From the author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, among other wonderfully written and illustrated books, comes Kaleidoscope, the new book by Brian Selznick. This book is a collection of short stories - very short, as in 2 or 3 pages each - connected by artwork that goes along with the book's title (a kaleidoscope is a tube that you look through at one end, rotate, and colored pieces tumble inside creating wonderful shapes and patterns and colors). The stories share common images, character names, and themes, but at the same time they are pretty loosely tied together. So much so that once I finished the last story I immediately re-read the first two stories, which made much more sense after finishing the book. The style is hard to explain, and hard to figure out until almost at the end of the book. But once you reach the end, I promise you, too, will re-start at the beginning.
I admit I didn't love the book at the start...giants and dragons and such aren't usually my thing (sometimes, but not usually). But after midpoint of this collection of stories I started to see them connected, and in very subtle ways (meaning the connections are not very obvious). And once they began to link together, Selznick's "voice" came through, and I truly hated to see the book end. This could have been 400 pages, instead of 200 pages, and it still may not have been enough.
Give this book a try, and be patient with it! If it doesn't grab you right away, keep going anyway, because it will, and you'll be very glad you did. 4 paws and a wag for this gem!
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