Wednesday, October 27, 2010

review from Booklist

There Are No Scary Wolves.
Yum, Hyewon (Author) , Yum, Hyewon (Illustrator)
Oct 2010. 40 p. Farrar, hardcover, $16.99. (9780374380601).
Sick of waiting and waiting for Mom to find her keys, a little boy imagines venturing out alone in his city
neighborhood, in which he envisions that everyone is a wolf. He is afraid of the gigantic scary wolf at the
Chinese restaurant, as well as the heavily bearded wolf with sharp nails in the toy store: “Scary wolves are
everywhere.” When Mom is finally ready, he walks out with her, feeling safe at last. Later, though, his
imagination kicks in again. Looking out the window, the boy sees wolves delivering mail, riding bikes,
and walking in high heels. Always true to a young child's viewpoint, the unframed collages show
nightmarish distortions just on the edge of realism, and the frightening scenes are not only outside;
sometimes Mom can look scary, as when she carries laundry piled so high it covers her face. Even the boy
himself can look monstrous! Balancing elemental terrors with reassuring scenes of safety, this inventive
title has fun with everyday fears in ordinary places.
— Hazel Rochman

Monday, October 4, 2010

Review from PW

There Are No Scary Wolves
Hyewon Yum, FSG/Foster, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-374-38060-1
Yum's debut, Last Night, showed special insight into the perceptions of small children, and she demonstrates the same gifts here, using line, soft color, and collaged photographic images to portray a boy who longs to go outside ("This is the best day, and I feel absolutely big"), but who is suddenly overcome with anxiety, imagining, "Scary wolves are everywhere!" including the toy store and his favorite Chinese restaurant. "I'm too little to go out," he tells his mother, but with her encouragement, they venture out for their planned trip, and he finds that things are safer than he thought ("Next we go to the toy store. The scary wolf isn't there, either!"). Yum pictures the wolves as stylishly clothed, perfectly civilized figures, pushing baby carriages and carrying shopping bags; only their heads appear frightening. It's not chaos out there, she seems to say. Many small details lie in the pictures, repaying careful inspection, yet the overall feeling is one of space and simplicity, the right setting in which to examine the seesawing emotions of small children and their peaceful resolution. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Friday, September 10, 2010

Founder's award

There are no scary wolves got Founder's award from 2010 Original art at Society of illustrators.

Starred review from Kirkus

THERE ARE NO SCARY WOLVES
Author: Yum, Hyewon
Illustrator: Yum, Hyewon

Review Date: September 15, 2010
Publisher:Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Pages: 40
Price ( Hardback ): $16.99
Publication Date: October 12, 2010
ISBN ( Hardback ): 978-0-374-38060-1
Category: Picture Books

A star is assigned to books of unusual merit, determined by the editors of Kirkus Reviews.

After waiting and waiting for his distracted mother to take him to get his favorite Chinese noodles, a little boy decides he’s big enough to walk his neighborhood alone. Imagining the trip, everyday people and places suddenly seem freaky, strange and sinister. Scary wolf faces appear on shop owners and neighbors, cackling creepily. Young readers will feel the boy’s heart quicken as familiar spots (the toy shop, the corner store, the Chinese restaurant) become terrifying wolf dens. They will also relate to vying for adult attention. The mother’s face is often obscured, buried in a purse, a cabinet, dishes, the fridge. Ephemera, photos, patterns, drawings and watercolors create crafty, engaging compositions. Children will enjoy extracting reproduced images from illustrated ones, a perfect exercise in a book about separating fearsome fantasy from reality. When the boy shares his terror with the mother, she finally establishes eye contact and promises to “be right there with you.” This quirky, somewhat dark picture book cleverly projects the skewed perspective of a worrier; real things and imagined ones easily get mixed up, both on these pages and in the boy’s mind. (Picture book. 2-6)