The Playgrounds of Babel

by JonArno Lawson, Piet Grobler (Illustrator)

Overview

From the international best-selling author of Sidewalk Flowers and a world-renowned illustrator, this picture book is about the power of song, inspired by the story of the Tower of Babel.

This unusual, thought-provoking story begins with an old woman telling a tale to a group of children in a playground. One of the boys can’t understand what she is saying, so another offers to translate. The old woman’s tale is inspired by the Tower of Babel story: In the days when everyone spoke the same language, the people built a tower to reach God. But God was annoyed and sent a dragon to destroy the tower, then created new languages for everyone so that they couldn’t understand each other. Fortunately, two little girls find a way to communicate through song.

Told entirely through dialogue, moving back and forth between the old woman’s tale and the exchange between the two boys, this original, sometimes funny story raises questions about what divides us and what brings us together, in spite of all our differences — it is the power of song in this case, which ultimately brings hope.

Piet Grobler brings a masterful visual interpretation to this layered story, rendering the old woman and children in the playground in monochromatic tones and the characters in the old woman’s tale in a naïve style with vibrant color, complete with incomprehensible languages in hand-drawn speech balloons. An author’s note explains JonArno Lawson’s inspiration for the story.

Key Text Features
author’s note

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6
Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.9
Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781773060361
Publisher:	Groundwood Books
Publication date:	08/01/2019
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

JONARNO LAWSON is the author of numerous books for children and adults, including The Playgrounds of Babel, illustrated by Piet Grobler, and Leap!, illustrated by Josée Bisaillon. He has also collaborated on books with Nelson Ball, Alec Dempster, Nahid Kazemi, Amjad Jaimoukha, Qin Leng, Daniel Ratthei and Sherwin Tjia. His most recent book is Wise Up! Wise Down!, a collaboration with the poet John Agard, illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura. JonArno lives in Toronto, Ontario, with his family.

PIET GROBLER is a world-renowned South African illustrator of children’s books. He has illustrated ninety five books, which have been published in many languages, and he has won a number of awards, including two silver medals at the Noma Concours (Japan), the Octogone de Chêne (France) and a Golden Apple at the Biennial of Illustration in Bratislava. He lives in Portugal and is the visiting Professor in Illustration at the University of Worcester, in the United Kingdom.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Uncle Holland by JonArno Lawson, illustrated by Natalie Nelson

“Sophisticated yet playful, this is an unusual, original work …” School Library Journal

“Austere and quirky, with lots of room for conversations.” Kirkus

Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson, illustrated by Sydney Smith

* “A quiet, graceful book about the perspective-changing wonder of humble, everyday pleasures.” Booklist, starred review

* “An emotionally moving, visually delightful ode to the simple powers of observation and empathy. . . . A book to savor slowly and then revisit again and again.” School Library Journal, starred review

Colors! ¡Colores! by Jorge Luján, illustrated by Piet Grobler

“The imagery in both words and pictures is often richly original. … A lovely book to share, reflect upon and linger over.” Kirkus

“Grobler, a South African artist, interprets the verse through watercolor paintings that are as spare and fanciful as the writing.” Booklist

* “Grobler’s watercolour illustrations combine small whimsically detailed figures with loose wide bleeds of colour, each one managing to reflect the mood of the text perfectly. This is a lush and beautiful book … Highly Recommended.” CM Magazine, starred review

Editorial Reviews

This absorbing picture book confirms the wisdom of Italo Calvino's belief in the living nature of the stories that have come down to us: "The tale is not beautiful if nothing is added to it."

The New York Times Book Review - Leonard S. Marcus

[A] simple, heartening tale about myth, ingenuity, and the human need to connect.” — Quill & Quire

“A conversation starter.” — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

[A] simple, heartening tale about myth, ingenuity, and the human need to connect.

Quill & Quire

[A] simple, heartening tale about myth, ingenuity, and the human need to connect.

Quill and Quire

2019-04-16
A new take on the Babel tale featuring friendship, song, and a dragon.

Two children on a playground overhear an old woman telling a story. Since one child doesn't understand her language, the other takes on the storytelling. The story differs from what the listener—and perhaps readers—is familiar with: After the people of Babel build their tower, "God sent a dragon to destroy the tower, and then God made it impossible for people to understand each other—by making new languages for everyone." The translating child continues, describing how sudden linguistic barriers did nothing to dim the friendship between two young girls of Babel. Through song, the two discovered how to communicate once more. Conveyed entirely through dialogue, back-and-forth questioning between listening child and translating child moves the action forward but also prompts musings on belief and story. "None of it is realistic. It's a story, not reality.…No one's asking you to believe, just imagine." Grobler's mixed-media work illustrates the narrative layers. He sticks primarily to an inky palette for the playground action while illuminating the Babel tale with bright watercolor and colored pencil. Just as the skeptical child concedes, "That sounds realistic," the illustrator injects color into the playground. Languages are denoted by different symbol sets rather than lettering, and the cast of characters is diverse in skin color and dress, including both pairs of friends.

A conversation starter. (author's note) (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews