About the Author

M.H. Clark is a poet and writer who has received multiple awards, including the Washington State Book Award and two Moonbeam Children's Book Awards. She has traveled the world and lived in many wonderful places--but she believes she belongs most of all in a little house with a large library, someplace where the forest meets the sea. Laura Carlin is an award-winning, London-based illustrator and ceramicist. Her awards include the Bratislava children's book illustration award, the Quentin Blake Award, and the National Magazine Award. Laura's work has also been featured in publications like Vogue, the New Scientist, the Guardian, the Observer, the Sunday Telegraph, and the Independent.

Reviews

A young child's affirmation of their potential in the world.
On the opening spread, a parent drives a well-packed car along a road at twilight, with two children in the back seat. The following spread zooms in to show the elder one, a kid with brown skin and black hair pulled into a puffball, peering up at the moon. Rhyming stanzas capture the child's recognition of aspects of them self in the world--bright as the moon in the night sky, loud as the waves at the shore, looking up at the sky like the flowers in the field. But, they say, "that still isn't all that I am." Carlin's evocative, often impressionistic illustrations embed the child in the natural world, depicting them towering next to giant evergreens, tiny as the bunnies in their underground den, silhouetted in a tent during a storm. Carlin centers the child's experience by painting them in color, with other family members in monotone. In fact, the palette of brilliant greens, luminous yellows, deep dark blues, striking grays, and more invite repeat viewings of each spread. Clark's stanzas tumble along in a gentle yet powerful rhythm that begs to be read aloud slowly and savored. As the child comes to understand this elemental self, they also realize that they are yet to be--still moving along the journey of their life.
A beautifully illustrated poem that speaks of every child's complex, imaginative character. -- Kirkus