WHAT IF?
Written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
A Neal Porter Book/Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan/April 2010
What if a boy found a beach ball and kicked it into the ocean?
What if two seals found it and began to play?
What if a third seal appeared looking for a friend?
In this spare and deceptively simple book, Laura Vaccaro Seeger uses the same premise and tells it three ways, each with subtle variations that highlight the possibility in possibilities.
Painted in the bright, sunny palette of a day at the seashore, What if? is both a tribute to the myriad opportunities that each moment holds and a triumph of innovative storytelling.
(awards)
School Library Journal Best Books of 2010
Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2010
Bank Street College of Education Best Books of 2010
CCBC Choices Best Books of 2010
(reviews)
starred review/School Library Journal
“The artist marries the charm of her Dog and Bear books with the thick color washes of First the Egg to create something new and yet familiar… Masterful.”
starred review/Kirkus Reviews
“Simply gorgeous.“
starred review/Horn Book
“A visual knockout… Another superb offering from this master picture book creator – no ifs, ands, or buts about it.”
starred review/Publishers Weekly
“An outside-the-box book about friendship… Deceptively simple and creative introduction to the structure of stories and how simple it is to be a good friend.”
Booklist
“A stirring offering… It’s the work of an artist who never overplays her hand, and the brushstrokes and possibly even finger strokes evident in the colorful paint give it an even deeper sense of intimacy.”
recommended/Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“So inviting… Delightful.”