Unlike most illustrated
books, which are typically driven by text, Island Dog is a mixed breed:
a panoramic work of art in the shape of a book. Goodale paints her pages with
vivid colors, shapes, and textures, and extends her canvas with gatefolds and
diecuts that become an integral part of the story-telling and personality of
the piece. Her friendly dog and lush scenery pull you forward into Goodale's
idyllic island world, where you can invent your own stories about this special
dog's life.
Anyone who's ever
taken dogs to the beach will appreciate the memorable moments captured in pages
dripping with color-from being sprayed by a water-logged dog trying to shake
itself dry to watching a four-legged friend chase seagulls in the sand. The
book also evokes the picturesque charm and mystique of island living in a way
that may leave you wishing you were an island dog.
What
People Are Saying
"A wordless
picture book with vibrant illustrations and an excellent design. Diecuts and
gatefolds create many scene possibilities as readers turn the pages. The simple
pictures show a playful dog reveling on a beautiful summer day on a Maine island.
Nothing much happens, but youngsters will find pleasure and satisfaction in
absorbing the striking art and in verbalizing what is going on in the pictures."
--School Library Journal
"Flip through
the pages of Rebecca Goodale's Island Dog and you'll be struck by the
brilliance of its saturated colors and the charming simplicity of the imagery.
A story without text of a dog's jaunts on an unnamed Maine Island on a summer
day, the book depicts woman's best friend as she swims in the water, chases
seagulls, then heads for her lighthouse home.
"There are rewards for careful readers, like such
small but closely observed details as the way the dog holds her tail when she
encounters one of her own. Goodale also worked to make the story realistic by
including such specifics as the Spring Point Ledge Light. To accurately portray
the constellations, she studied charts of Maine summer skies at night.
"The lack of a text leaves room for all kinds of
interpretations. Aprile Gallant, curator of prints, drawings, and photographs
at the Portland Museum of art, said 'It allows people to use their imaginations
to create their own story.'
"For Goodale, a book artist, printmaker, textile
designer and teacher at the University of Southern Maine, putting the book together
presented a 'design challenge.' She realized that by inserting gatefolds periodically,
she could affect the rate at which the book would be read. 'I was trying to
choreograph the reader's movements,' she said, 'not only the hands, but the
eyes as well.'
"There's even a suggestion of something deeper.
Goodale previously produced a book-art series in which people can be seen reading
books -- 'books about books,' she calls them. In those, she said, 'I'm hinting
at something like infinity.'
"In this book, a boy sits reading something that
appears to be Island Dog. It's just 'another infinity,' said Goodale."
--Pat Sims, Casco Bay Weekly
"In Island
Dog, artist Rebecca Goodale offers a scenic tour of the simple joys of life
on an island from the perspective of an adventurous dog. Drawing on a array
of colors, shapes, and images, Goodale allows her tale to unfold naturally,
without words, so that the reader can explore and savor the views in peaceful
silence -- and perhaps be inspired to create their own stories about a special
dog. Highly recommended."
--Midwest Book Review
"Island
Dog puts a new spin on the illustrated book by letting the reader determine
the story. It provokes the imagination, delights the senses, and is both inventive
and endlessly entertaining."
--Aprile Gallant, Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs,
Portland Museum of Art, Maine
"Island
Dog is a lovely book, the spirit of coastal Maine indeed, life the way
it ought to be: beloved dog, caring man and the magic seascape, in leisurely
pure harmony, portrayed by an inspired artist."
-- Janwillem van de Wetering, author of the Hugh Pine
children's books and the popular Grijpstra and de Gier mysteries
"What a switch!
The reader tells the story--with infinite creative possibilities. I love it!"
-- Cherie Mason, author of Wild Fox, A True Story
and Everybody's Somebody's Lunch
If you're interested in seeing more of Rebecca Goodale's work, she will be
exhibiting at The Turtle Gallery, Deer Isle, ME, through September 2000. For details, contact Elena Kubler at 207.348.9977 or email 
