April Wilson (2)

The magpie is kind of an artistic creation and kind of comes to life (like all the drawings in this) and kind of the kid's ally (drawing together) and kind of the kid's foe (drawing fire that bursts into flame, drawing itself out of its cage), and then there's a deeper level where magpie's like stopping the kid from drawing a sun that consumes the earth) every time we told this story a different way (it has no words) and I like it.

Still one of my favorite wordless books. Also meta, also rainbow. Also smart bird. So, yeah, hits all my buttons and highly recommended.

Readers must look carefully to find all twelve vital differences in the two facing pages, each illustrating one of Earth’s natural habitats. Explore the flora and fauna of South Asia, northern Europe, and Mexico; visit the rain forests of Australia, New Guinea, the Amazon, and central Africa. Explore life in the Red Sea, in the grasslands of the African savanna, and in the volcanic springs of Japan. Investigate the mountain scrub of Australasia, the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and the show more foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

A key provides the answers for each set of pictures and offers brief bits of information about each animal or plant featured in the illustration. Readers of all ages are sure to find much here to appreciate.

Highly recommended. show less

In order to entice a bird to come closer, a person (not sure who as we can only see a pair of hands) draws cherries that pop off of the page and get eaten by the bird. Mayhem ensues as the artist and bird draw a rainbow of art that magically appears with each stroke of the color pencil.