Martha & Me [Hardcover]

Martha, a redheaded child who loves to draw, paints a lion. It leaps off the paper, asks for lunch, and explores its surroundings& Nina Wehrle and Evelyne Laube, the Swiss illustration duo behind this story, draw reality and fantasy in competing styles. The real objects appear in clinically precise black-and-white line drawings, while the lion is rendered in a loose, inky wash with red, yellow, and blue accents. Clashes between the two worlds animate many of the spreads. Did Martha create the lion or merely issue an invitation to a creature that already existed? Either way, its energy personifies the creative impulse, wild and ungovernable.Engaging& Vintage appeal comes across in the limited palette of primary and secondary colors contrasted with black-and-white line drawings. The lilting rhyming text is read-aloud friendly for preschoolers, while early elementary school children who dream of bringing their fantasy worlds to life with a brush or pencil will also enjoy the story. Fans of Danny and the Dinosaur will appreciate this fanciful friendship tale that is likely to prompt a read it again response from young children.A beautifully illustrated story that celebrates the joys of artistic creation and the power of imagination