The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown

We couldn't help posting something about our favorite (and our child's favorite) children's book at the moment.

This is a beautifully written book by Margaret Wise Brown (author of the classic Goodnight Moon) illustrated by Leonard Weisgard. It is the story of the changing of seasons on a small island with only seven trees, seventeen bushes and one big rock. The reader is able to soak in the landscape of Maine with its gulls, lobsters, kingfishers, seals and even the wild strawberries that come in spring. One day a kitten comes to visit the island on a little sail boat and explores the island and its secret of how "all land is one land under the sea".

Margaret Wise Brown's writing is known for the wonderful rhythm that draw the reader into the environs she describes. She was one of the first to focus on quite moments and gentle observation about children's own lives and their environments instead of telling fairy tales or adventure stories more common at the time. This "here and now" philosophy was created and tested in an experimental school in New York City where Brown was able to communicate with the children about what they wanted to read.

Brown's home on the Island of Vinalhaven in Maine surely influenced the story of The Little island written with such love and care. We love this 1947 Caldecott award winner both for it's writing and illustrations but also for the way it reminds of us experiencing Maine from the perspective of a young child.