Mural Island

Opening with a line of understatement, Yamasaki (Place Hand Here) begins, “Kengi drew.” Kengi is first pictured at a small table with crayon in hand; the paper on the surface before them is covered with drawings, as are the table and the floor. They draw “fast,/ busy,// everywhere their hands could/ reach and feet could travel.” Vignettes show their scrawls on a city stoop, grocery items, an unfurled roll of toilet paper, and more. After the school principal complains, another adult, Ms. Beatriz, tells Kengi about a nearby place—Mural Island—where the walls are just for painting. The protagonist finally has unlimited space to create, and does, delighted until discovering their work covered over by others. But another young artist introduces Kengi to a new way of thinking about the space: “None of it lasts too long so we just love it while it’s here.” Yamasaki paints in rainbow shades that seem like light sources themselves; the multihued characters and the city’s walls burst with color and energy in this stylized celebration of art making and community building that offers a portrait of a resolute child who’s clear about their path. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)