That's The Spot--Dot

Voting for The 2012 Children's Choice Book Awards opened on March 14th and will close on May 3rd.  In the K-2nd grade category one of the selections is Dot by Paticia Intriago.  As principal of Intriago Design, specializing in graphic design for printed and online companies and individuals, Patricia Intriago debuts as a children's book author/illustrator with Dot.

Through the use of dots concepts of opposites, stop and go, slow and fast, up and down, loud and quiet, heavy and light, happy and sad, hard and soft, are pictured.  Terms such as yummy and tastes bad are aptly visualized as are hurt dot and heal dot.  A question asked and an ending told subtly bring readers into the world of communicative circles.

Text, sometimes rhyming, sometimes not, provides a brief description of the dots' depictions. Expressive dots, such as these, can say a lot. 

The front and back cover are mirrored on the front and back endpapers; a bright yellow circle on a bright blue background (sun in the sky) and a large white dot surrounded by much  smaller white dots on black pages (moon and stars).  A clever cut-out on the title page leads into a first page replicating the front cover followed by a red dot; two pages portraying the three primary colors.  Combining the cover page colors gives us the third dot, the Go dot.  

With one exception the remainder of the illustrations are strictly in black and white; the bare basics relying on the intuitive interpretation of the dot definitions through design.  From start to finish turning the pages takes us on this dot's journey from the sunny beginning to the starry end; a day in the life of a dot.  There is an underlying sense of humor, a stretching of the meaning, visible at more than one point as seen in the heavy dot, a bowling ball with the finger holes (dots) showing and light dot, fine lines looking like blown bubbles.

Minimal narrative and simple, clear visuals equal an ideal match when sifted through the inventive mind of author/illustrator Patrica Intriago in her first picture book for children, Dot.  My students are going to love this book.  We might have to have a Dot contest of our own.