Review (PDF) Blackout
One hot summer night in the city, all the power goes out. The TV shuts off and a boy wails, "Mommm!" His sister can no longer use the phone, Mom can't work on her computer, and Dad can't finish cooking dinner. What's a family to do? When they go up to the roof to escape the heat, they find the lights--in stars that can be seen for a change--and so many neighbors it's like a block party in the sky! On the street below, people are having just as much fun--talking, rollerblading, and eating ice cream before it melts. The boy and his family enjoy being not so busy for once. They even have time to play a board game together. When the electricity is restored, everything can go back to normal . . . but not everyone likes normal. The boy switches off the lights, and out comes the board game again. Using a combination of panels and full bleed illustrations that move from color to black-and-white and back to color, John Rocco shows that if we are willing to put our cares aside for a while, there is party potential in a summer blackout.
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion; First Edition edition (May 24, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1423121902
ISBN-13: 978-1423121909
Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 0.4 x 11.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #33,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #6 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Regional & Cultural > Australia & Oceania #271 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Technothrillers #682 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works
Age Range: 4 - 8 years
Grade Level: Preschool - Kindergarten
An urban, multi-cultural family spends a hot summer night glued to the tv set, computer... until the power goes out. The book is in somewhat of a comic book format, with large panels and a few speech balloons. There's a generous use of cross-hatching, and what looks like digitally-added color. I loved the hidden little details, such as Thomas Edison's portrait looking disapprovingly on as the protagonist initially settles in for a night of video games.Once the lights are out, the book switches to a subdued palette of mostly blue. Forced to hang out together, the family tries playing with a flashlight making shadow puppets on the wall, until they decide to go up to the roof and watch the stars. Then they head down to the street where's there's a block party atmosphere. An ice cream vendor is giving away ice cream (before it melts, I assume) and kids play by a splashing fire hydrant.When power is finally restored, "everything went back to normal... but not everyone likes normal," and here we see the family purposely turning off the lights, and playing a board game together. This book would make a great bedtime story, and hopefully will inspire people to try out a night off-the-grid.
I ordered this for my school library. It is a Caldecott Honor Award winner for 2012. Most winners of late have been wordless books. I like this one, because it has words that areimportant in our technological age. A little girl wants her family to play a board game with her, but everyone is too busy with phones, computers or house chores. There is a blackoutin the city and, because it is a hot summer night, they head to the roof, where other people are enjoying the beautiful night. The go to the street, and people are enjoying each otherand music, etc. Then the lights are restored. Everyone goes back to the way things were, except the little girl. You'll love the ending. My students really enjoyed the story andthe beautiful illustrations.
The brownstone buildings were brightly lit and the streets were humming with noise. The garbage truck roared as it drove down the street and the taxi cap beeped in return. Inside one brownstone everyone in the family was busy doing their own thing. Big sister was gabbing on her cell phone, Mom was tap tap tapping away on her keyboard, and Dad was cooking. Little bro reached up on a shelf to bring down a board game. It took two players and maybe someone would play."Get OUT!" Big sister wasn't about to play and neither were Mom and Dad because everyone was "much too busy." He ambled back upstairs to play a video game when all of a sudden ... "the lights went out." His eyes grew wide and he began to yell, "MOM!" It was really scary because nothing worked, even his big sister's cell phone. Mom rounded up the family and they peered out over the darkness of the city. They gathered around the table as Dad made a shadow puppet against the wall. Of course, big sister was totally bored. When would the power come back on and in the meantime, what would they do without it?This is the delightful story of how a family came together during a summer blackout. Little brother, who has nothing to do before the blackout, suddenly finds that his fear of the darkness turns into a fun adventure. The streets and building tops come alive in Brooklyn when the lights go out and everyone finds that life does go on without technology. The artwork is bold and moves from panels to full page, unframed illustration after the blackout. One of my favorite pages is when everyone discovers the stars in the sky have appeared when the lights go out. Everyone will discover in this book that not being busy is sometimes more fun than being "much too busy."
This is a wonderful book about a family disconnected from one another that come together in the midst of a blackout. I have read this book to my three year old son dozens of times and every night he still asks for it. It was an excellent buy and the illustrations are incredible. I highly recommend this book.
Beautiful message, with more beautiful pictures. One thing I haven't seen many reviewers touch on is the fact that the main family appears to be multicultural- something many children can relate to in real life, but probably can't find much of in children's books. In a street scene there are two men walking together who could be friends, or could be something more. I just love how inclusive this book feels, without being in your face about it. Very beautiful illustrations, with a great message about connecting (reconnecting) with one another. I love it.
Barely any text. I was really disappointed as I had hoped for an actual story. The same author wrote "Blizzard" and did a wonderful job. This just seemed like a cop-out from having to actually write a story.
I ordered this book for my class of N.Y.C. preschoolers. There are so few children's books set in an urban environment, despite the many children who live in cities across the U.S.A. For the sight of the Brooklyn Bridge alone, I give this five stars!Addendum: I just read this book to my class and they were thoroughly engaged. The illustrations are amazing and the accompanying text is easy to bring to life.
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