8. Silent Movie

  

 

8. Silent Movie. Avi. Illustrated by C.B. Mordan. 2003. 64 pages. [Source: Library] [picture book, 4 stars, historical picture book, immigration]

First sentence: One hundred years ago people from all over the world are moving to the United States of America. Some want adventure. Some are fleeing hardship. Others come because they believe America is the "Promised Land." Among those who seek a better life is a family from Sweden. The first to go is Papa...

Premise/plot: Silent Movie is not a wordless picture book. However illustrations--told within black and white frames--do the heavy lifting in terms of story telling and characterization. The words assist the artwork.

The premise is relatively simple: A mother and son who have recently arrived in America--New York City, I believe--struggle to find the "Papa" who came before. Relatively alone and without resources, the pair struggles to find a way to make it. A chance--oh so fortunate--encounter with a movie maker (director?) leads to a happy ending! The boy is cast in a silent movie and the father recognizes his son on screen and the family is able to reunite!

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. The illustrations and text pair wonderfully together to convey the story of immigration experience at the turn of the twentieth century. (The story is set circa 1909.) 

This one might be appreciated more by readers who have seen at least one or two silent movies and understand the concept. However, there's no reason why this picture book couldn't come first and serve as an introduction to the early days of movies. 

Some/many silent movies are "shorts" and are about twenty minutes in length. There are silent movies for just about any genre. 

This one could be read by a wider range of ages.

 

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