THE DEEP BLUE SEA

Awkward modeling mars the Photoshop-generated art of this otherwise slickly produced concept vehicle. The slender plotline opens with a calm blue sea, a blue sky and a small white cloud—into which a red rock, a green tree, a brown nut, a purple parrot and an orange butterfly are in turn introduced, subjected to a brief storm, then left again in tranquility. The sea, though, has a surface more like the top of a cloud layer than water, the rock seems to float over the tranquil water rather than emerge from it and the tree doesn’t look attached to anything either. Despite bright hues, bold graphics and a simple text that introduces sequencing as well as colors, this isn’t one of the Woods’ better efforts. (Picture book. 3-5)