Who Came Down That Road

A mother and child look at a path near their home, ``Just a trace through the woods'' but one that's long been traveled. Answering the child's questions, the mother tells how her great- grandparents used the road, then moves back to Civil War soldiers, earlier settlers, ``Shawnee and Cherokee,'' buffalo, mammoths, a warm sea, and finally ``Questions! Questions crowded like a bed of stars...the mystery of the making place....'' As he did for Lyon's Cecil's Story (1991), Catalanotto provides cinematic, out-of-focus illustrations, shimmering with light shining through leaves toward the observer, occasionally superimposing images for a dreamlike effect; the film technique extends to placing the title page several spreads into the story, so that the title becomes part of the text. A lovely, beautifully crafted book that makes an unusually effective response to a prototypical question. (Picture book. 4-7) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

PW's starred review praised the "lean, lyrical text" and "shimmering, luminous paintings" in this "extraordinary picture book that clarifies but does not oversimplify the difficult concept of historical time and evolution." Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.