I read book this earlier, closer to its release date over a decade ago.Then a friend gifted me a copy with an awareness that books are central to my life and they thought I should be sure to read it. That was a touching reminder to me that my friends and family all know how central to my life BOOKS are. Admittedly, I'm a tad (HA!) hyper-verbal, and I apologize for that regularly. Even so, I'll never apologize for celebrating books, especially books for youth. Too many of the changes in contemporary life and society push for our attention, and BOOKS deserve all the cheerleaders they can get.
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| MOONBOT BOOKS Imprint of ATHENEUM BOOKS FYR, 2012 |
(SPOILER ALERT- I will share the full circle of this story. It is older and most know it.)
In the case of THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MORRIS LESSMORE, written by William Joyce, the character in the story lives an exciting series of events with books. The story is magical and action packed (yes, a story about a man reading is action- packed) and was an outgrowth of Academy Award-Winning animated short film. Joyce and Joe Bluhm share illustration credits for this lively, extra long picture book filled with truth and wonder. A single reading will suggest the heart of the story and a central theme of the film. This is a visual feast with dramatic tension and imaginative joy throughout, quietly flooded with heart.
A twist on a famous movie line captures my original response to the first spread text: It had me at ...
"Morris Lessmore loved words.
He loved stories.
He loved books."
And that's all it took for me to feel that Morris and I are kindred spirits. Morris is also a writer, though many of his attempts end in upsets. When Morris broke his habit of looking down, the sepia-tones spreads shift to colorful, literally uplifting images. The world of books, personified and speaking to him directly, intervenes in his frustrating, worried, internal world. Books introduce possibilities, curiosity, and excitement that lead to sharing books with others. "Everyone's story matters," he says.
His life of reading, sharing, tending books, exploring words, and and writing his own story led, in a page turn, to his eventual aging. Those beloved books read themselves to him, care for him, comfort him. When he writes the last page of his own book, when he steps out of life and into the eternal world of stories, his own book remains behind. The books understand, waiting...
...for the young girl who enters the world of books left behind by Morris. His book flies to her hands, filled with his story, his joys and upsets and fears and excitement. That's where her story begins... with the opening of a book. A legacy passes hand-to-hand, page-to-page, generation to generation.
This lovely circle story is both surreal and anchored in truth. It is both heartwarming and poignant. The illustrations are beyond my tools of description, and evocative of an animated film, of course, with letters and words assembling and disassembling, swirling on and off pages, enticing and exciting.
Viewing the short film may feel like a significantly different experience from reading the book. It is a visual, wordless exploration of broader themes. Among those are the revelation that an old book, any book, only offers a life when it is read, when readers partner with the symbols and images on the page to give life to the stories within the covers. The central stories (book and film) are the same, but the lives of the books, their NEED for connection with readers is much more palpable in the film. Both deserve attention, and carry compelling messages without being didactic.
Both the book and film suggest that a simple, single person, someone with a life of their own, will discover a universe of stories in words and books, in libraries, in sharing books with others. Tomorrow, April 1, begins National Library Month. This feels like a fabulous way to celebrate books and libraries with young readers. They'll recognize the richness, color, and connection that books bring into an otherwise dull life. I hope you'll check out both the book and film, and share some love with local libraries and librarians.
The books and I thank you!
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