The Collector of Moments

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About The Collector Of Moments

Product Description A solitary boy is drawn to his mysterious new neighbor, an artist named Max. He spends hours in Max's studio, but Max is secretive and does not show the boy his pictures -- until he departs on a journey and leaves behind a surprise exhibition for his young friend. Max's pictures are strange and beautiful. They depict a realm where things, familiar at first glance, nevertheless behave in the most surprising and unpredictable ways. In this spellbinding picture book, the reader joins the boy in contemplating these challenging images, in a celebration of the power of art to transform the everyday into something magical. From Publishers Weekly Like its opening image of a seagull suspended at twilight and painted in sepia tones, this extraordinary volume honors the beauty inherent in a singular momentary experience. "At dusk, when he couldn't draw anymore, Max used to sing," begins Buch-olz's (Sleep Well, Little Bear) poignant tale of an unusual friendship. Max is a painter, the self-proclaimed "collector of moments." The narrator, a boy, lives two floors down and plays the violin. At Max's invitation, he joins the artist every evening for an intimate concert. The boy often visits at other times, but the artist never permits the boy to view his work: "One invisible and unique path leads into every picture... and the artist has to find just that one path. He can't show the picture too soon, or he might lose that path forever," Max explains. But when Max goes away for a stretch, both boy and readers are invited for a private showing of 13 breathtaking paintings. Many of the subjects are mythical: "Snow elephants in Canada" nearly invisible against blizzard-filled skies, a circus wagon floating above a bridge in France. Others, like Max's self-portrait, are realistic. But all the paintings, with their wide expanse of space, suggest a vast universe; in the words of the narrator, "Max always captured a precise moment. But I understood that there was always a story attached to this moment which had begun long before and would continue long afterward." The boy pores over each picture and instructs readers by his power of example. Only near the end of the book does the boy learn how much he has meant to Max--and his realization is transformative. With the same exquisite crafting that Bucholz exhibits in his paintings, he sculpts each section of prose--aided greatly by Neumeyer's fluid translation. Whether young or old, readers will never view a work of art in the same way again. All ages. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal Grade 3-6-Evocative is the word here. Despite a lengthy text, there is no plot in this oversized illustrated book. The narrator, a boy nicknamed "Professor," tells of the time that an artist, Max, lived in the flat above his. The boy, a loner, reads while Max draws, and plays his violin while the artist sings. When the man leaves for a while, Professor is allowed for the first time to see his enigmatic pictures. Through the summer the boy explores their possible meanings. The artist returns only to announce a move far away; later, a picture of Professor arrives with Max's assurance that the boy's music continues to inhabit his work. The clear, meticulous, full-page paintings are suffused with calm. In most, an odd element is obvious but not intrusive: a circus wagon floating in air at the edge of the frame, penguins in the street, a lion in a boat, or a horse atop a lighthouse. In others, there is a striking disproportion: Is that boy a Goliath, or is the boy with him a Tom Thumb? Although Max says that "one invisible and unique path leads into every picture," these collected moments appear to have infinite points of entry and egress. Against the muted, atmospheric backgrounds, an occasional touch of crimson glows as mysteriously as this book. Patricia Lothrop-Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI Copyright 1999 Reed Bu