Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Pick of the Week: Eats by Marthe Jocelyn

Eats by Marthe Jocelyn, illustrated by Tom Slaughter (Tundra Books, 2007)

With a fresh cast of animal characters — and what they eat — the creative team of Marthe Jocelyn and Tom Slaughter has produced another work in their award-winning series for very young book and art lovers. Marthe Jocelyn's simple concept of matching creatures — familiar and unusual — with their favorite foods is brought to life by the sparkling colors and masterfully cut paper shapes of Tom Slaughter's illustrations; a first taste of modern art. And the surprise final picture makes a satisfying dessert. Previous titles have received acclaim from Japan to Denmark, from France to Mexico. Enhancing a child's visual and verbal vocabulary, Eats makes a joyful addition to the collection. (summary copyright Syndetics)

Tom Slaughter is one of my favorite artists of children's books. The bright, eye-popping colors and paper cut art is brilliant. With just a few words and clean, modern artwork, Tom Slaughter makes a great addition to children's books for toddlers and preschoolers. Concepts such as counting, colors, the alphabet, and the food chain are depicted with ease in these collaborations between Jocelyn and Slaughter.

Other books illustrated by Tom Slaughter include:

ABC x 3: English, Espanol, Francais by Marthe Jocelyn, illustrated by Tom Slaughter (Tundra Books, 2005)

From airplane/avion/avion to zigzag/zigzag/zigzag, Marthe Jocelyn and Tom Slaughter have created a unique ABC for the very young. The book works perfectly in three languages, English, Spanish, and French (English, Espanol, and Franais). In each case, deceptively simple paper cuts will delight the eye while young readers explore words in three languages. The book has been carefully constructed to accommodate each language, including the letters which occur in Spanish, but not in English or French. Earlier collaborations by Tom Slaughter and Marthe Jocelyn have received raves from critics. This new addition to their library is yet another excellent introduction to modern art, to words, and this time to the fun of languages. (summary copyright Syndetics)


One Some Many by Marthe Jocelyn, illustrated by Tom Slaughter (Tundra Books, 2004)

"One Some Many" by Marthe Jocelyn and Tom Slaughter is an excellent early introduction to numbers and to the principles of modern art. It is the perfect companion to "1 2 3," a counting book with a difference. Slaughter’ s bold, Matisse-inspired paper cuts illustrate basic artistic elements, including color, form, and line, while the playful and inventive text introduces the concepts of quantity that children find most puzzling (and that adults have the most difficulty explaining!). After all, how many is many? Some? A few? (summary copyright Syndetics)


Over Under by Marthe Jocelyn, illustrated by Tom Slaughter (Tundra Books, 2005)

Marthe Jocelyn and Tom Slaughter explore opposites in this gorgeous introduction to modern art for small readers. Cut paper images introduce children 10 color, form, and design us they explore tall giraffes arid short mice, squares and circles, light day and dark night. An art book us well as a sound learning tool. (summary copyright Syndetics)

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