Dots and Spots - Hardcover

Morley, Carol

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060215267 ISBN 13: 9780060215262

Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books, 1993

Synopsis

A witch tries to steal all the spots from a town where everyone and everything is spotted

About this title

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2-From freckled faces, to speckled animals and birds, to polka-dotted buildings and clothing, Dotty's town is passionate about spots. One evening, the little girl witnesses the arrival of a strange woman in an unusually plain white dress. The next morning, the town awakens to a terrifying sight- every dot, blob, and speckle is being whisked into the mystery lady's stark white car. The "spotlifter" reveals herself as a witch, vowing that her spell will be broken only if her name can be guessed. With the help of polka-dots stolen from her favorite dress, Dotty saves the day. The strength here is the artwork. The stylized paintings, featuring elongated and streamlined figures set against a plain background, combine high-fashion sophistication with child appeal. Colorful dots, splotches, and blobs, in a variety of sizes and shapes, are gracefully integrated into the drawings. When they are removed, the illustrations loose their sparkle and verve, reflecting the emptiness left by the witch's curse. These intriguing, carefully polished pictures balance the predictable story line.
Joy Fleishhacker, New York Public Library
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The inhabitants of Dotty's town adore polka dots, and they sprinkle spots on every surface imaginable, from clothing to cats. When an ominously unadorned woman in white arrives and magically steals all the town's dots, Dotty retrieves them by answering the stranger's Rumplestiltskin-like challenge to guess her name: the dots from Dotty's favorite dress spell out the dot-napper's name. The story is insubstantial, no more than a vehicle for the art. But Morley ( The Tapestry Cats ) takes full advantage of her tale's visual possibilities, sure-handedly deploying spots of all hues to create varied and wonderfully decorative spreads, with multiform color fields housing stylishly elongated figures. In contrast to the text, these elegant, fanciful illustrations are memorable indeed. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060215267
• ISBN 13: 9780060215262
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32