Sunday

PreS-Gr 2–In this stunning book, a child’s boredom at the thought of another Sunday spent with his parents and grandparents, where every week is the same, turns into a wildly imaginative adventure. Martin ­decides that on this day he’s going to travel the world and bring the dog. Scenes of his family’s quotidian home life shift into those of the wide world that he travels in his mind, from the polar ice caps to fiercely stormy seas. Upon closer inspection, readers will realize that the picturesque landscapes he’s traveling are fantastical versions of ordinary objects in the home: an unbaked cake becomes a volcano spewing lava, and the tattoo on his ­father’s arm comes to life as a fearsome dragon. The book hinges on the illustrations; like the best work of Anthony Browne, Chris Van Allsburg, and David Macaulay, Tolentino’s artwork is truly mesmerizing: deep, lush, ­detailed and realistic. Each page is its own rich world, filled with color and movement and an intense sense of place. Readers can study the pictures and make a new connection every time: is that landscape composed of items from the family’s refrigerator? And is that pirate ship’s sail a pair of underwear glimpsed earlier? The creator of this book, like the pair of explorers at its center, brings magic into an otherwise sleepy Sunday. ­