You may have heard of or seen this book, since it’s been plugged quite a bit online. Allow me to introduce you to “Where’s Walrus?” a delightful picture-only book by Stephen Savage. In this brightly-colored book, a walrus escapes from a City zoo to experience life in the big city – he eludes the zookeeper by donning various disguises and hats and inserting himself into scenes you may find familiar – including a subtle shout-out to Edward Hopper which I assume is intentional. I won’t tell you how Walrus’s adventure ends except to say that he returns to the zoo, triumphant! Mr. Savage’s illustrations are fun and simplistic in the best possible way – with bright colors and simple shapes that almost make the book feel like it could have been created with cut paper or on one of those felt boards. It’s a great style and perfect for this short, wordless adventure. This is one of those great books that a small child will pick up over and over and find new things in the illustrations each time. This book deserves all the accolades that it’s been getting.
EDIT: And yes, I bought the book at full price! Proof is above. This ain’t no payola-driven walrus blog!
The Author, Stephen Savage, follows us on Twitter (@walrusweb) – you can check him out on Twitter here @savageartist. A promotional “trailer” made the rounds on the Web when the book was released – it’s worth watching, so check it out right here!
I love this book. I grew up in New Jersey, and since my Dad was a student and later a professor at Columbia University we spent a great deal of time in the City. Of the things that I still strongly associate with New York City, the books of Ezra Jack Keats, particularly “Hi, Cat!” “Where’s Walrus?” reminds me of this book.
Pick up a copy of this delightful book for the small child in your life. They will love it. Here’s the link on Amazon, and for good measure – here’s a link to The Cat as well.
Buy Where’s Walrus? on Amazon.com
Buy Hi, Cat (Picture Books) on Amazon.com
