The Gift of Words

K-Gr 2–A heartfelt story about community and the power of words. Jerome, a young boy with brown skin, is a wordsmith who decides to go in search of words of inspiration throughout his town. However, as he strolls with his dog, he notices the words he sees lack warmth. The longer he walks, the more disheartened he becomes with the words in his town. It is at this point that Jerome comes up with a way to find words: he will come up with them himself. He heads to the park with his very own word collection and puts out the call to his neighbors to come help him decorate a tree with positive messages for the community. The art starts out quite muted, with only Jerome and his dog in bold colors, highlighting the sadness permeating the town. As Jerome begins to inspire his community, the bland colors are replaced with uplifting hues.