The Hero of Little Street http://www.fishpond.com/Books/Hero-of-Little-Street-Gregory-Rogers/9781741145243

Boy Bear

By Gregory Rogers

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About the Author

Illustrator Gregory Rogers was born in 1957 and lives in Brisbane, Australia. He has had several solo exhibitions and is one of Australia's finest children's book illustrators. In 1995 he was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal for Book Illustration for Way Home by Libby Hathorn. Gregory is a musician and a keen collector of CDs, antiques, books and anything that attracts dust.

Reviews

Gregory Rogers' extraordinary THE HERO OF LITTLE STREET is a wordless picture book teeming with the sort of action that cries out for repeated viewings. A small boy, escaping from a gang of bullies, first slips into London's National Gallery and then takes refuge in a Vermeer painting of 17th century Holland. Many adventures later, he comes back to reality, now accompanied by a fierce band of dogs to see off any opposition. This feast of a book has to be seen to be believed. Independent on Sunday Rogers's third wordless book features the young hero from The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, the Bard (Roaring Brook, 2004). His first escapade occurs in modern-day London near the National Gallery. It involves a soccer ball, a fountain, and a flight from bullies. Fans of the previous titles will recognize familiar characters cleverly incorporated into the art when the protagonist seeks refuge inside the museum. Befriended by the dog in Van Eyck's Arnolfini Wedding Portrait, the youngster follows him into Vermeer's A Lady Seated at a Virginal. After enjoying a musical interlude and a gift that later proves useful back in the real world, the twosome exit into Vermeer's The Little Street, ultimately encountering a canine-caging butcher in 17th-century Holland. Rogers's visual narrative is both an aesthetic treat and masterful storytelling. Small panels with minimal detail, often on white, focus the eye on motivations, causes, and sequential action. Larger frames, full-page bleeds, and a single, glorious spread generally show consequences-a slowing of activity, allowing viewers to take in the Old World charm of the majestic halls, paintings, and Delft cityscapes-all rendered in watercolor and ink and shown from varying perspectives. The scenes are frequently humorous, as when all of the rescued dogs crowd around the virginal. This rare combination of action-packed fun and fine art yields new discoveries with each reading and is sure to create fond memories for future students of Art 101.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-Rogers's third wordless book features the young hero from The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, the Bard (Roaring Brook, 2004). His first escapade occurs in modern-day London near the National Gallery. It involves a soccer ball, a fountain, and a flight from bullies. Fans of the previous titles will recognize familiar characters cleverly incorporated into the art when the protagonist seeks refuge inside the museum. Befriended by the dog in Van Eyck's Arnolfini Wedding Portrait, the youngster follows him into Vermeer's A Lady Seated at a Virginal. After enjoying a musical interlude and a gift that later proves useful back in the real world, the twosome exit into Vermeer's The Little Street, ultimately encountering a canine-caging butcher in 17th-century Holland. Rogers's visual narrative is both an aesthetic treat and masterful storytelling. Small panels with minimal detail, often on white, focus the eye on motivations, causes, and sequential action. Larger frames, full-page bleeds, and a single, glorious spread generally show consequences-a slowing of activity, allowing viewers to take in the Old World charm of the majestic halls, paintings, and Delft cityscapes-all rendered in watercolor and ink and shown from varying perspectives. The scenes are frequently humorous, as when all of the rescued dogs crowd around the virginal. This rare combination of action-packed fun and fine art yields new discoveries with each reading and is sure to create fond memories for future students of Art 101.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In Rogers's wordless comic The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, the Bard (2004), a soccer-loving boy time-travels to Elizabethan London and outmaneuvers a grumpy Shakespeare. Now, the same child gets on the wrong side of three bullies and takes shelter in an art museum. Readers of the previous book know the game is afoot when the boy wanders past framed portraits of the Bear and the Bard. When the brown lapdog from Van Eyck's Arnolfini portrait hops down to join the boy, a "Dutch Masters" theme emerges. The boy and dog clamber into another painting-Vermeer's "A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal"-and after the lady plays them a tune, they all step outside into 17th-century Delft. Connoisseurs will recognize the red-brick building facade from Vermeer's "The Little Street," which gives Rogers his sly title. The romp continues through the streets of Holland, culminating in doggy misbehavior and a nutty farce. The playful visual allusions are sidelined in favor of the slapstick chase, yet Rogers deftly (and Delftly) combines rapid-fire hilarity with art appreciation. Ages 3-8. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.