ELIZA DEE'S UNIVERSES

A girl with autism and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome dreams of universes beyond what science can measure in this whimsical nighttime-hued picture book.

Eliza Dee knows her science about the sky: “The sun is a star, always shining, even at night,” and even when the moon doesn’t look like a sphere, it is. But when she dreams, it’s her creativity that shines. She imagines herself as a pixie traveling in the space between universes, where she uses pixie dust to turn the outline of a leaf to full color. As her wonder grows, so does her imagination, until finally, she realizes she can create any universe in her mind. Her fancies conclude with a question, as Eliza Dee wonders what the reader will dream. Vitsmun and Mikki create a vibrant imaginative space, first grounding the peach-skinned, rosy-cheeked Eliza Dee in the real world of the night sky, looking through a telescope or sitting in a room decorated with real-world constellations. Mikki introduces a riot of color in the dreamscape, featuring a hodge-podge of invented animals and fish with wings. Vitsmun’s vocabulary is accessible, with short sentences that span many images. In a note, Vitsmun points out that Eliza Dee’s conditions are considered “invisible disabilities”; without these notes, readers might not realize Eliza is neurodivergent or that her imagined worlds are due to hyperphantasia. The star’s hypermobility is subtly evident in the way Mikki depicts her seated positions, particularly in the real world, where she crosses legs or kneels in a way that her flexibility makes possible.

A vibrant depiction of the exquisite imagination of an underrepresented child.