A QUIET PLACE

PlayStation, cable television, and computers be damned: in his latest effort, Wood (What Mom’s Can’t Do, not reviewed, etc.) hearkens back to a simpler time to suggest an alternative to the modern child. “Sometimes a person needs a quiet place . . . but it can be hard to find one. / You have to know where to look.” Andreasen’s (A House in the Mail, p. 53, etc.) lifelike illustrations provide just the right accompaniment on this imaginative journey. In the opening spread, a framed snapshot-sized vignette shows a boy holding his ears to block out the sounds of the city. On the opposite page, a full-size portrait rendered in dim acrylics captures morning light on a busy Manhattan street. Throughout, fantasy and reality are juxtaposed. In one spread, for example, the child relaxes in the open air of a dark wood. “You might find an old stump for a chair / or a mossy log for a couch.” Rendered in deep green, dusky blue, and brown, the portrait on the opposite page reveals the boy as he imagines himself “a timber wolf, / the gray ghost of the forest.” Later, the boy visits a museum and imagines himself an artist. Each special setting (the beach, a hilltop, and the library among them) offers uncommon beauty, adventure, and serenity. In the final scene, the child returns home to find “the very best quiet place of all— / the one that’s always there, no matter / where you go or where you stay— / the one inside of you.” Solid soul guidance for a media-saturated society. (Picture book. 5-9)