WHAT A TREASURE!

The day that Mole gets his new shovel, he starts to dig for treasure despite his brother betting that he won’t find any. The first thing Mole finds is a twig (which a bird thinks is treasure). Digging further, he finds a shell (treasure to a snail), an acorn (treasure to a squirrel) and finally, another hole where a little mole pops up—a real treasure: a friend for Mole. Will Hillenbrand’s illustrations have a different look here, less detail and design, and are geared more to pre-schoolers, as is the story. Using tempera, oil pastels and ink on canvas, he relies on simple, outlined shapes with minimal features, textures and patterns against white backgrounds to match the unembellished and guileless tale. The first effort from this husband and wife team plainly conveys with animals and nature the adage, “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure” for early ages. (Picture book. 3-5)