Krauss's 'Fall like rain' reveals a sky of plummeting elephants while a kitten on the ground extends a paw from under the umbrella to check the weather. His characters are both recognizable critters (whales, mice, bugs, pigs) but also wryly off-center, with exaggerated shapes, sizes, colors, and attitudes. Ruzzier recognized the magical miracle of Krauss's words, even the seemingly mundane ones, providing a page-by-page parade of wild wonderings. Others nudge imaginations beyond the literal: Eat all the locks off the doors, Paint a picture of a cage wth an open door and wait, Undress to match the trees in winter. Some are suited to simplistic thinking: Make music, Nod yes, Hold your arms out like a pine tree.

Krauss offers letter-inspired directives to execute various actions, making her words a fun library or preschool exploration of action and vocabulary. Endpapers do the same, offering an array of insect-ish critters exploring their inner roaring voices and attitudes. The charm of the front cover invites a quick peek at the back cover, which launches the reading with a laugh. His images both illustrate and expand the imperatives Krauss imagined. In this case, Ruzzier has managed to capture the glorious, enormous imagination of Krauss's words with delightfully detailed and impishly illogical characters.

So what makes this book so special? Alphabet books range from academic to storytelling to subject-specific. After all, many of Krauss's books were illustrated by Maurice Sendak and Crockett Johnson, icons of picture book illustration. Even so, I can imagine that despite his success and award-winning reputation he may have been a bit anxious about being selected to bring this unpublished work by Krauss to life. Sergio Ruzzier does not need my praise to bolster his stellar career. You can read more about Krauss in this great article from Brain Pickings blog. That kid-appeal quality was always evident in the words and point of view Krauss provided in her books, and I adored them. I've been a fan of Ruth Krauss before I began paying attention to author names, and that's because she was writing books while I WAS A CHILD.

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