Tuesday illustrated and written by David Wiesner

I loved this book. I found it cute and hilarious. This book had almost no words and yet the story was displayed beautifully through intricate illustrations. Each time I read it over I see something I have not noticed before, the sign of a good book. One of the things I liked the most about this book was that the story begins before the publishing information and the title. The first page is a crucial illustration that begins the story. The facial expression on the frogs’ faces as their lily pads begins to rise is ecstatic. Just from the pictures alone the child will know exactly what is going on. The only words besides the title was “Tuesday evening, around eight” and “Next Tuesday, 7:58 pm.”  There are two instances where specific times are given but those are the only other instances in the entire book. It relies almost completely on its illustrations. Without the word, David Wiesner masterly conveys humor, suspense and adventure. The mystery for why the lily pads rise is never explained but what happens when they do I would not want to miss. This book would be great to use in a classroom when showing different kinds of books. For students who are in the upper grades who may forget how much an illustration can tell of a story. It would also (for obvious reasons) be perfect for children who do not yet know hot to read. They almost don’t need to. Getting them to turn the page and begin the reading process almost before they know their ABCs.

Published: 1991