By Trolley Past Thimbledon Bridge

Gr 2–4—The late Marvin Bileck was a prolific illustrator perhaps best known for his Caldecott Honor Rain Makes Applesauce (Holiday House, 1985). He had been contacted by Virginia Woolf's estate to illustrate the only children's story she ever wrote. After 10 years, the estate withdrew the contract, leaving Bileck with numerous illustrations but no text. Enter his close friend, noted illustrator Bryan. The two collaborated on fresh text, and after decades the book has finally reached publication. There is no linear plot here, rather a poetic dreamlike fantasy: "Our dreams and our fancies/take off in our play/What's real, what's imagined/No one can say." The succeeding 28 verses are presented in a small but readable font on the first two pages with just a few spot illustrations. It's helpful to read them through several times, as the rest of the book interweaves those same verses with richly but often minutely detailed illustrations and the text wandering in and out of the pictures in a small, very pale font that is frequently obscured by those pictures. The text contains many interesting images, but they occasionally seem to be quite random. How "seek no further/marry me/meandering maid/in my apple tree" connects with this trolley ride is difficult to ascertain.