbye to
summer" (and it always comes too soon), "Mayfly" talks about packing
up belongings and traveling back to the city, full of its many
people, buildings and bright lights.
A clever idea is the page of
"photographs" of the summer memories, looking as if they were
black-and-white pictures in a scrapbook. They are created in the
same collage style but in shades of gray fabric and paper.
The final page of the book says,
"Hello, new shoes. Hello, school," which reinforces the seasonal
progression of events that make up the timeline of a child's life.
"Mayfly" is a simple, comforting story
of summer that will spark many connections with your own child's
experiences. And August is a perfect time to reinforce the coming
change of activities from summer freedom to a school-time routine.
Jocelyn's book also points out to
children that their art can be created with a medium other than just
crayons or paint.
To read this
book and others, visit the Lincoln Public Library Youth Services
Department at 725 Pekin St., or call 732-5732.
[Marlene
Perry,
Lincoln
Public Library District] |
