Jemmy Button

"a beautifully captured, compelling read". * The Bookseller *
'The ultimate home-away-home story, beautifully rendered.' * Kirkus *
'intensely creative and beautifully conceived paintings...' * Publishers Weekly *
'the story is told in an ingenuous style that is powerfully enhanced by the impressionistic art, replete with obscured adult figures and a melancholy tone. An unusualread-aloud is also a complex, unique offering for independent readers.' * Booklish *
"A singular, stunning, book." * Armadillo Magazine *
"There is minimal text in this book, which relies on detailed, thoughtful images to convey the story. Despite initial appearances, this is a very complex picture book which introduces issues way beyond its apparent simplicity." * Books for Keeps *

Here is a seriously good picture book which exemplifies the notion that only the best is good enough for children. The unsettling story is based on fact, the main theme is challenging, and as an aesthetic object the picture book displays boldly beautiful artwork and is superbly designed.The plot is inspired by the adventures of a boy, Jemmy, from Terra del Fuego, who in the early 1800s was brought to England on HMS Beagle.
The ship's captain, Robert FitzRoy, believed that it was possible to transform a 'wildman' into an English gentleman, then return him to his original home to spread civilisation among his own people. Charles Darwin was present on the return journey thirty years later, as an observer.The historical details of Jemmy's story appear on the book's back matter. Barzelay's brief text records the extraordinary events of Jemmy's life in a quietly matter-of-fact style.
The book is in a portrait format, and every opening presents a large unframed double-page spread on matt paper stock. Uman and Vidali have used mixed media,a predominance of solid colour,and a very effective employment of silhouettes,large and small.Once he has been taken from his island home, through the sequence, frame by frame, viewers switch between receiving Jemmy's impressions of the world around him (a subjective experience)and seeing his small vulnerable figure sited in places alien to him( an objective experience).We almost feel that we are watching two separate things at once. The journey through the pages is as important as the outcome,and picturebooks which encourage this contemplative quality are rare indeed.

* School Librarian *