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Summary
Summary
A brilliantly original picture book about seeking acceptance offers a cleverly hidden image on every page. Meet the Nose, a simple fellow who just wants to belong. It's easy enough for the Nose to stick out, but will he ever be able to fit in? The Nose's search for a place where he can be happy sends him wandering high and low, far and wide, until he makes a remarkable and reassuring discovery. First-time author Viviane Schwarz and first-time illustrator Joel Stewart have created a world both unusual and familiar - a world where there's a special place for everyone, right under our noses.
Author Notes
Viviane Schwarz was born in Hanover, Germany. She studied at Falmouth College of Arts and holds a Master's degree in Authorial Illustration. Her work includes There Are Cats in this Book, There Are No Cats in this Book, and The Adventures of a Nose. I am Henry Finch (written with Alexis Deacon) won the 2016 Little Rebels award for radical children's fiction.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-This is the bizarre story of a nose's quest for belonging. After searching the world over for a spot where he can both "fit in, and stick out," the Nose visits a doctor and learns that the whole world fits perfectly around him. His place is always in the middle, sticking out. Quirky mixed-media illustrations are expertly rendered and are in keeping with the story, but the concept-that of searching for a sense of place that is often right under our noses-is adult, making the book an imperfect fit for the picture-book crowd.-Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Magritte, in a whimsical mood, might have done these charming paintings of a disembodied nose who seeks "a place where I can fit in, and stick out." The Nose, a pale and fleshy triangle, stands upright on two slim legs (one from each nostril) that wear tasteful gray flannel pants and brown dress shoes. Collages of maps, menus and rail tickets suggest how far the restless Nose roves in search of his ideal spot; in delicate pencil sketches and squarish color illustrations, the Nose poses in green landscapes and on street corners. This tale from a first-time author-illustrator team gets the tone just right. Schwarz's understated text conveys alienation; the Nose yearns for a sense of belonging. Meanwhile, Stewart's ingenious portraits show that everywhere the Nose goes, he unwittingly creates the illusion of a face. While enjoying a good book at the library (" `This one smells of ink, and this one smells of dust,' he thinks"), the Nose sits between reading lamps that resemble green-lidded eyes; the open pages on his lap suggest a white mustache, la Arcimboldo. When the Nose performs a "beautiful sneezing dance," symmetrical theater curtains recall a red mask; when he wanders through a market, two orange squash simulate eyes and a broad red sombrero indicates lips. In the end, the Nose reclines on a daybed (the bulging headrest forms a melancholy brow ridge) and a therapist reassures him, "Don't you see? The whole world fits perfectly around you... because you are a Nose!" Thanks to the surreal, captivating images, the diagnosis is as plain as, well, you know. Ages 6-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Looking like a Salvador Dali creation, a walking nose--he has legs jutting from his nostrils--travels around trying to find a place where he can fit in and stick out. While the theme isnÆt new, this pleasingly surreal quest for belonging does have a droll twist, in that, wherever the nose goes, he always appears in the mixed-media illustrations to be right where he belongs, in the middle of a face. From HORN BOOK Fall 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Schwarz and Stewart, in their first effort, have created a charming, original twist on the old "where-do-I-fit-in" theme, with a runaway nose looking for his special place in the world, "a place to fit in and stick out." He trots along in proper gray slacks and brown lace-up shoes (with his legs extending from his nostrils), traveling around his town (a library, a restaurant, a theater) and then sniffing out new locations around the world (a mountaintop, an iceberg, a Middle Eastern market). In each setting, as the nose pauses, elements of the background provide eyes and a mouth, subtly showing that he does indeed fit in wherever he goes. At last, he consults a doctor, who explains that the world must fit around a nose, who is by nature in the middle, sticking out. The final spread shows the nose in an exuberantly existential tabletop dance, celebrating with characters from the previous pages. Stewart's stylish, witty illustrations offer one full-page illustration (with the fun of finding the eyes and mouth) and smaller, related illustrations on the facing pages that complement the text. Will this beautifully designed story help children on their own existential journeys to both fit in with the crowd and yet stand out as individuals? Who knows? (Picture book. 4-8)
Booklist Review
Ages 4-8. Here's a Kafka-esque little tale featuring a nose on the lookout for happiness and with a longing to fit in. His travels take him to all sorts of places: a restaurant («this is a place for mouths»); on stage as a dancing nose (too much attention); up mountains; and down in the sea. Finally, he winds up on a shrink's couch, where he learns that the world fits around him. He celebrates at a party where he «fits in by sticking out.» The story sails along until the somewhat convoluted ending. But throughout, the art is memorable, strange, and witty as the nose develops a distinctive personality of its own. Set against cityscapes and rural backgrounds, the nose sometimes leans into a position that places him in the center of what almost appears to be two eyes and a mouth, turning a simple nose into a face. The imaginative, mixed-media art also uses pencil drawings on graph paper and map collages to vary the effect. Ilene Cooper.