Walter Wick's optical tricks
Record details
- ISBN: 0439855209
- ISBN: 9780439855204
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Physical Description:
43 pages : colour illustrations ; 30 cm
regular print
print - Edition: Anniversary edition.
- Publisher: New York : Scholastic Inc., [2008]
- Copyright: ©1998
Content descriptions
General Note: | "Cartwheel Books." |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Visual perception -- Juvenile literature Optical illusions -- Juvenile literature |
Available copies
- 4 of 6 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 0 of 0 copies available at Prince Rupert Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 6 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
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- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #1 August 1998
Gr. 3^-6. Using mirrors, lighting, shadows, and simple props, the photographer who gave us the I Spy books and last year's extraordinary A Drop of Water, Booklist 1997 Top of the List for Young Nonfiction, has produced a stunning picture book of optical illusions. With crystal-clear photographs, he creates a series of scenes that fool the eye and the brain. Objects placed on a mirror seem to float in space, a triangle appears to move in three different directions, and a small Roman soldier guards a strange structure with columns that seem to change shape and decrease in number. These and other illusions are accompanied by text that not only describes what is happening but also gives hints about how the tricks are done. A full explanation of each illusion is provided at the end. The large format and clear pictures make this perfect for using with a small group, and even readers older than the target audience will enjoy the challenge of these examples of trompe l'oeil. ((Reviewed August 1998)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews - Horn Book Guide Reviews : Horn Book Guide Reviews 1999
Wick's elegant yet bold style of photography is ideally suited for the task of visual deception. The illusions range from simple mirror and geometric paradoxes to Escher-like visual trickery. Paired with each full-page color photo are well-matched descriptions that point the observer to key elements of the illusions. The book provides scientific concepts that are rigorous without diminishing the intrigue and fun. Copyright 1999 Horn Book Guide Reviews - Horn Book Magazine Reviews : Horn Book Magazine Reviews 1998 #5
The creator of A Drop of Water offers up another visually stunning title, this time exploring the art of illusion. Wick's elegant yet bold style of photography is ideally suited for the task of visual deception. The illusions work exceedingly well and range from simple mirror and geometric paradoxes to Escher-like visual trickery; with some of the images you can actually "feel" and "see" your perception of the image change as your mind works to sort out the unexpected visual input. Paired with each full-page color photograph are well-matched descriptions that point the observer to key elements of the illusions. While Wick's model construction and photographs alone warrant significant accolades, the accompanying text and the supplemental explanations found at the back of the book accomplish something rarely achieved in books of this genre: scientific writing that is rigorous without diminishing the intrigue and fun of the illusionary experiences. An afterword assures readers who may have had difficulties perceiving certain illusions that even experts do not fully understand the spectrum of individual responses to optical tricks. The text states, "The illusions in this book are not meant to be an intelligence test, but a playful and entertaining introduction to the mysteries of visual perception." Wick delivers just that. daniel j. brabander Copyright 1999 Horn Book Magazine Reviews - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 1998 July #1
This challenging book of optical illusions from Wick (A Drop of Water, 1997, etc.) will leave some readers gasping in awe, and others befuddled, as they ought to be by such visual trickery. Stunning photographs tease with false perceptions, shadowplays, and mirror tricks. Every photograph is a set piece (many of them sporting the same aesthetic sensibility of Wick and Jean Marzollo's I Spy books), and the opposite page asks readers various questions about what they're seeing. The very best pictures are patterned on the classic M.C. Escher drawings, paradoxes of impossible triangles, cubes, and other structures. Wick provides answers, ably explaining the perceptual twists, and adds an intelligent (and, for flummoxed readers, compassionate) closing: ``The variety of ways individuals experience optical illusions is in itself an interesting area of inquiry, but it's important to keep in mind that why such differences occur is not fully understood--even by experts--and that each reader should experience the book at his or her own pace.'' A book to elicit appreciative murmurs at story hours, and return visits for closer looks. (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-10) Copyright 1998 Kirkus Reviews - Library Media Connection : Library Talk Reviews 1999 January
From the best-selling photographer of the I Spy books (Cartwheel Books) comes Optical Tricks, a book of fifteen optical illusions dealing with visual perception, including both the front and back covers. Wick uses clay, wrinkled paper, light, and wood among his props. Objects seem to be one place in the picture but are actually somewhere else. Readers can use mirrors, shadows, or point of view to look at each photograph and determine if what they are seeing is the entire picture or if something is missing. Readers also find it is possible for eyes to play tricks with the mind. Each illusion and how it is done is explained. The optical illusion photographs were arranged with props to be deceptive but the photographs have not been altered. This book would be an excellent resource for art, photography, or mathematics classes--or just to try to see if you are really fooled by your eyes. Highly Recommended. Diane Guiett, Library Media Specialist, Big Walnut Local School District, Columbus, Ohio © 1999 Linworth Publishing, Inc. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 1998 June #5
Wick (photographer of the I Spy books) reaches into his bag of photography tricks and pulls out surprises galore: his baker's dozen of fascinating illusions will stump readers of every age. Nothing is quite what it seems?images that appear indented in clay suddenly pop out in relief when the page is turned upside-down; a handful of fish multiplies into an endless school through the clever use of mirrors; the middle of three columns in a structure seems to disappear somewhere between base and ceiling. Crisply photographed and composed in largely primary colors, the images pack a nifty one-two punch. Best yet, Wick generously reveals the tricks of his trade at the end, explaining the difference between true and false perceptions and showing how, for example, he created the illusion titled "In Suspense" by placing halves of objects on a mirror to make them appear as wholes, floating in space. Part M.C. Escher, part "Magic Eye," but wholly original in their presentation, these irresistible puzzles are nothing short of visual catnip. Ages 7-up. (Sept.) - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 1998 June #4
Wick (photographer of the I Spy books) reaches into his bag of photography tricks and pulls out surprises galore: his baker's dozen of fascinating illusions will stump readers of every age. Nothing is quite what it seems images that appear indented in clay suddenly pop out in relief when the page is turned upside-down; a handful of fish multiplies into an endless school through the clever use of mirrors; the middle of three columns in a structure seems to disappear somewhere between base and ceiling. Crisply photographed and composed in largely primary colors, the images pack a nifty one-two punch. Best yet, Wick generously reveals the tricks of his trade at the end, explaining the difference between true and false perceptions and showing how, for example, he created the illusion titled "In Suspense" by placing halves of objects on a mirror to make them appear as wholes, floating in space. Part M.C. Escher, part "Magic Eye," but wholly original in their presentation, these irresistible puzzles are nothing short of visual catnip. Ages 7-up. (Sept.) Copyright 1998 Publishers Weekly Reviews - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 1998 September
Gr 4-8-Communication between eye and mind is disoriented with a series of colorful photos of meticulously chosen or carefully constructed objects painstakingly arranged and ingeniously photographed from extremely precise angles. Challenges are presented both in those often-frustrating photos and in the simply written text, with the "illusions" revealed on subsequent pages by having readers change their viewpoint, or in consultation with a series of "solutions" and explanations at the back of the book. In a conclusion, youngsters are reassured that not everyone can "see" every illusion, and that this work is meant as "...an entertaining introduction to the mysteries of visual perception..." and not an "intelligence test." Highly sophisticated despite its appearance of colorful ingenuousness, this new endeavor from the creator of A Drop of Water (Scholastic, 1997) will prove engagingly demanding to those who can "see" 3-D op art in a trice, and annoyingly exacting to those who cannot. Stimulating, if frustrating, and certainly not in the usual stripe of books on optical illusions.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY Copyright 1998 School Library Journal Reviews