Bobo's Smile
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Everybody knows that a circus clown’s job is to make people laugh. But what is an unemployed clown to do when he loses the ability to smile? In Bobo’s Smile, legendary American illustrator Seymour Chwast traces a clown’s quest to regain happiness. Bobo flies around the world, scales mountains, and plumbs the depths of the sea, but his search seems to have been in vain—until an unfortunate event prompts him to use his talents and find joy in life’s simple pleasures once again.
Born in 1931 in New York City, Seymour Chwast developed his talent for drawing from an early age. In the 1950s, he cofounded Push Pin Studios, and he remains the organization’s director today. Chwast’s style has always been marked by a rich eclecticism that has set his work apart from the mainstream, and in 1985, he was honored with a Gold Medal from the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). His work is showcased in New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and other museums worldwide.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chwast's (My Daddy and Me) instantly recognizable style makes every jaunty spread of this episodic story worth framing. Its hero, Bobo the clown, looks part human and part doll his ruffled collar, striped pants, and white makeup never come off. After Bobo's career comes to a sudden end ("One day, they closed the circus"), he travels the world, taking photographs of pagodas and riding elephants. Yet not even a ride in a submarine can cheer him up. A thief robs him after he returns from his trip, and the buttons pop off his costume; instinctively, he begins to juggle them, a crowd gathers, and he's back in business. "I smiled," he says at last. The book's long middle section is puzzling, and the halting narration ("I went on rides. I saw strange buildings") doesn't help. Bobo's travels show him an enchanting world, but his lost expression dampens the pleasure for readers. At its best, it's a story about finding one's way after a setback, but the portrait of unemployment and depression may hit too close to home for some parents. Ages 3 up.
