Safe Crossing
by Kari Percival; illus. by the author
Primary    Chronicle    48 pp.
1/25    9781797214566    $18.99

Why do amphibians cross a dark, perilous road? To lay their eggs, of course. But sometimes they need help. In the middle of the night, a biracial family dons rain gear over PJs, gathers equipment, and joins the volunteer Amphibian Migration Team. Full-bleed digital art, “informed by woodcut printmaking techniques,” immerses readers in detailed, layered scenes. On the title page, a clipboard holding a blank data collection form, a pencil with requisite frog eraser, and a flashlight introduce the mission. Percival’s restrained color palette—midnight blue, reflective yellow, touches of brown and black—makes effective use of white, notably for casting light and for when the narrator’s little sister asks narrative-driving questions: “But how do they know tonight is the night?…Do they taste the warm rain? Do they smell the skunk cabbage blooming?” Childlike line drawings inside thought bubbles share her musings and offer focal points for viewers. Sadly, some of the amphibians don’t make it, prompting the narrator to seek a solution. The blue of the night sky becomes the inky blue of building plans and checklists as the girl and her community members lobby, plan, fundraise, and construct an amphibian tunnel. Two double-page spreads of back matter, seek-and-find endpapers, and scientific captioning throughout make this book as informative as it is beautifully illustrated and designed.

From the March/April 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.