cover image The Extraordinary Gift

The Extraordinary Gift

Florence Langlois. Abbeville Kids, $14.95 (28pp) ISBN 978-0-7892-0301-4

In this French import, a boy responds to his mother's question about what kind of gift he would like. Each suggestion seems modest enough (""I'd like a flower..."")--until the right-hand page folds out to reveal a stipulation that makes the request far more challenging (""a giant flower that would grow as high as the sky""). Likewise, he wants a pumpkin, but one ""that would turn into a racing car""; a less orthodox request for ""a scary witch"" takes a humorous turn when the flap reveals her long, warty blue face and he cringes, ""Yikes! Not that scary!"" Of course the resourceful mother can fulfill not just one but all of her son's wishes, with a storybook. Langlois's paintings have a homespun quirkiness: the boy has a wide, almost lumpy face and long, bulging nose; the rotund donkey munches on lollipop-like thistles. She combines cartoonlike black borders with mottled brushwork that adds a magical glow to such gift ideas as a boat with feet and a frog-cum-fairy; the thick brushwork also gives texture to her compositions' wide swaths of color. Although this book turns upon a simple conceit, the transforming flaps will flex the reader's imagination. All ages. (Apr.)