Illustrated by Eric Wight
Published by Farrar Straus Books for Young Readers
Parent publisher Macmillan
Collectively we all love Bacon, you, me, pork, turkey, soy, duck, bacon is amazing. It's cured meat that makes the start of a day worth living. Though that's my way of living, a little hemp milk and a little belly fat burning in a frying pan, perfuming the kitchen with a beautiful wakeup call from pieces of a beast. Anyhow while on the subject of living things, let's talk about anthropomorphic beings, specifically located in a 24-hour diner. In this Children's Illustrated Novel food has gained life and Bacon has elevated to it's rightful place. This isn't the first time we've reviewed a series by Kelly DiPucchio (Zombie in Love review), though this is the life and times of Bacon, let's take this pilgrimage, so grab your own candied fare nub and enjoy!
The cover is pretty amazing, it's a large piece of bacon that is shooting finger guns, it's super cute and the food surrounding the wonderful piece of belly fat all looking on in admiration. The back of the cover is more food, though it gives the implication that the building behind the meat candy is a Diner, that's where all the food lives. Again everyone is super happy to be alive and in the presence of bacon. Except for the french toast, which is a funny gag, a little dated, though it's something I really love. In general it's an interesting cover that shows the focus is on Bacon, though it has a Mister Men vibe from all of this, I'm interested in seeing where this goes, also it's Bacon which makes everything better.
The book opens, and we see an amazing pattern of bacon. I love the representation of bacon on the first two pages, it's perfect and gives a hint to what this book is all about. Then we open to the setting of the book, a Diner that's 24-hours, it's filled with cars of all forms and it's a wonderful layout and framing, the title is constructed and well placed within the page, this was well thought out and one can tell his experience with page layout and graphic design has been a studied profession within the Eric Wight's life.
We turn the page then we see our titular character looking into a spoon and enjoying the view as we all do when bacon is within our lives. After that we move on to the next page where we view anthropomorphic food, everyone has legs and eyes, or implied legs and arms, though they all have mouths and eyeballs, pupal-less eyes… Anyhow, bacon goes for a walk and the fried dough show their appreciation of bacon's life, except the French Toast, that judges it, or knows where this all will lead up to, unintentional foreshadowing?
Also the expressions and designs are amazing, I'm a fan of Eric Wight, so I'm gonna be a bit bias on this review when it comes to the creative side of things. Still the expressions of the characters and their full form shows a lot of emotion and movement in the book.
Now onto the next page, this is the chili ingredients page, they want to take a picture of this moment and enjoy it for as long as they can. After a little cool down time, under the soda fountain with the citrus fruits. Then a few jokes and jabs with the mixed fruit and veggies, after a little music with the fries and nuggets playing the ukulele. We have a little confrontation with the other breakfast meats, it's not much though it's enough that it makes bacon feel like a bit of a jerk, Canadian bacon and sausage-links and paddies just seem disappointed in bacon's attitude. Off to the merch page, everything has bacon, you can get bacon on all things that can be printed, which is parallel to bacon since you can even get bacon off of all things with a belly.
Nothing is better than sharing an amazing meal with a great friend and a little automaton.
To the dessert page, a milkshake and piece of pie, bacon starts expressing its smell and with this page it feels like this is the end of the book, since dessert is the end of the meal. Not until we see the sad life that bacon has created by leaving the fridge and the foods that don't get the respect they deserve, since they aren't as delicious. Bacon leaves those that bacon considers friends, burgers and club sandwiches mean nothing to bacon, bacon has become a real jerk at this point, a being of no care, except for it's self.
Now with fancy car, which is a little weird to have during a meal time, but it's Bacon the food of the hour. The creamers cheering on the wonderful meat as it's fancy hat whips in the wind and it's wonderful mustache zooming on by to the final page. Though before that the assorted breads carry the stupendous piece of candied pig belly to the final location. With concern and fright, this is the end of our meaty friend, as a fork claims its life, leaving the tiny hat and lip warmer. It's a sobering and bleak ending, the pacing and entertainment hold, but it's a tearful finish for this silly adventure through the life and times of Bacon.
The back of the book is the same pattern of bacon on the front, it's a wonderful decoration. Though the caricatures of the writer and illustrator as a waitress and diner cook from the 1960's is the icing on the cake, it's glorious! Hope this was an adventure that you've enjoyed as much as me. The designs and the writing made this journey fantastic and well worth the dive into the mind of each creator. I think the one thing that I really enjoyed was the no pulled punches, this is what happens to bacon, this is what happens to animals, this is what happens if you give life to a creature that in another culture is eaten without care. It's Bambi's Mom all over again, though in a comedic dark picture book. Enjoy your friends and enjoy humor that has a more morbid undertone. Life is to be lived, till death becomes an existing thought, there are many layers in this book and that's what's truly charming about this book.
I trust you enjoyed the inspection, thank you for reading.
Support the creator, check out your local library and peruse the book.
If you want to stay up to date on my reviews, subscribe to this page.
Keep well and Stay well.
No comments:
Post a Comment