When I first flipped through this book and saw that it was a picture book, my first impression was to be skeptical. I know that picture books are appropriate for children of certain ages, but, not having kids of my own, and not having spent a lot of time with picture books since they were age-appropriate for me, I must admit that my expectations were low.
I should have known, however, that Caldecott Honors are not given away so freely. This was one of the more intriguing children's books I have read. In the story, a group of children take a field trip to the Empire State building. When they reach the observation deck, one boy meets a cloud, plays with him, and is then whisked up into the sky by his puffy new friend. The cloud takes him to Sector 7, a sort of factory where clouds are designed, created, and shipped to their proper locations in the sky.
The boy helps create a cloud that is shaped like a fish, with intricate detail surrounding each scale. Then the cloud bosses (who, strangely, are human) asenter and force the cloud friend to take him back to the Empire State building. Luckily, he gets back just in time to regroup with his classmates and head home. That night, as the boy sleeps, he is wrapped up in a fish cloud that has formed above his bed. His pet cat and the real fish in his aquarium look on in bewilderment.
I could see this being a great book to share with a class of elementary students. It could lead to a conversation about what shapes they have seen in clouds, and if they had the chance to design a cloud like the boy in the story was able to do, what design would they make. This connection with the story would help the students to think creatively, and also to see themselves in the reading.
Wiesner, David (1999). Sector 7. New York, NY: Clarion Books.
Wiesner, David (1999). ecx amazon images. Retrieved February 12, 2009, from ecx.images-amazon.com Web site: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51P8ZXYR8QL._SL500_.jpg
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