Maya’s World

A child’s creative interpretation of a teacher’s prompt to “draw something that is inspired by nature” compels a class to embrace imagination in a picture book that pops with bold graphics. Brown-skinned Maya loves nothing more than drawing, and when Ms. Juniper assigns the art homework, the protagonist “draws, paints, and glues” all evening long. In class, other students proudly present naturalistic renderings, but when Maya unveils her work, she receives a critical peer response: “This looks wrong!... It doesn’t look like a rainbow.” Ms. Juniper transforms the moment into a teachable one, and Maya’s description of her vision (“My rainbow takes you to a world where raindrops taste like cotton candy”) transports and inspires the other kids. The resultant exercise in perspective-taking yields a vibrant classroom mural of bold, Matisse-like botanicals. Pippins’s thickly colored illustrations playfully convey the heroine’s nonconformist approach with patterned adornments, such as dots and dashes, amid home and school scenes. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)