In Cathleen Daly's (Prudence Wants a Pet) sophisticated and inspiring picture book, budding artist Emily develops a style of her own.
When her teacher introduces Pablo Picasso, Emily sees reminders of him everywhere. Lisa Brown (How to Be) illustrates Cubism accessibly without sacrificing authenticity. "He may scoot a nose way over... or stack an eye right on top of another eye!" writes Daly, as Brown demonstrates how Picasso "liked to mix things up." A turn of the page reveals the heroine's "mixed up" room, with piles of books for reference and toys as models for Emily's still life compositions. A second theme in the book involves her parents' separation: "Emily's dad is no longer where he belongs." The book handles this sensitively, depicting how Emily attempts to make sense of the situation ("he lives in his own little cube") as well as their father's efforts to involve Emily and her little brother, Jack, in the transition, helping to pick out furniture ("Emily sees little cubes everywhere"--lamps, storage boxes, chests).
But change can be hard: Jack has a meltdown in the furniture store, and Emily refuses to use charcoal in art class ("I am in my blue period," she tells her mother). For Emily--and Jack--art is the way through this "blue period." As Emily takes to heart an assignment to create a collage of what "home" means to her, she finds a way to reconcile all the parts of her life. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness