My Pen
By Patricia Tauzer,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Energetic sketches show the power of one boy's pen.
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What's the Story?
Through a series of pen-and-ink sketches, Aurelio, a young, gentle, dark-eyed boy in a fedora, uses his pen to express his imagination, create stories, and empower himself. His thought-provoking drawings flow dynamically across each page, accompanied by one or two lines of text that tell just what that pen is trying to do. The boy rides a dinosaur, tap-dances upside-down on the clouds, and wears satellite sneakers with computer laces. He spots an elephant nestled in a teacup, writes stories in the margins of his sketchpad, and sails a newspaper boat to Africa. His pen does make mistakes and hides from him at times, but it also helps him face his fears and insecurities.
Is It Any Good?
Energetic, sensitive, incredible pen-and-ink drawings create a mesmerizing celebration of self-expression and imagination in this boy's story about the power of his pen. The narrative may be too loosely connected for some, the beginning a little confusing, and some segments not appropriate for younger readers. However, most of the simple text is both fun and poetic, and the message comes across loud and clear: Imagination, self-expression, creativity, and art make even the smallest person more powerful.
School-age kids and adults will find THE PEN fascinating. Author-illustrator Christopher Myers fills his pages with tiny details that are just plain fun, and he dedicates his book "[t]o the people who make things, and to the people who share them." His book surely will encourage and inspire readers to pick up their pens and express themselves.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the words and illustrations work together in a picture book. Do the pictures add to the words, or do the words add to the drawings? Is it the same in all picture books? What about this one?
Do you think drawing the sketches in black and white was a good idea? Why do you think the illustrator chose to use pen-and-ink with no color? How would the book have changed if he had made the drawings more colorful?
Which drawings did you like most? What did you like about them? Are there any that you didn't like? How would you change them? What would you draw with your pen?
Book Details
- Author: Christopher Myers
- Illustrator: Christopher Myers
- Genre: Picture Book
- Topics: Arts and Dance, Great Boy Role Models
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
- Publication date: March 10, 2015
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 3 - 5
- Number of pages: 40
- Available on: Hardback
- Last updated: July 12, 2017
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