Paul meets Bernadette is available in all corner book shops,
or you can let the mailman deliver it to your door:
Amazon,
Barnes and Noble,
Childrensbookstore.com,
Polyandria (search for встреча)
News:
Publishers Weekly 2013 Flying Starts
ABA Indie Next Winter 2013 Top Ten List
Smart Books for Smart Kids Interview
Reviews:
Love transforms the perspective of a bowl-bound goldfish in the beautiful, thickly painted pages of "Paul Meets Bernadette" (Candlewick, 40 pages, $14), by Rosy Lamb. In an exquisite sequence, we see the fish, Paul, going around and around in his glass bowl. Unlike the Love Monster, Paul isn't lonesome; he is just doing what there is to do, unaware of the larger world. Everything changes, however, when Bernadette arrives (charmingly, she "drops in"). More coppery in color than Paul, Bernadette immediately draws her companion's attention to the objects that surround them. She points out a banana on a dish and a vase of gorgeous flowers. Being a fish, her understanding is somewhat confused: Children ages 3-8 will love that Bernadette thinks a nearby green alarm clock is a cactus and that she mistakes an elegant teapot for a mother elephant. "She is not too dangerous," Bernadette assures Paul, as an unseen hand lifts the pot to pour tea, "but you must not disturb her when she is feeding her babies." This richly painted debut works as a cheery fable for children but also as a tender metaphor for older readers—not in the confusion of teapots but in the way that opening our eyes to beauty can determine whether our days are dull or fresh and full of color.
Paul, a solitary goldfish, spends his days swimming in circles. His life is uneventful until another fish, Bernadette, drops into his bowl. Not content to simply go round and round, she encourages Paul to take a look at the world outside their watery home. She shows him ordinary household items, which when viewed through the curved glass bowl and through the power of her imagination, become transformed. A bunch of bananas turn into a yellow boat and a vase of flowers is an enchanting forest. Some of Bernadette's creative interpretations will make young readers giggle, especially when a blue teapot becomes an elephant and two fried eggs are the sun and the moon. As he eagerly examines the fascinating world outside, Paul becomes equally captivated with his new friend. The whimsical story is accompanied by striking oil paintings. The two fish are portrayed in fluid orange and gold brushstrokes, while the bowl is a luminous sphere reflecting different colors from page to page. One of the final spreads depicts a homey breakfast table holding all of the everyday objects bestowed with magical qualities through the eyes of the fanciful goldfish. Pair this story with Devin Scillian's Memoirs of a Goldfish (Sleeping Bear, 2010).—Linda L. Walkins, Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, Boston, MA
Two goldfish admire the view from their bowl in Lamb’s promising debut. At first, orange juice–hued Paul spends all his time circling “from left to right and from right to left,” without much emotion or variety. “And then one day, Bernadette dropped in.” The newcomer, a saucy tomato-red fish, makes imaginative observations about their kitchen-table surroundings, pronouncing a banana “a boat” and a teapot “an elephant.” As the fish watch the “elephant” filling teacups (courtesy of an offstage human hand), Berna-dette cautions, “you must not disturb her when she is feeding her babies.” Amused children will protest as Paul falls under Bernadette’s spell, especially when Paul correctly identifies a pair of fried eggs and Bernadette contradicts him: “That is the sun and the moon!” Lamb’s delectable painting technique recalls that of confection-master Wayne Thiebaud; her backdrops resemble buttercream frosting in turquoise, sky blue, and lichen green, and she limns the fishes’ domain with impasto brushstrokes of white, yellow, and marine blue. Her sly approach to the way that love and friendship can alter one’s very view of life welcomes repeat visits.
A banana is a boat and a spoon's a fish in this sequence of charming, painterly oil illustrations that study the dodgy perspectives of two goldfish in a bowl. Paul has not seen the world. He swims around his fishbowl, maxing out his circle options: big, little, left to right, top to bottom. One day, a more cosmopolitan, clearly more imaginative goldfish named Bernadette is dropped into his bowl. "What are you doing?" she asks. As she encourages Paul to stop circling and observe the colorful realm beyond the glass, readers peer out too, squinting to visualize her delightful distortions. A big blue teapot pouring tea into teacups is a "not too dangerous" elephant, Bernadette proclaims: "But you must not disturb her while she is feeding her babies." A bottle of orange juice ("From the Isle of Concentrate") and a milk carton comprise the city of "Milkwaukee." At first, this book seems to be about how even the most constrained worlds expand with the power of imagination. But since Paul never really gets the hang of it, the story, in the end, mostly just underscores Bernadette's irresistible charms: "Now Paul goes around Bernadette." Fair enough--sometimes that's how it goes. How does life look from inside a goldfish bowl? Perhaps more intriguing for creative Bernadette than for circling Paul in this lovely, debatably romantic ode in oils.
Blogs and Websites:
Smart Books for Smart Kids
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books4yourkids.com
City Book Review
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The New York Foundling
Waking Brain Cells
Sonder Books
Publishers and release dates:
Candlewick Press, Somerville, USA, December 2013
Walker Books, London, UK, January 2014
Polyandria Print, Russia, January 2014
Walker Books, Australia, February 2014
Contact the author: rosy@rosylamb.com
"PAUL MEETS BERNADETTE. Copyright © 2013 by Rosy Lamb. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.”