A Long Piece of String
William Wondriska
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963
Chronicle Books, 2010
Day four of The Great Holiday Give leads us to a stunner of a reprint by Chronicle Books, long known for its awesome packaging and design sense. A nearly wordless visual journey by graphic design darling William Wondricka, A Long Piece of String takes us on a ride with a string that has no beginning and no end. Wondriska wrote and illustrated the story in addition to designing the actual book, and all of that is retained here, right down to the wonderful scribbles that lay hidden beneath the dust jacket. The illustrations are stark and simple, yet each one tells a story and adds a nice piece to the personality of the tale.
I'm particularly in the love with this page, wherein it seems as if parts of the string are missing, when really it's just lost behind unilluminated moon. So charming.
A surprise finish ties it back to the reader and asks them to write their own ending. Everything about this title is gorgeous. The look, the feel and the delicate web of wonder this little string spins. I love it when larger publishers pick up the mantel to bring excellent children's books back to life. It's so refreshing to see once out-of-print titles back on the shelf as if they had never left in the first place.
To be entered to win a copy, simply comment on this post by 11:59 PM Sunday, November 9. The winner will be announced (along with all the other winners from the week) on Monday, November 10. The Great Holiday Give will last all week, so be sure and check back each day to find out about a new vintage reprint and enter to win a different book. This book was sent to me by the publisher to giveaway, but I don't think I need to tell you that this in no way educated my opinion of Chronicle Books, this book and/or the level of pure swank of either. Have fun and good luck!
The Great Holiday Give Day One: The Day the Cow Sneezed by James Flora
The Great Holiday Give Day Two: One More Acorn by Don and Roy Freeman
The Great Holiday Give Day Three: The Christmas Cookie Sprinkler Snitcher by Robert Kraus and Vip
The Great Holiday Give Day Five: Mud Pies and Other Recipes by Majorie Winslow and Erik Blegvad
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45 comments:
This book looks and sounds amazing!
I've been interested in this since Margaret linked to the review at 7 impossible things a few months ago.
Another cute book I'd like to add to my collection ;)
This looks wonderful! I have a thing about string books--my kids are always interested in string, and I just can't find enough books about that interest! Crossing my fingers.
So lovely! Thanks for sharing!
I saw some scans from this book somewhere else online recently. Great to hear that it is back in print!
Oh, my mother was just talking about this book over the summer! I'm in. (Again. I wish we could rank these so we can get our number one choice - every day is better than the last!)
oh good grief! another magical book! I love them all!
love, love, love this book. Glad to know of a reprint
I've never heard of this one. It looks wonderful.
Oh, yes, I definitely read this one when I was a kid--it's wonderful!
Thank you for introducing this book! I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for it!
This book looks like a lot of fun! Thanks for giving us a chance to win it.
jenmmcclure(at)yahoo(dot)com
Thanks so much for the chance, this one is new to me!
I love the graphic, simplified shapes and design.
I love the graphic, simplified shapes and design!
They have this one at the Baltimore Museum of Art gift shop, and I've definitely admired it.
Thanks for the chance to win.
Lovely!
I think wordless books are a wonderful way to challenge both parents and children to be more articulate and learn how to formulate a good story. The pictures tell a story, but in interacting around the book, we usually try to find a way to put that story into words!
Love, love, love the moon page. If I had been drawing that I would not have even thought about the unilluminated bit. Brilliant.
awesome this is my kinda story :)
What a fun book! I'd love to win!
I am not familiar with this one at all, but I wouldn't mind sharing it with my kids!
This looks beautiful. Thank you for the opportunity.
This one looks amazing, too. Thanks for the chance, and for the heads up about all the great reprints.
This looks delightful. I love seeing books I've never heard of before!
Myself and my 2 year old both love string.
You have nothing to lose but your strings! Great site and wonderful books!
Chronicle always does the best stuff.
Cool book, entering! Thanks!
I love seeing new books that I have never heard of before.
betsy_349 at hotmail dot com
We can find only one book of William Wondriska in France and I don't know yet "A long piece of string"... I'd love to win it too!!
This book looks like fun. I know my son would love it.
love the illustrations! putting my hat in the ring. fingers crossed!
This is a new one to me but it looks gorgeous! What great artwork.
Wow I love this!
Another one I haven't heard of but would love to have. Such great illustrations. Thank you.
Great illustrations. So simple; not at all like the cartoons kids are watching nowadays. More like what we watched. Cool.
This looks super too.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo(DOT)com
The graphics are fantastic. Thanks for the chance to win A Long Piece of String.
Would love to win this book!
The simple graphic look of this book is great.
This looks like a great one!
I am sure I have read this. I will cross my fingers and hope I get this one.
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