The Goblin and the Empty Chair: With Audio Recording

by Mem Fox, Leo Dillon (Illustrator), Diane Dillon (Illustrator)

Overview

In a time long past, in a land far away, a family has suffered an unspeakable loss.

But a lonely goblin has been watching. And he knows what to do to help them heal.

From internationally acclaimed picture book masters Mem Fox and Leo and Diane Dillon, here is a rich and moving original fairy tale about family, friendship, and the power compassion has to unite us all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781439157428
Publisher:	Beach Lane Books
Publication date:	11/19/2013
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Lexile:	AD550L (what's this?)
File size:	22 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Mem Fox is an educator and international literacy expert, and her many acclaimed picture books for young children include Yoo-Hoo, Ladybug!; Hello Baby!; Baby Bedtime; I’m an Immigrant Too; the bestselling modern classics Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes and Time for Bed; and, for adults, Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. She lives in Adelaide, Australia. Visit her at MemFox.com.

Leo and Diane Dillon are an award winning illustrator pair that have collaborated of book projects for more than fifty years, winning two consecutive Caldecott Medals for Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People's Ears and Ashanti To Zulu: African Traditions. They have also received five New York Times Best Illustrated Books Awards, five Coretta Scott King Honors and one Coretta Scott King Award and many other awards and distinctions. They live and work in Brooklyn, New York.

Editorial Reviews

An unspecified medieval setting, an outwardly grotesque creature who is tender and compassionate, sad humans beset by difficulties, three tasks performed by the hero and a moral about looking beyond appearances; all of these are familiar elements in the fairy-tale tradition. Fox is a master at crafting tales that linger in memory over time, gently adding to the canon of classics. Her text is full of imagery and repeats several lovely phrases, with the theme of gentle kindness permeating the carefully chosen language. The Dillons' signature style raises the level of achievement even higher. Each page is framed in three parts with the text at bottom, a central watercolor illustration of a key event and its concomitant strong emotion and a border strip depicting actions that immediately precede the text. Gargoyles mirroring the emotions of the characters peek from behind each frame. The family's despair is never explained, but there is a pictorial clue that young readers will understand. A perfect combination of words and images. (Picture book. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews

"In this original fairy tale, acclaimed author Mem Fox tell the moving story of a lonely goblin...The illustrations by two-time Caldecott Medalists, Leo and DIane Dillon, are wonderfully expressive paintings for which the couple is famous...While the simple text can be read by children on their own, the pictures, story, and subject matter make this a natural for sharing aloud with children of all ages. Recommended."-Library Media Connection

"The Dillons' characteristic clean lines and controlled palette mirror the tender emotion of the tale while providing young viewers with plenty of visual cues to guide them along the story...this gentle read will...leave listeners safisfied."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher