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blindchoice's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
beth_books_123's review
5.0
I read this as part of an introduction into picture books in KS2 at uni.
This book is haunting.
This book is haunting.
kathryn14's review
4.0
There was once only the sound of bees ... Until the government legalised bee-killing pesticides
lauramay's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
jdianm's review
3.0
This book has wonderful illustrations, but gets pretty dark for a picture book. In fact, it's downright scary and it reminds me of The Giver and 1984. The pages feel and smell good too.
brookecorrea's review against another edition
5.0
Varmints is captivating and inspiring, encompassing revelations in physical worlds, mental worlds, and spiritual worlds. The book first reads as a message of overcoming physical boundaries put on by the world's "Varmints" (such as the development of mass cities in once-natural and serene areas), but evolves with each reread to something more. With the transitional story line of Wild to City to Wild again, I found myself reflecting on this journey in a more intrapersonal way: Self to Loss of Self to Reemergence of Self.
The main character experiences a journey of sorts as he/she resides peacefully in nature and is thrown into a world of buildings and dark skies. The character keeps a piece of nature with them until they are ready to bring it to an opening in the city, thus creating a larger opening back into the natural world. The character itself is seen in different areas on the pages of the book - tending to be closer to the viewer in the pages depicting hopeful/natural scenes and further away in scenes of the City that feel helpless. The horizons in the illustrations also change with the transition from Wild to City and back again - appearing in scenes of nature, diminishing with the development of the city, and reappearing with the reemergence of nature. This also contributes to the use and feeling of space within the illustrations. In the Wild scenes, the illustrations depict vast, open spaces complete with bright colors and a sense of softness. In the City scenes, space seems to disappear and with it the bright colors and feeling of openness. The scenes suddenly become closed off and filled with boundaries - whether they be through the use of lines in buildings and windows or the use of framing in individual illustrations. With the reemergence of the Wild, the space slowly opens up again, bringing back the use of soft lines and inviting spaces that seem to bleed beyond the pages. With the use of space, framing, and bleeding, the reader seems to be invited into the story much more during the periods of Wilderness and less so in the scenes of City and darkness - implying a personal role in the Wild and a detached sense-of-self in the City.
One of my favorite things about the story is the use of text. The font itself is scratchy and informal, giving it a handwritten feel and thus increasing the feeling of identification among readers. Its size and placement on the pages is indicative of significance: large text to convey messages of importance and power, meant to be read loudly; smaller text implying a subtlety and quietness, evoking a softer kind of power, one perhaps more emotional, especially so when immediately following large text. My favorite use of text comes at the very end. "The beginning..." is written on the last page, as a replacement for "The End". It is placed vertically rather than horizontally, implying messages of hopefulness, growth, perseverance, and most importantly, a continuation of narrative.
The main character experiences a journey of sorts as he/she resides peacefully in nature and is thrown into a world of buildings and dark skies. The character keeps a piece of nature with them until they are ready to bring it to an opening in the city, thus creating a larger opening back into the natural world. The character itself is seen in different areas on the pages of the book - tending to be closer to the viewer in the pages depicting hopeful/natural scenes and further away in scenes of the City that feel helpless. The horizons in the illustrations also change with the transition from Wild to City and back again - appearing in scenes of nature, diminishing with the development of the city, and reappearing with the reemergence of nature. This also contributes to the use and feeling of space within the illustrations. In the Wild scenes, the illustrations depict vast, open spaces complete with bright colors and a sense of softness. In the City scenes, space seems to disappear and with it the bright colors and feeling of openness. The scenes suddenly become closed off and filled with boundaries - whether they be through the use of lines in buildings and windows or the use of framing in individual illustrations. With the reemergence of the Wild, the space slowly opens up again, bringing back the use of soft lines and inviting spaces that seem to bleed beyond the pages. With the use of space, framing, and bleeding, the reader seems to be invited into the story much more during the periods of Wilderness and less so in the scenes of City and darkness - implying a personal role in the Wild and a detached sense-of-self in the City.
One of my favorite things about the story is the use of text. The font itself is scratchy and informal, giving it a handwritten feel and thus increasing the feeling of identification among readers. Its size and placement on the pages is indicative of significance: large text to convey messages of importance and power, meant to be read loudly; smaller text implying a subtlety and quietness, evoking a softer kind of power, one perhaps more emotional, especially so when immediately following large text. My favorite use of text comes at the very end. "The beginning..." is written on the last page, as a replacement for "The End". It is placed vertically rather than horizontally, implying messages of hopefulness, growth, perseverance, and most importantly, a continuation of narrative.