Where Are You Going, Emma?

Emma and her grandfather visit an apple orchard. Carrying a bucket, Emma goes exploring on her own. She climbs over a stone wall, discovers a brook and a small meadow, and thoughtfully considers a pebble, flower and oak leaf in her wanderings. But, when she realizes that she is all alone, her sun-dappled daydreams fade until her grandfather reassuringly calls from the other side of the stone wall. Titherington's artcolored pencil drawings with a stylized, near-photographic lookevokes both Emma's rapt absorption with the natural world and her sudden feeling of smallness compared with her surroundings. This is a handsome book, with the focus clearly on the girl; details of the orchard (the apple trees in particular) form a muted and indistinct background. Ages 3-up. (September)