I wrote you a note

A child sitting on a rock starts this picture-book journey with the words I wrote you a note. Did you find it? With every page-turn, the square piece of birchbark that holds the message makes its way forward with the various insects and animals that interact with it. Turtle finds it and makes a sail for a raft, then a duck finds it and makes a dock for her ducklings to rest on, and then a spider finds it and uses it as a bridge to cross the stream, etc. The note becomes a house, a hat, a basket, and more, until finally the wind catches and delivers it to its intended recipient. Pleasingly and smartly designed, with tidy gouache illustrations, the pages flow as the note passes from creature to creature, with the child always present telling the story. Each page shows both the creature that last had the note and a hint of the one who will pick it up next, which enables viewers and listeners to anticipate and make predictions. The end brings you (another child) right into the book, and the final page reveals the notes content: Dear Friend, Do you want to go explore? Meet me by our big rock today at 4. Your Friend. Framed on each end by a page with birchbark design to match the note (see also the cover beneath the jacket), the book has many satisfying details to discover, and observers can notice new ones with multiple readings. julie roach (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.