Reviews

"Although Wiesner's latest picture-book fantasy appears at first to be wordless, it actually has some words that are quite important. On a class trip to the Empire State Building, a boy who likes to draw is approached by a friendly cloud who takes him to Sector 7, a "terminal" reminiscent of a train station in the sky, where clouds form according to blueprints drawn up by grumpy, unimaginative humans. It seems the clouds are itching for a makeover, and the boy, pencil and paper in hand, gives it to them. Because words such as terminal, arrivals, and assignment station, which appear on signs in the pictures, are necessary to establish the scene in some instances, younger children may need adult help with the book. But the clever sometimes overlapping illustrations are wonderful: strong and precise, they range from detailed, realistic renderings of places and human characters to pictures of fluffy clouds, at once diaphanous and substantial, complete with expressive faces, and fat, fascinating four-fingered hands. A book for somewhat older children than the ones who "read" books by John Goodall and his ilk, but a good choice for getting the imagination to work." Booklist, ALA
"Finding shapes in the clouds is a grand pastime on a lazy day. But what makes those shapes anyway? and what if you had the power to alter them, to create new forms and details when amorphous arrangements are the norm? In a fittingly wordless book, this is exactly what happens to one young boy on a field trip to the top of the Empire State Building-where anything can happen, if movies are to be believed. This time, as the building is veiled in mist, a friendly cloud appears to the boy and after a few playful moments takes him on a tour of Sector 7, a factory-like satellite where clouds are shaped, classified, and distributed. The structure is like a Victorian railroad station with signs noting arrival and departure times, but tubes shaped like large funnels, not tracks, disperse the cloudsi