Clown

by Quentin Blake

Book Overview

Watch Quentin Blake's Clown, a major new TV animation narrated by Helena Bonham-Carter, this Christmas on Channel 4. The perfect gift for sharing with friends and family all year long. When a box of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805043993
• ISBN13: 9780805043990
• Release Date: March 1996
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 9.2" x 12.7"
• Age Range: 5 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Wordless wonder!

This is a classic wordless tale about a thrown-out toy clown who ventures out to find a home for himself and his discarded comrades. Full of humor, and feeling, and a very happy ending - who can not love it? Some people object to wordless picture books on principle, because they are unfamiliar with them. This is what I have to say to that: Wordless picture books are PERFECT for pre-readers. It gives them the ability to read a book - REALLY own the experience instead of just "playing" as they must do when they can't understand the words - on their own. It gives them practice in putting together stories and working out details from context. And it allows them to be the expert at some activity that is usually restricted to adults and older children in their life - reading a book. By that same token, they are also ideal for early readers. It's non-threatening, and yet it's still a way to practice following a storyline. Reading is more than just mechanically putting together sounds and reciting them, after all. Many people are impressed by a five year old who can say, word-perfect, some complex piece he or she "reads" from a page, but later they find out that the child has no idea what they just read and wasn't thinking of reading as an exercise in gleaning meaning from text, but merely as reciting memorized sounds and letter combinations. Working out the story for themselves from a book with no words is a wonderful way to practice this sort of "reading for meaning". But what of the child who stumbles in reading? Well, the child who stumbles when reading but can tell you WHAT they read is light-years ahead of the one who sounds pretty but doesn't grasp the meaning. At any rate, this child is still getting much needed practice in the conventions of reading without the letters to stress and trip them up. Of course, you don't want the only book in your house to be a wordless picture book, I understand that, because children do need print to practice reading, but a few are a WONDERFUL thing for a child. And who has just one book, anyway?

Found by Happy Accident

Marvelous book. Great for the 4 to 5 year old set. Quentin Blake really impressed me with his skill and great wordless storytelling. Glad to have stumbled across the book.

Amazing book, simple illustrations, funny, warm-hearted and loving

This is a wry, funny and wonderful book. Quentin blakes water colours are the best I have seen and the story he tells is amazing. A family dump their toys in a rubbish bin. A clown doll comes to life. He has lost his feet so he finds a pair of shoes, and then goes off searching for someone to save him and his friends. This is the story of his trip, the various people he finds, and the reasons he can't be saved. It is really beautiful and it works on many levels. You can talk about processes of following a story, there is the discussion of what is happening and why. There is the simple narrative you can make, you can get the children to talk about the story (and about the emotions) Overall it has a wonderful happy ending where everything turns up right.

A charming tale with a heartwarming message

I've been reading this captivating story to my 4-year-old daughter for about a year now, and we are both quite fond of it. I think it's one of the easiest wordless picture books to "read" because there is an illustration to depict every little event, so you don't have to rack your brain for words to describe what is going on--I find that the words just flow. The expressive characters seem very real, and the compassionate clown will easily find a place in your heart.

An amazing, touching book containing an invaluable lesson

This book, without using any words at all, taught me one of the greatest lessons in life. The co-existence of humility and love. Watching the story develop with eyes and imagination,I realizes that this book allows each reader to come up with their own dialogue, providing a unique, special experience for each child (and adult) who happens upon it. I read this book a few months ago, and loved it. I am 21 years old, and think "Clown" has transcended the language and age barriers some of us have come across. It should be enjoyed by everyone.