One Piece of String

PreS-Gr 3—Don't let the format of these wordless books fool you—their uses extend beyond what might typically be considered toddler-only territory. In String, viewers follow a thin, white cotton cord from spread to spread. In the first image, it secures a parcel wrapped in crinkled brown paper, becoming next a clothesline, then an outline of a rabbit, a head of curly hair, and a bowl of spaghetti, until the final picture where a small child in silhouette is perched on a swing of string against a purple sky. The subject item in Button must be discovered in pictures depicting a parked fire engine, a ladybug, an apple tree, a traffic light, and so on as it rolls from scene to scene. In style, the collage artwork is reminiscent of Nancy Elizabeth Wallace's Apples, Apples, Apples! and The Kindness Quilt, featuring brightly colored paper cutouts against bold background colors or patterns. Both animals and objects in Jocelyn's delightful books will be familiar to most young children, and her illustrations, with their amusing details, lend themselves to repeated viewing. With these titles, some string, glue, and buckets of large buttons and crayons, educators and parents will have some ready-made art activities (supervised, of course) for mini-makers—and their older siblings.