Neighbors

In this reflective picture book debut, a pale child moves into an old apartment building—a complex structure complete with an underground theater—and muses on sharing walls with strangers: “If I could stretch my hand through that wall, I could actually touch someone.” Working in graceful black-and-white wash with red highlights, Denisevich traces the wrought-iron arabesques of the building’s stair rails. A series of cutaway views represent possible goings-on: the apartments might be filled with ordinary people (a child practicing the flute), fairy-tale creatures (a theater full of mice), or nothing and no one (“What if there is nothing at all beyond the walls of my room?”). Soon, the child meets a neighbor; a possible friendship is signaled by hints of color. With artwork that imbues the protagonist’s thoughts with significance, Denisevich meditates on the way urban life is at once busy and solitary, public and private. Ages 5–8. [em](Sept.) [/em]