Slightly Late Father’s Day Picture Book

FArTHER                      By: Grahame Baker-Smith                  5 Stars             Favorites!

I have cut down on my book purchases for various reasons (money, space, time to re-read books when there are so many other books to read, etc.). Now the only books I purchase are ones I have read and loved in the past, thus I will eventually re-read them. FArTHER is a book I will consider purchasing in the future. It is an incredible picture book based on the relationships of father and son as well as following dreams. (I did want to post this book for Father’s Day, but life got in the way. Oh well.)

FArTHER is a story of a father who dreams of flying. His life is taken over in the effort to make wings to fulfill this dream. His obsession led him to many times forget his son, but the times he came out of his trance, father and son spent long hours playing and having fun.

One day the father is called off to war, never to return. The boy grew and eventually his father’s dream of flying was manifest within his own life. The son started by reworking his father’s wings. By reaching farther he is ultimately able to fly.

The story ends with the son’s son and the possibility that the same dream will come to him. It leaves you wondering how the grandson will take the dream of flying even farther (hot balloon, airplane…).

While the story is told well enough by itself, it is further enhanced by the flawless artwork. The cover of the book was enough to grab my attention and stand out among the hundreds of books I see every day. With all the books I want to read, I tried to push this one aside, but I was drawn to its irresistible force of attraction.  It is a book I could stare at forever.

Baker-Smith uses tones of steampunk (even if you don’t like or understand that genre, you should still check it out). The father’s house is high on a rocky cliff overlooking a sea and a distant city. Keeping true to the setting the colors are in cool hues of blue, green, and purple, neutral colors consisting of white, gray, black and brown with a warm tone of gold mimicking the sun.

The only color that deviates from the theme is red. Upon the first few times of reading the book I understood the red to represent a trail, leading to something important, or even portraying a great accomplishment. Upon digging a little deeper, I came to understand that when the red was used as a poppy it is a sign of remembrance to soldiers. After reading the story again I realized it is also used as foreshadowing for the father. Then again the red is used in other contexts, such as in a kite and when the son pursued his father’s dream and succeeded; leading me to believe that it does have additional meaning than just remembrance.

Baker-Smith was awarded the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Kate Greenaway Medal in 2012 for distinguished illustrations. This is a well-deserved award as the more I study FArTHER, the more I get. It is one that has layers of meaning and beauty.  

“Mom, I’m Bored”

THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH              By: Norton Juster                    4.5 Stars

The Phantom Tollbooth is a book geared toward kids. I never read it as a child, but I would imagine you would learn different things from it at different times in your life, even as an adult. Some of you may grumble and write off the book, who wants to learn lessons? Don’t write off The Phantom Tollbooth yet, fun may still be found for all ages. It is written for kids who find very little enjoyment out of life, as portrayed by the main character, Milo.

Milo has no desire to find happiness in life and basically just lives his life by following the necessary motions. That is until a phantom tollbooth appears in his bedroom. Soon Milo finds himself transported into a world without rhyme or reason. Milo learns the importance of words, numbers, sound, and vision in an effort to restore the kingdom to its original glory.

This book is full of profound quotes and sound advice. It points out early the value of commodities such as time, and perception. In addition to the many lessons I learned, an important one happened when the miners in Digitopolis threw away diamonds, emeralds, rubies and a number of stones we consider to be precious. In the larger scheme of things there are items of even higher importance. Another lesson was that things are only impossible if you believe them to be so.

With all the knowledge contained within this short book, I would expect it to finish by saying something to the effect of “you have learned well tiny grasshopper”. Even without the phrase, Norton Juster’s work is done.

Summer of Dry Heat

MUSTANG MAN          By: Louis L’Amour         3 Stars

This is a classic western novel during the 1870s in what is now present day New Mexico. It is part of The Sacketts series with Noal Sackett as the leading man. Just as expected, the book is full of cowboys, Indians, legends of long buried gold  and various misfits banding together in order to claim that gold.

As someone who hasn’t been interested in western novels in the past, I was entertained throughout the book. Unfortunately, there were a few drawbacks. I grew up in a small town, which came in handy with some of the “hick slang”, but even I didn’t quite get all of the references used. The action starts on page one and continues throughout the entire book. However, while there was a lot of it, it never lasted long. It only took about one page for it to wind back down.

Nolan was the only character that had much character development. Most of the other characters only have small facts given like how they are willing to poison anyone to get what they want or another character is not someone you want to be involved in a shootout with. While the book had obvious flaws, it was still an entertaining read, especially if you need a book that can be finished in just a matter of hours.

The Darkest Places

INFERNO             By: Dan Brown                   5 Stars

As I was talking to a friend about this book it was brought up that the problem with Dan Brown is the fact that all of his books are similar. This is true. However, based on the content discussed in each book, I still feel like I am learning something (which for me is considered a perk that I look forward to while reading).

Dan Brown weaves his books with references to historical landmarks, art, literature, religion and science. It takes me quite a bit longer to finish his books as I am usually looking up images and researching topics as I go along.

Side Note: When I looked up the image of the Piazza del Duomo I was left breathless, when you add to that Giotto’s bell tower and the Baptistery of San Giovanni, which has Ghiberti’s bronze Gates of Paradise and black and white tiled floors, it sealed the deal of Florence being one of my Italian tour destinations.

In a previous entry I mentioned how I have “when the stars align” moments. This is where everything just seems to fit perfectly together without me planning the end result. This book was one of those moments. Inferno is based off the Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, which is composed of three canticas: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paridiso. Imagine my surprise when the book I read and reviewed just previous to this one (Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly) used the same Dante literature. Revolution also made references to The Divine Comedy and even broke the book into three sections: Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.

The most profound quote in Interno is originally by Dante. It can be found referenced before the prologue as well as multiple times within the actual story. “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis”. This basically covers the entire book’s premise. How will you handle some of the greatest crises in your life? Pick up Inferno and discover how the characters handle theirs.