What If? - Hardcover

Seeger, Laura Vaccaro

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1596433981 ISBN 13: 9781596433984

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, 2010

Synopsis

MULTIPLE STORIES . . . MULTIPLE STORIES. A story about choices from the "Queen of the
Concept Book."―The Horn Book

WHAT IF a boy found a beach ball and kicked it into the ocean? WHAT IF two seals found it and began to play? WHAT IF a third seal appeared on the beach looking for a friend?

In this spare and deceptively simple book, Laura Vaccaro Seeger shows us the same story with three different outcomes, each highlighting the possibility in possibilities.Youngest children will enjoy this visit to the beach and the chance to guess what happens when different choices are made.

What If? is a 2011 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year. This title has Common Core connections.

About this title

About the Author:

Laura Vaccaro Seeger has been called "the queen of the concept book by The Horn Book and is the winner of many awards including two Caldecott Honors, two Geisel Honors, and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. Her books include The First Egg, One Boy, Green, and the Dog and Bear series.

From School Library Journal:

Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 1—A deceptively simple, nearly wordless tale of friendship and sharing. The story begins on the endpapers, where a boy throws a beach ball and it floats out to sea. The next page has only the words "what if...?" and shows two sea lions playing with it until it rolls onto the beach. One sea lion goes ashore ("And what if...?"), where a third sea lion joins in ("Then what if...?"), leaving the first one alone and sad. Next comes a page with the word "or," and this time the second sea lion brings it back to the first, leaving the third one out. In the third "what if," the sea lion out to sea comes ashore to join the other two, and the three play together, and then head off, leaving the ball in the sand. Seeger's grasp of children's concerns and ability to visually tell a full story with minimal words is masterful here. She captures the complexity of friendship and sharing in a way that will speak to kids and invite discussion. The illustrations are saturated with color. The sea lions are depicted with minimal lines, yet still imbued with personality. The artist marries the charm of her "Dog and Bear" books with the thick color washes of First the Egg (2007, all Roaring Brook) to create something new and yet familiar. This book is perfect for parents and teachers looking for books on interpersonal relationships, or just a great book to share.—Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT
(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

About this edition

• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1596433981
• ISBN 13: 9781596433984
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Seeger Laura Vaccaro