Just to See
by Morgane de Cadier; illus. by Florian Pigé; trans. from French by Johanna McCalmont
Preschool    Blue Dot Kids    40 pp.    g
5/22    978-1-7376032-0-7    $18.95

A girl in a treehouse regularly explores the woods through her binoculars: “I know the forest inside out.” Suddenly, she spots something new—the antlers of a deer reaching into the sky. She runs to the deer and secures permission to climb his antlers. “You can tell me what you see,” says the deer. As she climbs, she passes a birthday party of woodland creatures; a mouse reading a newspaper; a garden, complete with a Venus flytrap; and a huge sleeping snake. From the top of the antlers, she takes in a brilliant sunset. “I didn’t know I could climb so high,” she tells the deer when she’s back on solid ground. The enchanting scenes of the creatures settled into the twisting, curving antlers will thrill young ­viewers—expect to linger on these spreads to engage with the details in Pigé’s velvety and textured earth-toned illustrations. Both author and illustrator give the wide-eyed protagonist an abundant curiosity that propels page-turns. Best of all, the inquisitive girl takes it all in as the habitual nature-watcher she is. Though she knows nature is wondrous (mice drying off with towels don’t surprise her), she’s still awed by seeing a glorious sunset from an all-new height.

From the May/June 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.