PAPERWHITE

In this quiet tale, young Lucy and her elderly neighbor Miss Mamie “make spring” together by forcing a narcissus bulb. Wallace’s (Rabbit’s Bedtime, 1999, etc.) cut-paper collages feature saturated colors and simple, distinct shapes placed against monochromatic backgrounds. Both in pictures and spare text, children can follow along as the two rabbit friends carefully fill a jar with pebbles, place the bulb at the top, and watch as roots and shoots grow, day by lengthening day. The domestic setting is suggested by a few homey details—balls of yarn, a bowl of cookie dough, wall knickknacks—and the two are last seen sitting companionably at Miss Mamie’s kitchen table, sharing tea and cookies—and the blooming, fragrant paperwhite—while a late snowfall is visible through the window. The promise of spring, and the pleasures of intergenerational friendship, dovetail neatly here. (Picture book. 5-7)