THE BOX FULL OF WONDERS

On moving day, a small child finds a box and embarks on an adventure through the imagination in this U.K. import.

The box turns into “an airplane. A tractor. An iceberg. A whale. It’s even a shell I can wear like a snail.” This game of make-believe is a high point in a day fraught with tension. Though the text never refers to a stepparent or stepchildren, the multimedia and collage illustrations make clear that the move coincides with the merging of two families—and that it hasn’t been easy. The young narrator’s two new siblings, playing with their own moving box, usually appear as black-and-white intruders in the protagonist’s colorful escapades; our hero resolutely refuses to share and even lashes out (“Your box is broken…it’s going NOWHERE!”). When the narrator’s beloved box is thrown out, the siblings generously offer to share theirs, and the adventures continue. Created in a childlike style, the images depict the second box becoming a cave of treasures, a boat, and a train. Employing a light touch and ending on an idyllic note, with a bedtime scene including all the children, this pleasing read-aloud will especially resonate with kids navigating newly blended families. The family at the center of this tale is multiracial; the protagonist is brown-skinned, while the new kids are pale-skinned.

Puts a positive spin on a potentially stressful familial experience.