Nan ForlerRezensionen

making a human friend

This book is about the loss of a pet. What I like is that it does not try to explain that loss, just shows a child in their feelings, or in their “shell”. It also shows that it may take a bit, but one day soon, that shell will crack and the good things will be remembered, new friends made, and lives changed. This book was lovingly done, and a great title to add to a collection on grief.

I chose this book based initially on the shape of the book itself; slender and tall - pages seemed to be almost cut in half. What a tremendous use of space, illustrator Marion Arbona, used to portray the buoyancy and effortless shape of flight. The text was flat in my opinion, but maybe it needed to be to give way and elevate the book's vivid illustrations.

cute book, nice illustrations

This book seems like it might be a bit large for the library, so I am a bit on the fence. BUT the oversize books are popular, so I am leaning towards thinking it would be a nice addition.

It is a bit psychedelic, very colorful, a little scary, with slightly odd looking children. I don't know that I would buy it as a gift book, unless the child likes jumping on the trampoline.

*eARC Netgalley*

A little boy is obsessed with a trampoline. All he does all day every day is jump on a trampoline. Everyone just goes and watches him jump on a trampoline every day. One day, a girl comes up to him and wants to learn how he does it. They jump on the trampoline to the sky with the birds and planes, loving life.

This is a decent picture book with a decent message about determination and finding beauty. I assume that's what it's about anyway. Otherwise it's just a book about a kid who jumps and a girl who jumps with him Not too much happening, but not a terrible book or objective.

Have to say I'm not a fan of the artwork. While it is not terrible, it's not great or timeless. The cover is not anything I imagine kids would pick out, but parents probably would. I have to say the little girl in the book is creepy looking, a Raggedy Ann doll reject. Definitely not a fan.

While a decent picture book that is a simple story, it's worth reading once. Can't say I've seen many trampoline picture books, so it's definitely worth reading it just because of the rarity of the topic.

Trampoline Boy is an odd little book. I liked the fantasy of jumping up into the sky above the clouds that the boy seemed to use as a coping mechanism. But, nothing else really happens. Yes, he meets a girl, and she jumps with him, but that's it. Jumping into the sky. That's the story. Also the way he and Peaches jump together into the sky is strangely romantic. The saving grace of this book is the illustrations. The characters floating in the sky is soothing and beautiful. Children may enjoy this aspect of the book, but there really isn't much in the way of a story to latch on to.

I received a review copy of this book - to be honest, I wasn't that impressed with the story. The art work was nice though and I see where they were trying to go with not judging someone, especially if you have not seen things from their unique perspective.

Overall, this just fell a little flat for me.

Received as part of Librarything's early review program:

This book features 5+ star illustrations but only a 3 star story, at best. But OH the illustrations!!!! Well worth it, particularly if you are the type to make up your own story when "reading aloud" to your small person.

A trampoline, a boy, and a new friend in a neighborhood with pink houses and bright red trees. The illustrations are colorfully detailed and “happy” so if your child isn’t reading yet, turning each page will delight her/him.
The story easily transforms a potentially uncomfortable issue - a child who experiences life from a unique perspective - into a story of a new friendship. I also appreciate the repetition of several words and phrases as babies and toddlers love this approach to story telling and will want to say these with you. The size of the book is interesting - 11” tall and 6”wide so it doesn’t easily open and stay flat but definitely easy for little people to hold onto.

Trampoline Boy
by Nan Forler (Author) and Marion Arbona (Illustrator)

I received a free copy of Trampoline Boy in exchange for an honest review.

What struck me right away about this picture book is how visually striking it is. This long slender narrow book is beautifully illustrated with an attractive colour palette and imaginative drawings on every page. The endpages are a nice touch too!

The story is subtle and lovely. The book is sparsely written with some very poetic lines such as:
above
airplanes drawing curly-cues,
BOING
as well as:
beyond
wispy white clouds.
BOING

A boy's simple pleasure of bouncing on a trampoline is mocked by neighbourhood children. One day a little girl stops to look and remains quietly curious about his bouncing. The girl wonders why. The readers are also invited to wonder. No clear answer is given but your imagination will be ignited.

Colourful art work that matches the imagination of this story of a boy on a trampoline. A friendship begins when it is least expected and being open to a new experience is a valuable lesson learned. A fun read all around.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

A great little book with a great message. First off, I love the page format, extra tall to fit the extra high bouncing. The artwork is very good, stylized and distinctive, without being off-putting.

The story is repetitive, but in a satisfying way that should be appealing to kids. In the first half of the story, we are introduced to the eponymous character. The pivot point happens in the middle, when he is ridiculed, and in the second half, he makes a friend and the introduction is repeated.

I'm not sure if this was intentional, but I read the main character as autistic. Others considered his single-minded focus and lack of social skill to be evidence of stupidity, but the character who was willing to encounter him on his terms, to quietly wait and watch and become familiar, was rewarded beyond all others.

A nice book with a nice message. I'll be happy to read this to my daughter.

Trampoline Boy goes above the red wing blackbirds, the airplanes, and the clouds! He soars with his imagination. Unfortunately, other children tease him about his jumping, all of them, until Peaches starts to hang out near his trampoline. A good story about overcoming loneliness and finding a true friend. Illustrations are flush with every color in the rainbow in gouache and pencil. Faces are a bit off putting and too somber. Great concept for an imaginative adventure but I wanted more sky time. Still this will capture young listeners! Available in hardcover and digital copy.

This is an incredibly boring book. There seems to be no purpose or moral to the story. All the kid does is bounce up and down. The illustrations are creepy. The boy has bright red ears and nose. It looks like he is bleeding.

What a cute book about seeing things a different way.

A young boy spends all of his free time bouncing on a trampoline in this simple, contemplative picture-book from Canadian author/artist team Nan Forler and Marion Arbona. The neighborhood children don't understand "Trampoline Boy," as they call him, and are not very tolerant of his quirks, but a young girl named Peaches is intrigued, and spends the time to watch him, and to inquire about the possibility of joining him in his jumping.

Having read and enjoyed Nan Forler's earlier picture-book, Winterberries and Apple Blossoms, which offers a poetic depiction of an old order Mennonite community, I was curious to see what she would do with Trampoline Boy. All in all, I found the book engaging, and thought it offered an interesting depiction of a child who uses repetitive motion as a means of examining and/or thinking about the world. This is actually more common than some might think - the repetitive motion of rocking, for instance, is apparently quite frequently used by people as a means of meditation - so I was intrigued by the story, on that account. I also appreciated the way the author depicts Peaches, and the quiet respect with which she approaches a behavior that so many of her peers simply dismiss as strange. The artwork by Marion Arbona, done in gouache and pencil, is really quite lovely, with a beautiful color palette, and a real sense of motion in the characters. This is a quiet book, as mentioned above, and I feel it would work best in a one-on-one story session with a child listener. I would recommend it to adults reading in such circumstances, and to young children who might have a somewhat quirky habit of their own.

Nice illustrations in this straightforward story about a boy who likes to bounce on a trampoline all day long and what it lets him see. Meanwhile, children on the ground think he must not be very smart - or maybe he can't even hear them as they call out. Except for one, who stays to watch...

Sometimes children's books are just so simple they are meaningless, but this story, while simple, gives you a few things to ponder.½

This book was just plan weird. I didn't know if it took place in an afterlife or what.....but the message of helping others who have been bullied is a good one!

Narrated by a young girl named Naomi, this poetic picture-book offers a glimpse of the traditions of an Old Order Mennonite community in Ontario, focusing on a different custom or activity for each month of the year. From a quilting session in January to a visit to the sugar bush in March, a baseball game in July to the Christmas celebrations in December, life if very full for Naomi, who is surrounded by her loving family, and ever-aware of the presence of the divine in her life.

A lovely book, with a quiet, gentle narrative - there is no real drama, just the day-to-day life of a young girl in a close-knit community - and beautiful artwork from painter Peter Etril Snyder, Winterberries and Apple Blossoms is a loving tribute to a way of life that is both simple and rich. I particularly appreciated the fact that Naomi is sometimes a little mischievous - the moment when she sneaks off with her sisters Esther, even though she knows her mother is looking for her, or the time she takes a ride on one of the boys' bicycles - and that this is treated as a normal part of childhood, rather than some sort of problem. For young readers unfamiliar with the Mennonites, or who see them as some sort of unworldly saints (or even freakish, somehow, because of their different customs), this will emphasize their common humanity. I also appreciated Snyder's impressionistic paintings, with their brilliant use of light and color. The inclusion of twelve recipes at the rear of the book, rated for difficulty of preparation, is also a nice touch. All in all, a charming little book, although I do agree with my friend Gundula, who recommended it to me, in finding the print a little small. Recommended to young readers - it is text-heavy for a picture-book, so I'd say fourth grade and up - interested in the Mennonites, or in stories set on farms.

Nan Forler's lovely and evocative paean to Old Order Mennonite culture and traditions (in the form of a poetic month-by-month calendar description of events such as quilting bees, sugaring, planting, harvesting etc.) is wonderfully and stunningly mirrored by renowned Waterloo, Ontario artist Peter Etril Snyder's paintings (I cannot call them illustrations, they are described as paintings on the book cover, and paintings they are, folksy, descriptive and quite simply as poetic, as emotionally stirring as the narrative they are describing). The recipes for Mennonite baked goods at the back are an added bonus and look quite appetising (although I have to warn those who are vegan that all of the recipes do contain dairy and eggs, but they could likely be easily veganised). Recommended for children interested in Mennonite culture and traditions (slightly older children, as there is quite a lot of text for each month and while the poetry is beautiful and alive with descriptiveness, it also feels somewhat complex and dense at times), [b:Winterberries and Apple Blossoms: Reflections and Flavors of a Mennonite Year|10422505|Winterberries and Apple Blossoms Reflections and Flavors of a Mennonite Year|Nan Forler|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1349466086s/10422505.jpg|15326799] is also a book, I believe that many adults would enjoy (it would make a perfect coffee-table book).

I wish I could have given [b:Winterberries and Apple Blossoms: Reflections and Flavors of a Mennonite Year|10422505|Winterberries and Apple Blossoms Reflections and Flavors of a Mennonite Year|Nan Forler|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1349466086s/10422505.jpg|15326799] five stars, but I did and do have one minor, but rather annoying issue with this book, namely that the size of the font, of the printed text is quite miniscule, to the point that I actually had trouble reading the text without my glasses (and even when wearing glasses, I found the font size to be rather small). And since picture books are often meant to be read aloud or to be read by children (including some who might only recently have learned to read), a very small font could easily cause words to be missed, to be misread, to simply be difficult to read (limiting or at least potentially limiting reading pleasure). Still, very highly recommended!!

I love the lines "Look down what do you see? Look up what can you do?" Such simple questions that can lead children to discover what they can do to help others. My students had a lot to say when sharing this 2010 Willow nominee and this book will be timeless. Although I know it won't win it would be my pick for the Willow book of the year.