I'll Play With You

Title: I'll Play With You
Author: Mary McKenna Siddals
Illustrator: David Wisniewski
Published By: Clarion Books



The children in this book act as if nature is their friend. A boy that is just waking up tells the sun, "Meet me outside," and a girl feels the wind as she brushes her teeth and says,' I'll play with you, Wind".  While sitting in a grassy field with his pet beagle, another boy tells the clouds, "You make some pictures. I'll guess what they are". The speakers are not just friends; one girl begs the rain to ""fill up the puddles so I can go splashing,"" then puts on  a yellow rain coat and boots and leaps right in the puddles. At day's end, all the children meet on a hillside under a star-filled sky; Wisniewski's (Workshop) cutout shapes in variegated shades of dusk blue highlight the depth and height of the panoramic view. Then the children go home and with each back in their own rooms, fall asleep with the moon shining through the window. Wisniewski show detailed images of tiny leaves, draped cloth and the children's faces, as well as more abstract ideas, such as an invisible wind, which he whips up by having the curtains at a angle. It really looks like the wind in blowing. I really like this book, it is simple but it works.