As Time Went By

A luxury liner is downgraded to a freighter, then abandoned. A once-wealthy family ends up in an impoverished village, which is then cleared by the landowner. Mixed-media illustrations become muted as circumstances grow more difficult. Happily, the villagers make a new home, filling the ship's deck with bright tents. This affecting book is an excellent reminder of the value of belonging when all seems lost.

"Once upon a time there was a ship that sailed beside the sun with very important people on board," begins this spare, affecting picture book. "As time [goes] by," the luxury liner is downgraded to a merchant freighter, then sold as a fishing boat, and eventually abandoned. A wealthy family -- once passengers on the ship, the illustrations reveal -- suffers a similar reversal of fortune. The family ends up in an impoverished village, which is then cleared by the landowner. Jewel tones in the expressionistic, textured mixed-media illustrations become muted as circumstances grow ever more difficult. Happily, the villagers make a new home for themselves. They repair the abandoned ship and fill its deck with bright tents, bringing vivid color (and hope) back into their lives. Textual and visual echoes throughout lend a sense that it's meant to be, as does the subtle narrative of the rich family's little boy (who grows up to be crucial to the ship's renaissance). The last line of the book is a refrain of its first, as a whole new group of "very important people" sail in the sunshine. An excellent reminder of the value of friendship, home, and belonging -- especially when it seems all is lost. katie bircher