The Whisper

Gr 1-3—A sweet-faced girl in a red hood borrows a special book from her teacher. As she runs home, oblivious to what is happening, the words escape. While a fox nets the jumbled letters, readers can discern "once upon a time," "wizard," "bears," etc. At home, the child is disappointed, thinking the book lacks a story. Then she hears the whisper: "You can imagine the words...the stories....There are never any rules...imagining just is." She develops an approach, looking more closely at the pictures and asking herself questions from her vantage point at the border. Ironically, this is not a wordless experience for readers; the girl develops opening sentences for the next seven magical compositions. Zagarenski's signature wheels, teacups, crowns, and tigers populate these richly layered, golden scenes, full of texture and mystery: an elephant and lion float by on a quest, a wizard blows bubbles that become real creatures. During the girl's return trip to school, the fox requests help reaching grapes. Those familiar with Aesop may be surprised that no trickery is involved. The endpapers reveal the edited fable; the listening fox has also learned about imagining and reimagining. Stories about storytelling can be hard sells to children, who generally prefer the familiar arc of a sustained narrative. However, the mixed-media art is so stunning in this Caldecott-honor artist's first foray into writing that they will make an exception. VERDICT A sumptuously illustrated fable about the magic of storytelling and the power of imagination.—Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library

In her first work as author, two-time Caldecott Honor recipient Zagarenski appears to have constructed a story to accompany her dreamy, otherworldly paintings, rather than the other way around. A girl in a fox-eared red hood borrows a book from her teacher and hastens home, but its words spill out along the way, leaving only the pictures. A mysterious whisper tells her, "You can imagine the words. You can imagine the stories." And so she does, inventing the first few sentences of a story for each of Zagarenski's magical paintings, but leaving them unfinished. In one, an enormous ox lies in a field, listening "to secrets that anyone wanted to share." In another, an elephant floats tranquilly down a river: "Their hundred mile journey began in a sturdy wooden boat." Tiny vignettes of the girl looking at these very images in her own treasured book create the sense that readers are reading it along with her. The unfinished stories may leave some readers with an uneasy sense of irresolution; others may see them as filled with possibilities. Either way, Zagarenski's artwork is irresistible. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)