Tommaso and the Missing Line Book

ON THE DAY the strange thing happens—the day his line goes missing—Tommaso knows what he must do: find it. It’s the line on the drawing he puts in his pocket every day, the line he drew of the hill by his nonna’s house, and he knows he must find that very one.

Is that it there in the curl of the cat’s tail? No. Is it there in the antenna of the car? No, not it. It suddenly dawns on Tommaso whom to ask: Nonna. Nonna will know.

In a spare story with a fable-like tone, Matteo Pericoli takes us through an Italian landscape in search of Tommaso’s line—and in doing so brings us along on a journey of discovery. Exquisitely detailed black-and-white art is punctuated by a bright ribbon of orange: Tommaso’s missing line (or is it?).

Publishers Weekly

When a line mysteriously vanishes from his favorite drawing, Tommaso hunts it down, and he discovers that while lines are indeed everywhere, it's the significance and sensibility he infuses in his line that make it all his own. Or, to put it another way, Tommaso discovers what it means to be an artist. As in previous books, Pericoli (The True Story of Stellina) demonstrates remarkable draftsmanship and a vivid eye for detail and perspective; the mostly black-and-white pictures combine the elegant extravagance of architectural engravings with the playfulness and spontaneity of a great doodle. The Italian setting adds to the charm, and children will enjoy seeing the foreign-language store signs, the Roman columns, etc. The design is striking: initially, as Tommaso searches for the missing line, Pericoli asks readers to join in Tommaso's quest-and experience his heightened awareness-by highlighting one line in bright orange (the curling line of a cat's tail, the springy line of car antenna), the same color that Tommaso has drawn with. Facing each illustration, the text drops out from solid orange; the effect is eye-popping. Ages 5-8. (Dec.)

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