Review: Seen and Not Heard

Seen and Not Heard by Katie May Green
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The children at Shiverhawk Hall are seen and heard as they are displayed in their picture frames...until the sun goes down! Then they escape their paintings and have a great time.

The illustrations are exquisitely detailed in graphite and charcoal, and there are several spreads I want blown up and framed on my wall. The illustrations are just. gorgeous. This book reminds me of Maude: The Not-So-Noticeable Shrimpton in its theme, Victorian-Gothic depiction of children and the "unseen" child. The DeVillechild twins have a distinct resemblance to Desna and Eska in the Legends of Korra both in appearance and evil-esque demeanor.

Unfortunately, the detailed and artfully rendered illustrations are marred by the forced rhyming throughout the picturebook--to the point where I had to just skim words without trying to make any rhyme or rhythm with the narrative. It is overly wordy in order to make the rhymes "work" and would have been much more effective if written in prose or sparse rhyme, allowing the illustrations to tell more of the story.

Come for the clever title, stay for the images, but pass on the rhymes.

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