Introducing Rainbow Journey
A children’s book
Written by Leslie Weinberg
Illustrated by Gustavo Novoa
Preview Chapter One Now!!
About Rainbow Journey
Rainbow Journey is the story of Ricky, a ten-year-old Native American boy from New York, who goes on an epic adventure through the solar system with a group of animals from the Central Park Zoo. Guided by a White Buffalo, the group encounters the rare mystical Unicorn who grants Ricky and the animals the power of flight. The unicorn instructs them to follow a green comet through the seven colors of the rainbow to a new planet, uninhabited by the humans who have been neglecting Mother Earth. On each different colored planet, the animals learn a different lesson of how to work together. When the tribe finally reaches the new planet, the animals enjoy the tranquility, but they miss the noisy humans from Earth. They decide to go back home and teach the humans the lessons they learned on their quest to create a better planet for everyone.
Review by Bruce Helander
“Rainbow Journey, is a delightful children’s book written by publisher and author Leslie Weinberg, in concert with the talented Chilean-born artist Gustavo Novoa, a champion of wildlife preservation. What starts out as a daydream at a zoo becomes an intriguing and fantastical journey into the heavens as the main character catches the tailwind of a green comet. Having a fantasy element is a considerable advantage in children’s illustrations, as every picture tells a story and there are no boundaries to an artist’s vision. This is obvious in Rainbow Journey, a book that captures the imagination of nearly anyone whether child or adult.
The illustrations, sharply defined to make the surreal believable, have the vintage spirit of Henri Rousseau, the French Post-Impressionist painter. This creates a brand new contribution to Magical Realism. The illustrations possess a bewitching sense of humor and illusion that certainly is appealing to young audiences, which no doubt will enjoy this whimsical flight pattern for years to come.
The text, written by published author and professional photographer, Weinberg, is fresh, fitting, and inventive. Her colorful sentences interpret the illustrations in a perfect marriage of words and images. This is indeed a fresh approach to illuminated stories for youngsters created by a gifted team of professionals that will have staying power for years to come.”
Bruce Helander is an art critic and journalist who writes for The Huffington Post. He is an illustration contributor to The New Yorker and a former White House Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Meet the Contributors
Leslie D. Weinberg, Author
Leslie Dee Weinberg started taking pictures of the island of Palm Beach in 1982 as a cub reporter and photographer for the Palm Beach Post, followed by a stint at the Palm Beach Daily News. Leslie then published her first book of black & white photos of the island, which propelled her career in photography. She opened a portrait studio in South Beach, Miami in the early ’90s meeting many artists and film makers leading to a job in Paris as a studio intern at Elle Magazine, and free-lancing for ARTnews and other European and American publications. Returning to grad school to study film Directing at Columbia University in the early 2000’s, Leslie made several short films and documentaries and then returned to her photo roots in West Palm Beach, where she is taking photos, writing and planning her next series of photo books for Aker Press
Gustavo Novoa, Illustrator
Chilean-born artist Gustavo Novoa has made his career painting
fantasy jungle scapes. His signature style is Primitivism, with a charmingly naïve quality. He published his first illustrated book, Jungle Fables, in 1977. Novoa has been involved in many philanthropic causes, always related to the preservation of wildlife.
