At the Pond

Written and illustrated by Geraldo Valério

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-232-7

48 pp.

Ages 3-7

March 2020

A visit to a pond teaches a young boy a lesson in securing friendship without subjucation in this new wordless picture book from Geraldo Valério.

From At the Pond by Geraldo Valério

In a grey forest of grabbing branches of trees, a dog is tied up outside a house. When a boy emerges to take the forlorn dog for a walk on its yellow leash, they are drawn to a brilliant blue pond rife with swans. When one of the swans approaches and takes the boy and his dog for a ride on its back, they float through spectacular landscapes of pink roseate spoonbills, frolicking rabbits and foxes, meadows of foxglove and a plethora of brightly coloured flowers.

From At the Pond by Geraldo Valério

But when the boy finally releases the dog to chase dragonflies, the boy chooses to place the leash on the swan. With that, Geraldo Valério's illustration turns dark once again, with only the blue of the panicked swans as they retreat. Thankfully the boy sees the hurt in the tearful swan's eyes and releases his new friend, returning the world to one of colour, joy and compassion.

From At the Pond by Geraldo Valério

As a wordless picture book, At the Pond teems with emotion, primarily through artist Geraldo Valério's use of colour, though also with line and shape. In his complex illustrations. created with pencil, acrylics, latex, markers and even gouache, Geraldo Valério explores what it means to be a friend. From that poor chained dog, almost insignificant in a bleak world of darkness, to the unconstrained life of the pond and its environs, Geraldo Valério makes it clear that friendship is not conditional upon control, though some might envision it to be so, and this boy certainly does at the outset of the story. Friendship is about allowing a dog or a swan to be free to be themselves and share in the wonder of that freedom. It is only with the banishment of the enforced bonds that a relationship of closeness and compassion can be realized. 

From At the Pond by Geraldo Valério

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For a treat, publisher Groundwood Books (House of Anansi Press) has shared a video online at https://youtu.be/kZSv-KILJlg of author-illustrator Geraldo Valério bringing life, through pencil, to a pair of swans from At the Pond.

Drawing with author and illustrator Geraldo Valério

Uploaded by House of Anansi to YouTube on May 1, 2020

At the Pond

Written and illustrated by Werner Zimmermann

North Winds Press (Scholastic Canada)

978-1-4431-4287-8

32 pp.

Ages 2-5

September 2018

On Wednesday, At the Pond became a nominee for a Governor General's Literature Award for Children's Book Illustration and today I want to share why this superb book of art is a worthy contender.

From At the Pond by Werner Zimmermann

At the Pond is a counting book at its simplest. One fish...two fish...and upwards to ten. But At the Pond is more art book than concept book. It is a compendium of beautifully rendered paintings that take the reader to see a pond up close and very personal. Every double spread is an opus of the natural world in colour and shape. The depth of realism that reflects the pond's life, botanical and zoological, is dramatic and intimate. From the goldfish to the water lilies, leopard frogs, insects that include water striders and dragonflies, and the great blue heron from whom the pond life scatters, At the Pond is a literary pond study for those for whom ponds are not readily accessible and even for those fortunate to have them in their backyards.

From At the Pond by Werner Zimmermann

Werner Zimmermann blends green and blue watercolour pigments to give life to the pond's water. There's a dynamic component to essentially still waters–ponds are after all defined as bodies of standing water–that comes from the strokes of his brushes and blending of tones, tints and shades. There are seemingly hundreds of greens in Werner Zimmermann's pond. Moreover, his depiction of the living components in the pond are natural and accurate and filled with life. (Watch the flowering of the water lily for evidence of this.)

From At the Pond by Werner Zimmermann

Teachers may well use At the Pond for counting or for STEM lessons, but for me, it's a study in extraordinary art of the natural world, bringing the outdoors in and sharing a glimpse of life At the Pond.