THE STOCKING CHILD
By
What a pretty eye you have,"" says Sam to the stocking doll he has just unstuck from a tangle of burrs. ""'Cornflower blue,' said the Stocking Child. 'And the other one was just as nice.'"" And so the two begin a search for the other button eye, sharing as they go a number of special sounds: of happy tears falling at a woodchuck wedding and sad ones from a widowed toad, of clouds moving and flowers growing, and then--when Sam brings the doll home and they discover that his pajama buttons just match the eye--that most special ""join-in"" sound of laughing together. Little poems (one for each sound) establish pauses for contemplation at key moments, and Shecter's gentle, glowing washes give boy and doll a quizzical air that reaches out and touches.