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From Booklist
~Ages 2
-5. Using collage, Crews translates the mental images of her own hot childhood summers into a sensorial feast for preschoolers. "It's summer, and it's hot," the book begins, "Dogs pant. Hydrants are open. Women carry umbrellas for the shade." Crews illustrates these symbols of summer using cutout photographic images mounted on related scenes. For example, for the above quote, clipped shots of an African American girl (the protagonist), a panting dog, and two women holding umbrellas in front of a store are superimposed on a street-scene photo of a spewing hydrant. Although the connections are predictable, the jumble of perspectives is refreshing. Finally, the day's sizzling images give way to the relief of grape popsicles and a cooling rainstorm. Especially relevant to urban libraries, this book provides many opportunities to discuss the senses and the unique experience of summer in the city. Julie Yates Walton~
作者簡介
Nina Crews grew up n New York City. After graduating from Yale University in 1985, she worked in commercial animation production and contributed illustrations to magazines, including the Village Voice and Parenting. Her first picture book, One Hot Summer Day, was published in 1995.It was followed by I'll Catch the Moon and Snowball.
In her own words....
“I look back to move forward on a new children's book. I try to remember a much younger me and recreate some of the things that delighted me then. These pleasures were often quite simple, perhaps the shape or taste of something or the colors that it evoked-and everything was set against a noisy, busy, city backdrop.”
“I was raised in New York City. I think I've always loved it. There may have been more tall buildings than trees, but I enjoyed the city and all its variety. The people, the neighborhoods, all of the city's quirkiness were endlessly exciting.”
“I started taking pictures at an early age, and the city was my first subject. I grew up in a family of artists and saw the children's-book business firsthand. My parents, Donald Crews and Ann Jonas, always encouraged my sister and me in all our art projects. I had wellrounded art training in high school but became more focused on photography in college. Since then I have been working in commercial animation production and doing freelance photo-collage illustration.”
“I love making collages. Some of my favorite artists—Romare Bearden, Hannah Hoch, and Man Ray—combined photography and collage. Collage allows me to use photography playfully and to tell a story on many levels.”
“I enjoy photographing children. The interaction always adds something to the project; their performances always give me new ideas. I try to keep the photography session as loose as possible. Collaging the images allows me a great deal of freedom. Basically, almost anything can happen.”
“Writing the text is another kind of challenge. I try to find a good balance between the written story and the visual story. Each one should help the other. Picture books are the combination of two forms of poetry, written and visual, and their flow should be musical. I find myself reading a lot of poetry while I work on ideas.”
"As a child I loved books and I loved to look. The more there was to see in any one image, the better. I also loved books that were set in city places. I hope that a new generation will get these same pleasures from my books."