THE WALK

This wordless Spanish import features a dog and human companion out for a stroll; one of them spies a stick.

The adult is of indeterminate race. Like the color of the dog and the approaching birds, the body appears to have been created with a black implement (a pencil?) on a textured surface, developed with areas of shadow and light. After the blue stick is thrown several pages away, distractions delay the curious hound. Finally ready to retrieve, the dog notices a bird poised upon the other end. Children will look carefully, flipping back and forth to check their interpretations of the ensuing pages. Sacido has done a masterful job of inviting focus and showing movement with splashes of color, changes in texture, and the judicious use of motion lines in her compositions. Understated, uncluttered spreads, printed on smooth, heavy (and ecologically friendly) paper, never feel empty. There are crown-shaped plantings, an occasional tree, and one glorious spread of birds gazing at viewers in a green field with yellow flowers. When the bird soars off with its flock and stick and the canine returns to the bemused owner with a flower, readers are left to imagine what the dog and person are thinking and feeling. This narrative is a marvelous antidote to the message-driven “it’s mine” tug-of-war dramas often encountered in literature for the young.

A satisfying, uplifting discovery.