Dots and Spots

The inhabitants of Dotty's town adore polka dots, and they sprinkle spots on every surface imaginable, from clothing to cats. When an ominously unadorned woman in white arrives and magically steals all the town's dots, Dotty retrieves them by answering the stranger's Rumplestiltskin-like challenge to guess her name: the dots from Dotty's favorite dress spell out the dot-napper's name. The story is insubstantial, no more than a vehicle for the art. But Morley ( The Tapestry Cats ) takes full advantage of her tale's visual possibilities, sure-handedly deploying spots of all hues to create varied and wonderfully decorative spreads, with multiform color fields housing stylishly elongated figures. In contrast to the text, these elegant, fanciful illustrations are memorable indeed. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)