What the World Could Make: A Story of Hope

Best friends Rabbit and Bunny stand transfixed as snow falls, “a wonder—/ winter white flakes a gift from the sky.” Rabbit has freckles and an orange scarf, while green-scarved Bunny has soulful eyes. “I wish it would snow forever,” says Bunny. “Forever? For always?” Rabbit asks. “No... not exactly.” Rabbit understands: “You mean the kind of forever where you remember it even after it ends?” Over the course of a year, the two rejoice in the beauty of the seasons, enjoying each moment’s gifts. In the spring, lilacs form abundant blossoms that Bunny weaves into a crown for her friend. In the summer, the pair eat sea pickles by the ocean, and in the autumn, they play in showers of golden gingko leaves before winter snow falls anew. In contrast to the loose style of their earlier collaborations, Lemaître drafts more formally here, rendering great spruces, lilac bowers, and mountains of leaves as a tight, disciplined fretwork of lines against delicately tinted backdrops. Lemaître and McGhee lift up gifts “the world could make” in words that ask little more of readers than to acknowledge the beauty of nature. Ages 4–8. (May)