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    The Whisper
    The Whisper
    The Whisper
    Ebook39 pages25 minutes

    The Whisper

    By Pamela Zagarenski

    4.5/5

    ()

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    About this ebook

    The two-time Caldecott Honor artist shares “a sumptuously illustrated fable about the magic of storytelling and the power of imagination” (School Library Journal, starred review).
     
    When a little girl receives a curious book filled only with pictures, a whisper urges her to supply the words she cannot see. As the pages turn, her imagination takes flight and she discovers that the greatest storyteller of all might come from within. Pamela Zagarenski’s debut as an author reminds us that we each bring something different to the same book.
     
    "Surreal, staggering mixed-media paintings make traveling across such beautifully varied and bizarre storyscapes exhilarating."—Kirkus, starred review
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateOct 6, 2015
    ISBN9780544761285
    The Whisper
    Author

    Pamela Zagarenski

    Pamela Zagarenski is the winner of two Caldecott Honors. The books she has illustrated have also been Booklist Editor's Choices, Horn Book Fanfare and Bulletin Blue Ribbon books, winners of Bank Street's Claudia Lewis Award, and translated into many languages. As well as illustrating picture books, she creates paintings and has a gift card line. She lives in Connecticut. Visit her online at pzagarenski.com, on Instagram @sacredbee, and Twitter @sacredbeez.

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    Reviews for The Whisper

    4.5/5

    80 ratings12 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A book about the power of unbound imagination. It tells us to respond to whatever whispers we come across our everyday life.
    • 4/5
      When her teacher gives her a special collection of stories, the young girl in The Whisper is ecstatic, rushing home in order to enjoy them at her leisure. But although the book is beautifully illustrated, she is distressed to discover that it contains no words. "It's just not a book of stories, without any words, she thought." But then a whisper of encouragement comes her way, instructing her to supply her own words... and so begins a storytelling project in which the beautiful paintings inspire the girl to create her own tales...A gorgeous book, both visually and textually, The Whisper is a tribute to the beauty and strength of words, the power of storytelling, and the capacity of art to stir the imagination. This is a rich book, one which rewards rereading, as there are so many details of both art and story that might be lost at first, but which add to the reader/peruser's pleasure. I loved the fox character - no surprise there, given my personal and research interest in all things vulpine - and came away wondering whether it was the fox who was the source of the whisper which encourages the girl. Certainly, it is she (the fox) who is looking in the window when the girl hears the whisper. However that may be, the fox runs like a thread throughout the tale, appearing on almost every page, and offering a revised retelling of the classic Aesopian fable of The Fox and the Grapes as the conclusion of the story here. Of course, there are many such threads, and the beauty of Pamela Zagarenski's book is that it is for the reader to choose the thread that speaks most to them, and follow it through the book. Recommended to anyone who appreciates beautiful picture-book art, or who is looking for more thoughtful picture-book stories.
    • 5/5
      As the little girl who loves stories is reading “a magical book of stories” gave it by her teacher. She takes the reader through her journey of the book that she’s reading.
    • 5/5
      This is a story about a girl who takes a book home from school and gets drawn into the whimsical nature of the pictures. Unfortunately, there are no words, but that is solved when she hears a mysterious whisper to make up her own stories. I love the story line of this book in that it leaves so much open to imagination. Most moving in this book are the illustrations. There is just so much going on in them that you find something new every time you look. What I also noticed about them is that in every illustration, the girl looks as if she were drawn into a painting, as if she is there, but doesn't really belong because the the stories take place in a fantasy world.
    • 5/5
      Extraordinary images and a very imaginative story to go with it. Beautiful, mysterious, requires the reader to tell the story.
    • 3/5
      An illustrated fable about imagination and stories. The pretty art is collage like and idiosyncratic but I wasn't totally charmed and I found the ubiquity of crowns odd and distracting.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed this book very much. The story, centering on a girl reading a magical book, is loose and meant to inspire children to tell their own stories. Much of the book is illustrations meant to inspire fantastical stories in the reader, often accompanied by only a first sentence or short introductory idea. This leaves room for kids to interact with the book by finishing the story suggested by the pictures or coming up with their own. I enjoyed the mixed media art style of the book, the pictures are meant to inspire so they are creative and suggestive while still being open-ended. The illustrator also 'hid' a bunny and a fox into each illustration for kids to find, which is fun. The only drawback is that the story might be too open for children who prefer a straightforward narrative.
    • 4/5
      Rich, luscious illustrations ...
    • 4/5
      I love the illustrations! A clever book.
    • 4/5
      The artwork is beautiful, but I didn't enjoy the story. Its about imagination but its make the story a bit bland for me.
    • 4/5
      Not a traditional story book, which might frustrate some. A little girl borrows a book of stories from her teacher, but the words fall out on her way home. She loves the beautiful pictures but is discouraged until a voice whispers that she can make up her own stories to go with them. As she studies the pictures again (we see her in the corner of each spread and can see that the pictures she's looking at are the same ones we're seeing), she creates a title and a sentence or two to begin. Each sentence trails off...leaving an opportunity for the reader/child being read to to continue the tale. The girl falls asleep imagining stories and is late for school...but when a kind fox returns the lost words, the girl agrees to help her get reach some grapes before going on to tell the teacher all the stories she's invented. On the last page is a very short retelling of Aesop's "The Fox and the Grapes" (the origin of the fox in our book), in which the clever fox, instead of giving up and grumbling, imagines a different story for herself.Beautifully illustrated (because I am nothing if not shallow about my picture books) and with plenty of excellent opportunities for children to stretch their imaginations!
    • 4/5
      A delightful story with wonderful illustrations about a young girl and her teacher's favorite book. This one is headed straight to my grandchildren!

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    The Whisper - Pamela Zagarenski

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