Reviews

My Map Book by Sara Fanelli

mat_tobin's review against another edition

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4.0

Fanelli's initial foray into children's books might not be as accomplished as her outstanding work [b:The Onion's Great Escape|11996465|The Onion's Great Escape|Sara Fanelli|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348624923s/11996465.jpg|16960672] but you can see the seed of her thinking and style here. Starting off with the simple idea of drawing a map of her home, Fanelli starts to build on the cartographic analogy of maps in its broadest sense: presenting us with a map of her heart, a day in her life, a family tree and a map of her tummy - each from a child's perspective.
Fanelli sets out to chart all the aspects of a child's life that might be important to them. In doing so, her illustrative style, a mixed-media approach that calls on collage, line drawings and her own invited typography, celebrates the seemingly chaotic inventiveness of a child's expressiveness too. There is plenty to see here and I imagine more would be picked up with repeated readings. This book would work very well alongside [b:Can I Build Another Me?|31440461|Can I Build Another Me?|Shinsuke Yoshitake|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1471122679s/31440461.jpg|52138999].

bardicbramley's review against another edition

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3.0

Whilst I found the book a little overwhelming to read, I really enjoyed the concept, and it gave me lots of ideas for creating maps with children in class.

I think it would be better to take selected examples of the double page spread maps and look at them individually for emphasis rather than read as a whole book with children, but could be a great discussion piece to inspire children's own maps.

ellielabbett's review

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4.0

A lovely book to explore. Fanelli opens a window into the mind of a child, as she takes the reader through a journey around their little world. I loved how personal this book was and really enjoyed the small details of their life, along with the way that their perspective influenced what mattered most to them. I am sure that were children to make their own map book they would each draw attention to completely different parts of their lives, each unique to themselves.




mat_tobin's review

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4.0

Fanelli's initial foray into children's books might not be as accomplished as her outstanding work [b:The Onion's Great Escape|11996465|The Onion's Great Escape|Sara Fanelli|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348624923s/11996465.jpg|16960672] but you can see the seed of her thinking and style here. Starting off with the simple idea of drawing a map of her home, Fanelli starts to build on the cartographic analogy of maps in its broadest sense: presenting us with a map of her heart, a day in her life, a family tree and a map of her tummy - each from a child's perspective.
Fanelli sets out to chart all the aspects of a child's life that might be important to them. In doing so, her illustrative style, a mixed-media approach that calls on collage, line drawings and her own invited typography, celebrates the seemingly chaotic inventiveness of a child's expressiveness too. There is plenty to see here and I imagine more would be picked up with repeated readings. This book would work very well alongside [b:Can I Build Another Me?|31440461|Can I Build Another Me?|Shinsuke Yoshitake|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1471122679s/31440461.jpg|52138999].
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