My pen

Like a more sophisticated Harold and the Purple Crayon, this sparce picture book by celebrated children's book illustrator Myers, depicts whole worlds created by only the pen in the artist's hand. After admitting that he sometimes feels small compared to powerful people, he says, Then I remember I have my pen. From there, he demonstrates how much power his pen gives him. First he draws a giant man in work clothes; then he shrinks that man down to fit in the hand of a girl. A tiny version of the artist rides a huge T. rex, then sails across the ocean in a boat made of folded newspaper. Myers' imaginative and realistic black-ink drawings, each one full of detail and enlivened with crosshatched shading, are scattered over each page, some appearing as ordered compositions while others look like playful doodles. In straightforward lines, Myers mentions his worries, the people he loves, and the realities of failure, depicted in page-covering ink splotches. Imaginative kiddos will appreciate this empowering ode to creativity.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2015 Booklist

A graceful boy with a fedora and soft curls talks about the power of making art, as finely detailed black-and-white images surround him, like a sketchbook brought to life. Deep in thought, the boy compares himself to people who are rich or famous. "Sometimes I feel small," he confesses. "But then I remember I have my pen." Instead of imagining fortune or celebrity, he pays homage to wisdom and strength, drawing a farmer in overalls who towers over him like a stone monument (and who bears a strong resemblance to the author's late father, Walter Dean Myers). "My pen," he says, "makes giants of old men who have seen better days." His pen creates adventure ("My pen sails to Africa in a newspaper boat") but carries grave concern, too ("My pen worries about all the wars in the world"). Throughout the book, faces-young and old, with dark skin and light skin, with dreadlocks and pigtails-assure readers that this is a book meant for them, as are the freedom, power, and unlimited possibilities that drawing offers: "Let those worlds inside your pen out!" Ages 3-5. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

K-Gr 3-Aurelio is a young artist with big eyes, a fedora, and, most importantly, a vivid imagination. In ink renderings on pages that maintain interest by alternating between black on white and the perception of the reverse, the boy contrasts the sense of being small-evoked when he sees rich and famous people-with the power he wields with his pen. The "Dali" headline on the book jacket's folded newspaper boat foreshadows playful bits of surrealism, e.g., an elephant in a teacup, a man who looms large on the left page in the hand of a small girl on the right. This tender composition has a familial, personal feeling. The versatile drawing instrument worries about war, expresses love, and "wears satellite sneakers with computer laces." Myers intersperses literal depictions of the pen at work (creating the child's face) with images that are described in more fanciful terms. Where the artist is walking upside down (no pen in sight), the text reads: "My pen tap-dances on the sky and draws clouds with its feet." The first-person possessive voice wears a little thin, and the connection among the pages is loose. Nevertheless, Myers has assembled a visually arresting array of sketches that will likely attract the interest of children who enjoy drawing themselves. Indeed, the last sentence is an invitation to "Let those worlds inside your pen out!" VERDICT The striking images and important message outweigh any narrative issues.-Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

There are rich people who own jewels and houses and pieces of the sky / Sometimes I feel small when I see those rich and famous people. But then I remember I have my pen. The pages that follow show the narrators attempts to lift himself up through his art: he creates precise black-and-white drawings of fantastical scenes -- an elephant hiding in a teacup, a chest x-ray that looks like a butterfly, and so on. Every illustration features a child in an oversize fedora (ostensibly the narrator, who presumably represents Myers in his youth) but My Pen is ultimately a democratic effort. There are a million pens in the world / and each one has a million worlds inside it, Myers writes on the second-to-last page before exhorting the reader to let those worlds inside your pen out! While its a truism that making art can lighten a psychic load (My pen worries about all the wars in the world), Myers allows that his hand has its limitations: the illustration beside but it doesnt always get it right shows the boy smacking his forehead in frustration. Its a clear-eyed record of a dreamlike world. nell beram (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A boy describes everything his pen can do, from the literal to the metaphorical.A thoughtful boy wearing a fedora opens with a pensive, poetic assertion. "There are rich people who own jewels and houses and pieces of the sky," there are people who are famous worldwide, and sometimes he feels small in comparison"[b]ut then I remember I have my pen." This extraordinary nib pen hides an elephant in a teacup and X-rays the boy's chest, revealing a butterfly with a pen body. It has tender abilities ("My pen makes giants of old men / who have seen better days") and cryptic qualities ("My pen is smart as a snowflake"). Myers uses nib pen for his excellently skilled, shaded and detailed drawings in black ink on white background. The boy's pen "draws [him] a new face every morning," shown only partially finished. When text says the pen "wears satellite sneakers" or "tap-dances on the sky," illustrations show the boy doing so; when the pen "worries about all the wars in the world," the boy shelters from tanks and warplanes. This pen is the boy's tool but also his heart, self and strength, and maybe it's not so unusual: "There are a million pens in the world / and each one has a million worlds inside it." Highly sophisticated concepts and art invite the long and close examination of older readers. Poignant, vulnerable, wise. (Picture book. 7-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Like a more sophisticated Harold and the Purple Crayon, this sparce picture book by celebrated children's book illustrator Myers, depicts whole worlds created by only the pen in the artist's hand. After admitting that he sometimes feels small compared to powerful people, he says, "Then I remember I have my pen." From there, he demonstrates how much power his pen gives him. First he draws a giant man in work clothes; then he shrinks that man down to fit in the hand of a girl. A tiny version of the artist rides a huge T. rex, then sails across the ocean in a boat made of folded newspaper. Myers' imaginative and realistic black-ink drawings, each one full of detail and enlivened with crosshatched shading, are scattered over each page, some appearing as ordered compositions while others look like playful doodles. In straightforward lines, Myers mentions his worries, the people he loves, and the realities of failure, depicted in page-covering ink splotches. Imaginative kiddos will appreciate this empowering ode to creativity. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

A graceful boy with a fedora and soft curls talks about the power of making art, as finely detailed black-and-white images surround him, like a sketchbook brought to life. Deep in thought, the boy compares himself to people who are rich or famous. "Sometimes I feel small," he confesses. "But then I remember I have my pen." Instead of imagining fortune or celebrity, he pays homage to wisdom and strength, drawing a farmer in overalls who towers over him like a stone monument (and who bears a strong resemblance to the author's late father, Walter Dean Myers). "My pen," he says, "makes giants of old men who have seen better days." His pen creates adventure ("My pen sails to Africa in a newspaper boat") but carries grave concern, too ("My pen worries about all the wars in the world"). Throughout the book, faces—young and old, with dark skin and light skin, with dreadlocks and pigtails—assure readers that this is a book meant for them, as are the freedom, power, and unlimited possibilities that drawing offers: "Let those worlds inside your pen out!" Ages 3–5. (Mar.)

K-Gr 3—Aurelio is a young artist with big eyes, a fedora, and, most importantly, a vivid imagination. In ink renderings on pages that maintain interest by alternating between black on white and the perception of the reverse, the boy contrasts the sense of being small—evoked when he sees rich and famous people—with the power he wields with his pen. The "Dali" headline on the book jacket's folded newspaper boat foreshadows playful bits of surrealism, e.g., an elephant in a teacup, a man who looms large on the left page in the hand of a small girl on the right. This tender composition has a familial, personal feeling. The versatile drawing instrument worries about war, expresses love, and "wears satellite sneakers with computer laces." Myers intersperses literal depictions of the pen at work (creating the child's face) with images that are described in more fanciful terms. Where the artist is walking upside down (no pen in sight), the text reads: "My pen tap-dances on the sky and draws clouds with its feet." The first-person possessive voice wears a little thin, and the connection among the pages is loose. Nevertheless, Myers has assembled a visually arresting array of sketches that will likely attract the interest of children who enjoy drawing themselves. Indeed, the last sentence is an invitation to "Let those worlds inside your pen out!" VERDICT The striking images and important message outweigh any narrative issues.—Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library