Reviews: (by author)

Brown, Margaret Wise. The Little Island. Illus. Leonard Weisgard (* Caldecott Award for this book). NY: Doubleday, 2003 (reissue of 1946 edition). $14.95. ISBN 0-385-74640-7.

Known best for Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown authored over 100 books for children, often using the pseudonym Golden MacDonald as she did when The Little Island was first published in 1946. Leon Weisgard won the Caldecott Medal for his illustrations.

Told in simple, lyrical prose, the little island's story is not dramatic—no major conflicts, just a soothing tale of the island's appropriateness in being of the world while also being a world unto itself. The plot, such as it is, is seasonal, showing the island in its different manifestations and as various creatures, including a curious kitten, encounter it, wonder about it, and learn about it—precisely as the reader does.

Perfectly matched in their lack of unnecessary complication are Weisgard's paintings. His canvasses depict the respective page's prose in one full-page, facing illustration; by this I mean to compare this book of some 60 years ago to the often very busy, over-illustrated kids' books we see today, designed for children used to the many windows they see on their computer screens. Have children changed so much that they would not respond to this "old" book? I don't think so. As with Goodnight Moon, Brown's prose is easy to read yet so perfect in its word choice and rhythm that I can't imagine it would not immediately appeal to young children who will be comforted by the message that the island, though little, could not be better off or better placed than it is. They will, I think, on some level transfer to themselves that theme of being part of the world while being unique in the world. This is conveyed in prose set off by a good deal of white space without graphics or bubbles or multiple fonts—devices used frequently nowadays. Weisgard's paintings offer such richness on their pages that face the typeset prose, so the book appears clean and uncluttered, though certainly not without detail, color, and movement to captivate the reader's eye.

Highly recommended.

Alida Allison, October 2003

Back to Reviews A-C