Cloud Country

K-Gr 2—Gale, a cloudlet, is nearing graduation day from Formation School. Her classmates seem to have their cloud formations down after much practice. Bluster, for example, whirls round and round, and "everyone [knows] he wants to make funnel clouds when he grows up." Gale, on the other hand, has spent too much time watching the land below and its beautiful geography and animals of all kinds. When it's her turn to perform for the Guardian judges, she just can't conjure up a decent cumulus. She can create only images of dogs, tugboats, bears, and frogs. Dejected, she admits she's spent too little time practicing and too much time gazing at the Earth below. Not to worry, however. The Guardians have been waiting a long time for another Daydream Cloud to join their ranks. These special clouds create "fish and boats, waterfalls, and crows" and even puffy castles in the air, "the best shapes for the Land Below to dream on." The illustrations feature soft images of childlike cloudlets, primarily presented in purple, yellow, and orange hues. Rendered in ink, they are impressionistic in nature. The story, however, lacks a good central conflict to hold readers' interest, and the ending is predictable.