The Little Island (by Margaret Wise Brown)

When the kitten belittles the island for being so small and unimportant, the island sends him to a fish who helps him see that, even though the island seems small, it's truly a part of the bigger world.

THE LITTLE ISLAND is a beautiful, intriguing book on many levels. The illustrations are remarkable, and so is the simple, profound story. On one hand, it's an engaging, sensitive introduction to nature on a small island in Maine. On the other, it's a lesson in feeling important, no matter how small you appear to be.

This book was published in 1946 under the pseudonym Golden McDonald, actually Margaret Wise Brown, who is better known for her well-loved bedtime book, Goodnight, Moon. That she grew up along Long Island Sound and later lived on the coast of Maine is clearly reflected in the vivid descriptions. While reading about the lobsters, kingfishers, fireflies, and storm-drenched beaches, readers can almost smell the salt and sand, hear the whistling wind, and taste the seam and they can feel the tranquil beauty of the shoreline world. Her friend, illustrator Leonard Weisgard caught her enthusiasm for the Maine coast, which led to his award-winning pictures that he said "grew right up out of the water."