James Rumford

A young boy named Ali, living in Bagdad, loves to play soccer and to listen to loud music in this thoughtful and emotionally resonant picture book from author/illustrator James Rumford, but most of all, he loves classical Arabic calligraphy. The beauty of the shapes, the flow of his pen—there is a magic to the "silent music" of this art form, and Ali's mother compares him to Yakut, the famous calligrapher of eight hundred years before, whose work is still known and admired. When war comes show more to Bagdad, Ali has need of his calligraphy, and of the peace it brings, retreating into it, just as Yakut was said to do, in another war many years ago...

Silent Music: A Story of Bagdad is the ninth picture book I have read from Rumford, and like so many of the others, I found it outstanding. I love the simple, almost quiet narrative, exploring a young boy's daily life, his activities and his passion, and the way that life was impacted by the terrible events around him. I loved some of the language and ideas the author used, from the notion of calligraphy as silent music, to the description of the way the word for war was so easy to write, while the one for peace required so much practice. The accompanying artwork was also excellent—striking, with use of bold colors and shapes, and structured in such a way as to center and celebrate the calligraphic elements. All in all, a wonderful book, one I would recommend to picture book readers looking for stories about calligraphy, but also about war, and about the way the things we love can be a retreat in dark times. show less

Tiger and Turtle exist in a state of neutrality with one another in this original tale from author/illustrator James Rumford, aware that they cannot hurt or compete with one another. Then comes the day that a beautiful flower drifts down from the sky right beside them, just as their paths have crossed, and suddenly they come into conflict, each wanting the bloom. It is only after a pitched battle, and some back and forth, that they arrive in the field from which the flower came, realizing show more how silly it was to fight over something, when there is plenty of it...

Tiger and Turtle is the tenth book I have read from Rumford, whose work always impresses me, both aesthetically and textually. This was no different, with a simple but thoughtful tale emphasizing the foolishness of the quarrel between the two titular characters, and bright, bold illustrations that capture the eye. I was charmed by Rumford's brief note at the beginning, imagining how he might have discovered this story, if it were a traditional one, and I loved the use of color and texture in the paintings. Recommended to youngsters who enjoy folk and fairy-tales, and stories in that vein. show less

Author/illustrator James Rumford tells the myth of Cadmus, the Phoenician prince credited with founding the Greek city of Thebes, and said by Herodotus to have introduced the alphabet to Greece, in this engaging picture-book. Using the alphabet - a transliterated form of the Greek alphabet, that is - as his organizational structure, Rumford relates how Cadmus, at the instruction of the gods, followed an ox to the site where Thebes was to be built. Here he confronted and slew the terrible show more night monster, and used its teeth to create an army of men to help him build the city. Each portion of the story uses a different letter of the alphabet in some significant way, while also explaining its symbolic meaning, and an afterword shows the influence of the Phoenician script on the Greek, Hebrew and Roman writing systems...

As someone who studied Classics as an undergraduate, I can recall the way we looked at a chart very similar to the one that Rumford included in There's a Monster in the Alphabet, detailing how the Phoenician script was adapted by both the ancient Greeks and Hebrews, in creating their own writing systems. Given that background, I was quite excited to discover this title, which is the first children's book I have encountered to explore the history and development of western alphabets in this way. I appreciated the fact that Rumford did this through a retelling of the myth of Cadmus, as this is a fictional story that is intimately connected to the historical topic. The accompanying artwork, done in ink, watercolor and gouache, is clearly inspired by ancient Greek vase painting, and is striking. I don't know that this would be a good book to hand to a child completely unfamiliar with the topic, but as part of a larger lesson about the transmission and/or creation of the Greek alphabet, it could be very useful. It is for that purpose that I would recommend it. show less

Children's author and illustrator James Rumford turns to the Anglo-Saxon epic of Beowulf in this powerful picture-book retelling of a classic story. Using only words that have come down to us from Old English - the original language of Beowulf - he relates how the great hall of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, was laid low by the monster Grendel; how the hero Beowulf of Geatland (AKA Götaland) slew Grendel and his mother; and how Beowulf faced one last test in his old age, sacrificing show more himself to defeat a dragon threatening his people...

Beowulf: A Hero's Tale Retold is the third children's adaptation of this tale that I have read, following upon Rosemary Sutcliff's Beowulf and Ian Serraillier's Beowulf the Warrior. These other two are intended for older children, who are reading chapter-books, whereas Rumford's telling can be used with younger picture-book audiences, provided they are not too sensitive about hearing frightening stories. The narrative here is beautifully done, with simple but powerful words, reflecting, as Rumford intended them to do, the linguistic feeling of the original. The accompanying artwork, done in pen and ink and watercolor, were dark but similarly powerful, and were apparently inspired by the work of Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac. I enjoyed everything about this book, from the text to the illustrations, and I appreciated the inclusion of a few sentences in the original Old English/Anglo Saxon. Recommended to anyone looking for a children's first Beowulf. show less