Smoot
A Rebellious Shadow
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A brave shadow finds a more colorful life in this joyous picture book by the acclaimed author of The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles and illustrator of Sidewalk Flowers.
Smoot the shadow has been living a yawn-filled life for years. His boy never laughs and never leaps, so Smoot never does either . . . until the day he pops free, and decides to hit the road in search of the life he dreams about. And as he enjoys his first colorful day—singing, dancing, and playing—other shadows watch him, and they become brave, too. The frog's shadow takes the shape of a prince, the dragonfly's shadow that of a dragon. Even the rock's shadow gets in on the excitement. But what will become of the timid beings their shadows have left behind? Will they finally be inspired to find their own daring?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Smoot is a shadow attached to a boy whose life is terribly dull: "Every day they brushed the same teeth, frowned the same frown, and drew the same pictures always staying perfectly inside the lines." While Smoot's life is boring, Smith's ink, brush, and watercolor portraits are anything but. To emphasize Smoot's inky blackness, Smith (The White Cat and the Monk) keeps the colors bright and contrast high; tiled roofs and cobbled streets give the city backdrop a European feel. One day Smoot comes unstuck from his boy and seizes his new freedom, jumping rope in the park, riding a carousel, and dashing through a landscape of wild splashes of watercolor. When other bored shadows jump at the chance to live out their own suppressed dreams, Smoot must persuade them all to return. The shadow's change of heart is a bit convenient, but Cuevas's (The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles) writing sparkles. Smoot's condition as a shadow parallels the way most humans are tethered to inescapable obligations. When his boy breaks out and starts to live large, it's easy to share Smoot's joy. Ages 4 8.
