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Visual clues provide answers to the mysterious interrelationship of a series of brief stories.

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17 reviews
This tells half a dozen different stories that are only interconnected and make sense if you examine the pictures carefully.

My favorite page is where Albert and his horse, June, are home after a hard day bringing watermelons to market. They are both sprawled on the couch watching TV. June has her mane up in curlers and they've both kicked off their shoes.

Lovely fun.
A fun book about the consequences of our choices.
What a fun book! In ten short 'chapters,' (which really are just a few pages each), Caldecott Medal-winning author and illustrator David Macaulay tells a story in his trademark, unexpected way. Similar to his book, "Black and White," this book tells (what may appear to be) separate stories. However, readers will be able to solve the mysteries in the book, and see how the stories actually relate to combine into one story. Without seeing the illustrations, I'm not sure how much a reader would be able to understand the actions that take place in this book. More or less, the story begins as Albert and June travel to their town's market. On the way, their actions have a domino effect on different people (and animals) in the town. As stated show more earlier, the cartoonish illustrations in this book really allow Macaulay to tell his story. Readers are able to see the Rube Goldberg-esque sequence of events occur, as each chapter unfolds. The illustrations themselves are brightly-colored, and usually 'zoomed in' on the action. In other words, the reader may see what they are supposed to see, in order to solve the mystery, rather than being able to view the entire scene. Hopefully, young (and older) readers will delight in reading this book, and simultaneously, finding their way to solve the puzzle. show less
A fun story of how one action can cause a chain of events and affect a lot of different people. Great characters. I did have a little problem with Sybils story and how she hit people and animals on the road. Also, the poor pig Pearl definately would not have survived her train wreck.
½
Albert and June (a horse) believe that they have done a good job when they arrive home before dark. However, they do not realize the problems that their actions, while hurrying to get home, have caused others.
This is a great book for beginner readers. They can solve mysteries within the book by looking at the illustrations. This is a fun book and a great way to show how ones action can effect everyone around them.
This book is a realistic fiction book because the scenarios in each chapter could happen in real life. The problems in each chapter become worse and worse and then finally they are resolved. There are nine chapters dealing with these situations but they all turn out to be okay in the end. There is an epilogue at the end. This would be great for third and fourth graders.
The overlapping stories (in chapters) are cleverly done, and the pictures are fun and colorful.

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Author Information

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73+ Works 30,237 Members
David Macaulay was born on December 2, 1946 in Lancashire, England, but moved to Bloomfield, New Jersey when he was 11. He received a bachelor's degree in architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Before becoming an author and illustrator, he worked as an interior designer, a junior high school teacher, and instructor of interior show more design at RISD from 1969 to 1973. His first book, Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction, was published in 1973. His other books include City, Castle, Pyramid, Mill, Underground, Mosque, The Way Things Work, Rome Antics, Shortcut,and How Machines Work. He has received numerous awards including a Caldecott Honor Medal in 1991 for Black and White and the Washington Children's Book Guild Award for a Body of Non-Fiction Work in 1977. He won the Royal Society young people¿s book prize for the best science books for children for his book How Machines Work. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Awards and Honors

Common Knowledge

Original publication date
1995

Classifications

Genres
Children's Books, Picture Books
DDC/MDS
823.9Literature & rhetoricEnglish & Old English literaturesEnglish fiction1900-
LCC
PZ7 .M1197 .SLanguage and LiteratureFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction and juvenile belles lettresJuvenile belles lettres
BISAC

Statistics

Members
267
Popularity
120,472
Reviews
17
Rating
(3.93)
Languages
English, German, Spanish
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
8
UPCs
2
ASINs
1