WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

The Dillons create an eldritch world for this philosophical rhyme, which was first published 50 years ago with misguidedly twee art by Barbara Cooney. An owl interviews a succession of creatures: “Little Old Cat / Little Old Cat / Where have you been? / To see this and that / Said the Little Old Cat / That’s where I’ve been.” Squirrel, Fish, Bird, Horse, Toad, and others—each shown running or swimming, traveling by often unusual means, or posing at a destination, accompanied by small, winged, green- or purple-skinned human figures—reply to Owl’s queries in a similarly oblique vein. More polished than some of the fragmentary texts recently mined from Brown’s archives, this combines soothing verbal and visual rhythms with a sense of mystery that will leave young readers or listeners spellbound. (Picture book. 5-7)