Module 1: The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore

Summary:

Morris Lessmore is content writing his own story until one day a tornado devastates his town and everything in his life is scattered: including his story. A mysterious lady being pulled along by flying books entices Lessmore to follow her. He discovers a magical library full of flying books that love having their stories told. Morris Lessmore stays with the books for many years until he finishes his own story and is ready to leave. The books are sad to have lost their friend but notice Morris Lessmore has left his own story behind for others to enjoy.

Reference:

Joyce, W. (2012) The fantastic books of Morris Lessmore. New York, NY: Antheneum Books for Young Readers.

Impressions:

The story is simple and sweet but it is transformed into something truly special by Joe Bluhm's illustrations. They are detailed and realistic and there are nods to the classic Wizard of Oz. Only this time, the tornado has taken all of Mr. Lessmore's joy and he is drained of color. It's only when he discovers the fantastic books that he regains his color once again.

The author's note tells us of the struggles the author, William Joyce, went through to see his book through to completion. Much like Morris Lessmore's story, Joyce had much of his hard work destroyed by a natural disaster, hurricane Katrina, and his progress was interrupted. Mr. Joyce also had setbacks to the completion of his book due to eye surgeries and so it ended up that the wordless short film and a story app were both released before the book's final release 13 years after Joyce first began to write the story.

It is evident that Joyce's personal trials contributed to the evolution of Morris Lessmore's character and the result is a true gift. This story is one that should be shared with children who are being raised in a generation that holds video games in higher regards than the written word.

Professional 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, I. (2012). [Review of the book The fantastic flying books of Morris Lessmore]. Booklist, 108(20), 70.

Library Uses:

The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore has an interesting backstory (explained in the Author's Note) and is unique in that the wordless animated short film was released prior to the book's release. Read the book and show the film to students and have them compare and contrast the book to the short film. Have them note the differences and similarities that they notice between the two and create a list.