CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices 2010)
Rock, stone, pebble, sand / Body, shoulder, arm, hand / A moat to dig, a shell to keep / All the world is wide and deep.” Liz Garton Scanlon marries small details to big ideas in the lyrical cadence of connections that comprise her picture book narrative. With great economy of language, Scanlon vividly catalogs a series of objects and activities familiar to young children and then graces each with an eloquent and comforting observation that embraces the wider world. Artist Marla Frazee transforms the poetic text into story with illustrations showing individuals in a small town over the course of a single day. Opening with pictures showing two children collecting rocks at the beach, the next few pages follow the pair and their parents as they play on the shore before driving off toward the nearby town. This family and others in their richly diverse community are shown going from beach, to market, to park, to cafe, to home, with paths that intersect, diverge, and come together again along the way. Frazee’s skilled technique conveys personalities and relationships in a manner that invites young readers to study the pages, following easily identifiable faces and family groups from place to place. This exemplary union of words and pictures begs for repeated readings and leisurely time spent inspecting the inclusive illustrations. CCBC Category: Picture Books for Babies,Toddlers, and Preschoolers. 2009, Beach Lane, 40 pages, $17.99. Ages 2-6.