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Before After
Everyone knows that a tiny acorn into a mighty oak grows, and a caterpillar emerges into a butterfly. But in this book, it's also true that a cow can result in both a bottle of milk and a painting of a cow, and an ape in a jungle may become an urban King Kong. Just as day turns into night and back again, a many-tiered cake is both created and eaten down to a single piece. Each spread or sequence of spreads explores a before and after.
170 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2013
3 people are currently reading
594 people want to read
About the author
Anne-Margot Ramstein
17 books8 followersAnne-Margot Ramstein studied art in Paris before joining the School of Decorative Arts in Strasbourg. She created illustrations for ABC des Tracas with Matthias Arégui as well as the children’s book Les Illuminations D’Albert Einstein. She lives in France.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 212 reviews
March 12, 2021
A really nice idea for a book, I had high expectations and loved the look of the illustrations against the black on the cover. Inside I felt the illustrations were not so striking, I liked the idea of some, the chicken and the egg, the tree and the fire, the egg and the chicken, but there were lots of before and after that seemed not so striking. I started to think of lots of examples that were more interesting so at least it got me thinking.
January 7, 2016
This was sitting on the coffee table. Roommate got it from the library to show to her 4-year-old daughter, I guess. I needed to kill a few minutes. I picked it up. And I'm glad that I did. For a book with no words in it, it really says a lot.
Basically, as you go through the book, there are two beautifully rendered and colorful illustrations juxtaposed next to each other. A "before" and and "after": A chrysalis, then a butterfly; a slab of stone, then a statue. BUT HERE'S THE THING: as you go through the book, the ideas get slightly more complex. They go from two page "before and afters" to four pages. Six pages. They explore all sorts of existential ideas: death, entropy, time, rebirth. We have a picture of an egg next to a picture of a chicken. On the next page we get a picture of a chicken next to a picture of an egg. There is a lot being conveyed in these drawings (again, without the use of one single word) that is both haunting and perennial. And it's no accident that this is for a parent to show a young child, as the same cycle of "before and after" continues forward as humanity continues forward. This book is bigger than us and personal at the same time. A feat hard to accomplish, and even harder to make accessible to a toddler.
Long story short, this book was cool.
Basically, as you go through the book, there are two beautifully rendered and colorful illustrations juxtaposed next to each other. A "before" and and "after": A chrysalis, then a butterfly; a slab of stone, then a statue. BUT HERE'S THE THING: as you go through the book, the ideas get slightly more complex. They go from two page "before and afters" to four pages. Six pages. They explore all sorts of existential ideas: death, entropy, time, rebirth. We have a picture of an egg next to a picture of a chicken. On the next page we get a picture of a chicken next to a picture of an egg. There is a lot being conveyed in these drawings (again, without the use of one single word) that is both haunting and perennial. And it's no accident that this is for a parent to show a young child, as the same cycle of "before and after" continues forward as humanity continues forward. This book is bigger than us and personal at the same time. A feat hard to accomplish, and even harder to make accessible to a toddler.
Long story short, this book was cool.
July 30, 2024
Wonderful illustrations show things changing with time, sometimes predictably and sometimes unexpectedly. No words, only pictures. This very engaging book made me want to make my own Before After pictures.
-Stacy M.
-Stacy M.
May 1, 2017
Videorecensione: https://youtu.be/40UvMnWBYEg
Straordinario.
Un silent-book meraviglioso che declina gli infiniti significati dei concetti di "Prima" e "Dopo" (non solo temporali). Ironico, filosofico, ricco di sottili riferimenti culturali. Visivamente bellissimo.
Una sorpresa.
Per piccoli (e grandi).
Straordinario.
Un silent-book meraviglioso che declina gli infiniti significati dei concetti di "Prima" e "Dopo" (non solo temporali). Ironico, filosofico, ricco di sottili riferimenti culturali. Visivamente bellissimo.
Una sorpresa.
Per piccoli (e grandi).
September 3, 2017
Check out more picture book reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...
Only through graphic illustrations the order of things is explored in a big book of pictures.
When I picked this book up in the library I was dismayed. This was an adult picture book! No kid would want to read this... I was a little put out but I thought it would work in a pinch when my nephew was having a bad day...
Well he happened to arrive the same day later than normal so we hadn't read a book yet. He picked this one off the pile and was ENCHANTED! Totally. unequivocally enchanted... We quickly looked through about a third of the pages, chatting about what was going on in each one quickly and simply. So while I would give this picture book a 3-star my nephew clearly would not be happy with that rating so we settled on 4-star.
The pictures are fascinating and I LOVE the graphic nature of the art. The bug and lizard illustrations were my favorites... the chameleon changes from green to red depending on the color of the leaf he is near. A lizard sees a fly then eats it on the next page. A butterfly goes from a caterpillar to a butterfly but the chrysalis step is skipped. This is the nature of the problems with this art. A lot of explanation can happen but its useless if a step is skipped.
Another problem is it's expensive and it takes A LOT OF EFFORT on a parent's part for the cost. NOT that I am against effort in pursuit of a child learning but I also like that most picture books can be explored with a parent and WITHOUT a parent! We also zipped through the book swiftly so its not like a child would linger over the pages, they are very simple illustrations.
Also the book does not lie flat. You literally have to hold the book open otherwise it will flop closed. THIS more that anything is a FATAL FLAW. My nephew LOVES to draw and I would consider purchasing this book for him except that it closes!! It was hard for him to draw the beehive and honey jar with the awkwardness of the book!
I'm actually all for wordless picture books but I felt that it was a misstep in this book if it is meant to be anything other than an adult picture book... because it wasn't even clear to me (an adult) what some of the befores and afters were, so for a child... I would love one word answers preferably made a part of each illustration (i.e. NOT ariel block letters added later to the bottom of the page). Like Fresh and Rotten for the spread with the apple on a branch opposite the rotten apple.
BOTTOM LINE: A beautiful adult picture book that is just a little off...
______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my picture book reviews in a special feature called Boo's Picture Gallery...
Only through graphic illustrations the order of things is explored in a big book of pictures.
When I picked this book up in the library I was dismayed. This was an adult picture book! No kid would want to read this... I was a little put out but I thought it would work in a pinch when my nephew was having a bad day...
Well he happened to arrive the same day later than normal so we hadn't read a book yet. He picked this one off the pile and was ENCHANTED! Totally. unequivocally enchanted... We quickly looked through about a third of the pages, chatting about what was going on in each one quickly and simply. So while I would give this picture book a 3-star my nephew clearly would not be happy with that rating so we settled on 4-star.
The pictures are fascinating and I LOVE the graphic nature of the art. The bug and lizard illustrations were my favorites... the chameleon changes from green to red depending on the color of the leaf he is near. A lizard sees a fly then eats it on the next page. A butterfly goes from a caterpillar to a butterfly but the chrysalis step is skipped. This is the nature of the problems with this art. A lot of explanation can happen but its useless if a step is skipped.
Another problem is it's expensive and it takes A LOT OF EFFORT on a parent's part for the cost. NOT that I am against effort in pursuit of a child learning but I also like that most picture books can be explored with a parent and WITHOUT a parent! We also zipped through the book swiftly so its not like a child would linger over the pages, they are very simple illustrations.
Also the book does not lie flat. You literally have to hold the book open otherwise it will flop closed. THIS more that anything is a FATAL FLAW. My nephew LOVES to draw and I would consider purchasing this book for him except that it closes!! It was hard for him to draw the beehive and honey jar with the awkwardness of the book!
I'm actually all for wordless picture books but I felt that it was a misstep in this book if it is meant to be anything other than an adult picture book... because it wasn't even clear to me (an adult) what some of the befores and afters were, so for a child... I would love one word answers preferably made a part of each illustration (i.e. NOT ariel block letters added later to the bottom of the page). Like Fresh and Rotten for the spread with the apple on a branch opposite the rotten apple.
BOTTOM LINE: A beautiful adult picture book that is just a little off...
______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my picture book reviews in a special feature called Boo's Picture Gallery...
November 8, 2019
Artists and picture-book co-creators Anne-Margot Ramstein and Matthias Arégui examine the nature of time in this boldly illustrated wordless concept book. Each before & after pair, whether on the two pages of a single two-page spread, or on the four pages of two back-to-back spreads, presents something that is transformed into something else. Thus an egg turns into a chicken, which (in a humorous reference to that old joke) in turn produces another egg. Night leads to day (and day to night, at the end of the book), acorn to tree, and a sheep to wool...
Originally published in France as Avant Après, this massive tome - although a picture-book, it is 170 pages! - is the second I have read from Ramstein and Arégui, following upon their subsequently published Inside Outside . Like that other title, Before After is an attractively illustrated concept book, one that young children will no doubt enjoy paging through. I don't know that it really needed to be as long as it was, but on the other hand, I wasn't bothered by the length. I can see this being a book to pore over, on a lazy day. Recommended to fans of the artists, to readers who enjoy wordless picture-books, and to anyone in the market for concept books that teach about the relationships between different things.
Originally published in France as Avant Après, this massive tome - although a picture-book, it is 170 pages! - is the second I have read from Ramstein and Arégui, following upon their subsequently published Inside Outside . Like that other title, Before After is an attractively illustrated concept book, one that young children will no doubt enjoy paging through. I don't know that it really needed to be as long as it was, but on the other hand, I wasn't bothered by the length. I can see this being a book to pore over, on a lazy day. Recommended to fans of the artists, to readers who enjoy wordless picture-books, and to anyone in the market for concept books that teach about the relationships between different things.
December 4, 2015
WOW. I have been a big fan of wordless books ever since a kindergartner sat me down and read Korgi to me, constructing the story entirely from the pictures.
This book, in two-page spreads, asks the reader to fill in the blank between two before/after images. A burning candle, a pile of wax. A slingshot, a broken window. A beehive, a jar of honey.
Some of the coupled images expand into a series - egg, chicken, chicken, egg. Some inferences are easy, some are more complex or conceptual. Some invite an entire story: two people gaze at each other across a deep gorge, and in the next picture a bridge has been built and they stand together.
And the art. Is beautiful.
Where's a kindergartner when you need one?
All my picks for best books to give this holiday are at http://www.unadulterated.us/pink-me/2...
This book, in two-page spreads, asks the reader to fill in the blank between two before/after images. A burning candle, a pile of wax. A slingshot, a broken window. A beehive, a jar of honey.
Some of the coupled images expand into a series - egg, chicken, chicken, egg. Some inferences are easy, some are more complex or conceptual. Some invite an entire story: two people gaze at each other across a deep gorge, and in the next picture a bridge has been built and they stand together.
And the art. Is beautiful.
Where's a kindergartner when you need one?
All my picks for best books to give this holiday are at http://www.unadulterated.us/pink-me/2...
November 23, 2017
I think this book was very inspiring because I think the Author was very flexible with "before & after". I especially liked the moon, then sun in the beginning, and the sun , then moon in the end of he book.
July 21, 2014
A gorgeous, high-concept, wordless picture book. It brought me to tears on the exhibit floor at ALA. Each image suggests a before and after. A caterpillar on a leaf in one image, a fatter caterpillar and a very chewed leaf on the next page. A rocking horse on one page, a rocking chair on the next. There's a lot to enjoy & discuss here for all ages.
It's really thick, librarians, so do be aware.
It's really thick, librarians, so do be aware.
April 7, 2015
Wowwww. This book is awesome. I was expecting it to be cool but I wasn't expecting to chuckle or have little gasps of delight when I realized what the illustrators were getting at. Some are a bit sad, too. Take the time to savor the pictures; they're wonderful.
Read
August 11, 2021Interesting concept. I felt some of the pairings were stronger than others. Some felt quite inspired and clever, or made me smile. Some were a bit depressing or too obvious. I'm not quite sure how to rate it.
March 22, 2017
A wonderfully big wordless book of before and after illustrations. My favorite is the lush jungle where the monkey is climbing a tree and then the monkey climbing a skyscraper.
February 25, 2015
Beautiful artwork in this wordless picture book. Some whimsical before and afters (a pumpkin becomes a coach, a baby gorilla becomes King Kong) and also some clever sequences (egg becomes chicken who hatches an egg) and some interesting progressions (ie from squid to ink through mailing options). This is a longer book so it would work best for a smaller group. I could also see it being used with older kids in a writing or drawing workshop.
February 20, 2015
Lovely illustrations, clever, thought-provoking. It would be so fun to sit down with a small child and discuss what before and after means for each pair.I like how they occasionally return to elements previously depicted, like the brick wall and the wedding cake. It's the sort of book that would reward repeated readings.
January 19, 2015
This is a clever picture book for pre-readers:
Left Page/Right Page
Bud/Flower
Acorn/Tree
Caterpillar/Butterfly
Then it gets even more clever:
Egg/Chicken
Chicken/Egg
Hahahahahaha.
Left Page/Right Page
Bud/Flower
Acorn/Tree
Caterpillar/Butterfly
Then it gets even more clever:
Egg/Chicken
Chicken/Egg
Hahahahahaha.
February 14, 2015
One of my favorite wordless books ever, wow!
June 27, 2018
I don’t do a very good job at recording all the excellent picture books that come my way, but at least I’ll remember this one! A wordless book that present before/after pictures in two page spreads. While some appear very simple and obvious, as the book goes on there is more and more sophistication evident in how the author/artist created this work. My 10 year old and I found lots to think about when we pages through it together! A good gift choice for a variety of ages.
November 23, 2017
I enjoyed this book because I like books with only pictures. I also enjoyed this book because I liked the part when a pile of bricks teleported into a place for a gigantic brick wall.
June 27, 2024
Creative and well-crafted visual world building. It is delightful to see the themes and variations the artist introduces to the subject.
December 23, 2014
The passage of time is captured beautifully in this wordless book that shows one example after another of before and then after. The book is a delightful mix of concepts with examples from nature, pop culture and plenty of humor. An acorn before becomes an oak tree after. A small ape before becomes King Kong after. Ingredients become a cake and a few pages later the cake is eaten and left as crumbs. But what came first, the chicken or the egg. This book takes a wry and balanced view of that debate by showing both in sequence. One never knows what the page turn will bring, and that’s part of the appeal in this clever and funny book.
Wordless books are often short, but this book is nice and thick, the entire book offering lots to think about and plenty of chuckles along the way. While it may seem to be more for preschoolers, older elementary aged children will get more of the references in the book like the chicken and the egg and King Kong. They will also appreciate the passage of time visually on the page as ice melts to water. Additionally, some of the images are more complex with a cow becoming milk but also becoming a picture of a cow. Very meta.
For children with reading difficulties in elementary school, this would be a great book to start discussions. It is also a wonderful way to wile away some time looking at an outstanding example of wordless art that delights. Appropriate for ages 5-9.
Wordless books are often short, but this book is nice and thick, the entire book offering lots to think about and plenty of chuckles along the way. While it may seem to be more for preschoolers, older elementary aged children will get more of the references in the book like the chicken and the egg and King Kong. They will also appreciate the passage of time visually on the page as ice melts to water. Additionally, some of the images are more complex with a cow becoming milk but also becoming a picture of a cow. Very meta.
For children with reading difficulties in elementary school, this would be a great book to start discussions. It is also a wonderful way to wile away some time looking at an outstanding example of wordless art that delights. Appropriate for ages 5-9.
December 6, 2021
For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-Cycle
A lovely beast of a book, packed with gorgeous illustrations and complex ideas. Much more intricate than it first appears.
When I checked this out from the library, I was expecting the obvious before/after relationships (caterpillar to butterfly, acorn to tree). But this book goes far beyond that. Some are before and after shots of the same scene. Some are direct cause and effect. Others show how one object was replaced by another (ink and quill with typewriter). Some show something being used to create something else. Others show the passage of time.
All of the illustrations are so captivating. I was especially drawn to the night sky scenes. Inspiration is pulled from the natural world, fairy tales, everyday objects, and technological advancements. Some scenes are obvious. Others offer a great starting point for a bigger learning opportunity such as how a cacao bean becomes chocolate or how a rocket leads to footprints on the moon. Some tell a story in their own way and provide a great opportunity for children to fill in the gaps to determine what happened (a slingshot paired with a broken window).
This lovely wordless book exceeded my expectations both in art style and its content. A beautiful collection of interrelated scenes that start simple and get more complex as the book goes on. A fantastic wordless read to explore.
A lovely beast of a book, packed with gorgeous illustrations and complex ideas. Much more intricate than it first appears.
When I checked this out from the library, I was expecting the obvious before/after relationships (caterpillar to butterfly, acorn to tree). But this book goes far beyond that. Some are before and after shots of the same scene. Some are direct cause and effect. Others show how one object was replaced by another (ink and quill with typewriter). Some show something being used to create something else. Others show the passage of time.
All of the illustrations are so captivating. I was especially drawn to the night sky scenes. Inspiration is pulled from the natural world, fairy tales, everyday objects, and technological advancements. Some scenes are obvious. Others offer a great starting point for a bigger learning opportunity such as how a cacao bean becomes chocolate or how a rocket leads to footprints on the moon. Some tell a story in their own way and provide a great opportunity for children to fill in the gaps to determine what happened (a slingshot paired with a broken window).
This lovely wordless book exceeded my expectations both in art style and its content. A beautiful collection of interrelated scenes that start simple and get more complex as the book goes on. A fantastic wordless read to explore.
March 5, 2015
First up is Before After by Anne-Margot Ramstein and Matthias Arégui. This is a gorgeous book of graphic illustrations where two images are paired together: a before and after image. There are pictures that are funny pairings. There are poignant pairings. There are just thoughtful pairings. There are some that seem obvious and some that are surprises. I love, for example, that we have all these ingredients laid out on one side of the page, and on the other we have the finished cake. We have an acorn on one page and on the other side we have a fully grown tree. We have fireworks laid out on one side and on the other page fireworks exploding. Those are more obvious and wonderful to look at, but you also have things like a ship at sea and a storm followed by the ship resting at the bottom of the ocean. You have a cannon prepared to fire canning and the next page a hole in the brick wall. It's just wonderful. Surprise after surprise, and it's a good, long, thick book. Lots and lots of pairings to explore. Something that I think kids of all ages can enjoy a lot.
This review appears on an episode of the “Best Book Ever [this week]” segment of the Let’s Get Busy podcast. Check out the original post here: http://lgbpodcast.blogspot.com/2015/0...
This review appears on an episode of the “Best Book Ever [this week]” segment of the Let’s Get Busy podcast. Check out the original post here: http://lgbpodcast.blogspot.com/2015/0...
March 4, 2022
Everyone buys the classics. You know how it is. Grandaddy grew up with Goodnight Moon, Auntie Pat’s Patted The Bunny for decades. So when it’s time for them to buy a gift for their grandchild or nephew, they defer to what they know, and the cycle continues. Kid’s classics get bigger and the cornucopia of contemporary delights gets routinely overlooked. But then, why are there so many new picture books and why are so many so good? I think it’s because even though advances and royalties are much smaller, because of market size and jackpot rate, the people doing them really are doing it for love. You can feel the TLC oozing off the pages. And Before After is a book oozing with TLC. First off, no words appear at all in the entire book. On the left side of each page is an artistically clean drawing of something before -- like an acorn, caterpillar, or egg. On the right side is something after – like an oak tree, butterfly, or chicken. Some are obvious, some aren’t, all provoke great conversation. The bookseller who recommended it to me said it’s her favorite children’s book because it serves such a wide age, language, and development range. She didn’t mention parents but I love it, too. A great go-to gift for friends with kids because hardly anyone has heard of it. Beats Goodnight Moon any night.
December 30, 2016
This wordless picture book is longer than you might expect and actually is more the size of a chapter book. Some before and after examples are obvious, such as an acorn and a large tree, a baby swan and an adult swan, a deck of cards and a house of cards. Other examples are a bit more obscure and ones that a child wouldn't likely know, such as a pigeon and a letter, and an ink bottle and a typewriter. These provide a good opportunity for talking about the way things used to be done. Still others follow a progression over several pages: wheat fields --> hay bales --> wheat --> bread. Some are whimsical, such as the materials the 3 little pigs used in the story, each followed by what they built (and how it fared when the wolf huffed and puffed). Others show destruction, such as a window broken by a rock, a brick wall blasted by a cannon, or a forest ravaged by fire. I like that this book doesn't just try to show "nice" things. My favorite is the egg followed by the chicken. If you think this author solved that age old mystery...think again. On the next page you have a chicken followed by an egg. Brilliant! And a chance for even more discussion.
Love this! Read it three times through and not only did it not get boring, it got more interesting each time.
Love this! Read it three times through and not only did it not get boring, it got more interesting each time.
February 9, 2017
A series of pictures that display a before and after. It may be something that will change in a matter of seconds, like fireworks before they explode and their display in the sky. Or it could be something that will take many days or decades, like a cow in a field becoming a painting of a cow in a field, a well-kept house becoming a broken down relic, or an acorn and a mighty oak. From seasons to productions, they have one thing in common, one thing came before the other.
This is a completely wordless book, well-illustrated that will appeal to a wide variety of ages. Some of the pages or spreads will take closer examination to discover the before/after relationship than others. Some of the relationships are quite clever (like King Kong before his visit to NYC and after), others are things most people would think of when listing before/afters (egg and chicken). Quite a fun wordless book that will stand up to multiple re-readings.
This is a completely wordless book, well-illustrated that will appeal to a wide variety of ages. Some of the pages or spreads will take closer examination to discover the before/after relationship than others. Some of the relationships are quite clever (like King Kong before his visit to NYC and after), others are things most people would think of when listing before/afters (egg and chicken). Quite a fun wordless book that will stand up to multiple re-readings.
October 27, 2014
This wordless picture book with digital illustrations is perfect for expanding minds and reminding readers of the origins of things. For instance, a tree is laden with a bee hive around which several bees hover, and then in the next picture, the bees' honey has been stored in a jar. Some of the images such as an acorn that grows into a tree are exactly what you might expect, but others such as a deck of cards that morphs into a house of cards, carefully stacking onto each other, are delightfully surprising. This book can stand up to several readings too since there's more to notice each time you read it.
December 24, 2014
I love this book! Some of the concepts are simple: a "before" picture of a bud and an "after" picture of a daisy", for example, or, a “before” picture of a small puffer fish and an “after” picture of him puffed up. But the book also includes more complicated concepts like time, seasons, transformation (eggs, milk, butter, strawberries become a cake), destruction, day/night, and death (frog and fly). Some pictures may have to be explained to younger readers: a pumpkin/carriage, for example, or the egg and the chicken (or is it the chicken and the egg?). This is a great book for all ages!
January 24, 2015
This book will spark lots of conversation. It seems simple at first, but there are before/afters that are very funny, some that are very deep, and some that hold literary allusions (Cinderella, Three Pigs). It begs to be reread because pictures from early in the book show up again later. It could be a very fun example of the power of close (repeated) reading and has enormous potential for use with language learners.
April 15, 2015
Beautifully illustrated book suitable for any age!
Would definitely recommend it to parents of young children as the lack of text and the structure of the illustrations lends it to a sort of "choose your own adventure/story" giving children a chance to use their imagination or parents to offer explanations of why (such as why the caterpillar is now a butterfly, or why "before" is a squid and "after" is a jar of ink)
adventure and education, 5 stars!
Would definitely recommend it to parents of young children as the lack of text and the structure of the illustrations lends it to a sort of "choose your own adventure/story" giving children a chance to use their imagination or parents to offer explanations of why (such as why the caterpillar is now a butterfly, or why "before" is a squid and "after" is a jar of ink)
adventure and education, 5 stars!
February 26, 2015
This book is just fantastic! It's beautiful, first of all, but, in that way that all great children's books share, it can be enjoyed on multiple levels. A book to be "read" again and again.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 212 reviews