Partly Cloudy

Via two insightful rabbits and a backdrop of freely washed blue sky, Freedman (Tiny Dino) fashions a story of dual perception that both catalogs cloud types and contrasts two ways of seeing the world. One variation, as embodied by a bunny whose head is often turned skyward, involves imaginative perception: “Ooh, that cloud looks like cotton candy.” The other, as conveyed by a spectacle-wearing bunny sometimes toting a book, involves acquiring and disseminating information: “That is not cotton candy. I see a CUMULUS cloud.” Undeterred by fact, the imaginative bunny continues observing: “Look at this cloud! I see a cozy blanket.” The second bunny notes, about the stratus cloud: “A cold and wet blanket, perhaps.” As this back and forth continues, small inset boxes define each cloud type, explaining the Latinate terms, each of which Freedman’s watercolor paintings depict clearly and recognizably. When the sky’s color begins to change, and the rabbits are caught in a thunderstorm despite the bespectacled bunny’s warning, the atmospheric event drives a momentary reversal between the two. Creative imagination and scientific intelligence need not be exclusive, suggests this gently educational book that resists simple caricature. An author’s note and more about clouds concludes. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)