Mr. Frank

by Irene Luxbacher

Overview

On his last day before retirement, Mr. Frank is sewing the most wonderful outfit of his long career. Who could it be for?

In all his years working as a tailor, Mr. Frank has made all kinds of clothes. From the practical uniforms of the 1940s to the wild and weird designs of the 1960s and 1970s, he has seen (and sewn) just about everything. But today’s project is especially close to Mr. Frank’s heart.

With its use of textiles and sensitive period detail, Irene Luxbacher’s artwork is the perfect complement to her understated text. The result is a story that children and grandparents can share with equal delight.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554984350
Publisher:	Groundwood Books
Publication date:	09/01/2014
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	7.70(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	AD980L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

IRENE LUXBACHER is an artist and author living in Toronto, Ontario, who has received many awards for her work. She has written and illustrated Deep Underwater, an Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award finalist, and Mr. Frank, which was selected as a USBBY Outstanding International Book. Her illustrations for the Malaika series by Nadia L. Hohn have been highly acclaimed, and her illustrations for The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larsen were shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award.

Editorial Reviews

Beautifully written and filled with visual details of days gone by, this small treasure is waiting to be shared again and again with a young grandchild…or with any young child.

School Library Journal

This quiet story is a wonderful homage to grandparents everywhere who delight in pleasing their grandchildren.

Library Media Connection

Outstanding mixed-media collages and a thoughtful text create a distinctive book that rises far above most tributes to grandparental love. . . . a perfect book.

STARRED REVIEW Kirkus

Luxbacher is pure genius, weaving in a half century-plus of fashion history into a glowing celebration of family.

BookDragon

A cozy read-aloud, particularly for grandparents and their grandchildren.

Booklist

Luxbacher’s gentle story, dedicated to her father “Frank the Tailor,” brims with nostalgia and affection.

CM Magazine

A USBBY Outstanding International Book
A Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice

"Outstanding mixed-media collages and a thoughtful text create a distinctive book that rises far above most tributes to grandparental love. . . . a perfect book." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Beautifully written and filled with visual details of days gone by, this small treasure is waiting to be shared again and again with a young grandchild…or with any young child." — School Library Journal

"Luxbacher is pure genius, weaving in a half century-plus of fashion history into a glowing celebration of family." — BookDragon

"A cozy read-aloud, particularly for grandparents and their grandchildren." — Booklist

"This quiet story is a wonderful homage to grandparents everywhere who delight in pleasing their grandchildren." — Library Media Connection


“In short, the outfit Mr. Frank was making today was perfect. So perfect, that after sewing the last stich, Mr. Frank knew there was nothing else he wanted to do. No suit, no dress, no costume, no tutu would ever seem special enough to thread another needle for.” — from the book

From the Publisher

★ 2014-07-16
Outstanding mixed-media collages and a thoughtful text create a distinctive book that rises far above most tributes to grandparental love. "Mr. Frank was a tailor," proclaims the first page, in bold, unambiguous lettering. The image is of an older man, humbly clothed in a baseball cap and a fuzzy sweater with elbow patches. He smiles slightly as he prepares to unlock his workshop door. In the next pages, readers learn that today, "Mr. Frank received an order for an outfit that made all the others seem rather dull." The double-page spreads that follow are perfect examples of artwork extending text, as each decade of Mr. Frank's long career reveals the fashions he helped to create and promulgate—always in the context of how much more wonderful Mr. Frank's newest creation must be. From army uniforms to miniskirts to tutus, readers get a taste of past fashions, as this outfit must be "more stylish than the suits he made over fifty years ago" and "more playful than the dresses and skirts he hemmed forty-some-odd years ago." In fact, the project Mr. Frank works on so lovingly today is "perfect…there was nothing else he wanted to do." The entirely wordless climax hints that the book may be turning maudlin, until the turn of the page reveals a humorous and heartwarming denouement. It's a perfect ending to a perfect book. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews