Blue

PreS-Gr 1–A boy runs out to the beach, where he befriends a great blue heron and the two frolic all day long in the surf. There is an enchanting simplicity to the narrative presentation, with the boy’s bedroom window looking right out on the ocean and nary an adult in sight. The thoughtful design of the expressive mixed-media art creates a subtle progression, both temporal and emotional. Early on, playful vignettes appear against a sandy, speckled background the color of the dunes at the water’s edge. Later, once the sun has set, immersive full-bleed illustrations take over, awash in the rich blue-blacks of the night sky and the sea. The powerful, kinetic composition of the images suggests that this project would have succeeded as a wordless picture book. Yet Kaufman’s concise, well-chosen phrases (“We shriek, splash…and share. We are wild. We are free…chasing the afternoon sun”) add a vital poetic dimension to the work. In a thrilling, joyous sequence that recalls The Snowman, by Raymond Briggs, boy and bird soar through the night sky together before bidding each other a fond farewell at dawn’s first light. Young readers may spot the heron-themed apparel in the boy’s bedroom on the final spreads (a costume mask with feathered wings, a model dangling from the ceiling, and a stuffed toy) and debate its significance: Do these play items hint that the day spent with the bird was a mere flight of fancy? Or was it all real? Kaufman wisely leaves the answer a mystery, with a poignant final view of the boy from behind as he gazes out at a sliver of morning sun.