A simple line contains a world of endless possibility. French illustrator and cartoonist Serge Bloch (I Dare You Not to Yawn; You Are What You Eat) charmingly interprets an artist's creative odyssey in The Big Adventure of a Little Line.
The opening spread shows a small boy, sketched in fine black lines, walking on a thick swath of pale blue in an expanse of white space. The boy narrator says, "I was out walking one day when I saw it. A little line, lying by the side of the road." He pockets the short red line and later stores it on his treasure shelf, between a snail shell and a pebble. One day, the boy puts the red line on his notebook and it moves, like it wants to draw something. It makes "a wobbly sort of circle that looked a bit like a potato," then promptly falls asleep.
A nuanced, ever-evolving friendship develops between the boy and the line, much like an artist's relationship with a muse. Over time, "We became inseparable." As they grow up together, the line isn't always easy to live with, but "We told stories and made people laugh." Sometimes the line hides, but it always returns. In the end, the narrator, now a grown man, leaves a little red line--a small piece cut off the end of his own red line--for someone else to discover. This winning picture book--a passionate ode to the love of drawing--would make an exquisite gift for artists of any age. --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness