The Wonder

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - North Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 13, 2016

Review

This picture book has an arresting cover showing a boy with ideas going off like fireworks from his mind. Beginning with sepia tones, the book follows a young boy as he makes his way to school, pausing here and there to wonder about things like "who makes the clouds?" and "what would the world's best playground look like?". He is told by one adult after another to stop daydreaming and keep focused. In school, he encounters the same practical advice from one teacher after another...until he gets to art class. There his teacher gives him permission to let his imagination free. The pages that follow are whimsical, colorful, and wondrous indeed. The boy's imagination, his sense of wonder, has been supported and fed. The book makes the connection between this type of support in art education, and at home, and that of finding success as an artist and sharing that wonder with the world. Truly sumptuous illustrations that a young artist will pore over; they are inventive with a mix of shapes, patters, colors, and animals. Highly recommend.

Overall Book Score: excellent