Dogography: Children’s Review

June 9, 2020June 9, 2020 / Absidity Art / Leave a comment

Dogography by Maree Coote
Genre: Children’s, Art, Non-Fiction
Publication: June 1, 2020
Publisher: (Imprint) Melbournestyle Books
Distributor: Walker Australia-HEDS
Source: Review copy from publisher – Thank You
Rating: ✵✵✵✵✵

Every part of me’s a letter Does that help you see me better? Look very closely, Can you see the hidden letters that spell me?

How do you spell DOG? In this brand new collection of typographic doggy delights this award winning illustrator show you a whole new way to spell your best friend. Each picture is created using only the letters that spell each dog’s name, and is partnered with a brief, amusing verse. The exact fonts used are provided in a key on each page to help readers find all the letter shapes and that spell each dog. Includes Teachers’ Notes.

There isn’t much I can say about this book, being that it is more of an activity book than a storybook. But it’s pages are filled with rhyming text and adorable and cleaver artwork. My boys and I found this book to be a cute and fun treat.

Ethan (3), Riley (6, almost 7) and I had great fun ‘reading’ Dogography together. I read the small text on each page to the boys, then had then find all the different letters that make up the names of the different breeds within the art.

Once we had finished ‘reading’ the book and I asked them if they liked it, they were both all big smiles and nodding heads and of course, Ethan let out his excited AGAIN cry.

This book is well worth the purchase for your kids or grandkids and makes for a fantastic activity to do together. It would even make a cute coffee table book for kid-free dog lovers. All in all, Dogography is a five-star book, that I highly recommend.

Dogography by Maree Coote – A fantastic book for parents and grandparents looking for an interactive read, or dog lovers after a cute coffee table book.

View on: Walker’s Website | Goodreads | Booktopia | Book Depository

Thanks for visiting sarahfairbairn.com 🙂

Until next time, enjoy your shelves 🙂

LOVE The Fox by Brremaud and Bertolucci

October 14, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / 3 Comments

LOVE volume 2: THE FOX by Frederic Brremaud and Federico Bertolucci

Pub date: 10th November 2015 by Magnetic Press and Diamond Book Distributors

Thank you, Brremaud, Bertolucci and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Visually lavish and unforgettable.” – Kirkus Second in the celebrated series of wildlife image (2) graphic novels, author Frederic Brremaud and illustrator Federico Bertolucci turn their lens on a northeastern woodland setting to follow a single fox through its daily journey through the trees and along the seafront. Only this is not just another day — a spectacular volcanic eruption throws the area into chaos, sending creatures of all kinds scurrying for safety. But the intrepid little fox surprising decides to run into the danger instead of away! What could send this tiny hunter towards the danger? This all-ages title will appeal to children and adults for its breathtaking illustration and gripping adventure drama.

Wow! Simply stunning. I was mesmerised watching this little fox as seemly the world was ending around it.

A volcano is irrupting and all the animals are going berserk. Most of the animals are trying to escape the volcano, while some use the fleeing herds to their advantage for an easy meal. The little fox is all the time battling its way towards the volcano. And I was thinking, what is he doing? Well the little fox I assumed was male, is female and she was on a mission to save her pup, awwww. Of course she manages to save her pup and it’s beautiful.

Not one word of text is used to tell the story. But the detailed and dramatic illustrations over the eighty pages tells us the story perfectly. Five Stars. I NEED to get myself a hardback copy of this. Go mummy fox go!

Amazon | Website | Facebook | Goodreads

Night Owls by Jenn Bennett

August 30, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / Leave a comment

By Jenn Bennett – Night Owls (UK & AU) The Anatomical Shape of a Heart (US).

Published: 13th August 2015.

Thanks to Jenn Bennett, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Feeling alive is always worth the risk.

Meeting Jack on the Owl—San Francisco’s night bus—turns Beatrix’s world upside down. Jack is charming, wildly attractive…and possibly one of San Francisco’s most notorious graffiti artists. Beatrix herself has an incredible artistic talent and is determined to become a medical illustrator. Across midnight buses, blog posts and through her artwork, Beatrix unravels the enigma that is Jack while the two of them fall passionately in love.

But Jack is hiding a piece of himself. On midnight rides and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who this enigmatic boy really is.

Will the secrets Jack stubbornly guards come back to haunt him? Or will Bex’s own complex family fall apart first?

AWWWWWWWWWW!!! Just give me a second as I sit here and hug my HB pencils.

We follow the likeable Bex as she struggles to do what she feels is right. We see her deify her mother for the first time in her life, for good reasons. We see her fall in love with a broken boy who needs her. Find herself. And confront her absent father.

Both Bex and Jack families, even through from extremely different social standings, have issues. We get to see them all work through these issues and come out the other side.

Things I loved: Both leads were Artsy. Good old teen angst. Divorce and Mental Illness’s were addressed. Jack’s Adorable law breaking. Sexy Classic Cars. Happy endings for all the main characters that didn’t feel over the top or super cheesy, just warm and fuzzy.

Things I didn’t: Nothing.

I laughed out loud with this book. At once stage I got antsy, had to put it down and go for a walk because the characters dramas was stressing me out – I just wanted them to be happy! I finished Night Owls and just sat on the lounge with a big smile on my face.

There is adorable first time teen love heavily sprinkled throughout the whole story – Perfection!! I’m putting this on my re-read when needing a pick me up shelf 🙂 Five Stars.

Purchase Links:

Amazon | B&N | Booktopia | Amazon AU

In Search of Lost Dragons

February 25, 2015July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / 2 Comments

In Search of Lost Dragons by Elian Black’Mor and Carine M

Published 3^rd Febuary 2015 by Diamond Book Distributors & Dynamite Entertainment

I received a copy to read and review through Net Galley, so thank you to the Authors and Publisher for allowing me this opportunity.

On the trail of dragons forgotten, an intrepid illustrator and reporter journeys from Europe through the Middle East and finally to Saigon in search of the dark caverns and mountaintop perches where the elusive winged serpents dwell.

With the gift of seeing the invisible, our explorer friend records each encounter in a journal of gorgeous, fully painted artwork, capturing every majestic and fearsome visual detail of the scaly behemoths, and accompanies his findings with snippets of local lore as evidence that these hidden beasts continue to shape the world in ways we may never expect!

Gorgeous full-color paintings, accompanied by a unique story of world-wide exploration and dragon encounters!

The book is written as a sort of personal journal/scrapbook. I loved the collaboration of photos, paintings, sketches, newspaper articles, scribbled notes and cut out mementos. I really enjoyed reading little bits about the different dragons and their habitats. There is an underling plot of the explorer searching for Dragons, but the writing is minimal.

The pictures are absolutely divine. I would suggest reading this book as the Hardcover visual delight it was intended to be. As I was reading a reviewer eBook I had to keep zooming in to read the words, then zooming out to fully appreciate the illustrations – but I enjoyed it never the less.

I do think I will buy a hardcover copy, as it think this is a book my son would appreciate when he’s a bit older. Four Stars.

I Got Skills

January 22, 2014May 16, 2019 / Absidity Art / 3 Comments

Today’s post asks us if we could choose to be a master of any skill in the world, which skill would be pick?

I’d pick to be a Master Painter – I can see visions in my head, I can imagine the artworks I’d like to create, but I can’t get them out the way a skilled artist can.

Maybe you’re wondering what with me always writing about wanting to improve my writing why didn’t I go down that root for my master skill fix. But no, I’m confident that with A LOT of HARD WORK I can get myself to point where I’m happy with my writing.

There is no way I’ll ever be a great artist, I don’t have any skills to work with, none whatsoever, but that’s ok I can admire the world’s finest instead.

So yes my Magic Master Skill Fix, would be to be the most awesome painter the world has ever seen mwahahahahahahahaha oh wait that would mean I’ll end up insane and an alcoholic by forty and dead by forty five. Hmmmm So maybe I’d settle to just be a really good artist instead!

Post 22/365 (missed 4)

From Where I Stand

December 29, 2013July 14, 2019 / Absidity Art / Leave a comment

From Where I Stand, Poetry by Robert Zimmermann

Goodreads Synopsis:

From Robert Zimmermann comes From Where I Stand, an emotional debut poetry collection. Zimmermann explores strained parental relationships, loss of life, and the despair associated with grief. Alongside these darker themes, he delves into the small areas of life that often go unnoticed but become the hope we are searching for.

My thoughts:

Just from reading the forward you already know your about to see a man’s soul laid raw on the pages that follow!

Now normally I look for myself in poetry and I find the more I’ll like a poem is due to whether or not I can place its emotions in my past or present. I went into this collection telling myself, you are not looking for yourself, you are here to learn about this man. Robert really has given us a look at the emotions and experiences he has been exposed to. After reading this collection of poetry I appreciate the man whose blog I’ve come to enjoy reading even more.

I really do think this is a great collection of work. Yes I did prefer the poems I could find myself in, but I found myself drawn into all the poems and at times wanting to jump through the pages into the past and smack Robert’s father in the face.

I find it hard to say I enjoyed these poems, because there is a lot of pain and anger and you can’t really enjoy that, but the collection was emotionally beautiful and I am glad I read it and I will read it again I am sure.

I read to experience what my life can’t give me and to escape my day to day and this book certainly did that, it took me and placed me in another’s life.

I would recommend this collection not just for poetry fans, as I think it’s more of a book for people who like to feel what others feel, to get a glimpse into other peoples life, anyone with empathy could get into this book.

I hope that makes sense, I am rather nervous writing a review on Robert’s work as I enjoy reading his reviews, oh dear, better go have some wine now!

RIOT’S REDEMPTION

Sharing my poetry, personal experiences and book reviews since 2013

art