“Life cereal. That’s a ballsy name, I always thought. LIFE.
‘What are we going to call this?’
‘How about Oaties? Squaries?’
‘No! This is much bigger than that. This is LIFE, I TELL YOU!’”
—Jerry Seinfeld

Forget cereal. I’d argue Life is a pretty ballsy name for a picture book. But Cynthia Rylant has officially entered the wise-reflection period of her hall-of-fame career and is clearly (and gloriously) intimidated by nothing. So her latest book (is it her latest? Rylant puts out great books at a Yolen-esque clip) tackles a topic no less grand than existence itself. Freshly minted Caldecott Honor–winner Brendan Wenzel (They All Saw a Cat) provides the mixed-media visuals. As the book goes forward, it balances, impressively, a number of contrasts — it's deep yet accessible, rich yet unburdened, sophisticated yet elemental — and crosses the finish line not haggard, but glowing.

This is going to sound like a dumb comment coming from a former member of a Caldecott committee, but I can’t find any smarter way to say it: I like picture books that are trying to do picture book-y stuff. Okay, a slightly smarter-sounding second attempt: I’m impressed when illustrations find subtle ways to expand the text. If the illustrations aren’t expanding on the story or theme, no one is going to get excited about them. If my experience on the committee has taught me anything (aside from “Snacks Will Unite Us All”), it’s that committee members have to be excited in order to push the book into the award zone. Wenzel’s illustrations provide the flourishes that will give the committee something to talk about, something to excitedly point to and say, “This! This is excellence in pictorial interpretation of story and theme. This of a sign of a distinguished book!”

Over and over in Life, Wenzel seizes opportunities to interpret the text in delightfully unexpected ways. These moments often happen outside the margins of the “main” illustration. Like the one depicting four separate animals in small vignette illustrations (“trust the rabbit in the field and the deer who crosses your path …”). Dude could have just gone with the four vignette illustrations. But no, he also created a little scene at the very bottom of the page, a sort of gradient in nature form, that shows the habitats of each animal. This is the sort of thing that can elevate a book above its peers, and it happens often in Life.

One of my first reactions when first encountering this book was wondering how Wenzel’s often playful artwork would pair with this (I assumed) serious text. It turned out to be an excellent match. Wenzel’s art has a richness that matches the weight of the topic, but it also has an inherent humor that doesn’t allow a book called Life to take itself too seriously.

Life. Bold name. But when a book is this masterfully executed, any other name just seems too small. I wish I could sit in when the committee discusses this one.

Read the Horn Book Guide review of Life.