cover image Angel Hide and Seek

Angel Hide and Seek

Ann Warren Turner. HarperCollins Publishers, $14.95 (40pp) ISBN 978-0-06-027085-8

All the world is a Rorschach test in this imagination-stretching look at nature. In a series of brief scenarios, Turner (Shaker Hearts) describes her sightings of various ""angels"" in the wild. From Wood Angels (made of ""leaves and nuts/ and pinecone petals"") to Milkweed Angels (""Wind teased black seeds out,/ each a tiny flier/ in the sky""), she encourages readers to see the delicate, the unexpected, the wondrous. In a superb complement, Ehlert's (Hands; Color Zoo) vibrant multimedia collages combine colors, shapes and textures to compose an intricate visual landscape that begs for exploration. Cool gray stones, fiery autumn leaves and skate-scraped pond ice are among the settings she poetically recreates. The jacket image of an enormous sunflower wearing a subtly discernible smile is particularly cheery. An artist's note at the end offers some facts about the various plants and elements that inspired the illustrations. Ages 4-8. (June)