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[ 책 소개 ]
* ALA Notable Book for Children
* Booklist Editors’ Choice
* School Library Journal, Best Books of the Year
* Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award 수상도서
* Rhode Island Children's Book Award 수상도서
기발한 상상력과 독창적인 작품 소재, 펜을 이용한 세밀하고 섬세한 그림, 그리고 정면만이 아닌 다양한 각도에서 바라보는 구도 등으로 현대의 가장 뛰어난 Picture Book 작가중 한 명으로 인정 받는 Chris Van Allsburg의 작품입니다. 3차례 Caldecott 상을 수상한 Chris Van Allsburg의 작품들은 어린이 뿐만 아니라 어른들에게도 재미와 감탄을 안겨줍니다.
이 책은 국내에서는 "세상에서 가장 맛있는 무화과"라는 제목으로 번역서가 출간된 명작 그림책입니다. 누구나 한번쯤 꿈이 현실에서 그대로 일어나면 어떨까 하는 상상을 한 적이 있을 것입니다. 그런 엉뚱한 상상을 그림책으로 옮긴 이 책은 사실적인 그림과 환상적인 이야기로 유명한 그림책 작가 크리스 반 알스버그의 대표작 가운데 하나로, 꿈과 현실의 경계를 넘나들며 작가 특유의 기가 막힌 반전을 보여 줍니다.
치과 의사 비보 씨는 구두쇠에다 무척 까다로운 사람입니다. 혹시 가구가 상할까 봐 반려견 마르셀이 가구에 앉는 것도 무척 싫어하고 짖지도 못하게 하며 구박하지요. 어느 날, 비보 씨는 낯선 할머니의 이를 치료해 준 대가로 돈 대신 무화과 두 개를 받게 됩니다. 할머니는 이 무화과는 어떤 꿈이든 그걸 현실로 만들어 준다고 해요. 하지만 비보 씨는 화를 내며 약도 주지 않고 할머니를 내쫓아 버립니다. 그날 저녁, 비보 씨는 무화과 두 알 중 하나를 밤참으로 먹습니다. 맛이 아주 기가 막혔지요. 다음 날, 마르셀을 억지로 끌고 산책을 나간 비보 씨는 놀라운 광경을 만납니다. 에펠탑이 마치 고무처럼 축 늘어져 있었거든요. 다들 놀라 에펠탑만 쳐다보느라 다행히 비보 씨가 속옷 바람인 걸 본 사람은 없었지요. 이 말도 안 되는 상황은 모두 자신이 전날 밤 꾼 꿈속 이야기였어요. 할머니의 말이 사실이었던 거예요.
그때부터 비보 씨는 매일 밤 원하는 꿈을 꾸는 연습을 합니다. 아직 하나 남아 있는 무화과를 헛되이 써서는 안 되니까요. 세계 최고의 부자가 되어 볼품없는 마르셀 대신 멋진 사냥개를 데리고 산책하는 꿈을 늘 똑같이 꾸게 되었지요. 드디어 남은 무화과 한 알을 먹고 꿈을 이룰 날이 왔습니다. 비보 씨는 소중한 무화과를 접시 위에 올려놓고 먹을 준비를 하는데 잠시 한눈을 판 사이 마르셀이 무화과를 물고 달아나 버립니다. 화가 머리끝까치 치민 비보 씨는 마르셀을 잡으려고 온 집 안을 뛰어다니다 지쳐 잠이 들었습니다. 그리고 다음 날 아침, 눈을 뜨자 놀라운 일이 벌어집니다.
세 차례나 칼데콧 상을 수상한 그림책 작가 크리스 반 알스버그의 책들은 사실적인 그림과 환상적인 이야기로 유명합니다. 인상주의 화가 쇠라의 점묘화를 떠올리게 하는 그의 그림은 사실적이면서도 어딘가 몽환적인 분위기로 탄성을 자아내지요. 현실과 꿈의 경계를 태연하게 넘나드는 그의 작품 가운데서도 이 책은 특히 마지막 반전이 돋보입니다. 사실과 환상의 절묘한 조화가 빚어내는 그의 작품을 통해 어린이들은 새로운 영감의 세계로 안내받을 것입니다.
[ 서지 정보 ]
Edition: Hardcover: 32 pages
ISBN-10: 0395673461
ISBN-13: 9780395673461
책 크기: 28.6 cm x 22.2 cm
[ 영문 서평 ]
Book Description
"These figs are very special," the woman whispered. "They can make your dreams come true." -- Thus Monsieur Bibot, the cold-hearted dentist, was given two ordinary-looking figs as payment for extracting a tooth from an old woman's mouth. Monsieur Bibot refused to believe such nonsense and proceeded to eat one of the figs for a bedtime snack. Although it was possibly the finest, sweetest fig he had ever tasted, it wasn't until the next morning that Monsieur Bibot realized it indeed had the power to make his dreams come true. While dragging his poor dog, Marcel, out for his walk, he discovered that his strange dream from the night before was becoming all too real. Determined to make good use of the second fig, Monsieur Bibot learns to control is dreams. But can he control Marcel? Once again Chris Van Allsburg explores the mysterious territory between fantasy and reality in an uncanny tale that will intrigue readers of all ages.
Publisher's Weekly
Van Allsburg swings back into his most mystifying mode with this enigmatic, visually sophisticated tale of Monsieur Bibot, a "very fussy" French dentist who is given a pair of magic figs as a form of payment by an impoverished patient. The fruit, he's told, has the power to make dreams come true. The pragmatic Bibot scoffs at this, of course, but learns otherwise after eating one. Accordingly, he makes plans to use the second fig to become the richest man on earth (and to ditch Marcel, his oppressed terrier, for a string of Great Danes). The images in the book are unsettling, even ominous: Bibot lurking in a doorway with a rolled-up newspaper, ready to punish Marcel; Bibot gleefully clutching a pair of pliers as he prepares to extract an old woman's tooth; a frowning Bibot standing, fists clenched in anger, as his patient offers him the figs instead of cash. The dentist is a thoroughly unsympathetic character; readers will rejoice when the long-suffering Marcel gobbles the second magic fig and, in a poetically just ending, reverses the master-slave relationship. The sepia-toned illustrations are classic Van Allsburg, offering a visual study that is downright psychological; the artwork's spare lines and clean surfaces reflect the obsessively orderly Bibot's nature. Adults will appreciate Van Allsburg's acuity, while many children will relish the darker aspects of his story. A significant achievement.
Children's Literature
If there was ever any doubt that too much television is a threat to the human race, Van Allsburg makes his position known in this provocative tale. When a huge, glowing rock is found and loaded onboard a ship, the crew became mesmerized and regresses to an ape-like form. The captain takes matters into his own hands and scuttles the ship and the wretched stone. A great book for classroom discussion.
School Library Journal
Another quietly bizarre and stunning picture book from Van Allsburg. In this modern fairy tale, a Parisian dentist (a prissy and sadistic man who even hates his own dog) is given two magic figs by an old woman who tells him, "'They can make your dreams come true.'" Bibot scoffs. However, after the first fig proves to do exactly that (in a scene in which the dentist walks down the street in his underwear, and then the Eiffel Tower droops over), he realizes how precious they are. Night after night, he hypnotizes himself into dreaming that he is the richest man on earth. Finally, he prepares to eat the second fig. But his dog, Marcel, beats him to it, and the following morning, the dentist wakes up as the helpless pup under a bed, with his own face calling to him, "'Time for your walk. Come to Marcel.'" The Sweetest Fig is a superb blend of theme, language, and illustration, with a very grabbing plot as well. The writing is formal yet direct, using simple, deliberate vocabulary to match the elegant setting and mood. The shades of gray, cream, and brown and the calm, stable design enhance this mood. The angle at which readers view scenes is always intriguing and heightens their involvement. Most children old enough to read this complex book on their own will be fascinated and will return to it again and again. Van Allsburg at his best.
Kirkus Reviews
The two-time Caldecott winner continues the didactic vein of Just a Dream (1990). Captain Hope records the eerie events during a voyage of the Rita Anne. His crew is hard-working and ``accomplished in other ways''--they enjoy reading, music, and storytelling. Even so, after they stop on an island and bring back a mysterious rock with one smooth face that gives off a ``peculiar light,'' the men do nothing but watch it. Mesmerized, they sit transfixed until they are transformed into apes who don't even help when the ship is disabled in a storm. So, fortunately, is the stone, and Hope finds that the men are gradually returned to themselves as he reads to them. The artist's elegantly structured, richly shadowed paintings suggest more enigmatic depth than the story delivers, while the starkly boxed text interrupts the visual flow of each spread. Even so, a handsome setting for a valuable message, presented with some imagination and humor. (Picture book. 4-10)
Booklist
Van Allsburg's astonishing picture book quietly reveals the uproar beneath the most orderly facade. The protagonist is a villain: that contemporary image of respectability, a dentist. He's neat and very fussy--spectacles, bow tie, receding hairline, pinky finger bent as he eats. And he's cruel ("If his dog, Marcel, jumped on the furniture, Monsieur Bibot was sure to teach him a lesson"). Everything seems extra controlled, in place, fixed, confined. Then comes the torture scene: an old woman with a toothache begs Bibot for help, and, smiling with relish, he holds her down in the dentist's chair and wrenches out her tooth with steel pliers. She can't pay--we see that she's wild-haired and homeless--but she gives him two figs. "They can make your dreams come true," she tells him. Furious, fists clenched, he shoves her out the door and refuses to give her pills for pain. That night he delicately eats one of the figs, and the next day he finds himself walking on the crowded sidewalk in his underwear: what he dreamed, his nightmare, has come true. What's more, the Eiffel Tower has drooped over, and he remembers that he dreamed that, too. Then, determined to take control, he hypnotizes himself to dream of power and wealth and prepares to eat the second fig.
The small white dog that's in the background of almost every Van Allsburg book here takes center stage, but you don't realize it at first. Quiet and long-faced, Marcel is confined by furniture and steep steps, held by collar and leash, watching from the floor as his master eats, always seen from behind or above. But when the master prepares to eat the second fig and dream his heart's desire, there's a dramatic reversal. The man turns his back; the dog rises up from the floor and gobbles the fig. The next morning the two are on the floor, but the man is the dog, and it's Marcel who orders, "Time for your walk."
The detailed, soft-textured pictures in shades of brown and white have the appearance of framed sepia photographs, with dramatic close-ups as well as an extraordinary sense of depth. Their realistic use of light and changing perspective makes the fantasy story an integral part of the everyday. The surreal view of the tower and its sharp antenna, bent over toward Bibot like a dentist's drill, shocks you into realizing that you've always known it could do that, that this most permanent of soaring landmarks also appears fragile and strange. Van Allsburg's vision makes you aware of what you didn't know you feared.
Children will recognize the terror, the mystery, and the delicious dream of reversal. It depends on how you see it: your nightmare may be my dearest wish. |
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