BLUEBERRY SHOE

An elegant picture book that manages to combine a good story, some natural history, and unusual illustrations. A family goes up Ptarmigan Mountain to pick blueberries: a mother, a father, a pigtailed older sister, and Baby. With full buckets, they discover Baby has lost a shoe, and despite a search for it, it doesn’t turn up. The tiny red sneaker first becomes a nest for a vole, then a plaything for a fox, then a potential morsel for a bear, but in the end, it is covered by earth, seeds, and winter snows. The next year, when the family returns for berry-picking, Baby—walking on his own now—finds his shoe with a blueberry stem growing in it. He carefully carries it home to plant. The illustrations are linocuts in deep rich hues, placed on backgrounds of natural leaf impressions in various matte colors. The sinuous line of the medium is used brilliantly here in the animals’ fur and feathers, the solid, friendly figures of the family, and the stylized but recognizable flora, from blueberries to grasses. A tasty offering, laced with nice surprises. (Picture book. 4-8)