THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD AND ME

Eye-catching, perspective-shifting illustrations pair beautifully with simple text to embrace a child’s world.

Spare, poetic text offers a steady rhythm that builds from a small flower to a fish, from a cloud to a child, as the story slowly widens its view to encompass the natural world. A young, black-haired, light-skinned girl who presents Asian explores the land, sea, and sky around her, from the smallest bug to the biggest wave. Unafraid, she instead feels connected and reflects: “I am a small part of it all,” embodying curiosity and wonder. Sprawled at the bottom of a hillside, she says, “I’m a pebble that rolls down a mountain,” as a pebble plummets down a mountain peak in the background. Her unbridled joy at interacting with the natural world is infectious, and readers won’t be able to keep their own smiles hidden for long. Collage artwork features ink, charcoal pencil, torn tissue, and cut paper for bright, patterned textures to discover. Bold colors frame but do not overtake the gentle story, and the composition of each spread deserves close attention—Yuly carefully balances white space and color and zooms out from macro focus to wide angle to demonstrate scale and perspective.

A story that ends as it begins—colorful, peaceful, and just right for the youngest naturalists.