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sanalithThis isn't really a review per say, as it's a kid's book, but I wanted to put it down anyway. I read Chris Van Allsburg's Jumanji about a week ago, which is something I've wanted to do ever since the movie came out (how ever many years ago *that* was). See, I'm a total purist when it comes to movies based on books, wherein I will absolutely NOT watch the movie until I have read the book. The only exception I consciously made was for Lord of the Rings, mainly because I've now tried I think four times to get through Fellowship, and while I get a little further each time, I come nowhere near the end. Or even the middle. Tolkein is just not my friend.
I digress.
Anyway, I can now watch Jumanji with a clear conscious, but what I really wanted to point out here was the style of pictures in the book. For those of you who've read it, did you notice that no human faces are shown in the book except those of the two main children? The parents are cut off at the neck, and all other characters are shown from behind, or from a distance too far to make out any features. I found this so charming, as though it's a way for the illustrator to reinforce that the only characters that matter are those two children. I might even take it one step further to say that perhaps it meant that they were the only two *real* characters in the book, and that everyone else was imaginary or didn't belong in their world. (I can say this about the adults, because they would never believe the story of the game, and adults just generally are seen as apart from a child's imaginary world.)
For some reason, I just found this really, really interesting.
I digress.
Anyway, I can now watch Jumanji with a clear conscious, but what I really wanted to point out here was the style of pictures in the book. For those of you who've read it, did you notice that no human faces are shown in the book except those of the two main children? The parents are cut off at the neck, and all other characters are shown from behind, or from a distance too far to make out any features. I found this so charming, as though it's a way for the illustrator to reinforce that the only characters that matter are those two children. I might even take it one step further to say that perhaps it meant that they were the only two *real* characters in the book, and that everyone else was imaginary or didn't belong in their world. (I can say this about the adults, because they would never believe the story of the game, and adults just generally are seen as apart from a child's imaginary world.)
For some reason, I just found this really, really interesting.