FICTION

A Perfect Day for Digging

by Cari BEST
illus. by Christine Davenier. 32p. Amazon/Two Lions. 2014. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781477847060; ebk. $9.99. ISBN 9781477897065.
COPY ISBN
PreS-Gr 1—Nell and her dog, Rusty, love to dig in the springtime mud, but their friend Norman, dressed in a white shirt and bow tie, prefers to watch from a clean distance. Nell and Rusty tunnel, splash, and make dirt angels, and Norman is slowly drawn into their play. Soon he, too, is digging up treasures to add to their "dirt museum" and he doesn't even mind that his new shoes are all dirty. Best's lyrical text hums along ("In the spring when the trees unfreeze and the grass grows green and pansies say, 'Please plant me,'"), and Davenier's ink and pencil illustrations burst with color and movement, with Nell and Rusty always in motion, and Norman's static lines becoming more active as he becomes a muddy participant in the play.—Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD
Nell and her dog Rusty are elated to be digging in the springtime soil. Nell's fastidious neighbor, Norman, despises getting dirty, but he can't resist the allure of finding treasures and building a "dirt museum" and eventually joins in until he's as mud-covered as Nell. The simple story and wispy illustrations convey the easy joys of an imaginative day outdoors.
Reviewed by Kathleen Kelly MacMillan , May 01, 2014

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