Still Life

“London and Zelinsky have created something unendingly fun, but also deeply meaningful—art takes on a life of its own, no matter how much the artist thinks the work can be controlled!” — Brian Selznick, Caldecott Medal-winning author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret “A canvas depicting an assemblage of items on a tablecloth comes to life, upending traditional assumptions surrounding artistic conventions. . . . Zelinsky’s hilarious, action-packed scenes—a combination of hand drawing and digital work—contrast with the narrator’s serious admonitions. . . . A superb example of text and image telling opposing stories—and of the humor that can be found in the intersection.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Amazing art work carefully delineates between the traditional still life picture and the lively, sketchier action that’s going on in the paintings, so it’s easy for readers to figure out what’s going on, even when it’s not reflected in the text. Younger readers will love this book, and it would make an excellent read-aloud; older readers will come away with a lesson on perspective and another on questioning a resource, no matter how repetitive or strongly voiced the message.” — School Library Journal (starred review) “This clever juxtaposition of text and illustrations defies expectations. . . . Humorously creative, this book subtly teaches children how to look at individual elements of a work of art and to consider how the details combine and contribute to an image or story. Great fun.” — Booklist (starred review) “This book is guaranteed to have [children] shouting in glee, their exclamations growing louder with every turn of the page. . . . Still Life is a hilarious hoot, and readers will likely never look at a still life in quite the same way.” — BookPage (starred review) “This inventive picture book skillfully merges two art styles to tell a story within a story, visually pushing boundaries. . . . The art move[s] the plot along, contradicting the text, and attentive readers are left with more to consider about storytelling in art.” — Horn Book Magazine “London pits a. . . human painter against a crew of fairy tale characters who get up to no good in this meta work, a fizzy art class send-up. . . . In dynamic digitally finished spreads, Zelinsky juggles multiple visual styles, using expressive line drawing for the lecturing artist; elegantly drafted and sculpted forms for the painting; and loose-limbed caricature for the decidedly unstill beings who tumble amusingly into jam-smudged, thread-tangled, cheese-strangled chaos right under the artist’s nose.” — Publishers Weekly