Over and Under the Pond

As day turns to night, a boy and his mother take in the sights above and below their rowboat in this contemplative follow-up to Over and Under the Snow and Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt. Messner’s elegant narrative, written from the boy’s perspective, creates an intimate connection with the setting (“Over the pond we drift, heads tipped up to the sun. A woodpecker clings to a teetering pine, digging for ants”), and Neal’s milky mixed-media images examine the pond and its inhabitants—moose, painted turtles, ospreys, and others—from virtually every angle, soaring high above the water and down into its depths to dazzling effect. Ages 5–8. Author’s agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. (Mar.)