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mat_tobin's review
4.0
A dazzling dimensional leap into an alternate reality. Gorge upon a visual feast and welcome your mind to a new style of picturebook: the fusion text.
José Domingo’s art is like nothing I have encountered before. I would describe it as an overloaded sugar-rush of kaleidoscopic colour which is as entertaining as it is imaginative. Here is an illustrator and writer whose work begs to be poured over and endlessly revisited. C’mon, I’ll show you what I mean.
Pablo & Jane and the Hot Air Contraption is Domingo’s first picturebook for children. Already established as a successful Spanish comic-book artist who has also worked in the animation industry, Domingo brings a very different style to the picturebook genre: the fusion text* (an amalgamation of picturebook, comic and graphic novel). It is a format that works perfectly for what Domingo is trying to achieve here and I think it’s a style that will work for many readers: especially reluctant ones.
See my full review here: http://mattobin.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/pablo-jane-and-hot-air-contraption.html
Update. I have now been fortunate enough to interview the author. Read about it here and enjoy a fascinating look into the creative process
José Domingo’s art is like nothing I have encountered before. I would describe it as an overloaded sugar-rush of kaleidoscopic colour which is as entertaining as it is imaginative. Here is an illustrator and writer whose work begs to be poured over and endlessly revisited. C’mon, I’ll show you what I mean.
Pablo & Jane and the Hot Air Contraption is Domingo’s first picturebook for children. Already established as a successful Spanish comic-book artist who has also worked in the animation industry, Domingo brings a very different style to the picturebook genre: the fusion text* (an amalgamation of picturebook, comic and graphic novel). It is a format that works perfectly for what Domingo is trying to achieve here and I think it’s a style that will work for many readers: especially reluctant ones.
See my full review here: http://mattobin.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/pablo-jane-and-hot-air-contraption.html
Update. I have now been fortunate enough to interview the author. Read about it here and enjoy a fascinating look into the creative process
taliaissmart's review
1.0
Maybe it's just me but I can't tell what's happening in the plot and I don't like the art at all
michelle_neuwirth_gray9311's review
3.0
An interesting format for a graphic novel. It combines a story with a look and find section in the middle. It disjoints the story a bit, but the look and finds will keep kids busy for quite awhile.
scostner's review
4.0
An entertaining mashup of picture book, graphic novel, and seek & find styles - Pablo and Jane and the Hot Air Contraption is a thrill ride. The title characters are stuck inside on a rain day with nothing to do. They've already explored everything fun in their neighborhood such as the ruined asylum and the haunted orphanage. Unless the Cat in the Hat shows up with Thing 1 and Thing 2, what else can they find to amuse themselves? Armed with their flashlights, the pair venture out into the rain and discover the contraption. Once they climb on board, they are whisked away to ... well, let's say "different" places. Places like Lopsided London, Terrifying Transylvania, and the Bone-Chilling Bayou. In each location they must find parts to help repair the hot air contraption or they will never make it home!
This is great for fans of I Spy and Look & Find books or humorous adventures in graphic novel style. The story is told in comic book style panels up to the point where the contraption takes off, then there are 2-page spreads for each wild place that the kids visit and the reader must help them search for the missing parts. I can't keep the I Spy and similar types of books on the library shelves, so I know this will be popular for the same reasons. The zany comics style adventure will pull in the graphic novel/manga crowd. And the hot air contraption will appeal to the makerspace group. (Is that a hat trick - getting all three types of readers with one title?)
The publisher was kind enough to send me a copy of the book for review purposes.
This is great for fans of I Spy and Look & Find books or humorous adventures in graphic novel style. The story is told in comic book style panels up to the point where the contraption takes off, then there are 2-page spreads for each wild place that the kids visit and the reader must help them search for the missing parts. I can't keep the I Spy and similar types of books on the library shelves, so I know this will be popular for the same reasons. The zany comics style adventure will pull in the graphic novel/manga crowd. And the hot air contraption will appeal to the makerspace group. (Is that a hat trick - getting all three types of readers with one title?)
The publisher was kind enough to send me a copy of the book for review purposes.
erine's review
2.0
A search-and-find book with a graphic novel intro and conclusion. The illustration style is busy throughout and I found myself having a hard time following the narrative because the layout was simply too visually distracting.
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