This is a beautiful collaboration between Cynthia Rylant and Mark Siegal. This illustrated poem makes a wonderful addition to bedtime fare. It is simple and beautiful. Rylant once again shows us her skill with words. Not too many, not too few, all beautiful and deliberate. The illustrations are serene, tranquil and inspiring. The illustrator tells us at the end of the book that he had difficulty choosing a medium that would do justice to the imagery of Rylant's words. He chose charcoal and the result is a perfect representation of the mood evoked in the poem. In paintings I have always been most captivated by artists such as Rembrandt who are able to bring light to their art. It always struck me as almost magical that a painting could actually appear to glow with real light from the way the artist used his medium. Siegel also uses light, the light of the moon, in his illustrations in a very magical way.
Add to this the knowledge that is shared of the Native American tradition of naming each full moon and the book is richer still. This is a wonderful collaboration between two amazing artists.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Long Night Moon By: Cynthia Rylant
This is a beautiful collaboration between Cynthia Rylant and Mark Siegal. This illustrated poem makes a wonderful addition to bedtime fare. It is simple and beautiful. Rylant once again shows us her skill with words. Not too many, not too few, all beautiful and deliberate. The illustrations are serene, tranquil and inspiring. The illustrator tells us at the end of the book that he had difficulty choosing a medium that would do justice to the imagery of Rylant's words. He chose charcoal and the result is a perfect representation of the mood evoked in the poem. In paintings I have always been most captivated by artists such as Rembrandt who are able to bring light to their art. It always struck me as almost magical that a painting could actually appear to glow with real light from the way the artist used his medium. Siegel also uses light, the light of the moon, in his illustrations in a very magical way.
Add to this the knowledge that is shared of the Native American tradition of naming each full moon and the book is richer still. This is a wonderful collaboration between two amazing artists.
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2 comments:
I, too, was struck by how the light in all aspects of this book, leap out at the reader. It's beautiful and simple, just like life should be. I can imagine that Cynthia Rylant is a person who impacts her illustrator's lives and vice versa. Her books, even with different illustrators, seem to flow so musically and rhythmically with the pictures. All her picture books that I have read seem to add a calming and peaceful feeling to the soul. One can read this book at night, turn out the light, and slip into a peaceful dream! After telling the moon good-night, of course!
I also really enjoyed the illustrations. I was amazed by how much color could be in the dark. And each month had a different color which truly represented the life in that month. I want to take a walk in the dark some night and just see if there is any color to the world, besides what is shown with the headlights and streetlights. I just loved how the little things in the pictures were illuminated with this colorful light. I enjoyed the illustrations more than the text.
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