Emile and the Field
by Kevin Young; illus. by Chioma Ebinama
Preschool    Make Me a World/Random    40 pp.    g
3/22    978-1-9848-5042-3    $17.99
Library ed.  978-1-9848-5043-0    $20.99
e-book ed.  978-1-9848-5044-7    $10.99

Young Emile, his dog at his side, frequents a field that is “wide and blue” and filled with flowers, bumblebees, and his favorite maple tree. Throughout the seasons, Emile talks to the field, asking if it misses things it doesn’t know, such as the sea, and marvels at what the field does know, such as the stars in a mesmerizing night sky. When he visits one winter day with his father, Emile expresses his dismay over having to share the field with others (i.e., a group of loud children, sledding). His father’s response brings him comfort and ­purpose. With gentle rhythms, Young’s verse captures the boy’s observations with an emotional honesty (Emile wonders why the sledders didn’t secure his “say-so” to visit); with an ­authenticity true to the impassioned feelings of ­children (Emile is described as being “in love” with the field); and with a tenderness that is touching but never ­saccharine. Ebinama brings this story of a Black boy having an immersive outdoor ­experience to life with delicate lines and lush and ­atmospheric ­watercolors; Emile in his puffy red coat, making a snow angel, is a reverent nod to Keats’s Peter in The Snowy Day. The yellows, in ­particular, nearly glow in the form of flowers, bumblebees, and the golden hues of fall. What Emile learns from his father (“The field would not, could not be bought! or belong to anyone”) is a satisfying conclusion to this exquisite story of one boy’s unfettered delight in nature.

From the March/April 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.