I have been looking forward to this book since I (and my class of second graders) fell in love with Sergio Ruzzier’s Have You Seen My New Blue Socks? last year.

Let's take a look at it the way I learned to do on the Caldecott committee. I like to savor a book when I see it for the first time.

Remove the dust jacket: Oh, here’s a little surprise! (And I love surprises!) On the paper cover, we see a little critter/postman delivering mail, with a little blue bird poking its body around the pole of the mailbox. On the inside case cover, the little bird is gone. Oooh. Why? (Tuck that "why?" into my small brain.)

Plain blue end pages, the color of the bird. Nothing will be covered up when the cover is attached by librarians. THANK GOODNESS. They hate that. I don’t really care because I take off the cover at home, but librarians care. Deeply.

Title page: lovely typeface, easy to read, but sophisticated. A circular spot drawing shows a little bird, sad-faced, in a dark place filled with letters and packages. Ohhh. I love that and now must Turn The Page.

First pages: I almost read the summary on the copyright page. I hate when that happens. Would much rather wait and read it at the end. This first spread is so pretty, filled with images of what I imagine the countryside of Tuscany looks like. (Sergio Ruzzier is Italian-born, but American.) The blue mountains match a blue-roofed tower. I like that. (Since I have read his other books, I am always ready for unusual colors in the landscape.)

After this, I turn each page very slowly, taking in the story in pictures. I am trying to see if the story is understandable on its own. It is, though I look forward to what the words will add when I read it a second time.

Here are some details that I notice as I turn the pages: a fox in a tree, reading; a wrapped-up dog bone; animals playing a bowling game; a painting of a mountain whose reflection looks like the back flap of envelope; the critter-postman’s sad face at the end of a day; a tree whose branches look like a beckoning finger; a set of encyclopedias; circular illustrations that seem to change size with Leo’s mood; full-bleed pages and spreads; a bird flying into a mountain; plants in a window looking sad (if that is possible); and a joyful reunion. (So relieved about that reunion!)

Now I flip back and read the summary. Oh, postman Leo is a weasel. I didn't know what animal he was. No big deal.

Now, let me read the words and pictures together. The text is clear and easy to read. The only hard word is bocce. (I always think Geisel Award when I read books with minimal text. Who knows what they are doing on the Geisel committee right now?) The illustrations clearly extend the text.

Watercolor is a gentle medium for this story of warm friendship. It’s a quiet story, but one that will resonate with children and adults alike. It will also hold up to repeated readings, which is a great thing, because I think this will be read over and over, which I have done now. Leo is such a good guy (er, weasel) that I will love returning to his and Cheep's story often.

I did eventually read this to my class, which is not the class who was so crazy about Blue Socks last year. This current class oohed and ahhed over each page turn and was very happy with the ending. They loved the occasional blue mountain and pink sky and spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out why Ruzzier chose those particular colors, as well as why he chose circular frames at some points and full-bleed pages at others. I love to pose questions like this to my class because there is no correct answer, but my students like to figure these things out. They flipped back and forth between the two double-page spreads that show first a flock of birds flying north for the summer and then Cheep flying away to join them, leaving Leo behind. There are so many similarities between the two spreads, but the kids really noticed how Ruzzier used color and space to make them, the readers, feel emotions. The more they looked, the more they noticed, which is a great sign for committee discussion.

Ruzzier’s art is recognizable to me, and I am a fan, but for this group his work was brand new. I loved seeing the pictures through their young eyes.

Will the committee have a member who is willing to take the time to point out how special this gem is? I hope so.