Gwendoline Christie is positively spellbinding as the first-person narrator of this dreamlike story of love and grief, which is experienced like a vision through a kaleidoscope—in randomly assembled bits and pieces tinged with color. Original music for each loosely connected story sets a distinct mood and includes string music, piano, discordant orchestral arrangements, muffled voices, wordless singing. The effect is mesmerizing. The listener never learns the identity of the narrator (or narrators); however, each story features undying love for a boy named James. Christie creates a voice for James that is young, plain, kind, and sure—in stark contrast to the narrator’s voice—older, ethereal, questioning. Brian Selznick reads an enlightening note and interview. KALEIDOSCOPE is utterly unique. L.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2021 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

08/16/2021

In a sophisticated, iterative work of connection through time, space, and embodiment, Selznick (The Marvels) layers prose and graphite art to craft a series of stories whose components fragment and repeat. Throughout, biblical and mythological elements—apples and keys, gardens and ships, angels and giants—circle and resolve through text and image. In the book’s initial chapter, “A Trip to the Moon,” the 13-year-old narrator sails “with my friend James past the pillars of Hercules” and into a storm that washes them up on the moon; following 500 years of battle, James is crowned king, and the narrator returns to Earth alone. Subsequent narratives told across the book’s three sections—“morning,” “afternoon,” and “evening”—touch on the presumed-white characters’ relationship via further adventures and frequent rendings that lend a lonely, elegiac feel to the loss-centered text. Delicate pencil interstitials that resemble a kaleidoscope’s mirrored fractals connect the end of each chapter to a lush image at the beginning of the next, creating deliberate beats. Turn by turn, the book offers affecting moments of discovery and loss—like the solitary experience of peering through a kaleidoscope and watching it fracture and change. Ages 10–up. (Sept.)

Praise for Kaleidoscope:

"Kaleidoscope, Brian Selznick's brilliant new book, is a collection of magical, weird and mysterious stories... Each tale is accompanied by art, which, as we've come to expect from Selznick, is stunning... While each tale seems like a sliver of a larger story we'll never learn, we get the impression that we're hearing the best part. There are no answers in this gorgeous book. There are just two of us — Selznick and the reader — lying side by side in the belly of a sphinx. Not trying to answer a riddle. Just appreciating being in the middle of one." — Adam Gidwitz, The New York Times Book Review

Praise for Baby Monkey, Private Eye:

A New York Times Bestselling Book

An Amazon Best Book of the Year

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

Parents Magazine Best Early Reader of the Year

A BookPage Best Book of the Year

A News & Observer Best Book of the Year

"A marvel." — The New York Times

"Inventive... fabulously expressive..." — San Francisco Chronicle

"...exceedingly cute..." — The Wall Street Journal

"Silly, endearing, and adventurous..." — The Washington Post

"Another boundary-buster." — San Diego Union Tribute

"Exquisite... [a] one-of-a-kind beginning reader..." — Bookpage

"Genre-defying entertainment... stupendous..." — The Buffalo News

* "Irresistible." — Booklist, starred review

* "[An] endearingly funny graphic novel/picture book/early reader." — Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "Selznick and Serlin take the easy reader format to new creative heights....The sharp pacing and charming humor also make it an excellent read-aloud choice....as funny as it is elegant. This will be enjoyed equally by youngsters and their grown-ups." — School Library Journal, starred review

* "Kids will forget they are learning to read, focusing instead on the comic bits, persistence, and vulnerability of an endearing hero." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "New readers will delight in the details... and the spot-on slapstick pacing of the putting-on-pants sequences will have viewers giggling for days." — The Horn Book, starred review

* "Repetition of words brings this within reach of timid readers, while the absurdity expands the appeal... It's the detailed full spreads, however, that stop the show and cinematically change the pace, especially the ones set in Baby Monkey's atmospheric office... The book is therefore a delight for reading together or alone, and the weight of the volume will provide considerable satisfaction to novice readers..." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

"A good choice for all libraries and classrooms as a confidence booster for beginning readers." — School Library Connection, recommended

Praise for The Invention of Hugo Cabret:

2008 Caldecott Medal winner

National Book Award Finalist

#1 New York Times Bestseller

New York Times Best Illustrated Book

Los Angeles Times Favorite Children's Book of the Year

TIME Magazine's 100 Best Children's and Young Adult Books of All Time

"Evokes wonder… like a silent film on paper." — The New York Times

"A fast-paced treat." — People Magazine

"Distinctive." — The Wall Street Journal

"Cinematic." — Parenting Magazine

"Captivating." — Los Angeles Times Book Review

* "A true masterpiece."— Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "Fade to black and cue the applause!" — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "Complete genius." — The Horn Book, starred review

* "Breathtaking… shatters conventions." — School Library Journal, starred review

* "An original and creative integration of art and text." — The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

"Visually stunning… raises the bar." — San Antonio Express-News

Praise for Wonderstruck:

#1 New York Times Bestseller

New York Times Notable Children's Book

ALA Notable Children's Book

Parents' Choice Gold Winner

Publishers Weekly Best Book

"Engrossing, intelligent, beautifully engineered and expertly told in word and image." — The New York Times Book Review

"Moving and ingenious… " — The Wall Street Journal

"Brian Selznick proves to be that rare creator capable of following one masterpiece — The Invention of Hugo Cabret — with another even more brilliantly executed." — The Washington Post

"Another entrancing, exquisitely illustrated novel… Older kids and adults alike will be mesmerized by the interlocking stories. A verbal and visual marvel." — Family Circle

* "A gift for the eye, mind, and heart." — Booklist, starred review

* "Visually stunning, completely compelling." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "Innovative… has the makings of a classic." — Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "A thing of wonder to behold… an emotional experience that neither the words nor the illustrations could achieve on their own." — School Library Journal, starred review

Praise for The Marvels:

New York Times Bestseller

New York Times Notable Children's Book

An Indie Bound #1 National Bestseller

Guardian Children's Book Prize Finalist

Publishers Weekly Best Book

* "Selznick continues his quest to shake up notions of illustrated novels, wordless storytelling, and the intersection of text and pictures in this newest volume… The novel as a whole is exactly the sort of theater that is so lovingly described within." — The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

* "Caldecott Medalist Selznick has been creating acclaimed illustrated novels for years now, and his latest takes his groundbreaking narrative format to new heights… [this] warm, affecting family tale is bittersweet, astonishing, and truly marvelous." — Booklist, starred review

* "… epic theater celebrating mysteries of the heart and spirit." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "[A] powerful story about creating lasting art and finding family in unexpected places." — Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "Memorable, momentous." — School Library Journal, starred review

★ 11/01/2021

Gr 6 Up—Author and artist Selznick delivers big in his ambitious new short story collection. While the page count may be slight in comparison to some of his best-known titles (including The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wonder), this is by far his most complex work to date. Divided into thirds—Morning, Afternoon, Evening—this book explores the relationship of an unnamed narrator and their companion, James (both characters adhere to the white default). The stories' connections come into sharper focus as the reader moves from Morning to Evening, though a great deal is left entirely open to interpretation. Key themes include friendship, love, grief, dreams, reality, and god—heavy fare for readers both young and old. The stories cover myriad genres, but even as the characters shift and change, "I" and "James" are constants (of a sort). Each story is prefaced by two illustrations: a representational image and a kaleidoscopic abstraction. Selznick has rendered the powerful illustrations in his signature black and white, with rich tonal work and keen details; the book's cover is stunningly executed in colored pencil. VERDICT This title is unique in its appeal and would be a valuable addition to middle grade, young adult, and adult/general interest collections alike.—Taylor Worley, Springfield P.L., OR

Gwendoline Christie is positively spellbinding as the first-person narrator of this dreamlike story of love and grief, which is experienced like a vision through a kaleidoscope—in randomly assembled bits and pieces tinged with color. Original music for each loosely connected story sets a distinct mood and includes string music, piano, discordant orchestral arrangements, muffled voices, wordless singing. The effect is mesmerizing. The listener never learns the identity of the narrator (or narrators); however, each story features undying love for a boy named James. Christie creates a voice for James that is young, plain, kind, and sure—in stark contrast to the narrator’s voice—older, ethereal, questioning. Brian Selznick reads an enlightening note and interview. KALEIDOSCOPE is utterly unique. L.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2021 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

★ 2021-07-27
In his most complex work to date, Selznick examines the unique realities surrounding love and death.

Seeking knowledge of the world on his 13th birthday, the unnamed narrator sets sail with his friend James (both are assumed White). A storm carries them to the Moon, where James brilliantly defends the night and sleep in a battle with the Sun, because “without dreams, everything dies.” He is crowned king, and the protagonist wonders how he will live without him back on Earth. Twenty-three more chapters reveal dreamlike (nonlinear, often phantasmagorical) fragments of the boys’ relationship, before and after separation/death. Each is introduced by an exquisite, graphite illustration that is preceded by a symmetrical, kaleidoscopic version of the scene: These provide foreshadowing, focus, and an aura of spiritual mystery. Settings involving shattered glass or mysterious forest lights like “the entire world had turned into jewels” further the titular provocation. While the deftly constructed chapters could stand alone, the author plants images—biblical, mythological, scientific, Sendak-ian, and even David Bowie–esque—that shift and reappear: The last view of the apple, served by a dragon, leads the protagonist to ponder a (post-Edenic) life with answers but without wonder. Labyrinths, angels, clocks, butterflies, and clasped hands resurface, prompting contemplation of fear, solace, the fluidity of time, the thrill of connection. How do you find/feel love after death? How do you live with grief?

While Selznick trusts readers to draw their own conclusions about what is true, he offers rich companionship on the voyage. (author's note) (Fiction. 11-adult)