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katlogbrenn's review
3.0
An unexpected guest literally brings color back into the life of a fearful old woman. Photos of pen and ink dioramas make for a unique illustration style.
jessalynn_librarian's review
4.0
November 2018 - Ben insists that the boy's pants and shirt were coloring the house, and he loved flipping back and forth to notice the color spread. Completely charming.
leslie_d's review
5.0
Just go have a look at this picture book. Charming isn’t the only word, but it’ll do.
You’re first hope after seeing that opening endpaper, is that that the story will live up to that fantastic setting. And it does.
Elise is terrified of everything and it is best to just stay indoors. The trouble comes when she lets in fresh air, and a paper plane. A boy comes to ask after it the next day, and has an urgent request for the bathroom. And the visitor just stays, tracking color everywhere he goes and upon whatever he sees. He even brings color to Elise’s cheeks.
Elise is awkward with her young guest, but his sense of ease is contagious. The liveliness he brings is contagious and it lingers after he’s gone. And it isn’t only Elise that hopes he’ll visit again.
https://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2018/10/19/plan-a-visit/
You’re first hope after seeing that opening endpaper, is that that the story will live up to that fantastic setting. And it does.
Elise is terrified of everything and it is best to just stay indoors. The trouble comes when she lets in fresh air, and a paper plane. A boy comes to ask after it the next day, and has an urgent request for the bathroom. And the visitor just stays, tracking color everywhere he goes and upon whatever he sees. He even brings color to Elise’s cheeks.
Elise is awkward with her young guest, but his sense of ease is contagious. The liveliness he brings is contagious and it lingers after he’s gone. And it isn’t only Elise that hopes he’ll visit again.
https://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2018/10/19/plan-a-visit/
erine's review
4.0
The introduction of color into this lonely woman's life is delightful. I found it a bit fantastical in terms of a little boy just waltzing into a stranger's house, but the element of community and trust was nice to see.
alicebennett's review
5.0
The Visitor is a creative children's book about a woman named Elise who lives alone and is afraid of almost everything. This is represented by collage-style illustrations showing a house enveloped in darkness. Throughout the book the reader is shown how Elise's life, and attitude towards it, changes through the addition of increasingly brighter colours filling the page. When a young boy visits her home, the front door outside is lit up with bright oranges and yellows, conveying how Elise is letting some light and positivity into her grey life. The child has a huge impact upon Elise's happiness and we see this through the change in the way her character looks at the end with big rosy cheeks and a warm, glowing smile; juxtaposing her black and white shy persona at the beginning.
I would use the book to teach children about the impact a person can have on another's life, this being the friendship that Emil offers Elise and how he helps her overcome her fears. We would discuss ideas about whether Emil will return and what the children think Elise might do now she has been visited by him? The class could create their own cut out scenes, perhaps performing a puppet show as the book has some theatrical aspects with its unusual illustrations and doll house .
I would also highlight it's message about how children can have a huge impact upon elderly people's lives, as Emil shows Elise she can still play and have fun. We would also discuss the increasing rate of old people who are lonely and what we could do to help this problem. I would relate this to a PSHE conversation about grandparents and other elderly relatives the children have. We could invite some of them in for a Grandparents Day in school or visit the local care home where the children could meet the residents and brighten their day. This would teach the class about how they can make people happy in the simplest ways and encourage them to find other ways to do this.
The original version of the book is written in German, as Damm is a German author and I would tell the children to bring awareness to the fact that loneliness is a global issue and is something that we can try and do something about.
I would use the book to teach children about the impact a person can have on another's life, this being the friendship that Emil offers Elise and how he helps her overcome her fears. We would discuss ideas about whether Emil will return and what the children think Elise might do now she has been visited by him? The class could create their own cut out scenes, perhaps performing a puppet show as the book has some theatrical aspects with its unusual illustrations and doll house .
I would also highlight it's message about how children can have a huge impact upon elderly people's lives, as Emil shows Elise she can still play and have fun. We would also discuss the increasing rate of old people who are lonely and what we could do to help this problem. I would relate this to a PSHE conversation about grandparents and other elderly relatives the children have. We could invite some of them in for a Grandparents Day in school or visit the local care home where the children could meet the residents and brighten their day. This would teach the class about how they can make people happy in the simplest ways and encourage them to find other ways to do this.
The original version of the book is written in German, as Damm is a German author and I would tell the children to bring awareness to the fact that loneliness is a global issue and is something that we can try and do something about.
bees_circus's review
4.0
A beautiful, heartwarming story about a lonely older lady who doesn’t like to leave her home, until a young boy walks in and changes everything. I really liked the pictures and the way colour was used.