Delivery

November 7, 2016
The notion that “love finds a way” has never been truer than in Meshon’s not-quite-wordless story, in which a grandmother attempts to ship freshly baked cookies to her grandson for his birthday. Working in the vibrant, almost psychedelic cartoon style of his previous books, Meshon (The Best Days Are Dog Days) follows the white box from mail truck to tractor to boat to submarine to whale and so on; an astronaut eventually brings it to the boy’s doorstep. Bright red hearts are a recurring visual element: the cookies are heart-shaped, a heart sticker seals the box, and hearts drift like puffs of exhaust from the vehicles, as if the entire endeavor were powered by love. Shifting perspectives and the sheer ridiculousness of the journey make this cookie-delivery relay a delight; fans of the vehicular absurdity of Tom Angleberger and John Hendrix’s McToad Mows Tiny Island are a natural audience for this story. Readers who gloss over the endpapers will miss a key twist—suffice it to say, one hopes that these boats and trains really do run on love, not fossil fuels. Ages 4–8. Agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer Content.

Starred review from December 15, 2016
A box of cookies travels from the kitchen where they're made to a destination across the universe. Meshon's premise is simple but spectacular. There's a red heart on a certain block of a monthly calendar on the wall of a kitchen occupied by a gray-haired, pale-skinned lady and her ginger cat. "We almost forgot," the lady says, as the cat hands her a spoon. The story proceeds wordlessly from here. The lady bakes several sheets of red, heart-shaped cookies, packs them in a white box, and hands them to a deliveryman, whose gleaming white truck also has a heart on it. The truck travels along roads lined with green trees and white sheep. The package goes from the truck to a tractor to a tugboat to a submarine, helicopter, train, and dog sled. They're passed from the dog sled to a spaceship, which orbits the Earth. Readers will notice that the operators of these various machines are of many races and genders. The spaceship touches down in the front yard of a green-shingled house, and the astronaut delivers the package to a pale-skinned child: "She remembered!" The rear endpapers present a visual joke that will have kids wondering just how literally to take those cookies' journey. Meshon's digital illustrations are strange and beautiful, with distinctive shapes and an arresting use of color, negative space and red hearts both figuring prominently in their design. Whimsical delight. (Picture book. 3-8)

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April 1, 2017

PreS-K-The central premise of this near-wordless picture book is that love is far-reaching because it is transported by many types of vehicles. In this case, these are literal vehicles, but in discussion, the term can easily be applied more liberally. The source, and beginning of the journey, is a grandmother who has baked heart-shaped cookies for her grandson. These she passes on to a courier, who passes them on to a farmer, and so on and so forth until they reach their destination. Whenever the cookies are placed on a new vehicle, the white coating obtains a red heart to symbolically remind readers that it is carrying precious cargo. The journey itself is rather extreme, especially since the end pages reveal the destination was next door all along, but it does make a point, and children will enjoy seeing all the different vehicles. Meshon's naive-style digital paintings are unremarkable, but his design choices (such as the white vehicles that pop on the colored backgrounds and characters) will appeal to a young audience. VERDICT For those who are in love with cars, trains, ships, and other transportation methods, Delivery delivers-and it comes with a message of love, too.-Rachel Forbes, Oakville Public Library, Ont.

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