Paul Meets Bernadette by Rosy Lamb

unpgd. Candlewick Press, December 10, 2013. 978-0-7636-6130-4. (Review copy courtesy of publisher)

My first thought upon viewing the luscious cover of this debut picture book by artist/ sculptor Rosy Lamb, was of Tadpole's Promise, Jeanne Willis' 2008 sly masterpiece about star-crossed, inter-species love.

Bear with me now. Yes, the cover colors are similar and we've got the main characters gazing longingly at each other, but, clearly, the styles are quite different. But that's what popped into my head. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

My next thought, after viewing the first few pages, was that this would be a rather typical story of friendship or love. You see, Paul's in a bit of a bowl-shaped rut. He spends his hours swimming in circles and the only variation on the routine seems to be the direction in which he is swimming. 

The oil paintings are spare and creamy with simple lines and smudges that imply movement. The colors are calming. There's really not much going on in Paul's world. Then Bernadette drops in and she immediately rocks it. This upheaval is reflected in the colors of the fish bowl as well as its size. Two fish are sharing the same small bowl, but it now it suddenly seems bigger and brighter. 

As Bernadette observes Paul's circular swimming, she asks, "Haven't you ever noticed that there's a whole world out there?" She points out a pair of bananas on a blue plate and asks what Paul thinks that yellow thing is. Paul mumbles non-commitally and Bernadette asserts that it is a boat. But she's not done. A vase of flowers is a forest, an alarm clock is a cactus and so on. Bernadette puts new meaning into the phrase, "Often wrong, but never in doubt." Even as she confidently corrects Paul when he identifies fried eggs. "Are you crazy?" says Bernadette..."That is the sun and the moon!"

That's it. Paul is smitten. "And you, Bernadette, are my star." A match made in heaven. I am smitten as well. This is a 2013 favorite. It's a book that makes me wish I had some younglings to read aloud to just to observe the expression on their faces as they get the jokes. It's a book that I'm buying for my own personal library. It's a book I'm buying as gifts for my teacher friends who teach lower elementary students.

PS: Be sure and take a look at the final painting on the back cover. I'm thinking that the art teacher at my school might have fun with this one too.