Nicolas Sidjakov «Baboushka and the Three Kings»

Книжка-картинка «Бабушка и три короля» написана Рут Роббинс по мотивам некой русской сказки о старушке, которая так была занята уборкой своего дома, что проигнорировала визит волхвов и упустила свой шанс поприветствовать новорожденного Христа. С тех пор она скитается по свету в поисках божьего дитя, чтобы запоздало преподнести ему свои подарки.

Сюжет о бабушке, которая бродит по свету в поисках Младенца в западной культуре прочно ассоциируется с русскими рождественскими традициями, хотя сами русские, как правило, с этой историей не знакомы.

Elizabeth Orton Jones «Prayer for a Child»

«Prayer for a Child» is a 1944 book by Rachel Field. Its artwork by Elizabeth Orton Jones won it a Caldecott Medal in 1945. The whole book is narrated by a little girl, but it represents children as a whole. It reflects their love of God, and their gentleness to humankind as a whole. «Prayer for a Child» received positive reviews. Kirkus Reviews described it as «A beautiful piece of bookmaking». The New York Times said «The pictures and the prayer itself speak to a child in a child’s language; older people will find this little volume beautiful, moving and deeply satisfying».

Eric Carle’s dragons dragons & other creatures that never were

Полыхающие огнем драконы, непоседливые кентавры, гигантская, размером с остров, птица Рух — книжка Эрика Карла изобилует этими и другими мифологическими существами. Eric Carle’s Dragons Dragons появилась как дополнительный том к Eric Carle’s Animals Animals, в которой описаны реальные, обитающие на нашей планете существа, но взятые Карлом из разнообразных литературных источников — от библейских сказаний и японских хокку до произведений Шекспира и Редьярда Киплинга. В «Dragons Dragons» можно встретить существ также из самых разных мифов и легенд со всего света.

Chris Van Allsburg «The alphabet theatre proudly presents the Z was zapped»

A dramatic black- and- white presentation of the alphabet in which the three-time Caldecott medalist depicts a mysterious transformation of each letter.

Van Allsburg’s latest is not an alphabet book but an «alphabet theatre»: as its title page proclaims, it is «a play in twenty-six acts, performed by the Caslon Players, written and directed by Mr. Chris Van Allsburg.» In it, each letter of the alphabet is shown on a draped curtained stage, undergoing some sort of (usually ominous) transformation. Turning the page reveals the text that spells out the alphabetical event: the A was in an avalanche; the B was badly bitter; the C was cut to ribbons; and so on. This is an original and unusual undertaking, executed with both visual and verbal adroitness. In technique it most resembles Van Allsburg’s The Mysteries of Harris Burdick; in both books, black pencil is used with remarkable skill to create the richness of texture and shading usually associated with full color. It is perhaps closest to Harris Burdick in ambition as well, in the sense that an imaginative challenge is presented to the reader (here, to come up with a verbal account of the pictured transformation before turning the page to find it). But the imaginative possibilities of the «alphabet theatre» are limited; this alphabet book format is more of an intriguing design element than a way to teach the ABCs. The picture and text that belong to a single letter are not on facing pages. While Van Allsburg’s visual ingenuity is in full evidence (among his hauntingly realistic images are the evaporating E and the jittery J), there is both a sinister quality and an stagey dimension to the work. Artistically, a virtuoso performance, but one with an undeniably cold cast.

Nicholas Mordvinoff «The Boy and the Forest»

Мальчик жил на краю леса. Это был необыкновенный лес: верхушки деревьев доставали до небес, а звери стояли не шелохнувшись, когда мальчик смотрел на них. Но однажды нагрянули человечки, которые хватали зверей и куда-то уносили. Лес опустел и зарос плющом. Мальчик вызволяет из плюща змею, а она помогает спасти лес. В лес пробралось чудовище, поработившее человечков и обратившее зверей в камни. Чудище сломлен, звери ожили, человечки освобождены и расчищают заросли.

Jon Klassen «I Want My Hat Back»

The bear’s hat is gone, and he wants it back. Patiently and politely, he asks the animals he comes across, one by one, whether they have seen it. Each animal says no, some more elaborately than others. But just as the bear begins to despond, a deer comes by and asks a simple question that sparks the bear’s memory and renews his search with a vengeance. Told completely in dialogue, this delicious take on the classic repetitive tale plays out in sly illustrations laced with visual humor— and winks at the reader with a wry irreverence that will have kids of all ages thrilled to be in on the joke.