A Los Angeles Times Book Review Best Children's Book of 2002
The Barnes & Noble Review
David Macaulay has a flair for deconstructing big ideas for children, as is evident in his bestselling books Building Big and The Way Things Work. Macaulay puts that talent to good use when he combines his love of majestic old buildings with a heartwarming relationship between an old craftsman and a wounded pigeon.
Angelo is restoring an old church in Rome, and in the course of his work, he discovers a pigeon perched on a ledge, unable to fly. He is annoyed at first, but he realizes he can't leave the helpless bird. He carries the bird home and makes it a little bed. He soon begins begins caring for it, naming it Sylvia and taking it to work and out to the country on weekends. When Sylvia is completely recovered, she flies away, though she returns every day to visit Angelo, both at work and at home.
Meanwhile, Angelo takes great pride and good care in reconstructing the beauty of the old church, and after two years, the work is almost complete. But Sylvia begins to notice that her friend looks haggard and worried. "This place has become your home," he tells her. "Where will you go when I'm gone?" He stays away from home for an entire night and returns in the morning, tired but content. He then falls asleep in his favorite chair, with Sylvia by his side. When he fails to show up for work, his assistants go to his house and find that he has died. His body is returned to the church for the funeral, and crowning the beautiful restoration work, high up near the roof, is Angelo's gift to Sylvia -- a nest made of stucco, "never to be swept away."
Macaulay surpasses the realm of the picture book, transforming a story with essentially weighty subject matter into a beautiful tale of life-affirming friendship. Readers will appreciate Angelo's true affection for Sylvia and as well as the pigeon's often carefree antics. The text sets a high standard, allowing young readers to explore new words and truly understand Angelo and Sylvia's friendship.
Macaulay's tender illustrations complement his gentle story. The watercolors gracefully convey Italy's warm sun, and the beauty and charm of Rome is apparent everywhere. His inspired attention to detail is evocative -- the little bed Angelo makes for Sylvia allows the reader to appreciate the craftsman's warm heart. Macaulay's use of perspective shows us the world from both Angelo's and Sylvia's points of view -- from the ground and from the air -- and the red stucco bird's nest, nestled between two stone cherubs atop the church, is a heartwarming and exquisite sight.
Teaching the importance of loyalty and the magic of unlikely companions, this extraordinary tale will amaze readers of all ages. Macaulay's outstanding creation is a lesson in life, food for the soul, and a sheer pleasure. (Amy Barkat)
Macaulay (Building Big, not reviewed, etc.), master of multiple perspectives, takes a tender turn in his latest work, set upon the stucco of a venerable old church. Angelo, an aging, all-business artisan, is inspecting every nook and cranny of each and every ledge when he happens upon a frail descendant of one of the "generations of thoughtless pigeons" who have besmirched the beautiful building facade he is to restore. Angelo is determined to dispose of this nuisance, just as soon as she is restored to some semblance of strength. Grudgingly, but with great care, he creates a sort of Rube Goldberg clinic for the bird, who thrives on Angelo's attention and quickly becomes his constant companion. The unlikely friendship formed between the solitary stucco artist and Sylvia, a sort of fine-feathered vaudevillian, seems to fill chinks and crannies of a very different kind. All about accommodation and alternating points of view, this story is a carefully constructed balance of sympathy and silliness. Macaulay's trusty technical pen is tempered with a palette of earthen watercolors kissed with golden ochre. Angelo's rounded countenance and the pastoral aspects of his world are conveyed with a naive fluidity in contrast to the edges and angles of Macaulay's more architectural renderings. Tile-shaped text boxes are aptly placed to provide the proper vantage point from which to read the pictures. From the dizzying heights of stories-high scaffolding to the worn stones of the local piazza, from Sylvia's sideshow shenanigans to the intimate glimpse into hard-working Angelo's lonely life, this up-close-and-personal, touching tale may be just as important as Cathedral, if not as grand. (Picture book.5-9)
"Angelo centers on the beauty and value of work, the transcendent nature of friendship and the consolations of art. It is an eloquent and in its fullhearted way a storybook for readers of all ages...Angelo is rendered from a bird's-eye perspective, a captivating, vertiginous view of the cityscape, reminiscent of the style Macaulay used in Rome Antics. These intricate drawings are suffused with soft autumnal colors that perfectly complement the beautiful story." The New York Times Book Review
"Macaulay's watercolor illustrations provide a cornucopia of surprises, architectural details, and humorous touches...a charming story of an improbable friendship." School Library Journal, Starred
"Seasoned artist Macaulay knows how to get the most humor out of his illustrations, both in the finer details and the broader strokes." Publishers Weekly, Starred
"The offbeat friendship is charming, there are entertaining details to discover throughout the book, and the grand old city is evoked in all her bustle and luminosity." Horn Book
"From the dizzying heights of stories-high scaffolding to the worn stones of the local piazza, from Sylvia's sideshow shenanigans to the intimate glimpse into hard-working Angelo's lonely life, this up-close-and-personal, touching tale may be just as important as Cathedral, if not as grand." Kirkus Reviews with Pointers —
