Look! What Do You See?: An Art Puzzle Book of American and Chinese Songs - Hardcover

Xu, Bing

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0451473779 ISBN 13: 9780451473776

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers, 2017

Synopsis

A puzzle, a work of art, and a collection of classic American songs, all in an innovative book by one of the world's foremost contemporary artists.

Every page of this book is filled with secret code. It seems like Chinese calligraphy, but it’s not. It seems like you can’t read it, but you can. Once the pieces of the puzzle start falling into place, you will understand it all. And some of it may even strike you as strangely familiar . . . 

Twelve traditional American songs, such as "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and "Yankee Doodle," as well as five classic songs from Chinese culture, are written here in artist Xu Bing's unique "square word calligraphy," which uses one-block words made of English letters. From a distance, these pieces are beautiful but unintelligible art. Up close, they are a mystery just waiting to be solved—like the fine art version of "Magic Eye."

For readers ages 7 and up, Look! What Do You See? is perfect for long car rides or coded notes to friends. Incredibly intricate and visually engaging, this is a book that children and adults will return to again and again.

About this title

About the Author

Xu Bing is one of the world’s foremost contemporary artists. Born in China, he lived in the U.S. for eighteen years and now resides in Beijing. He was the vice president of China’s Central Academy of Fine Arts and has received an Honorary Degree of Humane Letters by Columbia University, a MacArthur “Genius” Award, and many other international awards. Some of his best-known works include the Phoenix Project and Book from the Sky. He is frequently in the United States and has a studio and permanent residency in Brooklyn.
 
Becca Stadtlander is a freelance illustrator and fine artist, inspired by the beauty of everyday objects, the comforts of home, and the lush colors and landscapes of far-off places. She attended the Maryland Institute College of Art (BFA 2010) and currently lives and works in her hometown of Covington, Kentucky. Her work is featured on stationery, home decor products, editorial publications, and young adult and children’s books.

From School Library Journal

Gr 3–6—In 1994, Bing invented Square Word Calligraphy, a "secret code" that looks a lot like Chinese calligraphy. This volume presents the lyrics to 17 songs in that code, accompanied by Stadtlander's beautiful watercolor illustrations. The first dozen are common U.S. folk songs (including "Camptown Ladies," "Yankee Doodle Came to Town," and "Skip to My Lou") and the final five are common Chinese folk songs (including "Tiger Learns to Climb" and "The Snail and the Yellow Birds"). Readers are encouraged to look closely to decipher the text. Starting with the songs they know, students can then crack the ingenious code to read the lyrics to the songs they don't. The back matter contains instructions on writing Square Word Calligraphy as well as all the lyrics to the songs, in case there was a word readers were unable to decipher. While the method of guessing the song based on the picture and then working backward to crack the code is a fun twist, it also makes the book harder to categorize in a library collection, and students may skip over it. The visual look of the code (which is in English, written with stylized letters arranged in a square in a manner that visually borrows heavily from traditional Chinese calligraphy) is significantly different enough from most other English-based codes that cypher fans should be very intrigued and eager to try it for themselves. VERDICT A fun coded puzzle for readers to spend time analyzing, but it may need some handselling for kids to pick up.—Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington County Public Libraries, VA

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0451473779
• ISBN 13: 9780451473776
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 48
• Illustrator: Stadtlander Becca