Bloom

Cronin and Smallcombine talents in this fable for modern times: people who live in fragilekingdoms may need to get their hands dirty rebuilding. Bloom the mud fairylives in a glass kingdom where she turns weeds into blossoms and sand intoglass; she also leaves mud and cracks in the glass in her wake. As the kingdomgrows and gleams, folks protest Bloom's mess. She takes to the forest, butwithout her, the kingdom deteriorates. When the royals seek Bloom's magic tosave them, they are outraged when the dirty creature places a bucket of mud attheir feet. So they send tiny, ordinary Genevieve to talk to Bloom. AlthoughGenevieve has heretofore preserved her delicate hands for the frivolous task ofwashing the queen's sugar spoon, with Bloom's coaching she digs her hands intothe mud to make...bricks! The text is set in different typefaces and fonts tohelp the narrative along, while Small uses watercolor washes in cool blues andwarm greens and browns to indicate changing tones. Genevieve takes hernew-learned "magic" back to the kingdom to rebuild, and the residentsrejoice. All the characters, from royals to fairy, are white. The tale isenchanting but somewhat opaque, so metaphorical that children may needsignificant help from adults to understand it. If youngsters scratch theirheads, take them to the yard or community garden to plant and make mud pies.