Weslandia (ISBN 0763600067)

Amazon.com Review:
What do the children you know usually do when school is out for the summer? Go crazy with boredom? Head poolside with friends? Plan a self-sufficient civilization with its own staple food crop? That is precisely how Wesley decides to spend his summer vacation. Wesley is not an ordinary boy: "He alone in his town disliked pizza and soda, alarming his mother and the school nurse. He found professional football stupid. He'd refused to shave half his head, the hairstyle worn by all the other boys, despite his father's bribe of five dollars." It all starts (the civilization, that is) when Wesley overturns a plot of ground in his yard to see what new and unknown seeds might blow into it. Curiously, just one kind of plant grows--an unusual, flowering, fruit-bearing plant that tastes of "peach, strawberry, pumpkin pie, and flavors he had no name for." Soon, Wesley is literally reaping the fruits of his labors--using the fruit rind to make a cup for the juice he squeezes, barbecuing the root tubers, and weaving the bark into a hat to keep off the sun. In Wesley's new world, he no longer needs a watch because he uses a flower stalk as a sundial, dividing the day into 8 segments, one for each of the flower's petals. A new language (based on an 80-letter alphabet) and counting system (based on the number 8) soon follow. Ah, Weslandia. Slowly but surely his once-tormenting classmates become curious. And soon enough, Wesley allows them to help him crush seeds for oil, which "had a tangy scent and served him both as suntan lotion and mosquito repellent." He also invents sports that are less distasteful to him than football--"games rich with strategy and complex scoring systems," and watches patiently as his classmates blunder. Wesley's parents say that he looks happy for the first time in years. And when he returns to school in September? "He had no shortage of friends." Newbery Medal winner and onetime alternate-world creator Paul Fleischman shines in this deadpan-but-hilarious picture book, and illustrator Kevin Hawkes's splendid paintings will delight young readers with the explosion of colorful, comical details. Kids young and old will love the once-outcast hero Wesley and his Robinson Crusoe-style triumphs. (Ages 8 to 11, or for reading aloud to younger children) --Karin Snelson

JUST WHERE YOUR MIND CAN TAKE YOU!:
I love this story. I suppose I can somewhat relate as I see so much of myself in the young boy featured in this book. A young, lonely boy, who somehow just does not fit in, decides to invent his own world and simply make it the way he wants to make it. The story is quirky enough to appeal to most kids as I do feel there is something of that loneliness in all of us. The illustrations are great. The story is touching and is good and it is a great illustrations of just where our minds can take us if we let them. It tells us that it is good to be a bit different and not something we should set around and worry about. Recommend this one highly.

Wonderful book:
If you can't be a part of THEIR world, make one up for yourself and they will want to be in your world! I love the way this books teaches a sort of self reliance and a CAN do attitude. Recommend to children of all ages.

Great for all ages:
When my daughter was two, she randomly chose Weslandia from the library. We took it home to read it, and I was astonished! What a great book!! The illustrations are vivacious and the story is wonderfully imaginative. I found myself wondering what my own civilization would be like. I thought, due to the subject matter, this book would be over my toddler's head. I was very wrong. It has become one of her favorites. We checked it out from the library so often, I bought our own copy, and have since bought several as gifts for other children. The youngest kids will love the colors and illustrations, and it will grow with them...they'll discover something new every time they read it. My absolute favorite children's book. Very highly recommended!

Fantastic:
This book is SO innovative. The author is of a very rare, wonderful, unique variety. I recommend this book to anyone with children of any age, or even just get it for yourself if you enjoy spark, imagination, and creativity.

The strange and clever story of a strange and clever boy:
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.