Look to the skies on Tuesday nights!
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If high-flying, mischievous frogs were an everyday occurrence, the mysterious Tuesday by David Wiesner would not exist. In Tuesday (Clarion Books, 1991), the author writes that some magical event occurs every Tuesday and in this particular book, readers are treated to the puzzling case of adventurous frogs. One of the marvelous watercolor illustrations depicts dozens of frogs hovering on lily pads in a sleeping (and unaware) woman's house, entranced by the glowing light of the television. Curiously, Wiesner omits the child character found in his previous works, and readers looking to identify with the story may have to look elsewhere. The author demands creativity from his readers of this Caldecott Medal-winning text, and he expects his audience to construct their own text. Since Tuesday is such a clear indication of Wiesner's success in literature, readers will gladly look forward to his next clever and inventive book with dream-like illustrations.
Wiesner's Best
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David Wiesner once again captures the imagination of his audience with his breathtaking illustrations in the picture book, Tuesday, the story of a frog invasion that happens during the twilight hours on a Tuesday evening. The front jacket of the book offers the frame, and nearly all of the text, stating that "The events recorded here are verified by an undisclosed source to have happened somewhere, U.S.A. on Tuesday." Children's imaginations will be tugged in this inventive possibility of what happens in the outside world while they are tucked away into bed: frogs soar from their pond on hovering Lilly pads past a late-night snacker's kitchen window, tangle through the hanging laundry, and most charmingly, stop to watch television with an unknowing old woman snoozing under her afghan. By the end of the story, readers will believe that anything can happen after the sun goes down - that even pigs can fly.
Wiesner's watercolor illustrations live up to their reputation of being dreamy, inspired, fanciful, and original, and are strong enough to carry a story with only time stamps to guide the flow. Through his paintings, Wiesner is able to bring floating frogs to life and gift them with human emotions such as surprise, mischief, contentment, and fear. Viewers will delight with the way perception and point of view shifts and the world is tilted to be examined up-close as well as far away. Wiesner layers slices of paintings on top of full page illustrations to keep the eye continually moving and constantly absorbing the vivid blue-hued colors of dusk in this comic book style montage that truly lives up to the genre of picture books.