I. C. Springman

A glum magpie gets carried away with collecting after a friendly mouse gives it a marble. The story is cleverly told with visual details accompanied only by a series of simple quantifiers: "something," "a few," and "lots" turn into "too much" until the mouse says "enough!" The animals, their tree home, and the magpie's collection of stuff are all painted in a mesmerizingly realistic style that reminds me a little of David Wiesner. The characters are expressive and relatable, the magpie's hoard is worthy of a game of "I spy," and the conclusion offers a thought-provoking conversation starter: Which of your precious belongings would you keep if you could only choose three?… (más)