A Balloon for Grandad - Hardcover

Nigel Gray's books have been published in twenty-five countries and twenty-two different languages and have won many prestigious awards, including Best Book of the Year for Parents Magazine, Best Book of the Year: Federation of Children's Book Groups Award and shortlisted for the Smarties Prize. Jane Ray is one of today's foremost children's illustrators, whose work is known and loved throughout the world. She has illustrated many books for Orchard and of those The Story of Creation won the Smarties Prize and The Happy Prince won the Kate Greenaway Medal.

Kindergarten-Grade 2 The popularity of Lamorisse's The Red Balloon (Doubleday, 1967) will not be threatened by this new story of an errant balloon. The plot is too far-fetched even for children who love fantasy. A young boy's balloon flies out the back door and, according to Dad, sails across mountains, the sea, and a desert and ends up on an island in a river. This is not just any island but happens to be the exact island where the boy's Grandad Abdulla lives. Along the way the balloon avoids sandgrouse, falcons, hawks, and vultures and softly glides right into Grandad's yard. Grandad, of course, reaches for the balloon and knows instantly that it is from his grandson Sam. Ray's vibrant watercolor illustrations are delightful, except for the sameness of expressions on the parents' faces. Details abound in each large illustration, and Ray's technique of highlighting a small detail from the larger picture is clever and eye-catching. Readers first captured by the illustrations will be disappointed upon reading the text. Barbara S. McGinn, Oak Hill Elementary School, Severna Park, Md .
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.