Scan barcode
rlaferney's review
5.0
This is an absolutely stunning picture book biography of a boy who imagined a world full of dragons and grew up to be the beloved author J. R. R. Tolkien. I particularly found the parts where Tolkien was depicted to be apart of the action of the Hobbit to be quite wonderful! I will be purchasing this book.
jmshirtz's review
5.0
Wonderful, wonderful illustrations accompany the story of the early to middle life of J.R.R. Tolkien. I loved learning of Tolkien's obsession with dragons all the way through his invention of Smaug. He led a very interesting life (full of loss!) and the additional notes at the end only added to his character. I very much enjoyed this picture book biography!
kendallbridgete's review
5.0
I don't give out 5-star reviews lightly, and especially not to nonfiction books...
A truly excellent example of a picture book biography. How exciting to read about the life of the man who created one of my favorite books ("The Hobbit") in a way that is accessible to younger readers, as well as people who have varying degrees of familiarity with Tolkien. The artwork is high-quality, the author and illustrator notes were quite interesting and there is a bibliography of additional sources included.
I cannot wait to share this book with family members who are fans of Tolkien, as well as add this to my school library collection; after all, I first read "The Hobbit" when I was in 2nd grade (True Story.) ;)
A truly excellent example of a picture book biography. How exciting to read about the life of the man who created one of my favorite books ("The Hobbit") in a way that is accessible to younger readers, as well as people who have varying degrees of familiarity with Tolkien. The artwork is high-quality, the author and illustrator notes were quite interesting and there is a bibliography of additional sources included.
I cannot wait to share this book with family members who are fans of Tolkien, as well as add this to my school library collection; after all, I first read "The Hobbit" when I was in 2nd grade (True Story.) ;)
renee_b's review
4.0
I really liked this biography of J.R.R Tolkien that follows his life story along his creative path, showing how influences from his life shaped his books. There's a lot of useful back-matter, including historical notes, and notes from the illustrator detailing her process of illustrating and how she incorporated aspects of J.R.R. Tolkien's life into her drawings. There was also a catalog of all the Dragons that showed up in Tolkien's work.
Probably not as interesting a book to people who aren't already Tolkien fans, but this book made me really happy
Probably not as interesting a book to people who aren't already Tolkien fans, but this book made me really happy
kayleighofhobbiton's review
5.0
It might be a bit unfair to start the new year with reading a picture book but somehow I have never written a review about this one.
I love the illustration style. It is written about Tolkien and his life. It is colourful and the illustrator has hidden some small details in the illustrations. I love the dragons and I had forgotten how beautiful Middle Earth looks in this picture book. I higly recommend it.
I love the illustration style. It is written about Tolkien and his life. It is colourful and the illustrator has hidden some small details in the illustrations. I love the dragons and I had forgotten how beautiful Middle Earth looks in this picture book. I higly recommend it.
librarianryan's review
informative
slow-paced
4.0
That a lovely, basic biography of Tolkien. There wasn’t much to the story, just a general timeline and his hunt for dragons, but it worked. And the soft watercolor style illustrations were a perfect counter to the historial words. I really liked how at the end the illustrator explained how and what they choose to illustrate.