Coppernickel Goes Mondrian (Coopernickel ; Artist Bribute Series 1st, 2) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1592701191 ISBN 13: 9781592701193

Publisher: Enchanted Lion, 2012

Synopsis

Winner of the Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava Golden Apple 2011, Coppernickel Goes Mondrian is a graphically sophisticated march into modernity.

Mr. Quickstep, accompanied by his dog Foxtrot, is looking for the future. On the way, they meet up with Coppernickel and his dog Tungsten. Coppernickel says there's no need to look for the future, as it will arrive anyway. Mr. Quickstep disagrees, for the future he's after hasn't even been thought of yet. Left behind, Coppernickel worries that he will miss out if he doesn't follow Mr. Quickstep, so he sets off with Tungsten. Naturally, Coppernickel and Mr. Quickstep bump into each other again, which allows Mr.Quickstep to fling open the door to the future by showing Coppernickel his last, most modern work. What stands out here is how Mr. Quickstep's attempt to find an abstract essence in the very stuff of reality is woven right into the illustrations of this graphically distinguished work, giving children the sense that the future is theirs to create as they see it. Dreams can become reality and in the process we too will be transformed.

About this title

About the Author

Wouter van Reek went to art school, which was way too easy, so he changed to mathematics, but that was way too hard, so he changed back to art. After art school, he created an animated cartoon series for TV, introducing Keepvogel (Coppernickel in English) and Tungsten, a super bird plus dog team. So far Wouter has created about six books based on these characters.

Reviews

Relegating specific biographical details to the afterword, van Reek pays tribute to the spirit of painter Piet Mondrian by focusing on his quest to catch up with the future. The tale features two anthropomorphic birds with small canine sidekicks. Energized by a brief encounter with aptly named, smock-clad Mr. Quickstep (standing in for Mondrian), Coppernickel (introduced in Coppernickel: The Invention, 2008) and four-legged Tungsten follow behind—first through increasingly abstract landscapes in which tree branches transform in stages into knots of faux Asian-style script and then through a jazz-age city whose busy, geometric subways and skyscrapers presage the flashy abstractions of the artist’s mature work. Quickstep’s own dog, Foxtrot, makes the final historical connection by spinning a platter of boogie-woogie that sprays from the record player in a cloud of square and rectangular chips of color and impels Quickstep (himself suddenly transformed into cubist blocks) to crow: “This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! This is what the future looks like!” Some sophisticated themes and concepts, conveyed in text and pictures simple enough to draw fledgling readers. Grades 4-6. --John Peters

Edition details

• Publisher: Enchanted Lion
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1592701191
• ISBN 13: 9781592701193
• Binding: Board book
• Number of pages: 40