Normally, I'd put a picturebook in the preschool books section. But this book? It's PERFECT for kids in grades 1-5, and so I've slipped it into our kids' book blog. I'm partial to wordless picturebooks on principle. They require kids to "read" the images very carefully, and apply their knowledge and understanding to the art. They have to work extra hard to derive meaning from the text, because the author/illustrator isn't making anything explicit. They essentially become the co-authors of a wordless book, as the message that they get from reading it is so heavily influenced by the experiences and understanding that they bring to the table when they read.
Hocus Pocus is the tale of a magician for hire, his faithful dog, and the rabbit that lives in his magic hat. When Mister Magic and dog come home from work, both settle down for a nap. Rabbit pokes out his head, and decides it's time to play! A hilarious dog-and-rabbit battle ensues, with rabbit scheming to get the tasty carrots on the counter, and dog pulling out all the stops to stuff him back into the hat.
The art is framed in comic-strip style, with white space dividing the small frames (up to six per page). The cartoon drawings are digitally inked, with bold retro-sixties graphics and bright, attractive colours.
The standout aspect of the illustrations, though, is definitely the expressiveness of the characters. Although there are no words or speech bubbles, each character's emotions are screamingly apparent through subtle tricks of eyebrow tilts, mouth quirks, and body posture. Kids will love poring over the pictures as they read the emotions and follow the slapstick action. A fabulous book, and one that takes a surprising amount of book-comprehension (rather than word-literacy) to read successfully.
Wordless picture book
Grades 1-5
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