The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore: Summary, Impression, Peer Review, & Library

Title: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Author: William Joyce

Illustrator: Joe Bluhm

Book Summary:

Mr. Morris Lessmore is sitting on his balcony writing the events of his day in his book when a storm appears. The town as well as Morris' book is torn apart. He is left to wander aimlessly in search of a new home when to his delight a woman appears flying though the air being pulled by the winged books she carries. Morris' own book would not fly, so she offered him one of hers. The book spoke to him and took him to a fantastical building where many other books and adventures lived. As he explored the wonders that each book held and shared the

adventures with other young readers, he returned to writing his own story. The years passed, he grew older, but the stories in the books never changed and will forever be a part of him. When the day came for Mr. Morris to say goodbye, he left behind his book which spoke to the new reader ready to explore the wonders that await in the pages of a book.

APA Reference:

Joyce. W. (2012). The fantastic flying books of mr.morris lessmore. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Impression:

This book has a place in my reader's toolkit now. I loved how Mr. Morris was transported into the stories he read, the amazing adventures he was able to explore through the stories, and when the time was right he passed the treasure on to a new reader. This is a definitely a book that I will find a way to weave into my first days of school lessons. I completely understand why this book would achieve the status of a classic. It carries the same impact from generation to generation. It speaks to those who know the feeling of becoming so entranced by a story that they feel they are on the same journey as the character, plus hopefully inspires new readers to find the genre that speaks to them and takes them on adventures beyond the pages of a book.

Professional Review:

First it was an Academy Award–winning animated shorten 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 y 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 e 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 —Ian Chipman

Chipman, I. (2012). The fantastic flying books of mr. morris lessmore. The Booklist, 108(21), 70. Retrieved from ProQuest.

Library Uses:

Celebrate Reading! Invite students to write about and share their favorite book, the book that came to life and spoke to them. Look at the power of the illustrations by creating comments and speech bubbles to accompany the piece of the story the words of the book did not share. Also, use as a spring board to encourage students to write and share their own story in a personal narrative.