Christine D. U. Chung

Viewfinder by Christine Diễm Uyên Chung (who drew the illustrations) and Salwa Majoka (who painted the illustrations - both were responsible for the story) is a tale told only in pictures. A red haired child, probably a girl by the hair style and the eyeliner, is in a space suit. She flies a small spacecraft. Her ship is full of specimens. We see her gather one before she makes her way to Earth, which seems to be the planet she's been looking for. The first two pages were in sepia, showing children putting toys in a capsule. One Black boy is marking a viewfinder reel.

The girl finds the children's time capsule, which includes the viewfinder and its reel. She wanders around, comparing the sepia photos on the reel to the ruins those buildings are today. Everywhere she goes, plants and buildings have little very pale blue mushrooms on them. That's bad enough. I'm more upset about the living cat, rat, and monkeys that have tiny mushrooms growing on them.

Although the girl is still wearing her spacesuit and helmet, she panics when it rains. The next morning, she explores some more. I was not surprised at what happened when she got on a small boat tied to a dock. Good thing she still had her helmet on. Her last visit is to a tree house, where she leaves a reel. It appears that Earth is not entirely deserted, as we see after the girl leaves to go home to her parents.

The illustrations are beautiful. I particularly enjoyed the visits to a natural history museum and underwater. I also liked it when the girl found books. The girl may not understand everything she sees, but it's quite sad for an adult reader who does. This alternate Earth may have been invaded by the mushrooms during the 1960s. I was a child then and I recognize the style of the robot toy in the time capsule. The viewfinder is obviously modeled after the Viewmasters we had then, although a 2d book illustration would find it difficult to show that one saw 3d images of the whatever pictures were on the Viewmaster reels.

The books appear to be homages to real life books. I recognize Where the Wild Things Are, The Little Prince, and Treasure Island. One might be The Giving Tree.

This is a book that rewards careful attention to detail. I think even children too young to read could enjoy the colorful illustrations. I'm 69 and I grew up on science fiction and black and white horror movies. The implications of what I saw were unsettling, but I still enjoyed the book. My copy was a LibraryThing Early Reviewers program win.… (mehr)

"Viewfinder" by Christine D.U. Chung is a genuine treasure! Not a single word is written, and as it turns out, a single word is not needed. The graphics are truly amazing and flow nicely from frame to frame and page to page. "Viewfinder" follows a young space traveler as she navigates Earth, void of people. She comes across a weird gadget that contains pictures of what the planet used to be like. Even though Earth is dissolute, it still contains wonderous things. She embarks on an adventure that takes her to a museum that provides her with a greater insight into the planet we know as Earth.
This would be a great book for students that are studying the solar system, or for children that show an interest. Also great for Earth Day activities.… (mehr)