A FARM

With a series of oversized watercolors’so large, in fact, that the book will be impractical to shelve—awash in nostalgia, Dumas squires readers about a prosperous English farm back when the plumbing was out of doors and steam engines were innovations. The enlightening tour begins at the front gate, circles a stately stone farmhouse for views of kitchen gardens and corbeled windows, proceeds past wheat fields and livestock, slips inside for glimpses of kitchen, parlor, and other spacious rooms, then, as day wanes, passes to outbuildings and surrounding sheep meadows. Framed by labels and a line or two of general comment, each wide-angle scene, whether tidily serene or bustling with activity, is filled with quaint detail, some enlarged, all depicted with free, perfectly placed pen-and-brush strokes. Beginning and ending with huge, eye-filling elevated overviews, this sketchbook makes an irresistible invitation to dream of rural idylls and days gone by. (Picture book. 5-10)