RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW
by Mary Ann Hoberman & illustrated by Nicholas Wilton
Layering paint, gesso, and natural objects thinly atop scraped concrete surfaces, Wilton (Where Does the Butterfly Go When It Rains?, 1997, etc.) places stylized flora and fauna into subdued settings suggestive of passing seasons. Hoberman’s (The Marvelous Mouse Man, p. 493, etc.) accompanying verse is also more evocative than specifically descriptive: “In spring the wind whips up a kite. / Right outside my window. / Silver raindrops catch the light / Right outside my window,” etc. Painting in a similar style, but on plywood, Stefano Vitale achieved a warmer look in Charlotte Zolotow’s When the Wind Stops (1995); pair these two together for an illuminating study in contrasting visual textures, but stick with the latter for an emotionally richer commemoration of time’s passage. (Picture book. 6-8)