A Serious Thought

March 1, 2020
A child comes closer to finding a place in the world after a night and a day of thoughts and observations. This small-scale bildungsroman, newly translated by the author from the original Estonian, pairs spare lines of narrative to equally spare ink drawings featuring a solitary lad of decidedly introspective bent. One night he puts himself to bed, but instead of falling asleep he flashes on thoughts ranging from "dangerous" (joyriding with crocodiles in evening wear, one waving what's perhaps a liquor bottle) to "frightening" (a menacing, wolfish silhouette). His thoughts then turn larger in scale until he sees himself as "but one little boy among many other children," living separately on a tiny "marble" in space. Waking up puzzled and unsure, he goes for a walk and, absorbed in thought, gets lost. But after coming upon a hedgehog, an ant colony, and other diminutive creatures seemingly unbothered by their size, he reaches home at last with a lighter heart, no longer feeling "small or unimportant." For all of the art's simplicity there is a surreal quality to some scenes and details that gives the child's imaginings an offbeat appeal. Moreover, his progress may resonate with contemplative readers feeling similarly powerless and insignificant. With the exception of one child who is filled in solid black, the few human figures in the illustrations are paper white. Heavy lifting, even for reflective sorts...but reassuring at heart. (Picture book. 9-11)

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April 15, 2020
Grades 1-3 A young boy's imaginative mind casts him into an existential funk in this unusual picture book, originally published in Estonia. Events play out through Goreyesque, black pen illustrations on otherwise empty white pages that are paired with a single sentence or two. All is normal for the boy until he goes to bed and has trouble falling asleep. His thoughts start to wander and take all sorts of forms: admirable ones (saving a cat from angry dogs), frightening ones (spotting a monster's silhouette), beautiful ones (flying on the back of an exquisite moth). And then appears the serious thought that spirals out of control: He thought of how our planet is but a tiny marble floating in endless empty space. From here, he begins reflecting on his own minuscule existence amid such vastness. The true weight of these overwhelming musings will soar over the heads of young readers, but they will understand how comfort can be found in life's little things (a fern, a hedgehog, some ants), as the boy himself comes to realize.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)