A SPECIAL KIND OF LOVE

There's more to this exploration of a father-son relationship than is suggested by the dreary title. The boy loves his father, and the father loves boxes. From these he makes castles, airplanes, and other toys—vehicles for expressing his love to the boy. Readers are told that the neighbors think the father is strange, but he doesn't seem so odd in either text or pictures. The prose achieves a heartfelt simplicity; there is a suggestion of discovery, as if the father (and the author) is understanding the truth of his love for his son along with readers. Indeed, King's first picture book is so sincere that it's hard not to imagine an autobiographical element, as if the book—and not boxes—is the means for the expression of love. The illustrations are endearingly soft and a bit sentimental, like the story itself. (Picture book. 3-7)