Children’s Literature Review: Harry and the Hot Lava

 

I received a copy of Harry and the Hot Lava for the purpose of this review.  Despite this, the opinions stated herein are 100% my own.

 

 

 

Title:  Harry and the Hot Lava

Author and Illustrator: Chris Robertson

Publisher:  Xist Publishing

Publication date: 2014

 

Review: Harry and the Hot Lava

Late last year, I reviewed on of my favorite books, The Yellow Umbrella.  I loved that the story was so simple, classic, and magical.  These qualities are indicative of all of Chris Robertson’s books.

Meet Harry, a highly imaginative little boy.  I imagine that Harry is not unlike any other child who loves to go out and play, explore and imagine great adventures.  But this time,  his fascination for lava takes over – as it might for any young child who has just completed a volcano project, learned about molten rock in class, or one that is fascinated by natural disasters.   As the case with real children, Harry’s fascination takes over his mind.  Harry imagines that  house is consumed by lava – every floor, every crevice, and every piece of furniture.  But how is Harry to escape?

Just like his previous book, My Yellow Umbrella, the classic illustrations tell the story beautifully.  This book will be a lot of fun for children under the age of 5.  They will have fun imagining as they read about Harry’s adventures. Perhaps they could even guess what comes next!  The author descriptions are  great.  I also like how he superimposed the words over the object, so that the child can interact with the book – and read it right along with the parent.
 

Purchase

This book hit the shelves only 2 days ago!  Grab your copy of Harry and the Hot Lava on Amazon here.

 

About Chris Robertson

Chris Robertson is an author/illustrator of Children’s Picture Books. His most recent book is “Harry and the Hot Lava”. Chris’s other books include “My Yellow Umbrella”, “I’ll Trade My Peanut-Butter Sandwich”, “Little Miss Liberty”, “Kit and Kaboodle”, and “The Tooth That’s on the Loose!” Chris’s whimsical cartoon style feels light-hearted and carefree which seems to perfectly match his humorous writing style.
While in elementary school, Chris was introduced to “Curious George”, “Madeline”, and “Harry the Dirty Dog” by way of the Bookmobile. The introduction left such a strong impression, that even at an early age, Chris knew children’s books were going to be an important part of his life. Chris graduated from Cal State Northridge with a degree in illustration. He spent 10 years freelancing as an illustrator mainly for magazines and newspapers. With his cartoon style it only seem natural for him to venture into the field of animation. He broke in as a storyboard artist for Nickelodeon Animation Studios. Chris moved up the creative ladder to become storyboard director. During his tenure at Nickelodeon, he developed a strong sense of visual storytelling. Learning how to create a story only in pictures gave him the confidence to create and write his own children’s books. Chris lives in Pasadena with his wife and three boys.