When a boy and his mother leave the city for his grandparents' farm, "everything is different." This beguiling young narrator's comparisons flow with believable, grammatically creative child-speak: "No honk, honk taxis jam the street./ And no way-up buildings crowd the sky." He accurately gauges the relaxed atmosphere, too. "When the sun pokes in,/ it's get-up time, but very slow. Momma smiles,/ right there, and never goes away." In a sly, wisely reassuring conspiracy, Cohen (The Mud Pony) and Nakata (Don't Step on the Sky: A Handful of Haiku) bridge the dichotomy, celebrating the virtues of town and country. In numerous spreads, Nakata juxtaposes spot art of busy city life with larger scenes of bucolic bliss, but subtly unifies these worlds with upbeat, sunny watercolors . Her jumbled up taxis and jangling alarm clocks feel happily energetic rather than frenetic; the flowers so abundant at Nonna's pop up at a city flower shop, too. One magical night on the farm, the boy thinks that he holds the moon when he encircles its image with his hands. He muses that even "the whole sky is different," but Nonna reassures him that wherever he is, the sky is the same, and that he is the same, dearly loved "big boy." Those new to travel or separated from loved ones especially may find comfort in this affection-filled tale, convincingly told in the voice of an experienced peer. Ages 3-6. (May)
