FOLLOW THE LINE THROUGH THE HOUSE

Having led young viewers from sea to city and from night to day in Follow the Line (2006), Ljungkvist takes them on a house tour in this like-patterned follow-up—again starting an unbroken black line on the front cover that ends on the back and in between runs through each room while geometrically outlining furniture or small objects. Using various shapes in harmonious colors to fill in details and backgrounds, and integrating brief lines of text into the pictures, she pauses in the fridge, a closet, a toolbox and other storage areas to invite a bit of counting, identification or searching for scattered items. Similar in appeal but much simpler in style than Walter Wick’s I Spy series and its ilk, this doesn’t exactly signal a creative leap for the artist, but it does make an enjoyable way to increase attention span and visual literacy. (Picture book. 5-7)