Ronyell (a.k.a Rabbitearsblog)

Year Published: 1987
 
Year Read:  2008

 

 

 

I have been reading Henrik Drescher’s works for awhile now and I always loved the bizarre nature of his illustrations!  But in “The Yellow Umbrella,” the illustrations take on a more tranquil approach as we are treated to the adventures of a mother monkey, her baby and a yellow umbrella!

 

The story starts off with a father and his daughter going to the zoo to see the monkeys when suddenly, the father dropped his yellow umbrella into the monkey cage and the two monkeys ended up grabbing the yellow umbrella.  The two monkeys then go up towards the top of the hill in their cage and were admiring the yellow umbrella when all of a sudden; a strong wind picks up and blows the two monkeys, who were holding onto the yellow umbrella, away from the zoo!

 

Wow! This book was simply amazing!  I always loved Henrik Drescher’s works on his children’s books because of the surreal illustrations he brings to the stories being woven. But in this book, Henrik Drescher brought something entirely different to the illustrations as they were truly cute and expressive!  I loved the fact that this story was told mainly through illustrations, marking this as another wordless picture book that I had enjoyed since David Wiesner’s “Flotsam!” I loved the way that Henrik Drescher’s illustrations really told this story as we go through a journey with the mother monkey and her baby as they travel across the world with the yellow umbrella guiding them to their destination.  I also loved the images of the mother monkey and her baby going through different parts of the world such as flying over the ocean and then flying over the jungle as it gives the story a truly beautiful feeling of exploring the wonders of the world. I also loved the fact that Henrik Drescher’s illustrations are mainly done in yellow, white and black colorings. The fact that the title of this book is called “The Yellow Umbrella” and that the only other color that is prominent in this story besides black and white is yellow, really made the illustrations truly stand out in this story as they emphasize the significance of the color yellow as the yellow umbrella symbolizes freedom for the two monkeys as they fly away from the zoo and explore the dangers and wonders of the world that they could not explore in the zoo.

 

Overall, “The Yellow Umbrella” is a truly fantastic story about the importance of freedom and exploring the wonders of the world that many children will enjoy for many years!  I would recommend this book to children ages three and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book and the storytelling is easy enough for smaller children to understand.