As Time Went By

by José Sanabria

Overview

2017 Batchelder Honor Book and ALA Notable Book

Once upon a time there was a ship that sailed beside the sun with very important people on board. The spirit of reinvention – and the importance we place on things – is beautifully expressed in José Sanabria’s visually evocative story. A steamship makes a journey across time from luxury and exclusivity, industry and abandonment, to stewardship and inclusion as we see the evolving functions of the ship and the changing faces of the people who cherish it most of all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735842489
Publisher:	NorthSouth Books
Publication date:	05/01/2016
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	11.20(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD630L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

José Sanabria is a Colombian illustrator based in Argentina since 1992. He studied graphic design in Bogotá, and illustration in Buenos Aires. His teachers were Juan Bobillo, Marcelo Sosa and Oscar Rojas. His works have been exhibited at the Biennale of B

Editorial Reviews

03/07/2016
In a tale written in three parts, Colombian illustrator Sanabria tells the story of a group of homeless people who find a wonderfully unexpected place to live. In the first section, he traces the downward slide of a once-majestic ocean liner that “sailed beside the sun.” Ladies with bustles and parasols who walk the deck are replaced by cargo and fishing nets before the ship is abandoned, the palette fading from rich color to dreary browns. Next, Sanabria introduces a wealthy family whose fortunes change; they are forced into drearier neighborhoods until eventually being pushed to the harbor with other luckless residents, the colors fading page by page here, too. In the final section, the people climb rope ladders up to the deck of the ship and haul their furniture aboard. A man “who had loved the sea since he was a boy” helps them rebuild, and the ship sails again. The triumph isn’t shown in the tone, which stays restrained, but in the colors, which reappear in confetti and flowers. Objects don’t stay precious forever, Sanabria’s story shows, but human lives do. Ages 4–8. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"Younger readers will learn a great deal about empathy and coming together as a whole while reading this story."- Beth H. Green, School Library Connection, Wappingers Junior High School (NY)

From the Publisher

05/01/2016
K-Gr 3—Three brief sections tell of the parallel flourishing, decline, and later revitalization of a family and a ship in this Swiss import by an Argentinian author/illustrator. After glamorous beginnings, the ship is abandoned at a port, and "luxury and excess [make] the family poor." Ultimately, the ship becomes the floating home of displaced peoples, including the family, and the vessel and family are restored to dignity and purpose. One or two sentences per spread tell the story in spare but rather stilted prose that may befuddle young readers. The tale offers neither a compelling story nor insight into poverty and inequality. Gloomy paintings of gray skies and people with bulging eyes and static postures convey a mood of ruin and despair throughout. VERDICT Managing to be both heavy-handed and opaque, this melancholy parable is not recommended.—Sarah Stone, San Francisco Public Library

School Library Journal

★ 2016-03-02
South American artist Sanabria offers a picture book about a ship and so much more. The story is broken up into three parts. In the first, watercolor-and-ink illustrations that evoke Maira Kalman's style invite close inspection of a luxury liner "with very important people on board." The deck of the ship dominates the opening double-page spread, and people in fancy clothes mill about. But a page turn reveals that "as time went by, the ship was sold to a merchant," and its days of luxury are gone when it finally ends up "abandoned." The second section depicts a similar downward spiral in the life of a wealthy family that loses its material wealth and ends up living in a village with other poor people until a powerful man tells them all to leave. In Part 3, the displaced people find the abandoned ship, and "with the help of a man who had loved the sea since he was a boy and knew a lot," they fix it up so it can sail again and provide a new home for all. The careful, elegiac text uses the phrase "as time went by" as a leitmotif; though it may seem to imply inevitability, it also allows for intentional change. Careful readers will note that this man was depicted as a boy with a toy ship on the title page, and he appears in the first two parts of the picture book, as well. A lovely, rich book to spend time with. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

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