LitStack Rec – Jerusalem: A Cookbook & All the World

by Tee Tate

All the Worldworld
Liz Garton Scanlon, Author
Marla Frazee, Illustrator

Is it strange that I still seek out children’s picture books, even though my kids are both in their 20s? I guess that’s a rhetorical question, because I don’t really care if it’s strange or not. Children’s picture books are the spirit soothing “ahhh” that I often feel is needed in today’s fast paced, often cynical, often overblown society.

My newest find is a lovely book that came highly recommended: All the World, written by Liz Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Marla Frazee. In it, children accompany their parents or grandparents, friends and neighbors through what might be a typical day, but the gentle text reminds us that they are also always moving through what is a much larger world.

On the visit to the sea shore:

Rock, stone, pebble, sand
Body, shoulder, arm, hand
A moat to dig,
a shell to keep
All the world is wide and deep

Or when a trip to the park is interrupted by a sudden rain storm:

Slip, trip, stumble, fall
Tip the bucket, spill it all
Better luck another day
All the world goes round this way

The illustrations are incredibly appealing – organically colorful and simple; each few pages of snippets and singular focus opens up to a full double page spread with a panoramic picture, highlighting a broader (but still recognizable) viewpoint. The people in the illustrations hint at mixed families and diversity but without a social agenda or to fill some kind of politically correct quota. It almost feels like a busied snapshot of what could very well be a typical neighborhood.

I’m not the only one who liked this book, either. It is a 2010 Caldecott Honor Book, and was listed as “Best” by the likes of the New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus and School Library Journal.

If you have young children anywhere in your life, are looking for a gift for a young child or the parents of a newborn, or if you just need some solace for your soul, pick up a copy of All the World.

Hope and peace and love and trust
All the world is all of us

It’s a message that we all need to keep nestled in our hearts, regardless of how old we are.

—Sharon Browning

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