Mr. Wuffles! (Caldecott Honor Book)

by David Wiesner, David Wiesner (Illustrator)

Overview

A 2014 Caldecott Honor Book 

In a near wordless masterpiece that could only have been devised by David Wiesner, a cat named Mr. Wuffles doesn't care about toy mice or toy goldfish. He’s much more interested in playing with a little spaceship full of actual aliens—but the ship wasn't designed for this kind of rough treatment. Between motion sickness and damaged equipment, the aliens are in deep trouble.

When the space visitors dodge the cat and take shelter behind the radiator to repair the damage, they make a host of insect friends. The result? A humorous exploration of cooperation between aliens and insects, and of the universal nature of communication involving symbols, “cave” paintings, and gestures of friendship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780618756612
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/01/2013
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.34(w) x 11.26(h) x 0.45(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

David Wiesner is internationally renowned for his visual storytelling and has won the Caldecott Medal three times—for Tuesday, The Three Pigs, and Flotsam—the second person in history to do so. He is also the recipient of three Caldecott Honors, for Free Fall, Sector 7, and Mr. Wuffles. He lives near Philadelphia with his family. david-wiesner.harpercollins.com

David Wiesner is internationally renowned for his visual storytelling and has won the Caldecott Medal three times—for Tuesday, The Three Pigs, and Flotsam—the second person in history to do so. He is also the recipient of three Caldecott Honors, for Free Fall, Sector 7, and Mr. Wuffles. He lives near Philadelphia with his family. david-wiesner.harpercollins.com

Hometown:

Outside Philadelphia, P.A.

Date of Birth:

February 5, 1956

Place of Birth:

Bridgewater, NJ

Education:

Rhode Island School of Design -- BFA in Illustration.

Website:

http://www.hmhbooks.com/wiesner/

Editorial Reviews

In this brilliant book, Wiesner…unleashes the dramatic visual storytelling that won him three Caldecott Medals.

The New York Times Book Review - Sarah Harrison Smith

"Expertly imagined, composed, drawn and colored, this is Wiesner at his best."

— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Wiesner once again produces a fantasy adventure that isn't like anything else around."
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This exemplary Wiesnerian blend of ordinary and extraordinary incorporates the delights of Borrowers-style innovations, quintessential cat behavior, and Wiesner's own exquisitely fashioned art."

— Horn Book (starred review)

"Once again Wiesner dips into his impressible imagination to deliver a mostly wordless conceptual picture book where the mundane and the magical collide. . . .Wiesner is a three-time Caldecott winner. Three. Fans will be ready to pounce."

— Booklist (starred review)

"Visual storytelling at its best."
— School Library Journal (starred review)

"The award-winning Wiesner (his trophy collection would make Meryl Streep blush) is a master of the form, a magical realist who makes the commonplace seem suddenly more interesting."
— The Atlantic Wire

“Fans of Tuesday will recognize Wiesner’s easy shift from the mundane to the fantastical here as well as his deft and plausible creation of a skewed reality. . . . On a more dramatic note, there’s a Spielberg/Lucas level of glory to the bold ant-back and ladybug-flying escape scenes (you can practically hear the John Williams score).”
— Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

From the Publisher

★ 2013-09-01
A house cat pooh-poohs most proffered toys and gets his comeuppance tangling with a tiny alien spacecraft and its penny-sized adventurers. Peppered with speech bubbles in English, alien- or insect-speak, Wiesner's multipaneled tour de force treats the green ETs to maximum upheaval. Their initial celebration at landing turns to mayhem as their craft is buffeted by Mr. Wuffles. The aliens assess a smoldering engine part and disembark for help. The ensuing comic interplay pits cat against aliens as the tiny ones flee beneath a radiator cover. A ladybug and several ants assist them, and the repair's successfully made by harvesting cross sections of detritus: pencil eraser, M&M, marble and metal screw. The insects have decorated the wall of their lair with drawings à la Lascaux, the menacing Mr. Wuffles depicted prominently. After sketching a game plan, with insects playing transport and diversionary roles, the crew escapes back to the ship. Against oak floorboards and wallpaper prettily conveyed in ink and watercolor, the now-crazed Mr. Wuffles is riveted to the radiator, perplexing his human. Final panels show the cat gazing out the window, claws fruitlessly deployed; ants draw new scenes on their wall. Wiesner truly "gets" cats: An end-flap photo shows that the artist's "model" for the beleaguered Mr. Wuffles is indeed a household denizen. Expertly imagined, composed, drawn and colored, this is Wiesner at his best. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews