rmack: gongoozler

gongoozler  n.  one who stares for hours at anything out of the ordinary

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Today I'm gongoozling two, arty picture books that feature cityscapes. If you want to support these authors, illustrators, and their work, check out their books from the library, buy their books at your local independent bookseller, and share reviews and news on social media sites. 

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What If... Written by Samantha Berger, Illustrated by Mike Curato

And Peggy Written & Illustrated by Anna Walker

What If...

Before cracking the spine, I heard this book was a successful example of mixing media.

This book is all about creativity and the imagination. Just look at this wonderful spread.

And what's that tucked into the center? A magnificent building, grounding the character in her imagination. Later, the illustrator uses more photographs to return us to reality.

Really beautiful.

Peggy

Peggy is the main chicken in Peggy. She's fantastic.

And her shoes are certainly gongoozle-worthy.

Also great for a walk around the city.

Two words: simply breathtaking.

Walker knows how to capture a city in its congested busy moments and its quieter moments too. 

For me, Peggy is fine art.

Sure, I can study Walker's city scenes for hours, but she's also makes good use of pacing, negative space, and humor. She definitely elevates the city as a setting to the highest level of gongoozlery.

This post is part of a media sharing project called driftwood. driftwood posts appear on my Patreon page and expand the content of storm row studio's blog posts with added commentary, art, or storytelling. There are both public and patron-only driftwood posts. Click here to see the Patreon version of this post.

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