TOMMASO AND THE MISSING LINE

Tommaso always keeps a drawing in his pocket, one he made himself of his nonna’s house on a hill, with both of them standing by the fig tree. But one day the line that forms the hill disappears from the paper. He asks his mother, a dog, a cat, Gregorio the mechanic and Luigi the barber. Each one knows about lines—a leash, a car antenna, hair clippings and so on—but not about Tommaso’s line. He goes off by train to see his grandmother, and finally he finds his line, curving gently under her house when they view it together from the base of the hill. This book is beautifully, brilliantly designed: The black-and-white line drawings are alive with energy and squiggle; a red line runs across the bottom of each page and often appears within the illustrations too, marking the dog’s leash or the cat’s tail. The text appears opposite each picture in a white sans-serif typeface on a red background, so each opening of the book is elegant, balanced and draws readers in. A gem. (Picture book. 5-9)