All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon

All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee

Rating: 4 gorgeous stars

Confession: When I first saw this book in the bookstore, I nearly leaped into it, trying to imagine myself one of the beautiful characters in the gorgeous settings among the pages.  I resisted the temptation to buy it, barely.  If I bought every picture book I loved, we'd have even books to bend our shelves, which need reinforcement as it is.  I called my mother on the way home from the bookstore, telling her that I'd found It.  The Perfect Children's Book.  It was my new Favorite Book.  I was in love!

So I ordered the lone copy in Fairfax County and told my husband that I felt angst about ordering it.  I already knew about the book; shouldn't I leave it on the shelf for others to find and enjoy?  And would my time in heaven be delayed if I renewed it again and again and again, as many times as possible?  He gave me The Look, like I was thinking too much or something like that.  I get that look hourly sometimes.  Well, we all have things to work on, I guess.

So I got the book from the library.  The first time I read it through, I was, shocker of all shockers, multi-tasking.  Lorelei and Ben were both playing with the train set at the bookstore, and I was flipping through and falling in love with All The World.  I didn't really read it through.  The pictures are perfect (check out this one on the right)--Frazee does an incredible job and the illustrations still make me want to jump right into the pages and stay.  Awhile.  Maybe till Ben is out of diapers, or at least has mastered more than three words.  The words are also gorgeous and prayer-like; my mother will probably tear when she reads this book.  On certain days, I might, too.

But there's no way that I could ever rate it a top-notch book for preschoolers.  I was at first dismayed that Lorelei didn't request this book again and again.  I could read it five times a day.  But there's no story to follow, no characters to giggle at or feel sorry for.  We spend many minutes poring over each picture, especially the one with several stalls at an outdoor market.  While it is a great gift book for adult lovers of children's picture books, I have to say that it's not for us.  I will not be buying it (sniff, sniff), but I will be checking it out from the library every few months, hoping that one more line from the wonderful message in the book gets embedded in their little hearts.