Silent Movie

By Avi and TurtleMe

Book Overview

Black-and-white images follow one after another. The story of an immigrant family alone in a big city. Close-ups of a mother, a son -- faces filled with heartache and joy. Plenty of action. Excitement. Melodrama. A Silent Movie.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689841450
• ISBN13: 9780689841453
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Length: 48 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 11.3" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Silent Movie

The book Silent Movie by Avi is a great children's picture book. They learn while they are fascinated with the content in the story. The usage of black/white illustrations demonstrates the familiarity to how the first movies were produced.

4 1/2 Birth of a Nation

This picture book takes the form of a "moving picture" book; its content and structure emulating the silent movies that entertained immigrants and other "huddled masses" in the early 20th century. The story recpaitulates much of the immigrant experience: The yearning for economic freedom, the shipboard travails, and the ghettoized poverty that awaited the new arrivals (this particular family is from Sweden). The family is eventually helped by ghetto dwellers, but especially by a Dickinsian stroke of good luck: The robbery of the young protagonist turns into his "discovery" by a movie director (bald and cryptic, modelled perhaps on Von Stroheim), who turns the boy from extra to $100 a week feature player. The story, a little like the movie that the family sees at the nickolodean, is melodramtic, abrupt, and somewhat implausible. Right away, the father is separated, but the family doesn't seem to do much to find him. (Of fourse, finding something to eat is takes precedent over reuniting the father.) All kinds of fortuitous events move the sketchy plot along, such as the robbery and subsequent cinematic rise of the boy. However, the book's major and unique appeal is the visual. Capturing the look of early silent films, the illustrator uses all the trick of the early directors and cinematographers: Extreme close-ups, scene-setting longshots, the skewed perspectives and angularity of the German expressionists, high contrasted silhouettes and splotlighted characters, and melodramatic facial expressions that more than make up for the lack of spoken dialogue. In addition to the story and visual elements, the book design expresses a silent movie theatricality from the opening "credits" to the curtain. It's a unique and brilliant treatment, and kids with imagination, a historical bent, and a sense of drama will certainly enjoy the book. Thebook is not without some flaws. I would have liked a little more context: More scenes of tenement life (in contrast to the "fantasy" of the rags to riches fable found in early movies and mirrored in this book), and, especially, conveying some sense of the appeal--the wonder and escape--of the silent movies would have added immensely the book's emotional impact. Still, the originality, especially in the illustrations, mkae this a unique experience, one that some kids will want to pursue in nonfiction books and, if they're lucky, in contemporary movie houses that play silent movies (preferably with musical accompaniment). There's nothing quite like it.

A True Picture Book

Avi tells a story depicting immigration using a silent movie as his backdrop. The story is told mostly though the use of pictures. Text is used sparingly to guide the reader through the story, as done in silent movies. Storyboarding and bleeding techniques are used. Small drawings are used to depict time and sequence, while larger, full page drawings are used to convey the character's deeper feelings. Silent Movie is illustrated by C.B. Mordan.The beauty of this picture book is that the reader can understand the story by looking primarily at the pictures. The front cover depicts a stage, while the back cover has the credits (author, illustrator, and characters). Mordan captures the feelings of the characters in each one of his illustrations, while Avi's text compliments the drawings. The illustrations are done in black and while to convey the feeling of a silent move. Also, many pictures appear to have a spotlight, furthering the silent movie theme. Teachers can use Silent Movie with their students in learning about immigration and the history of films. An author's note and illustrator's note can be found at the back of the book. Both describe the style used in Silent Movie, in terms of recreating a melodramatic yet simple story, and provide a brief history about silent films. Considering Silent Movie was published in 2003, this may be a contender for the 2004 Caldecott Award and other book awards.

Silent Movie sounds interesting

This book is interesting. It's not stellar or outstanding, but it is very interesting. I love the idea of mixing silent movies with picture books and coming up with a graphically moving picture. Avi is the only children's author that could have made this book work. The black and white etchings beautifully render the time and feeling of mixing early American film with immigrant culture. The story is short and very superficial, but weren't all the silent movies? This is a fun escape for Avi and one I am sure kids will enjoy.