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Synopsis
Albert had always had his head in the clouds! But when one day, high up in the mountains with his parents, he falls off a cliff, he ends up quite literally in the clouds.
There he has fun playing with the cloud children, jumping, swimming in the rain, painting pictures with rainbows, and walking in the slipstream of an airplane. And then something reminds him of home and his own little bed…but no one has ever asked to return from cloudland before!
Publishers Weekly
It's hardly a new theme: by accident (literally), a child finds himself in a new world-in this case, a land in the clouds, populated by playful cloud children-where each day offers yet another fantastic experience; eventually, however, the child yearns for the familiarity of home and family, and enlists his new friends in helping him return. In the hands of the incomparable Burningham (Hey! Get Off Our Train; Aldo), this familiar story takes on new depth and poignancy while never losing the giddy appeal of adventure. The lean, trenchant text approximates the simple forcefulness of childhood speech. But the book's real power lies in the stop-them-in-their-tracks illustrations. Cut-outs of Burningham's signature line-drawn figures are set against backgrounds that are photographic, painted or a combination of the two; the resulting compositions feel at once both ethereal and cozily handmade. This is a stunning book-whether the reader takes Cloudland at its considerable face value, or is able to ponder its underlying meanings of death, afterlife and rebirth. It promises to resonate with readers of all ages. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)