Little Boy (by Alison McGhee)

A father thinks about the everyday moments and adventures in a little boy's life that make his world special, and considers how much the future depends on those simple things.

In a format similar to her last book, the bestseller Someday, Alison Mcghee celebrates a little boy, and his dad. With the same gentleness and in the same graceful, handwritten text, she follows the child through his day as he runs exuberantly through life in his shorts and striped t-shirt, sometimes donning a red superman cap, at other times a space helmet made of an upside-down bowl. A yellow cup and a big cardboard box keep resurfacing as the games change in this world that is full of imagination and simple things.

The father also resurfaces now and then, smiling as he measures the boy or pulls the cookies out of the oven that he and his son have baked. The message is subtle, but heartwarming and solid, and it's repeated in a line that threads throughout the book. So much in life depends on the everyday moments, on the things that seem small and quiet and playful. Kids need time to become themselves, and parents need time to enjoy it all. And everyone could use a big cardboard box!

Author: Alison McGhee
Illustrator: Peter H. Reynolds
Publisher: Atheneum
Publication date: April 15, 2008
Number of pages: 40
Hardcover price: $15.99
Read Aloud: 3
Read Alone: 6