Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 4-6. Drescher's postmodernist collages are a good choice to illustrate this intriguing compilation of Wilbur's poems. The book is verbally and visually demanding. Its double-page-spread illustrations look as though they were an assignment in experimental page design. The letters of the words differ in size and shape, with many having been cut out and pasted on the background, and Drescher's typical beastlike characters share space with images from old photographs and pictures from catalogs. The swirling lines of text are difficult to read, often requiring that the book be moved around, but young artist-rebels will love the look of everything and want to try to imitate it. --Mary Harris Veeder
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Drescher (The Boy Who Ate Around; Pat the Beastie) pays homage to Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Wilbur's verse and the result is equal parts silliness and wit, with the artist's playful grotesques populating every page. Wilbur's poems range from couplets to multiple stanzas, presenting puzzle-like proofs rather than standard opposites. The opposite of ``doctor,'' he jokes, is ``anyone who makes you sick''; ``hat'' is the reverse of ``shoes/ For shoes and hat together/ Protect our two extremes from weather.'' Drescher assembles his collages on backgrounds of dark, textured paper, and forms the text by hand-lettering or cutting out newsprint, à la B-movie ransom notes. His raw, studiedly imperfect designs include metal trinkets attached with masking tape; canceled postage stamps; cartoon details and borders; and sepia-tone photo portraits, often given feathery arms and beaky noses. One memorable spread contrasts an armadillo with a pillow-the creature walks on four human feet (clad in black pumps), and feathers litter the page: "`Oh, don't talk nonsense!' you protest. / However, if you tried to rest/ Your head upon the creature, you / Would find that what I say is true.'' Kid-pleasingly silly and Generation X-pleasingly raffish. All ages. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6The jacket blurb says it all: ``Henrick Drescher has run away with some of Richard Wilbur's favorite opposites.'' Here the artist supplies boisterous, challenging illustrations for 15 of the poet's Opposites and More Opposites (both Harcourt, 1991). The poems are wry and teasing: ``The opposite of trunk could be/The taproot of a cedar tree./In terms of elephants, however,/The answer tail is rather clever.'' The artwork, photographed collages including tiny objects, stamps, large assembled objects, and black line as well as full-color water-based drawings, offer layers of meaning and a real interpretative challenge. Together, the text and art create an irresistible synergy for those willing to invest the time to appreciate the sophisticated pairing. People are surreal, portrayed with beaks and lurid multi-colored flesh. Text swarms over the pages. (In one case, flies do, too.) At times, the collage technique used on the individual letters makes it difficult to decipher the words. The endpapers are a riot of personal photos, correspondence among those involved in the production of the book, and miscellany. This book will have great appeal for a narrow audience, but its quirky sophistication may preclude a wide readership.Carolyn Noah, Central Mass. Regional Library System, Worcester, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
'What is the opposite of riot? / It's lots of people keeping quiet.' Drescher has vigorously illustrated -- in his own wild, inimitable style -- a compilation of Wilbur's 'Opposites' poems, resulting in a marvelous combination of art and text. The words on each double-page spread, mostly illustrated in a cut-from-a-magazine style, fully complement the page design. From HORN BOOK 1995, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
These poems come from Wilbur's books Opposites (1973) and More Opposites (1991). With the same logic that children exhibit, the poems cleverly fend off the peltering demands for opposites where there are none, by creating pairs on the spot. The opposite of a laughing hyena? A weeping willow! The antithesis of two? ``A lonely me,/A lonely you.'' Drescher interprets Wilbur's poems with abandon, letting his imagination run wild with scissors, paintbrush, toys, and ink. In the paste-up ``typeface'' usually associated with ransom notes, the artist painstakingly spells out each poem, making the words an intrinsic part of the collage. Ink drawings, clip art, plastic flies, coins, family photos, letters from the publisher; all are composted into art with tape, glue, and self-referential playfulness. The left-to-right, front-to-back conventions of book-reading are no limitation to Drescher either; readers will twist and turn the volume up and down to follow the direction of the verse. Both the art and the language have a sophistication and depth that will lure readers of many ages--or, as the back jacket states, ``Not only for children.'' (Picture book/poetry. All ages)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by School Library Journal Review
Review by Horn Book Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
