Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Wanting peace and quiet, Albert moves outside to the alley, imagination in fine working order. But his Montreal-neighborhood friends (from Colette's Lost Pet) invade, becoming increasingly boisterous and fracturing the peace of Albert's seaside daydream. The story unfolds in dialogue, sound effects, and pencil and pen drawings highlighted with jaunty orange and soft turquoise. A subtle portrait of the independent republic of childhood. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Reading, friends, and fertile imagination combine in this neighborhood follow-up to Colette's Lost Pet (2017).Young Albert is looking through Mile End, an urban row-house neighborhood in Montreal, for a quiet place to read a book. In the alley, Albert finds a discarded painting of an ocean sunset and pulls up a chair in front of it for quiet reading and contemplation. The page turn gives way to a wordless double-page spread of Albert sitting in a chaise on the beach, and readers will understand that Albert has entered the ocean-sunset picture via imagination. Two friends arrive in the alley to repot a plant, and in Albert's imaginative world they also enter the beach scene, building a sand castle. As other friends arrive, they, too, enter the beach scene, until it becomes crowded and noisy. Finally Albert yells in frustration, "That's it! QUIET!!" This pale, blue-green-and-orange beach scene is now followed by an illustration showing Albert's friends, wearing reproachful expressions, slinking away down the black-and-white alley. They return, though, with books of their ownand a surprise response to Albert's abashed apology. Author/illustrator Arsenault does a terrific job directing the story's pace and ambiance using wordless spot and double-page-spread illustrations interspersed with others containing dialogue bubbles and hand-lettered sound effects. Albert presents white, and his friends are diverse.This accessible story will validate readers who relish their quiet time as well as their friends. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.