Inside Outside

Kids bored? This wordless book provides lots of ideas for things to do, both indoors and out, as it follows an industrious young boy through the seasons. Inside, he fills pots with soil and seeds; outside, through the die-cut windows, stand two snowmen. Turn the page and we're in the yard, the boy and his dog building more snowmen. Now the die-cut windows look back inside, showing a picture of a snowman taped to the wall. The pattern continues, with the boy inside various rooms, busily building toy boats, reading, putting on a puppet show; and then outdoors in different parts of his yard, planting a garden, building a tree house, raking leaves. Children will be kept busy themselves, searching for the two mice that appear throughout the book, watching the progression from seeds in pots to salad in a bowl, and observing the tree-house construction over time. Despite the constant activity, the book has a quiet calm -- the boy's face reflects Buddha-like contentedness, whether he's flying a kite or absorbed in a book. That he lives on his own with no adults (but lots of animal friends) adds to the satisfying sense of independence in the boy's ability to keep himself amused. The brown-paper-bag look of the pages (containing black line drawings and pops of color) reinforces the book's crafty, homemade feeling, and the warm brown suits the coziness of the house, its rooms fully equipped with books and pets, an easel, a puppet theater, and a tent. Readers will be caught up in the story, boredom banished -- at least for now. jennifer m. brabander