| One Lighthouse, One Moon |
| The
Riverbank Review Anita Lobel's latest picture book is a splendid creation, and is actually three books in one. The first treats the days of the week, the second the months of the year, and the third numbers one through ten. What holds them together is a shared setting–a house at the seashore–and the sublime sensibility of this artist. The themes of balance and the cycles of life are quietly announced at the outset by two lovely paintings. Night is depicted in the first of these: a gray tabby cat (who we later learn is "Nini") sits on the doorstep of the house, in shadow. The soft green land is lit by a full moon that hangs above a lighthouse just offshore. Day, on the next page, finds the cat inside on the window ledge, gazing out to sea. Seven pairs of shoes sit behind her; the daytime moon-a sliver-is visible in the blue sky beyond. Day and night, land and sea, inside and outside, the span of a week or a month: the simplest divisions of space and time are conveyed beautifully and reassuringly in Lobel's vivid gouache and watercolor paintings. In "All Week Long" Nini observes, with interest, as each day of the week is announced by a different pair of shoes on the feet of a girl whom we see only from the knees down. Lobel is in her element here, working with costumes and sets. The view in each painting is limited, the elements carefully chosen. Black lace ups, red cowboy boots, blue sneakers, yellow sandals, and pink ballet slippers describe an active girl; bicycle wheels, beach sand, or garden greenery visible in the scene offer enough detail to spark readers' interest, inviting them to fill in the larger picture—even to create a story. In "Nun's Year" the cat again appears in each month's frame, sniffing snowflakes, listening to the wind, gazing at flowers, posing on a pumpkin. At year's end we are told, "In DECEMBER Nini waited for good things," and there she is, stretched out on a bed, her belly round, her nipples pronounced. Turn the page, and sure enough, she sit proudly on a cushion in the living room, three kittens playing nearby. "One Lighthouse, One Moon" is the book's most spectacular section. the view here is no longer close-up but grand, taking in the big world. It's the world of the seashore; one lighthouse, two boats, three sailors (waving to four girls who play on the opposite page), five whales, six pelicans, and so on. When the numbers reach their limit, the "one moon" reappears to comfort the living world. __Martha Davis Beck |
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