Blue

Seeger’s Green celebrated a single color, and so too does this companion, all the while telling a poignant story. Close-range, canvas-stroked spreads portray the start of a friendship as a golden retriever puppy and a toddler nap on the same blanket (“baby blue”). The young dog and boy romp on the beach (“ocean blue”) and sleep together (“midnight blue”) as they both grow older, until the boy, now much changed, is seen cuddling his aging dog (“true blue”). When it’s time for the two to say goodbye, Seeger shows the young man alone, his head bowed as he sits by the ocean where he and his dog once played (“so blue”). Though things begin to look up in the final spreads, the death is a difficult moment, and readers might find themselves a bit blue. Seeger balances many different picture book elements as she identifies evocative hues for the duo’s story, examines common objects such as blueberries and butterflies, and inserts unexpected die-cuts in each page to reveal fragments of the surrounding spreads. Ages 3–6. [em](Sept.) [/em]