My Heart

PreS-Gr 2—This message of this quiet book should be shouted from the rooftops. The theme is elusive at first as are the soft, somewhat tentative pictures. The story begins with a heart in a garden waiting to be nurtured by a little girl. The poetic text describes the heart in a number of unexpected ways. It's a window that can be opened or closed and sometimes it is a puddle or a stain. These metaphorical descriptions move children away from the anatomical and utile aspects of the heart (the pumper of blood with chambers and ventricles, etc.) and offers the idea of the heart as a reflection of the child in the world. The final words carry a lot of power: "I get to decide." The illustrations are crafted with water-based inks and pencils and predominantly feature gray and yellow, dark and light. Throughout, the unifying visual element is a yellow heart in a variety of forms. This can be read to the very youngest of listeners, but even upper elementary children would benefit tremendously from the ideas in this book. Educators can also use this work to show students the different meanings for a single word and the artistic use of metaphor in writing.