Love, love, love

Not too long ago I watched a beautiful little animated short film entitled The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. There is no dialogue and yet it (excuse the phrase) spoke to me on a very personal level. Imagine my delight when I discovered that it was created by the same man that created that other magical movie Meet the Robinsons! Yes, William Joyce has stolen my heart once again with a tale that is both heartbreaking and hopeful all at once. Of course, I knew that it was more than likely based off one of his books and I was right. Much like Meet the Robinsons which I reviewed not too long ago, Joyce wrote a beautifully illustrated picture book called The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore which is about exactly what the title implies. This is the story of a man who loves books and indeed is trying to write one of his own when a crazy storm comes along and upends not only his whole life but the buildings of his entire town. In a brilliant move of cinematography, after the storm everything is in black and white to depict the bleakness of his situation. But then he sees something which completely changes his outlook...I don't want to spoil this bit. This is about the power of the written word and the transformative power that books hold over the imagination. It is a love letter to literature. It's charming and extraordinarily moving. I admit to crying over the film AND the book. I urge you to take a few minutes and enjoy them both because they really are worth your time.10/10

I love love love his art style. Source: sccl.org

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **