At the Pond

At the Pond, created by Toronto resident Geraldo Valério, is a sweet wordless picture book about a little boy who learns the understanding of friendship and love through his interaction with nature. The boy takes his dog on a leash into a wood where they discover a flock of swans swimming in a lake. They frolic with the birds and other animals. The boy frees the dog which bounds off to chase butterflies. The boy then assumes he can collar the swan but discovers that nature can’t be contained.

Valério, trained in Brazil and New York, is the author of more than wordless books (Canadian Animals, ( www.cmreviews.ca/node/1204 ), Canadian Animals 123. ( www.cmreviews.ca/node/221 ) He creates this story in bright blues, greens and yellows – springtime colours – using graphite pencil, colour pencil, acrylic and latex paint, colour markers and gouache. His colour choices mirror the plot; when the boy tries to restrain his new friend, swan, with a leash and chain, the colour is drained from the scene to black and white and restored when he learns his lesson. The boy and the animals are simply drawn with curvy lines that make the figures pleasant-looking and appealing to young children.

Children can independently study the pictures and figure out the story of At the Pond, but they will need the involvement of an adult to bring out the full meaning of the plot. The book can be used to foster imagination and to teach about respect for the natural environment as well as domesticated pets.