The fantastic flying books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Joyce, William, 1957-

Edition:

1st ed.

Physical Description:

1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 22 x 30 cm.

General Note:

"The story that inspired the Academy Award-winning short film"--Jkt.

Genre:

Fantasy fiction.

Summary:

Morris Lessmore loves words, stories and books; after a powerful storm carries him to another land, dreary and colorless, he finds a single book in color that leads him to an amazing library where, he learns, the books need him as much as he needs them.

Subject Term:

Books and reading -- Juvenile fiction

Libraries -- Juvenile fiction

Additional Credits:

Bluhm, Joe, 1980-

Audience/Lexile:

AD 650 L

Reading Program:

ACCELERATED READER, INTEREST= GRADES K-4 BOOK LEVEL= 3.7 POINTS= 0.5 SD QUIZ 152402 ENGLISH FICTION.

Publication Information:

New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2012.

Subject:

Books and reading -- Juvenile fiction

Libraries -- Juvenile fiction

Fantasy fiction.

SAILS ISBN:

9781442457027

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Pembroke Public Library	JE JOYCE, W.	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Ahern MS Media Center Foxboro	FIC JOY	Stacks	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Berkley Public Library	JJ FIC JOYCE	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Dartmouth - Southworth	JE JOY	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Easton - Ames Free Library	PIC JOYCE	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Elizabeth Taber Library	JE JOY	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Fairhaven-Millicent	JE JOYCE	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Fall River Main	E JOY	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Foxboro - Boyden Library	JJ JOYCE	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Mansfield Public Library	JJ FIC JOYCE	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Mattapoisett Free Public Library	JP JOY	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Middleborough Public Library	JOY	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... New Bedford Free Public Library	J PIC JOYCE	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... New Bedford Wilks Branch	J PIC JOYCE	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Norfolk Freeman Kennedy School	P JOY	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Norfolk H. Olive Day School	P JOY	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Norfolk Public Library	JP BOOKS JOY	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Norton Public Library	JE JOY	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Plainville Public Library	J JOYCE	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Plympton Public Library	E	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Rehoboth - Blanding Free PL	J	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Rochester - Plumb Library	E JOY	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Seekonk - Martin School	E JOY	EASY READERS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... West Bridgewater PL	EZ JOY	EASY READERS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Westport Free Public Library	JE JOY	PICTURE BOOKS	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

The book that inspired the Academy Award -winning short film, from New York Times bestselling author and beloved visionary William Joyce.

Morris Lessmore loved words.
He loved stories.
He loved books.
But every story has its upsets.
Everything in Morris Lessmore's life, including his own story, is scattered to the winds.
But the power of story will save the day.
Stunningly brought to life by William Joyce, one of the preeminent creators in children's literature, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a modern masterpiece, showing that in today's world of traditional books, eBooks, and apps, it's story that we truly celebrate--and this story, no matter how you tell it, begs to be read again and again.

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

As e-books put pressure on the printed word, picture books that romanticize books proliferate (The Lonely Book, It's a Book, and Dog Loves Books come to mind). Joyce's magnificently illustrated book-about-books inspired-yet arrives after-his 2011 animated short film of the same name, which won an Oscar. The unusual sequence of film-to-book (there's an app, too) suggests that while books are indeed glorious things, what really matters is story. This one follows a dreamy bibliophile named Morris Lessmore, who loses his cherished book collection to a cataclysmic storm that's half Katrina (Joyce is from Louisiana) and half Wizard of Oz. After meeting a "lovely lady... being pulled along by a festive squadron of flying books," Morris finds an abandoned library whose books are alive and whose covers beat like the wings of birds. They flutter around him protectively, watch as he starts writing again, and care for him as he ages: "They read themselves to him each night." Underneath this book-about-books, there's a deeper story of love, loss, and healing, one that will be appreciated as much (if not more) by adults as by children. Ages 4-8. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Horn Book Review

In this affectionate love letter, a lady propelled by "flying books" tosses one to Morris Lessmore, which leads him to an enticing library. Years pass as he takes care of the animated volumes; finally the aged Morris flies away on the wings of books, his place taken by a girl. The multimedia illustrations are rendered in Joyce's Hopperesque style and luminescent colors. (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

First it was an Academy Award-winning animated short. Then it was an intuitively interactive iPad story app. And now it's a regular old book, which is fitting given that the story is all about the lasting power of books to transport and nourish the soul. Our hero is a bibliophile modeled after legendary children's-literature advocate William Morris (in spirit) and Buster Keaton (in looks), whose gray-colored world is colorized when he sees a woman fly past, pulled by a festive squadron of flying books. One such book leads him to take custodianship of a house full of rambunctious stories. As the years pass, he writes one of his own, which in turn inspires a young girl after he is gone. The message-heavy narrative is lifted by Joyce's superb artwork, presenting nostalgic, picket-fence scenes with a modeled, dimensional feel built on the animation but given a lustrous polish for the printed page. Perhaps most fascinating, the movie, app, and book taken together present an entirely kid-friendly opportunity to talk about the interplay between content and format. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The movie and app iterations of this work have attracted gobs of acclaim and attention for the book to capitalize on.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2010 Booklist

School Library Journal Review

Pre-Gr 3-Joyce's Academy Award-winning animated short-film-turned-app that celebrates those who care about (and receive nourishment from) books is, ironically, now a picture book. The wonder and mystery inherent in the wordless film and the ability to manipulate the visuals and play the soundtrack on the app's piano beg the question: Can the book compete? As it turns out, the book has its own rewards. Clarity comes from Joyce's well-chosen words. In the opening on a New Orleans balcony, readers learn that Morris "loved words.stories.books." Every day he would "write of his joys and sorrows, of all that he knew and everything that he hoped for." When an Oz-like storm turns everything topsy-turvy, the melancholy man in the pork-pie hat spots a lady held aloft by a "festive squadron of flying books." Her gift leads Morris to a book-filled sanctuary set in a landscape staged and lit like a Maxfield Parrish painting. He tends to the volumes, distributing favorites to visitors, whose once-gray bodies blossom with color. Every life and story ends, and those struggling with their own goodbyes (and yearnings about printed books) may find comfort in seeing the fading elder revert to his younger self in order to be transported by the joyful squadron-just as a little girl arrives to choose Morris's story. The author's motivations (explained on the flap) will resonate with adults in the reading business. The best part? Lingering quietly while savoring the atmospheric scenes of Joyce's narrative vignette.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.