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A review by worldlibraries
Dazzle Ships by Chris Barton
5.0
There are so many things to love about this book. First of all, it is visually stunning. It demands to be picked up. There is no way a human being could look at this book and not want to learn more! Thank you, illustrator Victo Ngai, for making this book irresistible to reluctant readers.
Secondly, the story is fascinating. I admire Chris Barton's editor for bringing the idea to him of creating a picture book about ship camouflage in WWI and for his expression of slowly-accruing belief in her idea as he researched the topic. How fantastic is it that he credited her so visibly? How wonderful is it to see behind the scenes in how a picture book gets created? We should all have such lovely wind beneath our wings as editor Carol Hinz brought to author Chris Barton on this book.
Thirdly, the author helps the reader see what to learn from the story that could be applied to the reader's own life. This is brilliant passage: 'a willingness to tackle problems by trying the unlikely, the improbable, the seemingly bonkers will always be needed.'
Fourthly, Chris Barton includes his inquiry and research process in the book, and his curation of what should and should not be included. Especially for PYP students, this visible deliniation of process from ideation, to research, to curation is fabulously detailed. Thank you, Mr. Barton, for your example that students can learn from.
I also appreciated that the author was so careful to include female contribution to the project of camouflaging these ships. Another fun addition: the illustrator, Victo Ngai, puts in her spectacular illustrations her own Chinese chop as her signature - just the sort of thing to keep young people examining each illustration for that much longer as they search for it.
Additional winning details of this picture book include a timeline, photos from the period of ships being camouflaged, and a bibliography of sources.
Secondly, the story is fascinating. I admire Chris Barton's editor for bringing the idea to him of creating a picture book about ship camouflage in WWI and for his expression of slowly-accruing belief in her idea as he researched the topic. How fantastic is it that he credited her so visibly? How wonderful is it to see behind the scenes in how a picture book gets created? We should all have such lovely wind beneath our wings as editor Carol Hinz brought to author Chris Barton on this book.
Thirdly, the author helps the reader see what to learn from the story that could be applied to the reader's own life. This is brilliant passage: 'a willingness to tackle problems by trying the unlikely, the improbable, the seemingly bonkers will always be needed.'
Fourthly, Chris Barton includes his inquiry and research process in the book, and his curation of what should and should not be included. Especially for PYP students, this visible deliniation of process from ideation, to research, to curation is fabulously detailed. Thank you, Mr. Barton, for your example that students can learn from.
I also appreciated that the author was so careful to include female contribution to the project of camouflaging these ships. Another fun addition: the illustrator, Victo Ngai, puts in her spectacular illustrations her own Chinese chop as her signature - just the sort of thing to keep young people examining each illustration for that much longer as they search for it.
Additional winning details of this picture book include a timeline, photos from the period of ships being camouflaged, and a bibliography of sources.