Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 09/01/2010 Snicket is an ideal author for a high-concept picture book: no matter how confusing it gets, there’s always some appealingly snide charm to fall back on. This story is constructed upon 13 (randomly chosen?) words that move from bird to mezzo-soprano, and as one might imagine, the journey is a convoluted one. The bird starts out despondent (visual context is everything here, with the bird standing on a can of mushy peas, a rain cloud overhead, and a book by Kafka nearby—OK, that one’s for the parents). His dog friend tries to cheer him by buying him a hat from the haberdashery. There’s a few headscratchers (the dog has the bird paint 11 ladders in 10 colors), and Snicket is too coy at times (using verve to help elucidate panache isn’t tremendously helpful). Still, a book that pushes boundaries and demands such active participation on the part of both readers and listeners to connect language with images (and Kalman’s quirky artwork is a perfect fit, littered with fun details) is to be commended, if not wholly comprehended. - Copyright 2010 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 11/01/2010 The unexpected pairing of Snicket and Kalman produces a surprising result in this serenely surreal picture-book story built around a baker’s dozen of thirteen initially unrelated words. It all starts with a “bird” (Word Number 1), who’s “despondent” (Number 2), despite receiving a lovely “cake” (Number 3). Her friend the “dog” (Number 4) therefore travels in a “convertible” (Number 6) to a “haberdashery” (Number 9) run by a “baby” (Number 11) and returns with a present for his avian buddy that’s then chronicled in song by a “mezzo-soprano” (Number 13). It’s a completely loopy and Dadaesque project, and yes, it’s peppered with sophisticated vocabulary and arbitrary turns of events, yet the result is quite charming. One may imagine this the result of a narrative challenge, and certainly teachers will use this to inspire writing assignments that draw from a collection of random words, but it beams with the happy, nondidactic modernist invention of Gertrude Stein or Margaret Wise Brown. Kalman’s art suggests the matter-of-fact fantasy of magical realism but with sunny practicality instead of nocturnal dreaminess, while the joyous, springtime intensity of the palette suggests the work of Pierre Bonnard. Not only does the art provide the text’s trilby-wearing dog, ladder-painting bird, and so on, it also populates the quirky world with intriguingly labeled boxes, fascinating motorists, and splendidly odd passersby (a tambourine-playing angel, a courtly man bowing to a sugar-pink bird, an ostrich peering sternly at a young lady in garden-party white). Partner this up with Winter’s Gertrude Is Gertrude Is Gertrude Is Gertrude (BCCB 1/09) to demonstrate that the modernist legacy of playful narrative is alive and well. DS - Copyright 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

School Library Journal - 12/01/2010 K-Gr 2—The 13 words that are the basis for this sophisticated picture book are "bird," "despondent," "cake," "dog," "busy," "convertible," "goat," "hat," "haberdashery," "scarlet," "baby," "panache," and "mezzo-soprano." Each word is listed at the top of the page spread where it is featured, and the story continues on. The despondent bird lives with the dog and the mezzo-soprano. The dog, in an effort to cheer up his friend, goes for a ride with the goat to the haberdashery to pick up a hat for the bird. Upon returning home with the gift, the dog tells the mezzo-soprano about their day, and she commences to sing out the plot of the book. While not standard picture-book fare, there are moments of silliness (the owner of the haberdashery is a baby) and joy (all kinds of cake). The artwork is trademark Kalman: playful, colorful, and filled with surprises. Best for one-on-one reading, 13 Words could also be used as a model for primary-grade children to write their own stories featuring a list of seemingly unrelated words.—Stacy Dillon, LREI, New York City - Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

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