Where the Giant Sleeps is a 2007 children's picture book by Mem Fox and illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky. A bedtime book, it was published by Harcourt, Inc., and it is about a giant and the creatures that inhabit it sleeping and preparing for sleep as seen through a telescope by a child who, as it turns out, is dreaming.
 | |
| Author | Mem Fox |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Vladimir Radunsky |
| Cover artist | V. Radunsky |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's picture book |
| Published | 2007 (Puffin Books) |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 24 (unpaginated) |
| ISBN | 9780670071739 |
| OCLC | 174101529 |
Reception edit
A brief review of Where the Giant Sleeps in The New York Times wrote: "A dreamlike landscape - houses, trees, hills and pastures - makes the form of a sleeping giant. Small readers will enjoy putting the details together, and Radunsky's gouache illustrations seem to glow with starlight".[1] Kirkus Reviews wrote: "Casting dim moonlight over drowsy forms made with cloudy edges and soft colors, the artist expertly captures the poem’s tone and makes the slide down into dreamland well-nigh inevitable".[2]
Where the Giant Sleeps has also been reviewed by the following publications: Publishers Weekly,[3] Booklist,[4] School Library Journal,[5] Horn Book Guides,[6] Library Media Connection,[7] Magpies,[8] and The Center for Children’s Literature.[9]
References edit
- ^ Julie Just (13 January 2008). "Bookshelf: Children's Books, Where the Giant Sleeps (subscription required)". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
- ^ "Where the Giant Sleeps (starred review)". Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus Media LLC. 1 September 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
- ^ "Where the Giant Sleeps". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz LLC. 29 October 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
Complex visual clues may send readers for repeat rounds of Fox's (Time for Bed) lilting bedtime rhyme, and even then children will not exhaust the mystery with which Radunsky (The Mighty Asparagus) cloaks his subjects. ... The paintings and multifaceted structure of the book inventively translate the puckish text, conjuring misty visions of magical realms.
- ^ Julie Cummins (2007). "Where the Giant Sleeps". Booklist. American Library Association. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
This time the artist eschews his familiar angular shapes, abstract collages, and retro images for airy, wispy artwork that floats across the pages.
- ^ Kathy Krasniewicz. "Where the Giant Sleeps". School Library Journal. Media Source Inc. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
A sleepy-time success from a powerhouse pair. ... Radunsky's allusive gouache-on-handmade-paper pictures are apt accompaniment to Fox's rhythmic, soporific verse: ...
- ^ "Where the Giant Sleeps". Horn Book Guides. Media Source Inc. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
Radunsky's gauzy gouache paintings are beautifully composed.
- ^ Jo Anna Patton (2008). "Where the Giant Sleeps". Library Media Connection. Linworth Publications. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
Typical of Mem Fox's style, this is a sleepy-time story that is full of distinctive illustrations and wonderful rhymes. Using the fairy tale world, the sleeping habits of typical fairly tale characters are presented. ... Vladimir Radunsky's full color and full page illustrations, created in gouache on handmade paper, provide a perfect palette for the fairy tale images.
- ^ "Where the Giant Sleeps". Magpies: Talking About Books For Children. Vol. 22, no. 5. Magpies Magazine. November 2007. p. 28.
- ^ John Warren Stewig. "Where the Giant Sleeps by Mem Fox". carthage.edu. Carthage College. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
A pleasantly strange, dream-like haze permeates this slight tale, ...