Reviews

Booklist

"Going to the store on a simple errand becomes an adventure, for narrator and viewer both, in this visual imagination stretcher from the author of Looking For Cinderella (1996). Each scene offers a bird's-eye view of streets, houses, and yards that seem ordinary at first glance but where a leafy patch conceals a dragon or a giant, a child clad in red meets a certain wolf, and a pond becomes an ocean, with shipwrecks, mermaids, and a majestic whale visible below the glassy surface. Further marvels await discovery by the sharp of eye — the graffiti that mysteriously appears on a newly painted house, the bearded dwarves trooping into a certain thatched cottage. Children who enjoy following pathways in pictures and carefully examining odd corners for small details-in other words, fans of Arthur Geisert's etchings and Joan Steiner's assemblages-will pore over these uncluttered views. The minimal text ends with a suggestion: ‘How do we get back? Maybe we should take the sidewalk?' No Way!"

School Library Journal

"Young children will enjoy detecting the dangers that the boy evades."

Horn Book Guide

"The narrator's imagination turns his trek into dangerous adventure, as he avoids giants, whales, and pirates. The double-page spreads offer a lot to look at."