A PIECE OF CHALK

A little girl uses her driveway as a canvas, and makes a masterpiece with her box of chalk. A bright sunny day and a brand new chalk box, “with long perfect sticks all smooth and dusty,” are enough to stimulate her artistic impulses. Going through the colors one by one, Ericsson’s text has a poetic feel, and not the usual tight rhyme but a lovely lyricism: “I take a piece of grass, a spring green one, green is the grass, sprouting near the wall.” Just as she finishes her picture, with a gray cloud, it starts to rain. The colors run together and she finds . . . two rainbows! One’s in the sky and the other at her feet. Shapiro’s simple illustrations capture the rough shapes and textures of the little girl’s artwork against its more polished background. A simple, powerful message in a simple, powerful setting. (Picture book. 3-6)