Cloudland - Softcover

Something terrible has happened! While hiking in the mountains with his parents, Albert trips and falls off a cliff. Luckily, the children who live in the clouds are able to say some magic words (was it "Gargle giggle fiddle num dee" or "Teetum waggle bari se nee"?) that make Albert light enough for them to catch. Soon he and the cloud children are having a grand old time painting pictures with colors from the rainbow, playing jumping games in the clouds, and skinny-dipping through the rainy sky. Albert is delighted with his wonderful new skyscape and playmates... and yet one day he begins to feel the pangs of homesickness. With Cloudland, award-winning author and illustrator John Burningham creates one of his most unusual and imaginative tales. Stunning collages use enhanced photos and colored drawings, providing more than just a backdrop to this charming story. Readers young and old will lose themselves in the mesmerizing depth of the illustrations. If Burningham's head, like Albert's, is always in the clouds, that's exactly where he should stay. (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie Coulter

Illustrated in full color. Only John Burningham--four-time winner of a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year award and twice the recipient of Britain's prestigious Kate Greenaway Award--could have created this subtle and magical fantasy about the dreams of childhood. While hiking in the mountains with his parents, Albert tumbles off a cliff--but is saved by the cloud children who utter magic words that make him very light and keep him from falling. Albert has a wonderful time jumping, swimming, painting, and racing in the sky with the cloud children (he even walks along the jet stream of an airplane!)...until he remembers his mother and father and his own little bed at home. It takes the cloud queen, the man in the moon, and a few more magic words to return Albert to earth. Glorious mixed-media illustrations leap from the oversize pages of this delightful new book by "one of the finest and most original writers at work today" (The New Yorker).  A Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection.