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Picture This

The Near-Sighted Monkey Book
by Lynda BARRY
978-1-89729-964-7.
COPY ISBN
Gr 9 Up—Teens who enjoyed Barry's What It Is (Drawn & Quarterly, 2008) will find more to love in this follow-up. While more reflective than its predecessor, it maintains the earlier work's hybrid formula; it is both a work of art and a work about art, being part picture book, part creative therapy, part step-by-step instruction, and part comic memoir. In one memorable panel, Barry compares an image of a happily scribbling three-year-old to that of a teen who stares sullenly at a blank page. The author asks, "What makes us start drawing? What makes us stop?" To work toward the answers to these questions, she demonstrates how anyone can express who they are through the creation of images, even if those images are nothing more than chickens made of cotton balls. She also elaborates on the power of image-making and how it has supported her throughout her life. Longtime Barry fans will be happy to see the return of Marlys, the outspoken, guileless tween who is arguably her best-known character. Barry herself also appears in the guise of a new doppelgänger, The Near-Sighted Monkey. While the book's unusual nature and indirect messaging will no doubt confuse many, for the right person, Picture This could be a launching pad to a new level of creativity and self-exploration.—Douglas P. Davey, Halton Hills Public Library, Ontario, Canada
Barry's award-winning asked, "Do you wish you could write?" In this engaging follow-up, Marlys returns and—with help from the Near-Sighted Monkey—explores a new question: "Why do we stop drawing?" In the style of an artist's scrapbook, friendly watercolor and ink images wander across pages made of lined paper, graph paper, and pages of text from . Barry offers scraps of poetry and snapshots of her adult and childhood experiences with art while exploring line, texture, color, and more; the result is part memoir and part practical advice manual for releasing creativity. Barry gives permission to trace, color, and doodle, not just because the results may actually be good but because the actions themselves can be a means of meditation and change for anyone, artist or not. This whimsical but contemplative journal-cum-primer asks us to remember the importance of play and return to our childhood approach to art. For teens and up, it's a pleasure for the artistically inclined—and the rest of us. Highly recommended.—Julia Cox, Penticton P.L., BC
Barry's award-winning What It Is asked, "Do you wish you could write?" In this engaging follow-up, Marlys returns and—with help from the Near-Sighted Monkey—explores a new question: "Why do we stop drawing?" In the style of an artist's scrapbook, friendly watercolor and ink images wander across pages made of lined paper, graph paper, and pages of text from Treasure Island. Barry offers scraps of poetry and snapshots of her adult and childhood experiences with art while exploring line, texture, color, and more; the result is part memoir and part practical advice manual for releasing creativity. Barry gives permission to trace, color, and doodle, not just because the results may actually be good but because the actions themselves can be a means of meditation and change for anyone, artist or not. Verdict This whimsical but contemplative journal-cum-primer asks us to remember the importance of play and return to our childhood approach to art. For teens and up, it's a pleasure for the artistically inclined—and the rest of us. Highly recommended.—Julia Cox, Penticton P.L., BC
Reviewed by Julia Cox , Mar 01, 2011

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