My Valley

PreS-Gr 2—A rare English-language translation brings Ponti, a beloved children's book creator in France, to American audiences for the first time since Chick and Chickie Play All Day. The shelf-defeating trim size allows ample space for Ponti's retro illustrations and whimsical style as he introduces the Twims, round-faced rodentlike creatures with large families and extensive free time. The book contains no narrative arc but dips in and out of the geographic territory, lifestyle, and traditions of the verdant valley's cutesy denizens. Each spread offers a new aspect of the Twims' experience—some thoughtful, some twee, and almost all designed to appeal to lovers of coziness and domestic details. A tour of the central family's House Tree, for example, provides a cutaway reminiscent of the art in Jill Barklem's "Brambly Hedge," with a dash of absurdism as the elevation reveals a trapeze room and a swimming pool among the winter storerooms and open hearths. The vignettes shift from playful (a vast game of wind-borne "telephone") to contemplative (a gorgeous panorama from atop a solitary staircase) to bizarre (a flying apartment building shedding Twims); the scattershot nature of the book invites readers to pore over the detailed illustrations and immerse themselves in the fanciful mythology.