"Whether the lines are parading in skewed regimentation through the cityscapes or trickling and meandering to create organic figures, they dominate the illustrations, but the slightly muted watercolors soften the visual bite; the gentle tones also meld the scenes together, deliciously delaying the discovery of quirky elements that make the art worth poring over (the nocturnal transformation of the girls' room, the elements of Granny's grannyish apartment). While some of the changes wrought do seem to be external (the graffiti is apparently being painted over), it's clear that Granny's willingness to look with new eyes is really what allows the streetscape to cheer up. Even kids unconcerned about the underlying implications will revel in this celebration of positive kid power and the good that lurks right beneath our eyes."
     —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Cole, who so often pushes boundaries, especially in his novels, such as The Goats (1988) and The Facts Speak for Themselves (1997), does the same for a younger audience in this picture book that plays with the nature of reality and the effect of perception and dreams on our surroundings … As in a dream, the underlying meanings here must be teased out, and perhaps the best part of this reading experience will be as adults and children ask each other what the story means. Pushing their ideas along will be Cole's always interesting artwork. Here, the crowded city becomes almost a character in its own right-heavy, dirty, dangerous at first, but then a positive, pulsing life force as it is transformed through desire. Some readers will just shrug their shoulders, but perhaps they're not dreamers."
     —Booklist

"Cole's words and pictures deliver his tale as effortlessly as a song, but one that pricks with intelligence, sorrow, and hope.… A vivid and satisfying testimony to the transforming power of hope and dreams."
     —Kirkus Reviews

Show All Reviews

"Whether the lines are parading in skewed regimentation through the cityscapes or trickling and meandering to create organic figures, they dominate the illustrations, but the slightly muted watercolors soften the visual bite; the gentle tones also meld the scenes together, deliciously delaying the discovery of quirky elements that make the art worth poring over (the nocturnal transformation of the girls' room, the elements of Granny's grannyish apartment). While some of the changes wrought do seem to be external (the graffiti is apparently being painted over), it's clear that Granny's willingness to look with new eyes is really what allows the streetscape to cheer up. Even kids unconcerned about the underlying implications will revel in this celebration of positive kid power and the good that lurks right beneath our eyes."
     —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Cole, who so often pushes boundaries, especially in his novels, such as The Goats (1988) and The Facts Speak for Themselves (1997), does the same for a younger audience in this picture book that plays with the nature of reality and the effect of perception and dreams on our surroundings … As in a dream, the underlying meanings here must be teased out, and perhaps the best part of this reading experience will be as adults and children ask each other what the story means. Pushing their ideas along will be Cole's always interesting artwork. Here, the crowded city becomes almost a character in its own right-heavy, dirty, dangerous at first, but then a positive, pulsing life force as it is transformed through desire. Some readers will just shrug their shoulders, but perhaps they're not dreamers."
     —Booklist

"Cole's words and pictures deliver his tale as effortlessly as a song, but one that pricks with intelligence, sorrow, and hope.… A vivid and satisfying testimony to the transforming power of hope and dreams."
     —Kirkus Reviews

"Cole offers a subtle and sweet affirmation of the power of familial love. … With its strong, cleverly presented message about overcoming fears, this book will have wide appeal."
     —School Library Journal

"[Cole] creatively fuses the real and the fanciful, past and present in this affecting story that opens as three sisters arrive at their grandmother's apartment in a run-down city neighborhood. … Cole's airy yet detailed illustrations successfully capture both the bustle of the city and the tranquility of the children's dreams, as well as the tale's message of hope."
     —Publishers Weekly

"As the text pays homage to Sendak, so the illustrations are reminiscent of Margot Zemach, in bulbous-nosed, kind-eyed characters who manage to be both earthy and airy. The rhythm and interaction of text and pictures is faultless. When Granny and the girls wake up in the morning, the walls of her room have disappeared. Outside is inside; then is now; the barriers have dissolved. The implicit message about the urban community, that they are us, is powerful in its understated and joyful conviction."
     —Horn Book

"A totally fanciful book that is not about animals and has no lesson and no moral other than the beauty of text and illustration: Brock Cole's Fair Monaco is a rollicking, poignant, sad/happy lark. Cole, luckiest of men, is both illustrator and storyteller, and master of what artists call "gesture"—the telling, expressive line that in a superb artist seems to catch so perfectly and easily its subject's exact stance, posture, and disposition of form and weight. With a speedy, fluent line reminiscent of the late, great Margot Zemach—and thus reminiscent as well of their shared 18th-century artistic antecedents-Cole renders three little girls staying with their aged grandmother. As Douglas Florian does with animals, Brock Cole captures the joy of the three high-spirited girls as well as the painful fluctuations of old age. The girls' parents aren't aroun, and they listen to their lumbagoed granny's irrational fears, attend her flickering memories, and ask once more to hear how she danced with the "Prince of fair Monaco." Granny can't quite recall, but her romantic delusions now fill the girls' dreams too, and everything somehow may still come around for granny and for the girls in this loving, teeming book. A neat verbal joke hidden in the first two pages is up to you to find."
     —Mothering Magazine

"Cole doesn't ruin his story of the anxieties of young and old age with condescension or explanation—it is simply told and completely winning."
     —Bay Views, Association of Children's Librarians