Puss Reboots: Blog: April 2010: The Wing on a Flea

Recent posts

Reviews:
Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Babies on the Go by Linda Ashman
The Balloon Boy of San Francisco by Dorothy Kupcha Leland
Bandits of the Trace by Albert E. Cowdrey
The Book That Eats People by John Perry and Mark Fearing
Buffalo Before Breakfast (Magic Tree House #18) by Mary Pope Osborne
The Clue of the Tapping Heels by Carolyn Keene
Coraline by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell
Crogan's Vengeance by Chris Schweizer
Do Not Open This Book! by Michaela Muntean
Dragon's Teeth by Alex Irvine
Keys to the City by Joel Kostman
Guy Time by Sarah Weeks
Immaculate Deception by Courtney J. Webb
Is There a Monster Over There? by Sally O Lee
Jeremy Draws a Monster by Peter McCarty
Letters to Rosy by C. Ellene Bartlett
The Man Who Lost His Head by Claire Huchet Bishop
Mummies in the Morning (Magic Tree House #3) by Mary Pope Osborne
My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath
Out of Time by John Marsden
Promotion Denied by Joseph W. Hoffler
Scary Party by Sue Hendra
Scat by Carl Hiaasen
The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook by Eleanor Davis
Shadows on the Walls of the Cave by Kate Wilhelm
Shriek: An Afterword by Jeff VanderMeer
Swim to Me by Betsy Carter
Tigers at Twilight (Magic Tree House #19) by Mary Pope Osborne
The Travesties by Giselle Renarde
War, Women and the News by Catherine Gourley
The Wing on a Flea by Ed Emberley

Previous month

The Wing on a Flea: 04/29/10

I grew up reading Ed Emberley's books. I rediscovered him as a parent. I remember him mostly for his how to draw books but he also has a long list of picture books and books he has illustrated for other authors. The Wing on a Flea is an updated edition of his 1961 book which we borrowed from the library.

As Ed points out at the close of the book, fleas don't have wings. He took poetic license hoping to inspire creativity as he shows children how simple geometric shapes can be used to create complex drawings.

The Wing on a Flea goes through the basic shapes: circle, triangle and square to show how they can be found in day to day things. Each page has a bunch of typically colorful and geometric Emberley illustrations that highlight the shape in question as it works with the others.

Sean enjoyed the book for the artistic inspiration and Harriet liked it because she was studying triangles in preschool.