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Summary
Summary
Opposite the simple declarative sentence, "Walter was worried" is a portrait of a very worried Walter. But wait! The letters that spell out his feelings form his facial characteristics, as well as his expression. Gradually a simple story unfolds: the sky grows dark, the fog rolls in, lightning lights the sky, and thunder shakes the trees; Priscilla was puzzled, Shirley was shocked, Frederick was frightened... and eventually (when the sun came out) Henry was hopeful, and Elliot ecstatic.
Author Notes
Laura Vaccaro Seeger is a New York Times best-selling author and illustrator. Laura is also a 2-time Caldecott Honor Award winner as well as a winner of the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award, the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for Best Picture Book, and a 2-time winner of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award. She is also the recipient of the Empire State Award for Body of Work and Contribution to Children's Literature.
Laura's paintings have been exhibited in many museums and galleries including the Art Institute of Chicago and the New York Public Library.
Laura earned her BFA degree at the School of Fine Art and Design at the State University of New York at Purchase. She moved to Manhattan to begin a career as an animator, artist, designer, and editor in the network television business. She created show openings and special segments for NBC and ABC for many years and won an Emmy Award for an NBC Special opening animation.
Laura is the author of the Dog and Bear Series, First the Egg, Green, I Had a Rooster, Lemons are Not Red, One Boy, The Hidden Alphabet, Walter was Worried, and What If?
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Seeger, who played with letterforms in The Hidden Alphabet, gives new meaning to the word "typeface" here. In this diverting book, oversize adjectives describe children's reactions to changing weather, and the letters in each word reappear in close-up portraits. "Walter was worried when... the sky grew dark," and a spiky W shape on Walter's cheek implies his anxiety. Observant readers soon notice that Walter's eyes are a lowercase O and E, printed in green, and his eyebrows are black lowercase Rs, tipped sideways; his nose is a long straight I, and his frown is a red capital D, turned flat side down. The storm gets worse ("Frederick was frightened when... thunder shook the trees"), but "Delilah was delighted when... the rain turned to snow." Seeger spells out eight key words in multicolored, variable type, then paints corresponding pictures with the tilting or upside-down shapes as facial features; abstract illustrations of flashing lightning and blowing leaves serve as a buffer between each descriptive portrait. The children's names match the alliterative adjectives ("Ursula was upset.... Henry was hopeful"), and readers toy with letter recognition and spelling as they search the faces. The design formula is uncomplicated, but typesetters will be tickled and printers pleased by Seeger's emotive imagery. Ages 3-7. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Primary) What looks like a simple concept book in fact introduces several ideas simultaneously. ""Walter was worried when..."" shows a very worried-looking Walter whose facial features are made up entirely of letters -- the letters that make up the word worried. Next we meet a puzzled Priscilla, a shocked Shirley, and five others. Each letter/picture/emotion/alliteration double-page spread alternates with a spread showing weather -- Walter is worried about the darkening sky, Shirley is shocked by lightning (no, not literally). Seeger's quick, childlike style makes this feat of multitasking look easy and inviting. In the end, the storm passes, and we see why the children were dismayed by the dramatic weather: they wanted to go outside to fly a kite. The final endpapers show all eight children lined up in the order they were introduced, marching behind Walter and his kite. As with her other books (The Hidden Alphabet; Lemons Are Not Red), Seeger demonstrates a graphic concept that children -- and teachers -- may want to try for themselves. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Seeger combines word art and simple text to tell the story of children's reactions to a storm. As it progresses from dark clouds to thunder to rain to snow and, finally, to sun, a different individual is introduced. The youngsters' emotions are literally spelled out on their faces (Walter was worried; Priscilla was puzzled; Shirley was shocked) as the letters of the alliterative adjectives are used to portray their features. For example, E's are put on their backs to become eyebrows; a C and a D are turned upside down to become eyes, and an L becomes a nose. The choice of names and adjectives is equally wide ranging and inventive, combining Ursula and Elliot with upset and ecstatic. The artwork uses bold colors with wide brush marks as backdrops and primary colors with almost graphic shapes to represent rain, snow flakes, leaves, and branches. With only one sentence per page, there is surprising depth in this wonderful collaboration of art and story.-Jane Marino, Bronxville Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Moods can change as quickly as the weather, and this innovative concept book cleverly illustrates the range and volatility of both. Walter, for example, was worried when the sky grew dark. The first spread reveals a full-page painting of Walter's concerned-looking face, where his very features are composed of letters that spell "worried"; the red D is his mouth, the green "o" and "e" are his eyes, etc. The next spread shows what worries Walter: a dramatic, charcoal-colored sky, contrasted by a red kite. In the second sequence, "Priscilla was puzzled when . . . " (note alliteration and turn the page) "the fog rolled in." In a lovely, muted painting, fog drifts through a forest, softening colors, including that of the reappearing red kite. By the end, the storm has passed, and the whole crew of eight traipses about under sunny skies with the red kite. Opportunities for read-aloud interaction abound here; children may enjoy spelling out the face-words or discussing how they feel in different climatic scenarios, from puzzling fog to shocking lightning to frightening thunder. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
