What If...

"With a pencil and paper, I write and draw art/ to create many stories that come from my heart." But what if the young narrator of this story didn't have a pencil? In ways that may remind readers of the lullaby "Hush Little Baby," this brown-skinned, purple-haired girl is always thinking about her next move. No pencil? She'd make origami. No paper? She'd "chisel the table and then carve the chair" or create a wall-size sun by strategically peeling away paint. Ultimately, it's her imagination--celebrated with a gatefold close-up of the girl deep in thought--and unfaltering determination to create that matter. "If I had nothing, but still had my mind," writes Berger (Monster's New Undies). "There'd always be stories to seek and find." Curato's collaged and found-object illustrations meet the creative challenges the text all but demands with moments of giddy inventiveness: a dragon created from fall leaves, a solar system rendered in dirt and marbles, and a snow scene made of marshmallows and sugar. Ages 4-8. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (Apr.)

Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

PreS-Gr 2--In a first-person narrative, a young African American girl declares that nothing can keep her from creating. ("What if that pencil one day disappeared? I'd fold up the paper till stories appeared.") As she continues to imagine her the disappearance of her supplies, she invents new ways to create, by chiseling wood, drawing in the dirt, and using leaves, snow, and sand as her media. As more and more resources are withdrawn, the child makes shadows, tells stories, and dances. Until "If I had nothing, but still had my mind; there would always be stories to seek and to find." The story's origins are events from the author's own life. Berger shares in the notes that she wondered how she would be able to create when she was forced out of her home by a flood. She improvised, and in doing so realized that those who are "compelled to create...will always find a way." Curato was inspired by Berger, and reflects that in digital collages of household and found objects offset with charming pen-and-ink drawings of the young protagonist. The story is sandwiched between two exterior depictions of the narrator's apartment building. At the start of the book, she can be seen through a window, working at her desk. At the end of the book, the windows illuminate all the creators nearby; a man playing violin, a woman decorating a cake, and singers, dancers, painters, and needle workers. VERDICT This inspirational read-aloud provides ample opportunity for discussion and creation from beginning to end. A necessary addition for most collections.--Lisa Lehmuller, Paul Cuffee Maritime Charter School, Providence

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

*"A testament to the power of an imaginative mind. ...This extraordinary book will make it hard for any child reader to settle for the mundaneness of reality."
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review