Walter Was Worried

by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Book Overview

Opposite the simple declarative sentence, "Walter was worried" is a portrait of a very worried Walter. But wait The letters that spell out his feelings form his facial characteristics, as well as his expression. Gradually a simple story unfolds: the sky grows dark, the fog rolls in, lightning lights the sky, and thunder shakes the trees; Priscilla was puzzled, Shirley was shocked, Frederick was frightened... and eventually (when the sun came out)...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1596431962
• ISBN13: 9781596431966
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Square Fish
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 8.0" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Great book, original illustrations

This book addresses emotions and the alphabet. An odd combo, but well received by my 2.5 year old. The emotion words use unique fonts that are repeated in the face illustration. That makes it easy to point out a letter and ask my daughter to find one just like it on the face-- a great way to introduce letters. The text is simple, and therefore, inviting to young ones. It enables some basic discussion on emotions, which is beneficial to this age group's development of self-expression. This author is awesome!

Concept book without the con

A cool, clever and thoughtful book that will have your kids insisting they find all the letters to make a word about emotions. Now how cool is that? Not a typical supermarket checkout line concept book. The sophisticated artwork manages to avoid the usual forced cliches of making faces with letters. And by having the reader focus on words and spelling and emotions there is so much that can be gotton out of this seemingly simple work. I disagree with some reviews claiming it has no repeat value. On the contrary. If your kid is bored with this book after one go, get him to watch less TV.

This book is AMAZING

I am in sixth grade and we were studying picture books in my class because we are studying which books we think are most educational for younger kids. Each student brought in their favorite book from home and one of my friends brought in this one. We were all told to list the reasons why we thought each book was good or bad and this one was the favorite of every one in my class because it can be used in so many ways. you can learn your letters and search and find them and you can talk about your feelings too. Then I was surprised because my art teacher decided that we should all make our own pictures like the ones in this book so it became a great art project too. I am a big fan of this book. I love the artwork the most.

Very cool book... For adults as much as for kids

Now this is a cool book... Not like any picture book I have ever seen before... A mixture of beautiful fine art, great graphic design, and kid-friendly story. Children will love the "search and find" aspect of this book and, what I love the most, is that it has done something so very rare in kid's books... It has encouraged children to talk about their feelings.. (My kids, at least)... Totally recommended...

4 1/2 A Storm of Emotion

Walter was worried, alright, he had all 7 letters of the word "worried" pasted on his face! Well, that's not quite right either. Actually, walter grew worried "when the sky grew dark," and imaginative illustrator, Laura Seeger, uses the letters in his and others' emotions make facial features. Take Shirley, for example, who was "SHOCKED when lightning lit the sky." A sideways "C" and "D" are her eyes, within which we see her pupils: A capital "e" and "i." That big "O" in "shocked makes up her very shocked-looking mouth, and the remaining S and K are writ small upon her forehead as raised eyebrows. The format consists of the person's name and emotion (including Priscilla who was puzzled, and Frederick who was frightened), and a facing page (pun intended) showing the letters of the emotion upon the person's face. Following this is a two-page spread illustrating the storm event that elicited the child's reaction. The faces are drawn fairly flat to emphasize the location of the letters, and the drawings of nature are dramatic compositions (gouache and cut-outs, perhaps) with lots of texture, and combination of bold primary colors, with seeping, slightly psychedelic background tints. You have to give Seeger credit for managing to write a credible and interesting story around these phoneme faces. Happy children replace the frightened ones as the storm passes. For example, there's Delilah. She's the girl with the L-shaped nose who was "DELIGHTED when the rain turned to snow." Turn the page, and you see big cut-out snowflakes against a marbleized background of blues, greens, and purples. There's also Henry, who's "HOPEFUL when the sky began to clear." Here, a somewhat more conventional picture shows 3 black birds flying against a milky-clouded sky. Still, the main story here is the pictures. Seeger's narrative, although making a nice cycle from storm to clear, is (not surprising) fairly simple. The faces and letter placement seem perfect for classroom art/reading projects. The book may inspire similar work at home, especially on a stormy, emotion-packed day.