Weslandia

I love this book. The illustrations are fantastic and the story is very inspiring about leaning to use you inagination, be inventive, and to ignore naysayers.

This is an odd book, the story of a boy who, as a summer project, creates his own civilization. He bases his civilization on the cultivation and use of a single crop, a plant of mysterious origin and almost miraculous versatility. He starts the summer as a nerdy and unpopular boy and ends it with many of his schoolmates (and former tormenters) drawn into his society. The idea is intriguing and the art is engaging. I call the book "odd" because, while it's clearly a children's book, it isn't written in a style that would obviously appeal to children. After I read through it I thought, "cute, but my kids won't care for it." I thought that the lack of dialog and the general absence of a traditional story-line would leave them cold. Wrong, big time. They love it. They're four and six, and they're just fascinated by the story and the pictures. Sometimes kids are more patiently thoughtful than I give them credit for. This book is thought-provoking for them and frequently requested. Excellent book.

This is a great book that shaped my sons life. It teaches you not to confirm to peer pressure and that you are capable of great things.

This book is so inventive! The illustrations are particularly wonderful, rich and colorful with lots of action - not all of which is directly related to the main point of the picture but that is part of the appeal. For example, in a scene where Wesley leaps over a trashcan as he is being chased by bullies, a raccoon is shown inside the trashcan eating fish bones. My kids repeatedly studied each and every detail of every picture. The story itself appealed to them also. Nowadays, consumers - such as my children - of products - such as Cheerios - are really quite separated from the producers of products - such as General Mills. We've discussed Wooly Mammoth hunters and how they got almost everything they needed to live from the mammoths, and we've talked about the rise of early civilizations such as Mesopotamia and Egypt, but the idea of living off what you could catch or grow was still quite theoretical to them. Weslandia brings that concept home and makes it real because it starts in a place they are quite familiar with - a suburban back yard. While Wesley sleeps, mysterious seeds are planted (blown in by the wind, no less), and an entire civilization is founded from the resulting crop. They enjoyed seeing how the civilization developed - first the "staple crop" provided food, then shelter and furniture, then clothing, and so on. This is one book we got from the library and subsequently purchased.

I have always loved this book about celebrating differences and sharing our unique gifts in a positive way. As a teacher, I have shared this story with many students over the years. The pictures are beautiful and support the magic of the tale.

Wonderful book that I first read to my boys when they were small and I now give to the young children in the family- boys and girls. This story centers on a young boy who thinks about the world differently than everyone else, including his parents, who try everything ( including money!) to get to be like all the others kids his age. He stays true to himself and it eventually shows everyone how amazing it is to be different. The greatest part is that he makes up his own culture, language, foods, clothes....it is what most kids have always dreamed of doing! My boys and I did it and spend a whole month on creating our own worlds! It is an amazing story that will nurture the soul of any child who thinks outside the box. Encourage them!

I love this book and ordered it for my classroom. It is a paperback, which I didn't know when I placed the order. It's totally fine that it's paperback, but the way that it was shipped is awful. It wasn't placed in a box--just a package, which was twisted and folded as it made its way to me. I'm sorry, but books should be send in much more solid package. Not the end of the world, but the cover and pages of my book are all creased and folded. Kind of a bummer since I was planning on reading this aloud for my social studies lesson tomorrow. Oh well! This book is fantastic though and it addresses lots of great concepts-- social studies, writing, science, math, language... It can also be extended really easily for your gifted learners. I've done lots with this book. Get it, but make sure you're ordering it from a company that ships properly.

A slightly different, perhaps even weird, little kid decides to build a whole new civilization called Westlandia, and the neighborhood tormentors are drawn into the fun and joy of what he has made. He ends up with plenty of friends. This book celebrates imagination and open ended play, and teaches that, if you are true to your self, your friends will find you.

きれいな状態で送っていただき、 どうもありがとうございました。大切にします。

My 5 year old is amazed by this book. He wants me to read it to him every evening and wants me to comment beyond on what's written. The illustrations are smart, open minded. The story is fantastic! I just wish the book was longer to enjoy more of it :)

My favourite childhood book! Just bought it for a friends’s kids and they loved it more than I do. Illustration is just amazing!

One of my favourite books as a child which I purchased for my 6 year olds. Just get it!

Excellent