Sector 7

The immensely talented David Wiesner - three-time winner of the Caldecott Medal, for Tuesday, The Three Pigs and Flotsam - presents another brilliantly creative wordless story in Sector 7, itself a Caldecott Honor Book. The tale of a boy who, on a class trip to the Empire State Building one foggy day, encounters a friendly cloud, and is borne off to the amazing Sector 7, where clouds are given their assignments, it is as engaging as it is beautiful! The watercolor artwork is simply breathtaking, while the story-idea itself is fantastic, drawing upon that age-old human preoccupation with the shapes taken by clouds, and the possibility that those shapes could be changed...

I found this book delightful, and as with Wiesner's Flotsam, had show more absolutely no trouble following the story, despite the absence of any text. The artist's skill, in setting up his visual narrative, is astounding, and the beauty of his watercolor paintings cannot be overstated. I loved the many piscine and marine forms that the clouds took, with the boy's (initial) help, as well as the concept of Sector 7 in the first place. An imaginative journey that both captures a child's flights of fancy, and inspires her to greater heights of imagination, this is an outstanding example of the art of the picture-book! Highly recommended, to anyone who appreciates wordless stories, and to fans of David Wiesner. show less

This book is definitely my favorite wordless picture book that I have come across in this class so far. The book tells the story of a boy who is brought to Sector 7, a station for clouds to be designed and sent into the sky, by a cloud he befriends. The cloud shows the boy through the sector and the boy is caught by factory managers. The boy is sent back down to land but is also visited by his cloud friend. I think I enjoyed this book so much because it had a fun theory about how clouds are made and how they determine their shape, as well as give a sweet message about friendship. This book would speak to children who have felt alone and needed a friend, or who just enjoys cloud-watching!

A boy goes on a field trip and befriends a cloud at the top of the empire state building. The boy's new friend takes him to a place called sector 7 where all the clouds are directed to be certain shapes and go to certain areas of the sky. The boy encourages the clouds to be something else and they change into all sorts of fish and underwater creatures. I loved how much this picture book tell the story through the action in each image. Even though the places traveled and sights seen were far and wide, no words were needed to clarify anything. I also loved that the boys imagination disrupts things for the better. Essentially, the boy is already a true artist. Whether his imagination be the underwater creatures he designed for the show more community of clouds, or it be the fact that he befriended a cloud on a school field trip, his imagination showcases that we have the power to change things if we simply envision and act upon the change we want to see. show less

In the beginning of this book, it seems like a young boy and his classmates are going on a normal field trip to the observatory. Until, what looks like a talking cloud appears out of no where and turns the young boys field trip in to the trip of his life. Sector 7! A place where all clouds go that kind of looks like an old subway station. Entering "Sector 7" from a strange tunnel, the boy and the cloud begin their tour of what it is like to be in the day in the life of a cloud. First, they approach the "Arrival station" and learn that this is where every cloud, listed by name, report before they go any further. Next, they visit the "Assignment station" and learn that this is where clouds report to determine their job for that day. After show more that, the boy gets to see how clouds plan out their plan out their day based on the assignments given at the assignment station. From there, he helps them plan and eventually all chaos breaks loose! From crazy animal shapes to clouds going insane the young boy finds himself in a heap of trouble, from what I can tell!

As mentioned in the tags, this is a wordless picture book and the interpretation that I have of the story may not be the same as the next person. Same goes for younger children. This book is great for allowing children to open up their imagination and discover a whole new meaning for reading. They can create their own story as they turn through each page of the book. What makes this book so great, is that it allows for children to develop reading comprehension. Even though there are no words throughout the book children can still bring meaning to the pictures through their own eyes. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.....even adults! show less

David Wiesner's wordless picture book Sector 7 is magical, creatively whimsical, and for those who tend to have trouble following an illustrations-based instead of a text-based narrative, it is thankfully neither too cluttered nor too busy. The book presents an easy to comprehend story line, and the concept of going up amongst the clouds, meeting clouds, traveling with clouds, befriending clouds is something that I think many of us have secretly longed to experience at some time (I remember lying on my back as a child, watching the clouds go by and imagining myself up, up among them, enrobed in soft fluffiness). And while I love all of the illustrations, I think that my two favourite spreads are the arrivals/departure deck at Sector 7 show more (so much like an airport or a busy train station, I had to laugh) and very last picture of the young boy, sleeping in the cottony soft embrace of his new cloud friend. show less

In my opinion, Wiesner is more successful when he creates fantasy from everyday objects: frogs, a camera, things you can see and touch that become something other than you expected. His cloud-people, for me, simply fall flat. One of my favourite illustrators, not one of my favourite books.

Another wordless wonder and a Caldecott Honour book, this graphic novel tells the fantastical story of a boy with artistic talents who goes on a school outing to the Empire State Building. Once in the observatory, the children are disappointed to find the sky is too cloudy to see the views, but the boy is approached by a friendly cloud who whisks him away to "Sector 7", a cloud manufacturing plant somewhere in the skies. Once there, the boy causes a small revolution when he starts drawing creative shapes featuring gorgeous sea creatures for the outgoing clouds. I loved the concept and realization of this book, but just couldn't buy the idea of those friendly clouds with the smiling faces for some reason. Still, a book most definitely show more worth checking out for the sheer creativity and beautiful (and intricate!) watercolours by Wiesner. show less