Cave Paintings - by Jairo Buitrago (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Our hero travels all alone on a spaceship, through the universe, past galaxies, comets and planets to go visit his grandmother on Earth for the summer holidays. She takes him to visit an ancient cave, where he discovers handprints and drawings of unknown animals made by human beings just like him. To top off his wonderful holiday she gives him mysterious objects that once belonged to his grandfather -- paper and crayons."--

Book Synopsis

A young space traveler discovers art painted millennia before by a human being--just like him.

Our hero travels all alone on a spaceship, through the universe, past galaxies, comets and planets to go visit his grandmother on Earth for the summer holidays. She takes him to visit an ancient cave, where he discovers handprints and drawings of unknown animals made by human beings, just like him. To top off his wonderful holiday she gives him mysterious objects which once belonged to his grandfather -- paper and crayons. On the way home he draws what he saw on his travels -- to the amazement of his fellow passengers.

Jairo Buitrago's thought-provoking story reminds us of what remains as everything changes. Rafael Yockteng's fabulous art, a tribute to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, presents us a wonderful, diverse future in which space travel is common, though knowledge of the past is still a secret treasure to be discovered.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1
Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7
Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

Review Quotes

This accomplished and thoughtful team continue to create wonder with their stories.

-- "Sal's Fiction Addiction Blog"

Cave Paintings is an intergalactic triumph sure to inspire wonder and creativity.

-- "CM: Canadian Review of Materials"

[A] subtle message about conservation for the next generation.

-- "Foreword Reviews"

An ode to the endless possibilities of art, a celebration of open borders, and a reverence for the contributions of our collective ancestors. STARRED REVIEW

-- "Horn Book"

As with their other picture books ... the team of Buitrago and Yockteng, with Amado translating, have created another outstanding story that will resonate with the youngest readers and listeners.

-- "De Colores Blog"

Celebrated collaborators deliver another thoughtful delight, revealing how 'making marks' links us across time and space.

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

If the goal of reading books is to transport you to another world and to broaden your understanding of your own, this book is a hit.

-- "Mr. Alex's Bookshelf Blog"

This book... demonstrat[es] that there is both joy to be found in the mundane and wonder to be found in the infinite expanse of the universe. STARRED REVIEW

-- "School Library Journal"

Yockteng juggles different styles of artwork with ease--magisterial views of whirling galaxies, pen-and-ink-style drawings of the boy's time with his grandmother, the cave art itself, and childlike sketches on the new pad all offer scope for the imagination.

-- "Publishers Weekly"