Somewhere A Bell Is Ringing

by Sicker Than Most, Sicker Than Most (Illustrator)

Overview

With its attention-grabbing, hand-painted paper collages and rhyming couplets, Barbara Nye’s bedtime story asks readers to see themselves as part of the global ecosystem and urges us to remember that we’re all connected on our one-and-only planet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780998799926
Publisher:	Penny Candy Books
Publication date:	01/30/2018
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Originally from Cyclone, Texas, Barbara has been influenced in her artwork by her travels in many countries and her experiences living in South America and Canada. She has a degree in Spanish and Latin American studies and is fluent in Spanish. Barbara has lived in Australia for over 25 years, has been an Australian citizen since 1992, and raised her three children there.

Barbara works from original drawings, creating her colorful pictures by cutting thousands of pieces of hand-painted paper of various weights and types. The papers all start out white, and she dips, stamps, prints, and glazes with acrylic paints to achieve interesting patterns. She then cuts the papers to the shapes in her original drawings. Barbara worked this process out over many years of experimentation.

Editorial Reviews

10/09/2017
Nye pairs a rhyming poem with scenes that shift among urban and rural communities around the world. “Somewhere a bell is ringing in a busy marketplace/ where a lady in a yellow dress buys lettuces and lace,” she begins, as villagers gather to purchase vegetables in front of a stone church. None of the locations is explicitly identified, but visual clues may help readers make some educated guesses (in this case, a boy’s knit cap and the snow-capped peaks in the distance suggest an Andean village). Nye constructs her images by piecing together shapes cut from hand-painted papers with a variety of textures and patterns; the finished effect is akin to the look of stained glass. Most scenes focus on human activity (a family taking shelter from a thunderstorm in a thatched-roof hut, city dwellers listening to a street musician), and a few highlight animal life (“Somewhere the aurora weaves its colors through the sky/ while penguins on the frozen shore keep round eggs warm and dry”). The attention to detail in both text and art is evident, and the message of global interconnectedness comes through. Ages 4–up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

12/01/2017
PreS-Gr 2—In this rhyming book, young children are taken on a journey around the world through different countries and distinct geographic regions including deserts and oceans. "Somewhere a bell is ringing/in a busy marketplace/where a lady in a yellow dress/buys lettuces and lace." Nye's lovely mixed-media artwork includes hand-painted paper cut into vivid collages to create wonderful, layered effects. Young readers will enjoy the vibrantly flowing narrative, which takes them to new places filled with peoples and animals, and may feel particular delight if they find themselves represented among the pages. VERDICT The positive message of global connectedness is warmly articulated and children will enjoy decoding the text with the charming illustrations. An engaging addition.—Maria Alegre, The Dalton School, New York

School Library Journal