The Other Side (2005)

As the title suggests, The Other Side provokes its readers into considering and pondering what is on the other side of the page of a book, their window, the ocean, the bars of a tiger's cage, the curtain, the corner, the world and so on. Each page is an illustration of place perhaps most readers have seen or experienced. But turning the page offers the flip-side of the story. A fantastic and thought provoking example of story telling without a single word. ( )

Quirky characters repeatedly find themselves in increadingly surreal settings in this provocative wordless narrative. ( )

"A wordless picture book that shows a seris of familiar scenes through many twists in point of view, such as a boy looking down out of a jet's window and another boy on the ground looking up at the same jet." These illustrations need a bit more attention, hence the book is suggested for older readers than the average picture book. ( )

There are two perspectives in each situation presented.

The book would be a good illustration of differences, likenesses, and opposites. ( )

The Other Side is a short, picture book-ish collection of drawings that show twists of perspective. On the most basic level, it’s a twist of camera perspective -- the same thing as seen from above vs below, front vs back, or inside vs outside (for example, a boy looking out the window from the world that is his messy bedroom vs the exterior of his apartment building, showing his window as just one of many).

On other levels, there are narrative twists, where the reader is surprised when what s/he assumes to be true is not, or where elements from early drawings show up in later ones. My favorite pair of drawings involves an urban setting where, among other twists, a mother and child descend from the sidewalk down into the Eastside/Uptown subway, having passed a poster about a reward for a missing monster … and then emerge from the stairs of the Westside/Downtown subway -- and there’s the monster, walking among everyone!

And then I sense other, more subtle levels, which I gnash my teeth that I’m missing!! :( Silly as it sounds (and difficult, since it’s out of print), this would be a good book to read for a group discussion. ( )