In a sea of picture books that look so much alike… HEATWAVE, written and superbly illustrated by Lauren Redniss burns right off the shelf. It almost looks too hot to touch. Lauren Redness uses just three colors: red, blue, and black (plus, minimally, the white of the page) along with spare text to emphasize an extraordinarily hot day at the beach for a boy and his dog. Yearning for relief… a raindrop, a downpour, then the cool of the evening as the sun sets. Visually, the author/illustrator uses color to cleverly enforce and tell even more of the story. It’s almost a visual interpretation of ‘scratch and sniff’ adding an unexpected element to the reader’s experience.
This unique and special picture book embodies picture-book-making as a true form of art. HEATWAVE explores the powerful use of graphic design and color to emphasize an important issue facing our world today. The dedication at the front is to “all the young activists fighting for environmental justice and a healthy future for Planet Earth,” thus leaving the book itself open for conversation (or not) about the issue of global warming— it’s not mentioned in the text of the story… it’s just, “too hot.”
Artistically, this gorgeous book also opens the door for color learning with readers. Being able to talk about warm tones, cool tones, complimentary colors and how they can work both together and to contrast each other. Not to mention the ahhhhhh-mazing and complicated page layouts and compositions Lauren uses throughout.
Lauren Redniss has created a brilliant book art masterpiece. So vibrant, so successful, so important, so creative, so different, so unique, so beautiful.
It almost feels too hot to touch. Pick up a copy today, but be careful not to burn yourself! 🔥☀️
I can feel that heat in Chicago today!
Wow! This cover will really stick out! And so spot on with hot summers!
So clever! With so many layers and so much to discuss. Brilliant book. Thanks for the heads up on this one. Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.
Thanks, Jennifer. I didn’t know Lauren had a new book. I love her work. So unique and full of delicious tidbits.
Here are some pictures I shared from her other books: https://vijayabodach.blogspot.com/2022/04/reading.html
Yikes! This book is perfect for my weather this week. I Love the colors in this book. So creative and meaningful.
A true PICTURE book! The illustrations allow for so many different conversations. This would be a great mentor text for art teachers to discuss shading, and vanishing point.
I would love to read this one!
This book looks amazing — those saturated colors! Can’t wait to read it!
Just added this to my holds list!
I love this!