Free Lunch

Mr. Lunch

by J. Otto Seibold, Vivian Walsh

When a bad elephant takes over the bird seed company, Mr. Lunch tries to find a better source of food for his feathered friends

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

American artist and children's book creator. With no formal art training, he was able to sneak into the art world during the "outsider art" craze of the 1990s. His book Mr. Lunch Takes a Plane Ride, published by Viking in 1993, was the first children's picture book to be created with digital media. His 1997 book Olive, the Other Reindeer led to an animated television special of the same name.

His art has been shown at Mass MOCA, Deitch Projects NYC, The Getty LA, Contemporary Jewish Museum SF, Grass Hut Portland, MOCA LA, The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts SF, Gallery Paule Anglim SF, Oakland Museum CA, Juxtapoz Gallery Detroit, and Galerie Impare in Paris. He has done freelance illustration for years including clients such as Nike, Time Warner, Girl Skateboards, Pixar, Comcast, Giant Robot, Target, TiVo, 826 Detroit, Quaker Oats, Fox Entertainment, Gnu Skateboards, Swatch, and Nordstrom.

His book Penguin Dreams was named a New York Times "Best Illustrated Book". Mr. Lunch Takes a Plane Ride won a Cuffie Award from Publisher's Weekly; Mr. Lunch won for most memorable character in a lead role. Going to the Getty won an Art Directors Club Illustration Award. Olive, the Other Reindeer was a New York Times Bestseller and the movie version was nominated for an Emmy Award.

James has three children and resides in Oakland, California.

Reviews

[Dolly · Rating 2 out of 5]

So very strange.

I suppose that this story will appeal to children with its vibrant colors, cartoon characters, and quite obvious good vs. evil plot. The narrative is very random, almost to the point of being confusing. In any case, I am just not that big a fan of the illustrations.

Meh.

[Kaethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the delights of working in a bookstore or library is finding books you would have missed otherwise. Although this isn't my favorite by Seibold, it was an excellent find. (My favorite is Penguin Dreams or Olive, the Other Reindeer)

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever dog attempts to thwart an evil elephant's plan to keep free bird seed away from the birds.
Seibold's illustrations are an acquired taste, but I like the bold images and colors.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable drawing made in Illustrator. Weird stories.

[Carly Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story with retro illustrations.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good adventure story with goofy-looking, somewhat distorted character illustrations.