Please, Louise

Description: On a gray, rainy day, everything seems particularly frightening and bad to Louise until she enters a library and finds books that help her to know and imagine the beauty and wonder that have been there all along.

Brief description: Slade Morrison was born in Ohio and educated in New York City. He studied art at SUNY Purchase and collaborated with his mother, Toni Morrison, on their books for children.

Review Quotes: Louise, pictured as a small girl wrapped in a raincoat and armed with an umbrella, enters what she
considers a strange and scary world. But at the library, she finds "shelter from the storm" and safe worlds
to explore. The authors' rhyming text, though reflective of a child's fears (junkyard monsters, dogs,
neglected buildings), does not always flow naturally, but the message is loud and clear. This is a testament
to the value of reading and the imagination as ways to understand feelings and the world. Strickland's
illustrations bring Louise's world to life; the objects of fear, in dark colors and threatening profiles,
dominate the pages until the world of the library embraces her. Off comes her hooded coat, the sun comes
out, and she now dominates her environment. We even see a close-up of her face, totally absorbed in a
book, a friendly dog by her side. A cozy way to address the subject of fears--and to get children to the
library.-- "Booklist"