A BOOT FELL FROM HEAVEN

In this allegorical import from Denmark, God is shown as a kindly, white-haired man who comes down to earth in search of his missing boot, which slipped off as he was sitting on a cloud admiring a rainbow. He asks those he meets (all adults) if anyone has seen his missing boot, but he is dismissed as just another troublesome crackpot in the big city. Finally God meets a boy who found the boot and saved it, expecting God to reclaim it. The boy, who is (not coincidentally) on his way to a fishing hole, wants to hear about God’s search and has time to listen. “All the time in the world” is the powerful, succinct phrase on the final spread, which shows the fishing hole and God leaning over to whisper to the boy. Three fish are swimming by, ready to be caught, and in the distance is a tiny, ark-shaped boat. The story can be interpreted as a simple tale of a child’s kind nature or on a deeper level that includes the symbolic nature of Christians as “fishers of men.” Carrer provides intriguing collage illustrations that include paper artifacts, hand-drawn elements, and painted figures. The theological orientation will not appeal to all, but may provide some interesting discussion within families and in Sunday school classes. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-10)