DAVID AND GOLIATH
adapted by Leonard Everett Fisher & illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher
In the style of Fisher's Cyclops (1991), etc.: a straightforward retelling accompanied with powerful full-bleed paintings using close-ups and low points of view that pull readers into the action. Fisher's simple, prosaic text is arguably a valid choice for accessibility, but the biblical original—in any standard translation—would do his heroic art more honor. His figures are monumental, yet subtly characterized: David strong yet complex and introspective; Saul ambivalent, a touch self-indulgent; Goliath thick-necked and brutish. His palette of intense color—apricot, sharp greens and pinks, rich blues and purples, dramatically highlighted and shadowed—is extraordinarily effective. A handsome pictorial narrative that would splendidly interpret whichever text accompanied it. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 4+)