One Day I Went Rambling

K-Gr 4—This story follows the pattern of Valine Hobbs's poem "One Day When We Went Walking," but the variations make the rhythm awkward in places. Still, the rhyming and the repetition add to the magical feeling of the tale. An imaginative protagonist sees magic in everyday objects, but friends point out each find's mundanity. Hobbs determines to avoid these pessimists, but Bennett finds a happier solution, inspiring friends to join in the game of pretend. Boys and girls cast aside their mockery one by one until the entire group is playing pirate in an old packing crate. The final page abandons the rhyme pattern with the exclamation, "Hey! What's that?" perhaps meant to draw readers into the game of identifying old junk as magical items. The stylized, jagged artwork is full of color and movement, and the name for each treasure is drawn across the scene with playful, multicolored lettering. Black-and-white insets give a washed-out look to the naysayers as they mock their dreamer friend, Zane. This is a fun paean to imaginative play. Combine it with Alice McLerran's Roxaboxen (1991) and Antoinette Portis's Not a Stick (2008, both HarperCollins) for more inspiration to go out and play.—Heidi Estrin, Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, FL