Moving to Town!

O'Kelley, Mattie Lou

ISBN 10: 0316638056 ISBN 13: 9780316638050

Publisher: Joy st Books, 1991

Synopsis

A rural family moves from their old farm to a house in the big city

About this title

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 3-- Like Circus (Joy St/Little, 1986) , this book is a colorful, detail-laden memory of O'Kelley's Georgia childhood. Here, the family packs their furnishings into three wagons and moves to the city. Despite a surprising number of multistory buildings, the mixture of horse-drawn vehicles and early automobiles places this city firmly in the past. There are plenty of sights for the children to see--stores, electric trolleys, restaurants, movies, a zoo, and a curious shopping mall called "underground city." After Thanksgiving and a holiday parade, the family decides to return to their country home in time for Christmas. Retracing their journey through the now snowy landscape, they find their neighbors waiting to help them move in. The story, which exists mainly as a frame for disparate paintings, will not hold audiences, but the illustrations, with their myriad detail and odd perspectives, will intrigue and delight them. In primitive paintings such as these, reality is often forced and distorted to serve the artist's desire to show everything she remembers--all the furniture is placed in one room; clocks and large bells teeter on the tops of buildings; and sizes vary with no regard to spacial logic. This is the world from a child's point of view, and while sophisticated children will recognize the distortion, they will also enter into the immediacy and inner reality of the paintings. The pattern, color, and minutiae in them hold much the same appeal as Anno's "journey" books and it is the sense of visual exploration, rather than the slender thread of story, that will sell this book to young readers. --Eleanor K. MacDonald, Beverly Hills Public Library
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Lavishly detailed folk-art paintings by O'Kelley ( From the Hills of Georgia ; Circus ) are at the heart of this fetching tale about a family that moves from the country to a bustling city one summer in the early 1900s. Here the young narrator and her brother experience some exciting firsts: a visit to the zoo, a meal in a restaurant and a movie in a theater. Then, as the first snow begins to fall, the family members do something even more special--they return to the country, where they gather with friends around an enormous Christmas tree. The 83-year-old O'Kelley, whose art often draws on her upbringing on a Georgia farm, is as successful depicting the vibrant color and constant stir of the city as she is the tranquility of the countryside. At once primitive and sophisticated, her busy, captivating paintings call to mind the celebrated art of Grandma Moses. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In her fourth picture book, an acclaimed Georgia folk artist (b. 1908) depicts a family moving in springtime from an old- fashioned farm, via horse and wagon, to a modern-looking city with features from at least the 30's to the 60's; they enjoy new experiences--zoo, ``underground city'' (Atlanta?), eating out, a movie, a big new school--but are delighted when Papa decides to move home again in time for a snowy Christmas. The rather surreal story may not hold attention on its own, but it serves to caption the intriguing paintings with their many idiosyncratic details, jewel-like colors, and innovative use of space. (Picture book. 4- 8) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Joy st Books
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0316638056
• ISBN 13: 9780316638050
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 30