Float

This wordless picture book celebrates unsupervised play, as a boy steps outside to float his boat in a rainstorm.

Like the child, readers first spy a newspaper--and its potential. The boy begins folding, then emerges from the house decked out in a yellow slicker, matching cap and rain boots, and holding a paper boat. Daniel Miyares (Pardon Me) wordlessly references the title when the boy holds the boat aloft; it seems to float atop the points of a picket fence. When the sky darkens and the rain starts, the boy at first tries to keep his boat dry. A full-bleed double-page spread shows the futility in this attempt, as the thickly painted raindrops nearly block out the yellow of his slicker. As the storm abates, the boat sets sail on a newly formed pond; readers see the reflection of neighborhood rooftops on its surface. A sequence of the boy puddle-jumping conveys the water's depth and current. Miyares creates a climax when the boat goes through a grate, leaving a trail of bubbles as it sinks into a black, seemingly fathomless void. The boy's feeling of defeat comes across in his bent body language and the crestfallen look he gives to his parent. After a blow-dry, a cup of hot chocolate and another page from the newspaper, the boy has a new vehicle to try out. (Hint: It, too, floats.)

Step-by-step directions on the endpapers show readers how to make the newspaper toys and invite them to play along with the young hero. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

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