In the Half Room

K-Gr 2–The author of Du Iz Tak? has developed another book that is sure to stretch the imagination and welcome whimsy—it may also prompt a few people, children included, to scratch their heads. In this stark, brief book appear objects that have been halved: shoes, cats, a rug, a door, all rich with color against a white background. Half of a woman appears but suddenly, “shoooooop,” her two halves meld into one, allowing her to run out into the night to greet the half-moon while the half-lamp, half-cats, half-chair, and other household items remain indoors. The text primarily consists of naming each item on the page, but does so in a simple rhyming pattern and cadence that is reminiscent of Goodnight Moon. It is a quiet book, one that would be good for bedtime. Like David Macaulay’s postmodern Black and White, the book invites multiple interpretations; but without the abundance of visual and textual information or clues of that book or Anthony Browne’s Voices in the Park, this feels unfinished and bare bones.