1 of 1 copy available
As João tucks under a lovingly woven quilt, he asks himself: So it’s just me now? He curls up, getting cozy in bed, and soon the world of his dreams unspools on the page. The blanket in his bed unravels into deep rivers, lakes, valleys, reservoirs, mountain ranges, fishing nets full of tadpoles and gaping holes, until what’s left is just one long thread. When he feels alone and scared in the dark, João “sews words like patchwork” into a new blanket to cover himself up. He weaves the threads of his quilt until they form one long sentence, and soon, the nighttime is peppered with his own silvery, slippery words. Roger Mello draws like a shapeshifter – to look at his illustrations is always to see something you missed before (a stingray, a crescent moon nestled into the palm of João’s hand). His breathtaking line drawings, beaming in white thread against deep red, combined with poetic and bewildered language, make João by a Thread a book to take into bed at the edge of sleep, just before you start to dream.
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Awards
-
Release date
October 25, 2022 -
Formats
-
Kindle Book
-
OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781953861351
-
EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781953861351
- File size: 19977 KB
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
July 25, 2022
“How big is the blanket that’s covering João?/ As big as the bed?/ Or as big as the nighttime?” Taking a patterned blanket as focal point, Mello narrates a child’s nighttime experience in this entrancing, question-filled book, which gestures toward the way connection (to family, to nature) can be felt, even when one is “alone with myself.” Natural imagery—wind, mountains, rivers—describe João’s restless moments beneath the blanket, the fear that engulfs him and unravels the textile, and the lullaby (a “word-blanket” he sews) with which he soothes himself. Philosophical text unfolds against cherry-red pages starkly accented with black and white, while the coverlet’s spidery weave fills almost every spread, its design shifting as João—presented as a long-limbed featureless form—ventures through the night until resting beneath a blanket of his own redesign in this dreamlike volume. Ages 5–8. -
Starred review from October 1, 2022
Nighttime imaginings and musings unspool at the precipice of sleep. In bed, Jo�o, an abstract figure who appears entirely black or white on various pages, tugs at his homemade blanket, submerged in his thoughts. " 'So it's just me now, ' he thinks, 'alone with myself?' " Before long, his imagination wanders as he slips into sleep. The ever changing blanket, it seems, becomes the canvas for his unnamed doubts and uncertainties, his unchecked fantasies and figments. Set against lakes of striking deep red and black, the threads of the blanket weave and stretch into different shapes and symbols, echoing Mello's whimsical text (translated from Portuguese by Hahn) in all its compelling allure. At the book's core, Jo�o's bedtime reveries wed a simple premise with magnificent possibilities. Over several pages, readers consider Jo�o's blanket as it flutters as if in the wind, trembles under the fidgety feet of its drowsy owner, and strains against "a fish that's bigger than us." A passing reference to a father who "goes out fishing" hints at a source of Jo�o's ruminations. Soon, Jo�o wakes with a question: "Who unraveled my blanket?" To return to his dreams, Jo�o threads together words strewn across the floor into a "word-blanket" more fanciful than ever. Evocative in its execution, this Brazilian import invites readers to ponder the scenarios it casts (and those it doesn't). (This book was reviewed digitally.) A moody, ingenious masterstroke. (Picture book. 5-10)COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
-