You Can't Be Too Careful

Gr 2–5—The first book published in the United States by the 2014 recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award is a thought-provoking exploration of the impact of kindness and greed. A barefoot gardener is meticulously guarding "White Rose," as she "might escape from her pen." We find out that the gardener's lack of shoes is the result of a long string of mishaps that are traced through a myriad of characters of all class levels, from workers to rajahs. Readers are propelled forward by text that spreads across the top of the pages' white background in a handwritten-style font, while the Brazilian author/illustrator's alluring collage and colored pencil images show the varied characters and their connected worlds. They come to a halt when they realize that everyone's misfortunes are linked to a missing compass. Someone whispers the suggestion that White Rose has hidden it, but readers are rewarded when they discover that White Rose couldn't have stolen the compass, as she is still "safely in her pen," and they are propelled back out, seeing everyone's fates changed in more positive ways. The story is open-ended, leaving children the chance to imagine what might come next but also wanting to return to the beginning to see how all the different pieces shift and come together.