Follow the Line

Follow the Line

by Laura Ljungkvist

Follow the line on a journey from the city to the country, from the sky to the ocean, from morning till night. Laura Ljungkvist uses her trademark continuous line style to create the perfect counting book for young children. Each scene contains questions designed to get children looking, counting, and thinking. For example, in the underwater picture, children can count seashells, turtles, and the legs on an octopus. Each page is packed with colorful, artful objects and animals—and young counters can follow the line from the front cover to the back cover, through each stunning scene.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Art, Mathematics, Fiction, Counting, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 4, 2006

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author/artist Laura Ljungkvist instructs the reader to follow her line, leading them on a journey through the city traffic, across the ocean, under the sea, up into the sky, into the forest, through a small village, and toward a small house where many people are sleeping. On each two-page spread, the reader is further instructed to look for and count various objects and animals...

The first of four picture-books in this vein, in which Ljungkvist uses her continuous line to create her illustrations, and to lead the reader on a "search and find" journey, Follow the Line works quite well as a counting book, and will provide young children who enjoy this sort of thing with quite a bit of enjoyment. These sorts of books aren't my personal favorite, when it comes to picture-books - I tend to get bored with the "hunt for the image" titles - but there's no doubt that Ljungkvist has produced an engaging example of the type. Recommended to young children who enjoys books like Where's Waldo? .

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my five year old's favorites. Less of a story book, more of an activity book. He loves following the line with his finger, which is no quick feat. There's also opportunity to find and count items on each page. I'd probably give it four stars, but my son insists on 100 stars.

[Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was down for following the line, but no one said anything about counting stuff.

[Laura Mincey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the most interesting books I've ever read. The book invites the reader to have a tour of the house featured in the book. With the turn of each page, the reader is in a different room in the house, exploring what all can be found. For instance, the reader is asked to go inside the playroom and find their favorite toy--the illustrations give great images for what can be found of each part of the house. This would be an awesome book to have in a Pre-K classroom when children are just learning where things belong in houses. I even think it would great to keep in the housekeeping center of a Pre-k classroom for students to have a guide about where to sort things. I really enjoyed this interested story, and children will LOVE going through the house and finding objects in each room.

[Sheila Moran · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was I the only one who got nauseous from following the line? This is a great way to engage a child, especially by asking the many questions on each page, but it seemed a bit overwhelming with that is going on in each picture. Ideal for an older, elementary-aged child.

[Mia Valdez Quellhorst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, intricate one-line drawings with a sparse narrative. Many counting questions - engaging and thoughtful.

[DeNae · Rating 4 out of 5]

light on story, but the creativity displayed in the artwork is incredible. We are studying lines in art, so this was perfect.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, busy, simply illustrated.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these interactive books!

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

So beautifully designed! My kids love poring through the details.

[Patrice]

BookTree
Liked

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emberly-esque illustrations give children oodles of opportunities to identify, seek-and-find and count.

[Catarina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was likely written for children that are school age. It's more of a story iSpy. It was fine, but sometimes hard to follow, though maybe the author's point?

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each page of this book presents a different simple scene like the sea or a city block and asks you to identify and count certain things. Cute preschool and up.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the last of the four books in the Follow the Line series by Laura Ljungkvist. It's a fun book that has so many interesting things to look at as well as a continuous line (somewhat similar to Harold and the Purple Crayon) that takes us throughout a home.

I thought perhaps this might be a bit too young for our girls, but they really liked it and they were eager to answer the questions that are sprinkled throughout the pages. We'd make funny sound effects as we followed the line with our finger and we laughed a lot reading this book.

[babyhippoface · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ljungkvist has built a colorful, geometrical picture book around the interesting concept of what can be created with just one unbroken line and some color blocks. Readers will trace the line with eyes or forefinger as it moves from a cityscape in the morning, through oceans and forests teeming with wildlife in the afternoon, to a house full of sleeping people in a quiet village at nighttime. Be prepared for exclamations of, “no way!” when you inform children--and adults--that the black outlines are all connected into one line. This is fun for elementary students and a challenge for secondary Art classes. It’s unlikely readers will be aware of the underlying sense of global connectivity; they’ll be too caught up in the amazing way one line creates it all.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly clever and amazing book! I loved the simple, sweet writing that takes the reader from morning in the city to evening in the country. But what is phenomenal is that all the illustrations in the book are drawn with one continuous line. Give your child the book in sacrament meeting and ask them to trace the line through the entire book...I promise you peace and quiet! Plus there is lots of great "counting" activities throughout the book. I loved it!

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was simple in the reading department with just a few questions on each page about how many objects were there. It was a good exercise in observation. Once I pointed out how the pictures were mainly made up of one line that travels through the whole book, page to page, my daughter (5) just wanted to trace the line instead of hear the questions. I was fine with that. She was intrigued and it kind of helps with small-motor skills, right?

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is a good example of radical change in children's literature. It's totally interactive. It's not a story you'd read to a child- it's more like a book to give a kid and ask them about periodically. I haven't decided if I really like it or not- I really liked the format and the novelty of it, though... still thinking...

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

when i first gave this book to my little girl (she's now 4, she was 3 then) she didn't really like it. now she asks to read it every night. she tries to follow the line all over the pages until it gets too complicated, and she loves counting the different objects on every page. sometimes it gets a tiny bit boring for me, but that's ok cause she's having so much fun!

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book used color beautifully and was able to keep the reader interested in the continuing story. The book was simple, but was able to challenge and build attention and focus. Use this when children need to maintain focus and have them notice the difference between deep, careful inspection and a casual glance.

[Kit · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations, rather than the plot, are really the highlight of the book. That said, the illustrations are stunning, with enough activities on each page to keep interest in the book for many different ages. One thing that bugged me, though, was at night, all the babies have pacifiers. Still, a gorgeous book.

[Marti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Conceptually this is a neat book but in actuality, it's really boring. There's really no plot except that one line runs through the whole book making most of drawings on the pages. When your 6 yr old tells you can stop reading b/c he's tired and both adults are yawning every 5 seconds, that's not good. :p

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the illustrations. Engaging and stimulating. The text....not quite so interesting. A lot of counting questions, but not even terribly exciting or whimsical counting questions. I think it is great as a picture book, or even for kids interested in drawing. However, I would not suggest it as a read-aloud counting book.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of an art book with some pretty neat retro prints that would look great on a wall. Andrew was not that into it, but older cousin Nate did want to follow the line all the way through each scene in the book. Andrew was barely interested in this book at all --the artsy photos mean that looking for details in the images is a little daunting for a two year old.

[Hae Sun]

This is another book in the "Follow the Line" series by Laura Ljungkvist. This author uses a continuous line to take students all over the world and even into outer space. Students are able to get small chunks of information about our world and surroundings. Another book that I would use in social studies or in sciences when talking about environment.

[Nicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave it 3 stars because I can see this being a good book for 6-10 year olds. Any child that can read well on their own. For that age range I would give it four stars, but I was reading this with my 2 and 4 year olds. It was a bit too complicated visually and lacked enough story to hold their attention to the end. For preschoolers this was a two star book.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Follow the line from a big city to a small village. The main text is big and goes from page to page. Each page also contains questions for seek-n-finds on the page. This is a fun book for a group or individual setting. If the reader enjoys Follow the Line, there are others in the series.

2016 storytime theme: city

Reviewed from a library copy.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

It looks like there are a few different Follow the Line books by this author. I read this one to a group of 3rd and 4th graders, and they got really into it, eagerly finding the things on each page that the book asks about. I had to keep telling them to sit down. I even had kids who had had their heads down or turned away perk up and pay attention on this one. Great book for older kids.

[The Library Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

No story really, but the activities should engage children. And if your kid says "can't we just read the story?" as I once heard an over-schooled child saying to his mom, put it down and head for something with a plot and dialogue.