THE FARMER AND THE CLOWN by Marla Frazee
     “The book opens in a subdued landscape with the grim farmer, whose displeasure is evident when he’s obliged to rescue the young clown thrown from a passing circus train. At first, the farmer and the clown seem in stark contrast. The young clown is dressed in a red one-piece, with a relentlessly cheerful, painted smile, while the old, bent-over farmer has stark black overalls and an unchanging, glum face. But when it is time to wash up, the farmer sheds his black and white clothes and reveals a red one-piece of his own. The clown’s painted smile is wiped off, revealing that the child’s face is actually sorrowful. The emotional resonance of that single mirroring scene is extraordinary. In fact the entire book, with Frazee’s perfect pacing of images and use of negative space, light and shadow is true poetry.”  
-  New York Times Book Review
PUBLISHER: Beach Lane Books 2014

Marla Frazee Talks to Roger | The Horn Book, Inc. | By Roger Sutton
“I didn't set out to do a wordless book. I set out to tell a particular story, and as I was telling it I realized it would be more powerful without words. It's about impressions and misunderstandings of appearances. You get a slow understanding of who these characters are based on their behavior… I first came up with these two characters then wondered: How did they end up being in the same place, holding hands like this? As I was thinking about it, it almost offered a little film to me. The beginning pages of the book were very clear, to the point where the farmer walks across the field and sees that clown.”

Awards

  • Starred Reviews in School Library Journal, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Horn Book, Children’s Bookshelf, and Bulletin

  • 2015 Boston Globe – Horn Book Picture Book Award

  • A Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book of the Year 2014

  • A Kirkus Best Children’s Book of of the Year 2014

  • A New York Times Book Review “Notable Book of 2014”

  • An NPR Favorite Book of 2014

  • Fall 2014 Kid’s Indie Next List

  • A 2014 Junior Library Guild Selection

  • Horn Book Fanfare Book 2014

  • A Boston Globe Best Picture Book of 2014

  • A Shelf Awareness Best Book of 2014

  • A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book for 2014

  • Huffington Post’s “Best Friendship” Book for 2014

  • USA illustration nominee for the IBBY Honour List

  • 2015 Golden Kite Honor for Picture Book Illustration

  • National Cartoonist Society 2015 “Silver Reuben” Award Nominee for Book Illustration

  • NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children Honor Book

  • Southern California Independent Booksellers Association 2015 Children’s Picture Book Award

  • An ALA Notable Book

  • A CCBC Choice Award

  • A Bank Street Best Book of 2015

  • USA Illustration choice for the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) 2016

  • Georgia Book Award Nominee

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DRAFT: Kostyk Communications, Inc. | Media Asset Management Associates | August 2019