Share Your Rainbow: 18 Artists Draw Their Hope for the Future

The words pandemic and Covid-19 never appear in this moving collection, in which 18 well-known children’s book illustrators share visions of better times. But each spread, inspired by the handmade rainbows that children have placed in windows during quarantine, carries the same unmistakable promise: social distancing will end, and individuals will be able to gather again. Among hopeful scenes are Elise Parsley’s neighborly backyard marshmallow roast; Shannon Wright’s happy, pink-and purple-toned roller rink; Sarah Jacoby’s joyfully imagined birthday party; Claire Keane’s extended family get-together, with story time in grandpa’s lap and a sloppy cousin sleepover; and Magdalena Mora’s bus ride with beautifully eccentric urban dwellers—human and canine. In a particularly funny spread, Adam Rex aptly sums up stay-at-home fever with a scene celebrating a future “sleepy Saturday when every boring thing feels extraordinary”: a dad’s announcement that he’s off to buy paper clips elicits his son’s thrilled request, “Whoa, can I come?” All net proceeds will be donated to José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen. Ages 3–7. [em]Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.(Aug.) [/em]