The Silver Button

by Bob Graham, Bob Graham (Illustrator)

Overview

“This is an elegant piece of living theater. . . . A book to bathe in, reminding readers that something magical is happening every instant.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

At 9:59 on a Thursday morning, Jodie draws a duck. As she’s about to add a silver button to the duck’s boot, her little brother, Jonathan, takes his first step. At the exact same moment, a man buys fresh bread at the bakery, a baby is born, a soldier says good-bye to his mom. . . . From an ordinary scene in an apartment strewn with a child’s artwork to a bird’s-eye view of a city morning pulsing with life, Bob Graham celebrates a whole world-vision in a single moment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536201444
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	02/28/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	AD660L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 6 Years

About the Author

  

Editorial Reviews

This is an elegant piece of living theater, something into which readers can nestle and observe. ... A book to bathe in, reminding readers that something magical is happening every instant.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

In his inimitable, deceptively simple style, Graham celebrates what can happen in a single moment and reminds readers to pause and observe. ... While the story is minimal, there is a lot to see and absorb. The detailed pictures bear repeated inspection, the characters are appealing, and the story is very child-oriented. This unusual offering will enhance collections and work equally well in classrooms or one-on-one.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

In this quiet, thought-provoking picture book, Graham marvels at the myriad things that transpire in a moment’s time. ... Graham deftly depicts an array of perspectives in his signature ink-and-watercolor artwork...The understated sentences gently encapsulate moments that are mundane, melancholy, and joyful, encouraging readers to ponder all that might be happening in the world at any given instant.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

[F]amiliar, homespun artwork and simple observations... [A] slightly older crowd will have the sense, even if they can’t put it into words, of both how big yet particular the world is, and what a wondrous thing it is that everyone is a part of an infinite whole.
—Booklist

Graham, always a gentle observer of the quotidian, regales audiences with a steadily zooming-out cross-section of city life to illustrate the millions of events packed into a minute. Graham’s prose is both simple and quietly lyrical, with a focused present tense that enhances the book’s encapsulation of a moment, while his signature line and watercolor illustrations with their gentle hues and rounded features enhance the tenderness of this tale.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

It’s rare for such an admirably simple children’s book to suggest so much that’s profound. “The Silver Button” is indeed something very special, a book that speaks to the old and the young at their own levels, but says the same thing to both.
—The New York Times Online

This sensitive picture book celebrates the synchronicity of one precious tick of the clock.
—The Wall Street Journal

Graham perfectly synchronizes the four-vignette sequence that echoes the opening... All of the meticulous details of this family's warm household fall away to focus on this one life-changing minute. Graham simultaneously illustrates how each life is the sum of these fleeting moments, and how important it is to pay attention so as not to miss them. Bravo!
—Shelf Awareness Pro

From the Publisher

Just as the 16th-century master [Albrecht Dürer] studied an ordinary cross section of sod, and saw great, if unconventional, beauty and variety there, so Graham, in showing the range of activity in a city over the course of a mere minute, shows something unconventional but precious about life and time. It's rare for such an admirably simple children's book to suggest so much that's profound. The Silver Button is indeed something very special, a book that speaks to the old and the young at their own levels, but says the same thing to both.

The New York Times - Sarah Harrison Smith

★ 09/02/2013
In this quiet, thought-provoking picture book, Graham (A Bus Called Heaven) marvels at the myriad things that transpire in a moment’s time. At 9:59 one Thursday morning, Jodie is about to put the finishing touch on her drawing of a duck when her younger brother, Jonathan, pushes himself up and takes his first step. The scene moves to the kitchen where the children’s mother plays the pennywhistle, a bit sadly. From there, the same point in time is observed outside, next door, and across the city, as “an early-morning jogger puff on by,” a soldier bids goodbye to his mother, a baby is born, an old woman “push everything she owned in her cart,” and a tanker heads to China. Graham deftly depicts an array of perspectives in his signature ink-and-watercolor artwork, from a close-up portrait of Jonathan teetering toward the family dog to a view of the city skyline as seen by the seals in the bay. The understated sentences gently encapsulate moments that are mundane, melancholy, and joyful, encouraging readers to ponder all that might be happening in the world at any given instant. Ages 4–6. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 09/01/2013
PreS-Gr 2—In his inimitable, deceptively simple style, Graham celebrates what can happen in a single moment and reminds readers to pause and observe. The text begins before the title page: "At 9:59 on Thursday morning, Jodie drew a duck." Next her baby brother takes his first step. As he does so, Graham cinematically pulls back farther and farther, showing other things happening at that instant: a jogger puffs by, a soldier hugs his mother, a blackbird finds a worm, a baby is born, and so on, until the story comes full circle. Jonathan falls down, Jodie tells her mother about his first step, and the clock strikes 10:00. Graham's detail-filled ink and watercolor illustrations are in full force here. Initially, Jonathan fills the page, but rapidly the view pulls back, expanding the point of view: the jogger is seen through a window, the block from above, then a bird's-eye view of the city, with the block, the hospital, and the beach visible, and finally a close-up of Mom hugging her baby boy. While the story is minimal, there is a lot to see and absorb. The detailed pictures bear repeated inspection, the characters are appealing, and the story is very child-oriented. This unusual offering will enhance collections and work equally well in classrooms or one-on-one. A worthwhile addition.—Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT

School Library Journal

Graham captures a moment in time, and like many moments, it is full to the brim. A little girl draws a duck. Before she can ink in the final silver button of the duck's morning coat, her brother takes his first walking steps. In the kitchen, her mother plays the pennywhistle. A pigeon builds a nest on a cornice; a jogger shuffles by. A loaf of bread is bought; a soldier says goodbye to his mother. Birds head south; the city wakes; a baby is born; a blackbird (clearly the early bird) eats a worm. This is an elegant piece of living theater, something into which readers can nestle and observe. The natty artwork is a fine combination of ink, colors lighter than air and colors as rich as the inside of a bonbon. There are bird's-eye perspectives reminiscent of Mitsumasa Anno and the sweet, almost dreamlike broken linework of John Burningham, but the illustrations are handsome and inviting on their very own. This is not an easy book, even with its scant text. This apparent slice of the everyday moves quietly into the existential. A book to bathe in, reminding readers that something magical is happening every instant. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews