Publisher: Molodaia Gvardiia (Young Guard)
Author: Vladychina, Galina
Artist: Zemenkov, B. S.
Materials:
Colors: Black, Blue, Green, Orange
Subjects:
- 1Montgolfier is a French scientist. He will now be your friend. Among scientists, he is a star, Or, if you will, a hero of labor.
- 2The typography on this page is rather childlike. It seems to be written by an uneven hand, presumably that of a child, and even the same letters can have minor differences between them. This font runs in parallel to the tone of this page, which uses simpler and more childish language than the rest of the book. Similar, nearly handwritten fonts appear throughout the book, but without the very distinct childlike quality seen here.
- 3The hot air balloon on this page orients the reader to the time that this page, in particular, takes place — after the invention of the hot air balloon. The reader, then, can observe that the book is written retrospectively, that the book is reflecting on the past.
- 4French paper manufacturers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier had invented the hot-air balloon, which had its first public demonstration in June 1783. The first hot-air balloon was made out of silk and lined with paper, having an impressive diameter of 33 feet. In the book, only one person is portrayed to be the inventor of the hot-air balloon, and it is unclear which one of the brothers the author is referring to.
- 5The hat here is a bicorne hat, which is often associated with Napoleon Bonaparte.
- 6This page of the book, although the book is clearly a Soviet children’s book, has no red on it whatsoever. The predominant colors on this page, in particular, are blue, green, and yellow, which perhaps signals that the world of the story is neither socialist nor Soviet. Of course, the revelation in the text that the protagonist is a French scientist confirms that the book will take place in the French world.
- 7Compared to the other human figures on this page, the portrayal of Montgolfier is rather sophisticated. His body is drawn more realistically with defined facial features, as well as shading on his overcoat. He also is the largest human figure on the page. By portraying Montgolfier in such a fashion, the author distinguishes Montgolfier is an imposing — and distinctive — character, which is reflected in the text, too, with the labeling of Montgolfier as a “star” and “hero of labor.”
- 8The unnaturally long smoke from the pipe is depicted by a line that seems to end just right before the opening of the balloon. Because of the proximity of the smoke to this opening, the smoke and warm air from the pipe appears to be the force propelling the balloon to rise. With the trajectory of this book — where the reader learns that the ability of warm air to rise is what inspires Montgolfier’s invention — this small image foreshadows how the invention of the hot-air balloon, as portrayed in the book, comes to be.
