WHERE DO I END AND YOU BEGIN?

From animals to plants, sky to sea, people to people, we’re all connected.

In rhythmic text that flows from one page to the next, Oppenheim asks the titular question, “Where do I end and you begin?” The question is repeated from cat to tail to shell to snail; from branch to tree to sky to sea; from smell to flower to rose to bower; from jump to rope to hill to slope. Emphasizing and extending the simple text, the illustrations also flow from one page to the next, starting with the jacket cover, on which both title and a cat begin on the outside and end on the inside jacket flaps. In warm and luminous watercolors that stand out from the white background, Felix goes beyond the text to add details that invite careful readers to look and then look again. Does the cat on the cover make several appearances? Are the children on the branch a foreshadowing of the children at the end? How many more connections can be made? Between the smell and the flower, Felix adds a bear and honey, for example. And see how a hill becomes a camel. It all ends with a hug.

An elegant conversation starter to a not-so-simple question.