Below

by Nina Crews

A boy and his action figure explore a secret world below the stairs

Jack and his action figure, Guy, have many adventures together, and the tall, narrow staircase in Jack's house provides the perfect setting. Jack and Guy climb mountains, visit cities, and explore forests. But one day Guy falls down a hole in the stairs and it's up to Jack to rescue him. What is going on below the stairs--only Guy knows.

Publishers Weekly has described Nina Crews as "highly skilled at seeing through her photographic lens with the eyes of a child." Here she captures the excitement of make-believe and celebrates a child's imagination and resourcefulness in her signature style.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Adventure

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 4, 2006

About the author

Nina Crews is a well known author and an illustrator children's books. She currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Reviews

[Jeremiah Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love children’s story books that use photography. Here you get a nice mixture of photos and collages. And the story is fun too!

[Agnė · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5
Crews' simple storyline and clever illustrations of photo-collage and line drawings perfectly capture the magic and excitement of make-believe:



Such an endearing celebration of a child's imagination!

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

June 2017 - Ben was excited about this one as soon as he saw the crane on the cover, and it totally hit a sweet spot, matching where he is with imaginative play. This is one that we're reading over and over.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

We just found this really great book when we stopped by the library tonight. My four-year-old son loves it already and so do I. Nathaniel looked through the book before I read it to him and was already mesmerized by the story, just from the pictures. It's about a young boy who loves to have adventures with his action figure "Guy." They play together on a tall, narrow staircase that becomes mountains, and forests, and cities...The pictures are done in a photo-collage style and are so fun to look at. We get to see the wonderful imagination of the little boy through the beautiful images that Nina Crews created. The shadows of trees and skyrises magically merge with the "ordinary" staircase. Jack loses Guy in a hole in the stairs, but figures out a way to save his little friend all by himself. It is really sweet. The best part was watching Nathaniel become so concerned about the little toy and so interested in the adventure.

[Amy Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love Nina Crews' use of photography and illustration.  She constructs illustrations in such a neat way that I've rarely seen others do.  In Below, she tells the tale of Jack, who accidentally drops Guy down a hole in the stairs and must figure out how to get him out.  While Guy is down below in the dark, Jack imagines all sorts of adventures Guy might be having without him.  And the way that Jack's imagination gets illustrated rather than photographed??  LOVE IT.  She's a master at her style, and I can't wait to get my hands on more of her books!

Review cross-listed here!

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

This made an excellent preschool story hour book. Better than I was expecting, in fact.

[Kymberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The little boy in the book does something I would have done as a child. I would have had the same questions.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My preschooler loves this book. It has construction vehicles, which is a huge plus for him. I think he also was intrigued by how the story showed another kid playing with his toys.

[Rani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack and his action figure Guy have their own adventure!

[Kianna Buckner · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Below" by Nina Crews was an excellent book. A little boy has a Lego guy that he plays with on his staircase. The Lego guy feel in a whole one day and no one could help him get it out. He got his construction toys and got the guy out.

I loved how the author made this story. I think little boys ages 4-7 would love this book and enjoy reading it because I know they might relate to this with their legos and construction toys.

The illustrations were my favorite part about the book. Some of pages were photographs of the little boy and one page had his mom and dad. On some pages were of the little boy's imagination of what he thought the Lego guy was doing down in the whole. I love the pages with the imaginations because it was like it was really a picture of what was going through his mind. I thought that was so cool.

[Emmaline MacBeath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about Jack who has a toy figure named Guy. They play together and have many adventures. One day Guy falls into a hole by accident. Jack imagines what could be happening with Guy down below. Finally, Jack sets up a toy rescue team and saves Guy.

This book is illustrated with a mix of photographs, photos on top of photos and drawings. The drawings and faded photos depict Jack's imagination. I like this because you can tell the difference between what is real and what is his imagination.

This book has very simple wording and concepts which is perfect for the advertized age range of 3-6 years old. This book would be a wonderful read a loud to the littlest ones and a spark to their imaginations.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Crews family make really photo-picture books and this one might be my favorite. Below is the story of Jack a boy and his toy figurine, Guy, who falls down a hole while they're playing together. Jack rescues his friend, but after some thought about what Guy might be going through. I like books that offer pauses for thought, and this one does it well, illustrating Jack's imagination's and all the possibilities of below. Great for toddler and preschool storytimes, but probably too simple for older children.

[Gail Barge]

I really enjoyed this short book. The illustrations are so interesting and I could see young students really enjoying the photographs. I would use this book to show an interesting way to write and illustrate to my students. This would also lend itself nicely to writing about our favorite toys and what happens when we leave the room (kinda of like Toy Story). I think that would be a fun topic for students to write on and would really stretch their imaginations.

[mlb]

I have recently discovered this author and enjoy her work on many levels. Her plot is very appealing to my boys, who are into adventures like the main character imagines. I appreciated the way photographs and drawings/paintings were integrated to capture the world through Jack's eyes. I placed this on the MC shelf because the main character is from a mixed race family and because it was written by an African American woman. It is a culture generic book any imaginative child could relate to.

[Suec like book · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm currenlt in love with this book nearly as much as my 20 month old son. This books just nails it. Construction equipment, toys, photographs of people in their homes...it seems there are countless things for my burgeoning speaker to talk about. Unlike most books for the very young, this story contains a climax and it's one my toddler understands completely. A toy that is out of reach! Highly recommend this book.

[Elizabeth]

I think this picture book mixes photorealism and painting successfully (as opposed to Knuffle Bunny) because the division makes sense: photography represents the every day, and the fanciful drawings dramatize the mythic unknown (also known as what lies beneath the stairs.) Plus, a mixed-race family!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book - Crews perfectly captures the imagination of a child, the frustration of trying to get others to cooperate, the brave and brilliant way a child will come to his own rescue.

This book has been a tremendous hit in storytimes. And my lovely friend, Mary, went to an author reading and got Nina Crews to sign copies for Christmas gifts - a true treat.

[Ebookwormy1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son loves this unique book that uses overlayed photographs and drawings over photographs to portray the adventures of "Jack and Guy". In fact, my son calls the book "Jack and Guy". Adorable little story about little boy play, ingenuity, loyalty and adventure. Highly recommended.

[kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me of my childhood...My brother and I playing with our toys on the stairs in our Chicago 2-flat.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful use of photography and collage. Great story of a child's imagination.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's fun to start reading books from a little boys perspective. This was a good one!

[Tracie · Rating 5 out of 5]

She has a new one, too, called Sky-High Guy. Imaginative and fun.

[Charity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both kiddos love this book

[Emmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

i like how she superimposed his imagination onto real pictures.

Boy i really am admiring how simply people can put a book together. i wanna do it too!!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute story told with mixed media.

[Christine]

Fun to see little boy in hero role for rescuing his action figure. A bit scary when figure falls into dark space under stairs.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the story, and I loved the illustrations that did not feature real people. I felt the "real people" photos weakened and dated the illustrations.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone must read!!!!!!!!! Wonderful!!!!!!

[Ronna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book to explore the imagination of lost toys.