(known as just plain?áGiant in my library system, which makes it difficult to find...)
(My system is wrong. ?áThe book itself makes it plain the The is part of the title.)

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Ok, here's the deal. ?áWhen I was a kid I wore out a copy of Twenty-One Balloons. ?áI still enjoy it, when I reread it for Newbery discussions or suchlike. ?áBut in my tiny town library, that was the only book by Du Bois. ?áSo, now I'm reading whatever I can still find. ?áAnd I'm feeling a little weird about whether I like them or not. ?áThey tend to the bewilderingly surreal, imo. ?áAnd the art is so finely done, so, well, so 'pretty' that the vibe of the art is in contrast to the vibe of the wacky story, and I feel like I should have my critic's glasses on, should be reading The Great Geppy, for example, with an eye to its *L*iterary value.

And then I finally got a chance to read The Giant. ?áAnd I'm back in that happy place I was as a child reading Twenty-One Balloons.

Here is another scientific adventure with a heart. ?áTold from an adult's point of view, I felt as if, even if I were just a child, I could be as observant, rational, clever, and brave as the adults. ?áThe logistics of the fabulous are well-developed and fascinating, and not made secondary to the human story, that of this lonely but well-cared for young giant. ?á du Bois knows we'll have questions (how much does he eat? ?áWhat happens when ppl see him? ?áWhat does he play with? ?áWhy is he not in the circus? etc.) and spends considerable effort, both in pictures and text, to answer them. ?áSo, iow, the book has it all. ?áAnd I do think it is the best book by du Bois since TOB - at least among his fantasies. ?á(Twenty and Ten is pretty serious, and also brilliant.)

It's a relatively short book, with a rich vocabulary, but lots of pictures. ?áIow, it's a quick read for an adult, but might be a bit of a challenge for a seven year-old. ?áThe thing is, though, that the kids who will enjoy this the most are the ones who thrive on challenges.


Btw, Twenty-One Balloons is somewhat of an ode to Verne and to Doyle's Professor Challenger stories, and when I was just a bit older I read The Lost World several times. ?áI really must read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea soonish....

(ooh, I kinda like that, the logistics of the fabulous' ... I wonder what I can do with it...)

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