Monday 7 April 2014

Mr White by Yiting Lee (Hogs Back Books Ltd)


Mr White

Written and Illustrated by
Yiting Lee

Published by Hogs Back Books Ltd

We're always on the look out for charming and original books during our visits to the local library. Sometimes books have a habit of ending up at the bottom of the book-cases, lost, unloved and rather forlorn looking. We spotted "Mr White" by Yiting Lee tucked in with a whole stack of paperbacks. There was something about it that made us want to investigate further, and I'm so glad we did.

The titular Mr White is a charming character, who lives in a monochrome world. One day there's an accident, and with a tiny splodge of colour, Mr White's whole outlook on life changes. Colour to dazzle, colour as a spectacle, colour to brighten up a humdrum day and turn the world from shades of grey.

Is it possible to have too much colour though? (If The Strolling Mum is reading this, she'll nod as she's happy to tell you that I should not be left in charge of what Charlotte wears during an average day - because it'll all be multi-coloured and it will probably all clash too!)

Yiting Lee's book feels a little influenced by authors and illustrators like Satoshi Kitamura. That's definitely no bad thing, believe us!

Seek out this tiny little hidden gem and add a splash of colour to your day - but not too much though, sometimes you need the calming influence of dazzling white.

Charlotte's best bit: Mr White paints everything, even himself!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Charming and wonderful, an obscure but gorgeous little book from an author-illustrator we can't wait to see more of