When You Look Up
When You Look Up
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★ A New York Times Best Children's Book of 2020
★ Gold Medal, 2021 Society of Illustrators Original Art Exhibition
★ A 2021 Eisner Award Nominee for Best U.S. Edition of International Material
★ A 2021 Eisner Award Nominee for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
★ 2024 Rodari Prize, Special Mention
Written and illustrated by Decur
Translated by Chloe Garcia Roberts
Also available as a Spanish-language edition!
Lorenzo and his mom are moving to a new home, but Lorenzo isn’t very happy about moving. He worries that he’ll be lonely, separated from his friends, who will now only exist inside his cell phone. Upon arrival at their new house, Lorenzo discovers an old desk, with what seems like hundreds of drawers. Each drawer even has its own smell! Deep inside the desk, he finds a notebook and begins to read. With every page he turns, his interest grows, and soon he is transported into a new, magical and wondrous world. A story within a story, each one visually different and striking, the movement here is between two worlds, with images from the notebook and from Lorenzo’s imagination spilling into the everyday. This is a graphic novel about the power of observation, imagination and the many incredible lenses through which we each experience our lives.
Visually stunning, created in both luminous paint and cut-paper art, this is a debut at the summit from a self-taught Argentinian visionary.
ISBN: 978-1-59270-293-0
8” (W) x 12” (H) • 184 pages • HCJ • Ages 7-12
AWARDS & REVIEWS
★ A New York Times Best Children's Book of 2020
★ Gold Medal, 2021 Society of Illustrators Original Art Exhibition
★ A 2021 Eisner Award Nominee for Best U.S. Edition of International Material
★ A 2021 Eisner Award Nominee for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
★ 2024 Rodari Prize, Special Mention
“Children will pore over this moody watercolor-soaked story of an introvert’s creative awakening, which contains within it a bright collage of weirdly wonderful dreams and nightmares, while adults will covet it as a work of art that speaks to their inner child. A picture book-graphic novel hybrid by the self-taught Argentine artist Guillermo Decurgez (known as Decur), translated by Chloe Garcia Roberts and also available in a Spanish-language edition, it begins on “moving day,” as a boy who believes the world exists only inside his cellphone finds a mysterious notebook in the secret compartment of a desk in his new room. “ -The New York Times
“…artist Decur toggles deftly between Lorenzo’s world and surreal episodes from the journal, the crisp, brightly colored pages crackling with circus-like energy, the somber paintings reflecting Lorenzo’s slow but steady awakening.” —Publishers Weekly
“…An unreservedly recommended addition to family, elementary school, middle school, and community library collections for young readers ages 7-12.” —James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review
"When You Look Up is a powerful, brilliant book about discovering ourselves through and in stories. This is a profound, powerful, brilliant picture book about stories within stories, stories about stories, stories for stories. It’s a book that takes you to your own hidden depths and urges you to become both a creator and an interpreter. It’s about reaching within and reaching out." —The Indian Express