Du Iz Tak?

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Carson Ellis is the author-illustrator of the New York Times bestseller Home, her debut solo picture book. Ellis (Home, 2015) elevates gibberish to an art form with her brilliant account of a few bugs, who discover a green shoot sprouting from the ground…Readers and pre-readers alike will find myriad visual cues in Ellis’ splendid folk-style, gouache-and-ink illustrations that will allow them to draw meaning from the nonsensical dialogue, as well as observe the subtle changing of the seasons.

Theatre Royal Brighton welcomed the company in to develop and rehearse the new show during the closure of the venue and to present initial performances when lock down eased. When the plant grows taller and sprouts leaves, some young beetles arrive to gander, and soon—with the help of a pill bug named Icky—they wrangle a ladder and build a tree fort. The story, nominally about the life cycle of a plant experienced by the nattily dressed insects that live around it, is written entirely in dialogue, in a “bug language” invented by Ellis. Ellis is best known as an illustrator, and her oversized gouache and ink spreads deftly balance playfulness and precision, intricacy and airy background…Readers-aloud will want a practice run to ensure their intonation carries the meaning of the words, but it will all make perfect and pleasing sense to imaginative listeners.Bicknell edited without an English translation—it only occurred to her after several rounds that there was a deliberate logic to the bugs’ seemingly nonsensical speech. In 2018, a short animated film version was released by Weston Woods Studios, a division of Scholastic, adapted, directed, and animated by Galen Fott.

It's a genuinely charming story with brain-tickling interest from the dialogue, and it earns a satisfying edge from the silent and decisive victory over the spider. There’s an elusive yet distinctly joyful quality to Carson Ellis’s picture book that feels like suspended glee, or a laugh caught halfway in the throat. I was completely captivated by Ellis's wonderful creatures, their charming little world and their droll language. She also collaborated with her husband, Colin Meloy, on the bestselling Wildwood series, and created the art for the albums of his indie band, The Decemberist s. A book thta continues to develop with rereads - you are encouraged to decode the language that on first glance looks like gobbledeegook.

But even for the novice like me the creative text is understandable and the piece a predominantly visual feast. Viewers follow the unfurling of an exotic woodland plant through the actions and invented language of beautifully coiffed and clothed insects…This is certain to ignite readers’ interest and imaginings regarding their natural surroundings.

Tak,” for instance, is the Swedish word for “thank,” although the spelling— “tack” —differs slightly. The grandeur of the Theatre Royal’s interior retreats as insects pop up from hidey holes to go about their daily tasks. I’ve been in children’s publishing for 25 years and this has never happened to me before,” said Bicknell, the book’s editor.Come and peer into a miniature world of little puppets to see a delightful group of friends exploring their ever-changing home. There's an elusive yet distinctly joyful quality to Carson Ellis's picture book that feels like suspended glee, or a laugh caught halfway in the throat. Even the night-time creatures are fascinated by the plant, with a snail coming to investigate it and a melodious cricket serenading it from a nearby log.