cover image Grandfather's Story

Grandfather's Story

Brenda Lena Fazio. Sasquatch Books, $14.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-57061-028-8

Delicate watercolors and handsome design distinguish this spare picture book by a first-time author and illustrator. Inspired by a Japanese poem, the story tells of an old fisherman who worries he has outlived his usefulness, until characters in a dream persuade him that he still has much to teach his grandson. If this serene tale overreaches in trying to be wise, the artwork compensates for the flaw. Fazio dips her brush in the colors of the sea, and the restful blues and greens of the waves swirl and flow across the pages, carrying the reader along with them. Generally, her seascapes and landscapes are more successful than her pictures of birds or people, who have the quaint look of squat, overstuffed dolls. The volume as a whole is particularly attractive, with an elegant typeface carefully balanced on blank ground against a large illustration, the spreads linked by a small, recurring fish motif. Ages 3-up. (Sept.)