Drawn Together
Minh Lê, illustrations by Dan Santat
Disney-Hyperion
Fiction, CH Picture Book
Themes: Creative Power, Diversity
****+
Description
Sent to spend a day with his grandfather, a boy struggles to connect with the old man. The food is strange, the TV shows are weird, and they barely even speak the same language. Until the boy finds some blank paper and starts to doodle...
Review
Another quick read during some slow time at work. This largely-wordless story presents bright visuals, mixing the simpler images drawn by the boy and the elaborate, Asian-influenced drawings of his grandfather. It goes without saying (almost literally) that art provides a bridge when words don't work. I actually think the story might've worked at least as well had it been wordless all the way through, but the little writing there is helps wrap things up. There's also a great Asian dragon, worth a half-star on its own. (I am an unabashed dragon-lover, after all...)