A Little House in a Big Place

PreS-Gr 2—A girl living in a little house surrounded by an expansive patchwork of fields loves to watch the train rumble by her backyard each day. She waves to the engineer, and he waves back. The child wonders "where he came from and where he went. And if she might go away, too, someday." One day, the engineer floats a gift through the air to the young girl, which she cherishes always. Although the daily habit of greeting the speeding train dissipates, the lasting impression of that experience never leaves the young girl, even as she matures into a young woman. Done in gouache, oil pastels, and colored pencils, Leblond's illustrations perfectly convey the feeling that people only take up a small space in the vast world around them. Invoking a sense of curiosity and imagination, the combination of text and artwork takes readers on a journey of thoughtful wonder about all that the future may hold. The presence of the engineer's gift in the illustration depicting the girl's entry into adult life demonstrates the significance of the engineer and his impact on the young girl's development.