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Gregory Rogers: The Hero of Little Street
Congratulations to Gregory Rogers, whose beautiful picture book, The Hero of Little Street, has received short listings for the 2010 Children’s Book Council of Australia, Picture Book of the Year Award, the NSW Premier’s Prize, Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature, Speech Pathology Book of the Year Awards 2010, and the 2009 Aurealis Award for Best Children’s Short Fiction/Illustrated Work/Picture Book.
The Hero of Little Street was recently published in the UK, where it is receiving glowing reviews:
Gregory Rogers’ extraordinary The Hero of Little Street is a wordless picture book teeming with the sort of action that cries out for repeated viewings. A small boy, escaping from a gang of bullies, first slips into London’s National Gallery and then takes refuge in a Vermeer painting of 17th-century Holland. Many adventures later, he comes back to reality, now accompanied by a fierce band of dogs to see off any opposition. This feast of a book has to be seen to be believed.
— The Independent
Equally anthusiastic was Armadillo Magazine:
Escaping from a gang of bullies a young boy escapes into London’s National Gallery. Could this be the perfect hiding place – full of mystery, treasures and of course paintings!
Boy is enchanted by one particularly mischievous dog and a painting by Vermeer which they both escape into for an adventure that neither of them would have been able to imagine. Following this escape their adventure continues through the picture coming to a thrilling and exciting climax.
The world of Vermeer is not an ideal place for a young boy and his dog, there are some hair-raising adventures in store for them and with a vivid detail this book takes its reader on an exciting journey through paintings, history and power of the imagination.
There is no text in this graphic novel for younger readers, it is based entirely on a sequence of comic strip style illustrations – only in the sense of their layout.
This is a beautifully and intricately drawn story which relies on the graphic novel format for its layout but the imagination of the child and adult reader for the development of the story for every individual who reads it.
Each and every time this book is ventured into I guarantee that the story will change for it will inspire in its young readers the forgotten art of storytelling. Allowing embellishment where the reader wants it and constant change depending on the interpretation of the reader on the day.
This is a bold and brave approach to storytelling for a younger audience, beautifully conceived and cleverly presented.
It is a must, not only for the very young, but also anyone who is stuck for inspiration and in need of a reading book with a very different approach. — Reviewed by Louise Ellis-Barrett
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