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msgabbythelibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
Okay, so in my opinion, the author's note needs to be at the beginning. Once I read that this wordless picture book was a homage to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (where visitors can paddle and portage a unique wilderness area) I fell in love with the beauty of this book. It would be great for asking children what adventures await....and it makes me want to get out and kayak.
But it's winter and I can't.
But it's winter and I can't.
nukie19's review against another edition
5.0
My seven-year-old and I read this book together. It reminded us both of the book [b:Bee & Me|29991478|Bee & Me|Alison Jay|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1461537051l/29991478._SX50_.jpg|50394899], which was a favorite when we had it from the library. With the lack of written words, we were able to really talk about each picture and come up with different story lines, major and minor, as we turned each page. I think this will make a beautiful printed book and will allow outdoor loving families to rewrite the story many times.
Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
jillyd's review against another edition
5.0
This wonderfully illustrated book gave me such peace as I flipped the pages and followed along it's wordless story. It is definitely one that I will "read" over and over, especially when I need to feel peaceful.
ljrinaldi's review against another edition
4.0
A family travels to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) on the Minnesota–Canada border. One must portage (carry your canoe) to get from one lake to another. There are thousands. In this picture book, they are the only family there, and get to see the wilderness in all its glory.
It is a lovely book, showing off the beauty of the area. The author says, that he hopes that someday everyone can visit BWCA, but in the meantime, here is the book to enjoy it.
Lovely book. Lovely place.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
It is a lovely book, showing off the beauty of the area. The author says, that he hopes that someday everyone can visit BWCA, but in the meantime, here is the book to enjoy it.
Lovely book. Lovely place.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
jestrudel's review against another edition
5.0
One Summer Up North is a wordless picture book that tells the story of the typical middle school child whose pretty sure they hate "the great outdoors". At the beginning, it's clear that Alex has been dragged on this trip by her parents, and has the weight of the world on her shoulders (even as dad carries the literal weight of the canoe on his own). It's wonderful to see the story unfold in images as Alex discovers the wonder of the world around her, and learns a thing or two about her parents along the way. There's even a few "sights unseen" in the illustrations, as various animals and insects are camouflaged throughout. I really like the impressionistic quality of Owens' illustrations, lines not quite even, which genuinely depict the imperfect beauty of nature. As a Canadian who is truly "up north" from the Boundary Waters area where this story is set, this story carries all the nostalgia and wonder of my own childhood and my plethora of camping/canoeing trips.
**I reviewed an ARC of this book on NetGalley**
**I reviewed an ARC of this book on NetGalley**
leslie_d's review against another edition
4.0
I’m going to open this review in reverse. I want you to know that if you are a fan of Aaron Becker’s Journey trilogy, you will also need to pick up John Owens’ One Summer Up North. They are both beautifully rendered, wordless adventures involving red boats, but instead of discovering a portal to a fantastical world with the help of art supplies, Alex and her family find a portal to a different kind of fantastic by way of automotive, hiking boots, and canoe. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) is a real destination and one that doesn’t solely reside in the author’s (and now our) imaginations. Yet the escape to and wonder of BWCAW feels like something otherworldly. Owens, like Becker, immerses the reader/on-looker and inspires awe.
For those of us who enjoy nature—and are especially missing those adventures right now—Owens’ translation feels like a balm. The color palette is both soothing and vibrant—that red canoe!! Owens offers both the vastness of the wilderness and the intimacy of the experience of it. The familial interaction feels real, if not wholesome. The adults/parents are affectionate. There is a subtle but amusing scene where he is looking back at where they’ve come and she is pointing forward, navigating the way. It’s a familiar scene to those who’ve ever left pavement for narrow dirt tracks and unmarked forks in search of a National Park entrance.
The scenes of respite after camp is set up, in the star-gazing, in the book reading by the water, in the scene with bared feet—those appealed to me; as did cataloging the wildlife, berry-picking and fishing, even that downpour. Owens both instills a desire to experience these things first hand, and recalls a memory for those of us who’ve already encountered similar. I can see One Summer Up North encouraging a caregiver sharing this book to relay their own personal adventure stories. Of course, the wordless aspect invites the viewer to add dialog or narrative flourish where they will. Or maybe just enjoy the quiet, and the occasional whisper pointing out the fox and its kits. I dare you to not echo our protagonist’s enthusiastic gesture when spying the otters.
The wordless aspect had me thinking about how it participates at another level of coherence than just the invitation for quiet and that observational sort of listening.
As the story opens, we see Alex (as named in the jacket copy) in a posture of disinterest, boredom, lack of enthusiasm. She (as gendered in the jacket copy) carries this demeanor in the car and after, as the adults row the first leg of their journey. Cue the scene where we notice the vastness of the water as it reflects back the sky and it’s puffy white clouds. As they row beneath a pair of Canadian geese, we begin to lean in even as she looks up. We begin to anticipate wonder.
As the picture book opens, like our child protagonist, we are uncertain or maybe unaware of what this story could hold. You guess that she didn’t see what you did, the bird in the tree, the squirrel—or maybe like you, didn’t register it with any excitement. There is no guided narration dictating contexts, emotional or otherwise. The author/illustrator is the parents in the front seat who said we were coming along and we were going to thank them for it later. And I can imagine some children’s equal uncertainty when sitting down to a book and having it revealed to them that they are participant’s in this story. They were not to sit back and be entertained, waiting for the book to perform. It is not a book for passive interest.
How then does Owens engage the viewer/reader? By turning the page. By asking the question of: where are they going, and when/how will they get there? They have to carry the canoe at points and camp along the way. There is rain. And there is that warm glow of the sun on the tent (love that image). Owens’ engages the reader by engaging his protagonist. Alex can’t remain unaffected forever, and sure enough, she is captured by the same wonder as the reader. The water becomes sky. Her level of participation increases alongside our excitement for what this adventure will and does bring. Alex begins to row, she begins to interact with her parents (as they huddle under cover from the rain, pick berries, fish), and smile. She is suddenly leading the way, not trudging along behind. She calls to the animals.
Owens balances activity with stillness, often in the same double-page spread. Alex in expression generates the most noise; otherwise the wordless has an added quietude with the absence of marks (flared lines or bubbling) around potential noise makers (like raindrops, foot falls, running water, etc). The use of color and perspective is key in this story and Owens’ skill in applying it is appreciated. The cover alone clues us into the further use of warm and cool, of angles and curve, to both frame and diminish the differentiation between the human and nature; red is the only color Owens’ brings in from outside of the landscape. He uses a lot of texture and is strategic in detail; faithfully capturing the scenery while also needing to focus the eye. The style of the artwork lends enough realism necessarily to the reality of the location and its activity, with the invitation to believe this is an adventure the viewer could have. It’s important to note that Owens’ inclusion of a brown skinned mother and daughter participates in both the invitation and the realism. People of color and women and girls camp, canoe, and adventure in the wilderness.
The only labeling in the book is the National Forest sign. You could assign any gender to the child, or name. You could narrate the relationship of the adults (except maybe not siblings?). You could sound edit. The levels of participation for this One Summer Up North is an invitation with broad appeal. I do highly recommend just pouring over the pages as you turn them that first pass through—discover the wonder alongside this trio of adventurers, enjoy that nurturing quality nature brings and that Owens delivers in the space of a picture book.
You should also prepare yourself to plan an outing of your own. And maybe use One Summer Up North as a means to tide you over until you are able to venture out. It’s one you are sure to revisit.
For those of us who enjoy nature—and are especially missing those adventures right now—Owens’ translation feels like a balm. The color palette is both soothing and vibrant—that red canoe!! Owens offers both the vastness of the wilderness and the intimacy of the experience of it. The familial interaction feels real, if not wholesome. The adults/parents are affectionate. There is a subtle but amusing scene where he is looking back at where they’ve come and she is pointing forward, navigating the way. It’s a familiar scene to those who’ve ever left pavement for narrow dirt tracks and unmarked forks in search of a National Park entrance.
The scenes of respite after camp is set up, in the star-gazing, in the book reading by the water, in the scene with bared feet—those appealed to me; as did cataloging the wildlife, berry-picking and fishing, even that downpour. Owens both instills a desire to experience these things first hand, and recalls a memory for those of us who’ve already encountered similar. I can see One Summer Up North encouraging a caregiver sharing this book to relay their own personal adventure stories. Of course, the wordless aspect invites the viewer to add dialog or narrative flourish where they will. Or maybe just enjoy the quiet, and the occasional whisper pointing out the fox and its kits. I dare you to not echo our protagonist’s enthusiastic gesture when spying the otters.
The wordless aspect had me thinking about how it participates at another level of coherence than just the invitation for quiet and that observational sort of listening.
As the story opens, we see Alex (as named in the jacket copy) in a posture of disinterest, boredom, lack of enthusiasm. She (as gendered in the jacket copy) carries this demeanor in the car and after, as the adults row the first leg of their journey. Cue the scene where we notice the vastness of the water as it reflects back the sky and it’s puffy white clouds. As they row beneath a pair of Canadian geese, we begin to lean in even as she looks up. We begin to anticipate wonder.
As the picture book opens, like our child protagonist, we are uncertain or maybe unaware of what this story could hold. You guess that she didn’t see what you did, the bird in the tree, the squirrel—or maybe like you, didn’t register it with any excitement. There is no guided narration dictating contexts, emotional or otherwise. The author/illustrator is the parents in the front seat who said we were coming along and we were going to thank them for it later. And I can imagine some children’s equal uncertainty when sitting down to a book and having it revealed to them that they are participant’s in this story. They were not to sit back and be entertained, waiting for the book to perform. It is not a book for passive interest.
How then does Owens engage the viewer/reader? By turning the page. By asking the question of: where are they going, and when/how will they get there? They have to carry the canoe at points and camp along the way. There is rain. And there is that warm glow of the sun on the tent (love that image). Owens’ engages the reader by engaging his protagonist. Alex can’t remain unaffected forever, and sure enough, she is captured by the same wonder as the reader. The water becomes sky. Her level of participation increases alongside our excitement for what this adventure will and does bring. Alex begins to row, she begins to interact with her parents (as they huddle under cover from the rain, pick berries, fish), and smile. She is suddenly leading the way, not trudging along behind. She calls to the animals.
Owens balances activity with stillness, often in the same double-page spread. Alex in expression generates the most noise; otherwise the wordless has an added quietude with the absence of marks (flared lines or bubbling) around potential noise makers (like raindrops, foot falls, running water, etc). The use of color and perspective is key in this story and Owens’ skill in applying it is appreciated. The cover alone clues us into the further use of warm and cool, of angles and curve, to both frame and diminish the differentiation between the human and nature; red is the only color Owens’ brings in from outside of the landscape. He uses a lot of texture and is strategic in detail; faithfully capturing the scenery while also needing to focus the eye. The style of the artwork lends enough realism necessarily to the reality of the location and its activity, with the invitation to believe this is an adventure the viewer could have. It’s important to note that Owens’ inclusion of a brown skinned mother and daughter participates in both the invitation and the realism. People of color and women and girls camp, canoe, and adventure in the wilderness.
The only labeling in the book is the National Forest sign. You could assign any gender to the child, or name. You could narrate the relationship of the adults (except maybe not siblings?). You could sound edit. The levels of participation for this One Summer Up North is an invitation with broad appeal. I do highly recommend just pouring over the pages as you turn them that first pass through—discover the wonder alongside this trio of adventurers, enjoy that nurturing quality nature brings and that Owens delivers in the space of a picture book.
You should also prepare yourself to plan an outing of your own. And maybe use One Summer Up North as a means to tide you over until you are able to venture out. It’s one you are sure to revisit.
antlersantlers's review against another edition
5.0
A wordless picture book about a family going camping in the Boundary Waters up north in Minnesota. That on its own would not be enough enough for a 5 star rating, but Owens' illustrations are so wonderful. On each page, he uses different colors to pull out details and push other things into the fore- or background with tremendous success. There is so much to see on each page! I am definitely going to send a copy to my Twin Cities friends with babies, but I think it has a lot of appeal — particularly for midwestern families.
backonthealex's review against another edition
4.0
A family of three set off on a summer vacation, canoeing and camping in the wilderness of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) in northern Minnesota in this lushly illustrated wordless picture book. At first, the child is bored and uninterested, trailing slumped shouldered and not looking around.By the first night, even in the pouring raid, the glimmering of enjoying the trip begins show on the child face and demeanor. Pretty soon, the child is totally onboard with the trip and readers can focus on the wonderfully detailed and accurate illustrations. When I shared this with my young readers, one the child begin enjoying the trip, we had to go back to the beginning of the book and comb through the illustrations. They loved spotting the different insects, animals, and birds throughout. We talked about the abundant lily pads, trees and blueberry picking, the kinds of food people eat while camping, and then we came to the two-page spread of the milky way - WOW! I love a book that gets my kids talking and this was perfect. We did have some debate about whether the child was a boy or girl, but decided it didn't matter. My young readers also noticed that the father is white, the mother is brown, so the child is biracial. The illustrations are colorful and nicely textured, done in a palette of greens, browns, and blues. Owens has really captured the wonder of nature and there is nothing to match the peaceful feeling of floating quietly though water in a canoe. This book has a special place in our small library of books my young readers love.
erine's review against another edition
4.0
A family journeys through the B.W.C.A. wilderness in a red canoe. Scene after scene highlights the sights and sounds in the wilderness. It reads like a series of memories from a very special trip, and brings the reader right into the camping experience. I especially enjoyed the varied perspectives. Some spreads put the people within the larger landscape and alongside the wild creatures; other pages zoom in on individual activities like berry picking or reading or cooking; and some pages show one family member watching the other two.
Reading this made me think of [b:River|43319690|River|Elisha Cooper|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549837811l/43319690._SX50_.jpg|67231024], but I couldn't remember the title and also recalled [b:In the Red Canoe|29394205|In the Red Canoe|Leslie Davidson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1460909912l/29394205._SX50_.jpg|49647521]. All three feature canoes, wildlife, wilderness, and good memories made in nature.
Reading this made me think of [b:River|43319690|River|Elisha Cooper|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549837811l/43319690._SX50_.jpg|67231024], but I couldn't remember the title and also recalled [b:In the Red Canoe|29394205|In the Red Canoe|Leslie Davidson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1460909912l/29394205._SX50_.jpg|49647521]. All three feature canoes, wildlife, wilderness, and good memories made in nature.
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