Review on DRAW! Illustrated by Colon, Raul.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Colon, Raul. 2014. DRAW! Ill. by Raul Colon. New York, NY. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4424-9492-3 

 PLOT SUMMARY

A young boy is reading a book about Africa in his room on his bed. He has a sketchbook and drawing tools at the side of his bed ready to draw and captures his journey through the safari with his drawings. 

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The wordless-picture book draws the reader in to look closely at every detail of the page. This is a fantasy of a boy in his room, who after reading a book about Africa, imagines himself immersed in the world of the wild animals and documents it through his drawings. We can see the very-detailed, eye-catching illustrations move the story as if they transition him from his reality to his imagination. We see this through the multiple portraits where he is walking with his drawing tools and exploring gear in hand setting out for his adventure. 

The bright colors of the illustrations give us a reference of time as he sets out and the colors get warmer and softer when his adventure ends. As he puts his pencil to paper we can see how he cautiously approaches the animals or observes them from afar making the danger of wild animals realistic. There is a funny nature to his time with the monkeys as their artist roles are reversed, giving the story a realistic nature of relationships with humans and specific animals. 

The fantasy safari adventure comes to an end leading him back in his bedroom filled with portraits of his experience showing the imagination and sense of wonder. This fantasy for children calls for readers to dare to dream and draw what your imagination leads you to. 

 REVIEWS AND EXCERPTS

Horn Book Guide starred, 04/01/15 “ The story line is engaging and easy to follow and Colon’s watercolor, colored-pencil, and lithograph pencil pictures are nicely textured.” 

Kirkus Reviews Starred, 08/01/14 “A wordless picture book celebrates the power of art and imagination.” 

Publishers Weekly 06/23/14 “It’s a strongly developed and executed account of a childhood fantasy, urging all young artists to dream and to draw.” 

CONNECTIONS

*This wordless picture book has a lot of detail in the illustrations which could use some guidance in order to point out certain details and the recommended audience is lower level elementary readers. 

*I read the wordless picture book many times to see if I missed anything and sure enough I did. I believe a story with no pictures can be interpreted in many ways; therefore, reading it with someone may give a different point of view or be able to point out something one was missed. 

Other wordless picture books: 

*Colon, Raul. IMAGINE! ISBN 978-1-48146-273-0 

*Thomson, Bill. CHALK. ISBN 978-0-7614-5526-4