Cinnamon, Mint, & Mothballs: A Visit to Grandmother's House

Design and text coexist in perfect harmony in Tiller's and Sogabe's first book. A series of haikus describes a girl's autumnal visit to her grandmother's house, which smells ``of cinnamon, mint, and mothballs.'' No domestic detail seems mundane: ``The bathtub had feet / four big claws on which to stand, / a gleaming white bear.'' Presenting a truthful vision of the nearly idyllic rural setting, the girl reports her great-aunt checking the cellar ``for snakes that coiled / on the damp dirt floor.'' Whether the heroine is feeding the cats, washing her hands at the cistern or listening to night activity outside, Tiller's crisp, restrained lines never stray from a child's sensibilities. The exquisite cut-paper illustrations mix bright and muted hues with subtle texture to evoke the warmth of indoors as well as the season's vivid beauty. Sogabe's solitary bathtub is just as affecting as her human and animal subjects; like Tiller, she illuminates the beauty of the everyday. In the tradition of Rylant's Night in the Country and Tressault's Autumn Days , Tiller and Sogabe's evocative collaboration is an elegant example of bookmaking that invites the reader in and exerts its powers memorably. Ages 4-7. (Oct.)