Why Not? A Story About Discovering Our Bright Possibilities

A visual fantasy in soft colors from Barouch gives meaning to inspiring messages by Yamada in this work from the previous collaborators (Maybe). As the book opens, a pale-skinned child and a snow-white pup peer into a turquoise pool: “Everything you want, and everything you dream of is waiting. You have a vast treasure of talents and potential hidden inside you.” Diving in, the two join a school of enormous lavender jellyfish amid the water’s depths (“Why not find out how remarkable your life can be?”), then surface, passengers in a wooden air vessel that sails through the clouds, a jellyfish now serving as a hot-air balloon (“Why not make the most of every moment?”). Standing on a branch, the child discovers the plant’s gem-like fruit (“Be a stranger to the ordinary. Get to know the unknown”). Twined with abstract lines, the artwork creates a lightly cohesive story as child and pup, overcoming obstacles, make their way to the Arctic, where the child succeeds in restoring two family members to each other. It’s a broadly inspirational quest that unfolds spread by spread, asking, “Why not leave this world a little better than you found it?” Ages 4–up. (July)