Fishing in the Air

"'We're going on a journey,' my father said. 'To a secret place. We'll catch the air! We'll catch the breeze!'" And indeed, one Saturday, a young boy and his father head off on a fishing trip while it's still early-morning blue-black outside. As they drive and drive, the dad points out that the street lamps glow like tiny moons--and then they are tiny moons--and that the trees look like tall green soldiers. At last the dreamy duo smells the river, and the fishing and the talking begin. The father tells of the house he lived in when he was a boy, and as he describes it, Caldecott Honor artist Chris Raschka's swirling strokes of color transport the boy in time and place. As his father continues his reverie, the boy, with his unhooked fishing line, catches a slice of sun, a white, white cloud... he catches it all, including the air and the breeze as first promised. This is Newbery Medal-winning author Sharon Creech's first picture book, but fans of her novels will recognize its power and poetry. Raschka's gorgeous illustrations, reminiscent of Russian lacquered boxes, manage to portray the world of imagination, where the similes and metaphors of memory are allowed to take shape quite literally. This is a beautiful book about storytelling and the mind's eye, but also simply about a little boy and his dad who go on a fishing trip with a can of worms and a sack of sandwiches. We're hoping this one works its way onto the shelf of classics. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson