Mattland

by Hazel Hutchins, Dušan Petričić, Gail Herbert

Matt is miserable. The subdivision where he now lives is surrounded by nothing but muddy fields of rocks and sticks. But when Matt ventures out, his imagination kicks in. He draws a muddy, winding line and names it Snake River. A pile of rocks becomes the Dog Tooth Mountains. Just like that, Mattland is born. Soon a little girl shows up with a handful of helpful odds and ends. Piece by piece, she and Matt expand their new world with popsicle-stick bridges and scrap-paper boats. And when a rainstorm finally threatens to wash everything away, all the neighborhood kids appear and help stave off the flood. Evocative of childhood friendships and with sublime illustrations that brighten in color as the story progresses, Mattland is an inspiring ode to cooperative play.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Canada, Friendship

32 pages, Paperback

First published February 21, 2008

About the author

Born and raised in southern Alberta, Hazel is the author of over forty books for children. Her work covers a wide age range – from picture books for the youngest set to novels for older grades – and delights in enterprising characters, interesting facts, gentle humour and the natural warmth of friendship and family. A popular presenter at schools and libraries across Canada, Hazel's books are also found in translation in many corners of the world.

Reviews

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3* art
4* story

Love the idea of this story - how playing in a mud puddle can bring kids together. Brilliant.

[Canadian Children's Book Centre]

Matt’s family has moved three times, but this new subdivision is the most depressing environment he has ever lived in. He is surrounded by mud, water and leftover building materials. There is barely a climbing tree or blade of grass in sight. He knows no one. In his frustration, Matt picks up a stick and draws a line in the mud which fills with water. He decides to call the line Snake River. He then connects the line to a puddle which he names Turtle Lake. A jagged row of rocks become Dog Tooth Mountains, and tufts of grass are given the title Buffalo Grasslands. A new landscape emerges out of the surrounding debris: Mattland. Matt continues to develop Mattland, now with the assistance of an outsider – a silent little girl who brings him popsicle sticks, pine cones, coloured pebbles and bits of tile. A miniature town springs up as a farmhouse, barn, bridges, houses, stores and a factory are added. When a rainstorm threatens to wash this microcosm away, a group of neighbourhood children, who have been watching from a distance, arrive just in time to help save Mattland from destruction – and to become friends with its chief architect. Hazel Hutchins and Gail Herbert have written a moving tale about the power of a child’s imagination and his ability to transform dreary objects into uncommon attractiveness. Readers will empathize with Matt’s loneliness as he enters a foreign, friendless environment, only to transpose it into something quite wonderful. Dušan Petričić’s watercolour and ink illustrations capture the transformation of a dismal wasteland into almost magical surroundings. The browns and greys of the opening pages evolve into a cacophony of brightness at the conclusion. Through the inventor’s eyes, Mattland no longer looks like the objects it is made from, but what the young boy imagines the objects to be. Petričić illustrates from Matt’s viewpoint, the pictures showing his arms in front of him while he is creating this emerging world. In fact, we only see what Matt looks like, when his face is reflected in the waters of Turtle Lake. The potential of a child’s imagination and the joy of cooperative play make Mattland a world worth exploring!

Reviewed by Senta Ross in Canadian Children's Book News
Fall 2008 VOL.31 NO.4

[jennyreadit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Matt has moved three times. He doesn't know anyone and is feeling frustrated with the move. He goes outside and all he sees are some blocks of wood and a stick. However, Matt has an imagination and draws a line from a large puddle to create a river. Soon, Mattland is born. A stranger comes with odds and ends as Mattland grows with a factory, weather station ( broken key) railroad ( pine needles) and more.One day, the rains come again and Mattland is threatened by flooding. But, suddenly, multiple hands appear to help save the "town." A great story to use to show imagination, creativity and collaboration. Could also be used to teach recycling. Mattland is similar to Roxaboxen, but without the strong feelings of developing relationships.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gentle art and an amazing story. Matt is upset about having to move to the crappiest place. But Matt has an imagination... builds an imaginary land and starts to build friendships.

[Marta Pona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A growth-mindset kind of story. Another inspirational read-aloud for any age group.

[Mj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hazel Hutchins and Gail Herbert have collaborated to write the words for a creative children’s’ book that would be good to read with someone who has just moved or is about to move. The book would be a good starting point for a discussion about moving and making new friends.

It’s a story about Matt, a young boy who has moved quite a lot. Once again he has moved to a new town where he knows no one. The town has no grass and is filled with mud and has none of the trees that Matt likes to climb. Matt wanders about outdoors by himself, finds a stick and uses it to make a line which gets filled with water and becomes a river. Using his creativity Matt builds more things beside the river with the items he finds outdoors. Soon an unwanted visitor brings Matt even more collected items to build with. The town just grows and grows and Matt calls the town Mattland. It starts raining hard and the rain threatens to wash Mattland away. Matt and his new playmate can’t do enough to hold back the water but soon more children arrive. Together they all build dikes and dams to steer the water away and save the day.

Matt starts off alone and lonely but ends up with a whole bunch of new friends who all enjoy launching boats in Turtle Lake, another of Matt’s creations.

I thought the story was creative because of the imaginative use of found items utilized to create the village and the equally clever use of the various names for the various landmarks. Dušan Petričić does a wonderful job of illustrating the story with his equally creative artwork. In the beginning the pictures start out beige and grey, like the mud in the town and Matt’s mood. As Matt builds and gets happier the occasional muted colour is introduced sparingly but by the end of the book the pages are filled with vibrant colours. Petričić’s illustrations are quite detailed and match the imagination and creativity of the story’s words. It was an excellent three person collaboration and I think that Mattland would be a thoughtful going away gift for a child who is about to move.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matt has moved three times with his family and now they have moved to a place filled with mud and water and no trees. So when Matt picks up a stick, he is tempted to break it or throw it, but instead he starts to draw in the mud. And as he draws, a world appears before him filled with lakes, rivers, mountains of rock, roads and houses. The closed doors of the other houses begin to open and an outsider joins him in building his land. When disaster strikes the tiny world, Matt's own world has expanded enough for lots of hands to be there to help.

This book is about the power of creativity, the strength of play and the formation of connections without trying. The illustrations are a large part of the book with their skillful and restrained use of color to show where imagination has touched the dirt and changed it. The text is wonderfully bristly at the beginning, filled with Matt's anxiety. By the end, it has transformed to be eager and free-flowing. The amount of text on each page make this book appeal to a slightly older audience, so it will be appreciated by elementary art classes as well as teachers and librarians looking to get children thinking creatively.

Highly recommended, this book will get you feeling free and easy too as you survey what may be your muddy and rocky place and find imaginative ways to make it magical and friendly.

[Karissa Kelly]

Mattland is a book about a boy named Matt who has just moved. He is disappointed with the new place and mad about the dull, rainy weather. While looking at the muddy earth, he finds a stick and his imagination explodes. He creates rivers, lakes, mountains, and railroads declaring his creation Mattland. Soon he notices two uninvited footprints and looks up to find a girl holding out a popsicle stick. From that day on, she helps him build Mattland. Until, rain comes crashing down on it destroying everything created. However, the neighborhood kids see what happens and run to the rescue saving Mattland and starting friendships.

I enjoyed this book. I thought it was sweet and beautifully illustrated. When the book begins, the illustrations are gray and dark. But as the book goes on and Matt meets the little girl, the pictures become brighter with color. By the last page, the illustrator completely fills the picture with color. I loved how this book intertwined imagination and friendship. I think its an accurate description of what everyone wishes a friend to be.

I highly recommend this book. It could be a great read for kids who have recently moved or for talking about friendship and how friends treat each other.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sweet story! It's the tale of a boy who has just moved to a new neighborhood--one with lots of mud and nowhere to play/nothing to play with. A stick dragged through the mud creates Snake River...connected with a puddle makes Turtle Lake...and soon Mattland is born.

As the story progresses and the bits of rock and garbage on the lot are transformed into buildings and landmarks, the brown tones of the watercolor illustrations evolve into the colors of an imaginative landscape. Likewise, Matt's solitude flows into friendships as other children sidle closer to see what he's doing and join in the effort to save Mattland when rainwater threatens to wash everything away.

This would be a great book to read to your children. I think it could also work for a storytime for kids circa kindergarten age or preschoolers with longer attention spans. Not TOO many words on the page, but they're not in huge print and don't rhyme. :)

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting title to use with children who are learning about map making, and finding a sense of place. The story protagonist is Matt, a boy who is new to town and starts constructing his own Mattland in the mud outside. The illustrations are from Matt's point of view and show only Matt's hands and an occasional reflection of his face in a puddle. As Mattland grows, the illustrations become more colourful and realistic, and the places within Mattland become more complex. New friends slowly show up to help with Mattland using materials they have collected or salvaged, and they ultimately help Matt to save Mattland from strong rains. A very useful story with wonderful illustrations.

[Kathleen Garber · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an adorable book! What a great idea, I wish I had this book as a child, creating towns in the mud sounds like JUST the thing I would have done for hours and hours.

This book is designed for ages 4-7 and I think it’s a wonderful addition to children’s literature. It’s not just the fun idea that makes this a great book. I couldn’t say it better than this sentence on the press release:

“With its imaginative illustrations and poignant text, this story captures the loneliness of childhood, magically transforming it into an inspiring ode to a child’s imagination and the joy of cooperative play.”

The illustrations are amazing too. Highly Recommended.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young boy named Matt has moved three times, and his thoughts are that this is the worst place of all-no grass, trees, only rocks and dirt. And now it’s been raining, and there is mud and puddles. The story shows Matt imagining a place, and as he imagines, he builds a town, with the rocks as mountains, a stick making an indentation that creates a stream, which flows to a lake. A far off huge puddle becomes the ocean. Soon another child appears and adds to the town. It’s a wonderful story of kids and creativity with what is found.

[JustOneMoreBook.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clever combination of first person illustration and third-person narrative sweep us from the bleak friendlessness of a half-built subdivision to the sunny satisfaction of a job well done in this wordless triumph of teamwork and imagination.

You can listen in on our chat about this book on our Just One More Book! Children's Book Podcast.

[JustOneMoreBook.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clever combination of first person illustration and third-person narrative sweep us from the bleak friendlessness of a half-built subdivision to the sunny satisfaction of a job well done in this wordless triumph of teamwork and imagination.

You can listen in on our chat about this book on our Just One More Book! Children's Book Podcast.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of remarkable power for one so simple and direct. A lonely boy in a seemingly squalid urban neighborhood uses creativity to channel his anger into constructing "something from nothing", out of which a community grows, physically, socially, and symbolically. Visual perspective makes this a terrific choice for inferencing, as well as for map studies.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matt just moved to a run-down urban neighborhood. Out of bordom, he builds a symbolic community out of mud and sticks, which stimulates his real community to grow physically and socially.

Could be a good choice for inferencing, and/or map studies.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book for children facing a move. It's also an example of the power of imaginative play.

[Zack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool story and could be a good start to an imagination program.

[Greta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book and its message, but the ending wrapped up a bit too quickly for me.

[louisa]

Leanly written, creative, if a little slight. With illustrations that work with the text, not against it, adding angularity.

[Annie Oosterwyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminds me of Roxaboxen. Children creating a world out of the scraps left behind by adults and forming new communities of their own.

[Stacie Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I moved a lot as a child and always just wanted my own world! Matt does so in this creative and fun book! (possible creative involvement?)

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most excellent story from the idea thorough to the crafting to the illustrations. Well crafted.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

i would read this book when new student comes because this book about working-together. children in this book work together to make small viliiage. creative and fun book to read!

[Carl Klassen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story of play, creativity, community, construction, and mapping. Easily connects with early years students and classroom play and explorations.

[Candi]

Ages 4-7

[Brandon Brice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matt has moved several times with his family. This place they have moved to this last time was the worst place of them all. There was nothing around and he didn’t have any friends. So he would pick up sticks and draw lines, he would see trash and use it to make a town or little city. You could say he was making a map but his creativity made it more than that.

When I first started reading this book I wasn’t interested until I caught on to what Matt was actually doing. His imagination took him a long way and made him feel comfortable when he really wasn’t.

I will use this book in my class to show the students how creative you can be and there is no limits to imagination.

[Alyse Scholten]

Hazel Hutchins does a great job at showing the difficulties some children face when moving frequently and how hard it can be to make friends. However, she also does a good job at showing that sometimes we need to be willing to open up and let others in if we want to make friends.